Australian cricketer Mitchell Johnson celebrates dismissing Prasanna Jayawardane. AAP Image/Julian Smith
Mitchell Johnson recently attributed his lack of form during Australia’s recent Ashes defeat to personal issues involving his bitter mother. Will his be another whose life is destroyed in the public domain?
Today’s sportsmen and women are subjected to intense media scrutiny. Every action is replayed from any number of angles, lip-readers are contracted to interpret player’s words on the field, photographers follow the stars on their private holidays and some of the more trashy tabloid journalists have resorted to filtering through garbage in the hope of breaking an exclusive story.
What many forget when reading the daily paper or watching the evening news is that these athletes, the men and women, the sons and daughters that fill our magazines and are talked about on our airwaves, are still human beings, albeit well paid human beings.
But is that to say, we, the public have a right to pry on their private lives?
Johnson’s anguish stemmed from the public comments made by his mother regarding his girlfriend. Her claims are irrelevant. What is important here is the avenue that Ms Harber selected to air her grievances – the media.
Why would she subject her dearly loved son to further scrutiny? To make a buck? To feel important? Because he didn’t answer his phone?
Regardless, she obviously has no idea what it is like to live in the limelight and has put her own twisted agenda ahead of her son’s – and Australian cricket’s – wellbeing.
Whether Johnson’s poor display was affected by this outburst, whether it was coming to grips with the Duke ball or the added pressure of leading the Aussie attack, his mother did not need to talk to a journalist about her son’s private life.
Andrew Symonds is another whose trial was by media.
His career was marred by what would appear to be numerous brain fades, but look a little further, think a little more.
Why should a patron in a pub come up and hassle Symonds while he’s having a beer? Because he is a professional cricketer, everyone has the right to get stuck into him?
All of the commentary regarding his idiocy being in the pub in the first place misses the point again, that cricketer’s are human.
Why shouldn’t he have a beer with mates without being harangued by idiots when you or I would expect that for ourselves?
Shoaib Akhtar is yet another example.
A man with undoubted talent who could bowl the cricket ball faster than any other, in his prime he was as lethal as any other bowler in the world, but his life off the field has taken its toll.
The pressure on the man to take over from Wasim Akram and the constant prying into his life in cricket-mad Pakistan have impacted upon his life and created what is now a Britney Spears-esque story where every week we await a scandal to outdo the last.
Just how he can surpass liposuction is anybody’s guess.
All this scrutiny, all the column inches, it all adds to the pressure on these young people.
Players need a private life and they need stability off the field. The old adage “behind every good man is a great woman” rings true, but these women are expected to let their rich and famous husbands and partners gallivant around the world, for huge parts of the year and still have a healthy relationship?
Children are meant to grow up without their fathers because the ICC wants to schedule 12 months of cricket a year?
If we expect our national team to fulfill their potential, then we’ve got to give up the gossip. If you don’t read it, they won’t print it.
Chris K
Guest
It's a well known fact that Andrew Symonds is a bit of a tool. I can't say I'm sorry to see the back of him
Darwin hammer
Roar Rookie
Got to agree with this article - throw Tiger Woods on that list also - who gives a flying !@#4 what the story behind it all is - the news should be there was a car accident and he's ok- and that's it ... the rest is no-ones business other than those involved and possibly the police if there's been a traffic violation
davido
Guest
I am sorry but if you are not this person then you should not be using their name.
Brett McKay
Guest
is this a gee-up post, or are we supposed to believe you are who you say you are??
Brett McKay
Guest
nice piece Freud, there's no doubt now sports media (I don't think we can limit this phenomena to to just the journos either) now focusses well beyond just 'sport'. 20 years ago, the Danny Weidlers or Rebecca Wilsons of the world would never have got a gig, but now they're supposedly foremost authorities, all for reporting second- or third-hand heresy and mystery quotes from "my source". Apart from mildly related rumours like which player might move to which club, I couldn't care less which B-list female Braith Anasta is currently seeing. On the other hand, we have the rise of the "new media" where the 'net plays a massive role in the information people can find. The Roar, and the likes of League Unlimited, or FourFourTwo and other sites who incorporate combination of actual and 'citizen' reports are becoming more and more reliable, and regular users are becoming smart enough to differentiate between fact and crap. Personally speaking, I look at SMH and The Australian sites daily, but mainly now only for the musings of the genuine cricket and rugby journos (Roebuck, Swanton, Conn, Coward, Smith, Harris, even Growden, to name a few). I can get the AAP and AFP stories on The Roar, and have that combined with well-thought opinion and discussion. Some topics can still degenerate into schoolyard stuff (don't mention the [code] war), but on the whole, if something's been said on here it needs to be well argued and/or backed up. As soon as a claim cannot be substantiated in some way, the claimer loses face rather quickly. At the same time, some pretty interesting news and opinion pops up, and the Brumbies signing Justin Harrison instantly comes to mind. I was quite happy to be handed something of a possible 'scoop' yesterday with the revelation that we'll have side-on Hotspot cameras in operation for the Boxing Day Test. Maybe the 'new media' and the need for instant information and gossip is driving the traditonal media down this path, but I suspect it probably comes back to the old adage that "sex sells". Anything that contains the slightest hint of scandal, innuendo, or conspiracy will always sell more papers/ads than will a match preview or report. Sadly, that's the society in which we live...
