Worshipping Gold

The worship and idolisation of gold medallions at Olympic games has probably been going on for as long as the Olympic games.

With the lesser than expected gold haul from the Aussie contingent and the resulting calls for funding inquiries our worship has become more apparent in London.  How else would we get the headline “Salvation” after Sally Pearson’s win in the 100metre hurdles?  Salvation is not gained by winning gold.

Australians seems to think that we ought to win gold.  That we deserve them. That we have an entitlement to them.  When the best medal prospects don’t win the question gets asked, “What went wrong?”  It was asked of the men’s hockey team when they lost their semi final to Germany.  The correct answer should have been, ‘nothing, they were just better’.

We are quick to condemn.  It has happened to our national cricket team in recent years.  If they win they are heroes, if they lose they are no good and never will be.

It seems forgotten that other athletes have been working just as hard if not harder for exactly the same goal.  They also deserve reward for their efforts.  There’s nothing so special about us that makes us more deserving of gold.

Frankly, the Olympics have been very enjoyable because of the international spread of medal winners.  One should just watch and enjoy the athleticism instead of living vicariously through our Olympians.

Catch Up Football

League fans and commentators wonder how the AFL is making such inroads into what they consider “league heartland”.

Perhaps it has something to do what Triple M’s ‘Grill Team’ discussed recently.  A listener asked them whether rugby league clubs are doing enough to promote the game.  Their resounding conclusion was NO!  Their media manager even declared which clubs were the most difficult to deal with.

Meanwhile the new AFL club in western Sydney is working extremely hard to form links with the community.  They do clinics, school visits and scholarship programs to mention a few.  They do all this because they realise that it is of great benefit to the club and to the game, especially in the long term.

Any criticism of AFL’s rise in Sydney is out of pure envy.  Rugby League could be dominating the region more than they are already.  Instead they are playing catch up after years of sitting on their hands and not investing in grassroots as much as they should.  They seem to believe that they ought to exist in the region out of entitlement not through any work or investment.  This is just lazy.  Rugby needs to get their act together, otherwise they might just lose a grip on their stronghold. 

Day At The Tennis

Some observations from a recent trip to Melbourne to watch some of the Australian Open tennis.

Quiet please – I am used to making noise whenever I like at football matches. I even like to commentate as the game goes on. It’s not allowed here. Even the rustling of lolly wrappers got me some dirty looks. I couldn’t move, I was even afraid to eat some chips in case the crunch would distract the players in their ball toss and get me thrown out.

Crowd involvement – it is limited due to the aforementioned quiet times. However at the end of an exciting point the cheer sounds marvellous. Possibly due the contrast with the quiet or the size and shape of the venue. Either way, when it comes it sounds great, it’s just doesn’t last as long as id like. Cheering comes and goes as the points are won and lost. Also, no sledging was allowed, not even clever retorts made famous by ‘Yabba’ at the SCG.

Toweling – it's summer so every player keeps a towel at the end of the court to access between points. Although it seems the presence of sweat isn’t mandatory to call for the towel. Funny to watch how each player asks the ball boy for the towel in different ways. Some just point, others motion the wiping of their already dry face.

Checking balls – there are six balls on the court at any one time. Per point usually only 2 balls are required. This doesn’t stop some players asking for 3, 4 or even 5 on occasions. Doesn’t matter if they’re new balls either. Makes me wonder what they are actually looking for in a furry air conveyance.

Change of ends – if you must go out for a toilet break or some food you better be quick, as they don’t let you in once time is called. You have to wait till the next change of ends. Probably due to the aforementioned quiet period prior to serving. Moving back to seats is considered too noisy.
Sponsors seats – as usual, even on centre court there were quite a few left vacant. Even with Rafa playing.

Out of the Woodwork

It is obvious to me that a lot of Parramatta Eels fans have come out of the woodwork since their recent success in the second half of season 2009. I admit it, I am one.

Their grand final appearance exceeded the expectations of even the biggest diehard fan.

With the influx of many new or returning fans sometimes the diehards can feel threatened and upset as they have been their through the bad times only for thousands of blow ins to jump on board and place extra demand on coveted finals tickets.

