Joyless fun sponge writes some more words

[EagleEyePie]

5 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Yes.

This is their excuse every time they write this article.

And it's always true.

[gingerjon]

Just now, EagleEyePie said:

And it's always true.

Not really, as it implies we get some balance the other way. We do not. We have an absence of positive viewpoints because our entire groupthink small world RL media fall over themselves to be cynics and to tell it like it is.

Reporting the truth would be that after a tough off season, the top tier has never actually looked stronger in terms of clubs on an upward trajectory. Reporting the truth would be reporting the very, very, very many positives and compelling stories to have come out of this round of the Cup.

Bower has chosen to do neither.

[The Masked Poster]

1 hour ago, EagleEyePie said:

I know it's focusing on negatives but I think some people are confusing journalists for cheerleaders. It's not their job to promote the sport.

But in a way, it sort of is. I mean, if they constantly keep repeating articles stating how RL is on life support, then eventually it might come true if enough people believe it and lose faith, then they'll be out of a job as there'll be nothing to report on. 

I don't even mind people doing negative (or realistic depending on your POV) but when there is only one side of the story being told, it's not balanced or fair.

[EagleEyePie]

2 minutes ago, The Masked Poster said:

But in a way, it sort of is. I mean, if they constantly keep repeating articles stating how RL is on life support, then eventually it might come true if enough people believe it and lose faith, then they'll be out of a job as there'll be nothing to report on. 

I don't even mind people doing negative (or realistic depending on your POV) but when there is only one side of the story being told, it's not balanced or fair.

Journalists don't really play a part in the growth or decline of sports. They aren't that influential. Would you stop watching the sport if a journalist said there was no point because it's dying? Of course you wouldn't. You'd write a snarky reply like a normal person. You'd probably read what they had to say though.

Everyone keeps saying RL journalists are always negative - and that there are positives that are being ignored, and that it's always been like this. That pretty much disproves the theory that journalists being negative will lead to people losing faith as there are clearly lots of people who have a lot of faith and positivity despite journalists apparently always being negative.

This isn't something that's unique to rugby league, or even sport. You'll see more negative articles about most things because people react more to bad news than good news. People say they prefer to read about positive things, but the reality is generally the opposite. There have been countless studies about negativity bias.

Maybe you as an individual are different, but if RL journalists started writing predominantly about positive stories evidence suggests fewer people are going to read them.

So I'd say relax, if things are as positive as a lot of people seem to be suggesting we're going to be fine regardless of the negatives journalists will inevitably find to write about. They might just have to work harder to find them.

[The Masked Poster]

1 minute ago, EagleEyePie said:

Journalists don't really play a part in the growth or decline of sports. They aren't that influential. Would you stop watching the sport if a journalist said there was no point because it's dying? Of course you wouldn't. You'd write a snarky reply like a normal person. You'd probably read what they had to say though.

Everyone keeps saying RL journalists are always negative - and that there are positives that are being ignored, and that it's always been like this. That pretty much disproves the theory that journalists being negative will lead to people losing faith as there are clearly lots of people who have a lot of faith and positivity despite journalists apparently always being negative.

This isn't something that's unique to rugby league, or even sport. You'll see more negative articles about most things because people react more to bad news than good news. People say they prefer to read about positive things, but the reality is generally the opposite. There have been countless studies about negativity bias.

Maybe you as an individual are different, but if RL journalists started writing predominantly about positive stories evidence suggests fewer people are going to read them.

So I'd say relax, if things are as positive as a lot of people seem to be suggesting we're going to be fine regardless of the negatives journalists will inevitably find to write about. They might just have to work harder to find them.

Honestly, I don't decide things based on what journalists might say.

But at the same time, there's such a thing as death by a thousand cuts....

[Hopie]

1 hour ago, gingerjon said:

Reporting the truth would be that after a tough off season, the top tier has never actually looked stronger in terms of clubs on an upward trajectory. Reporting the truth would be reporting the very, very, very many positives and compelling stories to have come out of this round of the Cup.

Your examples of "truth" to report are both opinions. Opinions aren't provable correct because they are personal preference, but truth is universal.

