O/T Prince Phillip dies

[upthemaggies]

ns between the BHA and government the Grand National will go ahead tomorrow. What the **** would cancelling or postponing it achieve?

Heard something similar about the football tomorrow. The last king (George VI) died pretty young at 56 on a Wednesday, which must have been a huge deal at the time, and yet the football went ahead as normal on the Saturday (we lost 1-0 at home to Blackburn Rovers), games also went ahead the weekend after Churchill died, so I think even considering the idea that fixtures might be cancelled for Prince Phillip probably says something for post-Diana syndrome, for whom the Saturday fixtures were all moved to Sunday at very short notice so people could watch her funeral (we beat Scunny 2-1, Redmile and Derry scored).
Having said that, one of the most bizarre scenes ever seen on a football pitch was in the 1974 World Cup 'semi-final' (group decider) between West Germany and Poland when the referee blew his whistle 15-20 mins into the 1st half and the players had to freeze and observe a minute's silence in the middle of the game for President Peron of Argentina who'd died a few days earlier.

[Elite_Pie]

Heard something similar about the football tomorrow. The last king (George VI) died pretty young at 56 on a Wednesday, which must have been a huge deal at the time, and yet the football went ahead as normal on the Saturday (we lost 1-0 at home to Blackburn Rovers), games also went ahead the weekend after Churchill died, so I think even considering the idea that fixtures might be cancelled for Prince Phillip probably says something for post-Diana syndrome, for whom the Saturday fixtures were all moved to Sunday at very short notice so people could watch her funeral (we beat Scunny 2-1, Redmile and Derry scored).
Having said that, one of the most bizarre scenes ever seen on a football pitch was in the 1974 World Cup 'semi-final' (group decider) between West Germany and Poland when the referee blew his whistle 15-20 mins into the 1st half and the players had to freeze and observe a minute's silence in the middle of the game for President Peron of Argentina who'd died a few days earlier.

The EFL have announced this:

Following the sad passing of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the EFL can confirm that there will be a two-minute silence ahead of all EFL fixtures taking place tonight and across the weekend (9-10 April).

Must admit I find the idea of silence in a stadium with no fans a bit bizarre, and also that it has to last for two minutes rather than the standard one. Maybe Royals are worth twice as much as us commoners?

[upthemaggies]

The EFL have announced this:

Following the sad passing of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the EFL can confirm that there will be a two-minute silence ahead of all EFL fixtures taking place tonight and across the weekend (9-10 April).

Must admit I find the idea of silence in a stadium with no fans a bit bizarre, and also that it has to last for two minutes rather than the standard one. Maybe Royals are worth twice as much as us commoners?

Curiously, Churchill's funeral took place on a Saturday in January 1965 and was broadcast live on TV (exactly as Diana) and yet the football went ahead, it was FA Cup 4th round day.

President Kennedy was murdered on a Friday and Notts beat Millwall 2-0 the next day. We probably did hold a minute's silence that afternoon, they definitely did hold one at Everton - notoriously interrupted by a man in the crowd shouting "Long Live Kruzchev!" for which he was arrested.

[BigFatPie]

The EFL have announced this:

Following the sad passing of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the EFL can confirm that there will be a two-minute silence ahead of all EFL fixtures taking place tonight and across the weekend (9-10 April).

Must admit I find the idea of silence in a stadium with no fans a bit bizarre, and also that it has to last for two minutes rather than the standard one. Maybe Royals are worth twice as much as us commoners?

TWO MINUTES??

I’d like to see some of the free speech wallahs reactions if a player shouted ‘up the republic!’ at about the minute mark.

[jackal2]

RIP Sir - You will be remembered with affection and for being ‘a good bloke’.

TWO MINUTES?? I’d like to see some of the free speech wallahs reactions if a player shouted ‘up the republic!’ at about the minute mark.

Two different reactions, but I actually agree with both.

It's a point I've made before, but again I'll repeat my view that football matches shouldn't be used as a platform for political or civic gestures which implicitly assume the agreement of everyone, when it is actually impossible and wrong to make that assumption of a large group of people with differing views. The only safe assumption you can make about the views of people who pay to watch (or stream) a football match is that they agree with a game of football being played and to participate in watching it.

