Tweeting about a poor performance without tagging a player would be just like talking to your mates in the bar after the game.
Tagging the player in a message like that would be like going up to the player in the bar and telling them to their face. And only an arsehole would do that.
Absolutely 100% right. Couldn’t agree with that more. Sorry for the long post but just had to get this off my chest.
For the record, I think tagging a player in any social media post is rude and stupid and I’ve called people out on this in the past. It is 100% wrong. Don’t do it!
However, some of the reaction from people in the last few days has been ridiculous and dare I say it a bit hypocritical. Some people have been getting slated on twitter for commenting on their opinion of what they perceive as Matt Pope’s lack of reaction to the Mosey hit. They might have been right and they might have been wrong about what he did or didn’t do. That’s their opinion.
But they deliberately didnt didn’t tag the player in. They also commented on his performances this year compared to last year. It was a twitter conversation among a group of people.
Things like the Bownsy incident last year are bang out of order. The idiot that went up to him and did that to him and his partner needs banning. Also the treatment of Reddick last season was ridiculous. For example, I saw tweets to some of the owners tagging Reddick in saying he should be let go ASAP. Pathetic really and I’m so delighted that he has risen above it, stayed and been voted coaches player of the year and proved again this season what a great player he is. I really hope he stays for a good few years.
Clearly the above are examples of incorrect and poor behaviour which are uncalled for, disrespectful to the players and bring the reputation of us as fans down (and unfortunately there seem to be many more similar examples).
But, as Steve King pointed out above, we are all entitled to critique, banter and complaints as long as it’s not about character. Couldn’t agree more.
Genuine question here, where do we draw the line? What’s the difference between a thread of conversation on twitter, posts on a forum or a discussion amongst friends in the bar?
Let’s actually look at what happened. Mosey gets hit and knocked out. Ulmer is the player who responds and fights and gets a beating for his efforts (Layne is a legend in my eyes). This group of fans start at thread posting there views on it and suddenly everyone starts calling them bullies.
I’ve also seen loads and loads of posts from both our fans and opposition fans about why was it Layne that fought and not one of our tough / big guys? Who knows, I wasn’t there.
Lots of people have asked why didn’t Pope react instantly as he was the big guy on the ice? Again who knows. It’s a fair question to ask and I’m sure will be a topic of conversation (amongst many others) in the bar amongst friends and with different groups.
Are we genuinely now saying that we can’t make any negative comments or ask questions on the performance or actions about any player? It seems a little bit like people are getting on their high horses at times when I know for a fact the same people have their own negative opinions on different things / players and are happy to voice them (quite colourfully at times) in the bar. They are quite happy to like or comment on cryptic sounding posts from their friends that obviously relate to the same thing without naming a player (notice I didn’t say tag a player).
Unless a player is tagged or does a search specifically for their name (or comes on a forum to read the posts) they aren’t going to see that tweet / post.
So I’m sat here genuinely wondering what is the rule?
1 -Can we have an opinion on the performance or a perceived lack of action by a player?
2 - can We communicate verbally or in a text message that opinion with friends and family?
3 - can We post that opinion / view on a forum?
4 - can We tweet that opinion / view on twitter / Facebook?
5 - a can We do 3&4 and mention the players name but not directly tag him into it?
If a fan has a view they can articulate on a players performance, actions, effort and reactions (or lack of) I don’t see any problem with them doing any of the 5 questions above.
Where it is out of line is where Steve is spot on. When it becomes a comment on character or it becomes personal then that’s where it goes too far.
The danger is I suppose we seem to have a lot of fans that can’t seem to differentiate between what is fair and what is stepping over the line. Not sure how you police that.
For the record, I quite like Matt Pope. At times he is phenomenal, scores important goals, can be a great physical presence and winds up the opposition a treat. Has he been as good or consistent this year as compared to last? For me he hasn’t and that’s disappointing. I was chuffed we had re-signed him. I was hoping however he would have kicked on and improved again like Joey Martin seems to every year. Maybe I’m expecting too much. Sometimes he looks a world beater, some times I don’t know he’s on the ice.
As for the incident on the weekend? I wasn’t there and didn’t see it live. I’ve only seen the clips. Personally, if he was the only big guy on the ice, I would have hoped for a reaction from him. It shouldn’t have been for Layne to do that by having to come off the bench and get a 3 match ban.
As for him personally?, I don’t know him. He seems a nice guy and his tweets on crypto currencies are interesting and his videos are funny.
Oh And can we please stop with the referring to other supporters as ‘fans’ in inverted commas just because they have a different viewpoint to yours. It might be something I’ve done in the past and on reflection seeing so many people doing it now makes me feel embarrassed. You’re making yourselves look stupid. If they genuinely are out of order or have said something you vehemently disagree with, try engaging with them, find out why they are thinking like they are, try to understand their point of view and try educating them in a positive manner. Tweeting or posting random posts for the benefit of your followers from your soap box comes across as sanctimonious, cliquey and condescending. Some of these people may well have been fans longer than you.
And we shouldn’t be arguing amongst ourselves. We should be slating the Squeelers, Chavs and Panties! We’re on track to hopefully be the first team to do the 3peat!!!!!
So in summary , Bullying and tagging players into tweets ........ no,
opinion on players performance and actions on the ice ....... yes.
Sorry for the long post.