Perhaps they should drug test sports commentators, listen to them, do those guys arc up.
I am not trying to get up their nose, but some commentators really hyperventalate,and its
likely caused by more than just two cans of Red Bulll.

Phelps would have fitted in well with the West Indies cricket teams a few years back,and
he would definitely get an invite to lunch by Ian Botham.

Couldn’t have said it better myself!

Say that your kid was mucking up and saying something about following Andrew Symonds’ example. Would you walk away thinking “Andrew Symonds is really compromising my authority as a parent. I don’t know what to do about this.”

No, of course not. You’d sort it out. It’s only a problem if you let it become a problem.

BTW, I’ve always wondered about the gap between what fans can yell at players during games and what players can do in response. Best example: the chant of “Posh Spice takes it up the a***” that used to be sung when David Beckham was playing for Man Utd. On the other hand, Teddy Sheringham kisses the badge on his shirt after scoring a goal at Highbury and gets reported to the police for “inciting violence.” It’s not fair at all. Not that you can do anything about it.

Exactly Hoy, I’ve seen it before. People think they can just abuse sportstars when they go out. To be honest I don’t know why sportstars continue to go out when they know there will be idiots trying to start a fight.

Also some media, especially in the UK pay people to go and get sportstars in uncompromising positions.

As I mentioned, the difference between Bill the accountant and sportstars is that sportstars are on TV (read famous).

No, I don’t have children, but I would like to think that parents are responsible for MOST ethical and moral guidance more so than the local soccer player fighting at the pub etc.

What does it say about society when we start blaming children’s bad behaviour on Roy et al? Again, I don’t have children, but I would like to think that parents can control their children, or at least have enough influence over them to point out that the sportspersons bevahiour is wrong, rather than just say what a bad role model he/she is…

I also agree with Papa about the worlds best archer. He could be a royal bastard, we wouldn’t know.

Another thing to think about is how blown out of proportion are these indescretions? I know Phelps has to be taken at face value, but I can imagine when these sportspeople go out they are the subject of all sorts of shit. Witness a yobbo yelling racial stuff at a cricket game. The player yells something back, and he is fine. Yet if a drunken fellow yells obscenity at him when he is out eating and he replies, then he was in an altercation, he was out at a pub, horror he must have been drinking and now has a problem.

The stock reply, ’sports stars aren’t role models, parents are role models’ is, quite frankly, utter nonsense. Children are not influenced by a single source, but a variety of them. Anyone who seriously thinks that a parent should be the only individual to hold away over his or her child has never had children.

tim

Of course children are influenced by more than a single source we all are but a parents job is to teach there children how to judge and interpret people no matter who they are.The reality is that if a parent carry’s on like a bogan feral then the kids will too,you ,just have to go to the mall to see that.

You have to make it clear to your kids that there just sportsman and hammer it home all the time,the problem is to many parents out there act like bloody kids around these sports stars,pinning to them and putting them up on pedestals.

“You’re the world’s best archer? No worries, you can do what you like in this country coz no-one will notice you. Worlds best cricketer (etc.), sorry mate, you ‘ve gotta be a saint. See the double standard?”…I think you’ve hit the nail on the head Papa Romeo.

Brilliantly put!

Spiro, I take issue with a couple of things. Parents and teachers have to behave in an appropriate manner because they are authority figures and are entrusted with bringing up good little human beings. There is no parralel there with sports people, as sportspeople don’t make a choice (such as parenthood, studying to be a teacher, etc) that is intrinsically wrapped up in the obligation to set a good example. As to whether or not they should nonetheless be obliged to set a good example…

“If you aspire to the fame game, you have to pay the price which involves civil behaviour.”
Now see this is an interesting one – and for the record, I am NOT (unfortunately!) a professional sportsman going into bat for my own kind, Brett McKay, tho good pick-up – coz I argue (generalisation that it is) that you don’t become a top sportsperson FOR the fame. You ONLY become a top sportsperson if you have the TALENT and ABILITY to do so. “I’d like to be famous….hmm, might become a rugby league star then!”. Doesn’t work like that, does it.

Why exactly should someone who finds themselves thrust into the spotlight coz they just happen to be blessed with preternatural ability in a sport that is widely followed? You’re the world’s best archer? No worries, you can do what you like in this country coz no-one will notice you. Worlds best cricketer (etc.), sorry mate, you ‘ve gotta be a saint. See the double standard?

It’s sorta odd that no such saintly behavious is sought from those who genuinely strive for fame (for fame’s sake), eg contestants on Big Brother. In fact poor behaviour is expected as par for the course.

