It goes without saying that the death of Dale Roberts is a genuinely tragic event. For anyone to choose to take their own life when young and with so much to live for is incredibly sad, and poor Dale’s family, friends and clubmates must be devastated.
There has been much outpouring of sympathy on Poppynet and no doubt all sincere and heartfelt. But at times like this it’s hard not to reach for the clichés and the inevitable phrase that kept cropping up was “it puts (insert word here) into perspective”. Yes it does that all right. But when did things get so skewed that it takes a player, who happened to play for Diamonds, to actually die for such things to be said?
I’m old enough to remember when the Poppies crowd was noisy and passionate yet the game was not the be all and end all. Opposition players were given friendly stick and would sometimes respond with a smile or a comment that earned a laugh. This isn’t a slice of a bygone black & white era, I’m talking about the 1980s. Yes we sang that we hated Worcester City, we hated Yeovil too (and Barnet) but the thing is, we didn’t really hate them , it was tongue in cheek.
Somewhere along the line the tone changed from humour to abuse, just gutter stuff that even now some defend as “banter”. Perspective went out the window and every opposition player within range – and particularly the lone target between the sticks – is routinely insulted like he’s a threat to society. Dale Roberts no doubt copped an earful at the Cowper Street end just a few weeks ago, perhaps from some of the same people who now go on line to praise him.
The proposed flag tribute at Nene Park is a fine idea and it would be better still if somehow, having regained a little perspective, we could hold on to it for a while.
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