You can ask people to report more positives, but they might not agree on what those positives are, or that the things you think are positive are actually positive. 

[JohnM]

As stated earlier, yes there are genuine issues to report on, to discuss.  But as someone somewhere sometime once said, "It's the way you tell 'em".

[gingerjon]

Just now, Hopie said:

Your examples of "truth" to report are both opinions. Opinions aren't provable correct because they are personal preference, but truth is universal.

You can ask people to report more positives, but they might not agree on what those positives are, or that the things you think are positive are actually positive. 

He can do what he likes. Do down the sport as he feels. Ignore the positives so he can have the only RL headline in a field of soccer and RU stories be that the dour northerners are dourly failing again.

And I can respond as I like.

[Hopie]

6 hours ago, gingerjon said:

It didn’t work. The idea that journalism pays the bills by clickbait and/or rage shares has long ago been somewhat disproved by those who pedal it consistently losing money.

Clicks and shares are the future, just ask IMG.

 

1 hour ago, gingerjon said:

He can do what he likes. Do down the sport as he feels. Ignore the positives so he can have the only RL headline in a field of soccer and RU stories be that the dour northerners are dourly failing again.

And I can respond as I like.

"Please don't tell anyone how we live" is such a bizarre take.

[gingerjon]

2 minutes ago, Hopie said:

[1] Clicks and shares are the future, just ask IMG.

 

[2] "Please don't tell anyone how we live" is such a bizarre take.

[1] You what now?

[2] You what now?

[RigbyLuger]

Started a thread about the Guardian not too long ago as they hadn't posted a piece in ages. No players to profile? No stories to tell? Now back with a bang.

[Dave T]

9 hours ago, gingerjon said:

Not me. Well, not on this occasion.

The doomladen groupthink in the RL media gets another airing: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/feb/08/bright-lights-of-las-vegas-cannot-dim-the-dark-clouds-over-super-league

Comments on the original bowel movement are sadly closed.

Bower is the worst right now.

Really weird article.

[gingerjon]

5 minutes ago, RigbyLuger said:

Started a thread about the Guardian not too long ago as they hadn't posted a piece in ages. No players to profile? No stories to tell? Now back with a bang.

It is frustrating because, whatever one thinks about their politics/news/opinion, their sports coverage is free, coherent and often comes top of search engine returns.

And for rugby league we get this, and only this.

[Damien]

2 hours ago, gingerjon said:

He can do what he likes. Do down the sport as he feels. Ignore the positives so he can have the only RL headline in a field of soccer and RU stories be that the dour northerners are dourly failing again.

And I can respond as I like.

Wouldn't it have been great to have seen a really upbeat article about the new money coming into SL and financial backers making SL more competitive than ever before. Clubs like Salford, Hull KR and Wakefield on the rise and challenging the status quo. He could have also talked about the upcoming opener in front of what looks like will be a 20k crowd with Michael Buffer etc and Vegas. No lets moan about IMG getting £400k instead, again:

 

 

[dkw]

Misery sells, and it's not difficult to sell misery to our fans unfortunately, the desperation of a certain type of RL fan to find every cloud from any silver lining is pathetic.

[Archie Gordon]

There is certainly no balance.

I do get tired of telling folk who have a passing interest in our game that, no, it is not on its deathbed - that is just the media's projection.

[langpark]

Just leaving this here...

 

 

[Worzel]

Aaron Bowyer is a misanthrope.

I imagine him writing that article having trudged home across Brighouse in the rain, his girlfriend having just dumped him, wrestling with the reality of his life in his Mum’s spare bedroom…

“Can this really be it? Is this all there is? All I’ll say ever be? I’m 30 now, what else is there?” he says to himself, savouring the last of his discounted cans of Fosters, the other three crumpled in the small bin by the side of his desk. Crumpled, like his dreams. 

Not this desk. Any desk but this. Why does fate punish him so? The desk he used to write at as a teenager, a halcyon time when all seemed possible. Where did that time go? It all seems so far away now. And yet, at the same time, precisely here. 

Then, suddenly, a new thought. Martyn has told him that just one more article on the downfall of the sport, one more paragraph on IMG’s £400,000, and the promotion will be his. Maybe that will be the turning point. His own peg by the door in Wellington House? The chance to do a podcast or two? Maybe he’ll even introduce him to Ralph Rimmer. 

