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Off Topic News & Current affairs

Discussion in 'Charlton' started by ForestHillBilly, Feb 6, 2020.

  1. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
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    Now is the time for the George Floyd and BLM movements to exercise influence, if they play it smartly.
    Who knows what will happen four years from now.
    Kamala Harris might win in 2024 - or a Trumpite Republican might win.

    I can understand the decades of resentment and burning desire for justice or retribution (even revenge of some kind).
    But a really long lasting legacy of progress towards racial justice won't be achieved by alienating Biden.
    Perhaps the press coverage is accentuating divisions.
    That wouldn't surprise me.
     
    #1281
  2. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
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    A SPORTS NEWS STORY

    Naomi Osaka is being threatened with being expelled from future tennis tournaments.
    What has she done to deserve this serious threat?

    Sworn at an umpire? No.
    Stormed off the court? No.
    Broke her racket? No.
    Broke the dress code? No.

    She has refused to attend a press conference :emoticon-0104-surpr
    Unforgivable, obviously <doh>

    Ms Osaka is one of the best tennis players in the world.
    She goes to tournaments to play tennis.
    Fans go to tournaments to watch her play tennis.

    Who do the Tennis authorities think they are?

    Any chump can do a press conference. The questions they get asked are staggeringly dumb anyway.

    Sport should be about Sport. Even at elite level.
    Not about politics or keeping TV companies happy, or all that rubbish.
     
    #1282
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  3. Ken Shabby

    Ken Shabby Well-Known Member

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    I'd guess there is maybe some money and a contract stating she has to attend a set number of interviews post match which she has signed. But I think you are right in general - I'm assuming that something happened to make her stop the interviews.
     
    #1283
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  4. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
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    She is saying it's to protect her mental health.

    I must admit I'm not really convinced by that explanation. "Mental health" seems to be used as a blanket excuse for all kinds of things these days, with anybody who questions the sincerity of that excuse being branded heartless, cruel, etc.

    But I also don't like sports being run by jobsworths, bureaucrats and other talentless pen-pushers.
    No-marks who seem to enjoy telling truly talented sports-people how to behave.


    If Naomi Osaka doesn't want to talk to a bunch of stiffs from the press then good luck to her.
    None of them can hit a tennis ball like she can. And if players like her are banned, fewer people will pay to watch tournaments.
     
    #1284
  5. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
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    Update:

    Naomi Osaka has withdrawn from the French Open tennis tournament.
    It seems she has some serious personal problems to deal with.
     
    #1285
  6. The Penguin

    The Penguin Well-Known Member

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    Nothing but sympathy for her.
     
    #1286
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  7. Saf

    Saf Not606 Godfather+NOT606 Poster of the year 2023

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    Why? What do you know of her or what she has been through?

    Do you expect somebody who suffers with mental health should need to divulge the finer details of how they're suffering with their mental health if just using that term doesn't convince you?

    She's doing this because she has suffered with depression on numerous occasions and the interviews immediately after the game cause her stress. She doesn't want that which should absolutely be her choice, especially on medical grounds.

    The Tennis authorities are out of order big time with this one.
     
    #1287
  8. Ubedizzy

    Ubedizzy Well-Known Member

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    Difficult one this.....on the one hand it should be everyone's right to say no.

    The problem, is that she and all other top players have signed contracts to say that they will do interviews immediately after the games. For doing that, with free choice at the time, they get paid a huge amount of money, which they all want, so they do have a duty to stick to what they agreed to. The pay they get is not just for their ability as a tennis player, its for the access that the sponsors then get to them.

    Whether her ongoing health difficulties give her an opt out from the contract is a matter that none of us are qualified to opine on. Neither are the extent nor the consequences of her health problems.

    As I say, its difficult to form an accurate opinion without knowing the details of the contract or the extent of her health difficulties.
     
    #1288
  9. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
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    And when did all this information about her having anxiety attacks before interviews become public knowledge - before or after what I posted?

    Your response makes it appear that I was fully aware of those details when I expressed my scepticism.
    Which I was not.

