If it wasn’t for

[bobbruce]

7 minutes ago, Johnoco said:

Not sure about that mate, there's still a huge amount of support for football clubs in most places. Many have fallen into trouble by chasing the PL dream but I think many fans are disenchanted with that anyway.

There is huge amounts of support but like all sports it lives right on the edge of what it can afford. You take out 50% of its fans and it will either struggle of have to massively cut its outlay. 

[Futtocks]

1 hour ago, Anita Bath said:

No futtocks, if they had come across a large reeking swamp they would have most likely called it Westminster.

Or maybe Barnard Castle.

[Harry Stottle]

19 hours ago, Johnoco said:

Football though, could afford to lose 50% of its spectators and it would still be a viable pro sport. 

RL can’t afford to lose any.

Then comeback!

That is if you have actually moved away?

[Tommygilf]

On 20/12/2020 at 08:43, Dave T said:

If you don't enjoy or appreciate the game, it's probably best to just find something else, because life's too short to be a fan out of perverse loyalty. 

"Perverse loyalty" (I'd term it differently) is all that keeps 90% of sports clubs going on a day to day basis.

[Dave T]

29 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

"Perverse loyalty" (I'd term it differently) is all that keeps 90% of sports clubs going on a day to day basis.

Yeah, loyalty to a club is a slightly different things, perverse loyalty is absolutely relevant there. 

[Tommygilf]

1 minute ago, Dave T said:

Yeah, loyalty to a club is a slightly different things, perverse loyalty is absolutely relevant there. 

It is slightly perverse though. Its loyalty to something you cannot rationally explain and often brings little joy and much misery. 

 

[Dave T]

Just now, Tommygilf said:

It is slightly perverse though. Its loyalty to something you cannot rationally explain and often brings little joy and much misery. 

 

But as a hobby overall it should bring some joy. We may all be frustrated with the game but if the only thing you are happy about is Newcastle and York because they have a new ground, it's gone past being something you like. 

 

[del capo]

14 hours ago, Futtocks said:

Or maybe Barnard Castle.

Be careful Anita and Futtocks. John M would have you transferred to the political forum

[JohnM]

That's the mods job and they do it well. 

 

[Tommygilf]

1 hour ago, Dave T said:

But as a hobby overall it should bring some joy. We may all be frustrated with the game but if the only thing you are happy about is Newcastle and York because they have a new ground, it's gone past being something you like. 

It should, but like so many things that doesn't mean it does.

I think picking on the OP for that is as melodramatic as the OP to an extent. Fwiw I understand the sentiment of the OP entirely, there doesn't seem to be a lot to be positive around RL's prospects right now. Maybe its the season, maybe its Covid, but general malaise is all over the sport right now not just on these pages. I worry that coming back in 2021 won't be the boost all our clubs are relying on.

[del capo]

10 minutes ago, JohnM said:

That's the mods job and they do it well. 

 

Happy with that John M.

Leave it to them without your prompting on other threads

[unapologetic pedant]

17 hours ago, Paraquat said:

But the essence of Rugby League lies outside the game SL wants to be.

Partly to see what the rules were at that level, I recently watched some of an under-9s girls` League Tag game on YouTube. I enjoyed it more than the SL GF. The quality of the play was impressive, particularly the evasive running, but the general ambience was just as gratifying. Both teams in traditional jerseys, a good setting and facilities, and positive enthusiastic encouragement from a big turnout of parents on the sideline.

One reason why RU has outposts dotted throughout the world is that they propagated the English grass roots Rugby Club experience, rather than evangelising on the merits of their game as a spectator sport.

New RL development has always consisted in a few blokes playing Tackle RL, or a imported pro side. We might make more sustainable progress if we initially sought to globally spread the best of the current NSW RL club models, where the game is contact and non-contact, for both sexes and all ages.

[unapologetic pedant]

On 20/12/2020 at 09:27, Harry Stottle said:

 but next time I would be stood in the same spot grumbling again, most probably out of perverse loyalty.

Do you ever consider the effect of all the grumbling on the general mood? Events where the committed participants generate a positive atmosphere can enjoy multiplier benefits, attracting those who just want to have a good time or be part of a crowd.

Would it not be possible for every RL fan to resolve to be cheerful at the game? The happiness need not be ostentatious, nothing that would frighten children or stop clocks. When they get home they can vent all their misery on this forum where only other miserabilists will encounter it.

