Up until a few years ago i thought a Troll was a Norwegian myth on a par with Thor,Odin and the a-ah reunion,but since i have become au fait with the internet i have found out Troll is also the name given to any inadequate person who fires off the vilest of insults/threats to those in the news.This is a big story at the moment...
Trolling is not a new thing.Anyone in the public eye will tell you of the horrible letters they've received in the days before social media.Ex Radio One dj and sometimes TV presenter Nicky Campbell said this morning that just before his first child was due about fifteen years ago he got a letter hoping she was still born.So it's nothing new,What's new is that Trolling in the past took effort.Write a letter,address it and then post.Now all it requires is the ability to compose a Tweet and press send.
It's also much more noticeable than it was.Unless the recipient made any disgusting letter public we never got to hear about such things.Now anyone with access to Twitter or Facebook can see what's been posted by these Trolls.
The last few days has seen trolling in the spotlight due to both Caroline Criado Perez & Professor Mary Beard being bombarded with the vilest of Tweets about murder & rape.Their crime in bringing such a response from these sad individuals? Perez wants Jane Austen to be featured on a banknote and Mary Beard,well it appears that she received abuse simply for being Mary Beard( The Beard incident was quickly resolved when the Troll in question was threatened with his Mother being told via another Twitter user.)
Since these two incidents there have been calls for Twitter to have an "Abuse Button" whereby anyone who feels they're being abused by another Tweeter can report it to Twitter.I have to admit i find this a rather scary prospect.Not,i hasten to add because i am a Troll or support any Trolls in their stupidity,but because i know how ridiculously fragile some people on social media can be.Potentially every discussion on Twitter where two or more people disagree with each other will end with the "Abuse button" being pushed.You think i'm exaggerating? how many times do you hear of people ringing 999 cos' their bloody kettle's broken down or something equally pathetic? See? The twitter police would be inundated...
Talking of police,Twitter are not the police.Yes they have the right to police their own site but threats of violence,inc murder & rape are beyond their remit and should be left to the real police.Any threat of violence or racism is illegal and should be acted on accordingly.Not left to a Twitter button being operated to alert the server.There is a difference between abuse and illegality but sadly i doubt if many Tweeters will consider this in the heat of the moment.
If a Tweeter feels they have a valid case to get the police involved there are tried and trusted ways to go about it.indeed a few people have been successfully prosecuted using this method over the last 18 months.Anyway from what i can see Twitter is self policing.For every Troll aiming threats/abuse there are usually a hundred firing back in support.
Unfortunately the good side of twitter is not newsworthy.It's a truism that you can meet 99 perfectly nice people a day but it's the one arsehole met that you remember...
I hope Twitter does'nt cave into pressure from worldwide Governments to include this "Abuse button" To my mind it would be the first step to Twitter being regulated by an outside body...The death knell to to a phenomenon that has brightened up millions and millions of lives worldwide and afforded many a freedom
of self expression they never envisaged...
Tuesday 30 July 2013
Saturday 27 July 2013
Wolves fans...Let's get it on...
Excuse the laboured Marvin Gaye reference but that's what us Wolves fans need to do to help our young team lay down the foundations for the future success of the club...
Over the years us Wolves fans have gained,rightly or wrongly,quite a reputation.Both good and bad.We're seen as being very passionate but also alarmingly fickle.We turn up in our numbers despite the sort of slump that would have Chancellor Gideon Osborn reaching for the inhaler---On the back of two relegations our average gate is still over 22,000---However it's well known that at Molineux we can put pressure on our own team when things are'nt going well,this leads to Wolves players becoming nervous playing at home which usually leads to things not going well.A vicious circle that has cost us many points over the last two years.
Is it up to the players to lift the fans or visa versa?My feelings are that the fan/player relationship is symbiotic.Both need each other to perform for the good of that relationship.Ever been to a game with hardly any fans attending? Dead as a Dodo and boring as hell.
