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Angry Facebook User

I have no idea why this has popped up on my page! I’d rather boil my head in a bucket of swine flu!

This was a comment posted on my Facebook page by an angry Facebook user – an English guy.  I have called him Mr. Blogg so as not to identify him by name. I think it is amusing so I replied –

Thank you Mr. Blogg but please don’t do that. Sounds rather painful!

His comment was  in response to my post titled Liverpool Football Club that was published both here and on my Facebook Page as well as other social media sites.

This ‘Boil my head in a bucket of swine flu” comment is both graphic and nonsensical. It may also be indicative of the classic symptoms of sports fans and vitriol.

According to the US National Library of Medicine swine flu is described as “H1N1 virus (swine flu) is an infection of the nose, throat, and lungs. It is caused by the H1N1 influenza virus.” It is a human influenza virus that is related to a strain of flu that infects pigs.

It is nonsensical as the hurdles involved in placing swine flu into a bucket must be insurmountable. However if one were to overcome those hurdles then you are faced with the added difficulty of boiling the contents of that bucket. I am not sure how you would do that! But the thought of voluntarily placing the human head into this boiling concoction is just ….. ludicrous!

In fairness to this guy he may have been irritated by my Facebook post showing up on his Facebook Timeline. My ‘Stephen Bentley – Writer” Facebook Page is set globally. In other words anyone in the world is able to see it as opposed to a selected group or my private Facebook friends. Well, excuse me Mr. Blogg but that is the nature of Facebook and if it irritated you so much then all you have to do is click on ‘Do Not Show’ or even report it to the Facebook ‘police’.

His irritation led to my amusement at his reply. It gave me great pleasure that he had bothered to post a comment on my Page.

However I have the gut feeling that he is a sports fan. He is probably a fan of Chelsea or Manchester United. There is no love lost between the fans of those two clubs and those of Liverpool Football Club.

Chelsea Fans Looking Angry Even When They Win!
Chelsea Fans Looking Angry Even When They Win!

I do not have a problem with rivalry between sports clubs and I certainly do not have a problem with good-natured banter between rival fans. I do have a problem with sports fans and vitriol. One dictionary definition of vitriol is “harsh and angry words.”

In the English Premier League some of the interaction between rival fans has become seriously acrimonious. Gloating chants and songs in the worst possible taste can be heard at most of the stadiums on match day. It is a very unpleasant feature of the English game. I have no time for the so called fans who belt out songs at the top of their voices that make reference to tragedies. Tragedies such as the Munich Air Disaster involving Manchester United or the Hillsborough tragedy involving Liverpool.

They Learn at a Young Age
They Learn at a Young Age

They are provocative, insulting and disrespectful to the deceased and their families. Yes, the game in England has come a long way since the bad old days of football violence. There is still much to be done though to make spectating at an English game a pleasurable experience. The young boy in the picture above is imitating his elders at the match. Look at the ‘finger’ and the hatred on his face.

These songs and chants are not funny. They are sick. And so are the people who take part in the singing and chanting. It’s an ugly feature of the ‘beautiful game’.

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4 Comments

  1. christina christina

    I love the last line…’ugly feature of a beautiful game’. Never did understand how soccer causes such violent reactions.

    • Hi Christina – Soccer (or football as us Brits call it :)) has long been known as “the beautiful game”. Football related violence is not the problem it once was. There have been many studies conducted into the ‘tribal’ nature of football hooligans and if you are interested then Google football or soccer violence or hooligans.

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