Suspension is way over the top. We all did stupid things, when we were teenagers. Too many self righteous, sanctimonious people jumping on the band wagon. People in glass houses and all that.
6 Likes
I think it is very easy to try and brush this (and these sorts of things in general) under the carpet by saying that he was young and just trying to be funny - that it is all historical and shouldn’t be brought up now because he is this enlightened and evolved paragon of righteousness… or at least a potentially useful England cricketer. Personally I think it is a lame excuse and smacks of entitlement and duplicity in the powers that be - on the one hand sporting authorities are being asked to police this issue (when it isn’t their job) and on the other hand you have the government (whose job it actually is) saying - well that ok because he was only young at the time.
Back to the now evolved/evolving cricketer. In the end there is a right and wrong and in this case, he was in the wrong. If you say that this is ok, where is the line. A suspension isn’t the end of the road for someone his age and potential. He will not go hungry or be sleeping rough because of it. Hopefully enforcing it sends a message that this sort of thing is wrong and separately, the evolving cricketer can go on with his, still, not too shabby life.
4 Likes
It’s not the end of the world if you’re a talented young cricketer. If you aren’t, what you write on social media could haunt you for the rest of your life. If this helps other young people understand how to conduct themselves in this age where everyone, whether they know it of not, is broadcasting their thoughts, then so be it.
1 Like
I think we got to differentiate and decide really as a society what is “stupid things when we were young” and “offensive things that would need to be punished regardless of time frame”. Is this something we do when we were young " like a stupid prank we play on our fellow mates when we were young like pushing our friend’s face onto the birthday cake." or was this “we stole something from our neighbourhood grocery store and is found out 10 years later”. The society has to decide. If such discriminatory comments were decided that its ok because it is something minor done when young, then at what age do we determine that liability boundary? Is it ok to say racist remarks when I am 14 versus when I am 21? Granted the punitive measures can differ from age to age but thats beside the point. The point is that whether the person is 14 or 21, those comments need to be condemned as it is and whether the punishment is a small suspension or something bigger, that is beside the point, we cannot just brush it off as something done when we were young for such offences, this is not just spraying colored water on my friend’s white tshirt when I was 10 or do we think it is?. That is my opinion on this.
1 Like
Culture secretary says over the top
PM backs him
I wonder why they are wading into this. He was wrong, gets a slap on the wrist, a suspension, which, is really not that big a deal. I wonder if there is more to this than meets the eye… if there is I really don’t care anymore!
On face value (away from the land tin foil hats) maybe we as a society just should accept that we are racist and unjust. The thing is his comments were not in a vacuum. The comments were intended as a “in joke” amongst friends. It is that cleek that is more worrying than the individual propagating the “joke”. Why do we have this sort of thing that propagates just beneath the surface…?
Maybe humans will never escape humanity.
Is it acceptable for a Liverpool player to act like a cunt and keep playing for us? Diving like a cunt, leg breaking tackle like a cunt, embarrassing Kenny like a cunt etc.
I don’t think anything he posted is that bad based on any joke / conversation that might be heard in a pub at night.
1 Like
Personally, I’m offended at the abysmal level of what is considered humour these days. Whatever happened to wit? wordplay? badinage? It’s a sorry state of affairs 
1 Like
He should be punished for the stupidity of not realising he should have cleaned up his account as he became a person of public interest.
I saw someone else say that this type of thing probably occurred in a pre-Whatsapp era whereas now that type of “joke” would be said within the confines of a closed group. Not that that means it won’t necessarily come out but if you’re stupid enough to commit that type of thought to the public domain then you absolutely deserve the punishment that comes your way.
I’m sure we all said and did things in our past that we don’t look back proudly on now and I’m no different so I’m not trying to be holier than thou but that type of talk wouldn’t be acceptable in the dressing room so irrespective of your age, you pay the price for saying it.
I notice that no government minister said anything similar when Andre Gray was banned for four games for social media comments he made when he was barely out of his teens. But then you can’t sit in some exclusive members club and enjoy the delights of the hospitality at Lords when watching Andre Gray play so why would some Tory prat jump to his defence.