So we need to get behind our young revitalised team from the off---An away game thankfully,so less pressure on the youngsters---and then stay behind them through the bad times too.I'm confident this will happen.Many Wolves fans can see the club are doing what we've wanted for a while,get the young players involved.that being the case we need to keep our side of the bargain and back them to the hilt.Not just by turning up but by making as much noise as we can...
Every team that plays us will be wanting our scalp,especially at Molineux,so we need to make our own ground as intimidating as possible for them---I mean legally,in the stands---Instead of wilting under the pressure of expectation i want our young players to be inspired by us and us by them...
Wolves fans have always argued with each other.You get two or three together and the only thing they'd agree on is that Stevie Bull was ok and Jamie O'Hara should take a hike.But surely we can all agree that this young team need as much backing from us as we can give...
Season ticket sales are understandably down to about 10,000--Mine came in the post last week-- but i expect there to be about 16/18,000 for our opening home game.If we do well i can see our average gate being above 20,000 again.To be honest though i'd rather have 10/12,000 all making a terrific noise than 20,000 shop dummies just sitting there watching.Being a fan is not just a spectator sport,it's about participation too.A good loud crowd can enhance a game by 100% easily...
Considering what we've been through these last couple of years us Wolves fans have kept their sense of humour----Ignore the so called riot at the Burnley game.It was very small beer in the scheme of things---Basically all the Wolves fans have taken the Black Country default setting in bad times.We've taken the piss.If the Wolves fans are ripping the piss out of their own team the opposition fans have nowhere to go really...Note at Brighton where relegation was confirmed the home fans joined in with us instead of ripping into us...In this respect i have never been more proud to be a Wolves fan...
The one thing we fans have to do is accept that whilst we're in this division we're a division one club.What i mean is we should'nt be thinking we don't deserve to be here,we're better than this division etc.We are where we are because we deserve to be.We have no divine right.We have what we have and we need to get on with the job of trying to put ourselves in a better position.Others may see us as the "Big" club in this league but everyone involved with the club inc us fans should show a wee bit of humility.Some players thought we were better than we were last season---Henry,O'Hara.Maybe a few others---and never got to grips with the reality of the situation.I hope us fans don't fall into the same trap...
Wolves fans have a massive part to play this season,especially at Molineux.To use a well worn cliche we need to be the twelfth man,a very loud supportive one...
Wolves fans...Let's get it on...
Wednesday 24 July 2013
Time for the cubs to come of age...
Wolves manager Kenny Jackett spoke a few weeks ago about how this could be the best time to be a young player at Wolves as all the club's youth will be given a chance to get into the first team squad.So far in the five friendlies played---Unbeaten----he's been as good as his word by giving all the young Wolves cubs a decent run out...There are eleven home produced players in the squad of twenty six with a further five bought for the future.The future,it seems,has arrived sooner than anyone envisaged...
No matter which team you support every fan wants to see their own players come through the ranks to hold down a first team place and become a star,inevitably to be sold to a bigger richer club.It's almost a badge of honour.There could be a few games in the coming season where nine or ten of the team are home produced...
This is not a situation borne out of long term forward thinking by the club however,it's one borne out of necessity.Double relegation has forced us to cut back drastically on wages and get rid of the high earners at Wolves.Normally having to ditch your "star" players is the death knell for a club but as these so called "stars" are directly responsible for us dropping like a stone these last two years all Wolves fans are happy to see them go as soon as possible...So not being able to afford,or attract,the type of players needed to revive the clubs fortunes we've looked inward to our own...
We have a saying in Britain "Every cloud has a silver lining" The darkest of clouds that's hung over Molineux these last two seasons could indeed have the brightest of silver linings in the shape of new boss KJ given carte blanche to fill his team with young vibrant ambitious players,many of whom come from our own youth academy.I am already getting excited for the future of Wolves.Hopefully all those that run the club have learnt valuable lessons these last few years...
