Nigel Lopez-McBean writes: Australian sports fans are quick to proclaim that they are one of the great sporting nations, if not the greatest on earth.
For a western nation with a solidly outdoors, sport-obsessed culture with excellent weather and facilities, it’s possible to argue that they aren’t quite as good as they think. Why? Soccer, Boxing and Athletics, that’s why.
I’m not suggesting that Australia isn’t a successful sporting nation. It is. It’s just that this success has underlying themes.
Australia tends to excels at the following:
1. Minority sport – Rugby, Swimming, Women’s Netball, Cricket (yes, it’s still a minority sport), Tennis, Surfing, Triathlon and a whole raft of other sports that many major competitive countries (Germany, Spain, Russia etc) have little interest in.
2. Middle class and lifestyle sport - See above…
3. Unevolved sport – There is no doubting the athleticism of the AFL but is it a great sport? A highly evolved sport?
150 years of history and it has scarcely made its way out of Victoria and to its detriment is still a sport, played, coached and watched only by Australians. Where are the new ideas? The multinational influence that has driven the likes of soccer?
An example of how basic AFL is as a sport is the Father/Son draft policy. In highly evolved technical sports like soccer the chances of a father and son both being good enough to play the same sport professionally are extremely rare, let alone both become award winning players for the same club.
The idea of this situation being prevalent enough to warrant an administrative policy in AFL is an indicator of the sports possibly average skill level.
4. The great sporting nations have an illustrious history in the king of sports – Boxing.
Australia’s history in Boxing for a nation of men that pride themselves on their machismo (the biggest spectator sports in Australia are both violent contact sports) is confusing. At present Australia is a less successful boxing nation than the likes of Jamaica, Thailand, Indonesia, Ireland, Wales and Cuba. Where are the Australian-born fighters?
5. Any sport without world class IOC standard drug testing – Australia still has professional sports that have a ‘three strikes’ policy. British soccer players have been banned for a year for merely ‘forgetting’ a single drug test. Does any intelligent person really think ‘three strikes’ is a drugs policy? The sports which have the most sophisticated drug testing tend to (worryingly) have the lowest Australian representation.
6. Any sport which you requires years of practice…outdoors.
7. Supporting winning teams. Is the obsession with finals series in Australian sport, anything other than a way to prevent fans losing interest half way through the season when their team has no chance of winning the league?
It’s easy to suggest that the Finals Series whilst being lucrative and exciting, reward mediocrity, which is contrary to Australia’s ultra-competitive image.
Is Australia’s sporting love and prowess overstated?
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October 3rd 2007 @ 8:38am
Temba said | October 3rd 2007 @ 8:38am | Report comment
OK lets look at
1. What sport is China and Russia into?
2. I agree Boxing is big but its one sport. Australia has produced world champs in boxing so I don’t see the relevance.
3. Drugs in sport is all over the place, so what if its in Afl(only in Aus). Its normally not performance enhancing but social. Other international sports are governed by international drug testing.
4. What makes a sport Major in your eyes? I would have thought the amount of people viewing it?
5. To clear the confusion, please give us a country that your eyes would fit the bill?
October 3rd 2007 @ 8:47am
Temba said | October 3rd 2007 @ 8:47am | Report comment
1. Name a sport besides boxing that is major
2. Name a country that you think covers it all
October 3rd 2007 @ 8:58am
Nigel Lopez-McBean said | October 3rd 2007 @ 8:58am | Report comment
My opinion is not that Australia isn’t a great sporting nation (as some have claimed) it’s that this sporting success has some undeniable and (I think) interesting themes.
My definition of a great sporting nation is one that consistantly produces world class soccer players, track and field athletes and boxers.
Three sports which are as global as it gets. In these sports, when you win you can quite rightly call yourself the best in the world, as the talent pool you are competing against is truly immense. These athletes matter.
When you measure national sporting success on this scale it produces some fun results. For instance, it’s scary how high Jamaica figures (population 2.8 million) all of a sudden.
October 3rd 2007 @ 9:02am
Temba said | October 3rd 2007 @ 9:02am | Report comment
Jamaica, they love their Cricket…
October 3rd 2007 @ 9:16am
Greg said | October 3rd 2007 @ 9:16am | Report comment
Out of interest, so all the cards are on the table, what country are you from Nigel?
In the olympics, the most global event of them all, Australians have the best goal medal winning ratio (per head of population) what more do you want? You have just brushed over this ‘minor’ point haven’t you?
I don’t know why you keep going on about boxing, it’s not even that mainstream, sure lots of people watch the key fights but most (yes in the US and wherever else you care to mention) don’t follow every single event or title like someone who watches cricket, baseball, basketball or rugby would. Same with track and field – it may have the most countries competing but this doesn’t mean its a closely followed sport.
And even if you were to look at soccer, in the most current World Cup Australia got into the last 16 and got beaten by the team in the dying seconds who went on to win the event, not bad.
