Just about the only thing BT Sport presenter Lynsey Hipgrave hasn’t been called since last Sunday is a “bag lady” (as far as we know), but after having the audacity to express an opinion on the tweeting machine about that Lionel Messi/Luis Suárez penalty, she possibly now agrees with Stephen Fry that “just one turd in a reservoir is enough to persuade one not to drink from it – 99.9% of the water may be excrement free, but that doesn’t help.”
Fry, of course, sailed in to the sunset vowing never to darken Twitter’s door again after people were mean to him after he was mean about BAFTA-winning costume designer Jenny Beavan and were mean again when he tried to explain that he wasn’t being mean but they insisted he was and he insisted he wasn’t. (Those scraps we had in the schoolyard over whose Fuzzy Felt picture was the best? They suddenly seem all grown-up).
Aggrieved
But if Fry was feeling aggrieved over his kerfuffle that night, he should have had a look at the turds in Hipgrave's mentions after she shared her opinion about Messi passing his penalty for Suárez to score, rather than doing the converting business himself (we were going to knowingly say 'a la Cruyff', but The Guardian's Sid Lowe informed us that Belgium did it against Iceland in 1957, and you don't argue with Sid Lowe).
So, Hipgrave’s view: “Think that Messi pen is so disrespectful more I see it. Just let Suárez take the pen if you want to be such a good team mate.”
Now, ‘people being rude to a lady on Twitter after she talked football’ is as much of a story as ‘it rained today’. This one, though, was special. There were the usual measured responses (the publishable ones: “**** off you ****ing titbag we need sandwiches not opinions you slag”; “This is why women should stay in the kitchen and keep their mouths shut”; “Haha honestly no one cares what you think cos you have a pair of tits”), the responders those lads who believe football is rocket science so the ladies are best staying out of it. When, in fact, it’s the simplest activity on earth – if they tried crocheting, their heads would explode.
But it wasn’t so much the, well, turds that were the most striking in this melee. People from whom you’d expect better didn’t quite distinguish themselves either. Like football writer Graham Hunter who was so incensed about Hipgrave’s opinion he devoted some time to berating her. And retweeting his bros who ridiculed her. It was quite a sight.
Reuters sports editor Ossian Shine, football reporter Charles Ducksbury and Sky horse racing presenter Nick Quinn all agreed with Hipgrave’s view, as did commentator Dan O’Hagan and beIN presenter Andy Kerr, to name but a few. The gist: Messi was taking the mickey out of Celta Vigo and, as the greatest player on planet earth, he should be better than that. (The alternative, and not unreasonable, view being: lighten up, it was a bit of fun. Our favourite, though, came from John Ashton: “If United tried that penalty, Rooney would pass to Martial, who’d then pass it to Carrick, then on to Smalling and back to De Gea.”).
Lectured
But Hipgrave was the one assailed. “Total nonsense, ridiculous comment,” Hunter tweeted back, before asking her, for example, if David Beckham had disrespected Neil Sullivan when he beat him from the halfway line (if he thinks that’s a good analogy, he might be better off in the kitchen). Then he lectured Hipgrave on how we used to love tricky wingers, like that had anything to do with anything, and then: “Good luck to you, kudos to your fine career, but have a good rethink about that. Don’t bleat with the flock.”
Carl plaintively interjected: “Surely she can have a different opinion? Why should she rethink it? That’s what she believes obviously.” Hunter: “Different, yes please. Ill-considered, underinformed, shallow. Why?”
Shallow. Always a good code word, that. Next, his column which he advertised as being “For anyone dopy enough to think Messi was ‘disrespectful’ last night”. You listening, Lynsey? Dopey! Anyone who couldn’t appreciate the moment, he said, “should be re-educated”. “If you didn’t understand, didn’t enjoy it or thought it was ‘mean’ and ‘disrespectful’, honestly, I feel sad for you because you don’t understand football.”
Jesus wept. It was an opinion on how a penalty was taken! Don’t feel so threatened!
Hipgrave could only conclude, “still a long way to go”. And not just with the turds either, seems like there’s a country mile to travel with some of the bros in her industry too. And all because the lady loves football – and has opinions.