BTW, I notice you expressed puzzlement at a slightly surreal post of mine. It was a play on the idea that, given the tone of this thread, the game might not be coming back in time for the member I was responding to.

[GUBRATS]

3 hours ago, Johnoco said:

Well the last game I attended was England-NZ at Elland Rd and I can’t remember the last game I watched on tv, so yeah.

So what are you doing on here annoying all of us ?

Only kidding John

[GUBRATS]

1 hour ago, JohnM said:

That's the mods job and they do it well. 

 

O no they don't

[JohnM]

They're  behind you!

[Michael1812]

On 20/12/2020 at 08:42, Ramon Rojo said:

A few may remember the music media hype that glorified the new wave punk bands back in 76.

The new gimmick was supposed to be the saviour of the industry.

Established bands with a proven track record such as the Rolling Stones & Pink Floyd were suddenly trashed as boring and rubbish.

The punk pretenders lasted 18 months and with a few exceptions their back catalogue is looked upon as feeble and forgettable.

Needless to say the Stones & Floyd classics are still selling millions

Is that why these old punk records sell for hundreds or thousands of pounds and there is demand reunion shows? If the number of records sold is an indicator of good music then Hanson and The Backstreet Boys must be your favourite. 

[unapologetic pedant]

47 minutes ago, Michael1812 said:

Is that why these old punk records sell for hundreds or thousands of pounds and there is demand reunion shows? If the number of records sold is an indicator of good music then Hanson and The Backstreet Boys must be your favourite. 

What`s the bid price for a Cockney Rejects greatest hits boxed set?

[Futtocks]

1 hour ago, Michael1812 said:

Is that why these old punk records sell for hundreds or thousands of pounds and there is demand reunion shows? If the number of records sold is an indicator of good music then Hanson and The Backstreet Boys must be your favourite. 

What people ask for as a price on eBay and what a record is actually worth are two things which are rarely on speaking terms. See the @VinylStupidity Twitter account for plenty of evidence of how much some opportunist/idiot wants for, say, a slightly scratched copy of Paul Young's No parlez or Leo Sayer's Endless Flight.

To say nothing of the actual prices paid for Beatles rarities, a certain percentage of which may even be genuine.

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

4 hours ago, Futtocks said:

What people ask for as a price on eBay and what a record is actually worth are two things which are rarely on speaking terms. See the @VinylStupidity Twitter account for plenty of evidence of how much some opportunist/idiot wants for, say, a slightly scratched copy of Paul Young's No parlez or Leo Sayer's Endless Flight.

To say nothing of the actual prices paid for Beatles rarities, a certain percentage of which may even be genuine.

Yep. Always check the 'sold' prices on the Bay before even thinking about  bidding on 'rare' stuff

[unapologetic pedant]

18 hours ago, Johnoco said:

Great band the Rejects. Saw them last year and they still have it. And I still wouldn't tangle with them. 

Happy to take your word for that. Their opinion on the creeping gentrification of the Hammers could be intriguing.

With the exception of the lovely Discharge, I don`t think time has been too kind to 80s British straight-ahead noise. The likes of Descendents and Minor Threat stand up better. Although as a Swinton fan I could tolerate a tuneless Oi version of "Take me home Station Road".

[unapologetic pedant]

11 hours ago, Johnoco said:

Loads of fantastic new bands around mate, some are much better than the old ones. 

As an older codger with long-standing eclectic tastes (listening to lots of Dub Techno at the moment), I can testify that time eventually catches up. At least in the sense that the record collection gets so big there seems little point in seeking new things to add to it.

As for gigs, I was never much enamoured of all that fetid rough-and-tumble, even in the full bloom of adolescence.

[unapologetic pedant]

On 21/12/2020 at 18:19, Futtocks said:

What people ask for as a price on eBay and what a record is actually worth are two things which are rarely on speaking terms. See the @VinylStupidity Twitter account for plenty of evidence of how much some opportunist/idiot wants for, say, a slightly scratched copy of Paul Young's No parlez or Leo Sayer's Endless Flight.

This is a cheap shot, but you`ve teed it up, so it would be a shame to pass by. -  Surely the more scratches on the Paul Young album the higher the price. Particularly if they drowned out the sound of the scandalous pillaging of "Love will tear us apart".

BTW, are the moderators as stern on digressions into "Any Other Business" as they are with politics and RU?