There is a degree of unfortunate buffoonery that is elicited by the game. Football demands passion from its fans but then struggles with how to deal with those who can’t manage their emotions. This is not a new phenomenon, only a new technology. It might also be the dumbest way to threaten someone – using a mobile phone with a readily traceable number.
It was doubtful, even police agreed, that this was a serious threat. But then it was always considered extremely doubtful anyone would wander through security at the MCG carrying handguns, yet here we are.
Michael Voss and his Blues are under pressure after a series of tough losses.Credit: AFL Photos
Whether the message should be ventilated is another matter. Like the graffiti sprayed on the brick walls of Princes Park in the dead of night or the dumping of chicken manure at Richmond’s Punt Road Oval prior to the Dusty dynasty, it is performative, look-at-me smart-arsery. These are the voices that are not content with being the loudest and angriest on talkback radio and presume to speak for the entirety of the fan base.
The broader issue is what to do about it? The game is proudly a vehicle for people to release a week of emotions, whether through screaming at the TV, the umpire, the price of a pie or the pantomime villain of the opposition. It is a game that not only entitles the fan to yell at the top of their lungs but encourages them to do so. Ordinarily, one voice joins others in affirmation or outrage, but most often in joy. Occasionally, like this text message, they are a hysterical voice offering menace.
But by calling out the threat, do we give the sender a credibility they don’t deserve?
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Like outing a social media racist, is there more benefit in calling it out and thus amplifying it, risking that it will embolden others to follow and give racism a bigger platform? Or is it better to ignore it and leave the bile to get no further than the keyboard on which it is typed? But that can also mean the target of the racism feels slighted, diminished and unsupported.
What happens when an attention-seeker gets no attention? Do they meekly go away defeated or double down?
We all have a little culpability here. The game, the clubs and the media thrive on the passion the game generates.
We speculate on sackings, admittedly with a little too much eagerness, not out of personal animus but because in a nakedly performance-based industry that is where history tells us the story resides. In the overwhelming number of circumstances when clubs go through periods as Carlton are, someone ends up losing their job. That is why these speculative stories come about; history tells us what to expect next.
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The fact the people in these situations are as well-liked as Voss is among people in the media and football does not obscure the reality of history’s lessons.
That is very different to wishing harm to someone. Ironically, Michael Voss is about the last AFL coach that a frustrated fan would actually have the courage to personally confront. Pity the person who did.
Voss is contracted for next year. Whether he fulfils that contract remains a matter of debate inside the club and outside, but it will not be moved by an angry texter.
Last year Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley was booed by Power fans after a bad loss. Sure, booing is a long way from the sort of threat Voss received. But it has a similar basis in misplaced anger and disrespect. Hinkley had inherited a coaching job no one else wanted at a time when tarps were on seats at Port games, disguising the absence of a crowd; players were leaving and the club was in financial disarray. Hinkley made the team and club respected again, only to then be disrespected by his own fans. It was pathetic.
Whether Voss coaches on next year or not, and it is doubtful he will, he still remains the first coach in decades of trying to be able to take the Blues back to a preliminary final.
To wish him harm would be funny, if it wasn’t so serious.
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