I’d like to take a long pause in this piece and not start in the usual format of talking about sport and what’s going on in the world and who’s lost at the weekend or any of that.
Instead I want to discuss the impact that social media abuse is having at the moment, and why it is never acceptable to post such hatred online.
You would think it’s simple to be honest wouldn’t you? Just don’t post hateful comments and things for everyone to see on your Twitter, Facebook or whatever platform your using.
In fact it all goes back to that old saying, treat others how you would like to be treated, and if you think by posting such a ridiculously stupid thing online is something that you would like done back to you then you seriously need to think again.
There’s that line between what classes as banter I guess and what is just outright personal and horrible, but it still shouldn’t be happening.
Thinking before you post should just come naturally, for me as a journalist I check all the time to make sure I’ve made no stupid mistakes in my pieces or tweets, but nobody thinks that such awful remarks should even be considered by people let alone posted.
The impact that posting something so vile can be detrimental to that person it is about, you can’t alter it either once you’ve clicked post, you might delete it but if someone does see it they’ll screenshot it and make sure it never goes away.
So my question is then, why do people still do it?
We’re sat here in 2023 where you can be whatever you want to be, there shouldn’t be such thing as judgement or bias surrounding your sexuality and race, in fact we celebrate such inclusivity in our society and push for it be accepted by everybody.
You should never face abuse because of your skin colour, or your sexuality, or at all, it isn’t acceptable.
I get mad when I see it plastered all over social media daily that people have been receiving death threats, racial abuse, homophobic abuse, but I’m also glad at the same time that people have called them out on the matter and said enough is enough.
It shouldn’t be an issue we are still facing in the 21st century, yet here we are, I’m sat here typing this after seeing another set of social media abuse online aimed at an individual and all I can think of is why?
Things need to change still, and fast, because this cannot keep happening, the people that are doing this are just quite simply sick and acting out through anger or for some unbelievably daft reason, but they need to be punished and made to deal with the consequences for their stupidly.
Rant over, sadly problem unsolved because no matter what you do at the minute it is all you see but, I just think it’s worth reminding everyone who reads this piece that it needs calling out a whole lot more than it is still at the moment.
Into some sport then, throw a few honourable mentions out there before delving into the talking points, Max Verstappen resumed business with his ninth win in a row in F1, while England rugby union were hit with another blow after losing to Fiji ahead of the Rugby World Cup.
One of my blog pieces was centred around the fact that it’s been World Cup’s galore it seems recently where we’re constantly in the cycle of finishing one then moving onto the next.
Heartbreak is the only word you can use to sum up the Women’s Football one because it’s exactly how everyone felt when that final whistle blew.
To make it there in the first place is a fantastic achievement for sport in this country and shows the progress we are making again, but it just hurts to lose right at the end of it all though.
There’s been plenty of talking points throughout the tournament, the argument over the pay bonus if they won, which should’ve been the same as the men’s, the story surrounding how Sarina Wiegman should take the men’s coaching role as it would be seen as a ‘step-up’, and having a bus parade for the team still despite losing.
I’ll start with the pay one first of all, it’s just a no-brainer, if either national team, whether it be men or women wins a World Cup the bonus should be the same, end of.
It’s literally the same achievement whether you win one or the other, and that means everything about it should be treated the same.
Secondly the Wiegman and the England job situation.
This kind of goes back to the point I made before any of this started because why is it perceived by people that the men’s job is necessarily a better one than the women’s?
She is the head coach of the England national team, a fanatastic role to be able to hold and represent the country, so why should moving to the men’s game to do exactly the same thing be seen as a ‘step-up’?
Wiegman has been superb for England, she’s turned a team that had so much potential into winners, especially with that Euro performance last summer and the World Cup this year, you can see now that this team believes they can win trophies.
I just want her to keep doing exactly what she is doing because it’s brilliant
The final point then is the bus parade, with some people still suggesting they should still have a celebration for the achievements.
For me it just didn’t feel right because it’s only something you do when you’ve actually won something.
What they have achieved like I’ve said already has been excellent, but that doesn’t mean we can just pretend that they’ve won it.
Either way they have made us proud as a nation, we don’t need to give them a celebration to show them that.
Of course as well another thing from that final was the aftermath where the Spain federation president Luis Rubiales kissed player Jenni Hermoso.
Rubiales has since refused to quit his role despite growing pressure from not only the Spanish team but the world itself.
81 players in total have so far said they would not play again for Spain while he remained in his job, and it has also heaped more pressure on boss Jorge Vilda, will the federation itself now exploring options to sack him.
Again it relates back to my first point in this piece about abuse because although it isn’t that you just can’t do something like that without consent.
This matter would’ve been resolved easily if the president just stepped down from his role with minimum fuss, instead he wants to be like Donald Trump and go out the hard way.
Same goes for the manager, it was made clear throughout the tournament there was disconnect between the players and coaching staff, hence why a lot of the coaching team have resigned since, which would then make sense for Vilda to follow suit.
Spain as a team were brilliant in that final, but these matters away from the pitch have tainted it all meaning you can only feel sorry for those players involved in it all.
Stick with the football shall we, time to talk Wolves again as I always do in this pieces, it’s a chance to assess how Gary O’Neill has started out life as the new boss.
That first game against Manchester United was really one of promise, a midfield full of energy that completely bossed the game from start to finish, with the only thing missing being the finishing touch.
A recurring theme that hasn’t gone away for a few seasons now, who is the goal scorer in this team going to be?
