Standing on the shoulders of giants

Australia is a nation that loves sport.

It runs through our veins. Seeing our favourite footy team snatch victory with a last minute mark conjures up emotions that are deeply entwined with our sense of country - our sense of self.

Seeing a man reach to the heavens and pluck a ball from the sky, driving it home to goal and being carried on the shoulders of his mates! Huzzah!

Seeing a battler come through!

Seeing mateship thrive under the pressures of competition!

Witnessing.......




Look, I'm obviously being facetious. I hold no interest in sport and disdain for the aura of borderline-criminal recklessness it projects into our culture.
A man's ability to handle a ball should not impact on his ability to withstand rape charges.
I do not hold to the idea that sportsmen must be role models, mainly because they are often proven incapable.
I do not believe that a punch delivered on a field should be adjudicated by a special judiciary system.
I do not think that any and all behaviour can be explained away by boyish exuberance, as seems to be the case.

Anyway, this opinion of mine - long held by me and long a source of frustration for those around me - has been kindled by the following:

The Code of Silence

This piece by the excellent Four Corners details attempts by the Rugby League to address the poor attitudes of its players when it comes to the opposite sex.
A 'rugby personality' was recently linked to an awful incident of group sex. In a startling case of missing the point, he man apologised on the TV show he hosts - to his family, for the anguish the allegations had caused.
Good Lord.
This culture of ours? In which exists a pocket where men are not expected to grow up, treat people equally, and have a massive, corporate machine working to protect their behaviour? It is flawed.

Read this as well:
New research says footballers are often seedier than criminals
Depressing.