Muamba

I have lived my life through celebrities. I'd be nothing without them.

X Isle wrote:

I preface the comment below with a caviat that my sincere sympathies go to him, his family, his team mates, friends and those who witnessed the incident at WHL the other night. But............

Does anyone else feel it's the latest in a long line of incidents to mutated into a loss of all sense of proportion?.

It doesn't take anything away from the sympathy surrounding an individual tragedy to say that no-one should have a monopoly on grief, or sympathy. Dozens, probably hundreds had heart attacks on Saturday. Some were saved but most would not have done. Where's the minutes applause for them?, where's the facetw@tter following for them?, where's the emcampment on world media outside their hospital/mortuary?.

It was a devastating private tragedy for one man and his family/friends yet it's being turned into some form of horrible Dianaesque mass public outpouring of grief. Why?. Because he was a footballer?, because he was famous?, because he was a celebrity?. Does celebrity now count so highly in the 'be-all-and-end-all' of existence that they're in some way vastly more important than everyone else?.

John Lloyd made a brilliant post on PASOTI about the instantly disposable nature of grief and sympathy in the world these days. For me minutes silences, books of condolence, flags flying half mast etc are becoming cheapened by their daily imposition for anything and everything.

I have tremendous sympathy for the individuals concerned. But I really have to ask myself if the 130,000 people who have added themselves to Fabrice Muambas twitter following are indeed "concerned" (in the involved sense). What business is it of theirs?, what business is it of any of ours?.

By all means do what you feel you need to do tonight but ask yourself how you once again became railroaded into joining a bandwagon of manufactured mass grief?.

Well said that man.

X Isle wrote:

I preface the comment below with a caviat that my sincere sympathies go to him, his family, his team mates, friends and those who witnessed the incident at WHL the other night. But............

Does anyone else feel it's the latest in a long line of incidents to mutated into a loss of all sense of proportion?.

It doesn't take anything away from the sympathy surrounding an individual tragedy to say that no-one should have a monopoly on grief, or sympathy. Dozens, probably hundreds had heart attacks on Saturday. Some were saved but most would not have done. Where's the minutes applause for them?, where's the facetw@tter following for them?, where's the emcampment on world media outside their hospital/mortuary?.

It was a devastating private tragedy for one man and his family/friends yet it's being turned into some form of horrible Dianaesque mass public outpouring of grief. Why?. Because he was a footballer?, because he was famous?, because he was a celebrity?. Does celebrity now count so highly in the 'be-all-and-end-all' of existence that they're in some way vastly more important than everyone else?.

John Lloyd made a brilliant post on PASOTI about the instantly disposable nature of grief and sympathy in the world these days. For me minutes silences, books of condolence, flags flying half mast etc are becoming cheapened by their daily imposition for anything and everything.

I have tremendous sympathy for the individuals concerned. But I really have to ask myself if the 130,000 people who have added themselves to Fabrice Muambas twitter following are indeed "concerned" (in the involved sense). What business is it of theirs?, what business is it of any of ours?.

By all means do what you feel you need to do tonight but ask yourself how you once again became railroaded into joining a bandwagon of manufactured mass grief?.

Not often I agree with your posts, but yes, I would tend to concur. I think maybe the fact that it was a live televised match heightened the outpouring of sympathy, and yes, unfortunately the Twatter age means people just love to climb aboard the 'perceived' sympathy bandwagon.

Personally, I think if you want a real tragic story, it's the Kilmarnock players dad who died in the stands while watching his son just help them win the Jockenese Cup.

Imagine the polarised emotions of that poor lad? Now that is real tragedy.

Likewise, sympathies to the Muamba and his nearest and dearest. Terrible stuff. But wouldn't it be good if we lived in a world where the national press devoted their considerable influence (and front pages) to alerting people to the unimaginable horrors that Muamba's family escaped in their native country, horrors that continue to this day and remain largely ignored by the international community, rather than to one individual.

Like this NYT article does.

Indeed Nick.

Much like it takes the arrest of George Clooney to gain a weekend headline about Darfour but not one single media angle is afforded to the ACTUAL suffering in the Sudan itself, just his smirking mug getting into a Police van.

Much like we find out there's a serial killer on the loose in Toulouse yesterday but no-one outside France knew he'd already been on two shooting rampages, the deaths of soldiers are clearly less 'newsworthy' than that of children, but they're all children to someone.

There is much that is fake and shallow in this modern age of ours, I am becoming more and more embittered towards it and reject it's impositions on me with increasingly revolutionary fervour. I don't like being hearded. They're planning a minutes applause tonight I understand. Just as i'd reject the enforced jolity of 'ultras' I feel I would have to reject an enforced community grief-a-thon these days too. I got bitten by the Diana hysteria a bit but then came round feeling soiled and violated.

I'd never sabotage anyone elses grief (however false or contrived) but I don't have to applaud to feel participation. One can stand quietly and reflect on whatever the hell they like, tonight it'd be EVERYONE who suffered a sudden catastrophic health scare or near death experience.

Good posts X-Isle. I was in the Navy (pub) on Saturday night and looked at the photos of 42 commando in Afghanistan. There were some pictures of vehicles, group photos etc but there were also individual photos of young blokes (mostly younger than me) who had died and not lived past their early twenties. Nothing against Muamba, but they are real heroes, getting paid a pittance.

I agree it has all gone a bit Princess Diana. Mass hysteria.

Did he play against us for Brum that year in the Championship?