Like some one else said in this third I think both sides ware Wong ok Steven should have just let the subject drop but he did not. At the same time LFC fans not all but some ware Wong on what they did its one thing to lets say protest that’s your rite but to send him and his kids Death threats that for me is taking it way to fare. Doing that gives the club LFC a bad name in the USA. To you all the true as soon as LFC fans started to send threats to him I started to lose a lot of reaccept for LFC.
No one is suggesting he should but because some assholes alledgedly sent him a death threat doesnt give him a pass or make him deserving of a job with ESPN.
And that's what bothers me - there's no indication that the death threats amounted to more than a tiny fraction of the messages Cohen received. Yet he and his apologists acted as if the death threats were representative of the messages he received, and used it as a defense.
As a Liverpool fan, there's some obvious bias in my opinion. That said, I didn't find him to be knowledgeable or entirely entertaining for what it was worth. He was all we really had, and some football show is better than no football show when he isn't crossing a line. However, when he crossed the line and spouted his hateful statements, that's where it made me motivated to want him to go. I just don't get the desire for ESPN to hire a guy that's controversial like him, who hasn't exactly had the numbers, and who doesn't really speak for American soccer/football like he feels he does. We have enough options and voices out there who could do a solid job to not have to go to Cohen. As far as any Hillsborough statements or not, I wasn't there, and I didn't have anyone close to me involved. Yet, I've always felt a connection to my fellow fan when I've gone to a pub or seen a match or whatever the case is. Seeing any of them not come back from a football match (even if they were United/Everton supporters) is a tragedy that needs to be handled with dignity and respect. Cohen hasn't, and won't. There are always idiots in every group, and people must be vigilant against them. Even stupid supposed "LFC" supporters. That doesn't excuse any death threats, and I don't know that it's the case either. yet, one private idiot does not have the same impact as a public idiot spouting that hate on a radio program. Certainly, ESPN has the financial clout to hold out and ignore any protest Liverpool supporters might mount. However, I will still support the decision of my local supporter group, and what they want to do. Oh, you can call us jobless thugs if you want, though I'm not sure how hard it is to send a copy and pasted email from an email account and not buy from certain brands. We'll see i guess.
Oh my god! You LFC people are terrible. The reason your father never hugged you is because he thought you were a whiny little biatch!
LFC fans, you guys come off like you are in a monolithic organization. There are many reasons to ignore Steven Cohen, like his soccer knowledge, because he hates your club, but going after him because you have a tenuous relationship to LFC sounds like madness.
Characterizing any of the above posts as "going after him" is a tiny bit hysterical. We're trying to point out that (a) Cohen's recounting of Hillsborough isn't supported by facts and to frame it as a matter of opinion is intellectually dishonest and (b) the suggestion that LFC supporters were sending death threats to Cohen en masse masks the legitimate gripes against him. And it saddens me that you see Hillsborough as an LFC supporter issue when it could have happened to any group of supporters. English football is safer and more famil friendly today as a result of stadium structure improvements made in the wake of the disaster, not anti-hooligan measures, much of which was already in place by 1989. I mean, I'm not going to tell you to stop downloading his podcast, but I'm honestly puzzled by the intensity of his apologists (not necessarily you, but on the Internet in general) and why his listeners are willing to tolerate someone who so obviously and blatantly lies to them.
Thanks for your opinion. I don't care for Steven; I don't find his knowledge of the game sufficient. He is a pretty good interviewer and is pretty professional in his field. I don't like mob rule (especially of the keyboard variety), scapegoating, and insistent echo-chambers. Good luck.
I'm with you. I don't like the mob that dismisses criticisms of Cohen's comments as "echo chamber", scapegoating of Liverpool supporters in the Hillsborough tragedy and the echo chamber that keeps insisting Cohen was just stating his opinions. It's much easier to dismiss other people's opinions if you simply label them as unreasonable and drop all self-awareness at the door.
I just want to know why Hillsborough is played up by Liverpool fans and not Heysel. Both tragedies but you pick and choose what you care about. Those 39 that were murdered deserve the same respect as the 96. Don't really care for Steven at this point.
