The 'Grog Squad' gets targetted

[tugga]

The goalposts have shifted these days.
Oafish behaviour was accepted 20 or 30 years ago because VFL crowds were made up of predominatly men. Men don't mind other men swearing and acting a bit feral. The old standing rooms days of Moorabbin and Victoria Park were predominatly the haunts of men who drank to excess and left the women in the 'kitchen where they belonged'.
Nowadays 50% of AFL crowds are made up of females. Conditions for watching have improved and have thus attracted families with young kids and older people. Social concious has never been higher and while in some aspects it has gone too far, I don't think it has at AFL games. Conditions have never been better to watch footy. It has also never been safer to play the game without fear of king hits or snipers.
While it may seem I am drawing parallels with the GS, I am actually not. I am just not surprised that the 'powers that be' have decided to crack down on them that's all.
Draw any conclusion you like with what I have just written. I am just throwing it out there.

 

[HAWKS HEROES]

hey there are great mechanics that are women and great cooks that are men women don't belong in the kitchen comment is a bit OLD we do everything and these days you need more then one income to run a house anyway unless you are megga rich and can afford to have a woman not work and let her spend your money on clothes and food and what not .

 

[tugga]

hey there are great mechanics that are women and great cooks that are men women don't belong in the kitchen comment is a bit OLD we do everything and these days you need more then one income to run a house anyway unless you are megga rich and can afford to have a woman not work and let her spend your money on clothes and food and what not .

You totally misread what I said didn't you?

 

[HAWKS HEROES]

You totally misread what I said didn't you?

agree with the rest you wrote lol i just saw that and had to say sorry love the new icons they are cool

 

[TigerTank]

It would appear there are people who think the best way to show tolerance is to be completely intolerant.
The grog squad has been around and doing its thing a lot longer than many of those who wish to crack down on it.
Some people are offended by it, some aren't. Not everyone's values are the same. If the grog squad is not actually doing any harm (and I mean real harm, not some "I'm offended!" unmeasureable type of harm), then leave it alone.
Personally, I can't ever remember seeing the boys behind the goals at the Punt Road End being especially mean-spirited compared with any other group of football supporters. I mean, soccer ... hello!?!

 

[Ned_Flanders]

It would appear there are people who think the best way to show tolerance is to be completely intolerant.
The grog squad has been around and doing its thing a lot longer than many of those who wish to crack down on it.
Some people are offended by it, some aren't. Not everyone's values are the same. If the grog squad is not actually doing any harm (and I mean real harm, not some "I'm offended!" unmeasureable type of harm), then leave it alone.
Personally, I can't ever remember seeing the boys behind the goals at the Punt Road End being especially mean-spirited compared with any other group of football supporters. I mean, soccer ... hello!?!

Sorry, but the "they were here before you, have always done this, and therefore should be allowed to continue" doesn't wash.

In the 60's it was socially okay to sexually harass women in the workplace, get pissed at lunch, and slap your wife when she gave you lip. Times changed though, and behavior had to change with it - regardless of how long people had been doing it for.

Being gay was once illegal in Victoria, so a homo chant was probably acceptable back then. We have gay Richmond supporters, gay Richmond players, surely we have moved beyond using homosexuality as an insult in the unofficial cheer squad?

 

[tigerdan]

The old standing rooms days of Moorabbin and Victoria Park were predominatly the haunts of men who drank to excess and left the women in the 'kitchen where they belonged'.

With respect Tugga, that is a throwaway line that is completely unsubstantiated.

However, your point is valid about there being more women at the footy and presumably (again, it is unsubstantiated) they do not like having to be around drunken louts.

I kind of get a bit bummed by some of the comments here (not from you BTW) that imply that the Grog Squad uses foul/offensive language. That may well be true, but it is not the only section of the crowd that uses such language.

At the end of the day some comments are ok and some are not. But what constitutes 'ok' continues to change. Sometimes I think of the things I used to shout out at the game and feel really bad about it. But you can't live life without making some mistakes.

 

[tigerdan]

Sorry, but the "they were here before you, have always done this, and therefore should be allowed to continue" doesn't wash.

In the 60's it was socially okay to sexually harass women in the workplace, get pissed at lunch, and slap your wife when she gave you lip. Times changed though, and behavior had to change with it - regardless of how long people had been doing it for.

Being gay was once illegal in Victoria, so a homo chant was probably acceptable back then. We have gay Richmond supporters, gay Richmond players, surely we have moved beyond using homosexuality as an insult in the unofficial cheer squad?

Mate I don't care if you are gay or just going in to bat for them. Couldn't care less. I have some gay family and friends and I don't think they are anything other than a person. There may well be gay Richmond players but one has never officially 'come out' so unless you are in the know, it's just speculation on your part. Personally I couldn't care less.

