Hawkwind
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Sport in general has lost its soul to money!
Football The 2017/2018 Season Thread
- Thread starter Moriath
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Sport in general has lost its soul to money!
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Doesn't mean we have to willingly accept with open arms the technocratic control of human sports just because rich people might whine about it.
I don't even think it's the club owners that are a problem - they're not whining about it overly and are totally aware that it's "unfair" before they go in.
I think it's totally driven by TV companies. Totally. They never gave a fuck about the sport anyway - they're only interested in monetisation. The request to divide football matches into four quarters by American TV companies was real and really strongly pushed. They've been wanting video referees in footie for so long because it gives their advertisers a quick break during a 3-minute pause in the action for some of the most expensive advertising space on the planet.
They may not get shown on UK TV - but what's the bet that in 15 years time it won't be done everywhere else?
And we willingly ceeded the instant emotional gratification of "goal" that was football's biggest hook. Ball goes in, the Ref gives it, rightly or wrongly, the striker arcs away triumphantly and the fans in the stadium go wild. And then you get to pick it all apart in the pub after the fact. Instant. Fallible. Human. Great.
If VAR continues then tbh I think football is irretrieveably broken. It's *that* important an issue. But "the mob" isn't high-minded. They're just dumb suckers of advertising's cock. The sort of people who come up to you and go "have you seen that advert? it's great!". They don't know why it's important and wouldn't understand if you explained it to them anyway. So the clever money-grabbers get what they want and the game becomes stop-start, the fans in the stadium will be placated by having big fucking screens (rather than watching what's going on on the pitch in front of them that they paid to watch) and betting companies and advertisers will be coining it in from the, now broken, biggest show on earth.
So let's make the game as fair as possible for all involved so "the rich people" don't have anything to whine about. The underlying aim of VAR is to eliminate errors and introduce certainty in decision-making (just like the introduction of goal-line technology). If they can get the decisions right but keep the time taken in the actual process to an absolute minimum (far, far less than currently), then I'm all for it. In it's current form it feels rushed and incomplete, like an early beta of a game.
Of course all of the money has come from TV, they pay an enormous amount to be able to pick and choose which games are played when depending on which ones they want to televise but as far as I know, they haven't had an influence on the actual fundamental rules of the game (I think the pass back rule might be an exception).
To be clear, would you be against VAR if was near-instantaneous? If I remember rightly, your original argument against it was that you didn't want to lose the "human factor" of the officiating - ie people make mistakes and that's ok.
Of course all of the money has come from TV, they pay an enormous amount to be able to pick and choose which games are played when depending on which ones they want to televise but as far as I know, they haven't had an influence on the actual fundamental rules of the game (I think the pass back rule might be an exception).
To be clear, would you be against VAR if was near-instantaneous? If I remember rightly, your original argument against it was that you didn't want to lose the "human factor" of the officiating - ie people make mistakes and that's ok.
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As I clearly stated above - I don't think the rich people are. They knew what they were getting into. They aren't dumb.
The controversy about "fairness" is a sucker punch by the TV and advertising companies - it's all about them making money.
I think you're wrong:
Football worked financially LONG before TV money. Please remember that. Pause for a second. Despite all the wiki articles looking like football started in 1992, it really didn't. And it did phenomenally well because, as a sport, it was perfect.
Regardless of Arsenal's current fortunes, as Arsene just said, it was far more competetive a sport (rather than a money-making business) before the blood-sucking vampires got their mitts on it.
Or to describe the actual reality - corporations maximise their advertising revenues when certain games are played at certain times, by maximising viewer participation - so better-supported clubs get premium spots (and more money, creating imbalances) - all of which is, ultimately, funded by fans paying through the nose to watch their club.
So the fans pay, but the TV companies decide on the distribution of coverage to maximise their income and shareholder profits. As they're legally obliged to do, regardless of the effect on the competion or the sport. As long as punters pay (and they will) then they don't give a fuck. And punters will pay for a degraded experience - so as long as the money keeps rolling in, the sport can suffer a bit.
