Yesterday the BBC chose to put tennis on TV, and the same match on BBC Radio 5, relegating the European U21 final to 5 live Sports Extra – a digital channel.
I can’t get digital radio in my car, and as I was on the way to a gig (not a very big gig, but a bit of fun for the band, the dancers and a little audience) I tuned in to 5 Live hoping to get some news on the Final while driving to the venue.
There wasn’t any but I stayed with the programme hoping for updates at a break in play. There was a break, and we got a 30 second update including the second goal. And then it was back to the tennis. One player was off the court in the toilet. Then a Scotsman went off the court and into the toilet. Instead of giving more football the BBC then continued a commentary about tennis players in toilets and how close to them their minders have to stand (probably to ensure they don’t take illegal drugs or something).
So there we have it: the BBC (which I support greatly having worked with them on the publication of a couple of Blake’s 7 books, centuries ago) descended into stupidity. It could have stayed with the football for a couple of minutes more (actually it could have put the whole game on 5 Live given that the tennis was on public TV) but it didn’t. It broadcast toilet matters.
What more can be more stupid than that? Well, the Sun. The Goon Blog carries the news that the Sun has launched another hoax, and here I risk their ire by quoting the entire story (under the Copyright Act you are only supposed to quote a small bit)…
ANDREY ARSHAVIN has stunned Arsenal by revealing he wants to play for Barcelona.
The Russian striker, 28, who joined the Gunners in a £16.9m deal five months ago, said: “If I have the chance to play for Barcelona, I’d be really happy.”
Not really up to their standard – so are they, like the BBC, taking the piss out of us football fans? In the same way perhaps that those people who started feeding copycat stories yesterday into our correspondence columns did.
But amidst all the silliness of yesterday there was the terrific point made by Marc that Mr Usmanov should buy the flats at Highbury, not put money into the club. There’s also (in a different post) a link to Craig Murray’s site on Mr Usmanov – Craig Murray was our Ambassador to Uzbekistan. Read the last dozen or so contributions from yesterday to get the full picture.
So yesterday was sad and exciting. Sad that a bunch of people think it is worthwhile of their own time to send this blog copies of other people’s contributions on other sites. Even the half-baked in the Sun can be more creative (and I must admit, fractionally more amusing).
Surely Arsenal fans deserve better than this – and can give better than this. There was a great piece by Marc (same Marc who came up with the idea about Mr Usmanov and buying the flats) about how close we are to having a superb team; which is really where we should be.
The BBC can stay in the gents, the Sun and other newspapers have been exposed, by and large we’ve got the field to ourselves.
It certainly is time to come up with some great ideas. Ideas that are positive about Arsenal, ideas to help expose what the press is up to, ideas for anything and everything I guess. Just as long as they are not unacknowledged copies of other people’s web sites.
(c) Tony Attwood 2009
So what! Who cares about the U21’s, they got gubbed anyway. Also it’s funny you choose to use the term “Scot” as if it’s derogatory, i bet when he lifts the trophy, he’ll be british again.
Woke this morning to see the BBC Football Tuesday Rumours page mention with a link & headline for the Arshavin story. Seriously, these guys have forgotten what ethical journalism was. Or did it ever really exist for them?
Marc, kudos for a brilliant idea yest. regarding the Highbury Flats. Absolutely simple, yet I can’t believe nobody thought of it earlier. Someone should suggest it to the Fat Slug & see what he has to say about it!
All in all, an organisation as respectable as the BBC is going down the same road as The Sun, which is really a disgrace.
And my grammar in that one!? Awful! Sorry about that…
ReLL, I really don’t think the usage of the term “Scot” here seemed derogatory by any means! Tony, correct me if I’m wrong!
If it wasn’t meant to be derogatory then why use the term in the first place? No need.. Also, why would the BBC not be showing a british person participating in a high profile match? Sky obviously had the rights to the tournament so its irrelevent anyway. Disappointed Tony, your blogs are normally the best on tinternet.
JedKnut – indeed I didn’t think of it as derisory at all when I wrote it. If anything I am amused as many others are by the fact that the BBC et al talk of “English” (the English team, Tim Henman as English) and then British (British success in football when the Scottish team does something good, the British success of Murray).
But it is very interesting how the use of a single word “Scot” can be taken to mean something more than this. It is similar to when I was critical of the African Cup of Nations being played during the season here, and how players that our club pays were caught up in it.
That to me was a perfectly valid argument without any racist or nationalist overtones, and yet I was hammered on this site for being racist.
There are two issues – one is that one cannot mention people’s origins without someone accusing you of being racist, the other is that the nationality of a person is not their race. Nationalism is not an offence in the UK in the same way that racism is. If it were, we could not have the Olympics and international football.
There is a log of illogic in that position, but that is how it is. Tony Adams could say of Wenger, on hearing of his appointment, that because he was French he would be no good because he would not know about English football. That was not a racist comment.
That’s just how it is. I am completely against racism, but am not going to accept that just because I use the word Scot I mean anything other than “this guy from Scotland”.
Tony
Bobby – I think I have not expressed myself clearly here. Let me try again.
My comment was based on the fact that yes, the BBC should show the tennis on the TV, no problem with that. I was disappointed that they should then also choose the tennis to be on the main radio channel for sport, when there was an international on.
But even given that, my main issue was that during a downtime when nothing was happening other than two men being in toilets, they chose to debate men in toilets rather than go back to the football. That is really what I was trying to say
As to the headline, I could write:
BBC choose man in toilet to England football final
which is all right I guess, but having used nationality in terms of the second clause, why not in the first?
“Scot takes Arsenal through season with just one defeat” is that derogatory? It could be – but equally it could be positive. It could be that I like Scots. Why is it assumed that somehow I don’t?