If I knew that a certain section of the crowd were going to act like yobbos I wouldn't sit there. I think that is the point about them being there first. Same as why I wont sit in a smoking part of a Restaurant when overseas and why I wont go out in King St. I know it's going to bug me.

And as for the comments someone made about "what if someone had reserved seats near them"... I guarantee that if you get reserved seats anywhere in the ground you are going to be seated next to hardore Tigerheads who will carry on and froth at the mouth. They love the team and go nuts and may say some outrageously bad things. That's why they pay for the reserved seats; they are fanatics. I am not saying that *all* people in reserved seats are like that, but I guarantee that *some* will be. I used to have reserved seats on lvl 1 of the GSS and it got a bit annoying because each week the same nuts would be there in the same seat and they were just a bit too one eyed for my liking. You'll hear every offensive comment you can think of, as well as the witty putdowns that make everyone laugh.

The point I am making is that you can get yobbos anywhere in the groud and it's not right to single out the GS for this behaviour.

 

[rokintiger]

The point I am making is that you can get yobbos anywhere in the groud and it's not right to single out the GS for this behaviour.

That should be the end of the argument... I have sat in all different spots in different grounds and no matter where you are there is always that one really drunk guy who ruins it for you...
To get rid of a sub-supporter base because you don't like the occasional swear word. oh god.

 

[tugga]

With respect Tugga, that is a throwaway line that is completely unsubstantiated.

However, your point is valid about there being more women at the footy and presumably (again, it is unsubstantiated) they do not like having to be around drunken louts.

I kind of get a bit bummed by some of the comments here (not from you BTW) that imply that the Grog Squad uses foul/offensive language. That may well be true, but it is not the only section of the crowd that uses such language.

At the end of the day some comments are ok and some are not. But what constitutes 'ok' continues to change. Sometimes I think of the things I used to shout out at the game and feel really bad about it. But you can't live life without making some mistakes.

The 'in the kitchen' comment was absolutely the order of the day back in the 70s and 80s.
That was the gist of my post. We have evolved since then.
As for women not wanting to be around drunken foul-mouthed oafs not being substantiated, I think we know the answer to that one without have to do a poll. Common sense takes over don't you think?
Your make some good points though with your last two paras.
The fact that footy is an outlet for the everyday grind for all of us shouldn't be lost in all of this. Most of us here know what it's like to invest so much emotional energy into barracking for Richmond and we tend to forget that others are just as passionate. There has to be an outlet for all that energy and game day is where it all ends up.
I wasn't saying the GS is the only guilty party in behaving poorly at times. But I can see why the admins have decided to keep an eye on them. They can be intimidating. I saw a young girl who would have been no older than 10 who didn't want to walk past them on Saturday when her dad was trying to get her to their seats. Whether she was being a precious princess or not, I won't judge.
I wasn't going to say this, but I used to stand with the GS for years until I finally grew out of it. Pissed up smartarse teens and 20somethings (just like me at the time) somehow took over. There used to be a hierarchy system. Now it's little more than the Blue & White Brigade who support Melbourne Victory. Just a bunch of try-hard blow ins intent on getting pissed up and causing havoc because they are probably too gutless to do it on the streets and they feel they have some sort of protection inside a footy stadium. Or maybe they just know right from wrong in the first place and know that they can get away with it at the footy?
Anyway, that's my take on it. With the AFL becoming more sanitised and obsessed with being a pillar of society, I can understand why the crack down has happened.

 

[Bojangles17]

Tugg, what gets lost in this attack on the GS, is the fine point made by idy earlier on, that whats made this club is that we've embraced everyone without prejudice. It has helped us weather the clubs darkest hour. I have enough faith that this fringe group can work within whats socially acceptable in 2012 without a witch hunt that goes against everything this club has stood for

 

[tugga]

Just saying I can see both sides of the story, Bo.

 

[Ned_Flanders]

Mate I don't care if you are gay or just going in to bat for them. Couldn't care less. I have some gay family and friends and I don't think they are anything other than a person. There may well be gay Richmond players but one has never officially 'come out' so unless you are in the know, it's just speculation on your part. Personally I couldn't care less.

If I knew that a certain section of the crowd were going to act like yobbos I wouldn't sit there. I think that is the point about them being there first. Same as why I wont sit in a smoking part of a Restaurant when overseas and why I wont go out in King St. I know it's going to bug me.

