Hillsborough - Journo ignorance again

[JonShar]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/socc...ex.html?cnn=yes

 

LONDON (AP) -- Liverpool striker Craig Bellamy added a new twist to the problem of soccer violence last week when he attacked a teammate.

 

Yes, a teammate.

 

The Wales forward allegedly hit John Arne Riise in the legs with a golf club while Liverpool was in Portugal at a training camp preparing for a Champions League match against defending champion FC Barcelona.

 

Bellamy now faces a fine of $155,000 and an uncertain future with the 18-time English league champions.

 

If teammates whacking each other with golf clubs after a night out isn't absurd enough, consider the reason for the fight -- they were arguing about a karaoke competition.

 

Karaoke!

 

The news of the fracas definitely wasn't music to the ears of George Gillett Jr. and Tom Hicks, Liverpool's new American owners.

 

The pair supposedly heard about the fight in Portugal and ordered Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez to issue a statement saying that players who misbehaved would be punished.

 

"We will take disciplinary action and fine any of them who are found to have breached club rules during our stay in Portugal," Benitez said in Sunday's statement.

 

Bellamy, who has a history of losing his temper, looks to be the first casualty of the dictum -- something not exactly alien to him.

 

When he played for Newcastle in 2004, Bellamy threw a chair at assistant manager John Carver. He was then heavily fined for calling manager Graeme Souness a liar in 2005.

 

Bellamy has also spent some time in court. In 2003, he was charged with three racism offenses after a night out in Cardiff, Wales. He admitted to using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behavior and was fined $1,252.

 

The charge of "racially aggravated" abuse was dropped.

 

Late last year, Bellamy was cleared of assaulting two women in a nightclub.

 

But Bellamy can't be singled out as the team's lone troublemaker in Portugal. Other Liverpool players, including Jerzy Dudek, Jermaine Pennant and Robbie Fowler, were also said to have been drunk and acting up.

 

There have been worse crimes committed by professional athletes, however, and plenty of unruly behavior has come from overly aggressive sportsmen over the years.

 

Teammates have fought before in the English league. Newcastle players Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer exchanged punches on the field during a game in 2005.

 

Bowyer was later suspended for seven games and Dyer banned for three. The team also fined Bowyer.

 

Gillett and Hicks are no strangers to pugnacious players -- both own NHL hockey teams. But spending $430.8 million for a group of players who hate each other isn't something they're likely to tolerate.

 

And they shouldn't, because soccer -- and Liverpool -- has had an ugly enough past when it comes to violence.

 

At the 1985 European Cup final at the Heysel stadium in Brussels, 39 people were killed when Liverpool fans charged their Juventus counterparts and a stadium wall collapsed.

 

Four years later, 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death at the FA Cup semifinal match against Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough Stadium.

 

Hooliganism in soccer hasn't been confined to just Liverpool, of course.

 

On Feb. 2, 38-year-old policeman Filippo Raciti was killed by rioting fans after Catania played Palermo in the Italian league. That incident led to the suspension of league play for a week and security measures that have forced some teams to play in empty stadiums until standards are met.

 

There have been other soccer riots and fighting all over the world, but it's still worrying to read about a professional soccer player hitting another -- especially in the legs.

 

Luckily for Riise, he was not injured. If only the same could be said for the image of Liverpool and soccer.

 

 

When will they learn? I've already sent emails, I encourage everyone else to do the same.

 

Sorry, just saw this was already talked about in another thread, please merge/delete.

[techmob]

more people will see it here

 

it is disgusting

[R A Softlad]

Just e-mailed SI this:

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

I am writing to complain about the reference to Hillsborough in the article 'Karaoke Smackdown!' dated Mon Feb 19 2007. (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/soccer/02/19/bc.soc.extratime.ap/index.html?cnn=yes)

 

In this article Hillsborough has incorrectly been linked yet again will Hooliganism. This has been proven in a judicial review to be incorrect. The cause of the disaster which I survived but cost 96 Liverpool fans their lives was poor policing in an inadequate stadium. Legal actions against the authorities in charge are still pending - almost 18 years on.

 

I appreciate that this link between Hillsborough and hooliganism may be either accidental or purely because the article was written by another ill-informed journalist but this type of poor journalism continues to haunt and upset those of us who lost loved ones, friends, fellow supporters on that sad day in 1989.

 

In all honesty I find the link to both Hillsborough and Heysel in this article both inaccurate and irrelevant. They appear to have been referenced to sensationalize the story. They aren't relevant to a night of revelry that overstepped the mark, nor are the actions of the players concerned as 'bad' as say the flying kick by John Hartson on his team mate Eyal Berkovic at West Ham in 1998. Not that I am condoning the behaviour of messers Riise and Bellamy, however that would have been a more relevant cross reference than two sickening tragedies.

 

Should you wish to read more on the Hillsborough disaster and the continuing lies that surround it please visit http://www.contrast.org/hillsborough/

 

I would expect to see the article edited and a full apology made on your website.

 

This may be one of the calmer e-mails you will receive on the subject. Please be aware that feelings still run high over Hillsborough and the fight for justice on behalf of the 96 will go on.