Smiling gently to himself, he feels it again. That feeling he’s missed. What is it? Hope. Something to cling on to.

He opens his laptop, smiles, and begins to type. 

“Bright lights of Las Vegas cannot dim dark clouds over Super League…”

[phiggins]

While I appreciate that journalists aren’t there to be cheerleaders for the game, but the RL journalists Christmas do must be a grim affair, such is their ability to find the bad. 
 

I’m currently listening to the 40/20 podcast, with Phil Caplan picking holes in the challenge cup format, despite the fact that it seems to have been enjoyed by most.

As for Bower’s article. I’m not sure what the point of it is. “Sport needs more money” is true of every team sport outside of the Prenier League. 

[Hopping Mad]

Something more upbeat - not from Aaron Bower's keyboard - in today's online Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/feb/11/sam-burgess-interview-warrington-rugby-league-luke-littler

[Dave T]

11 minutes ago, phiggins said:

While I appreciate that journalists aren’t there to be cheerleaders for the game, but the RL journalists Christmas do must be a grim affair, such is their ability to find the bad. 
 

I’m currently listening to the 40/20 podcast, with Phil Caplan picking holes in the challenge cup format, despite the fact that it seems to have been enjoyed by most.

As for Bower’s article. I’m not sure what the point of it is. “Sport needs more money” is true of every team sport outside of the Prenier League. 

There are plenty of negative things that can be written about and sometimes we just have to suck it up.

But these couple of articles from Bower have been particularly galling. Basically they have been positives turned into negatives, which is just weird and unnecessary.

On the Cup article, to focus on amateur teams having to move grounds to brand it a failure is odd, particularly when one of those was a huge success over at Hull. To ignore things like the match ups in Cumbria etc isn't an accident.

On the season overall, to highlight the positives, more interest, ticket sales up, Vegas etc. and then focus on clubs needing investors is just a weird take.

I get that certain RL fans tend to get off on "telling it like it is" but this is pure negative spin.

 

[JohnM]

Its easy to focus on the editorial content of L.E. and T.R.L. and easy to forget the other content and reporting. In my view , no other organ comes close in terms of  width, depth and accuracy.  

Martyn is entitled to ask the questions he does, on the big issues of the day and the season, and he is right to expect clear and concise answers, even if , on occasions, the answer may be "no comment".

H..o..w...e...v...e...r

Its his relentless taking of sides, especially in terms of  IMG, Beaumont,  etc, that is open to criticism. Sure, he has a view, but I don't think such partisan campaigning should come without a trigger warning.

Edited February 11 by JohnM

[Ash Hope]

12 hours ago, Worzel said:

Aaron Bowyer is a misanthrope.

I imagine him writing that article having trudged home across Brighouse in the rain, his girlfriend having just dumped him, wrestling with the reality of his life in his Mum’s spare bedroom…

“Can this really be it? Is this all there is? All I’ll say ever be? I’m 30 now, what else is there?” he says to himself, savouring the last of his discounted cans of Fosters, the other three crumpled in the small bin by the side of his desk. Crumpled, like his dreams. 

Not this desk. Any desk but this. Why does fate punish him so? The desk he used to write at as a teenager, a halcyon time when all seemed possible. Where did that time go? It all seems so far away now. And yet, at the same time, precisely here. 

Then, suddenly, a new thought. Martyn has told him that just one more article on the downfall of the sport, one more paragraph on IMG’s £400,000, and the promotion will be his. Maybe that will be the turning point. His own peg by the door in Wellington House? The chance to do a podcast or two? Maybe he’ll even introduce him to Ralph Rimmer. 

Smiling gently to himself, he feels it again. That feeling he’s missed. What is it? Hope. Something to cling on to.

He opens his laptop, smiles, and begins to type. 

“Bright lights of Las Vegas cannot dim dark clouds over Super League…”

Worzel, however self-identified and indicative might be a misspelling of the word 'weasel' - it would appear.

I can imagine you, opening up your laptop - after seeing an article from a journalist trying to make his way in a world plagued by negativity (a man commissioned to write articles and not necessarily the beholder of his own autonomy or creative license).

