Mega Thread 2024 Media & Miscellaneous Thread

[Madas]

View attachment 2036605View attachment 2036606

Booooooooo!!!

 

[Docker82]

I'm not disagreeing with you, but I feel like the commentators make the problem seem far worse than it is.

If fans didn’t think umpiring was poor, the media wouldn’t be doing so much stuff on it. They’re talking about what people want and it’s that way because each week it’s distracting from the actual games that have happened.

 

[oldgoat]

People have been saying this is the worst season ever for umpiring pretty much every season of footy ever played.

Yeah, yeah...but this IS the worst season ever.
Unprecedented, outrageous, calamatous, corrupt, inept, interventionous, laissez faire...just atrocious!
The game is RUINED!
Never seen anything like it!

 

[Clive Kepler]

AFL is becoming a joke. New rules every season, new interpretations every month, umpires and clubs learning on-the-go, officials constantly coming out and saying this and that were the wrong or right decision. It's ruining the game and has ruined results. Some things need to be reverted or set in stone, so the game can be allowed to breathe on it's own. Flippant nonsense.

Bro it was like this 20 years ago not sure where you have been.

 

[Docker82]

I can honestly say I understood the rules better ten years ago than I do now. It's not just always been like this.

I've more or less watched AFL since I was born.

I see the standard of umpiring as the single biggest threat to the game tbh.

In past I've said they should just sack the whole rules committee overnight and the game would be better for it. I'd still support that tbh but I now feel as if there needs to be some decisions made to repair some of the damage that has been done - once we have a game that's possible to umpire, leave the ****ing game alone.

 

[arsesmart]

Doesn't help having 95% of commentators complaining about every decision. Richo does my head in, his special comments are 99% disagreeing with umpiring decisions.

And because half the commentators don't even know the rules, everyone watching thinks its worse than it is because they've got decisions wrong when in reality, the numpty calling the game doesn't know the rules.

Jordan Lewis is another serial complainant.

Ex-players complaining with half a brain, who would've thought?

Maybe a Complain-o-Meter to visually display of the bile tide might add some perspective.

 

[arsesmart]

It's awful but I honestly don't think it's the umpires fault.

The rulebook is an absolute mess and completely foreign to how the game is actually played.

It needs to be rewritten.

It's a fair challenge to take on. It's one of those things that's probably not as easy as we think it might be.

It's always worthwhile trying to do a rewrite of one rule... maybe one that concerns you the most...and see how easy it can be done.

 

[Stinky Lomax]

The worst thing the AFL did is making umpires unapproachable during games with the relationship between umpires & players, visually anyway at an all time low.

They are considered higher than mighty, particularly with the dissent rule that was bought in a couple of years ago. Even though it has been relaxed, players are too frightened to talk to umpires on the ground & there is absolutely zero relationship between umpires & most players.

This has filtered down into community Football with a lot of umpires are running around with a chip on their shoulder. Players respect umpires in a whole different way now, it’s forced rather than earned & its putting huge pressure on umpires to be perfect, particularly with 4 of them running around.

 

[Taylor]

Jordan Lewis is another serial complainant.

Ex-players complaining with half a brain, who would've thought?

Maybe a Complain-o-Meter to visually display of the bile tide might add some perspective.

It's orders of magnitude easier to be negative about something, or find flaw with it, than it is to find something positive or constructive to say.

 

[Paracleet]

Absolute get off my lawn areas in here right now.

 

[Purpletown]

There is not one absolute reason fans often feel p*ssed off at the state of the game, the umpiring and the AFL media.

However part of the problem is that the AFL is now a commercial operation more so than a sporting administrator.

Dillon is the CEO of a business who's job it is to make money by selling TV rights, maximise income from gambling and getting people to go to games and in general be invested in their team.

The AFL does not really represent the fans or the game to the degree it did in the past.

I believe the quality of the TV coverage has given us all a much more detailed HD view of of the game and the broadcasters like to "create" as much drama as possible to make things exciting for the viewer. Post game shows also lean towards the dramatic side of things (generally)

 

[DocT]

This will make me perhaps the most hated man on Bigfooty but...

I think the umpiring is actually pretty good

Don't get me wrong, I bellow and shout blue murder at 'You cheating ^#$% a**holes' as much as the worst of us.

But perhaps 50% of the time when I have blown my stack and rewatch the offensive incident I have to eat humble pie, having to acknowledge one of a) it wasn't as clear cut as I thought or b) surprise, surprise, the trained, dedicated professional on the spot was right and way better than the one-eyed purple a***hole hurling the abuse. (One-eyed, purple a***hole, I truly only just realised what I said. There's a delightful image. Even before it starts hurling abuse. )

The bottom line is the nature of our game. It is fast, intense, lots going on, highly combative and complex. The things we love about it make it hard to adjudicate.

I could list a dozen rule/interpretations that piss me right off and SHOULD BE FIXED IMMEDIATELY. Many have been mentioned in this thread.

TLDR: let's talk but not be too hard on the umpys, they are better than all of us, and without them we'd have nothing to do on the weekends.

If the money's so good and you can do a better job, go ahead and sign up! LFG!

 

[Cam Payne]

Every year the conversations the same and of course it'll be worse next year. You just wait and see.

 

[Purple Suit]

This will make me perhaps the most hated man on Bigfooty but...

I think the umpiring is actually pretty good

Don't get me wrong, I bellow and shout blue murder at 'You cheating ^#$% a**holes' as much as the worst of us.

