Round 22 Adam Goodes

[The Recruit]

I am not a fan of Adam Goodes at all but I feel like we have an opportunity to do the right thing as a club round 22 and stop the Goodes booing even if it just for that week.....the way he plays has always irritated me but the history we have with Winmar and I feel we have always been 'reasonable' supporters.....plus the rubbish from other supporters toward Milne for so long should create some empathy...I hope that our club is better than the others....

[Con Gorozidis]

I am not a fan of Adam Goodes at all but I feel like we have an opportunity to do the right thing as a club round 22 and stop the Goodes booing even if it just for that week.....the way he plays has always irritated me but the history we have with Winmar and I feel we have always been 'reasonable' supporters.....plus the rubbish from other supporters toward Milne for so long should create some empathy...I hope that our club is better than the others....

Good call. It really isn't that hard NOT to boo someone. Even lazy people can just NOT do something. Just take a sip of a beer or a bite of a pie instead.

Everytime Goodesy gets it you need to take a sip of your mid strength.

Look, people can boo who they want and there is no law against it,but in this case, it just seems pointless. What do people expect to gain from booing Goodes? Is it some kind of act of reprisal? Is it a deterrent for any other future indigenous players who might consider speaking out? Really what is the point of it? Best just to not do it and get on with the usual game. If a swan hits a saint behind play or the umpies cheat us - by all means boo!

[SuperDuper]

i always thought booing was for 2 things:
1. a player just left your club and is now the opposition... booing is mandatory for a season or 2
Unless of course there is good will during the club change, e.g. I never saw a need to boo Dal santo
2. A player does somthing on the field on a particular day, they can be booed for the rest of the game

Now, Goodes does not fit in to 1.
So, unless he gives someone a backhander behind play, then there is just no justification in booing

The whole thing smells of racism to me... one mob starts booing and then every mob starts booing.. .each individual claims they are not booing for racist reasons.. but the fact is, racism is a mob mentality

[Griggsy]

People boo him because he reacted. Nothing to do with racism, but bully/troll mentality. Acknowledge their efforts and it comes back more each time.

I don't like goodes either, does that make me racist?
Was Ralph Clarke being bashed endlessly by folks on this forum racist?
The Eagles have had some incredible indigenous players who were loved by them and the league but because they boo goodes it's racist?

[Toy Saint]

Australians don't like racial groups using the sporting field to pursue their political agenda's. That's why soccer struggled for so long.

Goodes has chosen to agressively confront most Australians on the footy field. Most Australians resent this.

[Enrico_Misso]

Don’t fall for the rubbish being written by Carro and the Sydney hierarchy.
Booing aboriginals for being aboriginal stopped in the 80’s except for Collingwood supporters who stopped a “little later”.
Supporters today are respectful and in awe of geniuses like Cyril.
But supporters today like supporters of old won’t put up with w@nkers which is the best way to describe Goodes.

Take your pick…
He is dirty – he pioneered the knee slide where he slides into a pack with players on the ground aiming for their ribs.
He is also well known for his “elbows”.
He is a whinger – at every piece of play he puts his arm up appealing for non existent frees and mouthing off (watch any game).
He is a “protected species” – there are a large number of documented instances where he has got off for misdemeanors that would see any other player suspended
He is precious – I don’t think that girl he nationally humiliated had any racist intention calling him an ape. (Eddie is another story).
He got made Australian of the year (can anyone explain why other than a piece of tokenism?) and then refers to our national day as “Invasion day” and then wonders why people dislike him!

[plugger66]

Don’t fall for the rubbish being written by Carro and the Sydney hierarchy.
Booing aboriginals for being aboriginal stopped in the 80’s except for Collingwood supporters who stopped a “little later”.
Supporters today are respectful and in awe of geniuses like Cyril.
But supporters today like supporters of old won’t put up with w@nkers which is the best way to describe Goodes.

Take your pick…
He is dirty – he pioneered the knee slide where he slides into a pack with players on the ground aiming for their ribs.
He is also well known for his “elbows”.
He is a whinger – at every piece of play he puts his arm up appealing for non existent frees and mouthing off (watch any game).
He is a “protected species” – there are a large number of documented instances where he has got off for misdemeanors that would see any other player suspended
He is precious – I don’t think that girl he nationally humiliated had any racist intention calling him an ape. (Eddie is another story).
He got made Australian of the year (can anyone explain why other than a piece of tokenism?) and then refers to our national day as “Invasion day” and then wonders why people dislike him!

