Ordinary Bloke vs. Guardian Sports Writers

Batman · Post by **Batman** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 5:30 pm

Round One
If the Guardian or Louise Taylor actually bothered to acknowledge their mail I might stop copying in Football365 who like to snigger at them but. Anyway, in pursuit of helping Louise Taylor one day write a decent intro here goes:

"On Sunday morning Shola Ameobi will board a flight bound for Colorado where he is scheduled to have potentially career-saving hip surgery."

Okay can you tell me what surgery, for a footballer is not potentially career saving? I mean, I am guessing they don't have operations for fun. Okay maybe they could struggle on with an ingrowing finger nail or something. But pretty much anything to do with your major limbs is an essential for a footballer. In this case, any operation that doesn't work could mean their career is over.

To go over that one more time. Footballers get injured they then need operations. If they don't have operations then they can't play. So every operation is a potentially career saving operation. So why do you need to state the bleeding obvious? Or were you just trying to hype up an otherwise dull story and a dull set of quotes from Shola?

Hello, Guardian anyone out there?
Steve Jackson

Steve,

Uruguayan footballer Dario Silva had surgery to have his leg amputated recently. This could hardly be described as "potentially career-saving" for a footballer. I hope this answers your question. If you can come up with another one that isn't completely stupid, I might stop copying in Football365 too.
Barry Glendenning, Guardian Unlimited Sport.

Round Two

Are you serious? And nice tone you have with your readers.

I'm fairly sure, as harsh as it sounds, that Dario Silva was no longer a footballer when it comes to the point of having the leg removed. It hardly changes the point that99.9 of injuries suffered by footballers are career threatening. So hardly really worth pointing it out.

Oh and I've copied in Football365 to save you the bother.

Cheers
Steve

...So it's okay for you to take a sarcastic tone with our writers when you're trying (unsuccessfully) to be smart, but not okay for us to do the same when we prove you wrong. Why is that, then, Steve? Dario Silva may have been out of contract when he had his accident, but he hadn't retired. He was an unemployed footballer, but a footballer nonetheless, aged 32 and with several more years worth of gas in the tank. You asked for an example of surgery on a footballer that isn't potentially career-saving and I gave you one off the top of my head. End of story - let it go.
Barry Glendenning, Guardian Unlimited Sport

Round Three

Ahh I can see where the problem is arising now.

You wrote: "So it's okay for you to take a sarcastic tone with our writers."

No, I really did mean that what Louise Taylor writes is bollocks. No sarcasm intended.

Sorry for your confusion.

And you give it up first. Go on I dare you.

Fair enough about the Dario Silva thing though. Actually I might start calling myself an out-of-contact footballer. Or maybe an astronaut. I can't decide. By our own argument you don't need a club, a contract or it appears, the use of your legs to call yourself a footballer.
Steve Jackson

...I can think of several more appropriate things you could call yourself, Steve. At least Dario Silva proved that he could play football at the highest level, whereas the only thing you're proving is that you're not as clever or amusing as you think you are. I get the impression you're loving this attention, but when you're in a hole like this you should really stop digging. I didn't think it was possible for you to make yourself look more foolish than you did in your original email, but you're proving me wrong.

All the best,
Barry Glendenning, Guardian Unlimited Sport.

keveh · Post by **keveh** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 5:33 pm

I hate to say it, but Steve got destroyed.

communistworkethic · Post by **communistworkethic** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 5:49 pm

exploratory op- non-career saving

broken arm pinned - non career saving (unless you're a keeper)

Full credit to Barry, steve is clearly a cock.

thebish · Post by **thebish** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 5:53 pm

it's swift and brutal - and gloriously to the point - Steve has been utterly slaughtered...

Daxter · Post by **Daxter** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 6:46 pm

As rio would say- Steve got Merked.

officer_dibble · Post by **officer_dibble** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 6:59 pm

Thing is to pick on what that daft cow writes about isn't exactly the hardest thing in the world if you are so inclined. Bad choice of subject I guess. Silly boy.

Dave Sutton's barnet · Post by **Dave Sutton's barnet** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 10:14 pm

I've met Barry Glendenning. Nice bloke. Sorry if that doesn't fit in.

Thing about the Guardian Unlimited writers is, they all hate the Guardian. As you can tell by their constant poor-me stuff in The Fiver, match reports, etc etc. Clever fellas, good writers, but the cynicism gets a bit too much for my taste. As it does elsewhere...

EDIT: One other thing - the GU (website) writers rarely, if ever, meet the 'paper writers. Call it jealousy if you like but they probably all hate Louise Taylor anyway. But if you try to make them look foolish if front of an audience, they'll fight back...

Montreal Wanderer · Post by **Montreal Wanderer** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 10:22 pm

thebish wrote:it's swift and brutal - and gloriously to the point - Steve has been utterly slaughtered...

Perhaps, but for an "ordinary bloke" he got a couple of good shots in before getting flattened.

thebish · Post by **thebish** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 10:26 pm

his problem was that his point was utter bollox from the start.

many players have non-career-threatening operations - possibly the most common being a hernia op...

Bruce Rioja · Post by **Bruce Rioja** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 10:28 pm

thebish wrote:his problem was that his point was utter bollox from the start.

many players have non-career-threatening operations - possibly the most common being a hernia op...

And whatever happened to the good old cartlidge op?

Montreal Wanderer · Post by **Montreal Wanderer** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 1:50 am

Bruce Rioja wrote:
thebish wrote:his problem was that his point was utter bollox from the start.

many players have non-career-threatening operations - possibly the most common being a hernia op...
And whatever happened to the good old cartlidge op?

Perhaps he felt that any op with today's NHS is potentially hazardous. "You mean you didn't come in for the liver transplant? What's your name again"

thebish · Post by **thebish** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 8:23 am

Mmmm... but them you'd also have to write stuff like..

Kevin Nolan embartked on a potentially career-threatening car-ride to the training ground yesterday...

Lennon · Post by **Lennon** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 8:31 am

Steve Jackson did an excellent job of making an idiot out of himself there.

Village Idiot · Post by **Village Idiot** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 10:04 am

I once had a knee ligament problem and the op was optional, just to speed up the recovery (it healed naturally, just took longer).

hisroyalgingerness · Post by **hisroyalgingerness** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 10:43 am

i do get the feeling barry gets plenty of practise tho

Montreal Wanderer · Post by **Montreal Wanderer** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 1:29 pm

hisroyalgingerness wrote:i do get the feeling barry gets plenty of practise tho

Too true, including on some of us.

Dave Sutton's barnet · Post by **Dave Sutton's barnet** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 1:31 pm

In the same way the Bish has written in the past that it's a bit rich for fans to abuse players for 90 minutes then get a bit upset when they sneer back after a goal... If you send a flame, expect a flame back. 'Sall I'm saying.

Soldier_Of_The_White_Army · Post by **Soldier_Of_The_White_Army** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 2:13 pm

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