Arguably if we had stayed up last season the young players would never have got their chance and many would have drifted off without ever getting close to Wolves first team.But now they are in a position to make the most of their situation.There will be those that fail of course and will need to be replaced but also there will be players who come through that will become legends at Wolves...At least they're being given a fair crack of the whip.Now it's up to them...
Some have been expected to sparkle for a long time.Players like Danny Batth and Zeli Ismail have been receiving rave reviews for a while now.Ismail was once described by a former youth coach as potentially the first £100M footballer.Talk about putting undue pressure on one so young! If Batth continues his progress then i can see him as a future captain of Wolves...
There will also be players that come through who are virtually unknown even by Wolves fans.Jack Price has been doing well in the pre-season games apparently.A month ago you'd be hard pressed to find a Wolves fan who'd heard of him...
Another potential happy outcome of giving youth it's head will be the ability of the club to attract better youth players to the club.If we become known as a club that gives young players a fair chance of first team football we become a far more attractive proposition in the scramble to get the best youngsters available...A win win situation.
I get the feeling many Wolves fans are more confident about the future of the club than they were six weeks ago.But we will need to learn how to become more patient with the players.Young players will produce moment of magic but also are prone to more mistakes than their more experienced counterparts so we need to give them our full support and lay off their backs when things go wrong occasionally,as they surely will...
The new season begins in ten days---Sorry Prem fans,you're annual scramble for the glory of pursuing 4th place does'nt start till the 17th Aug---For my part i can't wait to see our new look team do it's stuff...
No matter which team you support every fan wants to see their own players come through the ranks to hold down a first team place and become a star,inevitably to be sold to a bigger richer club.It's almost a badge of honour.There could be a few games in the coming season where nine or ten of the team are home produced...
This is not a situation borne out of long term forward thinking by the club however,it's one borne out of necessity.Double relegation has forced us to cut back drastically on wages and get rid of the high earners at Wolves.Normally having to ditch your "star" players is the death knell for a club but as these so called "stars" are directly responsible for us dropping like a stone these last two years all Wolves fans are happy to see them go as soon as possible...So not being able to afford,or attract,the type of players needed to revive the clubs fortunes we've looked inward to our own...
We have a saying in Britain "Every cloud has a silver lining" The darkest of clouds that's hung over Molineux these last two seasons could indeed have the brightest of silver linings in the shape of new boss KJ given carte blanche to fill his team with young vibrant ambitious players,many of whom come from our own youth academy.I am already getting excited for the future of Wolves.Hopefully all those that run the club have learnt valuable lessons these last few years...
Arguably if we had stayed up last season the young players would never have got their chance and many would have drifted off without ever getting close to Wolves first team.But now they are in a position to make the most of their situation.There will be those that fail of course and will need to be replaced but also there will be players who come through that will become legends at Wolves...At least they're being given a fair crack of the whip.Now it's up to them...
Some have been expected to sparkle for a long time.Players like Danny Batth and Zeli Ismail have been receiving rave reviews for a while now.Ismail was once described by a former youth coach as potentially the first £100M footballer.Talk about putting undue pressure on one so young! If Batth continues his progress then i can see him as a future captain of Wolves...
There will also be players that come through who are virtually unknown even by Wolves fans.Jack Price has been doing well in the pre-season games apparently.A month ago you'd be hard pressed to find a Wolves fan who'd heard of him...
Another potential happy outcome of giving youth it's head will be the ability of the club to attract better youth players to the club.If we become known as a club that gives young players a fair chance of first team football we become a far more attractive proposition in the scramble to get the best youngsters available...A win win situation.
I get the feeling many Wolves fans are more confident about the future of the club than they were six weeks ago.But we will need to learn how to become more patient with the players.Young players will produce moment of magic but also are prone to more mistakes than their more experienced counterparts so we need to give them our full support and lay off their backs when things go wrong occasionally,as they surely will...
The new season begins in ten days---Sorry Prem fans,you're annual scramble for the glory of pursuing 4th place does'nt start till the 17th Aug---For my part i can't wait to see our new look team do it's stuff...