I expect you will boo Sam Mitchell after his year this year? And im sure the girl didn't have any racist intentions but she used a racist remark and im also sure he didn't know she was 13. Form is all I will say.

Anyway I think it would be great if we could at least boo less than most clubs have. I don't boo at all. I don't get it. Can someone explain what a boo even is?

[fingers]

Good OP - I really hope we can be better.

[Old Mate]

Goodes getting booed has a racist undertone. Those booing likely don't even realise they are racists it's that engrained in them.

Society doesn't like the fact an aboriginal is so outspoken about his culture and that racism still exists in society. Society demands Goodes 'get back in his box', where aboriginals belong. How dare Goodes be the person he is.

A Caucasian preaching similar views would be seen as a hero.

Yes - agree with the OP

[jonesy]

Depends on the day whether he touches anyone's balls, punches someone in the back behind play, slides his knees into someone lying on the ground, or stages for multiple frees on game day , all of which he has gotten away with. If he does this then I expect him to get boo'd all day.

[SENsei]

I don't think the booing is limited to one specific issue. I think there are some racial elements, some personality traits, the way he plays the game, the staging for free kicks and then I just reckon that there are plenty of sheep who now think it's funny to continue the trend.

We cheer when we like someone and we cheer for our team. I think silence for the opposition speaks volumes rather than booing anyway. Look at the atmosphere interstate when an interstate team kicks a goal. That silence is eery. I've never really understood booing....although I do save some choice words for some players. Matthew Lloyd copped my wrath for his diving antics, for example.

I agree with the OP and hope that Saints fans can rise above and show the class that other supporters seem to be lacking.

[SemperFidelis]

There are two ripping articles on this today. One by Richard Hinds in the Hun, and one by our very own Francis Leach. I'll save you clicking. If you think it's your godgiven right to boo him in round 22, don't read on. Or do read on. Maybe you'll change your mind.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/f ... 7459143994

"THE most pathetic thing about the fools who reflexively boo Adam Goodes is that they are either unable or unwilling to tell you why they do it.

They all claim their childish jeering is not racism. Oh no. Fortunately we’ve evolved sufficiently as a society they know if they admitted the truth — that the genesis of the booing was related to the colour of Goodes’s skin — they would be shamed.

Instead the booers stutter and stumble as they try to justify standing with the red-faced mob screaming at a man of quiet dignity who has had the temerity to call out racism, speak his mind and respond to those who taunt him.

“It’s because Goodes is a dirty player.”

Yes, Goodes has flexed his muscles now and then. But he has also twice been voted the FAIREST and best player in the AFL.

And if all “dirty“ players are treated so, why isn’t the boo brigade scouring the tribunal results looking for next week’s victim?

“Wayne Carey, Nathan Buckley and other great players were booed.”

But never like this. With Carey and Buckley the jeering would subside after the sixth goal or the 30th possession. With Goodes it is unrelenting. As if it will only stop if he falls to his knees and begs forgiveness for some unspoken crime.

“Goodes humiliated a poor young girl by singling her out at a Collingwood game.”

This is, of course, beyond irony. Justifying your ridicule of Goodes on the basis he supposedly ridiculed someone who called him an ape. You can hear the same voices urging Rosa Parks to just sit down in the back of the bus because they might be late for work.

“As Australian of the Year he talked about ‘My people’ not Australia. That’s divisive!”

Fancy that. An indigenous Australian using an exalted platform to highlight issues that specifically relate to his people, not everyone. Unless, that is, the rates of infant mortality, deaths in custody and other ills that afflict the indigenous community particularly have risen dramatically in leafy suburbia.

“His spear throwing celebration was intimidating and, besides, others who make gestures are fined.”

You can only imagine the terror that hundreds of people sitting amid a crowd of like-minded fans yelling abuse at a footballer from behind a fence must feel when the subject of their taunts hurls an imaginary spear.

