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Mitchell Pearce has copped a pretty nasty blow to his bank balance. But I can’t seem to find a great deal of sympathy for him.
The thing is, I’m trying.
I know that $125,000 is more than most people will earn in years. It’s a large fine even by the standards of American sport, where money is thrown around far more freely than Down Under.
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In an ideal world, athletes should have some kind of refuge where they can let their hair down without needing to worry about the gaze of the media.
I can almost even understand the argument that sportspeople aren’t role models, they’re athletes.
But despite all of that, Mitchell Pearce is fortunate his punishment isn’t greater than the $125,000 fine and eight-week suspension he has been handed.
Because, while I certainly won’t be earning $125,000 anytime soon, Pearce, as of 2014, is reportedly on around $800,000 a year. I daresay he can afford it, inconvenient though it may be.
And, while Pearce was in a private residence on Australia Day, it wasn’t his house. He should have known he was somewhere where unwanted cameras may be prying.
Charles Barkley said, “I’m not a role model… Just because I dunk a basketball doesn’t mean I should raise your kids.” It sounded great in the Nike advertisement, and I can understand why people bring up that line of argument, but it’s rubbish.
Like it or not, sportsmen like Barkley and Pearce are adored by kids. When they make the decision to earn millions from their sublime athletic gifts, they also make the decision to live their life in the public eye, becoming role models whatever their thoughts on the subject are.
Were this Pearce’s first indiscretion in a code without a tarnished image, I would have some sympathy for him.
But this was his second misdemeanour in the past few years, and the NRL is a code seemingly in constant damage control. They’ve had players investigated by police on more than a few occasions. They’ve had a player piss in his own mouth.
Hell, this isn’t even the first time they’ve had someone caught on camera in a sexual with a dog.
So yes, Mitchell Pearce is going to lose a lot of money. He’s going to spend a lot of time this season looking on from the sidelines.
But, all things considered, he’s lucky to still have a place in the NRL.