Yesterday McGuire wrote one of the most bizarre columns I’ve ever seen for The Herald Sun, starting out wacky and finishing with an even more baffling crescendo.
Taking it upon himself to dissect Harry Kewell’s on-again, off-again move to the A-League, McGuire railed against Kewell’s supposed salary demands – without actually listing what those demands are – before naturally reverting to his favourite topic, why the AFL is the best thing in the universe.
“Soccer lives on a screw-you basis. AFL survives on goodwill,” surmised our Eddie, and I can honestly say after more than 1000 words of this kind of prose, I still had no idea what he was talking about.
That’s the beauty of an opinion column, I suppose.
An author can write whatever they choose, simply because their name appears at the top of the page.
A piece I wrote on Friday conjured plenty of debate, and most of it was critical of former Roar columnist and now ex-SBS journalist Jesse Fink.
Clearly a polarising figure, many of those who logged on did so to disparage Fink.
But in doing so they missed what I thought was the crux of the argument.
Namely, that the editorial policies of a predominantly public-funded broadcaster were allegedly compromised by an editorial supervisor who not only introduced a key consultant of Australia’s bid team to FFA chairman Frank Lowy, but who is also a serving member of FIFA’s Ethics Committee.
It was a clear conflict of interest, or so I thought, but most of those who responded chose to overlook those circumstances in favour of criticising Fink.
Recently I read an article about climate change sceptics, in which a couple of researchers argued most people don’t believe in the science behind climate change in part because they are heavily influenced by the media.
“For example, if you read or hear opinions from climate change sceptics about 50 percent of the time then this could lead to a bias in the perception of the balance of evidence in your mind – that is, that the science is only about 50 per cent certain,” psychologist Dr Ben Newell said.
The equation got me thinking about how quick football fans are to dismiss negative coverage of the sport, often blaming bad press on some kind of Machiavellian scheme cooked up by those with vested interests in keeping football in the doldrums.
I wonder if the sort of nonsense Eddie McGuire came up with yesterday has a doubly negative effect on football fans.
Not only is it harmful to the environment – think about the carbon footprint created just for the hard-copy version of that guff – but it also helps condition football fans to overlook important problems in favour of criticising those who try to bring such problems to their attention.
I don’t mean for this to sound like a complaint – my job is simply to kick-start a debate, and generally I don’t mind what fans talk about so long as they’re talking about football.
But I can’t help but wonder if in our rush to condemn negativity, we’re not turning a blind eye to serious issues which bear more measured analysis.
For the sake of transparency, I would like to see the major players involved talk openly about their roles in Australia’s failed World Cup bid.
Because failure to do so affords critics the ammunition they need to label the exercise nothing more than a grubby waste of money.
But hey, that’s just my opinion.
floppybottom
Guest
can't stop apologising for your good buddy fink eh tuckerman?
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Can you point out the bits of Eddie's article where Mike has provided a compelling counter-argument? I can't see it. Apart from the final line, which we all agree is over the top and clearly intended as a bit of a gee up, is there anything in Eddie's article that is factually wrong?
The Cattery
Roar Guru
No Kasey, I didn't bring it up, I responded to a poster (who I presume to be a soccer fan) who said: "... it would make more sense if Mr Maguire spent more time commenting on....crowd figures. " ( the implication being that there's something wrong with them) - why did that need to be mentioned in the first place?
Jon
Guest
Without a youth competition the A-Leauge would need to introduce a reserve-grade competition or significantly increase the number of players allowed in each teams squad so as to give depth to that squad. A youth squad is the cheaper option for clubs and allows young players exposurer on a national stage. If your question is 'should youth squads be allowed to play in state-league competitions'? then it is a matter of opinion as to 'if' there are benifits for the competition and the players. From what I have seen, there are multiple benifits of young players participating in the state league and the league standard has not suffered.
gawa
Guest
Yes you are correct, that one sentence is a nasty dig at football whereas a lot of the other stuff written about Harry Kewell is either factually incorrect or plain wrong as Mike the writer of the lead article in this thread stated.
Kasey
Guest
generally speaking? except that you just did it yourself, 6 posts above...its like the only way Footy fans feel they can ' win' an argument. Its like the "shut-up sokkah. we rule you don't" finality bomb. It gets rather tiresome, like the children of Melbourne victory who respond to any taunt from Adelaide United fans with six-nil!
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Generally speaking, it's soccer fans who bring it up first - why??? Anyway, it has some relevance, we are talking about the methods by which competitions determine the salaries of players. In the AFL, with a salary cap almost five times that of the A-League, that's only possible via immense interest, including memberships and attendances. The AFL tries to ensure financial responsibility, that clubs operate within revenue restraints. Eddie is pointing out that Mandic is operating on the basis that the clubs have zero revenue restraints - that's the whole point.
Roger
Guest
Good point. The whole sorry saga has become a complete circus. I did enjoy Sepp Blatter's remarks before the Presidential vote around corruption and a possible re-vote for the 2022 bid, only for him to say ‘what are you talking about?’ after he won the Presidency.
Redb
Roar Guru
Well your really not kicking goals: :) 1. Barrack for the magpie swine. 2. Dislike the head of the magpie swine.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@ Kasey .... pure GOLD!