 

Regards

 

Phil Kirwin

Edited February 20, 2007 by R A Softlad

[SkippyjonJones]

phil, got an addy for them?

[R A Softlad]

I sent it to si.com_press@timeinc.com but it bounced so I sent it to apdigitalsupport@ap.org

[anfield]

brace yourself for abuse from anny rd......

Everyone should email them. I'd like to assume that this is an ignorant US journalist and we can educate them.......

Edited February 20, 2007 by anfield

[R A Softlad]

Sadly it's from AP London.

[JonShar]

apdigitalsupport@ap.org is where I sent it also.

 

brace yourself for abuse from anny rd......

 

That is way, way out of line.

 

Your "abuse" from Anny Rd came from him passionately defending the memories of those who lost their lives at Hillsborough, and those who have been forever affected by it. To insinuate that he'll abuse the people on this thread who are fighting the same fight is disgusting.

Edited February 20, 2007 by JonShar

[anfield]

apdigitalsupport@ap.org is where I sent it also.

That is way, way out of line.

 

Your "abuse" from Anny Rd came from him passionately defending the memories of those who lost their lives at Hillsborough, and those who have been forever affected by it. To insinuate that he'll abuse the people on this thread who are fighting the same fight is disgusting.

 

I don't want to divert attention from the message of the thread. But I posted a link to this article and got abused for it. I even avoided pasting the text. Now you're insinuating that I was abused because anny rd was defending the memories of those who died at hillsborough? the insinuation that somehow I abused that memory and anny rd had to defend against it is insulting. Especially since you hase pasted the exact same article

 

I was just a little kid when hillsborough happened. I wasn't even in the UK but the horror of those pictures and that event is seared in my memory as well. I even stopped watching football for a while. We're all passionate about the same thing. Its ridiculous to abuse each other over it.

[JonShar]

I'm not abusing anybody mate, nor am I insinuating anything. Point is though, there was absolutely nothing for you to gain by bringing your's and Anny Rd's argument into this topic.

 

Now, back to what really matters.

[anny road]

I don't want to divert attention from the message of the thread. But I posted a link to this article and got abused for it. I even avoided pasting the text. Now you're insinuating that I was abused because anny rd was defending the memories of those who died at hillsborough? the insinuation that somehow I abused that memory and anny rd had to defend against it is insulting. Especially since you hase pasted the exact same article

 

I was just a little kid when hillsborough happened. I wasn't even in the UK but the horror of those pictures and that event is seared in my memory as well. I even stopped watching football for a while. We're all passionate about the same thing. Its ridiculous to abuse each other over it.

 

 

can we continue the argument in the other thread please

[Rushian]

Sadly it's from AP London.

 

info@ap.org is the best address, though AP did correct it yesterday evening fairly promptly.

 

Their feed is syndicated to hundreds of news organisations and though all had the offending paragraph initially, when checking later on almost every one it had been removed.

Edited February 20, 2007 by Rushian

[anfield]

Looks like the emails are working to a certain extent. The article is now on the front page of yahoo minus the hillsborough reference .....but still has the heysel reference.

[Guest gumper]

get your heart off your sleave

[Bootle Buck]

Sadly it's from AP London.

 

Then change the thread title to reflect that. It seems like any opportunity to bash the US is gladly taken. There are lots of fans on here who are from or now live in the States and shouldn't have to be subject to this. Let's be fair to them at least.

Edited February 20, 2007 by Bootle Buck

[johngibo YPC]

Then change the thread title to reflect that. It seems like any opportunity to bash the US is gladly taken. There are lots of fans on here who are from or now live in the States and shouldn't have to be subject to this. Let's be fair to them at least.

 

to be fair it was taken from the Sports Illustrated website. It was a reasonable assumption that it was an American journalist. It was hardly an attack on the whole country

[Falconhoof]

get your heart off your sleave

 

 

care to elaborate ?

[_00_deathscar]

get your heart off your sleave

 

What?

[Bootle Buck]

to be fair it was taken from the Sports Illustrated website. It was a reasonable assumption that it was an American journalist. It was hardly an attack on the whole country

 

That's fine but now we know it was from the AP why not just change it.

[johngibo YPC]

JohnShar can't. A mod has to

[JonShar]

Then change the thread title to reflect that. It seems like any opportunity to bash the US is gladly taken. There are lots of fans on here who are from or now live in the States and shouldn't have to be subject to this. Let's be fair to them at least.

 

I live in America myself. The "again" was in reference to the last time we had to fight a US publication for the same kind of comment. Bit of a stretch to call it US bashing, it was taken from Sports Illustrated - I didn't see the AP-London tag.

 

get your heart off your sleave

 

The words "yourself", "go", and "f***" spring rapidly to mind.

 

to be fair it was taken from the Sports Illustrated website. It was a reasonable assumption that it was an American journalist. It was hardly an attack on the whole country

 

Cheers mate.

[San Diego Red]

Should a petition be signed so that all of AP will acknowledge the Hillsborough tragedy as a disaster of miscalculation and NOT hooliganism?