I understand this reaction. I felt it in 1996 when the Sydney Swans had a similar near fairytale season. In the long run though, who cares??

Most important is surely the club, the game and the community.

Anyone walking around Parramatta in September would have thought they were in a different place that that of months earlier. The general vibe was so positive. Shop windows decorated in blue and gold, streamers crisscrossing Church Street, banners adorning the town hall. It united everyone in the Parramatta area, especially the CBD. On top of all that, Peter Wynn’s Score has never done better business.

Hopefully most of these new or returning supporters stick around and perhaps join the Blue and Gold Army, as I have done.

Discussion Question

In the interests of bicycle safety try this question on friends and family. I have and the results can be interesting

Which act on a bicycle is the more stupid?

1. Not wearing a helmet at all.
2. Having your helmet dangling on the handle bars.
3. Having your helmet on your head but not strapped on.

Give It Up Darcy!

What on earth is this kid doing? Is he being poorly led or is he just very stupid? Perhaps both.

A young man loses his place on the Olympic Swim team after bringing grievous bodily harm onto a former team-mate and expects someone to ruffle his hair and say, “Your not so bad kid, go on, swim your little heart out.”

He was given the boot because he brought the sport into disrepute. Perhaps it’s a bit grey as to what constitutes ‘disrepute’ and I assume that is what he is trying to prove.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has already heard one appeal. They didn’t disagree with the decision by John Coates (Australian Olympic Committee President), they merely deemed that Coates can’t make the decision on his own, it must go back to the entire AOC Executive Board. They met with Darcy and his legal team this week, only to come to the same conclusion as John Coates. Finally, some closure I thought, but no, I was wrong.

Darcy left the meeting explaining his disappointment at the decision and how there was already another appeal in the works. In fact it was in the works prior to their meeting with the AOC. Seems like they were pretty confident of a negative verdict.

On what grounds could he possibly get his dismissal overturned? Surely being intoxicated and not knowing what he was doing is not good enough to win favour. Also, who cares that he has trained for most of his life, this should count for nought.

Swimming brought us tremendous role model such as Kieran Perkins, Susie O’Neil, Sam Riley, Grant Hackett & Ian Thorpe to name a few. In one abhorrent act, Nick Darcy has changed the face of swimming forever. Instead of picturing the fine specimens of humanity mentioned above we now think of a thug who couldn’t control himself in more ways than one. If that isn’t bringing the sport into disrepute I don’t know what is.

Premature Aging

I am feeling old, and I’m only 25. This shouldn’t be the case as I am in my prime. What is going on?

I’ll tell you what’s going on. I enjoy playing footy, it’s one of my greatest past times. But in the last few years injuries have interrupted my seasons. Last year when I was playing soccer I could rarely finish a game because of constant hamstring strains.

This year I am back with the Goannas playing Aussie Rules. It is leading into round 5 this week and I am no closer to playing than before my latest injury, a partial tear to my quadricep muscle. That was way back in early April, just before the Easter weekend. Physiotherapy has been performed, for the last five weeks to be exact. Everything was going well, full range of movement had returned and it was feeling good. I go back to training and do some running. I go for a short kick and pop it goes again. Not as bad as the initial tear but I can just see the writing on the wall.

The writing says, “Give it away Tim, you’ve had your go, time to move on.” This is a huge dose of reality if ever I saw it. But if I didn’t play footy my fitness would blow out of all proportion, it is already fairly non-existent so I shudder to think what I would look like if it were to get much worse.

If I’m not playing what do I do? It’s usually a question asked by professional footballers. But I’m not, so it should be easier right? Wrong! When you enjoy playing it is still difficult to step away from it.

I am on record as saying I feel I can tell people how to play better than I can actually play. This is also a tough pill to swallow but I think I’ve already accepted that fact. Coaching Auskick is evident of that and further coaching is always an option.

I’m not giving up on this season just yet but big questions will be asked come seasons end.

On The Bunny Bandwagon

The South Sydney Rabbitohs have changed their fortunes in a short space of time. They have a renewed enthusiasm, they are winning, and as a result they have captured the imagination of a lot of Rugby League supporters.