Kasey
Guest
Just like we have Godwin’s Law for the rest of the internet, I propose the following: Coughlins Law #1 “As a Football discussion on http://www.TheRoar.com.au grows longer, the probability of a Fan of the AFL bringing up the extremely high attendances, memberships or TV ratings of the clubs in AFL approaches 1.” contributions or proposed amendments to the above hypotheis are welcomed;)
The Cattery
Roar Guru
gawa yes, there is one sentence that is out of keeping with the remainder of the article.
gawa
Guest
Maybe you went all sensitive and never actually read my original comment clearly, I never said crowds had dropped but merely said that they appeared to have peaked and that also the quality of football being played in the AFL is at a terribly poor level at present. The main reason for crowds not dropping more is the gerrymandering of fixtures which as I have mentioned before is also highly ethically dubious as it gives teams an advantage over others simpl.y to benefit crowd figures. It is simply sad to see that the Australian tradition of mainstream media writing ( even if it only one sentence of incredible spite, mistruth, propaganda and lies) this time in the name of Mr Maguire such complete anti football sentiment for public consumption. He is simply protecting his chosen sports own main patch in Melbourne because he knows full well that if Kewell does sign for eithyer Sydney or Melbourne that will further cement some of the next generation of sports fans to be A League fans and that this could affect the future of some of the already struggling Victorian AFL clubs. People like him do not write euch drivel without a motive.
nordozzz
Roar Guru
blog from Al-Jazeera overnight, yes i know the one from Qatar. But they do have a point ... western media is rather silent on this one ... Qatar didn't buy the World Cup - they sold it, by Paul Rhys http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2011/07/11/qatar-didnt-buy-world-cup-they-sold-it Phaedra Al Majid's retraction of her claims that Qatar paid bribes to land the 2022 World Cup has not been met with the same media uproar that greeted her initial unsubstantiated allegations. I suspect that cynicism persists – or that many, mainly British, reporters have been too vehement in their condemnation of Qatar to make a climbdown easy to accomplish. [and it closes with] Many will remain unhappy, but it's one World Cup – and I'm sure Australia will get its turn. Unless real damning evidence comes out, just enjoy your football, and save judgement for 11 years' time. Or spend the next decade being angry.
Football United
Guest
watch you generalisation redb. i'm a collingwood fan and i can't stand him.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
As I said, regular Roar contributor, The Wookie, keeps tabs on these sorts of statistics. Why? What's the problem?
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@ The Cattery ... Melbourne….36,693 (UP 3,300) Nth melb…..29,951 (UP 650) Port Adel….36,330 (UP 5,000) Wst Bulldogs.32,005 (DOWN 2,800) Come on ... did you really type this with a straight face? ;-)
The Cattery
Roar Guru
gawa I'm not sure if it's really relevant, but since you have raised the subject, these are the final membership numbers for AFL clubs for 2011, where I could find them, courtesy of Roar regular, The Wookie: Final Membership Numbers for 2011 (from site information only) Adelaide.....N/A Brisbane.....22,163 (DOWN 6,900) Carlton......43,214 (UP 6,100) Collingwood..71,271 (UP 14,500) Essendon.....50,271 (UP 9,800) Fremantle....N/A Geelong......38,933 (DOWN 2,400) Gold Coast...12,952 (N/A) Hawthorn.....56,084 (UP 2,100) Melbourne....36,693 (UP 3,300) Nth melb.....29,951 (UP 650) Port Adel....36,330 (UP 5,000) Richmond.....47,575 (UP 12,300) St Kilda.....39,045 (DOWN 1,500) Sydney.......N/A West Coast...N/A Wst Bulldogs.32,005 (DOWN 2,800) This is also the Wookie's analysis of AFL attendances to date: Round 1-16 2011 Agg: 4,482,534 (DOWN 271,907) 2011 Round Averages: 280,158 (DOWN 16,995) 2011 Crowd Averages: 36,149 (124 Games) (DOWN 995) Projected 2011 Totl: 6,723,792 (UP 228,112) So the 2011 crowd average (per game) is down by almost 1,000. Given the entry of new team, Gold Coast, the first ever regional team outside of Victoria, for the average to drop by only 1,000 is an excellent result. A crowd average of 36,149 per game is still around the 4th best in world terms across all sports. Aggregate attendances for the year, with eleven more games, are set for a new record at a touch over 6.7 million, i.e those eleven additional games will average about 20,700 each, approximately the Suns' home crowd average, which isn't too shabby).
The Cattery
Roar Guru
True, Uruguay was once a powerhouse in world soccer - but that's a very long time ago. In the year that Uruguay won their first world cup at home, the USA finished equal 3rd. IN the same year that Uruguay made it two from two attempts, an amateur USA team actually defeated England in the first round. In more modern times, Uruguay has been nothing special. In between the 1970 and 2010 World cups, they made four of nine world cups, for a grand record of one win, 6 draws and 7 losses. Let's not forget, for much of that period, half of the South American confederation actually qualified, so once you reserve two places for Brazil and Argentina, the likes of Uruguay, Columbia, Chile, Paraguay and Peru fought over the other three spots (and in some of those years, any two or three of them would be pretty ordinary). The fact that Uruguay could only make four of nine world cups says a lot.
gawa
Guest
As a journalist of such average esteem, it would make more sense if Mr Maguire spent more time commenting on why it appears that the AFL has peaked in terms of on field performance and also crowd figures. Although maybe this column is in some way his way of ensuring that a few of its readers continue to see football as a bad thing in some shape or form that should be avoided at all costs. Screw us all.