And as for the comments someone made about "what if someone had reserved seats near them"... I guarantee that if you get reserved seats anywhere in the ground you are going to be seated next to hardore Tigerheads who will carry on and froth at the mouth. They love the team and go nuts and may say some outrageously bad things. That's why they pay for the reserved seats; they are fanatics. I am not saying that *all* people in reserved seats are like that, but I guarantee that *some* will be. I used to have reserved seats on lvl 1 of the GSS and it got a bit annoying because each week the same nuts would be there in the same seat and they were just a bit too one eyed for my liking. You'll hear every offensive comment you can think of, as well as the witty putdowns that make everyone laugh.

The point I am making is that you can get yobbos anywhere in the groud and it's not right to single out the GS for this behaviour.

it would be wrong for any group to chant "n*****" to an opposition player, and anyone doing it would not be excused by saying "oh we are just passionate, its a big stadium, why don't you sit somewhere else".

just as its wrong to denigrate people based upon race, its also wrong to do it based upon sexual preference.

there is also no difference between a yob in the crowd or a group (i.e. like the GS). we should all be held to the same standard of decency

 

[CoggaRules]

Tugg, what gets lost in this attack on the GS, is the fine point made by idy earlier on, that whats made this club is that we've embraced everyone without prejudice. It has helped us weather the clubs darkest hour. I have enough faith that this fringe group can work within whats socially acceptable in 2012 without a witch hunt that goes against everything this club has stood for

What also gets lost is that If they want to disband it, they will disband it dude. Its not about history, not fair, we were here first and all that shit, its about what it is and what the powers that be want to do. Moaning and groaning about shit, means exactly that to them, shit. They stamp the file, it will be stamped like it or not.
As I suggested in a previous post, tipping the same shit would have been talked about when Man Utd put seats at the Stratford end to get rid of the hooligan element. We were here first etc etc would have been screamed from the terraces, but look now and they are there, but they are there because of their team, not just to piss up and chant shit that means just that, shit, if it aint about footy..
Personally I dont give a ****, as I said, I was a culprit of going over the top, even sitting in N sections back in the days, I didnt really give a rats who was around, got told off a few times, but it went through one ear and out the other, but nowadays even I have curbed the language, seeing as Joe Blow and his missus and 3 little tackers are all around me. But I still let go a few expletives, and seeing as they are few, no one says anything. Its called balance.

Tell you what though, I understood they were really cracking down, when, standing in Bay 13, amongst dudes pissed etc, you would have thought it was open season with the language, but the "security" dudes, moved in and told us to tame the language. That wasnt enough, they actually haung around for the whole game waiting to pounce.
Its the directive and it will be enforced and whatever and whoever wants to moan and not fall into line, will find themselves looking for something to do when the footy is on..thats reality..

 

[rammbo]

I find the yobbos can b quite entertaining at times and it seems to me that some individuals and group activists have massive chips on their shoulders and just want to winge , wine and twist comments about anything just to crow there own beliefs .

 

[HAWKS HEROES]

If I knew that a certain section of the crowd were going to act like yobbos I wouldn't sit there. I think that is the point about them being there first. Same as why I wont sit in a smoking part of a Restaurant when overseas and why I wont go out in King St. I know it's going to bug me.

And as for the comments someone made about "what if someone had reserved seats near them"... I guarantee that if you get reserved seats anywhere in the ground you are going to be seated next to hardore Tigerheads who will carry on and froth at the mouth.

It is not always a tiger reserved area in front of the grog squad and no i am not saying they are always bad and i won't bring up what i saw once that happened in the hawks family area , but no they can not just move seats always specially if there is a huge membership with lots of reserved seats taken and none left and yes you get yobbos everywhere , i am female i cope with swear words to a point but past that i crack it if a c word is said nope won't tolerate that at all ! i have a girl near my seat and yes she is a hawk she will start the f word now i will deal with that to a point but when every second word is f this f that and she has no idea what she is yelling out about with those f words i do end up telling her to cork it , she usually does thankfully . i usually don't swear but have friends that do no probs , only time i did was at a dog supporter who was an idiot and that nearly got me kicked out and i only said it twice

 

[tugga]

It is not always a tiger reserved area in front of the grog squad and no i am not saying they are always bad and i won't bring up what i saw once that happened in the hawks family area , but no they can not just move seats always specially if there is a huge membership with lots of reserved seats taken and none left and yes you get yobbos everywhere , i am female i cope with swear words to a point but past that i crack it if a c word is said nope won't tolerate that at all ! i have a girl near my seat and yes she is a hawk she will start the f word now i will deal with that to a point but when every second word is f this f that and she has no idea what she is yelling out about with those f words i do end up telling her to cork it , she usually does thankfully . i usually don't swear but have friends that do no probs , only time i did was at a dog supporter who was an idiot and that nearly got me kicked out and i only said it twice

Was in standing room last week. Guy behind me dropped the c word twice. Frst time i gave hm the benefit of the doubt. 2nd time i turned around and politely told him that would not be a 3rd time. Once people are reminded in a nice enough, but forceful way, they will be embarrassed enough to stop.

