"Unruly comments letting Yellow Fever down"

"Unruly comments letting Yellow Fever down"

Read page D3 of this morning's Dom Post. Some Mr. Jamie Douglas is ripping into the Yellow Fever forum.

He said Yellow fever is really good and its good how the phoenix are going and all but he thinks the message board needs to be moderated better and stuff like that. I only glanced at the article

Jamie Douglas  censorship and quality  control football boards and chants dept Dom post,as we say in the auld country" away an bile yir heed"
You get a much easier right of reply on this board than you will ever get with the Dom post ,no football board on the planet and there are hundreds of them(its called research mate) have people using there own names its all about giving as good as you get ,sure the comments sometimes" lack class "its true that we have not all  been to journalism school .
As for putting the boot into players in your own team terribly sorry old chap but thats what happens on footy boards when your own team or players  are not coming up with the goods!
I will always criticize , condemn, praise, sl*g off, take the piss, abuse,rib ,not only the players but fellow fans ,opposition players ,fat stewards ,people who like sailing,the NPC,wanky up them selfs sanctimonious  journos etc etc
Anyway as the song says "come and have  ago if you think your hard enough"
Kiwi Jambo keyboard warrior!!
Im away for a lie down now

Kiwi Jambo2007-07-28 09:22:16

Obviously we all have strong opinions on Mr Douglas' article but let's try and keep a level head because it is important to keep a good relationship with the Dom Post and it's clear that they read our site.  Just don't want to give them any more ammunition. james dean2007-07-28 10:36:06

maybe the Dom are a bit jealous that you guys have got your sh*t together, and can produce things such as central league reports, gamecasts, etc, better than they ever could.

Just read the article, phil_style2007-07-28 11:01:06

He's entitled to his opinion as well!  I thought the headline was a little harsh, but let's look on the bright side - the main opinion piece in the Dominion Post has been dedicated to us!!  So I think it's a good sign that we're having an impact on and off the field.  And you'e right Phil, the majority of the piece was praising everything that has goe on so far!

I find it interesting that the media can "influence" a forum such as ours. What is the point of having the forum in the first place if a bit of criticism (warranted or not) influences the way it is moderated? Isn't this the unofficial supporters site? In which case any suggestion on his part of poor behaviour is unjustified. This site does have rules & standards but is also available to all who profess to support the Phoenix & football in general. As such I believe we all understand what that entails (all forums have there pros and cons) and this site provides a much needed boost to the game in NZ. In a country starved of good media coverage of football who is he to tell us how it should be done?

The fact that Yellow Fever is even being discussed at such length in the media is fantastic! Seriously, it is a credit to all the YF "staff" and contributors that YF is even worthy of such attention after such a short time in existence. The article is mostly positive and offers a few points of criticism - so what? He's only doing what everyone else here is doing - expressing an opinion.

As for the headline - that was probably written by a sub-editor and not Jamie Douglas himself. It does highlight the most negative aspect of the story but if it gets people to read it then it has served it's purpose. It will almost certainly lead to more people checking out this site so who cares?

I did think that the criticism of pseudonyms and the level of moderation was a little bit off. That's just the internet generally these days and also reflects something quite specific about football culture around the world. Fans are very passionate about the game and express themselves very clearly in all sorts of ways! From forums to fanzines to having a go at the players/ref/coach/each other at the games, it's all part of the passion that elevates football above any other sport in the world.

You've got remember that this "football" stuff is all pretty new to a lot of local sports journalists who have spent years having to make a living primarily writing about rugby (whether they've wanted to or not). It's also a long time since football has had anywhere near this sort of coverage in the local media - so maybe we're also just a little bit over-sensitive? Give it time, they'll get used to us and we'll get used to them. We need each other, after all.


terminator_x2007-07-28 12:11:21

The whole fans forum thing is kind of unknown in rugby as well...I mean all of the premiership clubs have forums attached to their websites!

i think this is spot on...it's the pot calling the kettle black - we're not allowed to criticise players but the dom post can criticise the whole team if they want? bollocks. at least, as pointed out, we can all respond directly to stupid comments instead of sending in a belated email complaining about something stupid written in an article

I think Yellow Fever is doing a great job. I find it very informative and enjoy reading most of the opinions. The fact that Yellow Fever is making such an impact in the media is great. All power to us. Good to see they are paying attention. Maybe the tv stations will take a look. Maybe they already have. How do we compare to other sporting forums in N.Z. 2000 members could be achieved by august 26th. Just keep pushing the media and they will listen.

