[neilt0]

The douchebag quotient in footballers is no different from that of the rest of society, in my experience.

They're often not the sharpest knives in the box, but also not necessarily douchebags. Even the very rich ones. I've only met very rich ones, though. And only a few dozen.

[chrysostom]

But Neil, that's not true.

[neilt0]

But Neil, that's not true.

The douchebag quotient for celebs on the telly is way higher, but that's because being on telly means you are either already a massive narcissist, or become one because everyone's kissing your arse. Footballers have fans from the opposing team shouting abuse at them every week, so may be less affected.

There was a study done on this:

http://www.amazon.com/Mirror-Effect-Cel ... B002NSLMUE

Dr. "sell-out" Drew is on the cover, but another (Psych) Doctor, Mark Young did the donkey work.

[chrysostom]

Your evidence (both personal & academic) supports the idea that a dozen or so notoriously unpleasant footballers may not wholly represent the 500 first team footballers in the Premiership.

[neilt0]

Your evidence (both personal & academic) supports the idea that a dozen or so notoriously unpleasant footballers may not wholly represent the 500 first team footballers in the Premiership.

Are you watching "Being Liverpool"? It's worth it, just for the comedy value.

[MadTheEddos]

This shows the absurdity of claiming to know an 'athlete's' personal life to any further extent than how they're portrayed in the media.

No it doesn't. Where did I claim that?
Regarding how athletes are portrayed in the media, the footballers I'm getting at do a damn good job of showing themselves in a bad light, without any media "help". It's possible to come to a perfectly fair judgement on what kind of character someone is without knowing them personally, as long as you know enough facts and info about them - there's nothing absurd about that.

That doesn't preclude the notion of F1 drivers being horrible in their private lives - they're just better at concealing these things, which is easier when there isn't a culture of creating scandal around you sport's stars. Not to mention that all the F1 drivers are from privileged backgrounds which means they'll have been brought up knowing how to conceal their perversions and will naturally shy away from the great unwashed.

Media scrutiny of F1 is as intense as it is on any sport, and they're constantly searching for evidence of scandal. If a driver was "horrible" in their private life, it would be pretty big news. And it's silly to argue that they're all secretly perverted and just good at hiding it because they're from privileged backgrounds - social background and upbringing has no bearing on intelligence, which is what the ability to "conceal perversions" depends on.

I think you're showing how ready you are to judge F1, without knowing about the sport or how it works.

To be fair, you can see how these people behave in public, which is what I think MadTheEddos was alluding to, and isn't the same as assuming you understand a person's personality just because they are on the telly. And those people have behaved pretty bloody badly in public.

Exactly, spot on.

[chrysostom]

It's possible to come to a perfectly fair judgement on what kind of character someone is without knowing them personally, as long as you know enough facts and info about them - there's nothing absurd about that.

That's not really true though, as demonstrated by countless people saying that a significant proportion of celebs etc. are very different in real life as compared to how they're portrayed on TV. I think it's naive to think you can judge someone's character based on TV interviews and newspaper stories.

And it's silly to argue that they're all secretly perverted and just good at hiding it because they're from privileged backgrounds - social background and upbringing has no bearing on intelligence, which is what the ability to "conceal perversions" depends on.

I think you're showing how ready you are to judge F1, without knowing about the sport or how it works.

Frustrating when someone bandies around an uninformed opinion that criticises everyone in one sport based on hearsay and preconceptions, isn't it?

I think the sarcasm may have been lost here, for the record - I've nothing against F1 drivers or the sport, I just think it's as likely as footballers that they're twats, for the reasons Neil outlined.

social background and upbringing has no bearing on intelligence

I think there's definitely a mild correlation between the two.

[neilt0]

Who's the bigger douche -- Schumey or John Terry? I've met John Terry...

[Tunster]

Who's the bigger douche -- Schumey or John Terry? I've met John Terry...

