Gary Speed

[Dan]

How on earth is a minutes applause a "celebration" ?

[J.Lisemore]

can't really offer much to this, but thought I'd voice my opinion. Of course, we don't know the full extent of his problems and this may sound harsh, but the way I'm looking at it, its downright selfish. Think of the person/people who found him hanging in the first place... did he not think that this will scar them for life? leaving his wife and kids with the unthinkable in the meantime...

Personally, I'm more disappointed than upset.

[Finnegan]

I'm not famous nor universally adored by those who know me but I'd be honoured if people thought I was worth a minute's applause after my demise.

I don't see the problem.

I don't want my death to be a bleak and sombre affair for others.

[ACF]

Applauding someone for suicide? If he passed away in his sleep, applause. But he didn't.

Silence or nowt.

[MikeyT]

I don't understand people who think we shouldn't have a minute's silence. I'm clearly biased but as an active member of the football community, Speed's loss is clearly going to be felt by a great number of players and staff right across the game and I'm sure the vast majority of English and Welsh clubs will be holding a silence before their games this week.

We're not talking about putting a statue up or naming a stand in his honour, are we? It's just a brief mark of respect to reflect on a very tragic passing for all the football world.

Babylon might be right in saying some eighty year old who'd gone off in to the wilderness may be able to slip to his death without causing much of a stir but I don't think that's who Gary Speed was. He was a genuine hero for a lot of people, played til late in his career, was always a hard grafting player on the field, the sort of player fans and colleagues alike adore.

His passing was sudden, unexpected, horrifically early and has stunned people up and down the country.

As if there WOULDN'T be a silence.

And do we really need to start the "I / my family member / friend is more depressed than you" pissing contest? Seriously? Lots of people will know someone affected, the illness is FAR more common than most people anticipate and that's the very message that radiates from cases like this.

Simply

[Guest ttfn]

Absolutely on the money......

Some folk on here may be genuinely more affected by his death than others, if that is the case then my condolences to you.

But most of us never met him, had absolutely nothing to do with him and this apparent obsession for showing 'respect', simply because he was (semi) famous is ludicrous.

Sadly I see this as a rather unpleasant part of modern life, people routinely treating others appallingly in their everyday lives, then falling over themselves in a pathetic attempt to show how much they care for people they have never even met.

I think the minute's applause is over-used but it's not ludicrous.

If you remember, this tradition first started when George Best died. People wanted to take the opportunity to celebrate the joy George Best gave to them, and to take a final opportunity to applaud him for that.

In certain circumstances, a minute's applause is entirely appropriate.

[marbelladave]

I'm not famous nor universally adored by those who know me but I'd be honoured if people thought I was worth a minute's applause after my demise.

I don't see the problem.

I don't want my death to be a bleak and sombre affair for others.

That of course is your perogative, no issue there.

I think the minute's applause is over-used but it's not ludicrous.

If you remember, this tradition first started when George Best died. People wanted to take the opportunity to celebrate the joy George Best gave to them, and to take a final opportunity to applaud him for that.

In certain circumstances, a minute's applause is entirely appropriate.

Personally I do not thimk that applause is a remotely appropiate response to a persons untimely death, to me it is distasteful and frankly, chavvy.

It is, in the most part a response by a bunch of people who do not, in normal life, give a toss about anyone other than themselves making the death of someone famous they hadn't met and didn't know 'all about them'. Just another facet of society's current obsession with celebrity.

To me, the best way of showing respect is to let the family and friends of the person concerned deal with the death in a manner of their choosing without turning the whole thing into a media circus.

[stripeyfox]

I do not personally believe that someone who takes there own life is "selfish" as some have suggested. I am no expert but I presume that someone who is driven to do that must be so desperate and out of "options" (in their own mind) that suicide seems like the only way out. However I can see how such an act may be viewed as selfish by those left behind. A friend of mine had her husband hang himself some years ago and she struggled with the aftermath as she was not just dealing with grief but also felt bitterness and anger towards her husband for putting her through it.

[Captain...]

That of course is your perogative, no issue there.

Personally I do not thimk that applause is a remotely appropiate response to a persons untimely death, to me it is distasteful and frankly, chavvy.

It is, in the most part a response by a bunch of people who do not, in normal life, give a toss about anyone other than themselves making the death of someone famous they hadn't met and didn't know 'all about them'. Just another facet of society's current obsession with celebrity.

To me, the best way of showing respect is to let the family and friends of the person concerned deal with the death in a manner of their choosing without turning the whole thing into a media circus.

You should probably avoid any newsagents today then, front page spreads on all the red tops

[Guest Col city fan]

That of course is your perogative, no issue there.

Personally I do not thimk that applause is a remotely appropiate response to a persons untimely death, to me it is

distasteful and frankly, chavvy.

It is, in the most part a response by a bunch of people who do not, in normal life, give a toss about anyone other than themselves making the death of someone famous they hadn't met and didn't know 'all about them'. Just another facet of society's current obsession with celebrity.

To me, the best way of showing respect is to let the family

and friends of the person concerned deal with the death in a manner of their choosing without turning the whole thing into a media circus.

Apparently the family and friends have thanked and are still grateful for the show of support that the country has shown.

I, for one, will be standing and applauding tonight.

I'll look out for you still sat in your seat Dave

[marbelladave]

You should probably avoid any newsagents today then, front page spreads on all the red tops

As someone who has had a little time in the last week or so to watch some of the evidence given to the Leveson inquiry I shall not be reconsidering my 20+ year old decision to stop buying tabloid newspapers anytime soon.....

Apparently the family and friends have thanked and are still grateful for the show of support that the country has shown.

