The Terrible Journalism & Tom English Thread

[Satoshi]

16 minutes ago, DA Baracus said:

Nah, they shouldn't, as the SPL no longer exists as an organisation. Those top lazy/stupid to get a simple name right shouldn't be pandered to.

It could easily re-exist.

The name doesn't really matter to me, but when no one outside the countery (and many inside) don't get it right it's time for a change.

Simplicity is better too, is there a Scots word for league? Lurgy One.

[Dons_1988]

1 minute ago, Satoshi said:

It could easily re-exist.

The name doesn't really matter to me, but when no one outside the countery (and many inside) don't get it right it's time for a change.

Simplicity is better too, is there a Scots word for league? Lurgy One.

No it couldn’t. The whole SPL brand was to keep it a separate entity from the SFL. If we’re keeping one 42 team professional body then it can’t go back to being the SPL. 

[Satoshi]

Just now, Dons_1988 said:

No it couldn’t. The whole SPL brand was to keep it a separate entity from the SFL. If we’re keeping one 42 team professional body then it can’t go back to being the SPL. 

This is getting into a boring technical discussion, but even if the entity is named SPFL there is nothing stopping it referring to the top league as SPL. 

And the leagues below as SPFL League One (or SPL league one).

Or whatever the f**k it wants really.

The experiment of calling it the SPFL has been a failure and means almost everyone gets the league name wrong. It could be easily fixed, they should do it.

Or you could re-name the entity. The options are almost limtless. 

[craigkillie]

I've never understood why folk care so much about what some Leyton Orient fan thinks our league is called. How is it in any way important or relevant to the success of the league?

[Satoshi]

50 minutes ago, craigkillie said:

I've never understood why folk care so much about what some Leyton Orient fan thinks our league is called. How is it in any way important or relevant to the success of the league?

It isn't just Layton Orient fans though, it is almost everyone outside of Scotland (and many within it).

Media outlets like the BBC get it wrong, of course it is damaging for the league if almost anyone who refers to it get its name wrong. 

I thought eventually people would start using SPFL but it just hasn't happened and at this stage it is unlikely it ever will. 

It's not a huge problem by any means, not compared to our relatively poor TV deal or how badly our league is marketed in general but one that is easily resolved.

Important to emphasise that Scotland has amongst the higher proportion of population attending football anywhere (and far higher than, say, England or France). I've lived in both Glasgow and Rio - there is no doubt that football is a far bigger part of the culture and discourse in the former. And yet the incredible level of interest in our game isn't properly broadcast or marketed by those in charge of our game.

[BFTD]

Wow, Leyton Orient still exist. I assumed West Ham ate them after moving in to their patch.

12 hours ago, DA Baracus said:

Who is Scot Neil?

Full name Scotland Neil, IIRC.

[The Master]

18 minutes ago, Satoshi said:

I thought eventually people would start using SPFL but it just hasn't happened and at this stage it is unlikely it ever will. 

To be fair, some do - but they get it equally wrong by talking about (e.g.) "Arbroath being promoted to the SPFL". 

[Mark Connolly]

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but it should be:

Top Table Where All the Big Clubs Belong

Get Doon Stay Doon

Seaside League 1

Seaside League 2

[TheScarf]

37 minutes ago, BFTD said:

Wow, Leyton Orient still exist. I assumed West Ham ate them after moving in to their patch.

Full name Scotland Neil, IIRC.

Same as Scotland 'Scott' McTominay.

[velo army]

Getting all snobby and technical about league nomenclature may be rewarding for some, but it ignores some basic truths.

SPL slips off the tongue easily, is memorable and when people say "SPL" they're describing the top league in Scotland. We know it isn't a separate entity anymore, but SPFL Premiership doesn't stick as easily in the mind. 

The constant "deadnaming" (if I may) of the top tier is due to Scottish football fans having taken ownership of the previous name as meaning the top tier (divorced from the politics of its genesis) and of the new name being both clumsy and having a less powerful relationship to the top tier as the more snappy "SPL". 

