American writer angers Liverpool FC fans

[johnnydawg68]

http://www.clickliverpool.com/sport/liverpool-fc/1211749-american-writer-angers-liverpool-fc-fans-over-hillsborough-riot-slur.html

So the writer angers Liverpool fans by stating: "Even by the deranged standards of European soccer, Red fans are totally bonkers," he wrote.

"Their excitable Internet fan sites are still agonizing over a 21-year-old soccer riot that killed 96 people."

Then of course they go and prove him right by completely overreacting to his calling Hillsborough a "riot". Now whether you believe it was a riot or some other word, ask yourself if these comments are the the thoughts of a lucid and sober bunch...

"Thousands of lives touched by tragedy and your crass, insensitive remarks have done little to alleviate their suffering which continues to this day," Julian Lee, a Liverpool supporter from Ireland, told him.

"Mr Beam obviously is clueless and very insensitive with his remarks about Hillsborough and deserves to be educated."

Club ambassador Kenny Dalglish, who was manager at the time of the tragedy, responded by branding him "an ignorant uninformed man" on his Twitter account.

Henry allowed a reporter from the Boston Globe to shadow him during his time in London when Liverpool's ownership battle went to the High Court but Dalglish has warned that Henry and new chairman Tom Werner will be having "severe words" with Beam.

All of this because of one word they don't agree with in a newspaper located over 3000 miles away.

 

[Cena]

Those quotes by the reds fans are all right though mate.

Truely an uninformed ignorant man, they were very insensitive comments to make

 

[heatmeiser]

I would say those comments are quite restrained to be honest, pretty unpleasant thing for him to say.


Facepalm moment on the comments to that article though...

"Bloody Yanks. who's stupid idea was it to get involved with them again? Oh I know a Chelsea supporter. "

Matt? Care to do your thing?

 

[johnnydawg68]

Those quotes by the reds fans are all right though mate.

Truely an uninformed ignorant man, they were very insensitive comments to make

Help me out then. How is using the word "riot" insensitive? I don't get it. Maybe it's not the right word, but it's not insensitive.

Liverpool fans single handedly got the best football radio show in America taken off the air (it's back as a subscription only internet site but it used to be free - advertiser supported), because one of the hosts had the audacity to have an opinion that some Liverpool fans contributed to the disaster. In turn he got death threats. DEATH THREATS. They also intimidated the advertisers into pulling their support.

Sorry, I'm sympathetic to anyone who loses a family member prematurely, and that goes for those who lost family members at Hillsborough, but they ARE crazy. And this over the top reaction to a small article in a local paper in a different country is just odd.

 

[Cena]

Help me out then. How is using the word "riot" insensitive? I don't get it. Maybe it's not the right word, but it's not insensitive.

Liverpool fans single handedly got the best football radio show in America taken off the air (it's back as a subscription only internet site but it used to be free - advertiser supported), because one of the hosts had the audacity to have an opinion that some Liverpool fans contributed to the disaster. In turn he got death threats. DEATH THREATS. They also intimidated the advertisers into pulling their support.

Sorry, I'm sympathetic to anyone who loses a family member prematurely, and that goes for those who lost family members at Hillsborough, but they ARE crazy. And this over the top reaction to a small article in a local paper in a different country is just odd.

It is the connotations of what happend at Hillsborough that get people so riled. It wasn't a riot, it was mistakes by the Police, The FA that led to the tradegy.

Afterwards though, Liverpool fans were blamed for Hooliganism and accused of urinating on there own and stealing from the dead, which was HIGHLY untrue. The national newspaper in Britain, The Sun, were the mainstays in accusing this. It gave Scousers and Liverpool fans a very bad name on a national stage.

So you see, by calling it a 'riot', it is insensitive as it makes Lpool fans out to be hooligans that day which they were not. Police mismanagement cost fans their lives that day.

I'm an Evertonian, i will always have a dislike for Liverpool FC, but this isnt a football issue, it is a social issue, and i am with the reds 100% in their search for justice and clearing the names of the dead and the people there that day. April 15th is the only day of the year i will wear something red or memorable to them.

I invite you to watch anything on youtube about it, just search Hillsborough and watch a few of the documentaries on there

 

[johnnydawg68]

It is the connotations of what happend at Hillsborough that get people so riled. It wasn't a riot, it was mistakes by the Police, The FA that led to the tradegy.

Afterwards though, Liverpool fans were blamed for Hooliganism and accused of urinating on there own and stealing from the dead, which was HIGHLY untrue. The national newspaper in Britain, The Sun, were the mainstays in accusing this. It gave Scousers and Liverpool fans a very bad name on a national stage.

So you see, by calling it a 'riot', it is insensitive as it makes Lpool fans out to be hooligans that day which they were not. Police mismanagement cost fans their lives that day.

I'm an Evertonian, i will always have a dislike for Liverpool FC, but this isnt a football issue, it is a social issue, and i am with the reds 100% in their search for justice and clearing the names of the dead and the people there that day. April 15th is the only day of the year i will wear something red or memorable to them.

I invite you to watch anything on youtube about it, just search Hillsborough and watch a few of the documentaries on there

Ok I get that, thanks. I have read up on it after the controversy here in the US, which is why I said that "riot" wasn't the right word and obviously for us (Americans) it's not as much of an emotional reaction as it is like reading history. So I get that from your point of view. But what gets me about their fans (many of whom are NOT scousers and probably don't have any loved ones or family members who died that day) simply attack anyone who does not phrase something to their liking, it feels like they are clinging to victimhood to make themselves feel special. That's my take on it, and you may disagree which is fair, but that's what it feels like.