I imagine how, in spite of how the article might have touched a tribal nerve that is engrained deep into your DNA like the final stitch of your team's jersey, you have decided to make bold assumptions on the alcohol behaviours, family situation and relationship history of a journalist who wrote something you didn't like.

I can imagine your weasel-like furry fingers relentlessly grinding and hammering at the crumb-covered keyboards in your (insert family situation) as your (insert relationship situation) is drowned out by your (insert your chosen vice).

I can imagine a clouded irony as you write a Dickensian-style opening to besmirch and tirade a man who has, in your own judgement, brought dark clouds upon a world you see so purely and positively.

If only... If only... You had captured such utopian ambition and optimism in a post that encapsulates your hope and treasured prosperity for the sport you dearly love so much.

Instead, you just did what the man you bastardised so personally allegedly did - in wasting your own waining time in attacking the status quo.

Well he got paid for it, and you cashed in a couple of internet chips on your ego like a depressed dopamine-chasing gambler in Las Vegas.

Enjoy your jackpot. 

[Dave T]

56 minutes ago, Ash Hope said:

Worzel, however self-identified and indicative might be a misspelling of the word 'weasel' - it would appear.

I can imagine you, opening up your laptop - after seeing an article from a journalist trying to make his way in a world plagued by negativity (a man commissioned to write articles and not necessarily the beholder of his own autonomy or creative license).

I imagine how, in spite of how the article might have touched a tribal nerve that is engrained deep into your DNA like the final stitch of your team's jersey, you have decided to make bold assumptions on the alcohol behaviours, family situation and relationship history of a journalist who wrote something you didn't like.

I can imagine your weasel-like furry fingers relentlessly grinding and hammering at the crumb-covered keyboards in your (insert family situation) as your (insert relationship situation) is drowned out by your (insert your chosen vice).

I can imagine a clouded irony as you write a Dickensian-style opening to besmirch and tirade a man who has, in your own judgement, brought dark clouds upon a world you see so purely and positively.

If only... If only... You had captured such utopian ambition and optimism in a post that encapsulates your hope and treasured prosperity for the sport you dearly love so much.

Instead, you just did what the man you bastardised so personally allegedly did - in wasting your own waining time in attacking the status quo.

Well he got paid for it, and you cashed in a couple of internet chips on your ego like a depressed dopamine-chasing gambler in Las Vegas.

Enjoy your jackpot. 

Surely you didn't take Worzel's post literally? Nobody drinks Fosters any more do they?

[Worzel]

1 hour ago, Ash Hope said:

Worzel, however self-identified and indicative might be a misspelling of the word 'weasel' - it would appear.

I can imagine you, opening up your laptop - after seeing an article from a journalist trying to make his way in a world plagued by negativity (a man commissioned to write articles and not necessarily the beholder of his own autonomy or creative license).

I imagine how, in spite of how the article might have touched a tribal nerve that is engrained deep into your DNA like the final stitch of your team's jersey, you have decided to make bold assumptions on the alcohol behaviours, family situation and relationship history of a journalist who wrote something you didn't like.

I can imagine your weasel-like furry fingers relentlessly grinding and hammering at the crumb-covered keyboards in your (insert family situation) as your (insert relationship situation) is drowned out by your (insert your chosen vice).

I can imagine a clouded irony as you write a Dickensian-style opening to besmirch and tirade a man who has, in your own judgement, brought dark clouds upon a world you see so purely and positively.

If only... If only... You had captured such utopian ambition and optimism in a post that encapsulates your hope and treasured prosperity for the sport you dearly love so much.

Instead, you just did what the man you bastardised so personally allegedly did - in wasting your own waining time in attacking the status quo.

Well he got paid for it, and you cashed in a couple of internet chips on your ego like a depressed dopamine-chasing gambler in Las Vegas.

Enjoy your jackpot. 

Mine was definitely funnier, and had more brevity.

4/10, must try harder

PS: You being in Brighouse and around 30 is just a coincidence I take it?

Edited February 11 by Worzel
Startling revelation in the PS, like the end of an episode of Columbo