John Bartlett

Alcohol, lack of self control and bigotry I would venture.......................the man who in all "sincerity" sat in front of my black former wife and described a player as a "useless black bastard"

The man's( and I use the term loosely) brain cells are so addled by drink, his behavioural standards so appalling; he has ended a high earning life living alone in a caravan.

My little boy and girl took me to task today saying "Daddy, why do you always use bad words when you don't like the referee?" and then from Anthony.........................."If security throw you out who's going to look after me and Olivia, and how are we going to get home?"

Wise and embarrassing words from little people and I can only hold my hands up and say "well the ref WAS a cucking funt son" and your uncle TB1 would take care of you

I tell my boy to ignore the voices of other parents and listen only to his coach when he plays. I instil a rule of say nothing, show nothing when watching HIM play.......................why can't I be like that ALL the time? - the million dollar question.

Simple solution to this Mr. Bartlett character, wait till after the game and batter crap out him!

Wadda you think he is.....................a piece of cod?

Aussie.......................the worst thing one can do is react in the same vein. The most appalling racist comments I have witnessed have been in Devon, Cheshire and North Wales; and the only reason I can put it down to is the pervading parochialism that causes suspicion of even the next village.

Dave.................your comments are quite pertinent, and I know my two regard their Dad as a silly old buffer when he blows his top. I'm forever schooling Anthony in the differing standards required to behave to when playing rather than watching football; and in my defence I would like to think I know how to conduct myself with dignity within the confines of the hospitality areas and company of the supporters of the clubs we visit.

It can be "educational" being one of my kids.....................my older ones sometimes used to witness be getting the same incredulous "dissent" I handed out yesterday when I was reffing!

Whilst my kids would hear my derision, they do not hear me use foul or abusive language when showing it.

My boy has had it drummed into him that you do not show dissent or sulk at decisions when playing and thus to hear me showing derision is anathema to him. That I am a spectator is irrelevent to him, it is me doing exactly what I have told him not to when playing and a chance to reverse roles and "be my father"

My little girl has picked up enough bad language in the local play park to last a lifetime already and will utilise it to attention seek in the home where we have to judge whether to ignore or jump down her throat.......................not an easy decision as to adopt a zero tolerance is to pay attention and she will carry on doing it I'm afraid. Roll on the day she grows out of it!

It's an interesting question Dave but really the two sporting cultures are like chalk and cheese. Firstly it is very rare in the US to get an away following, unless it is the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox, both of whom have large followings across the whole country. Most of the time, if they are playing a road (away) game, there will be fans local to the home side who go to games and support the Yankees/Sox despite their geographical situation. I guess you could equate it to the people from Guildford who only ever see Manchester United play when it's at Chelsea or Arsenal.

But because of it, the support inside the ground is often very one-sided, and there is a distinct lack of abuse from the crowd. Imagine every game at Plainmoor being against teams with the following of say Histon or Lewes and it would take away a lot of the 'team v team' chanting, where a good deal of the abuse comes from.

The other area is, of course, officiating and as in England things are fairly similar in the US. Umpires and referees will get abuse, but usually in the States it comes in the form of plain old booing. You might get the odd person effing and blinding, but it really is frowned upon, and I can't say in the dozens of games I have watched across the five main sports (including MLS in that) I can't say I remember hearing much swearing at all, unless it came from Stepho sitting next to me.

There is also very little in the way of player abuse, and most of it would come in the form of Australian style sledging - often it is light-hearted and I would say never in my time have I heard the 'C' word used at an arena I have visited.

You are right to say the atmosphere in US sports arenas is more family orientated, especially in baseball where you see hundreds and thousands of kids at games with their parents. Most often they will buy a family season ticket and sit among the same people every game of the year; 81 for baseball and 41 each for basketball and ice hockey. It's a little bit different in American Football, where tickets are much more expensive and there are less home games per season, at only eight in the regular season at an absolute maximum. Plus games in the NFL, mainly being played on Sundays and often taking place in the evening, the very young kids will be at home getting an early night ready to go to school or college the next day. There is a preponderance towards teenagers being the youngest fans at those games, and the older demographics will dominate the crowd.

The other big difference is the ease with which alcohol can be purchased...you might think it would make swearing and obscenity more frequent, but in my experience all it does is relax people, make them more likely to have fun than get stressed at every decision or bad piece of play that is made, and generally drunkenness is not a huge problem despite fans being able to take as many beers as they want to their seats, while watching the game, although many games have a deadline by which alcohol can be bought (say the start of the final period/quarter or the seventh inning in baseball).

It can get a little more ribald in baseball games in the middle of summer when it is sweltering hot, but even then it only often happens in the bleacher sections, also known as the cheap seats, where the abuse of alcohol is more likely and there might be a bit more blue language, but often these areas are restricted to over 21s/18s and the family section will be situated some way away, where there will also be restrictions on alcohol consumption or even a total ban.

But having seen probably over 50 games in the States, I can honestly say I have never seen a single bit of crowd trouble or the kind of abuse that occurs on a daily basis in football. I'm not sure I have ever seen a fan ejected from a ground when I have been in attendance. All in all, the day is far more pleasant than visiting football grounds in this country, although the atmosphere is much more sterile and less exciting unless you happen to be a supporter of the home team. As a neutral to most games I have seen, you do often get left wondering whether people are there to watch the sport, or people watch, and in many arenas you will find a lot of people leaving after only a third of the game...this especially happens at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, where quite often as early as the fifth inning (of nine total) the stadium if half empty since fans seem to have better things to do and move on to whatever that may be.

As for the actual topic of this thread, I find Mr Bartlett to be one of the most obnoxious characters I have ever had the misfortune to meet, and I would suggest were he to attempt such behaviour in the US, he would firstly not be allowed into the ground for being intoxicated and would most likely be thrown out inside the ground since the 'grassing' culture is far more noticeable. If he were to behave as I have seen, fans in his section would most likely report him to police and he would be ejected...in England it seems he is given a chance to sober up and behave himself...would it be different if he were actually arrested and spent a night in jail?

I remember him getting thrown out of The Shay in Halifax many years ago in the middle of a thunderstorm, being an arse to police and stewards as well as peeing off most of the away support that day. I've never liked him since that day and would happliy do anything I could to avoid him. There aren't many people I would actively avoid, but he is one of them for sure, and I really don't like having to say that about another human being. The man has issues, but never seems to want to try and correct them.

The popside towards the ellacombe end. i have the displeasure normally in the 2nd half