An open apology to North Queensland Fury FC

ren agree with your last point.

sorry but what is so wrong about promoting grass roots sport- that is what auskick is after all, when i was going through primary school the soccer wa people use too send out coaches to run clinics where we were given your standard cards, water bottles, and even a shirt- for nothing. no one complained it was great we got to play more sport (read do less school work) and on top of it all- The parents were happy because we were playing sport, getting more exercise. so just to reiterate- what is wrong with promoting any sport or any physical activity at a grass roots level, (this thread really belongs n a discussion of the crawford report.

Re staying on topic - has any Roar article with over 100 posts ever managed to stay on topic? On a lighter note, in my most recent article on the Roar: http://www.theroar.com.au/2009/11/29/the-best-in-the-world-returns-to-canberra/ where I talk of Lauren Jackson's return to the Canberra Capitals (and unceremoniously refer to Capitals coach, Carrie Graf, as Steffie Graf!) - I've had the unfortunate situation where 20 of 22 posts ended up being about a completely different topic (in effect, whether NZers exaggerate their sporting prowess or not, or something similar). Even though I had every right to be perturbed - was I? Hell no - I was thankful someone was putting up a post on my thread!! Can I add, in both cases, here and the linked thread above, the divergent discussion was actually of some interest, even if way off-topic - and I would at least separate that from out and out trolling where zero attempt is made to add anything of interest.

Towser saw the post and link, and commented already. I occasionally get the moderator treatment - I honestly think that: 1. it's a bug; or 2. they have some bot automatically kicking in the moderator if it stumbles on something, but like many bots, it gets confused easily.

Pippinu On a football matter have put up a link to an Australian newspaper article regarding Melbourne Victory. on the "Super Club" article. Not up yet because of the "moderator/edit" business. As a matter of interest & I direct this once again to the moderators of this site how is it that every second post is blocked for 10 minutes nowadays & yet you allow such unadulterated, uninformed,off the topic garbage to develop as has just occurred with this article. Its the reason I dropped off this site before. I just dont get it. If you want adult informed sports banter as you profess then block any such posts that may inflame, or sway into other areas that can be interpreted as non sports related.

Mick it's a bit like the Fury on the park - they can keep our attention for so long. (only kidding!!!) I already wrote my favourable comments about the Fury above - what more is there to say??

Come on guys, this thread was supposed to be about the Fury. How the hell did it get into a slanging match between the AFL and Football? I think its time to close the comments section. Too far.

crass commercialism out of schools (and while we’re at it: kid’s TV, etc, etc) hmmm......but, it's crass commercialism that allows mass participation sports to get out there......whilst not recieving govt sports funding towards opex as is only directed at the relatively low commercial value Olympic sports......might be worth running a review of, dontcha reckon??

Fair enough - as AndyRoo says above - certain people can become over-zealous (referring to this particular rep - I didn't hear what he had to say, you did, so accept you may have been left gobsmacked). I accept the point made by a few (Towser, Mid, Andyroo, yourself) - that it's not a bad idea to keep crass commercialism out of schools (and while we're at it: kid's TV, etc, etc)

Thanks Pip. I appreciate your clarification, and I can see how my initial comments could be interpreted that way. It was really more of an aside than anything else and conflagrated into a code war. My feeling is, with this all cooling down, that a particularly zealous AFL rep overstepped the mark that day. I have to say he did a great pitch. The AFL is lucky to have him. And I have no problem with the backpack idea, or with free tickets to games, or encouraging kids to play. Like you I think the rego costs for football/soccer are very high and I fork every year. My issue was simply with the way the rep used the $10 as a hook at the signoff of his presentation. These are very young kids - 5 to 11 - and the buzz it created was immediate and clearly audible. Poor old NQ Fury. This was meant to be a thread where we could justifiably extol their virtues. Back to the football.

I don’t think it’s much of a stretch that some of the people on the ground aren’t quite as politically savy as Andrew Demetriou and were talking up the $10 you get like RealF described. Probably an ex Victorian or worse a recent convert (the converted are always the most fanatical) and faced with an assembly of kids who seemed quite disinterested overstepped the line. Time to move on.

ANdyRoo - I saw that, the $150K to the Tutu childrens hospital, that'll be coming out of the $45 million provided by the Fed Govt......personally I'd much rather it be handed over as a sign of Aust Govt support/friendship rather than the FFA big noting themselves with other peoples money. perhaps that's just me........but the FFA look like the kid that stole the golden goose.

from Shepparton.

A furphy is a watercart.

Realf I've only just returned - so you need not sweat the typo. I still believe, wittingly or unwittingly, you made it sound like $10 was being handed over upon a kid registering there and then at the school - and that is the bit that I could not believe from the start - and as it transpired - it's not the way it was working. This was simply publicising a registration process for a sport, which would have to occur with parental consent - and I doubt very much that a new bank account starter kit would be enough to sway anyone registering who was not interested in the game. I know I woudln't. My 8 yo son can wrangle $100 out of me at one visit to a shopping centre without a problem - if I were to tell him that he could have a new bank account with $10 in it - his eyes would glaze over. I doubt he has ever even seen a $10 bill in his life. He wouldn't have the patience to fill in the application form - nor would I.

That's a furphy, Redb,and you know it.

"What I do not respect is ANYONE OF ANY CODE blatantly pitching dollar incentives to kids to play a sport" Really so when folks talk up the extra money to be made in one sport over another and how 10-12 years old will pick that sport becuase of the riches overseas - you agree that's pretty tacky also I'd imagine. The $10 voucher has been taken out of context deliberately as a bribe. We've established its part of a promotion of NAB. Please ensure all Socceroos and A League sponsors are withdrawn immediately just in case any of their products are mentioned on soccer brochures, products, in all schools in Australia.

Oh dear, typo. How embarrassing; Of course the sentence should read : "Anyone who has worked or known me would tell you that I am simply NOT the kind of person who would make up a story like this." You must have enjoyed that one, Pip. No doubt you will have interpreted it as a Freudian slip.

boohoo.

Pippinu I cannot stress enough how much I take exception to your persistent questioning of my integrity simply because I rendered an account of something that occurred at my son's primary school. Anyone who has worked or known me would tell you that I am simply the kind of person who would make up a story like this. What on earth do you think my motivation for "creating a falsehood" could possibly be? I have long respected your posts, but you have really overstepped the line in persistently casting aspertions on my truthfulness. The $10, which is indeed a considerable sum for a primary school student was hit heavily as the sign off sweetener by the AFL rep in his presentation. I stress that I was not alone in feeling that he had crossed a line of appropriateness in the way he presented the money blatantly as sugar coating. Midflielder: At the time I and others discussed formalising a complaint about the tenor and content of the AFL reps presentation because we thought it was highly inappropriate in a primary school. I wish wholeheartedly now that I had done so, but unfortunately a complaint would have to have been made at the time. It is too late now. My intention on this thread was not to start a blogger firestorm. I believe that in his presentation the AFL rep was ethically inappropriate. This is NOT about the AFL code. I am not a fan of the game but I respect the code, its athletes, its fans and the formidable organisation that runs it. What I do not respect is ANYONE OF ANY CODE blatantly pitching dollar incentives to kids to play a sport.