Ray Chamberlin is a ******* ****** who agrees?

[Jesse Richards]

Hey Moderators.
Just wanted to let you know that I really appreciate the job you do, and any decisions that you make for the good of the site. Someone has to take responsibility for drawing the line. What to one person may not appear to be going too far, someone else may be able to see possible consequences - legal or otherwise. You guys know about this through your experience and having to keep up abreast of what is happening here and elsewhere. As far as I am concerned you guys and gals do the work to keep this site going and it wouldn't happen without you and I am happy to respect your decisions about what does and doesn't appear on the site or in any particular thread.
Thanks again
Jess

[ernie koala]

Those that watched the game know the umpiring was inconsistent and heavily weighted against the Swans, and possibly cost us the match.... but I think it's time to move on....
The Swans played with desperation, urgency and total commitment for the latter part of the 2nd quarter, and the latter half of the last quarter....about 1 quarter in total.
During those periods we dominated nearly every contest and on the score board....regardless of the umpiring.
If the Swans had played that way for most of the game we would of won easily.....regardless of the umpiring.
If we get a 4 quarter effort next week, we'll beat the Dogs.....regardless of the umpiring.

[ScottH]

Sorry but you should have thought about the stress it will bring you when you decided to take over or to start an online forum.

I still see no problems in this thread. We are all discussing, albeit passionately, about facts that occured during the game.

Running the site is 99.9% stress free.
I'm not exactly pullling my hair out.

You see no problems. We see potential issues.

[nomae]

Sorry but you should have thought about the stress it will bring you when you decided to take over or to start an online forum.

BTW take the site offline - someone else will start another one.

Thats the interwebs.

Perhaps you can start up a site of your own, costing your own time and money, and then we can all criticise you for it?

You seem very childish in that you moan about how the mods run the site yet without them this discourse would not even exist. These guys have taken time out of their own lives to set up a site in which all of us have the ability to participate in discussions regarding a subject that, for a lot of us, is our most passionate interest. This is something that is often not possible in the rugby-dominated state of nsw, as I'm sure you're aware of.

You agreed to the rules when you signed up; the mods moderate, that's why they are call mods. If you don't like it head over to bigfooty and complain there.

[top40]

Oh give it a rest. Freedom of speech has always been limited. Go to hyde Park corner if you want to say whatever you want. Acknowledge you are in someone else's house and play by the rules.

if you dont want to there are other houses...

Anyway its time to move on from the umpiring. They were awful. They influenced the outcome too significantly. The decisions favoured one team over the other.

But had the team showed as much desire earlier in the game they may well have won it, in spite of the umpiring.

What was annoying me was this broadbrush, holistic approach that we should 'tone it down' Yes, there are limitatations to freedom of speech. However, it would more appropriator for such limitations to spelt out.

On a legal basis the following comments should be SPECIFICALLY censored:

1. A comment that insights an illegal action. (I have thus far not seen such a comment on this thread)

2. A comment that is both false and likely to negatively impact on the reputation in the wider community of a person or identy. (Personally, (and others may have a different view here, I have yet to sight such a comment on this thead).

Lets not start in a general, unspecific way, acting like a nanny state. If there are limitations to commentary, they should be specifically set out.

And if for some reason, the moderators want to otherwise censor commentary here, yes, they are perfectly entitled to do so. It would not however make for much a websight if it was done without a proper basis.

[Scottee]

Following up from Frog's comments in thread, comments accusing corruption or similar are not on. While the chance of legal action might be low, it is not zero. I have deleted two such posts this morning. Everyone should take this as a broad warning. If I have to delete any more, an infraction will also be coming the way of whoever posts such a comment.

Surely Liz, as long as a person makes it clear that it is only their opion that someone is corrupt (hypothetically speaking of course) there can be no legal imputation that someone is actually corrupt (hypothetically speaking of course);and that if it is only their opinion that gambling interests may have got hold of the game (hypothetially speaking of course); and that the rules have been mishandled to such an extent that it is easy to manipulate results without being held acountable (hypothetiacally speaking of course); and that the end result may be a loss of popularity of AFL in NSW where it is up against codes with much clearer sets of rules that (in the opion of some) and the diminishment of the game overall, then there would be no basis, herenotwithstanding, for the implementation of legal action?

[ScottH]

Unfounded accusations make a pretty fair case for libel in my book.

[Hartijon]

Since I can remember,this is as stirred up posters have got about an umpire. Even trying to be objective ,one cannot help but note the egotistical approach . My American mate kept saying"We should not be discussing this guy,we should not even know his name.What's his problem?"

