Anyone else finding it hard to give a damn about the sport since the incident?

**Greenbod** · 07/12/2009, 12:42 PM

Originally Posted by Murfinator

It reminds me a bit of how I felt about christmas after I learned the truth about Santa Claus

What are you trying to say?...........did I miss a news story?

**paul_oshea** · 07/12/2009, 12:47 PM

Haha good one greenbod.

I think people who were harping on about get over it etc etc were quite objective but only because they aren't as close to the team as the rest of us/don't understand fully how much it means to the rest of us, possibly not as patriotic as the rest of us.

Ill get over it, but i hope the team go out with the intention of beating every team in the qualifying for euros, as they proved against france they can do this. We will hopefully be a couple of players stronger again come the euros, with no retirements so hopefully we should do well.

I see mcgeady becoming less and less involved with the team in the future though, unless he leaves celtic, now that lawrence has surfaced.

**Ronan85** · 07/12/2009, 12:51 PM

Originally Posted by paul_oshea

I think people who were harping on about get over it etc etc were quite objective but only because they aren't as close to the team as the rest of us/don't understand fully how much it means to the rest of us, possibly not as patriotic as the rest of us.

Fully agree with this Paul. The ones who care most are the ones most likely to be hurting the most.

**osarusan** · 07/12/2009, 12:52 PM

Originally Posted by paul_oshea

I think people who were harping on about get over it etc etc were quite objective but only because they aren't as close to the team as the rest of us/don't understand fully how much it means to the rest of us, possibly not as patriotic as the rest of us.

Fully disagree with this Paul. The level of support for the national team can't be judged by the objectivity with which people respond to this kind of situation.

It's impossible to gauge depth of support by reaction. The guy who goes out and watches EPL at the weekend (like Tetsujin did) may just deal with their anger / disappointment in a different way to the person who can't even watch football for a month.

**paul_oshea** · 07/12/2009, 12:53 PM

The closer you are to a situation, generally, the harder you are impacted by that outcome of that situation.

**superfrank** · 07/12/2009, 12:59 PM

Originally Posted by paul_oshea

I think people who were harping on about get over it etc etc were quite objective but only because they aren't as close to the team as the rest of us/don't understand fully how much it means to the rest of us, possibly not as patriotic as the rest of us.

Ah yes, this old chestnut.

What's wrong with being familiar with the game and being aware that referees make the wrong decisions every now and again and that players are dishonest and will get away with it if they can (anyone see Hreidarsson at the weekend?)?

This is not unpatriotic, it's familiarity with the game and accepting that some times those decisions will go against your team over the course of your lifetime.

The defeat hurt and the manner especially and I am still disappointed that we won't be at the WC when we put in such a great effort.

However, the end result is still the same: we're not going. Those who hurt but can accept the decision and move on are equally as patriotic as those who hurt and are disillussioned with the game. The only difference between the two is their personalities.

**donalmcdonagh** · 07/12/2009, 12:59 PM

Originally Posted by Murfinator

Maybe this sounds a bit silly but I feel like my passion for the sport has been drained entirely since the Henry incident and the kind of response that FIFA gave to it. It reminds me a bit of how I felt about christmas after I learned the truth about Santa Claus as a kid and how the magic was sucked out of the event.

Or how I felt about the WWF when it finally tweaked in my mind that it was all actors and staged drama, nothing about it being genuine.

When I look at soccer now I've found myself looking at it much more cynically. Thinking of it as being far removed from the competitive sport the ancient greeks popularised about honour and pride and more about commercial entertainment. And the integrity of the game, wow. I don't know of any other sport where the head of the game would come out and admit he cheated as a child and most other players agreeing along the lines that they'd cheat whenever and wherever they could if they could get away with it. They aren't schoolkids here and part of the idea of sport is to be taught that it isn't all about winning at any cost and I guess I'm feeling disillusioned with it lately.

Anyone else feel the same or is it just me?

I feel exactlly the same...very annoying.
Football can be very cruel...but I think we should learn from what Richard Dunne has to say...he has forgotten about it, forgotten about the world cup. It is of no consequence to him. Im hoping this whole episode will give us some ruthlessness. We dont have it, but I feel that is what our game is missing. Im sorry to say tis but we should have finished France off long before there goal.
I think the exit to the hand ball shoul dteach us a lesson to be more ruthless and kill teams off, i'd imagine a lot of the players are immensley angry

**eaststand85** · 07/12/2009, 1:44 PM

Originally Posted by paul_oshea

I think people who were harping on about get over it etc etc were quite objective but only because they aren't as close to the team as the rest of us/don't understand fully how much it means to the rest of us, possibly not as patriotic as the rest of us.

If this isn't a wind up then it has to be the most patronising and/or delusional post I have ever read on this forum. Get over yourself.

**tiktok** · 07/12/2009, 1:55 PM

Originally Posted by Gather round

Good points tiktok. But while agreeing Blatter's a nasty piece of work, he's not moronic.

True, he's actually a master at what he does, I just hate what he does.

Originally Posted by paul_oshea

I think people who were harping on about get over it etc etc were quite objective but only because they aren't as close to the team as the rest of us/don't understand fully how much it means to the rest of us, possibly not as patriotic as the rest of us.

What a patronising load of old horse manure.

