Today’s News, Wednesday , Apr.01

[denime]

Mornin'


Thank media for the riot that never was
By JEREMY LOOME

It's never particularly appreciated by the media when one of its own criticizes its performance.
After all, covering the news accurately is a difficult job that has been made more difficult over the last decade by rapid cutbacks throughout the industry.
But this week, we saw an example in Canada of what happens when media jump on the opportunity to sell a story without regard to facts or balance.

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MLSEL to TFC fans: Oh, behave!
By LANCE HORNBY, SUN MEDIA

Toronto FC officials have spent the past two days talking to leaders of their major fan clubs, while investigating crowd antics on Saturday in Columbus with Crew officials and Major League Soccer.
But reining in small rogue elements in their vast support group will remain a challenge for a team that walks a fine line between family entertainment and a passionate soccer demographic.

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Don’t paint TFC fans with the ‘H’ label
DUANE ROLLINS

It was all very sensational. Debate over a YouTube video of a Toronto FC fan allegedly being Tasered by Columbus police gripped much of the city yesterday.
And predictably the video has caused quite the stir in the Toronto media. Some journalists — most of which were 600 kilometres away at the time of the incident — have cast judgment on the Toronto fans. They have called them an “embarrassment” and have suggested that what happened in Columbus is a sign that hooliganism is on its way to Toronto. Speaking as someone who was about 10 feet away from the man seen in the video, I can’t say that I’m surprised by the reaction.

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Stunned senseless, Reds fan stays mum
By ROB LAMBERTI, SUN MEDIA

The North York man electrically jolted by Columbus police during a ruckus at the Toronto FC game on Saturday refused to talk about it yesterday.
Dwayne Ector, 28, still sporting some of the marks suffered in the incident outside Crew Stadium, faces charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
And the ruckus will change the way Columbus police prepare for soccer matches.
Ector was among five people arrested after the FC and Crew game ended in a 1-1 tie.

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TFC owners express `disappointment' over fans' road violence
MLSE's Anselmi urges boosters to behave when backing team on
road
Daniel Girard

Unruly visiting Toronto FC supporters "crossed the line" in their post-game confrontation with hometown fans and police in Columbus, says the team's owner.
"It's a real disappointment," Tom Anselmi, executive vice-president and chief operating officer with Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, said of Saturday's incident.
About 2,000 TFC fans travelled to the game in Columbus against the Crew, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

Read More



SUNSHINE

[ParadymeTFC]

What's up with this quote from the Star?

"The second incident involved a suspect punching someone in the face as police watched and then running away. Both the suspect and victim in that case are American."

Was it Columbus fans fighting each other or an American TFC fan?

[DOMIN8R]

Wow. Not much on TFC but a big news day for us never less.

Thanks, D.

[Wagner]

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/611015

Not sure if this article was posted yesterday.
It's a good one.

[Still Kicking]

The Stephen Brunt column in today's Globe and Mail is the wisest view that I have seen in the mainstream media.
A few thoughts I've had...next time a TFC supporter or RPB is being interviewed by CBC I would love to hear "the CBC brings us how many bare knuckle fights on Saturday nights over the decades and pays how much to Don Cherry who glorifies it? I was in Columbus and although I wish a few rowdy drunks had kept their cool, my conscience is clear and CBC your hands are bloody..
As for Anselmi, if the Columbus trip had been the "Miller Genuine Draft Ohio Adventure" and 42 corporate types had been in the crowd, would he be saying TFC fans crossed the line after the game?

[mlsintoronto]

nice article Jloome - I like your original angle

[Stugatzo]

nice article Jloome - I like your original angle

Amen, brother.

[denime]

From two different SUN Articles:

MLSEL to TFC fans: Oh, behave!

a statement from the Crew said yesterday. "A comprehensive plan was in place to prepare for and accommodate the approximately 1,200 TFC fans who attended."

Stunned senseless, Reds fan stays mum

Columbus Police Sgt. Rich Weiner said police didn't have a tactical plan for Crew matches as it does for football games involving Ohio State and Michigan universities

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm,Someone is lying ?

[ensco]

I thought Anselmi, who I'm often critical of, handled that well.

Nice story, Jeremy. I hoped that gets picked up outside of Edmonton.

[CoachGT]

Enough already - time to look forward to this weekend!

[Steve]

Haha, I love the police talking about making a comprehensive plan for July. Mostly because in all likelyhood there will only be about 200 people that make the trip at that time, so they'll have police in full riot gear for a handful of (more than likely) well behaved fans.

As for Anselmi, I though he handled it as well as he could in the circumstances. Don't hang your supporters out to dry, but don't condone the actions of a few either. It's a good lesson to MLS in general I think. As MLS grows out of the "fun thing to do for a day" crowd, you'll have more and more passionate people going to matches, and though that shouldn't translate into poor behavior, it can. Time to treat games (especially games with away fans) with that in mind. Keep the fans away from each other until the crowds disperse.

[Fort York Redcoat]

From two different SUN Articles:

MLSEL to TFC fans: Oh, behave!




Stunned senseless, Reds fan stays mum




Hmmmmmmmmmmmm,Someone is lying ?

No the Crew just planned to leave it all in the hands of the local police.

[Mrs. Workie]

nice article Jloome - I like your original angle

Finally someone gets it....

[Oblio2]

Bloome.
Great article.

[flatpicker]

nice to see some common sense used by a few folks in the media.