First you say “we aren’t as good as we think” then you say “My opinion is not that Australia isn’t a great sporting nation ”
My question to you is how great do you think we Australians think we are?
You clearly have no grip on the facts and have seemed to brush over one of the biggest global events in the world the Olympics. Not to mention Tennis and Golf two of the major world sports you have forgotten to include, Australia is second only to the US in Davis Cup wins and has always had many players on the PGA pro tour, many of who are ranked very highly.
Your argument is silly, you say: “My definition of a great sporting nation is one that consistantly produces world class soccer players, track and field athletes and boxers.”
If Australia just focussed on these three sports then we would be best in the world (or very competetive) in all three, it’s just that we play a wider range of sports than I can think of and the fact that we can be successful in so many is a testament to our sporting prowess. We may not be the greatest overall sporting nation (that would be a good debate though) but to your claim is just arrogant and plain ignorant.
October 3rd 2007 @ 11:52am
Temba said | October 3rd 2007 @ 11:52am | Report comment
I think the hilarious outcome of this or shall I say contradiction is that our friend Nigel finds him self posting on a Australian sports website. How did Nigel end up at a .com.au sports site?
Nigel I don’t know what county you are from but denial is an ugly thing. I suppose you registered and posted on this site because you know that Australia is a great sporting nation and proud of it. Pride is the driving force behind a tiny amount of people making a large impact on the world sport.
If I was Australian I would be proud and so would you.
You take Aussie pride as arrogance and that is merely a reflection of your own arrogance.
October 3rd 2007 @ 12:09pm
Nigel Lopez-McBean said | October 3rd 2007 @ 12:09pm | Report comment
Greg – You merely strengthen my point on middle class sport by focusing on Golf and Tennis. I said that Australia was very strong in this area.
Olympics are packed full of obscure minority sports so medal winning ratios are of little interest to me. Nobody cares who the Olympic three-day eventing champion is etc.
The biggest professional sport – Soccer
The most basic form of human combat – Prizefighting
The most natural sport – Track and Field Athletics (especially mens)
I will repeat…I have not said at any point that Australia is not a great sporting nation. I said that this success has certain themes and curiously lacks dominance in certain high-profile areas.
My claim is neither arrogant or ignorant. It’s an observation.
If it was without merit they would not have been published…
(And still nobody says a word about the lack of drug testing and focus in drugs in Australian sport….)
October 3rd 2007 @ 12:35pm
Temba said | October 3rd 2007 @ 12:35pm | Report comment
Nigel you are proving a point here that the only sport you are interested in is barbaric man on man Basic animal instinct driven garbage…
Your focus is on individual sports. The bigger picture is in fact team sports, that is what drives nations rather than individuals. This might not be the case for you but it hardly gives you the right to decide what the rest of the world thinks.
Evolution has decided that some of us can run faster and other take sharper aim. They are the same, a gift of talent and a drive to succeed. This is sport, be it Oscar Dela hoya or Shane Warne. Australia produce loads talent in wide verity of sports viewed by billions around the planet.
I don’t really know what your point is as you say Australia is a great sporting nation but they lack African American people to win gold medals in the 100m and world title belts? Does this make Africa the greatest sporting nation or give them right to claim so?
What is the hang-up on drugs in sport, AFL – NFL all have drugs it’s a global problem. Cricket, rugby, Olympics ext. all tested by internationally governed institutions… Not a domestic problem. International sport from Australian point of view is virtually drug free.
What is your point?
October 3rd 2007 @ 12:45pm
Mike said | October 3rd 2007 @ 12:45pm | Report comment
Keep your guard up Nigel. I think you’ve taken one to many to the noggin’ mate.
To hold up boxing – where politics/strength or promoter will get you a shot at the title and, dare I say it, a sympathetic judge or two – as the benchmark of sporting prowess is a little puzzling to say the least.
Boxing is dominated by the US because they have the biggest Pay TV market and influential promoters – not because they are that much better than any other nation in a sporting sense.
Load of diatribe this article
October 3rd 2007 @ 1:59pm
tim said | October 3rd 2007 @ 1:59pm | Report comment
Nigel, I believe that you’re an expat Pom. Is it possible that this is limiting the context in which you are forming your views of Australian sport? Is it also possible that you’re slightly grumpy about the Ashes and are a little tense about the upcoming RWC match?
Having said that, you may have a point about some of the drug policies in Australian sport. However, I don’t think that any of the programs in place around the world are extremely effective at the moment – look at the Tour de France. Yes, they caught him, but only after he’d won the bloody thing. Surely the aim is to stop cheats competing in the first place? Anyway, this is all a bit baseless – if there aren’t many cheats found, that means either the program’s effectively discouraging cheats or it’s very bad at catching them, and if lots are caught it means that the program’s good at catching cheats or it’s very bad at discouraging them. Or both. Or none.
So, in summary, I call shenanigans on your article.