I, for one, will be standing and applauding tonight.

I'll look out for you still sat in your seat Dave

Of course they have, they unlike most know how to behave in this very difficult situation.

If you are looking out for me sitting down you will be dissapointed, I shall be standing, head bowed in quiet contemplation of the waste of a young life. In the circumstances, that is what I feel is appropriate.

Anyway, I'm off up the M1 shortly, I believe there may actually be a football game on this evening......

[flowwolf]

Apparently the family and friends have thanked and are still grateful for the show of support that the country has shown.

I, for one, will be standing and applauding tonight.

I'll look out for you still sat in your seat Dave

you can look for me too as I for one will certainly not be clapping like a brain dead sheep either. All this collective emotional incontinence is learnt behavior and certainly had no place in society before the so called " peoples princess" chose not to wear a seat belt. I despair at the stupidity of it all. :dunno: :dunno: :dunno:

[Guy]

Sadly I can't make tonight's game but would happily give a minute's applause for Gary Speed had I been able to be there, despite never having met the guy. I never met Princess Diana but back in my Northants days I was out there on her funeral path to Althorp in 1997. Yes, that was a tragic death as opposed to a tragic suicide death but it all equates to the same thing essentially, a loss for everyone. It doesn't have to be a friend, relative or acquaintance we have to mourn in this way, it is entirely up to the individual.

On the point of a minute's applause in a public place being the modern day phenomenon that it is to mark the passing of someone (as opposed to the more traditional one minute's silence), well the references made by some on here towards it being a "chavvy" thing to do is somewhat ironic I think, as the minute's applause in many ways came about to basically eradicate the embarrassing actions of other "chavvy" types - those who would be found chanting or shouting out in the middle of a minute's silence, c**ts!

[flowwolf]

And it is up to the individual to choose to ignore this strange feminine bug that has infested men in this country. What ever happened to stiff upper lip and keep calm and carry on attitude this country was famous for ? bloody whimps !

[Kitchandro]

I'm not famous nor universally adored by those who know me but I'd be honoured if people thought I was worth a minute's applause after my demise.

I don't see the problem.

I don't want my death to be a bleak and sombre affair for others.

My Dad has always said this, in fact he has semi-seriously suggested upbeat music at his funeral and a joke on his gravestone.

Of course someone's death IS a bleak and sombre affair for others, whether the deceased want it to be or not, especially when you die at an age considered too young, and especially in these circumstances.

Not that I see the problem either, whether it's an applause or a silence, the sentiment is the same. Applause doesn't represent celebration but more an appreciation of the person.

[VampLCFC]

I've got quite mixed feelings in the whole subject, yea he was a nice guy, model professional, family man etc etc

But he killed himself, it is a very selfish and maybe cowardly act, he has left behind a wife, two young children, parents, brothers, sisters, friends!!

The guy hung himself and we have learned today that his wife found his body, can anyone imagine how horrifying that must have been, she will never get over that, she will see it every time she closes her eyes, she will be scarred for the rest of her life.

I agree that it is a tragic loss, the man was 42 years old, no age at all, but I don't think I agree with a minutes applause, especially given the new evidence we have heard today

[Guy]

I suppose the jury's still out in many respects but each to their own re marking the passing of Gary Speed. Meanwhile debate is what this forum is all about I suppose. A selfish act it might have been but obviously the guy wasn't thinking straight when he did what he did. The human mind is more mysterious than any of us will ever know - as has just emphatically been proven. Up the Foxes!!

[Guest Col city fan]

you can look for me too as I for one will certainly not be clapping like a brain dead sheep either. All this collective emotional incontinence is learnt behavior and certainly had no place in society before the so called " peoples princess" chose not to wear a seat belt. I despair at the stupidity of it all. :dunno: :dunno: :dunno:

It's simply called respect and compassion. The nature of your continuously provacative posts implies that you have neither.

I expect a response back full of typically immature claptrap and, of course, lots of smileys...

[Salieri]

It's simply called respect and compassion. The nature of your continuously provacative posts implies that you have neither.

I expect a response back full of typically immature claptrap and, of course, lots of smileys...

But he's an internet maverick, a hero in his own head.

[Guest Col city fan]

But he's an internet maverick, a hero in his own head.

So it would seem...

[purpleronnie]

How on earth is a minutes applause a "celebration" ?

Celebration of his life.

Whats not to understand?

[flowwolf]

It's simply called respect and compassion. The nature of your continuously provacative posts implies that you have neither.

I expect a response back full of typically immature claptrap and, of course, lots of smileys...

I take it you disagree then? if so simply say why with out resorting to abuse. I have plenty of compassion ( respect has to be earned) It's just that I don't feel the need to follow like a sheep every time the masses decide to publicly mourn someones death which is usual a celebrity that none of them ever met.

I am certainly not a maverick as quite a few people on this site agree with some if not all of my sentiments on this subject.

You choose to call my posts provocative is that because they go against your own ingrained beliefs? If so good that is what debate should be all about.

I have shown you respect by replying in a civilised manner because having read most of your posts I like the contents and often see you go against the grain too. Oh and look not a smiley in sight.

[liamsm]

Did anybody else notice that The Birch didn't join in the applause after getting everybody else to clap?

[flowwolf]

Yes and as I was not clapping I looked around and saw quite a few also not clapping. Perhaps like me they were happy to mourn Speeds passing without the need for a public display.

[Fox92]

Did anybody else notice that The Birch didn't join in the applause after getting everybody else to clap?

He was clapping slightly because he had a clipboard and microphone I think in his hands. I also looked as well, don't know why But he was clapping, it just wasn't clear.