I just thought I would chime in with my thoughts. There is a difference between supporting your team and wishing them the best, and supporting a team to spite another team.
If the Crusaders are your team, that is fine, we live in a democracy and you are free to support who you want. But, please show some class and don't boo the opposition!
And Stormers fans, we will not get these fans to change their allegiance by calling them unpatriotic, or a disgrace to rugby. Rather, we should allow them their views, respect them for it, and welcome them as people who are passionate about this great game!
If we show these Cape Crusaders that Stormers fans, and the SA rugby public as a whole, are actually nice people to be around, and just want to enjoy the game in the spirit it should be played in, we will at the very least cause them to rethink why it is that they so wholeheartedly support the Crusaders.
I may be wrong, but I feel that many of these Cape Crusaders aren't so much fans of the crusaders as the are opponents of SA rugby; and who knows, they may have good reason for that.
But, if that is the case, then we owe it to them to show them that SA rugby has moved on and is something completely different where EVERYBODY is welcome, crusaders fans, stormers fans, anyone.
Please realise that for these players, this is what they do to make money, and they put their bodies on the line week in and week out for our entertainment. At the very least, respect them for what they do. No one wants to be jeered or booed at work.
I understand that if someone plays poorly, the public will let them know, and I think that is fair to an extent, but at least let them play before you start with the insults.
If the Crusaders are your team, that is fine, we live in a democracy and you are free to support who you want. But, please show some class and don't boo the opposition!
And Stormers fans, we will not get these fans to change their allegiance by calling them unpatriotic, or a disgrace to rugby. Rather, we should allow them their views, respect them for it, and welcome them as people who are passionate about this great game!
If we show these Cape Crusaders that Stormers fans, and the SA rugby public as a whole, are actually nice people to be around, and just want to enjoy the game in the spirit it should be played in, we will at the very least cause them to rethink why it is that they so wholeheartedly support the Crusaders.
I may be wrong, but I feel that many of these Cape Crusaders aren't so much fans of the crusaders as the are opponents of SA rugby; and who knows, they may have good reason for that.
But, if that is the case, then we owe it to them to show them that SA rugby has moved on and is something completely different where EVERYBODY is welcome, crusaders fans, stormers fans, anyone.
Please realise that for these players, this is what they do to make money, and they put their bodies on the line week in and week out for our entertainment. At the very least, respect them for what they do. No one wants to be jeered or booed at work.
I understand that if someone plays poorly, the public will let them know, and I think that is fair to an extent, but at least let them play before you start with the insults.