There is a very strange phenomenon amongst sports fans: first they love and worship someone, then when that person, for whatever reason, no longer wins, or scores, the so-called "fan" turns against them, derides them, boos them, and tries to turn everyone else against them.
We've all seen this in action - just look at how many people on the cycling forums were being really, seriously abusive to Andy and Frankie last year. And to Contador the year before. And to Phillipe Gilbert last year, in the rather disappointing follow-up to his incredible 2011 season. Bradley Wiggins got a lot of the same stuff last year - up until he won the Tour, ha ha - and I confidently predict that he will fall for a good share of abuse this year, as he is almost by definition not going to be able to be as successful this year as he was last year.
Why do they do this?
LLB and I have discussed it at length, year after year, and our conclusion is that most of the "trolling" and abuse comes from disappointed former fans.
You know, the ones who were shouting "Allez Andy!" the loudest in 2010 and 2011, but then suddenly changed their tune.
They spent all their time telling their friends "Oh yes, Andy Schleck, [or, insert name of sporting person] best thing since sliced bread" but as soon as Andy [or whoever] fails to perform in any way, their friends are jeering at them and saying "Pfff, got that wrong, didn't you?"
The correct response, the adult and mature response, is to laugh it off, and inform their so-called friends that every sportsman has good days and bad days, and that missing one podium is not the end of the world.
The incorrect, immature, and trollish response is to feel that [insert name of sporting person] has let them down personally, has made them look a fool in front of their friends, and therefore deserves to be abused on blogs, forums, and Twatter.
To me, people who behave like this are silly: rather stupid: and clearly not worth listening to: they change their allegiance whenever the wind changes direction, so anything they say really isn't terribly credible.
Mostly they can be ignored: these days I rarely bother to read the cycling forums - although at present, of course, it is all Lance, Lance, Lance, which at least takes the pressure off of Andy and Frankie! - as I find them unedifying.
(For the benefit of non-UK readers, ie slightly more than half of you lot out there, "edifying" means something that leaves you better informed, uplifted, encouraged: unedifying is something that leaves you depressed and generally worse than you were before. Therefore not worth reading.)
I don't read the internet to be depressed at the stupidity of other people: I don't need to see how aggressive people can be, I don't need to read their bad-tempered and spiteful outbursts.
So I choose not to.
Here, we admire and respect our Schlecks: we sympathise with their failures, we commiserate with their bad days, we jump and down and squee when they win, we go "ooo!" at nice pictures. Sometimes we tease them a little, and we sometimes like to make up funny stories, or funny captions, about what they are doing.
This is what you might call ultimately edifying: here in Schleckland we are soft and fluffy, not hard-edged and spiteful.
So we really don't need silly people coming along leaving unpleasant comments.
Not because we are "not man enough to take it" but because there are plenty of forums out there that bash the Schlecks, and here in Schleckland, we prefer to praise and admire them. If anyone reading this thinks "oh dear, what a bunch of gooey little girls," then please, move on. Go on, just click on "close tab" and go away.
This includes our latest silly person, who appears to be calling himself after a footballer - mate, why on earth are you reading about cycling if you are a football fan? - who left a comment thus:
What an odd thing to say!
OK, our "Mr Torres" is clearly not an Andy fan, so what on earth is he doing reading this blog in the first place? Ah, he must be one of those Former Fans. And he's not exactly over-bright is he - Frankie is not banned, LADA won't even be issuing their conclusion until the 30th, and it is highly unlikely that they will ban him. So this comment is factually incorrect in that respect. It is also highly unlikely that Andy will never again be a competitive rider. He's been out for the best part of one season, with a major injury, and he is, after all, only 26 years old. I doubt that Mr Torres can see into the future. And I already support Team Sky, did you not read my race reports from the Tour of Britain? Did you not read about me going "ooo!" at Luke Rowe? Did you not catch the references to my home-made Sky flags? Really, Mr Torres, you are wrong in just about everything you have said.
And as for suggesting that we should change this blog... pff! Get lost, matey, we are here for a reason, and that reason is to support Our Andy. Through thin, as well as thick.
As they say:
"A true fan is not one who was there at the beginning, a true fan is one who was there until the end."
So, this comment is clearly from someone who is not an Andy fan, not on our wavelength at all, and is therefore not of general interest to us.
So I deleted the comment.
Today, they made another comment! How sweet, they really, REALLY, want to be our friendies. And they want to give us their opinion of Our Andy.
No chance, mate, get lost! I have your IP number - 95.122.192.159 - I know you are in Madrid, I know your service provider is rima-tde, and I know how to complain to them about you. You may be interested to know that your IP is already on four spam blacklists. What naughty things have you been up to, Mr Torres, to be so blacklisted?
I can see from my logs that you were here at 05.59 this morning (that's my time, not your time, obviously!) and at 6.49, and again at 8.41, at 10.43 you made another comment (deleted! Ha! Ha!) then you came back at 11.30, and at 11.52, and at 13.19 - my, you really were desperate to see if we would react to you, weren't you? - when you went right back to 2011 to read about the Leopard logo.
There, is that enough attention for you? Are you happy now? Has your IP provider been in touch with you yet?
Save your time, go away, don't come back. And leave Miss Fede's blog alone! (Yes, we know where you have been......)
Signed, The Schlecklanders.
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