The ELV debate: An appeal for sanity.

[Prestwick]

I'll begin with this statement which I spied on another thread:

The ELVs used in this Test are the Global ELVs that were implemented on the 1 August. The free kick sanction for infringements is not in this set, the NH had the final say and they did not want that ELV.
[/b]

Gutless wankers!!! [/b]

Please don't say "the NH" when you make those remarks. Do you actually know if France and Italy are opting out of the Free Kick sanction? Probably not but that doesn't stop you from spreading random rumours. I'll get onto the "gutless wankers" jibe in a minute as it is symptomatic of a wider problem with TRF and the ELVs.

Heres an idea guys, why don't we all shut the **** up on the ELVs and wait for the rest of the world to play them and see how they work? This whole playground argument is getting very dull, repetetive, full of misinformation and random, sometimes really over the top, heckling which is directed at both people who have genuine concerns about the ELVs and who genuinely want to try them out.

Seriously, both sides are being as irrational on this subject as Silvio Berlusconi after one too many glasses of lambrusco. Just because a guy might like rugby as it is now or might want to see it improved does not mean that they hate rugby and/or are not entitled to an opinion.

Take Nate (O'Rothlain) for example. He's got genuine concerns about the ELVs and if some of you geniuses out there would like to send him some advice on the ELVs that'd be pretty helpful because guess what? He's got a team to coach an ELV crash course to in a country which has had roughly zilch support from either IRB or any of the other big Unions on even what the ELVs are about. He doesn't know if individual domestic unions like his in Oklahoma can opt out or not and to be honest by the sounds of it, America is not ready for the ELVs.

On the other side, you have guys who would like to see the rules trialled and want to give them a chance. These are after all an effort to simplify the game for refs, players and fans alike. I'm kind of in this camp as I'm reserving judgement until the 6th of September when the new season kicks off and I want to at least see what all the fuss is about first hand.

But when either of these people air their views here, they get the kind of response like the ones above which really don't help. Posting images of people falling asleep or of "Mod Favouritism" is one thing but calling people who sit on one side or another "gutless wankers" and all the rest of the rubbish (some of it really vindictive and on quite a personal level) which has appeared on this forum in the last few months really, really doesn't help.

So, I appeal to all of you guys to:

1. Chill the **** out.
2. Get over the fact that other parts of the world might want to play a different style of rugby.
3. Stop trying to impose your views on people who have taken moderate, reasonable and principled stands on the issue.
4. Cut out the personal jibes, this is Rugby not the West Bank. Believe or not the NH is not Israel and SANZAR is not Hezbollah.

Have any of you ever stopped to think what kind of impression this toddler brawl is giving to those fans outside of the top ten nations? Seriously, have any of you stopped to see what the likes of our French, Italian and Argentinian contingent think? We've got a few upstanding Georgian members who have joined recently, has anyone gotten their thoughts? I thought not.

Everyone claims to represent world rugby on this issue, but nobody has looked further than their own back yard at best and their own noses at worst when it comes to actually seeing what people around the rugby world really think about the changes.

Believe it or not, it doesn't matter what your mates in Leicester, Cape Town or Wellington think. What matters is what those in Rugby's wild frontier of North America, Argentina, Eastern Europe and Japan think. They're the future. We are most definitely not. Get over it.

Until then, can we please calm down, have a reasonable discussion on them or at best, hold fire until September?

I'll be talking with the other mods and admins to see what they think but I myself would like to see a show of support for my plea for sanity.

If you guys want to know how I would like to see the ELVs debated, look below:

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Thanks for your time,

Yours faithfully,

The most important man in TRF, now appearing in the smash hit Eurobeat song of the year! See below!

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[Steve-o]

Prestwick... What up man? I Bleed Black didn't know what ELVs was on display so I told him. He probably didn't know why all of a sudden the free kick sanction was dropped so I took it on myself to give the reason. The NH voted it out. There was no sarcasm attached. Why you springing on what some random occasional member posted? Everybody uses the SH and NH terms very loosely. You need to chill.

EDIT: Just saw on the other thread that Shimano bolded the part about the NH, and not you. My bad.

 

[Prestwick]

Yeah, its more the remarks which I'm trying to get at than anything else and god knows we've all been guilty of that from time to time to be fair. I'm alright, I'm just trying to remind you all to think of the children and all that..