Can’t have all this publicity around racism and inclusion and then sweep it under the carpet with the excuse “he was young and stupid”.
A bollocking would have been enough, he’ll face the over the top criticism and hysterical remarks on social media as well so a bollocking seems to me fair.
3 Likes
I’m just glad that Shane Warne came through brefore the age of social media. Had he had twitter/facebook ect before making his debut, the world would have never seen the greatest bowler of all time
2 Likes
As soon as you type your thoughts on social media, you are broadcasting. People don’t seem to understand this, and Twitter has cultivated an idea that what is posted on their in some way doesn’t matter.
If you wouldn’t say it on TV, don’t say it on social media.
3 Likes
The problem is attitudes and comedy evolve even in a short space of time.
That’s why I posted the honest trailers review of bad boys above. Or remember Fantasy football. You would never get away with some of the ongoing jokes today
In the not too distant future people will wonder how Mrs Brown boys is in TV.
Muslims and bomb jokes where common on TV not that long ago. If Frankie Boyle had said these jokes 10 years ago it would not even register.
The second issue is that he is being held to a higher standard than a normal person. His jokes are poor taste but not criminal. An employer generally can not punish you for things you said 10 years ago. Imagine someone sending tweets to your boss from when you were a teenager and expecting him to punish you. You would tell them they are daft.
Sports stars are held to a higher standard because they are role models. For me you can’t retrospectively apply that standard.
6 Likes
I would imagine that pretty much all of us are VERY glad that camera phones and social media didn’t exist when we were kids. Odd that we all seem to be of “an age”
Except @Scott.Jones who I think of as being 21 and chiseled after years in the gym xxx
6 Likes
My two cents is that the whole thing is overblown. I don’t agree with what he said and I hope he isn’t so dumb these days, but it isn’t something he has just done in the last few weeks.
But ultimately people don’t care anyway. While it’s true that they are held to higher standards, it’s only for so long until there’s a new scandal and then people forget and forgive.
So the likes of Terry and Lampard and Ched Evans are still being paid to do whatever they do, Adam Johnson still continued to play while under investigation. Pretty sure crack head Nigella is still being paid to cook food. James Gunn, while temporarily cancelled is now back and as successful as ever. Giggs was still okay for most people when he was ‘just’ shagging his brothers wife , (now maybe not so much).
People will call out Robinson for what he said, he should feel bad about it, then move on from it. Others have and will do worse and continue to have lucrative careers.
4 Likes
Far too much common sense in this post.
You sure you’re on the right forum? 
4 Likes
The Salem Witch Trials continue.
How virtuous are those that spend their days looking for minor past indiscretions.
The people that spend their time “outing” others must be shit scared that one day, they themselves, will be accused of “witchcraft”. A generation of anxious, scared, and paranoid people awaits,
And the enemy of course is each other, not the “Salem Judges.” They watch on, encourage, laugh and make merry. Continually increasing their authority, passing evermore draconian legislation to restrict the freedoms of the people. Increased surveillance, restricting protests, control of the (social) media, etc. Making sure that everyone is watching everyone else and not watching them.
Today the cricketer is a Witch. Yesterday a minor celebrity was the Witch. Tomorrow, watch out, the finger may be pointing at you.
4 Likes
Reminds me of an episode that happened in Germany a while ago. About 40 actors got together and made supposedly “satirical” video-clips, essentially making fun of measures against the Corona pandemic. Then kept on whining about “cancel culture” and how their opinion was being censored by mainstream media - of course they did that on multiple TV interviews, dozens of soft ball mainstream talk show appearances…while signing new lucrative deals with the mainstream media companies that employ them.
7 Likes
The tweets from Buttler and Morgan (and other non-England international cricketers) are pretty bad. Definitely racist undertones, at the very least.
1 Like
I wouldn’t want somebody banned from a cricket match for taking the piss out of the way I speak French. Is there a difference?