Comments on: I Am A Blogger, You Probably Are Not, But We Can All Piss Off Players

By: Ian

Ian — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 23:06:48 +0000

I saw this in the paper version of the Graun this morning but, what with it being 8.00 in the morning, the full idiocy of it didn’t really sink in at the time. The Guardian Sports Blog has always called the people that comment on it “bloggers”, and I have been similarly irked that a media company would make such a fundamental mistake – if, as Jonathan points out, it is a mistake. The video that you linked to above, however, gives much of the game away. The print media despises, fears and – to a surprising extent – simply doesn’t understand that the rules of the game have changed forever.

By: Darbs

Darbs — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:40:59 +0000

Another good piece Tom.

By: Tom Dunmore

Tom Dunmore — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 04:56:03 +0000

Jay, good call, I remember reading about that in When Saturday Comes. Definitely a low point, though I think it’s only the public embarrassment that comes from incident like that (and Zamora’s) that prevents more of that kind of action.

Jonathan, it’s interesting to consider whether it was deliberate or not, and I’m unsure which would be worse….

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 02:23:48 +0000

Bravo Tom, good piece and a good point made. Like you say the difference between bloggers and those commenting on blogs or posting in forums should be pretty clear to your average journalist. The Guardian article smacks to me of a desperate attempt to spice up a story by knowingly overdoing the headline.

‘How a few clowns on a forum got the better of hot-headed Bobby Zamora’ is less encompassing and far less convincing a premise for an article than it is if you throw in the blanket of all bloggers, no matter how unfair.

By: Jay Hipps

Jay Hipps — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 02:05:41 +0000

Tom, another example of online comments being blown out of proportion is the lawsuit that the directors of Sheffield Wednesday filed several years ago against some of their fans for comments made on a message board. (No one serving on the team’s board currently, I will add, was involved in this.) Certainly a low point in front office relations with fans where the Internet was involved.

By: DemonJuice

DemonJuice — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 02:05:16 +0000

The people who post on the FulhamFC.com forum are the biggest bunch of morons I’ve ever come across on the internet, and that’s saying something. When they actually take a break from insulting anybody not from England that has the gall to support “their” club from afar, they advocate the most ridiculous lineups and formations one could fathom. I long ago gave up trying to have thoughtful, reasoned conversations on that messageboard. Zamora would do well to ignore that lot.

By: Tom Dunmore

Tom Dunmore — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 01:57:43 +0000

Well that would be the sensible thing to do, but I actually think a majority of sportsmen and sportswomen do read the papers and visit fan sites; they just don’t usually let on that they do, in public. In private, the curiosity of them and their loved ones and friends who tip them off usually gets the better of them, from what I’ve observed.

By: Gary

Gary — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 01:56:22 +0000

I think he should follow the lead of the vast majority of pro sportsmen/women who dont even touch the papers or visit fan sites.

Nuff said.