Goodes’s dance was performed during the Indigenous Round as a celebration of pride in the face of ritual abuse. You seriously equate that to a recalcitrant player flipping the bird as he leaves the field? Sadly, some do.

As for banning aggressive expressions of native pride? The Wallabies-All Blacks game will seem hollow without the haka.

“Goodes could incite a race war.”

This is not a response from booing fans. It is the most facile interpretation of Lewis Jetta replicating Goodes’s dance as a way of supporting his teammate in the face of more repulsive jeering in Perth.

A second indigenous player throws an imaginary spear and a syndicated columnist would have us believe there will soon be dot-painted tanks rolling down suburban streets? Next week: How Aborigines are using taxpayer money to buy nuclear weapons!

“We’re sick of being told how to act.”

Even if you are being asked to act with simple respect? No doubt you also encourage your children to boo their teachers in the classroom.

One voice spoke sense. AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said: “The booing of Adam is wearing people down and Lewis did this to stand up for Adam. Enough is enough.”

Still you fear this will only throw fuel on the fire. Emboldened by the anonymity of the mob the fools will keep booing. Even if they can’t really tell you why."

----

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/comment/adam-g ... z3h8TT5rHS

"What a redneck wonderland footy has become.
Every weekend, somewhere in Australia, Adam Goodes steps out onto a footy field.
Simultaneously, an army of gutless drongos get ready to express their contempt for him, hiding anonymously in the choir of clowns who boo his every step.
Hey, bigots, don't get me wrong.
I defend your right to express your unfathomable sense of outrage and injustice. It must burn long and deep. Probably over the spiralling price of a pie at the footy or the quality of the rubbish beer your force yourself to drink whilst acting like obnoxious school kids.
Your worries and concerns must weigh heavily on your poor benighted souls. So knock yourselves out. Boo away. At least have the courage though to admit what it is.
Racism.
Naked, loud, contemptible, pathetic and unashamed.
None of this crap about Goodes staging for free kicks, being a "sniper" or sweet talking the umpires is the reason for the booing.
Don't use football as shield for your prejudice.
Adam Goodes has made it quite clear he hears those boos as a statement on his race and culture.
Blokes like Goodes tend to have a finely tuned radar for racism. When you have been living with it all your life you learn to speak it's many ugly languages.
So when he tells you what it means to him and you choose to boo, you're confirming to him and every other indigenous footballer what you're really about.
What you don't like and can't abide is that Adam Goodes won't be the Aboriginal footballer you want him to be.
He refuses to simply be the smiling face of AFL Indigenous Round where the game's self congratulation goes into over drive and Aboriginal people are celebrated in a set of proscribed rituals that say nothing about the true state of affairs and everything about our need to be absolved from responsibility.
A smoking ceremony here. A ceremonial dance there. A welcome to country and then goodbye, onto the next costume party.
No, Goodes wants to look you in the eye and talk about who we really are and where we're really at. Goodes wants to confront racism and its uncomfortable truths. In the stands you sit in, the mines you work in, the boardrooms you meet in, the homes you live in.
He won't simply be the Aboriginal man you want him to be.
And with your symphony of boos you've made it quite clear where you stand.
The fact that you fuel your own sense of outrage at Goodes and Lewis Jetta's "war dance" shows how feeble minded and self righteous you are.
Where's your sense of outrage at the appalling gap in life expectancy for indigenous people?
The massive over representation of indigenous people in jail?
The continuing scourge of deaths in custody?
Your silence is deafening on those issues. Your outrage reserved for a man who dances on the footy field.
And whilst you're booing ever louder and ever longer you can try drown out the truth of these things.
You can't. And you won't.
Because Adam Goodes' legacy will endure long after your hollow howls ring out.
And that must hurt the most."

[perfectionist]

Thanks SemperFidelis for posting the full texts, especially from the HUN, which I was unlikely to read otherwise. Good on the HUN for publishing this, especially given the pronouncements of their "convicted racist", Bolt.

[satchmo]

I am not a fan of Adam Goodes at all but I feel like we have an opportunity to do the right thing as a club round 22 and stop the Goodes booing even if it just for that week.....the way he plays has always irritated me but the history we have with Winmar and I feel we have always been 'reasonable' supporters.....plus the rubbish from other supporters toward Milne for so long should create some empathy...I hope that our club is better than the others....

