Collingwood Fans Boo Buddy Franklin
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The AFL has a problem with crowds booing players during matches. Collingwood fans boo Buddy Franklin at the MCG. St Kilda fans booed young Jason Horne-Francis the weekend before against Port Adelaide. Booing is mob rule and sends a blunt and loud message to the targeted individual. It is prone to misunderstandings and is not a good look for the game. Sure, those fans who go to the game get passionate about what happens during a match but booing is not the way to express those heightened feelings.
The booing of Lance Franklin, a Swan’s champion of the game, echoes the treatment of another Indigenous AFL former champion Adam Goodes.
Racist Booing By AFL Crowds
The AFL failed Adam Goods, as he was booed out of the game by racist fans around the country. Football attracts the lowest common denominator, in terms of Australians who follow the game. Racism continues to plague AFL around the edges, despite the fact that the clubs and AFL have done a lot to improve the experience of Indigenous players. Small minded people want to see sport apart from the bigger cultural picture of life in Australia but it is very much a mirror for what goes on here.
Nasty name calling and booing fans, who attend the games, are making a political statement whether they realise it or not.
Collingwood Apologises for Crowd Booing of Lance Franklin at MCG
There are, obviously, people organising this booing, as it is a concerted crowd act. There are groups within the crowd who are starting this response from over the fence and many more joining in. Racist elements within supporters of teams are likely present and then there are those who just follow the crowd on the day. The result is a mass act sending out a very visible message, which is beamed around the country via the TV coverage. Clubs don’t want this and the AFL abhors this kind of thing in 2023. Collingwood have apologised and called upon their fans to respect champion players going forward.
AFL matches are a bit like World Championship Wrestling from the 1970s in that there is a lot of argy-bargy going on between combatants. Bumping off the ball and pushing and shoving is de rigueur these days. The fans, perhaps, get carried away in their positive affirmation of this byplay. The supporters take it all too seriously, whereas the players are professionals and shake hands and smile after the contest. Booing is not the way to go in 2023. Supporters will need to find other means to safely express their passions at the game. Players risk their bodies and careers every time they run out on the field.
They do not need to have their souls denigrated by dickheads and racists at the game and on social media. Social media is the home of cowards, of course.
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