 

[HAWKS HEROES]

Was in standing room last week. Guy behind me dropped the c word twice. Frst time i gave hm the benefit of the doubt. 2nd time i turned around and politely told him that would not be a 3rd time. Once people are reminded in a nice enough, but forceful way, they will be embarrassed enough to stop.

yep agree though i tell you had 2 moron pies behind me and my friends last year seems ok at the start mmmm how wrong we were if they were not trying to poke out the eye with their flag they would not let us celebrate or few goals i cracked it near the end said we let you lot celebrate why not let us that is only fair i was so close to losing it like i have never lost it before dislike sitting amongst pies rather be amongst tigers ,
except the 7 that did not like people yelling out support for their team [ had 7 complain about me yelling GO HAWKS i kid you not] never had that happen before , wasn't swearing or abusing anyone except the umps and what i said at them was mild any way , get new glasses or a guide dog would do better sort of thing

 

[deliberate!!]

TThe old standing rooms days of Moorabbin and Victoria Park were predominatly the haunts of men who drank to excess and left the women in the 'kitchen where they belonged'.

You were there too ?? !!

 

[tugga]

You were there too ?? !!

The old man took me to all those grounds when I was a little tacker. Him and his best mate would take a slab into the ground and I would stand on it and as the day got longer, the slab slowly disappeared. Then it was in the car and back to Shepp like nothing had happened. Drink driving wasn't an issue back then...obviously

 

[deliberate!!]

The old man took me to all those grounds when I was a little tacker. Him and his best mate would take a slab into the ground and I would stand on it and as the day got longer, the slab slowly disappeared. Then it was in the car and back to Shepp like nothing had happened. Drink driving wasn't an issue back then...obviously

As a kid I used to have to stand on those tube beer cans just to see the game. LOL. Those were the days *warm & fuzzy* jk

People think today's crowds are rough? The old days were fights and men. Men and fights. Beer and banter.
It's wonderful that we now have more kids (boys & girls) at games as well as something like a fair split of men and women. And we have made wonderful steps in bringing families to games.

Today's crowds are great if you Tugga, like I, have seen where we have come from.

 

[Rodney Dangerfield]

As a kid I used to have to stand on those tube beer cans just to see the game. LOL. Those were the days *warm & fuzzy* jk

People think today's crowds are rough? The old days were fights and men. Men and fights. Beer and banter.
It's wonderful that we now have more kids (boys & girls) at games as well as something like a fair split of men and women. And we have made wonderful steps in bringing families to games.

Today's crowds are great if you Tugga, like I, have seen where we have come from.

Absolutely.
Some of the things you'd see at the footy in the 70's and 80's you wouldn't see in your nightmares now.

 

[Bazzar]

As a kid I used to have to stand on those tube beer cans just to see the game. LOL. Those were the days *warm & fuzzy* jk

People think today's crowds are rough? The old days were fights and men. Men and fights. Beer and banter.
It's wonderful that we now have more kids (boys & girls) at games as well as something like a fair split of men and women. And we have made wonderful steps in bringing families to games.

Today's crowds are great if you Tugga, like I, have seen where we have come from.

And the Pie ferals would piss in cups and cans and throw it over the opp players as they were running out of the race.

 

[Ron The Bear]

The old standing rooms days of Moorabbin and Victoria Park were predominatly the haunts of men who drank to excess and left the women in the 'kitchen where they belonged'.

Watched several games from the 'Animal Enclosure' in the late 80's/early 90's, even a couple against Richmond. Perhaps it was tamer then than in the past, but AFAIC it didn't live up to its reputation. Just a motley crew of passionate supporters who lived and breathed St.Kilda. Never saw them go out of their way to make trouble (though they reacted instantly when provoked).

 

[HAWKS HEROES]

As a kid I used to have to stand on those tube beer cans just to see the game. LOL. Those were the days *warm & fuzzy* jk

People think today's crowds are rough? The old days were fights and men. Men and fights. Beer and banter.
It's wonderful that we now have more kids (boys & girls) at games as well as something like a fair split of men and women. And we have made wonderful steps in bringing families to games.

Today's crowds are great if you Tugga, like I, have seen where we have come from.

i am enjoying reading your stories as i never got to games as a little tacker mum and dad did not go and my brother was a pie supporter and he went when older with friends but i missed out till i could go so thank you tugga and deliberate and any others telling interesting stories from back then much appreciated .