Since the boos echoed out at the MCG aimed at Lance Franklin on Sunday evening, the reaction has been astronomical, to say the least.
Opinions have been divided and disagreements on the matter have materialised.
There are two camps here, and both share valid points. On one side, you have people supportive of the booing by claiming it’s part of the game and a way of putting off the best players.
Across the opposite fence, this act is viewed as unnecessary, especially toward a champion of the game in which Buddy certainly falls into that category, as well as fears that this incident could potentially lead to a similar outcome to that of Adam Goodes.
To those who are arguing that nothing has been proven as to why the Collingwood fans booed Buddy on Sunday, why has it become such a massive news headline?
Countless players receive jeers and boos not just in the AFL, but in many other sports. Why is it now and why is it this certain incident that has got so many people angry and up in arms?
The media carry a huge weight of responsibility when it comes to covering these types of stories. What’s most frustrating is how they seem to portray certain types of events compared to others. Why wasn’t there this much uproar regarding the booing directed at Jason Horne-Francis and Jack Ginnivan?
That’s not to suggest that those separate incidents weren’t covered by the media, but this situation surrounding Buddy has reached an entirely different level of scrutiny.
Lance Franklin of the Swans. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
To those who are pointing to racism being a factor in the booing because of Franklin’s indigenous background, again, nothing has been proven. Racism is disgusting and has no place in sports, let alone in society. Anyone hurling racist abuse should be dealt with accordingly.
In a statement released by the Swans on Monday, there was one sentence that caught the attention of many.
“We have been here before and sadly it seems some people have not learned from the past,” part of the statement read.
This related to the incident involving the booing aimed at Swans legend Adam Goodes, who was racially vilified by a young Collingwood supporter in the stands. That was a dark stain on the AFL and we don’t want to see that revolting behaviour occur in the future.
There are some people who are genuinely fearful of experiencing a similar incident again, and that’s fair enough. Perhaps, they could be concerned about Collingwood’s history and recent controversies surrounding racism.
Adam Goodes (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Sunday was the first time in a decade that the Pies faced the Swans at the MCG, with their last meeting at the ground involving Adam Goodes receiving racial abuse from a young Collingwood fan, as stated before. Héritier Lumumba, Leon Davis, and Andrew Krakouer have all detailed their own experiences of racial misconduct at the club during their playing days.
We live in a world now where awareness of mental health is growing by the day. Professional athletes are only human. In Horne-Francis and Ginnivan’s case, I have more sympathy towards them due to both being so young and inexperienced.
So, if it’s just about booing, hasn’t that aspect of the game always been around since the AFL’s inception? Umpires cop the most heat, constantly abused and booed each game for some decisions which fans find unfair and questionable.
Professional players of most sports must understand the potential environment in which they are walking into. Supporters are passionate about their respective clubs, and rightfully so.
Especially being the home crowd, they want to create the most hostile and intimidating atmosphere possible with the aim of making the opposition uncomfortable.
Collingwood supporters were respectful during the minute of silence held before their Anzac Day clash a few weeks ago in front of a sold-out ‘G.
There’s the odd example of poor crowd behaviour from time to time associated with every club. In the Pies’ case, the general perception is that they booed Buddy because he’s such an incredible athlete. It would make less sense to boo a player like James Rowbottom or Robbie Fox, right?
Does the high volume of booing bother Franklin at all? Sydney coach John Longmire confirmed yesterday that the 36-year-old was detached from what transpired throughout the match.
“He didn’t hear it during the game, he just wants to get onto the footy side of things, that’s what he’s focused on,” he said.
Taking everything into account, are the levels of booing excessive at times? Yes. Does that mean booing should be wiped out of the game completely? No, so long as the line isn’t crossed with examples being racism and personal abuse which will never be tolerated.
Whichever side of the fence you sit on for this debate, it’s difficult to come to a resolution where balance is found, let alone arguing that someone is right or wrong.
Ray Williams
Roar Rookie
Hi Gyfox, I applaud you for holding onto your membership for that period :thumbup: You’re from my era :happy: The crowd certainly has changed over the past 50-60+ years and without a doubt respect towards others has been bent beyond recognition. My concern is that any mention of Goodes (in my mind) was unnecessary. Whether the crowd is booing louder, longer or with more intensity does not change the fact that it is booing, we have many more people in the grounds today as opposed to 30, 40 or 50 years back so this is bound to have an impact. Passion runs deep in the black and white. There will always be a ‘bad’ element in the crowd that misbehave, but I’m sure the current regulations and security can handle that. Unfortunately we cannot change society. If only it was that simple to bring back respect. I know of many old Collingwood people that no longer physically attend games, if the AFL were to try and ban booing the grounds will empty quite fast. It’s a difficult thing to enforce, I can’t see a security person dragging out someone for being loud. I won’t talk about Eddie or Politicians, as far as I am concerned they are not worth listening too these days. Cheers, and let’s keep cheering on the Mighty Magpies for the rest of the year.