    Yes, I admit on this occasion I was wrong to be doubtful.
    But your reaction perfectly illustrates the point I was making.
    Anybody not immediately buying into the mental health explanation offered by any person, is attacked as being somehow cruel and heartless.

    Now I know more about Naomi Osaka's situation I am perfectly happy to accept that she is being completely honest.
    She obviously has a real phobia about speaking to the media, not just a general dislike of speaking to them (as many people probably have).

    But in the case of other individuals I retain the right to be sceptical.
    In other circumstances, the behaviour of certain other people is not a result of mental health issues in my opinion, and those individuals are doing a disservice to the whole issue of mental health by using it as an excuse.
    And whoever does not buy into their line is shot down in flames.
     
    #1289
    Last edited: Jun 1, 2021
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  10. Ken Shabby

    Ken Shabby Well-Known Member

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    If she is suffering from depression or anything related to it, the authorities should have backed way off. If she had a twisted ankle, she couldn't play, but here we are again suggesting mental illness isn't a real thing and she should just get on with it.
    I'm not in a position to judge, but something clearly isn't right, and she should expect a much better reaction from the tennis federation.
     
    #1290
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  11. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
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    I never suggested that mental illness is not a real thing.
    I find that accusation offensive. But sadly I'm not surprised.

    Clearly, anybody who claims to have mental health issues must be believed unquestioningly.
    And anybody who expresses any other viewpoint, even in the mildest terms, is out of order.

    OK, I won't debate the subject any further. Since I'm obviously so uneducated my views deserve to be cancelled.
    That's the way we do things nowadays isn't it.
     
    #1291
  12. Ken Shabby

    Ken Shabby Well-Known Member

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    I wasn't aiming it at you @lardiman , it was a complaint about the tennis authorities. Sorry if you thought it was a dig at you, it wasn't.
     
    #1292
  13. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
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    Then I'm sorry too @Shabby of Toad Hall for misunderstanding you.

    The Tennis Authorities (whoever is running the show at the French Open tournament) have behaved badly in my view - as my original post on the subject a couple of days ago pointed out.
    They have behaved true to their nature; officious pen pushers, administrators who regard themselves as superior to the tennis players who compete in their tournament and who they think they can push around, and punish if they don't comply with this regulation or that one.

    Whether they are guilty of more than that I am not sure, since I don't know how much they knew about Naomi Osaka's phobia about speaking to the press when they fined her and threatened to bar her from future events.
    Obviously they are much further 'inside' the game than I am, but that does not necessarily mean the person who signed off the fine and the threat was aware of Ms Osaka's problem before the details of it became public.
    I was not aware of it when I made my comments about mental health being used as a blanket explanation for any kind of behaviour; an explanation which appears must always be accepted at face value.

    If the French tennis authorities were aware before we were, then they have behaved heartlessly as well as officiously, and their latest statement regarding help and support for players with mental health issues is a hollow one.
    If they were not aware, then perhaps they have learned from this experience, and will not behave in such a heavy handed, jobsworth manner towards players in the future.


    For me when I originally posted, the most important angle on this story (based on what we knew 48 hours ago) was the high-handed attitude of the tennis authorities.
    The actual reason why Naomi Osaka didn't want to obey their press conference rules was beside the point.
    As far as I was concerned that was her business.

    But this story has now changed into one that is much more about the mental health of elite sportspeople.
    That is a much more massive and complex subject than how some autocrats run their tournament.

    Elite level sport is a very extreme environment.
    It is obvious t me that elite athletes are put (and put themselves) under extreme mental stress a lot of the time, as well as extreme physical stress.
    Down the decades we have seen how the physical demands of elite level sport tests people to destruction.

    Ex-sportsmen and women crippled and infirm well before their time, their bodies wrecked by the abuse of extreme demands.
    Nobody seems to bat an eyelid these days when we hear about people going through operation after operation to patch up terrible damage they've suffered. All in the name of competing for a season or two longer. Let alone the potent pain killing injections, that only allow them to further damage themselves, just without feeling the immediate agony.
    But how can these things be right, merely to enhance entertainment and the money being made from it?