I am an AFL fan primarily, and in the League I am an Eels supporter. But I am firmly jumping on the Bunnies Bandwagon for 07 and perhaps beyond. They will be my second team, as I can’t conscionably desert my first team, the Eels. I may even buy the jersey of my new second favourite Rugby League team if they are cheap enough at Peter Wynn’s.

A few things led to their turn around:

• Rusty and Holmes a court taking over – amid lots of controversy, instigated mainly by the archaic previous administration who were still stuck on the dark ages
• Getting Jason Taylor as coach – should be at Parra but they made the stupid decision to sign their new coach before last season started. Since they signed Michael Hagan, the then current coach Brian Smith quit the club and Jason Taylor took over as caretaker coach. The Eels came from nowhere to almost make the finals. A lot of the credit for this revival went to Jason Taylor
• Signing some big names – Roy Asotasi, David Kidwell, David Peachey, Dean Widders, Jeremy Smith
• Keeping their young stars – John Sutton, Joe Williams, Nathan Merritt
• Getting them decked out in Armani suits – it has to feel good to be in a good quality suit
• Booting the Bunny cheerleaders – in its place comes a drumming ensemble that I haven’t yet experienced for myself.

However, the Bunny’s now have a tough few weeks ahead of them after they came back to earth with a thud courtesy of the awakening of the slow starting Bulldogs. It will definitely be a test of their mettle. This week they come up against a Knights team in moarning over the sudden end to the career of Andrew Johns. I suspect it will be hard to get on top of a team inspired to give their all for their former captain.

Superbowl XLI

Once every year a sports event comes around that creates more hype in the USA than the Sydney Olympics ever did here in Australia. The Superbowl is the equivalent of the biggest Grand Final you can ever imagine taking place here. It is the pinnacle of the sport known as American Football or “Gridiron” played in the competition called the National Football League (NFL).

It is a strange sport with a lot of stops and starts, but don’t be so fast to dismiss it based on that alone. I say if we dismissed everything we didn’t understand we would be very unintelligent. Not that knowing about this sport will make you more intelligent, just wait until you know a bit about how it’s played.

I’ll break it down for you:

• The attacking team has four chances (called downs) to successfully advance 10 metres (or yards). Once 10 metres have been attained the attacking team gets another 4 chances.
• The Quarterback is the playmaker in the attacking team. He calls the plays so that all the other players know what to do, where to run and who will ultimately get the ball.
• Players without the ball are allowed to protect their team-mate with the ball by pushing opposition players out of the way. However they are not allowed to grab and pull players to the ground. Grabbing at the facemask is a definite no no and will bring a penalty.
• A “Touchdown” is scored when the ball is carried or caught in the “end zone.” A Touchdown is worth 6 points. The kicker can score an extra point from a field goal attempt. Extra two points can be scored if another touchdown can be completed in one play. Most teams go for the relatively easy option of a field goal.

That’s about all you need to know when watching the game. Everything else will come with time. I was willing to put in the time. Superbowls have been watched many times and with the advent of cable television the access is even more prevalent.

Now that we have two former AFL stars punting in the NFL I have two teams to follow. Ben Graham came from Geelong and is playing for the NY Jets while Sav Rocca from North Melbourne has just signed a contract for the Philadelphia Eagles. Unfortunately though, punters only make a brief appearance in a game. If they make 5 or more punts then the team is usually going poorly.

I have jumped on the Jets bandwagon and am keen to at least watch some of their games when the next season starts around august this year.

For the record, in Superbowl XLI The Indianapolis Colts defeated the Chicago Bears 29 – 17 at a rain soaked Dolphins Stadium in Miami. Colts Quarterback, Peyton Manning, was declared most valuable player.

The Lord of the Pool

Pool Footy is barbaric, brutal, savage, vicious, ruthless and merciless, and I love it for some reason. That is, until an accidental clash of heads results in my nose bleeding.