Saturday 13 July 2013
Cheat? The moral maze...
In yesterday's Ashes Cricket test at Nottingham there was an incident in which England's Stuart Broad clearly hit the ball which was caught at slip by Australian captain Michael Clarke.He was clearly out but the umpire did'nt give the correct decision for some reason probably only known to himself.So Broad stayed at the crease and continued with his innings...This has created quite a storm in the world of Cricket.
Many who don't follow Cricket would'nt really see what the problem is.They would point out that the Umpire made a complete hash of his job in this instant and Broad got lucky.As you were,carry on...
However cricket has this unwritten rule of etiquette called "Walking" in which the batsman basically gives himself out before waiting for the umpire's decision.Indeed earlier in the day English batsman Bairstow did just that when he was out...But in truth it's rare that any batsman does this these days.Infact it's rare that many batsman has ever done so in the whole history of the game.One of the most famous players ever to play the game,WG Grace, famously refused to leave the crease even when given out by the umpire early in his innings saying he'd stay because the crowd had come to see him not the umpire...Lords,the famous old ground which is the cricket equivalent to Wembley has a set of iron gates named in his honour...
So to my mind Broad did'nt cheat,he just took advantage of a bad decision.Apparently to some folks eyes it was against the "Spirit of the game" A nebulous term at best.If the spirit of the game was all prevailing there would'nt be the need for officials to oversee that the rules of the game are being adhered to surely? The only sports i know that are basically self regulating are Golf & Snooker...
This incident has changed my mind a little bit though,especially with regards to Football...If i back Broad,which i do,how can i then condemn players such as Suarez or Bale for diving to gain a penalty? They are,after all,just trying to take advantage of a referee's decision in the same way Broad did.This is further complicated by most sports fans being notoriously one eyed hypocrites when it comes to their own teams.If a player clearly dives to gain a penalty against my team i will be up in arms shouting "Cheat".If a Wolves player does the same i will keep quiet with a knowing wink to my fellow Wolves fans...
So what is cheating? The Broad incident and footballers diving seem to be spur of the moment choices made by the players rather than any pre-ordained regime of blatantly trying to cheat the sport.Like say Lance Armstrong did for years and many athletes have, and continue to do so, taking performance enhancing drugs to gain an advantage and beat their opponents.Christ it was government policy in the old Eastern Bloc!
No doubt Broad will be nudged by the MCC to issue an apology of some sort for not holding up the "Spirit of the game" whilst taking dogs abuse from every Aussie whenever he takes the field---Is sledging against the spirit of the game or just so called "Banter"?---Then it will go down in the history of the game as an "Unsavoury incident" Along with all the other ones.Just check out You-Tube to see plenty of "Unsavoury incidents" that have littered the sport over the years.
Having nailed my colours to the Broad mast i now have to be consistent in my judgment of what is cheating but as i am a one eyed sporting hypocrite i'll probably go ape whenever an opponent does the same against my team...
Many who don't follow Cricket would'nt really see what the problem is.They would point out that the Umpire made a complete hash of his job in this instant and Broad got lucky.As you were,carry on...
However cricket has this unwritten rule of etiquette called "Walking" in which the batsman basically gives himself out before waiting for the umpire's decision.Indeed earlier in the day English batsman Bairstow did just that when he was out...But in truth it's rare that any batsman does this these days.Infact it's rare that many batsman has ever done so in the whole history of the game.One of the most famous players ever to play the game,WG Grace, famously refused to leave the crease even when given out by the umpire early in his innings saying he'd stay because the crowd had come to see him not the umpire...Lords,the famous old ground which is the cricket equivalent to Wembley has a set of iron gates named in his honour...
So to my mind Broad did'nt cheat,he just took advantage of a bad decision.Apparently to some folks eyes it was against the "Spirit of the game" A nebulous term at best.If the spirit of the game was all prevailing there would'nt be the need for officials to oversee that the rules of the game are being adhered to surely? The only sports i know that are basically self regulating are Golf & Snooker...