I have a VERY negative opinion of their fans (especially in this country) after what happened with the radio program. It was ugly. The host may or may not have been correct in his opinion, but he has a right to express it (and they have a right to civilly disagree) without having his family threatened and having the livlihoods of everyone associated with the program (who may not have even agreed with his take) which is exactly what happened. So when I see a vitriolic reaction to a blurb in an American paper, from a writer who, let's be honest, doesn't have the same frame of reference as you or them, it seems overdone.

 

[johnnydawg68]

By the way, just heard that Liverpool fans are trying to get him fired for using the wrong word. This is NOT the reaction of sane people. Sorry.

 

[Cena]

Ok I get that, thanks. I have read up on it after the controversy here in the US, which is why I said that "riot" wasn't the right word and obviously for us (Americans) it's not as much of an emotional reaction as it is like reading history. So I get that from your point of view. But what gets me about their fans (many of whom are NOT scousers and probably don't have any loved ones or family members who died that day) simply attack anyone who does not phrase something to their liking, it feels like they are clinging to victimhood to make themselves feel special. That's my take on it, and you may disagree which is fair, but that's what it feels like.

I have a VERY negative opinion of their fans (especially in this country) after what happened with the radio program. It was ugly. The host may or may not have been correct in his opinion, but he has a right to express it (and they have a right to civilly disagree) without having his family threatened and having the livlihoods of everyone associated with the program (who may not have even agreed with his take) which is exactly what happened. So when I see a vitriolic reaction to a blurb in an American paper, from a writer who, let's be honest, doesn't have the same frame of reference as you or them, it seems overdone.

I understand totally were you are coming from mate, i've seen southerners in this country who are RS reading the Sun, which if your on Merseyside, you just don't do! However, you are dealing with something very controversial if you say anything that is away from the truth about Hillsborough. Sending death threats is of course wrong, but is it any worse than the families of the dead being told their relatives were 'thieves & scumbags' who urinated on the dead?

 

[johnnydawg68]

I understand totally were you are coming from mate, i've seen southerners in this country who are RS reading the Sun, which if your on Merseyside, you just don't do! However, you are dealing with something very controversial if you say anything that is away from the truth about Hillsborough. Sending death threats is of course wrong, but is it any worse than the families of the dead being told their relatives were 'thieves & scumbags' who urinated on the dead?

Agreed. He used the wrong word. It wasn't a riot. But you can correct a journalist without resorting to cyber terrorism. The writer is stunned by the reaction and frankly nervous and little scared today. He made a mistake. Maybe it wasn't the world's greatest example of journalism, but he made an honest mistake that many Americans who aren't steeped in the history of soccer in the UK might make. There's a Pavlovian reaction to Soccer>Violence>Riot. For people of my age (I'm in my 40's now) who did NOT grow up English soccer, the only thing we ever knew about the sport was Hooliganism/Rioting/Violence.

The paper retracted and have corrected the wrong part of the story. Should be the end of the story right? WRONG. He's being threatened now because RS fans can't simply leave it alone. They have to try to destroy people. They need to get lives, man. It's insane.

 

[johnnydawg68]

I understand totally were you are coming from mate, i've seen southerners in this country who are RS reading the Sun, which if your on Merseyside, you just don't do! However, you are dealing with something very controversial if you say anything that is away from the truth about Hillsborough. Sending death threats is of course wrong, but is it any worse than the families of the dead being told their relatives were 'thieves & scumbags' who urinated on the dead?

By the way in the article, Beam correctly called those charges "outrages".

 

[Cena]

Agreed. He used the wrong word. It wasn't a riot. But you can correct a journalist without resorting to cyber terrorism. The writer is stunned by the reaction and frankly nervous and little scared today. He made a mistake. Maybe it wasn't the world's greatest example of journalism, but he made an honest mistake that many Americans who aren't steeped in the history of soccer in the UK might make. There's a Pavlovian reaction to Soccer>Violence>Riot. For people of my age (I'm in my 40's now) who did NOT grow up English soccer, the only thing we ever knew about the sport was Hooliganism/Rioting/Violence.

The paper retracted and have corrected the wrong part of the story. Should be the end of the story right? WRONG. He's being threatened now because RS fans can't simply leave it alone. They have to try to destroy people. They need to get lives, man. It's insane.

Unfortunatly mate like a lot of journalists, he just didn't do the correct research. He should of thought long and hard about writing it. Truth is the reaction of the RS fans, whether right or wrong, shows the hurt and passion that have for this issue.

 

[johnnydawg68]

Unfortunatly mate like a lot of journalists, he just didn't do the correct research. He should of thought long and hard about writing it. Truth is the reaction of the RS fans, whether right or wrong, shows the hurt and passion that have for this issue.

True but how the hell is he supposed to know what he was in for?? Not everyone in the world spends every waking hour pouring over the minutae of LFC history.

 

[tsubaki]

Whilst the journalist was clearly in the wrong by describing Hillsborough as a riot, one should point out that it is not that long ago that a lot of them were quite happy to have the then ownership of their club compared to having ones family raped over and over again.

 

[johnnydawg68]

Whilst the journalist was clearly in the wrong by describing Hillsborough as a riot, one should point out that it is not that long ago that a lot of them were quite happy to have the then ownership of their club compared to having ones family raped over and over again.

Exactly.

 

[neonleon]

True but how the hell is he supposed to know what he was in for?? Not everyone in the world spends every waking hour pouring over the minutae of LFC history.

You mean, why as a journalist should he know what he was writing about?

I'd leave this mate. Doesn't sound like you know what you are on about either with all due respect.

Let's not point score over this issue.