I have to agree with H. The two examples I gave are not the same. The one was an on the spot reaction to vile abuse perpetrated by a Frenchman. The other was a premeditated, orchestrated act of violence by a whole team of Brits and Irish. If I were looking at the two cases as an impartial observer, I would think that the premeditated violence was the worse case, yet only H has had the courage to voice an opinion. Why is this ? Perhaps it is because the 1974 Lions are legends and heroes in the UK(perhaps not in the eyes of Stoop and Scunner ); they stood up to the bullies in the South African team that the refs down under did nothing about and faint hearts do not want to criticize our heroes.
H. To address your other point about the level of abuse. I give you a link. That level of insult would do it for me.
http://kottke.org/06/07/the-zidane-headbutt/Stoop
Quote: “Tell me what words I have put into anyone's mouth?” I think the following quote qualifies: “and calling someone an 'Italian Git' is racist by the standards of the people who took Terry to trial.”
I find your other comments simplistic and insulting . I condone violence in well specified situations, I agree with what Britain did in 1939 . Don’t you ? The bullies in football are the cheats who consistently foul because they can get away with it and you have said nothing about them. Can we assume, therefore, that you condone their actions ?
Scunner
Quote: "I get it Tom, the authorities don't address it and the affected players don't use enough violence when they address it.” Either you don’t get it , or you are being disingenuous.
Quote: “Do you ever find that everyone is walking in the wrong direction apart from you Tom...” Ask the rugby community in Britain about the “99” call, I don’t think you will find that I am alone. I often disagree with people on the forum but, despite what you may think, that is not ‘everyone’.
Quote "I quite clearly said children's heroes Tom, not my heroes. Whatever they do that might be wrong, they will be heroes to young kids. It doesn't matter one jot whether you and I are "talking about the same people"". I couldn’t disagree more. If the bullies who consistently cheat are sent off and leave their team in the lurch, they will soon lose any tag of hero. Especially if the ridiculous TV pundits stop glorifying cheating by giving terms like “professional foul” and “it’s a man’s game” to acts of blatant cheating and violence.
