Pies players should show support for Goodes

[CarringbushCigar]

As an 'Aussie' living overseas for some time, I meet many other foreigners on neutral ground.

The broader subject of the Aboriginal relationship with our country comes up from time to time. Its a national embarrassment. It clearly remains a stain on our world-wide reputation. And personally I can find nothing to defend it on the macro level.

Whether this is a race issue or not, its time to stop.
If Milney came out at the time, and said the crowd treatment is causing me grief, depression etc., I would have hoped 99% would have stopped.

Goodes has effectively done this. No matter what the reason, Adam Goodes does not deserve to go out of the game in this way. No matter what his methods, I can not see how anyone can argue that what he is attempting to do, is make this country a better place for all of us.

I call on those who are not comfortable with the booing to stand up and cheer for Adam. This is bullying. Its like the big kids constantly taunting the little kid at school.

If those of us at the games stand up and cheer, effectively drown out the booers, would we not be making a statement for our great club and this country that we are not supportive of bullies and racists?

Is this what we are about really?

It is not only Goodes that deserves this to stop - maybe we as a nation can walk taller wherever we go.

[schuey07]

[Pete 70]

Lot of good points here. My family immigrated from Europe in the 70s so I have some understanding of standing out.

The way I look at it is, he is a human being. I think his achievements outweigh the diving. I do not think it is appropriate to continue to boo him.

If at the SCG game Goodes is Booed, we will (as a club) be lumped in with the other clubs who the media has got stuck into. And then given we are Collingwood, the story will play out longer in the media (Didak will somehow get mentioned, Monkhurst certainly will), it will be another distraction. It is likely to motivate the Swans players. And I think is is uncool. Very good post Gloveman.

[Member 7167]

Same shit - different day.

I do not boo Goodes. I go to and watch footy as an interest and leisure activity. I want it to be a positive aspect of my life despite our teams effectiveness on the field to win games.

Goodes gets booed for a number of reasons. Some individuals are raciest to the core and others think he is just not a good bloke. I personally find Goodes's message to be divisive and I feel that he brings much of the adverse criticism upon himself. He certainly could have done things a lot better in the past. There is too much us and them in his message and I prefer to see everyone as just "US".

Now would be a good time for everybody to sit back, take a deep breath and have a good look at themselves. With a bit of luck the booing will stop, Goodes will pull his head in and be more inclusive in the future and we can all enjoy our selected sport and admire the skills of all the players including Adam Goodes.

Can't we just let it go and just enjoy the footy.

[schuey07]

[Dave The Man]

So everyone on here is a Racist?

[Piesnchess]

I would not care if Goodsey was black, pink, white, purple, orange, red, or yellow, if i did boo him, it would be because how he plays footy, and tries sneaky little cheap shots too get frees. Same as if i booed sniper Mitchell, hodge, cheat Lake, Duckwood, etc etc. Nothing to do with skin colour, its just footy related and thats it. Trouble is, adam should just ignore it, just give the dickheads who boo the finger, with a big smile on his face, thatd stir them up and make them look dills, if they are doing it for race reasons, then they are wankers and dropkicks. The more this gets blown out, the more the twits will boo him, ignore them after the finger and smile, and they are the ones who will look foolish for doing it. !

[i hate carlton]

I don't think Goodes is being booed because he is an aboriginal.

It's ludicrous.

He is a sook. Tony Locket was booed week in, and week out, and he never complained. i see players booed EVERY WEEK for all sorts of reasons. Goodes is booed because he is a stager. he always has been. As he complains he is being booed, more people boo him.

I booed the umpires on the weekend. I boo the opposition when they kick for goal. Or steal a free from us.

Goodes is a sook.

[SwansWay]

It's wrong for Andrew Pridham to make such a grand sweeping statement as to suggest the motives being purely racial behind the booing of several thousand people. I believe people seem to object to some of the ways Goodes conducts himself as a player and human being perhaps with the view that he has a tendency to grandstand. Sure, some of the taunts might be from less enlightened individuals but it's unfair to tar everybody with that brush.

That being said, I am not someone that ever boos at the footy, with the exception of a bad umpiring decision. I don't even boo the players I don't like because it's a bit oafish.

If this is causing him undue stress, then I feel badly for the guy. However it's difficult to police booing at the footy. Will a notification come up on the big screen announcing when the designated booing time should start and end? I'm sure abuse and rancour bothers many players but in this industry they're forced to develop a thick skin. There is no place for racism in footy but Goodes is far from the only indigenous player to be playing at the highest level and I don't believe this is happening to anybody else. He's a champion player and nobody can take that away from him and I hope he continues to be a positive role model to other people in the indigenous communities around Australia but there is such a thing as reverse discrimination. If he's being targeted because of his race then it's wrong and should not be tolerated but to suggest that if you boo Goodes that "you're a racist", is pretty unfair.

[Dangles]

It might be racism. It might not be. Better to err on the side of caution just in case and not boo.

[Wokko]

Nobody ever wants to answer the question that if it's racism then why are other Aboriginal players immune to this treatment? Jetta himself never got booed but I bet he will now. I don't know of any others who are routinely booed (Buddy maybe?). It comes down to being outspoken, being a flog, being good enough to be noticed and being arrogant.

Akermanis got booed, so did Buckley, Carey, Judd. Any player who moves clubs, etc. etc. Stop playing the race card and looking for things to be outraged about. If Goodes and all the other do-goodes just shut up about it then it'd fade away.

[perthmagpie]

In a perfect world there would be no booing and therefore no player would be at risk of having their feelings hurt. How would this be policed?

I'm a bit confused as to what the motivation of the booing is. I'm guessing much of it is a combination of staging + tall poppy + don't be so outspoken + you don't speak for us Goodesy + we'll boo who we want + don't be so precious.

I used to have Goodesy as one of my favorite players. He used to have a real soft spot for the Pies. I'm not even sure myself why I don't feel the same affection anymore. I would never boo him as I think it is childish. The other point is his employer is trying to make it clear that he is hurt by it and wished it would stop. In a nutshell I think that is sufficient that it should stop. He may feel it is partly racist and he is sensitive to that issue and people would be best to be empathic to his feelings. There is an opportunity here for supporters to take his feelings on face value no matter what is behind motivation for booing him.

Our culture doesn't like people getting too far ahead of themselves. We like to make a judgment over whether a hero's ego matches the required level of modesty the public expects. If it doesn't they lose our respect. The perfect example of this was the US spinters in the 100 metres final in Sydney. They pranced around their victory lap pulling musclemen stances. They were met with loud chants of 'wankers, wankers'. We were saying... 'Get back in your box and tone it down'. I suspect something similar is going on here.

[John Wren]

[Tannin]

Coloured people should be perfect in every way. You should boo Goodes because he isn't completely perfect.

Me, I'll boo if he dives or makes a crude tackle, not because of some not-quite-perfect aspect of his character I don't like. And if you boo him at other times, I'll know why you are really doing it and regard you as the living scum you are.

[HAL]

I hope you get it to be a positive aspect of his or her life despite our teams effectiveness on the field to win games.