Round-the-clock football is having a huge effect on the fundamentals of the competition as a sport. It means to be competetive you have to have huge, high-quality squads. The human body simply can't cope with that level of exertion so it's become a necessesity.
As a result the smaller clubs no longer harbour any realistic hopes of ever winning the league (or anything other than a shock win at one of the poxy cups). The whole concept of football as a competition has been devalued in everything BUT monetary terms.
VAR *cannot* be near-instantaneous. It's got a human watching shit on a video screen and that takes time. It doesn't really matter if I would be for-or-against it - because it can't happen. Period. So that's a straw-man argument really.
But because I'm nice and I like you - I will address your wider point (again) - and explicitly state, again (as I have done before many times, and clearly): Yes. I don't want to lose the human factor of the officiating. People make mistakes and it's not only OK - it's desireable.
Because of a combination of the above and other things football as a "sport" is hanging by a thread. VAR cuts that thread for me.
Football is now more a "spectacle" than a sport. It's becoming like the gladiators in Rome's Colosseum, a gaudy distraction...
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Not at all. I'm a progressive. But only where progress is an improvement, not a retrograde step.
Gwadien
Uneducated Northern Cretin
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no ur a luddie m8
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Gwadien
Uneducated Northern Cretin
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no, ur a luddite, that's a fact.
Gray
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I listened to the Everton match on TalkSport as I couldn't listen on the other local channels.
Joey fucking Barton as commentator. I came very close on many occasions to turning it off (and not just because of the scoreline!) before I realised it was Barton on commentary. What a fuckin knob he is.
Joey fucking Barton as commentator. I came very close on many occasions to turning it off (and not just because of the scoreline!) before I realised it was Barton on commentary. What a fuckin knob he is.
Marc
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Football has gone to shit. Not on the pitch. We are all truly blessed with the amount of talent on display these days. I mean the whole package. Stadiums are just soulless these days. No atmosphere at all. We all remember the halcyon days when stadiums were rocking from start to finish. Mind you, the South American leagues are still like that
Himse
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Couldn't agree more.
Billargh
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Sad thing is, Barton isn't even the worst cunt on TalkSport.
Embattle
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They may well be, shipping 7 goals against two lower teams is terrible plus he seems stuck in his ways by picking the same players who've been shown up before and the same silly formation neither of which is going to help his case. I find it amazing we are still in 4th.
Himse
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I was a bit annoyed at peoples criticism at first, but that 30 minutes against Watford was absolutely shocking.
Let alone his bad touch & passes, he just looked lost.
He looked good in the League Cup semi-final a couple of weeks ago but he was just awful on Monday.
Embattle
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Like quite a few players we've had I'm willing to overlook this year as it his first, although it is proving very hard at times since he seems to be trying to out do himself each week when it comes to playing even worse than the week before. I also can't say seeing him turn up to that Nike Mercurial boots anniversary event a few days after getting himself sent off exactly helped give fans the right impression.
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Gray
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So Allardyce spends nearly £30m on a European striker in Tosun, refuses to play him even though he has been banging in goals for Besiktas, sticks him on the bench saying he isn't ready (Giving him a chance) and says he will probably use him once Everton are "safe".
I find this incredible to think that Allardyce does not have any confidence in his own team he is putting out to get us an additional 6 points or whatever to be "safe". He seemed like an okay choice because we were in dire straits at the beginning, we can all but challenge for the Europa now but he is systematically demoralising the team and the fans, already I see they want him gone - Which I think is what he fears, if we get to safety quicker it might mean the chairman(s) decide to go for someone who is up and coming again.
I find this incredible to think that Allardyce does not have any confidence in his own team he is putting out to get us an additional 6 points or whatever to be "safe". He seemed like an okay choice because we were in dire straits at the beginning, we can all but challenge for the Europa now but he is systematically demoralising the team and the fans, already I see they want him gone - Which I think is what he fears, if we get to safety quicker it might mean the chairman(s) decide to go for someone who is up and coming again.