That’s the problem. If you call me “English” is that an insult or a compliment? If you call me “British” is that an insult or a compliment?
Jediknut – I dont understand what you’re saying…
The BBC transfer rumours page (which as you point out today featured the Arshavin fairy story) is there precisely to repeat the transfer headlines from the days papers. of course they’d repeat the suns story, they put the NOTW stories up too. Its not like its the BBC supporting or backing the story. They’re repeating them. The sunday times does it. The today programme on radio 4 does it (although less about the football stories usually). Radio 5live does it. Plenty of other daily/weekly papers do it – all it is is letting you know what the papers are saying.
SO in what way is the BBC going down the same road as the sun?
What is the matter with you people??!
getting annoyed at what happened on the radio?
getting annoyed because someone said scot?
getting annoyed because the BBC repeated this that etc?
modern society seems to be all about moaning, complaining, forcing point of views! just chill! everyday be thankful that you have your health and people around you that care! then most other things won’t upset you so much!!
Christianjimmy, I really don’t think the beeb needs to propagate rumours! Why report stuff like this at all? They don’t need to! Just report what’s confirmed. If people want to read about rumours, there are a ton of other sites we can visit. In a strange way, I believe the BBC are undermining their credibility. I know they mention these are transfer rumours… but by printing them, I believe they’re part of the crime.
The recent Fabregas story for instance – they were one of the first to put it up after The Sun & Goal.com. After the Fabregas/Arsenal.com clarification though – they took their time to post that Fab is going nowhere. Why the disparity?
Sorry, Dan – I don’t usually whine about these things – specially online. I usually turn a blind eye to these rubbish reports, but it just gets on my nerve when reputed organisations start expounding nonsense as well!
The others going on about the derogatory comments though – give it a rest and let’s try to keep this blog about football, shall we!?
Dan – while I sympathize with your post I fear the internet may not be for you!
Dan, this is a generally a very happy place but we are all allowed to sound off!
On the subject of racism/nationalism The Ashes starts tomorrow and I have to say, thrilled as I am about the prospect, it has always stuck in my throat that The English cricket team (now referred to as The English Lions) is made up of players from England AND Wales. If it is SAY SO. OR stop picking Welsh players and they can have their own team!
It is precisely this kind of double standard, which many English display (and the press exacerbate), regarding when we choose to be inclusive (British) and exclusive (English), which encourages jingoistic nationalism amongst our welsh & Scottish friends.
To this end the hoo-ha regarding the British Olympic football team has been just embarrassing.
Jediknut – Fair point, I think I agree with you in all honesty, (although to be fair to the beeb they only print the rumours in a section marked “gossip”). But you’re right in that it perpetuates what Tony was writing about the other day – in that once a news source starts reporting on other news source’s reports it feeds that story, which then, regardless of its validity, takes on more credence as more and more news outlets pick up on the story.
Either way though, surely at this time of year football fans really need to turn on their bullsh*t filter. Theres no real football stories, so in order to justify their existence football journalists are all striving to produce something, anything…
Happens every years, and we as intelligent (mostly), thinking (except for the idiotic copy and paste merchants) and genuine football fans need to ignore the “fabregas says…” or “arshavin to…” or “signing panic…” or whatever tripe the newsroom spews out each day.
On another subject, as a welshman I get frustrated by the way the BBC often seems to think the england football team is the only one worth following/covering on what is meant to be a national broadcasting service. But im fully aware that this is mostly just my paranoia, and numbers wise makes sense…
Christianjimmy – “I get frustrated by the way the BBC often seems to think the england football team is the only one worth following/covering”
I think you meant, “I get frustrated by the way the BBC often seems to think the england football team is worth following/covering”
Anyone notice that all the 4 kids-to-pros this year play at the back?
Tony: I accept your point and that you may not have intended it to be derogatory. But the tone of the comment is one of discontent and the fact that the person involved is scottish is nothing to do with it.
Blame the BBC I say for being tight with the purse strings for almost everything in football excpet MOTD. I mean F-1? Boring!!
What about 500 seat helicopters?
Tony, watched the U-21’s final and it was a bit of an anti-climax after the exciting semi, the Germans just were too strong. As for the BBC, have long since given up on them showing anything decent, whether it be football or anything else, they don’t seem to be interested, not even in the truth when it comes to the news. The truth about EU for example.
Off topic, Southampton football club could be gone by Friday, Le Tiss and the Pinnacle Consortium has pulled out, stating that FA is putting to many obstacles in the way. FA really is a waste of space.
To follow on from that comment Chrissie, I was amazed to read that 13 clubs have dropped two divisions since the formation of The Premier league,and only one, Manchester City have managed to come back into the top flight in those 17 years.
I wonder how many more clubs will go to the wall in this recession period.
It is a worrying trend isn’t it, Adam, the smaller clubs really are the lifeblood of football and they are not receiving the help they should. Reading is having to let their best players go after having failed to get back into the premier, and I doubt whether they will be able to get another chance. On the plus side Brighton and Hove Albion is going ahead and building a new stadium, a fan is donating money.
Wenger is an economist as well, and he is leading the club in the right direction.He/we may be frugal for the time being,but in the end we will survive and be back as the top clubs in England,and hopefully capture that elusive Champions league Crown, for him as much as for us.
What is most amusing to me is the constant stream of drivel from the media, be it the tabloids or the Beeb or the like. If you consider over the past couple of months the players that have been ‘rumoured’ to be leaving we’d have no squad left to talk about. Think about this, and this is all from my very poor memory:RVP, Adebayor, Clichy, Bendtner, Toure, Gallas, Fabregas, Sagna, Arshavin. Now that’s almost the entire first team lineup. Need I say more?
interesting editorial here http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/early-doors/article/179868/ basically calling United the european version of spurs…. makes some good points.