Fisher Price
Guest
On the other hand Andrew Symonds used the media to endlessly complain about his non-selection and get himself back in the side irrespective of his sub-standard domestic form.
vikki harber
Guest
i agree that these peoples lives are not anyones business. i made the mistake of thinking i was entittled to make a comment on a issue in a paper.. i found out i was wrong and all hell broke loose. no i dont feel bitter and i didnt get payed and i dont need to feel important because i know i am important anyway.. i am important to my family and the three other children who still live at home..the point is, if it wasnt for the media jumping on me and asking me what i thought of my sons gf , then no one would have known how i felt anyway. i have always tried to live my life as honestly as i can.. that doesnt mean im a bitter, mean spirited or even interfering person..all i have to say is that as we grow our relationships with our parents change, but when a relationship changes so dramactically because another person has come into your childs life, then you have to ask if that relationship is good for your child...i use the word child because thats what he will always be to me even though he is 28. he is still my child. to me , the media has a lot to answer for.. they are the ones who stick their noses in others business .. and they say what they think will sell more papers.. at this point in time , i feel for tiger and his wife.. if its true then his wife will not want media in her business.. if its not then she has to put up with people wondering.its not fair to her at all..
M1tch
Roar Guru
The media is runing Test Cricket, all this crap about the Windies you'd think there has never been a bad cricket team before.
sheek
Guest
The media reporting of the faulty ETS legislation is either heavily biased or incredibly stupid, or probably both. Instead of concentrating on the Liberal leadership, the media ought to be focusing on the lack of detail in the bill. Media has a whole doesn't have the respect it used to, because it is run by too many cowboys. The great journos are now too few & far between.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Freud..a few quick singles....some people get a vicarious pleasure reading about a star's problems..as if this in someway makes them feel better or equal. This "rubbish" is also often gold for the daily papers and gos mags. Some sportsmen are either naive or too dense. Some are like moths to the flame. The bright lights attract them and usually with fatal consequences for their career. Sometimes the same fan who exults in the success of the sportsman actually dances on his "sporting" grave...yes,I know lots of metaphors here but I am on the run. Immaturity leads some sportsmen to seek adulation in night clubs. I question the absence of a mentoring program. The ones that have a mentor survive..many are left to fend for themselves..what value does a manger have if he cant "guide" his client. Lots of issues to consider when young men,with sometimes not enough education,suddenly get showered with money and fame. Cricket academies need to teach this. And I am sure academies like Barca's Football academy do just this. There are many sportsmen who do not seek the limelight and these are the ones I feel sorry for..the Tiger Woods the Tendulkars,Dravids...if you seek it then you are at the mercy of the mob. Dont take everything literally,Freud..just quick comments on a very worthwhile piece of writing.
Freud of Football
Roar Guru
Maybe, that is obviously the other side of the coin. I'm not sure whether it is an excuse or the truth, I also only read it as a quote and haven't heard or watched the interview but at the end of the day - it wasn't necessary.
Kurt
Guest
Or maybe Mitchell Johnson just bowled rubbish and is now looking to this as an excuse. As far as scandals go, not calling your Mum often enough isn't quite up there with the big boys of the AFL and NRL. I suggest Mitch just needs to harden up a bit.
Freud of Football
Roar Guru
You're sadly right. I don't think of myself as being an excellent servant to cricket for not reading the trash in the tabloids but I think it's a start, there is no need for us to know every detail of these players' lives.
davido
Guest
As you point out the trouble is the demand. Have you noticed which articles attract more comment on this site? Not ones about, the science and strategy of the game. Not ones about the administration.