- Jul 15, 2014
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You know what I am starting to realise? I probably already knew this, but it’s pretty evident at this moment.
I believe that people’s complaints on here (specifically neutrals) about Bulldogs’ positive free kick differential is driven by the Tall Poppy Syndrome and not people’s desire for true equity in the game. Why you ask? Well, I don’t see calls for a ‘Royal Commission’ into the following free kick differential (Richmond)
Adelaide +7
Essendon +5
Bulldogs +4
North Melbourne +3
Hawthorn +1 (overall)
—————————
St Kilda -5 (overall)
Melbourne -7
Gold Coast -7
Fremantle -8
Collingwood -8
Geelong -9 (overall)
Brisbane -10 (overall)
Carlton -10
Port Adelaide -10
West Coast -10
Sydney -10
GWS -12 (overall)
-86 is a large differential and a bigger outlier than Bulldogs’ +72 in 22 rounds, but you probably won’t find calls for a review into this from many neutrals. Only from Richmond fans and maybe some impartial neutrals. And yes, I am fully aware that I am a Richmond supporter posting about Richmond in a thread about Bulldogs, but I am doing that because this is actually the best current example for what I’m trying to convey. This isn’t just about Richmond - you can use Hawthorn, Essendon, Fremantle, Sydney, GWS and St Kilda as examples for this over the years as well.
Point is that it’s convenient for a ‘neutral’ to raise awareness and demand action against a successful Bulldogs having a large positive differential (or a successful West Coast having a large positive differential at home) because it weakens the authenticity of their success in many people’s eyes. This leads many to be more open to conspiracy theories about how this differential came to be.
However, it’s not as convenient for a ‘neutral’ to do the same for a club (especially if they are successful) on the other end of the differential because that may weaken your club’s achievements over that club. Therefore, ‘neutrals’ largely don’t care about that and will apply Occam’s Razor on the large negative differentials (e.g. put it down to discipline or gamestyle).
Why does this occur? From my observations, I think it’s because many supporters of the game are driven by the Tall Poppy Syndrome and not actual equity. Equity is an argument they’ll only use until their team gets what Bulldogs have now. That’s when they’ll start to base it on “gamestyle” and “discipline”.
An objective analyser would address both negative and positive outliers regardless of whether it helps or impacts their club.
Bottom line - and let’s be honest - is that:
1. Many neutrals on this thread are only complaining about Bulldogs and their ‘ride’ because their team is not receiving it.
2. Many Bulldogs fans are not complaining because it’s their team that is receiving it.
3. Many Richmond fans are complaining about the negative differential because their team is impacted by it.
4. Many neutrals don’t care about Richmond’s differential because their team is not the ones impacted by this.
I feel like these 4 things remain a constant on this website. It’s just the team and the supporter base that changes depending on what category they fall in.
TL;DR - I believe that many non-Bulldogs supporters calling out Bulldogs’ differential aren’t actually driven by equity. Rather, I believe that they’re driven by the Tall Poppy Syndrome.
I believe that people’s complaints on here (specifically neutrals) about Bulldogs’ positive free kick differential is driven by the Tall Poppy Syndrome and not people’s desire for true equity in the game. Why you ask? Well, I don’t see calls for a ‘Royal Commission’ into the following free kick differential (Richmond)
Adelaide +7
Essendon +5
Bulldogs +4
North Melbourne +3
Hawthorn +1 (overall)
—————————
St Kilda -5 (overall)
Melbourne -7
Gold Coast -7
Fremantle -8
Collingwood -8
Geelong -9 (overall)
Brisbane -10 (overall)
Carlton -10
Port Adelaide -10
West Coast -10
Sydney -10
GWS -12 (overall)
-86 is a large differential and a bigger outlier than Bulldogs’ +72 in 22 rounds, but you probably won’t find calls for a review into this from many neutrals. Only from Richmond fans and maybe some impartial neutrals. And yes, I am fully aware that I am a Richmond supporter posting about Richmond in a thread about Bulldogs, but I am doing that because this is actually the best current example for what I’m trying to convey. This isn’t just about Richmond - you can use Hawthorn, Essendon, Fremantle, Sydney, GWS and St Kilda as examples for this over the years as well.
Point is that it’s convenient for a ‘neutral’ to raise awareness and demand action against a successful Bulldogs having a large positive differential (or a successful West Coast having a large positive differential at home) because it weakens the authenticity of their success in many people’s eyes. This leads many to be more open to conspiracy theories about how this differential came to be.
However, it’s not as convenient for a ‘neutral’ to do the same for a club (especially if they are successful) on the other end of the differential because that may weaken your club’s achievements over that club. Therefore, ‘neutrals’ largely don’t care about that and will apply Occam’s Razor on the large negative differentials (e.g. put it down to discipline or gamestyle).
Why does this occur? From my observations, I think it’s because many supporters of the game are driven by the Tall Poppy Syndrome and not actual equity. Equity is an argument they’ll only use until their team gets what Bulldogs have now. That’s when they’ll start to base it on “gamestyle” and “discipline”.
An objective analyser would address both negative and positive outliers regardless of whether it helps or impacts their club.
Bottom line - and let’s be honest - is that:
1. Many neutrals on this thread are only complaining about Bulldogs and their ‘ride’ because their team is not receiving it.
2. Many Bulldogs fans are not complaining because it’s their team that is receiving it.
3. Many Richmond fans are complaining about the negative differential because their team is impacted by it.
4. Many neutrals don’t care about Richmond’s differential because their team is not the ones impacted by this.
I feel like these 4 things remain a constant on this website. It’s just the team and the supporter base that changes depending on what category they fall in.
TL;DR - I believe that many non-Bulldogs supporters calling out Bulldogs’ differential aren’t actually driven by equity. Rather, I believe that they’re driven by the Tall Poppy Syndrome.
. It’s quite hilarious.
. It’s quite hilarious.