It has become a tradition, Tim Campbell explains how:

Pool footy can be traced all the way back to Christmas 2000 where a motley group of rowdy uni students couldn't sleep on Christmas eve (due to Santa Claus coming) and a swim at the Adams family pool quickly became a full-blooded contact sport (and I do mean full-blooded). Since then, most combatants spend the year secretly honing their fending skills and developing an immunity to many pool chemicals.

Innovation out of necessity I call it. Tim is actually flying up from Melbourne especially for this, plus the minor allure of family and all that.

Pool Footy does not discriminate. Our tackling knows no race, gender or creed. We are equal opportunity hitting machines. Some girls are game enough to play, this is fine, as long as they realise that there is no softness in the field of battle.

As for rules, I call on Mr Campbell once again:

The ball can be passed in any direction (including misdirection... that's right - you can hide the ball in your shorts if you're prepared to having people grabbing at it), anyone can be tackled, and a try is scored by touching the ball at the opposing end of the pool. If you're thinking to yourself "these rules don't actually limit anything - meaning there are no rules", you are absolute correct! THERE ARE NO RULES! All compressed into the cauldron like atmosphere of a backyard swimming pool.

So all TAC SNC people are officially invited. Any others that we know of (no blow ins please) that need their 2006 Pool Footy fix just let me know and you’ll receive your entry pass to the “Hammerdome” as Tim C puts it.

The Race When I Slept

I don’t know why but this year I have taken a complete disinterest in the Melbourne Cup. Other years I have at least shown enough interest to want to spend some of my hard earned on a horse or in a sweep. I was actually trying to avoid it as much as possible. This is very hard when all forms of media are dominated by the horsy news, and everyone you bump into wants to ask you if you have a fave in the Cup. Even a lot of the Nursing Homes and Hospitals I went to during the day were having mini festivals with posters all over the place and all the ladies wearing hats. It was unavoidable.

At least I had control in whether I watched the race or not. I spent those few minutes laying down on the back seat of our van waiting to get a job dropped down. Unaware was I that the people at the board may have been slightly more interested than me and were watching the race instead of allocating jobs. It didn’t worry me, I just stayed in the back of the van until they were ready.

Footy Show Audience

Last night (17the August) I was part of the studio audience to watch the NRL Footy Show featuring Fatty, Sterlo and the gang. Although I’m not very regular in watching The Footy Show, very irregular actually, I found this experience very enjoyable.

I find the behind the scenes stuff very interesting, the stuff that goes on when everyone else is watching ads. Of note was the fact that the song by Deni Hines to feature at the end of the show was pre-recorded before the show had actually started.

From the TV I always imagined that the studio was much bigger but it is pretty small and intimate, which I’m guessing is because they like to get the crowd involved. They have a big funny bloke telling us when to clap and cheer madly, and encouraging us not to look disinterested despite the length of the show and the uncomfortableness of the seats. So there is a good chance to get your head on the TV. As I went home I received an SMS from a couple of people who had seen me and the others I was with, and only one of those people knew I was going to be there.

You even go home with a little gift bag full of little goodies.

C’mon Blokes

I have started doing (again) what I think all blokes should learn to do at some stage, social dancing. I went for the first time to Nuroc about 2 years ago. Nuroc is like a modern jive style of dance. More details on what they do can be found on their website. They even have a large range of merchandise.

I have to admit that when I went for the first time I had to be dragged along. I was very apprehensive about dancing, pretty self-conscious. Dancing just wasn’t something blokes did was my general thought.

Well I’ve got a message for blokes that think like that. There are plenty of blokes that attend and all of them are straight blokes too, as far as I can tell. Most blokes actually come with their partners.

You do get to be masculine when doing this dance, as the blokes have to be the leaders. Look out for girls that want to lead as they will lead you astray. I believe that most of the girls that attend enjoy having a strong lead.

If you want you can stay with the one person to learn the routine, otherwise it is usually the ladies that move along the lines and swap dancing partners.

So break down your own gender stereotype and give it a go. I think you will be pleasantly surprised, I was.

Introducing Netball

My Soccer games have been washed out a few times recently. What is sports nut to do with his free Saturday? How about go to the Netball? However, it helps if you have a particular someone to watch otherwise it may be considered a bit dodgy (for the blokes).