This incident has changed my mind a little bit though,especially with regards to Football...If i back Broad,which i do,how can i then condemn players such as Suarez or Bale for diving to gain a penalty? They are,after all,just trying to take advantage of a referee's decision in the same way Broad did.This is further complicated by most sports fans being notoriously one eyed hypocrites when it comes to their own teams.If a player clearly dives to gain a penalty against my team i will be up in arms shouting "Cheat".If a Wolves player does the same i will keep quiet with a knowing wink to my fellow Wolves fans...
So what is cheating? The Broad incident and footballers diving seem to be spur of the moment choices made by the players rather than any pre-ordained regime of blatantly trying to cheat the sport.Like say Lance Armstrong did for years and many athletes have, and continue to do so, taking performance enhancing drugs to gain an advantage and beat their opponents.Christ it was government policy in the old Eastern Bloc!
No doubt Broad will be nudged by the MCC to issue an apology of some sort for not holding up the "Spirit of the game" whilst taking dogs abuse from every Aussie whenever he takes the field---Is sledging against the spirit of the game or just so called "Banter"?---Then it will go down in the history of the game as an "Unsavoury incident" Along with all the other ones.Just check out You-Tube to see plenty of "Unsavoury incidents" that have littered the sport over the years.
Having nailed my colours to the Broad mast i now have to be consistent in my judgment of what is cheating but as i am a one eyed sporting hypocrite i'll probably go ape whenever an opponent does the same against my team...
Monday 8 July 2013
This Sporting Life...
Great Britain has long been seen as the home of the plucky loser in the sporting world.Gallant but ultimately doomed to failure.Dammit we invented most of the sport played worldwide but until recently the rest of the sporting planet pitched up and beat us laughingly easily...Not any more.
The one thing we've always done well at is putting on a good show so that these foreign ne'er-do-well's can come over here to show us how the game should be played with barely a backward glance towards the dashed hopes and torn up betting slips of an entire nation.Ungrateful bastards...The other thing we do better than anyone else is support.Witness any international sporting event in which a GB team(or it's constituent parts) is participating,especially abroad,and our fans are there in numbers.It's easy to pitch up to support your chosen team when winning but the British fan has been doing so for years of very slim pickings indeed.This takes both dedicated loyalty bordering on the psychotic combined with the masochistic glee of a politician in a gimp mask...All those years of blind faith are now being repaid.And how...
Yesterday's Wimbledon win by Andy Murray finally put to bed the annual counting up of how many years it's been since a male British winner of the event---77 years incidentally,well 1 day now to be precise---Murray has long divided folk on these islands,some see him as dour---A stupid accusation,but even if he is his Tennis certainly is'nt.Top level sport is a serious business.If you want clowns jumping through hoops go watch the circus----He's even being accused by some of not being properly British but only Donald Trump would agree with this ridiculous argument.
A few years ago Murray looked like he may continue the great British tradition of being a talent unencumbered by meaningful titles but something changed about two years ago.That change was hiring Ivan Lendl as coach.Lendl is not known as a man of demonstrative outward signs of emotion but he knows Tennis.His knowledge and calmness are just what Murray needs when things are going badly on the court.The last thing a player needs when looking up to the coach for guidance is someone flapping around like a seagull caught up in a fishing net...
However it's not just Tennis where we're having unprecedented sporting success.Rugby,Athletics,Cricket,Cycling,Golf,Swimming & Boxing have all seen Great British triumphs recently...And boy are we loving it...I'm also pretty sure we're top of the tree in Bog Snorkelling too...
There is of course always some failure and it's a wonderfully British irony that this failure concerns our national game,Football...
Where all the other sports have embraced modern thinking and caught up with the rest of the world our football---England,Scotland,Wales & Northern Ireland---Has lagged behind denying that they have it wrong whilst labouring as pesky foreign teams run rings round us...
Still never mind that,as Brits we should revel in our current sporting prowess because all sports fans know that sporting success is circular and the good times don't last forever...
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