Welcome to the world of football Mr Douglas!

How great to see an entirely football related opinion piece in such a prominent position in the sports section of our local usually completely rugby-dominated paper.  It doesn't really matter about whether you or I agree with the opinions expressed or not - opinion pieces that didn't express any opinions would be pretty boring to read after all!! - the fact that it appeared at all should be celebrated by all those who love football.

Those involved in setting up YF in the first place, and all of us who are now members, should be very proud of getting such prominent coverage - it's impossible to imagine anything like that ever appearing in an English paper about a local club's unofficial fanclub website!!!   As someone once said "all publicity is good publicity".

BTW as it happens Paul is my real name, but there can only ever be one member with that name - Paul6736 or whatever doesn't quite seem the same!!    

 

The Dominion Post has been great to us at Yellow Fever and has provided a heap of publicity to the Phoenix.  This morning, Jamie Douglas has said some very complimentary things about what we are doing and raised some very good points about some of the 'negative' aspects as well. 

 

Jamie is correct to question our willingness to criticise players.  Why do we do this!?  Why do I do this!?  I don't really know; I can only imagine that my passion runs so deep that I cannot help myself.  Then again, maybe, like some couch potato criticising Ma'a Nonu for not being able to tackle, or Jeff Wilson for being a show boat, it just plain interests me!  Whatever the reason, this forum provides the game's stakeholders with a forum for expression, debate and discussion.  Sometimes the content is tripe; but, just like radio sport, you take the good with the bad.  Over-moderation would kill the discussion, which in turn kills the community....

 

As for the use of pseudonyms; what a fascinating social phenomenon this is!  Some come to these forums seeking anonymity, but I think you'll find that there are a great many of us with our names published, who have no such desire.  For others, it provides them with an internet presence that's differs from the Joe Blo people are at work and home - I'll save the sociology lecture for another day.  The point is, once again, if you kill the right to anonymity; you kill the community....

 

After years of football being shunted out of the spotlight, for reasons right or wrong, of its own making or not; killing the community is not what Yellow Fever is about.  Jamie has opened the debate about football fanaticism to a wide public sphere; this is dreamland for those of us who have previously had to read the fixtures section to find anything published about football!

 

In amongst the abundance of positive coverage, several members of the press have recently questioned several aspects of the Phoenix.  Many supporters have been upset by this; understandably, they don't like the criticism of their sport, their passion.  But these people are entitled to their opinion and more importantly, they are taking the time to have one.  So, Yellow Fever members, and proud supporters of the Phoenix, welcome to the sporting spotlight. 

 

I'm going on Newstalk ZB at 2.30 to discuss this on air - feel free to listen in!

Bugger we kick of at Centennial Park at 2.30 good luck anyway!

I just get a feeling that Jamie Douglas is just trying to fill a few more column inches - after a good start the article seems to meander into the pros and cons (mainly cons) of internet forums and the general debate about moderation of  forums.
Can't see anything there that particularly applies to YF as much as any other forums ....

btw -
I notice the thread was started by someone with the name Douglas ... and the Dom article was written by someone called Douglas ....

...... coincidence?


You work it out

Is there a copy of the article online at all?

... have just re-read the 'mossy gives us a wave / chanter' thread that seems to be the one to invoke Jamie Douglas' ire.
The way I read it the journalist (Chanter) was bagged for an incorrect statement and  a couple of YF'ers then emailed said journo seeking a 'please explain'.

The emails were courteous and were sent under real names  - and the journo replied with a reasonable explanation.

So what was wrong with that?

Douggy's just trying to stir up the YF Forum.