    It's no surprise at all that some sports people allow obsession and extreme mental stress to destroy their minds in the same manner.


    The whole world of Elite Sport needs to take a very long, hard look at itself.
    Is it really that much more civilised than the people 2,000 years ago who trained gladiators for the amusement of the masses?
     
    #1293
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2021
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  14. The Penguin

    The Penguin Well-Known Member

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    We're still in the Dark Ages when it comes to mental illness. Many otherwise reasonable people refuse to recognise that it exists, others simply sneer at anyone who admits to it. The NHS services are severely strained, and in many cases are nothing more than a box-ticking exercise. The fact that many countries are worse is irrelevant, we've still got a long way to go.
     
    #1294
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  15. Ubedizzy

    Ubedizzy Well-Known Member

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    But they all sign their contracts knowing full well that they are signing up to expose themselves to the world. For that they get paid the sort of money that ordinary folk will never see.

    It's their choice surely ?

    If they didn't sign the contracts that allow the somewhat intrusive coverage, then they wouldn't get the huge payouts and would have to get "normal" jobs like everyone else.

    I'm not suggesting they should do that, as it would be a waste of their undoubted talents, but I'm afraid the huge money comes at a price. If they all refused to do the interviews then the sponsors wouldn't be prepared to put so much money into their sports. I believe they all want the extra money they earn, but part of earning it is to give access to themselves.

    However none of that necessarily takes away the potential to opt out of the contract on the grounds of health matters, but that would be a matter for the details of the contract and of the medical conditions and none of us know the details of either of those.
     
    #1295
  16. The Penguin

    The Penguin Well-Known Member

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    Some find fame very difficult to cope with. Understandably, especially these days with all those weirdos piling in on social media, like the 19-year-old in Singapore who's just been done for sending death threats to an English footballer.
     
    #1296
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  17. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
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    Hope he got a proper sentence.
    I hear they lock you up for two years out there if you drop a sweet wrapper in the gutter.

    Or was that somewhere else in the Far East...
    Good idea anyway.
    They should do it over here. Banksy would be looking at 40 years even with good behaviour.
    I hate litter louts and spray can vandals.
     
    #1297
  18. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
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    As you may be aware, a lot of my posts have been pretty downbeat lately.
    This is for a very simple reason;

    I've come to the conclusion we're going to the dogs in this country, and there's no way to reverse the trend.

    We're not going to build back better.
    Education, the Health service, the care sector... all buggered.
    That Education Tsar bloke quit yesterday (credit to him) because the Government's aid package was a joke.
    No new house-building, just house prices skyrocketing because of low interest rates.
    Every time somebody tries to build some homes a bunch of NIMBY tree-huggers descends on them and digs a tunnel or chains themselves to stuff.
    The economy completely screwed - again we're only not bankrupt because of ultra-low interest rates.
    Jack them up a couple of points and its game over.

    Brexit is driving the company I work for into the ground, and me with it.
    Even if I could get medical help they'd just dose me up and turn me into an invalid anyway.
    Nobody can get an operation unless they're rich.

    I could go on, but what's the point.
    So apologies in advance if I remain a miserable b*****d on an indefinite basis.
    This overwhelming pessimism is even beginning to assault my last stronghold of positivity - that Charlton are going to have a better season and win promotion.
    The scaling ladders are being thrown up. The battering ram prepared.
    I wonder how long I can hold out.
     
    #1298
    Last edited: Jun 3, 2021
  19. The Penguin

    The Penguin Well-Known Member

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    Don't let the bastards grind you down.
     
    #1299
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  20. Smudger603

    Smudger603 Well-Known Member

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    To be fair Lardy I think our country was on the decline before Brexit and that’s possibly why Brexit happened, out of desperation to rid ourselves of ridiculous rules and regulations thought up by someone sitting in a luxury office in Brussels riding the gravy train, problem is now we’re out we’ve still got the PC brigade holding us to ransom and thinking up more rules and regs for us to abide by - my suggestion is to drink more mate <cheers>
     
    #1300
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