Its an interesting point. I share the feelings that the minority who can spoil any such mark of respect will be all the more likely to do it for this one.
I'm also struggling slightly with the concept of a this mark of respect given the circumstances surrounding his death (not the player in question). I certainly can't ever remeber a minute's silence for someone who'd taken their own life happening before, can you? but I guess its not a common occurence.
Now, I've never had any personal experience with mental health issues, but I did have a long term girlfriend who was a physcologist, so I do know from her tales how desperately things like depression can affect some people.
The shock of Newton's death got us all, I reckon. This man whom we either cheered on or booed like a pantomime villain, a character from the game we love - what state of mind could have caused him to do something so extreme!?
I'm not questioning the tradjedy of his death, but I am, as callous as it may seem, questioning his right to a minute's silence at the grand final.
Stephen Prescott battles everyday with a terminal disease he contracted independant of his actions. Gary Purdam was going about his daily work when his life was stolen. Last year, when my dad died from prostate cancer, ormskirk RU had a minute's silence before their next game (he was a long term supporter and main club sponsor). All these above are people that had no choice about what happened to them, unlike (arguabley) Terry Newton. Certianly in the case of Steve and my dad, guy's who never lied down in the face of their affliction.
The flip side to that is that (actual) depression is a disease, and essentially one that killed a young father. Some people (i guess me included) don't automatically realise, but mental health
is part of your health and incases like this or, for example, extreme eating disorders, can ruin and even claim lives. The unsypathetic veiw that perhaps the victim could have done something about it perhaps isn't always correct. Had he not been banned for substance abuse, he may have still suffered the same fate - we don't actually know.
For me, something doesn't sit right with a minutes silence at Old Trafford for terry newton. That said, he
was one of ours and we've lost him; we should repsect him as one of ours. I wouldn't have argued about a minutes silence at Knowsley road if the event had occurred earlier in the season, so why should I worry about it being this saturday?