Troy Schwarze says hi!

[Dis Believer]

Goodes getting booed has a racist undertone. Those booing likely don't even realise they are racists it's that engrained in them.

Society doesn't like the fact an aboriginal is so outspoken about his culture and that racism still exists in society. Society demands Goodes 'get back in his box', where aboriginals belong. How dare Goodes be the person he is.

A Caucasian preaching similar views would be seen as a hero.

Yes - agree with the OP

Right - thanks for pointing out people's motivations to them - clearly all the herd of whitey's are too dumb to even know why they do something or how they feel - perhaps you can march them all off to "education" centres to be "retrained".

The fact is that a significant number of people think that Adam Goodes is a first class whining flog - black, white or purple. He was awarded the exalted position of Australian of the Year and rather than use it as a platform to try and bring all Australians closer together as a community, he has chosen to berate every white Australian at every opportunity (despite being more than 50% white himself) for purported crimes of two centuries ago. He then chose to "fight racism" by bullying a 13 year old child.

He has done nothing more than stand on the shoulders of giants like Nicky Winmar and Michael Long and then mewl like a kitten. The vast majority of our community are not racist and I am yet to meet anyone that believes that aboriginals belong "in their place". However, most people I have met do subscribe to Dr Martin Luther Kings assertion that a man should be judged by the content of his character, not the colour of his skin.

Tell me, if Goodes were white, would there be an issue with him being booed by everyone for being a flog? I think a large part of the issue now is that the general public are reacting to being told how they should think. I heard the ridiculous statement from some talking head yesterday that "if you boo Adam Goodes you are racist". I tend to think that it is exactly that kind of bulls*** statement that is fueling the public's behaviour. Aussies have a reasonably good bulls*** sensor, and I think that sensor is detecting something.

[satchmo]

Goodes getting booed has a racist undertone. Those booing likely don't even realise they are racists it's that engrained in them.

Society doesn't like the fact an aboriginal is so outspoken about his culture and that racism still exists in society. Society demands Goodes 'get back in his box', where aboriginals belong. How dare Goodes be the person he is.

A Caucasian preaching similar views would be seen as a hero.

Yes - agree with the OP

Right - thanks for pointing out people's motivations to them - clearly all the herd of whitey's are too dumb to even know why they do something or how they feel - perhaps you can march them all off to "education" centres to be "retrained".

The fact is that a significant number of people think that Adam Goodes is a first class whining flog - black, white or purple. He was awarded the exalted position of Australian of the Year and rather than use it as a platform to try and bring all Australians closer together as a community, he has chosen to berate every white Australian at every opportunity (despite being more than 50% white himself) for purported crimes of two centuries ago. He then chose to "fight racism" by bullying a 13 year old child.

He has done nothing more than stand on the shoulders of giants like Nicky Winmar and Michael Long and then mewl like a kitten. The vast majority of our community are not racist and I am yet to meet anyone that believes that aboriginals belong "in their place". However, most people I have met do subscribe to Dr Martin Luther Kings assertion that a man should be judged by the content of his character, not the colour of his skin.

Tell me, if Goodes were white, would there be an issue with him being booed by everyone for being a flog? I think a large part of the issue now is that the general public are reacting to being told how they should think. I heard the ridiculous statement from some talking head yesterday that "if you boo Adam Goodes you are racist". I tend to think that it is exactly that kind of bulls*** statement that is fueling the public's behaviour. Aussies have a reasonably good bulls*** sensor, and I think that sensor is detecting something.

That has been my experience as well.

I am hesitant to judge masses of people that I don't know, because those type of generalisations are unlikely to be founded on anything other than a wild guess.

I also think Sensei's point about sheep mentality is on the mark too. People love to join in.

[The Fireman]

I like so many Aboriginal players and never booed them. As someone said earlier maybe there is some resentment over Adams aggressive approach towards Aboriginal identity and reconciliation etc...I tend to think this plays a major roll.
Winmar lifted his jumper , that statement said so much and changed so many things...then he moved on..he didn't overplay his hand so to speak. Goodes was awarded Australian of the year and proceeded to say Australia was racist internationally. He could have turned it down. added to that his staging and dirty play all adds up to a rod that he has made for his own back.