 

 

[Salvo Montalbano]

Make the top league the SPFL Scottish Super League - you can then have a catchy acronym (yes, I know technically an acronym is meant to also be a word) of SSL but its not the old, disgraced SPL. Also means we've not got the same name as the English top flight. We can then have Division 1, 2, 3 or whatever. Simple.

[DiegoDiego]

Getting all snobby and technical about league nomenclature may be rewarding for some, but it ignores some basic truths.
SPL slips off the tongue easily, is memorable and when people say "SPL" they're describing the top league in Scotland. We know it isn't a separate entity anymore, but SPFL Premiership doesn't stick as easily in the mind. 

Surely folk just refer to it as the Premiership, without the SPFL part? You only say SPFL when referring to the four leagues as a whole (e.g. Darvel are splashing the cash in an attempt to reach the SPFL, Thistle have the best kit in the SPFL).

I do believe you need to make things easy for folk but it's really basic stuff. I'm astonished at how many posters on here can't get their head around it, let alone people who's job it is to know these terms.

[topcat(The most tip top)]

Getting all snobby and technical about league nomenclature may be rewarding for some, but it ignores some basic truths.
SPL slips off the tongue easily, is memorable and when people say "SPL" they're describing the top league in Scotland. We know it isn't a separate entity anymore, but SPFL Premiership doesn't stick as easily in the mind. 
The constant "deadnaming" (if I may) of the top tier is due to Scottish football fans having taken ownership of the previous name as meaning the top tier (divorced from the politics of its genesis) and of the new name being both clumsy and having a less powerful relationship to the top tier as the more snappy "SPL". 
 
 

Indeed

If we were going to be properly pedantic about it then technically we should be calling it the “Cinch Premiership” but the only people doing that will be people professionally obliged to and weird Rangers obsessives.

[Leith Green]

2 minutes ago, topcat(The most tip top) said:

and weird Rangers obsessives

Is there another type?

[GNU_Linux]

I still call the top flight the Clydesdale tbqhwy.

[Ranaldo Bairn]

10 minutes ago, GNU_Linux said:

I still call the top flight the Clydesdale tbqhwy.
 

It's still the Fine Fare in my house.

[Finn Seemann]

Surely the Top Top league would keep everyone in Scottish football happy and clear.

[velo army]

34 minutes ago, DiegoDiego said:

 

Surely folk just refer to it as the Premiership, without the SPFL part? You only say SPFL when referring to the four leagues as a whole (e.g. Darvel are splashing the cash in an attempt to reach the SPFL, Thistle have the best kit in the SPFL).

I do believe you need to make things easy for folk but it's really basic stuff. I'm astonished at how many posters on here can't get their head around it, let alone people who's job it is to know these terms.

I agree it can seem that way, but if people have cemented an association in their heads, it's hard to dislodge. It's just how the mind works. 

Just because some wee w**k in a suit decided that the name should change doesn't mean we all need to conform to that. If most fans still refer to it as the SPL then that's it's name. The same if some other wee w**k in a suit decided that the stadium in Maryhill is now the "energy check" stadium. 

Actually, maybe it's fine for the top tier to have a few names for the same thing. Celtic's stadium is referred to as both Parkhead and Celtic Park, and St Mirren used to play at Love Street and St Mirren Park.

 

 

 

[Jacksgranda]

1 hour ago, DiegoDiego said:

 

Surely folk just refer to it as the Premiership, without the SPFL part? You only say SPFL when referring to the four leagues as a whole (e.g. Darvel are splashing the cash in an attempt to reach the SPFL, Thistle have the best kit in the SPFL).

I do believe you need to make things easy for folk but it's really basic stuff. I'm astonished at how many posters on here can't get their head around it, let alone people who's job it is to know these terms.

They never got their heads round "senior" and "junior" either, so I wouldn't hold out much hope of them ever getting this right.

[DiegoDiego]

I agree it can seem that way, but if people have cemented an association in their heads, it's hard to dislodge. It's just how the mind works. 
Just because some wee w**k in a suit decided that the name should change doesn't mean we all need to conform to that.

Most people's minds seem to cope perfectly fine with it. People don't need to conform to it, but by not doing so they come across as either petty or idiotic. However, those whose job it is to report news should be conforming to it.

Not sure what you've got against suits or small people either.