“If he is prepared to take the money from sponsors, he must be prepared to live and behave in an appropriate way that does not offend the sensibilities of people concerned with ensuring that we live in a moral and civil society.”
I don’t want to sound too much like an economic realist (ahem) but the sponsorship money that top sportspeople are paid is not to behave properly. Nor does payment imply an obligation to do so. They know (or at least should) that they are paid because of the extent of their particular pulic image and the product provider wanting the commercial benefits of association. They also (should) know that if that image deteriorates, the dollars dry up (eg Kate Moss, who was deserted by those she had contracts with – only for a tactical week or so, mind – when she fessed up to an inclination towards Columbian marching powder). It’s a commercial contract, not a moral one.
I could go on, having only lightly scratched the surface, but I’ve got a 2 o’clock meeting…

But hey Spiro, thanks heaps for providing a forum, and a well-moderated one at that, for such discussion.

Oh, and completely concur that that soft drink ad demonstrates a stunning lack of judgement on the part of anyone and everyone involved in putting that together. Symonds inclusion isn’t even particulalry relevant to the ‘story’, it’s almost an tacked-on after thought. Baffling on all counts.

@Hoy – The difference between Bill from accounting and your archetypal sports star is that the only reason why the sport star commands the hefty salary that he or she does is BECAUSE people take an interest in him or her – both on and off the sports field. Professional sports are businesses that rely on the marketability of their stars in order to generate revenue, and that means trying to make them appealing to the common populace. Being a role model comes with the job; any public figure is going to be an influence on some.

“If you aspire to the fame game, you have to pay the price which involves civil behaviour

Thats a great quote Spiro

Should they be decent humans? yes,should they be able to show a bit of class,yes

Andrew Symonds none of the above

Phelps is still a decent guy from what we know,just made a bad mistake

1) These blokes are normal people who happen to be good at their sport/profession. If Bill from accounting is a whiz on the calculator, saves the company heaps, then goes out and gets gassed, passes out in a pool of vomit, who cares? Why should it really be any different for a normal person who is good at sport?

2) Because they are on TV that makes them one up on Bill from accounting I suppose. Young people do want to be like their heroes there is no doubt. I used to always be Dean Jones when I played backyard cricket. When, for instance, Phelps does something illegal (like smoke pot), and is not punished by the sport, what does that say about right and wrong when you are a superstar? You can do anything you want.

Young people these days are pampered far too much, and this, more so than their sporting heroes would affect their behaviour I would think. They can’t even get marked with red pen anymore, because it is damaging to their psych. Well maybe a little right from wrong when they are young by those truly important like parents and teachers goes further than a role model they have never met.

“If you aspire to the fame game, you have to pay the price which involves civil behaviour.”

Says it all for me.

It’s a cracking question you’ve raised though, and i wouldn’t mind betting if there’s suddenly a surge in new posters to The Roar, and to your article in particular, that it’s a flood of pro sportspeople using pseudonyms!! I guess it’s a sad reflection on society today that these type of unsavory incident takes up more column space than does a traditional match review.

The best example I can think of is how I supported Shane Warne – I only paid to watch him on HIS side of the fence, and so was very happy to call him the greatest bowler I’ve ever seen. But once he came back onto MY side of the fence, he was often just another tosser who I wouldn’t give the time of day. I used to say the same about Andrew Johns…

However I’m not too sure I like some of the direction this is heading with your reasoning about Andrew Symonds.

I don’t expect Symonds or any sports stars to be “role models”. Lot of stuff they do in private is there own business. However I do expect them to be Professional. They are professional sports people and should be judge by that standard.

If Symonds turns up to a cricket match on the booze or turns up to radio interview having drunk alcohol. It’s wrong not because he’ll be a bad influence to little children which is a bit patronizing if you think about it, it’s wrong because it’s unprofessional and he is not meeting his responsibility as an employee of Cricket Australia. IMO some of the things Symonds and other sports people do are enough for people to get fired from virtually every other occupation.

I think Andrew John’s article “The Top 5 sporting excuses that wouldn’t work at work” is quite relevant to what I’m saying.

In any case, I remember reading stories about sports stars and their off-field indiscretions when I was a child and feeling that my intelligence had been insulted. Children are not stupid. They won’t mimic behaviour just because they see a multi-Olympic gold medallist do it. Not if their parents are setting good examples and boundaries anyway.

Remember, parents are the people that are supposed to be good role models for children.