I've shown empathy. I think that I feel empathy. Just in case you missed it: I have said, repeatedly, that it is a tragedy, for everyone from Terry Newton himself to all those he loves and who loved him.



But empathy is not a synonym for 'let's pretend this didn't happen'.



And the attitude shown by some, here, is enough to make anyone with half a brain cell vomit. It is absolutely of the culture that Blair allowed the tabloids to create with Princess Di – condemn before death; turn to sainthood after.

Someone needs to take a step back and a big deep breath. Clue, it isn't McF.

Ooooooh it's a moderator fight

I'm still waiting for the retractions of the accusations that I'm a "hypocrite", that I'm launching a "witch hunt" and that I'm behaving as though I'm carrying a flaming "pitchfork".



Of course Graeme, you'd happily ignore such accusations yourself.







Don't even start it.



You've been right on a lot of points today – don't assume it can continue or chance your luck.

Thats going to form part of my signature I can tell you.

Did that happen on THIS thread????



No.



So exactly what is the point of re-hashing it. Couldn't you have just NOT posted anything here??

It happened yesterday and I was accused of things that cannot be supported by evidence. But hey – people keep ducking that. Facts are unimportant, apparently.



I started a thread here yesterday that was aimed at being a discussion of Terry Newton's career. I introduced it with a specific and clear request for respectful language etc.



I was villified by pompous w*nkers for daring to treat Terry Newton as something other than Mother Theresa. I was accused of being a "hypoctite", of launching a "witch hunt" and of behaving like someone who would misbehave at a commemorative event (such as a minute's silence).



Now I admit, I really resent all of that – and particularly the last one. It would seem that stating a simple fact is not allowed these days.



I suggest that some people need to actually learn what debate and discussion and democracy mean.

Minty we seem to be in agreement here on the whole mother teresa/sainthood/expression of grief that hasnt been seen since John Lennon was assassinated type thing.



Can you make me a moderator please?



I want to ban Dally Messenger from these forums forever.

Believe me,its not easy.



As a player I didn`t like Newton,but it is a sad state of affairs when a human being gets to feel so low as to take such drastic steps.

Nobody can deny his dedication on the pitch.

I didn't like him as a player either. I thought that he was a thug. He was also brilliant when he stopped being a thug.



But regardless of either, it is an absolute tragedy – and shock – that he apparently reached a point where he felt that the only option was to end his own life.



I consider that utterly tragic – for him and for his loved ones. And I have made that opinion more than clear, more than once, in the last 24 hours.



On the other hand, I find it ironic that I didn't come here slagging him off after the drugs test result was reveled, but people who did are now slagging me off for daring to actually mention it in the context of his death.



Perhaps they're actually ashamed for their own behaviour some months ago and are now trying to shift the blame onto others?

If you weren't a mod you'd have been banned before now for derailing this thread!

Why bring that onto this thread though?



If you come onto the VT and read this thread first it comes across like you don't think people should be able/allowed to discuss the good points of Terry Newton's career without constant mention of the bad points.



Remembering the good things about people first and foremost doesn't mean someone is rewriting history or making them a martyr, it just means that the person did something good in their life and that is the thing you have thought of first. Concentrating on remembering the good in someone doesn't make them an apologist or a sentimental cretin either.



When we as a family discuss my alcoholic uncle who drank himself to death at 37 that fact doesn't come up. We remember the fun times, the times we were proud, the fact he had flaws doesn't need to be said. We know it. Just like RL fans know the bad/downside to Terry Newton, they are just choosing to concentrate on the good bits about his career in an aptly named thread.