Rewriting History

[Velour&Ruffles]

I'm getting sick of this. KB on SEN this morning was bemoaning the inadequacy of the current $1000 penalty for stomach punches. Should the financial penalty be upped to $2-3,000 for a first offence, with $5,000 for a second offence? Or even (if we want to send a strong message) a one week suspension for a second offence? He then segued off into a rant about how the AFL just makes crap up as it goes along (which I completely agree with). Then some cretin called in to give some examples of historical inconsistency and injustice - including Barry Hall "smashing" some guy in 2005 but getting "let off" to play in the grand final.

For Fornication's Sake. It's not difficult and yet everyone still gets it wrong. For the record, Barry Hall was NOT CLEARED. He was FOUND GUILTY! He was penalised one week, but could accept points for an early guilty plea because he'd had three unblemished years before that .... which is what he did. KB then repeated this a couple of times in the following half hour as an example of the AFL being too lenient EVEN THOUGH BARRY HALL COPPED A HARSHER PENALTY FOR A STOMACH PUNCH THAN IS CURRENTLY IMPOSED! IF THEY THINK A SECOND OFFENCE FOR A STOMACH PUNCH SHOULD GET A FINANCIAL PENALTY (OR MAYBE EVEN A ONE WEEK SUSPENSION), THEN WASN'T BARRY'S PENALTY FOR A FIRST OFFENCE HARSHER, NOT SOFTER, than what is happening today? KB didn't correct him. Nor did whatever ignorant dickhead "football journalist" was with him at the time - I think it was the Cyclops John Ralph but I may be wrong. No mention of the illogicality from either. Anyway, there seems to be a rewriting of history around Barry Hall and the pre-pubescent tropical fish who pass for football journos these days don't have either the intellect or knowledge to have a reasoned discussion on the subject. And even tonight the same station was talking about how, even though penalties need to be stiffened, nobody wants to see anyone suspended for a first stomach punch. Hello?

It pisses me off. Those with a megaphone rewrite history and nobody calls them to account with simple facts. Another example - that pious @@@@@@@@ Ross on the 3AW breakfast program even now still regularly bangs on about Barry Hall "getting off". God he's boring and predictable - surely the greatest crime for someone who is meant to be entertaining. Yet I don't ever hear him mentioning Luke Hodge elbowing Andrew Swallow in the face, ramming some bloke's head into the point post and endangering the lives of others by drink driving - all in the space of one year. No questioning of whether the treatment of his beloved Luke Hodge seemed a bit limp when compared to, say, what the Roos did a month ago to drink driving Kayne Turner. Nope, crickets. Yet, still he regularly mentions Barry Hall a decade ago playing in a Grand Final his team wasn't even involved in. Jaundiced hypocritical @@@@@.

[Ludwig]

SEN's ratings are not good and the pressure is on KB to hold down the fort. He knows the value of controversy mixed with entertainment. The stuff he does with Patrick Smith, Greg Denham and Neil Balme is just a show intended to be entertaining rather than accurate. It's hard to come up with interesting material for 3 hours every day when not much is going on. Sydney are soft targets for the Melbourne audience, so you have to expect that we will take a lot of hits.

[bloodsbigot]

Criticizing the swans pleases the Victorian masses greatly. It's a ratings winner. Just repeating popular opinion no matter how untrue.

[Primmy]

Why don't you email this through to KB V&R? Actually to the show's producer may be more useful. It will give them something else to fluff on about, as noone has actually written off a car, and no club is at present embroiled in a disaster, so what do you do....bash the northern states .... we can't fight back.

Actually send this to Barry (he's on social media)..... and then sit back.