I was initially intimidated when first approaching the Netball courts as from a fair distance away you can easily hear the constant shrill of umpire’s whistle. This is something completely different to me. Most of my sports playing days there have been only one Footy field or one Cricket field. Here at the Netball there are at least 30 courts going at the same time. That equals a lot of females, hence my continued intimidation. Needless to say that I stayed relatively close to the one I was there to watch in the first place.

I can now watch Netball and appreciate the skill involved. People who downgrade this sport, mainly blokes, forget to take this into account. Even at this level (I don’t really know what level I was watching) it still takes a lot of skill to win.

I would, however, need a lot of convincing to ever get me on the court to play. I have vowed never to play Netball again after giving it a go in a Knockout Comp in Yr 12. The constant “obstruction” and “contact” calls killed any enjoyment I may have had. That and the fact that no-one on our team could shoot straight.

Oranges for Suckers??

An AIS dietician this week has proclaimed that kids should no longer have oranges at half time of their sport. Instead the humble orange should be replaced with glucose lollies (such as red frogs) as well as sports drinks.

I think this dietician has forgotten that they deal with elite athletes and not junior athletes. I would seriously doubt whether they have children of their own, because I’m sure any parent will tell you stories of bad behaviour once they are hyped up of lollies.

I believe they are being irresponsible to suggest such a thing. Children playing sport should be encouraged to have fun, not shown the ways to get every slight advantage over your opponent.

They only real thing kids need at half time is water, and lots of it, especially on the warmer days. None of us really need to have sports drinks. These were made for elite athletes. Water is all we need as well.

I speak with some knowledge, having completed a Health Science degree. But doesn’t it all just sound like common sense?

Bad Boots…. Not Meant For Skiing

A tip for young players that has come from painful experience. If you are choosing to go on a skiing expedition this Winter I recommend you take your time in selecting your gear, whether you are hiring or purchasing (especially if purchasing). In particular, the ski boots must be comfortable. I put on the pair given to me by the bloke at the ski hire store and didn’t really get a feel for them. If I had, I may not have experienced what happened the following day.

After half a day of skiing, my feet were starting to ache. I didn’t think this was anything strange at the time as I get aching feet doing ice-skating as well with no repercussions. This was until I took my boot off at lunchtime. To my surprise the arch of my foot, just below the ankle, had grown an egg. It was hard to put my boot back on and therefore I struggled to walk. Needless to say that skiing was out of the question, I was done for the weekend.

So unless you want to be reading the paper in the cafeteria, then I suggest careful consideration when trying on ski gear.

Church Sports Organisations

Why is it that I have witnessed the worst acts of sportsmanship while playing in Church sporting competitions? I have played for three years of cricket with Greystanes Churches and this year playing soccer for Wenty Uniting. Of course it is always a rogue element that are bad sports. But their bad are worse than any other competition I have played in. Something else that is scary is that it is usually the one that calls the two teams to have a pre match prayer that is the worst sport in their team.

Hamstrung

Hamstring, noun: group of muscles in the back of the thigh
Heartlage, noun: a supposed trivial injury, i.e. no heart
Hamstrung, verb: having a hamstring injury that is deemed to be a heartlage by team-mates

Very annoying and frustrating it is too. Team-mates tend to mistake a slight injury for not wanting to play. It is usually very much the opposite. It’s very frustrating to be watching team-mates play when injured.

I have been struggling with minor hamstring injuries for a few years now. I initially thought it started from when I did a gymnastics subject for University. The coach suggested we do this stretch everyday for a month and by the end we should be able to do the splits, regardless of our size. I though I’d test her out, but a few days later at training I twinged it for the first time.

However another thought has crossed my mind after hearing about the plight of Swans player Heath James. He has suffered 13 hamstring tears and it was thought that this was in some way due to the disproportionate strength between his quadriceps and hamstrings.

So if I am able to finally get some time when I don’t have to recover from hamstring strains I might be able to do something about that. But for now I guess I just have to put up with the supposed ironmen who are unbreakable. Pride comes before a fall a wise man once said.