It was an exceptionally strange umpiring performance for any sport and changed the course of the game. Nobody wants to watch a sport where the result is decided by one sided refereeing.The AFL should come down hard on this!

[Sauce]

The AFL should come down hard on this!

They won't.What they will do is instruct the umps to pay attention to something else next week and to ignore what they would have otherwise paid a free yesterday. It happens all the time with this code and it's become a massive bugbear. The frustrating thing about it is..feeling powerless about it all. But i have decided this year to not attend one single game nor give the AFL any money what's so ever. Sure it won't effect the AFL but it's a little win for me.

I wish there were more fans willing to do the same. But the AFL has the fans by the gonads..tyhreating with killing of clubs etc if fans dont sign up. That is complete bullcrap, especially after the billion $ tv rights. As if the AFL will allow one of its clubs to die!

Again i will say it, the AFL has lost so much creditability and respect this year. It's clear as day that the AFL is run like a multi-million $ business. It looks after it's most valuable asset, which in this case is the collingwood magpies. The popularity of this pathetic club has compromised the rest of the comp. I have never ever followed a code where the draw or "fixture" is tailored for one club only to maximise profits for itself and the code. I cannot believe the AFL allows other clubs, mainly the poorer clubs, to request 2 "home games" a year against the pies - just so they can maximise profits. Everything in the AFL is tailored for collingwood..everything. Even players breaking the codes laws are treated differently if they play for collingwood.

This needs to stop in order for the code to gain respect. There is a reason why this stupid code is nothing more than a provincial sport and why the majority of people in the Northern states despise it.

[Dan]

Horse may have something to say

http://www.smh.com.au/afl/sydney-swans/swans-ponder-quiet-chat-with-refs-fans-were-less-polite-on-the-day-20110717-1hk8b.html

[Big Al]

Since I can remember,this is as stirred up posters have got about an umpire. Even trying to be objective ,one cannot help but note the egotistical approach . My American mate kept saying"We should not be discussing this guy,we should not even know his name.What's his problem?"

It was an exceptionally strange umpiring performance for any sport and changed the course of the game. Nobody wants to watch a sport where the result is decided by one sided refereeing.The AFL should come down hard on this!

I have been watching AFL since the 1977 tied Grand Final which started my love affair with the game. I never seen an Umpiring performance as bad as the one yesterday. When it's bad both ways you cope with it because like players Umpires can have off days. What really irks most people is the one sided nature of the Umpiring and the out of control ego of one particular umpire. You get to the end of such a game and you think, why do I even bother anymore. Of course I'll be at the SCG next Saturday and go another round but really sometimes you question whether it's worth it.

[Sauce]

I have been watching AFL since the 1977 tied Grand Final which started my love affair with the game. I never seen an Umpiring performance as bad as the one yesterday. When it's bad both ways you cope with it because like players Umpires can have off days. What really irks most people is the one sided nature of the Umpiring and the out of control ego of one particular umpire. You get to the end of such a game and you think, why do I even bother anymore. Of course I'll be at the SCG next Saturday and go another round but really sometimes you question whether it's worth it.

I have seen worst umpiring than what was on display yesterday.

Have we forgot how the bombers won a close game at the SCG in 2007 when McPhee's foot was clearly over the line?

Umpiring has always been crap in Australian Rules but the standards are being lowered each week, with a new low set each week.

[Sauce]

You get to the end of such a game and you think, why do I even bother anymore. Of course I'll be at the SCG next Saturday and go another round but really sometimes you question whether it's worth it.

These are the exact emotions the AFL bank on and why the AFL at the moment is one big huge out of control ego on a power trip.

[jono2707]

Running the site is 99.9% stress free.
I'm not exactly pullling my hair out.

You see no problems. We see potential issues.

Hey Scott thanks to you too for running this site. I really appreciate being able to participate in a forum that is interesting, informative and sometimes just good fun. It is perfectly appropriate for the mods of a forum such as this to gently remind posters of what is getting close to crossing the line. I don't know why some people think it's appropriate to argue this point with you guys but I guess you get the odd person who thinks they should keep stirring the pot.

Anyway keep up the good work.....

[Big Al]

Have we forgot how the bombers won a close game at the SCG in 2007 when McPhee's foot was clearly over the line?
Umpiring has always been crap in Australian Rules but the standards are being lowered each week, with a new low set each week.

No, I compared yesterday with that particular travesty against the Bombers and believe yesterday was worse. Simply because we copped dodgy decisions from the outset. Not much in it though.