Gyfox
Roar Rookie
Ray - I have been a C/wood member for almost 40 years, so not anti-Maggies. I mentioned Goodes & Eddie because the change in booing started then. Even tonight on Footy Classified, Eddie criticised the latest booing, but still tried to excuse it. As for politicians - it has become common for them to abuse the opposition (of either stripe) & thus to abuse those we disagree with has become acceptable in our society. It was not like this in footy or politics 50 years ago.
Christian Montegan
Roar Pro
Can't argue with that xeno. I'm currently watching the NBA between the Nuggets-Suns and there's been booing going on since the opening tip-off. It creates colour and atmosphere while most of all making it entertaining, which has not crossed any boundaries for me. Soccer is on another planet in terms of hostile atmospheres, and again, it just adds to the spectacle.
xeno
Roar Rookie
Spot on Christian, agree 100%. Booing because a player is indigenous or on racial bias is obviously not on, but booing anybody else for whatever reason other than race/colour/religion, is and always has been part of the game, including other sports like soccer, where it can be a lot worse. Otherwise it'll end up like tennis where we'll hear 'quite please' over the speakers....
Christian Montegan
Roar Pro
That last point you raise is a good one. There were suggestions thrown out there to clap opposing players to show them respect. When it’s all said and done it’s just a game, but in the heat of battle of course you want to win at all costs. Creating a hostile environment is a duty of the home crowd to make to help push their players over the line in my view
13th Man
Roar Rookie
Booing is apart of sport.. particularly booing players that your team has history against or players that left your club. I’m not exactly sure why Buddy was booed by Collingwood fans, I suspect it had something to do with being one of the players to rough up Nick Daicos early in the game. Was it a bit unsavoury? Perhaps? But I haven’t heard any concerns about all the Ginnivan booing last year that was equally as unsavoury. Is booing a star of the game not ok but booing a run of the mill player is? I think people trying to make any connections to Adam Goodes or racially motivated booing are a long way off, this was a one off circumstance not a consistent incessant boo week in week out. I’d also put it to people that the fans of the home team have a duty to their team to make the ground a hostile place for opposition teams to come, that’s certainly the case in European sports. Granted there certainly is a line on crowd behaviour, swearing, abuse and anything personal or unsavoury is not on, but do we want fans to act like robots and politely clap opposing players now? I think there is room in our game for a harmless boo, it adds a bit of theatre.
Maxy
Roar Rookie
I am on the respect side of both player and fan side.Boooing is part of sport.I have no problem the crowd doing it to put a player off a set shot at goal etc.The umpires cop it all the time but its a hard game to umpire with all the ticky tack frees these days so boooing some bad umpire decisions will never go away and adds to the atmosphere of the game so I think the umpires understand that.They will make mistakes like players do.The continual boooing when a player gets the ball is just plain stupid to me,especially if unwarranted so this is where they could show some respect to other fans around them .Keep the Booooos to the pantomine side of footy and let the players enjoy doing what they do to give us the reason we go and watch them..which is to enjoy watching them
Ray Williams
Roar Rookie
The booing won’t stop, it’s been around since dawn. Better a boo then jumping the fence in a riot crazed crowd.
Ray Williams
Roar Rookie
Gyfox, I grew up next door to Vic Park (just so you know I’m a Collingwood guy) Not sure why you mention Goodes, Eddie or politicians here? I believe the booing at Buddy Franklin was supposed to put him off his game, he was wearing an opposition jumper!
Christian Montegan
Roar Pro
I think it has the potential to really turn a lot of fans away if the AFL treat it the same as the dissent rule (they’ve since changed it), where if any word at all was said it would result in a 50m penalty. If the AFL do want to stamp booing out of the game altogether, how would they do it? Clubs would eventually go broke after being fined for every game
Christian Montegan
Roar Pro
Good points. Do you think it’s a cultural thing where Australians want to show a certain amount of respect, whereas around other parts of the world they thrive on that sort of atmosphere and intimidation?
Ray Williams
Roar Rookie
Christian, imo booing is here to stay and if the AFL attempt to reduce or stop it then it will just make people stay home, all in all it’s pretty harmless stuff and the majority of the time the players are so focused on their game they don’t hear all of the rubbish being spilled out in the crowd. For goodness sake, imagine a ‘quiet’ game.
Dingo
Roar Rookie
Spot on Gyfox. Even if the reason for booing was the treatment of Daicos it’s dangerous ground for Collingwood. After the problems they had with Lumumber and previous racist claims by opponents you would imagine Collingwood would be wary who they target. We were also promised they would “Do better”. Surely the AFL world has learnt from Winmar, Goodes and many other Indigenous players who have been vilified. Collingwood now have a terrific captain, coach and CEO. They all need to show strength now before this gets out of hand and a potential flag winning team is remembered for the wrong reasons.
Gyfox
Roar Rookie
Booing at the footy is far worse than I ever remember. Supporters would boo a player who left their team when he came up across them next team. But not those who followed other teams. A champion would only be booed if he did a dirty act. Why have both these examples started with Collingwood fans? Have they learnt nothing from the disgusting Goodes episode? Is it Eddie's behaviour that still keeps popping up? Or does it reflect our society now, which seems to be more nasty., starting with our politicians. Whatever the cause, we have to show that footy fans are better than this.