I used to like Goodes so I guess I'm not racist.

Boo him ? I really couldn't be bothered.

[stevie]

Goodes started the sliding and whinging after he won his second medal.

[Bunk_Moreland]

I am not a fan of Adam Goodes at all but I feel like we have an opportunity to do the right thing as a club round 22 and stop the Goodes booing even if it just for that week.....the way he plays has always irritated me but the history we have with Winmar and I feel we have always been 'reasonable' supporters.....plus the rubbish from other supporters toward Milne for so long should create some empathy...I hope that our club is better than the others....

Troy Schwarze says hi!

So does bj

[Bunk_Moreland]

I like so many Aboriginal players and never booed them. As someone said earlier maybe there is some resentment over Adams aggressive approach towards Aboriginal identity and reconciliation etc...I tend to think this plays a major roll.
Winmar lifted his jumper , that statement said so much and changed so many things...then he moved on..he didn't overplay his hand so to speak. Goodes was awarded Australian of the year and proceeded to say Australia was racist internationally. He could have turned it down. added to that his staging and dirty play all adds up to a rod that he has made for his own back.

I used to like Goodes so I guess I'm not racist.

Boo him ? I really couldn't be bothered.

Excellent post.

Why even bother with a big headed ordinary person.

I wont boo Goodes, but I wont be unhappy to see the back of his devisive use of our game for his political ends.

[RODOS]

There have always been players that just get booed no matter what. Riewoldt used to get booed a lot even up to a few years ago (until everyone accepted him for the champion he is).

Although the booing of adam goodes could have started from that indiscriminate booing of a good opposition player, it's moved into a whole other cluster F*** of reasons.

Racism
Bullying
Booing him because he's a good player
Because everyone else is
Because he's a cheap player/sniper
etc

It's ugly, it's the pack mentality on show, to the point it can't be ignored. I can't pretend I like Goodes, but I've been trained (rightfully so) to dislike almost any player that isn't a saint. But for the people that straight out hate him and dislike his political agenda, I think there's a lack of empathy there for indigenous people in general. They've been through a hell of a lot, and are still doing so today.

Oh and in regards to the term australia day. If my people were on the receiving end of genocide i'd probably struggle not to rain on parades and call it invasion day also.

[The Fireman]

who else in the history of the game has had to have a special meeting with the players association and the AFL because he is being booed ????

[mullet]

who else in the history of the game has had to have a special meeting with the players association and the AFL because he is being booed ????

Not sure if Jobe got one when he was booed all game a couple of years ago, by I think the same crowd.

[saintspremiers]

Don’t fall for the rubbish being written by Carro and the Sydney hierarchy.
Booing aboriginals for being aboriginal stopped in the 80’s except for Collingwood supporters who stopped a “little later”.
Supporters today are respectful and in awe of geniuses like Cyril.
But supporters today like supporters of old won’t put up with w@nkers which is the best way to describe Goodes.

Take your pick…
He is dirty – he pioneered the knee slide where he slides into a pack with players on the ground aiming for their ribs.
He is also well known for his “elbows”.
He is a whinger – at every piece of play he puts his arm up appealing for non existent frees and mouthing off (watch any game).
He is a “protected species” – there are a large number of documented instances where he has got off for misdemeanors that would see any other player suspended
He is precious – I don’t think that girl he nationally humiliated had any racist intention calling him an ape. (Eddie is another story).
He got made Australian of the year (can anyone explain why other than a piece of tokenism?) and then refers to our national day as “Invasion day” and then wonders why people dislike him!

Well said EM.

If people want to boo Goodes so be it, he deserves it.

[Life Long Saint]

And im sure the girl didn't have any racist intentions but she used a racist remark and im also sure he didn't know she was 13.

He knew how old she was the next day at the packed press conference when he said "Racism has a face. It's a 13-year-old girl."
The worst part about that statement is that it was considered and deliberate. Very, very poor form from Goodes and the act of a total bully!
Instead of education, he chose ridicule.

Personally, I don't nor would boo him...Booing would indicate acknowledgement of a threat or some feeling toward him. I just feel nothing for the man. Nothing for his actions on and off the footy field.