There will be various voluntary opportunities for many who wish to do so to pay their respects to the Duke of Edinburgh in the coming days, albeit in different ways to what would normally be the case outside of lockdown. For my part, I agree with Banjo Pie that many will remember Prince Phillip with affection and I certainly had more time for him and his service to the country than some of the other royals who haven't covered themselves in glory in recent times. I'm not a big Royalist, but I think on balance "The Firm" does more good than harm for the country in terms of the profile and recognition it brings us on the international stage.

However, it's clear on social media that (particularly) those of a more republican persuasion are somewhat irritated by the complete saturation coverage on the major news channels, and I tend to agree it is OTT. Ironically, I don't think Prince Phillip himself was the type who would have wanted such fuss to be made, and from what I've heard his wishes were for a relatively low key funeral and commemoration.

To this day I believe the ridiculously OTT response to the death of Princess Diana was an early example of the nauseatingly mawkish response we see to the deaths of many high profile celebrities these days, driven largely by the persistent hysteria of social media, which has become an echo chamber for exaggerated or fake emotion. People talk of deceased celebrities as though they were members of their own family or very close friends, when actually all they knew about the person in question was what they saw in the media (and we know how reliable that can be!).

Perhaps the best way of honouring the memory of Duke of Edinburgh is to return a bit more to the old "stiff upper lip" approach he somewhat typified. By all means, pause to reflect and respect the memory of a major public figure who has passed, if you wish to do so, but don't turn it into a mass media frenzy or a melodrama which goes on for weeks. That is certainly not what made Britain great.

RIP Prince Philip

[BigFatPie]

Good post Jackal, can’t disagree with any of that.

[Elite_Pie]

Two different reactions, but I actually agree with both.

As you say, two different reactions. BanjoPie "would die for this family" whereas I wouldn't give them the steam off my piss, because I'm already forced to give them more than I would choose to give due to enforced taxation. If Banjo and others of a like mind want to mourn for a week or two that is their right, just don't try and make us all do it. The loss of someone is always hard to take for those close to the deceased, but I wasn't close in this instance. Just do what you feel is right, and let others do the same.

[i961pie]

Why does the BBC have to put the same thing on both of their channels 1+2? Blood ridiculous.

[jackal2]

Why does the BBC have to put the same thing on both of their channels 1+2? Blood ridiculous.

It is. There's no logic to it whatsoever and it serves no useful purpose. In fact it could be directly counter-productive to honouring the Duke's memory. Yes it's a major news story and certainly worthy of some special programming, and maybe an evening of extensive coverage on one channel with further retrospective programmes in the next couple of days, but isn't that why we have several 24-hour news channels anyway?

I get the impression that this is more about the news media having their 'moment' and justifying their existence than it is about the interests of the Royal family or the general public. Prince Philip would probably have been embarrassed if not annoyed by such saturation coverage, because he was a pragmatic, unassuming man who did not crave excessive limelight.

[drillerpie]

It is. There's no logic to it whatsoever and it serves no useful purpose. In fact it could be directly counter-productive to honouring the Duke's memory. Yes it's a major news story and certainly worthy of some special programming, and maybe an evening of extensive coverage on one channel with further retrospective programmes in the next couple of days, but isn't that why we have several 24-hour news channels anyway?

I get the impression that this is more about the news media having their 'moment' and justifying their existence than it is about the interests of the Royal family or the general public. Prince Philip would probably have been embarrassed if not annoyed by such saturation coverage, because he was a pragmatic, unassuming man who did not crave excessive limelight.

https://youtu.be/5RRmE0_n0K4

https://youtu.be/x6T9wg5-2u0

I like news, but with the advent of rolling news I genuinely think there's too much of it. Or rather, it would be ok if it was detailed analysis that gave you genuine insight, but it tends to just be banal, repetitive, speculative and emotive.

Charlie Brooker pretty much nails it in the links I've posted here, but I also recommend looking up Matt Taibbi; he does a very interesting analysis on the way journalism has evolved (or perhaps regressed).