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Stu | all galleries >> Daily Bowl of Stu >> March 2005 > I am not a criminal
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Dundee Stu

I am not a criminal

1 March 2005

315
March already! Where are all the days going? This morning I thought that I'd pay a tribute to Lisa by imitating her Liverpool scarf image of a couple of days ago. After doing that, I began to think about the Panorama documentary on sectarianism in the west of Scotland that was broadcast on Sunday night. I don't know if it was shown down south, but if it was, it gave a highly sensationalised account of the problem, and seemed to imply that all supporters of Rangers and Celtic are sectarian bigots who are brought up on a diet of anti-Catholicism or anti-Protestantism from birth. You could have been forgiven for thinking that we are all either members of the Ulster Defence Association or the IRA, and that we like nothing better to do than to go about shouting religious slogans into each other's faces - preferably before we smash the bottle into them. As a Celtic supporter, and as someone who was brought up in the Church of Scotland, I resent this. I am not going to deny that there is a problem with a minority of both sets of supporters. Nevertheless, it is hard to see how the constant scapegoating of the two clubs and the vast majority of their supporters - who are just ordinary, decent, law-abiding people - will help solve the problem, which is, in the final analysis, a social problem - and not a sporting one. There is only so much the clubs can do, and it is simply unrealistic, not to mention unreasonable, to ban people from the grounds for singing The Fields of Athenry or The Sash My Father Wore - which is basically what is being suggested. It is not helpful interviewing convicted criminals, who just happen to support either Rangers or Celtic, and give the impression that this is what a typical Old Firm supporter is like, and how they think, and then imply that if you scratch the surface of any Old Firm fan, you will find that they have more in common with the convict than they care to admit. There is no conspiracy here. The Old Firm have a problem with some of their supporters, and that problem is sectarian in nature. Chelsea and Millwall have a problem with some of their supporters, and that is racist in nature. Yet, when it comes to the Old Firm, the media wants to have us believe that all the fans are sectarian - not just a small minority. We are all sectarian because we sing songs at the game - and that means that we must be closet thugs. It won't wash, and the BBC should not be allowed to get away with it. Sectarianism may be Scotland's secret shame, but the public shame is that they are labelling us all. To compensate for their inability to resolve the social and economic problems that fuel sectarianism in the west of Scotland (just as they fuel racism in Bradford and Leeds) they are content to try and make us ashamed of supporting either Celtic or Rangers. It's a cop out, and well they know it. I for one will not be criminalised by proxy, and I will not stop supporting Celtic. And no, I don't think all Rangers' fans have two heads either. (Tried to make this look like a photo from a newspaper.)

FujiFilm FinePix S7000Z
1/2s f/3.0 at 20.0mm iso200 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time01-Mar-2005 09:47:02
MakeFujiFilm
ModelFinePix S7000
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length20 mm
Exposure Time0.50 sec
Aperturef/3
ISO Equivalent200
Exposure Bias
White Balance (-1)
Metering Modematrix (5)
JPEG Quality (6)
Exposure Programprogram (2)
Focus Distance

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Guest 02-Mar-2005 16:41
There's always been a 'thing' surrounding football fans, some people seem to think that the views of the minority are actually the views of everyone supporting that club (even though most of the time it isn't football related at all). Some people at work even look down their noses at me for being a football fan, assuming that all of us are hooligans! TV certainly doesn't help.
Johan Toll02-Mar-2005 13:08
Very nice effect. /Johan
Argishti Khachik02-Mar-2005 11:01
Very nice work, Stu.
Cheers
Zak02-Mar-2005 10:13
bank robber!!
Guest 02-Mar-2005 09:33
Prefer the colour one!!! Good pic though. As for journalism, it seems the younger up and coming (and hopefully soon going) crop have become obsessed with sensationalism, so much so that they've got no grasp anymore on reality. A similar thing happened her in Lee-On-The-Solent a while back when the government looked at turning an old Naval airbase into a huge asylum centre. Cue Channel 4 and a documentary that painted the whole town as a load of racist bigots. Forget the fact that the government screwed up completely and that the site was wholly unsuitable. Even the groups who support asylum seekers condemned the idea... but no, let's not report on how bad government is in the is area. Let's pick the couple of idiots you can find in any town and sensationalise their views as being the norm... pants!!! Sorry I've gone off on one!!
Ian Clowes02-Mar-2005 09:06
Didn't see the programme, but when we lived in Tron we used to watch the orange parades in Ayr, amazed at how friendly the atmosphere was compared with just afew miles over the water... Nice photo too!
northstar3702-Mar-2005 08:52
There he is, officer
Dominic Kite02-Mar-2005 08:27
You look like smiffy from the bash street kids!
Pepe Zyman02-Mar-2005 05:06
Very cool treatment!
Coleen Perilloux Landry02-Mar-2005 03:15
Nice to meet you--don't think I've ever seen your photo before, but I always notice a person's eyes first, you can tell a lot from a person's eyes.
Susanne02-Mar-2005 02:29
I agree with what you said. I love this image. I like how just your eyes peer from above the scarf. Very nice tones as well.
Guest 02-Mar-2005 00:02
I like the wrapped-up-warm effect in the photo.
hostility and contention are inevitably going to attract certain journalistic vultures... even if the carcass is imaginary.
Guest 01-Mar-2005 23:56
Well said Stu, one of my younger brothers a protestant celtic supporter from the east coast of Scotland now has a Jewish wife and lives in the USA.
Guest 01-Mar-2005 23:50
a great effect here , Stu