I dont get the Dom, I'm an Aucklander and the only decent site in the whole country for soccer is this one, YELLOW FEVER.
It beats the balls off any other form of publication.
Yes it has some gross comments at times
Yes the players are criticised at times
Yes, it is alive
Praise the Lord

Some of you guys are way too over-sensitive. jamie raised some very good points in his article, which was extremely well-balanced I thought. In fact, his praise of YF was the underlying theme in my opinion. So what if some of you don't agree with him, doesn't mean you have to sl*g him off. I think it was great for YF and long may it continue.
By the way, when it comes to Phoenix stuff the Dom (and the local radio) is leading the way, so instead of laying into guys like Jamie Douglas and John Chanter, we should be praising them and focussing our demands on the likes of the pathetic coverage TV stations are giving the team and certain other papers - eg, auckland herald, which never has anything in it up here

I haven't read the article as living up in Auckland I don't buy the Dom, but from the sounds of it Jamie Douglas does not understand how the internet works.

Of thousands of Internet forums I have visited I can't recall even one where people don't use pseudonyms, if Douglas would pick out any other supporters forum, for any sport I would be very surprised if he found one where people had to use the real names. Simply this criticism is staggering, and suggests that Douglas only stumbled accross the internet yesterday.

The lack of moderation is also a good thing, once again, it's the internet where freedom of speech is encouraged! It's one of the things makes the internet so awesome. If he thinks this forum has a lack of moderation someone should point him in the direction of the World Game forums or any other A-League supporters website.

Welcome to the Internet and 2007 Mr Douglas.

siac2007-07-28 15:04:42

yes but not in a sycophantic "ooohh they wrote about the football" kind of way.The Dom Post caters to the welly public, and yellow fever/wellington phoenix have a pretty large audience so the fact that  the phoenix should get coverage should be a given. By and large, they've done well, but it's a good thing that people on this forum get riled when they print crap, it's called PASSION and without it this site wouldn't be the success it is. ok rant over

What can it matter....

ps. the things he takes issue with are crap...what, you can't be a supporter and criticise a player?? so when an all black has a bad game, everyone's like, 'oh well, everyone has an off day'? i don't think so

I don't have a scanner so I took pics for those without the Dom.

Scroll >>>




Brock2007-07-28 15:37:38

As I was saying to Hard News this afternoon, the press aren't exactly whiter than white when it comes to football forums (perhaps not so much in NZ), but certainly in the UK there have certainly been plenty of incidences of stories, rumours and opinions being lifted straight out of football forums and ending up in the press - uncredited.

Just his opinion, like many of the things written on here are our's. I thought it was a generally pro-YF article. Maybe he doesn't quite accept/understand that the 'forum medium' concept where it is open season for any comments. Moderation is also a tough one, personally I don't like some of the stuff on here but accept people have the right to air those views or make peurile comments. If something written leans towards libellous I trust our moderators to take the right steps. A danger of censoring people's opinions is that people stop contributing. I've seen that happen to a lot of club boards that are run by the clubs themselves - look at the Knights last year when they closed theirs. I didn't bother visiting their site much after that, if at all.

www.thesilverfern.com

Been around for years.  Has exactly the same issues but never warranted an article, wonder why ?

Cheers for the notice though Jamie.  I'll bet our membership and hits today have sky rocketed. 

Forza Phoenix !

Managed to pick up the DomPost in Auckland. Jamie Douglas appears to be feeling his way through what is an untried phenomenon in New Zealand. An actual sporting community. Rugby sites seem to be full of out of control 14 year olds and homesick New Zealanders; and don't talk rugby except before the big match.
YF gives me a chance to talk about what I love. Its great to talk about talent and prospects. Frankly, I criticise what I love because I understand the effort the players make and the sacrifices I make getting to the matches in all weather and most of all because I want the best for our team.
The media don't provide me enough football coverage to satisfy my basic needs. The Herald's 'two-lines' this morning was insufficient for the thousands of followers.
So in the vacuum of information that exists, only a community of comment can counter this inequality.
As with any community group starting out, we face prejudice and a lack of support. It will literally take years to change. In the meantime, players need to jump on that plane to a professional career, be it St Albans XI or the Wellington Phoenix. We need to carry on building the pool of talented players who can take us back to THE World Cup. And hopefully some sponsors on the way.

Perhaps if us Jaffas start buying more DomPosts and then the Herald will start giving us what we want. Nah, they are a sh1te paper, with sh1te writers and don't give a sh1te about their readers.

well said

I say that most comments have some merit! I,m yellow and proud!