**back of the net** · 07/12/2009, 2:16 PM

Originally Posted by paul_oshea

I think people who were harping on about get over it etc etc were quite objective but only because they aren't as close to the team as the rest of us/don't understand fully how much it means to the rest of us, possibly not as patriotic as the rest of us.

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I wouldnt really agree with that Paul. The way i look at it is that every1 has their own of dealing with certain injustices.

I am one of the fans who is quite resentful at what happened and i will wallow on this until the euro2012 campaign kicks off and we all get back on the one road again. However i dont believe that makes me any more closer to the team than lets say a fan who is willing to put it behind him and move on due to maybe experiencing certain injustices/dissapointments with their club.

As per my signature "my country is my club" , and although i am used to many a dissappointment when it comes to following ireland and previously was well aware of the previous injustices in football and of those carried out by FIFA , i equally dont agree with other posters telling me to "Just get on with it".......we are all football ppl on this site and love the game...but others have just different ways of dealing with this latest incident.

**carloz** · 07/12/2009, 2:16 PM

I was actually going to start a thread like this last week. My enjoyment of the game has been completly sucked out of me since that 'incident'. Just thinking that its nearly a year until our next competitive game makes me feel miserable. Next summer is going to be absolute torture, and seeing France doing well will make me angry beyond belief

**Murfinator** · 07/12/2009, 2:30 PM

Originally Posted by Crosby87

Thats actually a huge pet peeve of mine. Those guys are amazing athletes. Nothing is genuine? They are really lifting each other up, pounding on each other, doing flips, etc...jumping from the top rope onto a wooden table (even if it is particle board) which crashes onto the concrete floor HURTS. Thye have to lift up 350 pound men. Over and over. Then throw them. They get crazy injuries all the time. I think they are way more real athletes than most people in other sports actually! They certainly do more long term damage to their bodies than almost anyone in any sport. Jessie Ventura was a Navy Seal, Kurt Angle is one of the most decorated wrestlers in world history, The Rock played D-1 football for Miami. None of them are actors.

I'm not saying they aren't athletes or don't work hard or fake their stunts or any of that. What I'm saying is the whole wrestling drama, the rivalries and the various cliques is all entirely fabricated for entertainment. The actual victor of a match is also pre-determined.
As a kid I was a big fan of Bret Hart and after his retirement and reading about the Montreal screwjob where he claims Vince McMahon rigged the title fight without his knowledge through instructing the ref to pin him out quicker than is fair and unknown to bret. I never really really looked at it the same way since, there was nothing better as a kid believing all those comic book villain wrestlers were unstaged and cheering on your hero to taking them down a peg or two.

**SkStu** · 07/12/2009, 2:31 PM

whats the World Wildlife Fund got to do with anything?

**paul_oshea** · 07/12/2009, 2:57 PM

Ya thats the one i use....i think you might have stole that line from me somewhere before skstu....

**Reality Bites** · 07/12/2009, 2:59 PM

Yes its a pain in the arse we didn't qualify and were cheated and ridiculed by FIFA, but the continuing emergence of Gibson, Wilson and Ward and barn storming debut of Coleman at Everton yesterday helps ease the pain, by the time the Euro qualifiers come around these lads will hopefully all will have more experience under the belt and will be pushing for first team action, add too that the raw but unproven talents ot Terry Dixon and James McCarthy...It really is the best of times and the worst of times for Irish supporters!!

**Greenbod** · 07/12/2009, 3:01 PM

[QUOTE=paul_oshea;1289642]Haha good one greenbod. [/
QUOTE]

Well you can't be too careful, there are small children who use this site you know. Speaking of which...............where is Emmet these days?

**Stuttgart88** · 07/12/2009, 3:08 PM

I'd love to be able to be as emotionally detached as you superfrank but I just can't.

It's like your old dog dying. The near-certainty that you'd survive the daft mutt when you got it and the fact that dogs just get old and die all the time doesn't mean that you don't get upset when it happens, and in particularly bad circumstances.

This weekend was a good one for Irish footballers in the UK so some cheer returned.

However, with regard to "switching" to rugby, I still can hardly envisage a situation where rugby can bring the sheer tension, drama and scale of what happened in this play-off. Even the fantastic Grand Slam win didn't touch those heights.

Anyway, as said above - there's some good on the horizon.

**SuperDave** · 07/12/2009, 3:22 PM

It's funny..... we've moved from the blaming others phase (the ref, fifa, blatter, henry) of grief to the blaming self stage (at least some on here have, blaming given, mcshane, duff, keane) and kind of onto the depression stage (not wanting to watch football at all, giving up on the concept of fair play). What strikes me is that there is little acceptance but some murmurs of looking forward etc.

This place would be a gold mine for psychologists over the last three weeks.

**Schumi** · 07/12/2009, 3:28 PM

Don't forget the denial phase: a replay, 33rd team, etc.

**bennocelt** · 07/12/2009, 3:47 PM

Originally Posted by paul_oshea

Haha good one greenbod.

I think people who were harping on about get over it etc etc were quite objective but only because they aren't as close to the team as the rest of us/don't understand fully how much it means to the rest of us, possibly not as patriotic as the rest of us.
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Dont worry Paul you have the gah on in the summer, and I know how much you like that game