Matheus Cunha did everything but score, chance creation wise he was really good, but he couldn’t do the most important thing which was score.
Going into the match I was nervous about where we would stand going forward as a side and in the end I left feeling disappointed because we didn’t walk away with three points so, you could tell how much confidence I gained through that performance.
Losing 4-1 to Brighton was tough, a silly 10 minute spell in the middle of the game cost us dearly, but if we had taken our chances again before that it would’ve been a different story maybe.
So still no need to panic in my eyes, the Nunes transfer rumours with Manchester City in the build-up to the big game against Everton suggested to me that we were going to do well to keep him, but the good news was he wasn’t able to play in the match because he was suspended after his red card against Brighton meant he couldn’t be distracted so, up to the lads to deliver.
Deliver they did as well, it was far from a dominant display, the 1-0 score line suggests that but, it gave us our first three points of the season and that’s all that matters.
To see Sasa Kalajdzic bag the winner after such a torrid time of things, injuring his ACL on his first start for the club nearly 12 months ago, brought a tear to my eye, and possibly answered my question about the goal scorer issue as well.
Beating Blackpool 5-0 in the EFL Cup has hopefully give the team a chance to get the goals flowing properly now so that they can take it into the weekend’s game against Crystal Palace.
For now though, O’Neill has impressed me, lets keep it that way.
Horse Racing then, I’ll get the fact I’ve reached the final of the Racing TV Tipstars 2023 competition out the way first of all don’t worry.
I’ve never been to Kempton Park before, probably because I’m that far up north, but come 13th September I get the chance to go there and appear on Racing TV for the final alongside five others for a chance to win it.
Gives me an opportunity to put that university degree to good use as well doesn’t it, least I know I won’t be going camera shy that’s for sure.
On a serious note though to get the chance to be involved with such an important final to me is massive, I’ve always wanted to have a go in the racing industry in some form of journalism and this competition has given me that exact chance.
It isn’t about getting the winners rolled out on my blogs or Twitter feeds it’s just being involved in the sport itself, getting the chance to break down races and preview them and then review them like I do with Cheltenham is great to me, giving it that bit of analysis, but that goes for any race meeting I attend it’s just an excellent sport to be involved with.
If they can continue to make it more affordable and offer more chances for people to continue to get involved and showcase the sport in the correct way and the way it wants to be perceived then it can only end up being a good thing because it has already given me plenty of work through my interviews and stuff.
We’ve moving into that time of year though at the moment where we are ready for the switch back to the jumps, although one man stole all the headlines at York on Saturday that’s for certain.
You might’ve heard of someone called Frankie Dettori maybe, well he’s retiring at the end of the season, despite the fact he has been riding out of his skin this year.
A big race double at the weekend showed exactly why Dettori has been such a role model for up and coming jockeys in the industry, the man oozes that class in the big moments, but has that charming personality in the interviews afterwards that instantly makes him loveable to more than just racing fans.
I would love to see him do another year, mainly because I want to see him win the only race that has evaded him his full career in the July Cup at Newmarket but sometimes you feel like it’s always best to go out when your on top rather than stay around long enough to see you sink to the bottom.
We have such a talented group of new jockeys in the weighing room now as well, I say new but they’ve been around a few years now.
Oisin Murphy, William Buick, Tom Marquand, Hollie Doyle all on the flat, while over jumps we have Sean Bowen, Harry Cobden and Jonjo O’Neill Jr just to name a small handful of them.
To sit here and spend my time talking about whip rules and that is sometimes a real waste because I miss the perfect opportunity to praise those who are involved in going out and riding these beautiful animals day in day out.
Like I said, the running theme in all of this is treating people and animals in this case properly, and that’s exactly what these people do, it can never be doubted for me.
To come full circle almost then I want to briefly talk about rugby union and England here, but also give a chance to shout out Fylde again ahead of the new season which starts on Saturday.
I’ve been busy for a while now when it comes to watching England play but I watched a video online from former player Will Greenwood discussing both how well Fiji played but also how it’s worrying for England.
Obviously throw into the mix the discussion surrounding the Owen Farrell red card from the other week and preparation has just seemingly been an utter mess to be honest.
With the current climate there is in rugby union surrounding the introduction of the new tackling law Farrell can’t be seen to be making tackles like that.
If World Rugby are looking to set an example of what happens if you do get it wrong then this presented them with the perfect chance to make sure they got it right with the ban, instead they got it horribly wrong.
Firstly to not ban Farrell was a massive mistake, but to then go back on your word and admit that actually he should’ve been banned looks even worse in my eyes.
More thought should’ve been put into it that’s all I’m saying, because by doing what they did they created more unnecessary attention towards it all.
I’m a big believer that you don’t want to be playing your best before the tournament itself but you also need to be showing parts in those games to make people have belief that you can go on and do something.
Ultimately everything could change when the World Cup begins and England could play magnificently and win the lot, but at the moment there’s no confidence behind making such a statement.
Positive rugby union news anyways, and Fylde resume league action this week with a home game against Sheffield Tigers.
It was great to hear that they had picked up a 14-10 win against higher up opposition Sale FC last Saturday in a mini tri tournament at The Woodlands, also managing to beat Hawick 12-0, it’ll be good for them to kick things off in front of a home crowd which they seemingly never disappoint and get the ball rolling again.
That brings this blog piece to a close for now though, no more to talk about unless you want to sit hear and listen to me moan about train strikes do you?
Didn’t think so, I’ll catch you in the next one then.