But perhaps 50% of the time when I have blown my stack and rewatch the offensive incident I have to eat humble pie, having to acknowledge one of a) it wasn't as clear cut as I thought or b) surprise, surprise, the trained, dedicated professional on the spot was right and way better than the one-eyed purple a***hole hurling the abuse. (One-eyed, purple a***hole, I truly only just realised what I said. There's a delightful image. Even before it starts hurling abuse. )

The bottom line is the nature of our game. It is fast, intense, lots going on, highly combative and complex. The things we love about it make it hard to adjudicate.

I could list a dozen rule/interpretations that piss me right off and SHOULD BE FIXED IMMEDIATELY. Many have been mentioned in this thread.

TLDR: let's talk but not be too hard on the umpys, they are better than all of us, and without them we'd have nothing to do on the weekends.

If the money's so good and you can do a better job, go ahead and sign up! LFG!

I recon the AFL should do a campaign on blindsided umpires and how they can only pay what they see. This is especially important in junior footy as there isn’t 4 of them.

It makes it a lot easier to not get upset with a missed call if people understand there is a pack of players in the way that makes it hard to see a split second infringement that is corrected.

Guessing frees is worse than missing them as it rewards stagers.

 

[Dale147]

 

[Clems Knee]

I am less worried about the state of umpires when we are third on the ladder. I am more inclined to rewatch a game we won and see that the umpiring wasn’t as terrible as I thought while watching the game.

I still haven’t forgiven the umpires from round 1, 2001 when atrocious umpiring cost us a comfortable victory against Carlton and we lost by a point. Losing the next 16 games made it even worse.

I think the emphasis on umpiring mostly depends on how your team is going. Sure, there are bad decisions. But players, commentators and fans make more mistakes than umpires. This is as it always has been.

 

[tacopavlich]

Doesn't help having 95% of commentators complaining about every decision. Richo does my head in, his special comments are 99% disagreeing with umpiring decisions.

And because half the commentators don't even know the rules, everyone watching thinks its worse than it is because they've got decisions wrong when in reality, the numpty calling the game doesn't know the rules.

It does say something though about the rules that if ex AFL players and quite a few current ones don't understand the rules and interpretations, it would be that much worse for casual spectators and newcomers trying to understand the umpiring and the dissonance is clearly an issue. The "perception" of the terrible umpiring shared consistently by neutral observers is a problem itself.

 

[DragoDelph]

Just found this on the club page if people aren't using a podcast app for the freo interviews.

Fremantle Dockers Football Club - Fremantle Dockers Football Club

Not Specified

omny.fm

 

[gaskin]

Interesting to see how we have become so bad defensively after becoming so good from an offensive standpoint. I'll be interested to see how that changes when we get both Moose and Cox into the backline.

 

[Demons09]

It’s a professional comp right so why do we have part time umps?

 

[Madas]

Yeah, yeah...but this IS the worst season ever.
Unprecedented, outrageous, calamatous, corrupt, inept, interventionous, laissez faire...just atrocious!
The game is RUINED!
Never seen anything like it!

You missed “preposterous” in an otherwise flawless melt

 

[gaskin]

It’s a professional comp right so why do we have part time umps?

Because by the time the umpires get to AFL level they are already established in their chosen careers. The money the AFL pay is not enough to get them to give up a career they have worked and/or studied for for years- especially when they might umpire for 10 years at most.

 

[dont bowl there]

Because by the time the umpires get to AFL level they are already established in their chosen careers. The money the AFL pay is not enough to get them to give up a career they have worked and/or studied for for years- especially when they might umpire for 10 years at most.

Pretty much this, the NBA has refs that are in their late 50s still doing games but due to the running and fitness required to be an AFL umpire the career length is so small with very little pathways into AFL level jobs after umpiring. Paying the umpires enough to make them full time is not as simple as it sounds and might actually result in a worse level of competence.

 

[The Lobbster]

It does say something though about the rules that if ex AFL players and quite a few current ones don't understand the rules and interpretations, it would be that much worse for casual spectators and newcomers trying to understand the umpiring and the dissonance is clearly an issue. The "perception" of the terrible umpiring shared consistently by neutral observers is a problem itself.

I’m not sure it says as much as you think. Some commentators and players are well versed in the rules. Unfortunately CH7 have a collection of them that don’t, and they are the largest exposure point for a lot of people.

The insufficient intent rule for out of bounds is a key example. I heard a CH7 commentator say something along the lines of “it’s very harsh to be penalised there. He just wanted to gain some territory and had no control over his kick”

This is the definition of insufficient intent. The fact that commentator didn’t understand the rule isn’t an indictment on the rule but on the commentator. The rules of the game really aren’t that complicated.

 

[The Lobbster]

Interesting to see how we have become so bad defensively after becoming so good from an offensive standpoint. I'll be interested to see how that changes when we get both Moose and Cox into the backline.

The interesting point of this analysis is that it strays into double jeopardy territory. IF we lose clearances, THEN we can’t defend as well.

It’s an interesting trend but it’s a big IF. I’m sure you could probably find something like this for every other team. I wonder if in looking at the collection of those stats “offensive” and “defensive”, some scale has been lost. Sure our defence from stoppage may be bad, but if we almost never lose stoppage then who cares.

I’m not sure Sydney would be worried that if you shut down their big 3, then they may lose. That just doesn’t happen enough to worry