1. Really? 2. Arrests were made and 13 people were convicted. Perpetrators were punished, as unsatisfying as that may be. I can't speak for every single supporter everywhere, but I accept that Liverpool supporters bear the responsibility for the deaths. With Hillsborough, what the group wants is a more thorough investigation (the inquest only covered events up to 15 minutes after kickoff) and disclosure of hidden documents, which is to say, there is plenty of unfinished business. And clearly, based on how people accept Cohen's comments to be valid or a matter of opinion, misinformation about the disaster is abundant and easily spread. I don't think there's the same level of need to correct misconceptions.
If someone could create a new thread when his ESPN show is announced that would be great. Tired of checking through all this drivel.
Amen! Football is a f*&4^ng game! "My club", "your club", "my supporters group", blah blah blah. . . it's a f&%#ng game.
the "woe is me" attitude of unemployed thugs is nauseating. It was a tragedy that happened long time ago. Remember it every year on its anniversary. Lay down some flowers, and move on with your life. This melodramatic bullshit about "propah investigation" is laughable. So is the "OMGZ, Boycutt ESPN fur hiring cohen the 'denieining' hillsbarah" attitude. It's not September 11th. It's not Palestine. It's not the rape of nanking. Get over it.
There is an established truth about what caused the death of 96 people at Hillsborough. Liverpool supporters had nothing to do with it. What Cohen said, repeatedly, is a lie. Liverpool supporters (and supporters of other clubs as well) called him on that lie and he refused to accept he was wrong and he continued to lie. So we contacted his employers and sponsors and exercised OUR freedom of speech. By the way, ESPN has confirmed that they will not hire Cohen in any capacity.
Yeah and some people died when they went to a f@cking game. I have been to an FA Cup Semi-Final. I came home from it. Not everyone has been so lucky.
Should Steven Gerrard 'get over it'? He only lost his 10 yr old cousin at Hillsborough. Who the f@ck are you to tell LFC fans to get over it? You were not affected by this tragedy. Lucky you. But the people who were, still want to know the details of what happened. LFC fans are quite correct to show solidarity with their dead and support of the families of the bereaved, especially when LFC fans were smeared by scum like MacKenzie and Cohen over this tragedy. The fact that you are supporting Steven Cohen in this issue is embarrassing. Cohen is a no-nothing chump. He only helps miseducate Americans who don't the sport very well. Frankly American football fans are better served by having knowledgeable presenters, rather than Cohen who is the equivalent of a Flat-Earth Society member acting as a Science teacher. It is your attitude to this issue which is nauseating. Labelling LFC fans as unemployed thugs because you think they should accept being smeared by Cohen is pretty pathetic. LFC fans are rightly angry with Cohen. You should be the one to get over that.
You think its a spurious connection, but at my local there are two men, from Liverpool, who have family members who passed at Hillsborough. Maybe because I live in a expatriate retirement destination my sample size may be skewed, but for many fans and Americans there is still a real reason to pay respect for people who perished. I'm sorry but if any announcer made light of any other tragedy that deeply scarred a team, city, and its supporters who would be and should be laughed out of the door. I want to hear about the game, talk about the game, not subjugate myself to someone's simple-minded agenda And its not even like it was a slip, a bit of misinformation, its a purposeful and deliberate smearing of facts and respects.
The full events of Heysel have been well-documented. Guilty parties went to jail/lost their jobs etc. The courts have looked at this already. LFC fans acknowledge the culpability of their hooligans. There is a memorial plaque commemorating the Heysel dead at Anfield. If Juve fans are still angry about this disaster, then they are entitled to be. I am not going to deny them this right to remain upset about it or tell them to get over it. Juve fans mourn their dead and rightly so. Cohen is not smearing Juve fans and lying about the events at Heysel. If he did, then it would be Juve fans who were protesting against him. The reality of the situation is that Cohen hates LFC and has let this hatred drive him into broadcasting lies about LFC fans. You cannot then be surprised if LFC fans are unhappy about this.