[scooter]

mornin all

3 more sleeps

[Waggy]

Nice job Jloome. Great piece. My question to you though: in essence, you're saying the Paper just wont spend the cash to cover the event properly. But isn't it on the Editors to still make sure that the piece isn't a scewed tabloid style piece? I expect jounalists to be opportunistic, but my understanding was they were to be reigned in by the editors. I can understand papers not having $ right now, but quality editing is something that should ALWAYS be there.

[Redcoe15]

jloome.

[jloome]

Nice job Jloome. Great piece. My question to you though: in essence, you're saying the Paper just wont spend the cash to cover the event properly. But isn't it on the Editors to still make sure that the piece isn't a scewed tabloid style piece? I expect jounalists to be opportunistic, but my understanding was they were to be reigned in by the editors. I can understand papers not having $ right now, but quality editing is something that should ALWAYS be there.

Yes, a good assignment editor asks questions about holes in stories. No, that doesn't happen very often any more.

Again, it's hard to explain to people how crushed for time some reporters are nowadays. They sometimes do as many stories in a day now as they did in three a decade ago. And it all has to be used, because there isn't as much local copy produced. So a lot of effort is wasted, because it's producing material that isn't worth the time, but is still necessary to get the product on the street.

[GabrielHurl]

The Stephen Brunt column in today's Globe and Mail is the wisest view that I have seen in the mainstream media.

For those who haven't read it

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...rts/columnists

[Waggy]

Makes sense. The more I papers read of late though, the more I agree with Simmons. (For those who aren't familiar, his argument is that Newspapers dropped the ball with the internet, and are now frantically trying to catch up using volume instead of quality). Ah well. Thanks for setting the record straight Jloome (And Brunt).


So, is it time to start looking FORWARD yet? 3 more days....

[Chewy Unikronik]

What's up with this quote from the Star?

"The second incident involved a suspect punching someone in the face as police watched and then running away. Both the suspect and victim in that case are American."

Was it Columbus fans fighting each other or an American TFC fan?

Again, this is what happens when people do not know the whole story, or were not there.

We have made an international incident over a few seconds of idiocy.

I know a hell of a lot more than most, but I'm not going to say a thing. I'll let the rest continue to speculate. Perhaps we should just call this section TFC Entertainment Tonight.

[trane]

Jeremy Loome, who is that wanker? that is about the worst article I have ever read.

[trane]

Jloome, good article, and it really points to an overall problem in media coverage, not just in terms of football.

[jloome]

Jeremy Loome, who is that wanker? that is about the worst article I have ever read.

Bite me

[Parkdale]

Columbus Police Sgt. Rich Weiner said police didn't have a tactical plan for Crew matches as it does for football games involving Ohio State and Michigan universities

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm,Someone is lying ?

I can't trust a man named DICK WEINER

[Lucky Strike]

^Excellent article! You can see there's been two phases in the media coverage.

1. The sensationalists of yesterday who are eager to make something out of nothing for the sake of readership.
2. And today, the rational voices that come out and help wipe away that stain that yesterday's "writers" forced on us.

[Hitcho]

After all this has blown over a bit, the sensible thing to be done here is going forward, isolate the one or two trouble makers and get them on a blacklist and then try and ban them from games, home and away. So from now on, if you get drunk and genuinely cause trouble (not some shit storm blown up by the press after the local cops mace you for no good reason) then your name gets given to the club, your season tickets (if any) get cancelled and you are banned from MLS games. if you're spotted there, you get tossed out.

Get rid of the one or two genuinely bad apples (from all clubs mind, because it's not just TFC who has the odd couple of idiots) and the problem will quickly disappear. MLS is lucky in that this can be done centrally through the league beause it owns all the franchises. Other leagues depend on individual clubs to sort it out. To be clear, I am not suggesting a nanny-state situation at MLS games going forward, and they'll need to be careful not to cut off the genuine and passionate fans. But those who start brawls, toss railings (sorry, but no excuse for that, none, what if someone was in that tent?) or throw missiles at cops etc, just ban them. SGs can help with this, it will benefit us all in the long run.

JLoome - nice one on your article dude. It was really good to see several refreshingly honest and candid pieces published today after all the uninformed garbage printed in the immediate aftermath.

[Fort York Redcoat]

After all this has blown over a bit, the sensible thing to be done here is going forward, isolate the one or two trouble makers and get them on a blacklist and then try and ban them from games, home and away. So from now on, if you get drunk and genuinely cause trouble (not some shit storm blown up by the press after the local cops mace you for no good reason) then your name gets given to the club, your season tickets (if any) get cancelled and you are banned from MLS games. if you're spotted there, you get tossed out.

Get rid of the one or two genuinely bad apples (from all clubs mind, because it's not just TCF who has the odd couple of idiots) and the problem will quickly disappear. MLS is lucky in that this can be done centrally through the league beause it owns all the franchises. other leagues depend on individual clubs to sort it out. TO be clear, I am not suggesting a nanny-state situation at MLS games going forward, and they'll need to be careful not to cut off the genuine and passionate fans. But those who start brawls, toss railings (sorry, but no excuse for that, none, what if someone was in the tent?) or throw things at cops etc, just ban them.

JLoome - nice one on your article dude. It was really good to see several refreshingly honest and candid pieces published today after all the uninformed garbage printed in the immediate aftermath.

Cue the anti-text tattle talk.

[rocker]

this photo turns me on... do they still have Sunshine Boys?