Terry by far. At Schumy knows he can be a douche. Terry is just a lame excuse to be a human being. No respect for others in general and a big fat racist. The organisations surrounding football don't help the cause by being lame in their responses to such comments he made. Slap a mega fine, ban him for 6 - 12 months and move on. No-one else would dare to do the same thing. I feel like that comment should be in the footy thread. Eeeek.

[chrysostom]

Legally, having something SO disproportionate (when other offences of a similar nature are taken into account) would be ridiculous - and it would help foster a culture of blaming the abuse of racism (as has been the case).

Whilst racist abuse is abhorrent, giving a 6 month ban for it would be grossly out of line with previous punishment, and without a doubt forcing a club to pay 6-12 months wages (at the top level that can be anything between 500k & £7.8m) for a player they can't play for an isolated incident of racist abuse would be overturned by the court of arbitration for sport. Because of the large figures involved (and the fact the players themselves are a product & an employee) if you're going to impose a heavy punishment on a club - it must be legally justified.

I don't think John Terry is a racist. The dilution of that word fails to recognise the true hatred that real racist individuals have. He's just an unprofessional, foul mouthed idiot who decided to wind another player up using something grossly inappropriate.

Look into sentencing guidelines within the law when it comes to cases of abuse vs. racial abuse - the racially motivated ones do not hold punishments that are 3/4 times as much as their non-racially motivated counterparts, and that's correct (in my eyes). I'm just very bored of this racism in football thing - as John Barnes said yesterday, it's society itself that needs changing & football can't do that alone.

[a-moron]

HEY!!!! WHERE THE * ARE MY ELLIPSES?
YOU KNOW, THE PUNCTUATION USED TO INDICATE AN UNFINISHED THOUGHT!
I TYPED IT. I SAW IT. AND NOW IT'S GONE.
WHY THE * HAVE THEY BEEN REMOVED?

A 3 DAY RUNNING JOKE * RUINED.

[dimtimjim]

I feel your pain broseff...

[SAV1OUR]

Dom's tweet about Ceefax coming to an end. Brilliant.

[a-moron]

I feel your pain broseff...

Well all I really need to do is ... again but that's not the point. Somebody removed my post. Why the * would they do that?

[Nicola_Red]

Oh! I thought you had posted and then thought better of whatever you'd said, so edited it and left dots in its place (cos you can't submit an entirely blank post). That's a common strategy. So I deleted it. Please accept my apologies Badger, I completely missed your intention.

[dimtimjim]

No comment.

EDIT: Well, no non-offensive ones, anyway.

[a-moron]

Oh! I thought you had posted and then thought better of whatever you'd said, so edited it and left dots in its place (cos you can't submit an entirely blank post). That's a common strategy. So I deleted it. Please accept my apologies Badger, I completely missed your intention.

I've never ever seen anyone do that. Or is that because you tidy that shit up so quick I don't get the chance to see it?

[Nicola_Red]

Yes. That's why. You won't notice the absence of a post of nothingness.

[dimtimjim]

Just listening to some Biggie, quallity stuff...


EDIT: ^^ and that, my friends, was the 200,000th post in Ramble.

Wise words, as always.

[a-moron]

Yes. That's why. You won't notice the absence of a post of nothingness.

It wasn't nothingness though.
It was 3 wee dots.
1 dot. Yes I see the nothingness there.
3 wee dots = ellipses. An indicator for an unfinished thought.
As I've already stated.

[Nicola_Red]

And as I've already stated, it was an honest mistake and I'm sorry.

[MK Chris]

This illustrates very well one of a number of very good reasons why over-moderation is a bad idea...

[Nicola_Red]

I'm human and I make mistakes. I've immediately held my hands up and apologised both publicly and privately to Badger. If any of you have a problem with how I moderate, feel free to take it up with Mr Harris.

[The Deadly]

Well done for admitting that.

[a-moron]

Oh! I thought you had posted and then thought better of whatever you'd said,

Just noticed this. Made me lol.