You can feel it coming: the assault charges, drink driving charges, nude photo scandals, spot betting scandals, public urination, public defecation, public fornication, racism, Marxism, drinking, smoking gambling, and so on.
Yep, the footy is upon us and the journos have had a gruelling pre-season.
While you and your kids are tucked into your beds, dreaming of unicorns and rainbows, your friendly neighbourhood journalist has been rummaging through Shane Warne’s garbage bins, staking out back alleys behind clinically depressed teenager’s hotel rooms, and desperately trying to justify to themselves that your kid’s heroes don’t deserve privacy (journalists can’t sleep at night, so they are compelled to do such things).
The justification is, and has always been, that athletes are role models.
Well so-bloody-what.
In his recent column in The Age, Peter Costello said: “Footballers are not chosen for their principles.
They do not go into a national draft for budding philanthropists. They can run and catch and kick a ball.”
The day I let a politician school me on sporting issues will be the day I let a footballer babysit my kids. However, the sentiment is true.
Athletes are role models only in an athletic sense.
The endless pressure put on athletes to behave like choir boys is a trap, set by media outlets, to ensure they have a back page story until the end of days.
The media have created a self-sustaining news mine. They tell us that our athletes have to be perfect. When they inevitably aren’t, they and their club are put under the microscope.
Every negative thing done and said by the player and club is brought to light. The media holds the club accountable for failing to prevent the player from being themselves, and the club is forced to sack or discipline the player. This raises the expectations on players to even more impossible levels of perfection.
More scandals. More sackings. More headlines.
If we continue to sack sport-stars for their off-field misdemeanours, such as Brendan Fevola, Joel Monaghan or Lote Tuqiri, we will, quite frankly, run out of talent. Based on recent reports, rugby league’s 2010 Dally M medallist would have been gone years ago along with the Australian captain in the early 00’s and the NZ captain this week.
Half-back of the century, Andrew Johns, would have had his career cut in half.
Yes, these men are role models. But what they do off the field is none of your business. Why is it in the “public interest” that Sonny Bill got a shag in a toilet cubicle, unless, of course, he pulls his hammy and is sidelined for two weeks.
What is your business, though, is what these journos are doing in their spare time.
You rely on journalists to bring you the truth.
Unlike the footballers Costello mentioned, they are chosen, in part, for their principles. So wouldn’t it be in the “public interest” to know what these principles are?
In a snippet in his column on the SMH site, Nine reporter Danny Weidler criticised journalists who were heavy drinkers themselves, and for their criticism of Todd Carney.
He also made mention of a journo who has said very little of the affair. She herself has had her license suspended and was labelled by Weidler as a “serial drink-driver”.
I applaud Danny for making a very important point.
Journalists aren’t angels and it can impact on how they present the truth. The only problem with Danny’s swipe is that he didn’t name names.
Knowing which journalists we can and can’t trust with our news is infinitely more important than what athletes do in their spare time. Had it have been a sportsperson who had lost their license, it would have been on the front page and the back three pages. Yet the people we trust with the truth are not held accountable, either publicly or privately, for their actions.
An athlete should be judged on their performance as an athlete. It is the journalist who should be judged on their integrity and principles.
A journalist who will cash in on a man’s career and reputation would appear to have nought of either.
merry
Guest
hi hows it going!
Geoff Lemon
Expert
Itsuckstobeyou - just wanted to reiterate how much I enjoyed this piece. A number of genuinely gold lines, especially in the opening exchanges. Good to see someone with humour and a genuine point to make. I've taken your piece as my jumping off point for this week's column - http://www.theroar.com.au/2011/03/21/sex-drugs-and-rocky-role-models/ Cheers, and keep posting.
punter
Guest
Football (the world game) has 10 times this amount & it would be regarded a niche sport in Queensland.
Koops
Roar Rookie
Very healthy niche, a sport such as la crosse, badminton or even volleyball would be what i term niche. Across Brisbane/GC this year, there will be 93 senior mens teams across 7 divisions, 5 will have reserves, include another 35 to 40 under 18 teams, and you have a very healthy Australian football niche.
punter
Guest
The AFL is a niche sport in Queensland. I don't think King Wally would be too concerned.
Koops
Roar Rookie
Yes, i have heard of sarcasm, and i have been known to use it myself, but your post wasn't sarcasm, but anger and bitterness, i can spot the difference. As i suggested, re-read your posts in 6 months, when you get past all this, and see if you still agree with yourself.
Matt S
Guest
Koops you haven't heard of sarcasm. Don't take it literal. You shall be known as bubble boy from now on.
Koops
Roar Rookie
Read your own post in 6 months, then tell me who is resorting to idiocy, Your very words were,...... "the evils of AFL aren’t hidden".................... . besides the rest of your rant, which i am not going to bother with, you describe a sport as "evil", ............ not in a good place are you ?.
Rob McLean
Guest
No worries Wayne.
wayne maumasi
Guest
thanks rob, thats the answer i was after.
Rob McLean
Guest
Wayne, do you mean double bylines on newspaper stories? If so, it generally indicates two reporters were involved in the research, collation of quotes and compilation of the piece. It may not necessarily mean two writers were involved in actually writing the copy, just that two had signicificant input into a story. The funniest circumstance I can recall of seeing a double byline was in the Adelaide Advertiser, it featured on a piece regarding, if I recall correctly, fencing swimming pools. The story had come from a State Government press release and the journos basically rewrote that. We used the piece in our country paper, running only five pars, with no byline. I'm assuming the Tiser writers who received credit for the yarn were cadets.
Mike Oxsaw
Guest
I've only got itsuckstobeyou as the writer. What do you have?
Wayne maumasi
Guest
can someone explain why they list multiple writers to a single story?
betamax
Roar Guru
Redb. I think you will find this so called "siege mentality" exists largely in the pages of the Terrorgraph and a small percentage of its less mentality stable readership. The majority of the RL supporting public don't buy it. It's easy to form this perception from afar, but the reality is quite different.
Redb
Roar Guru
NF, I suggest you read Geoff Lemon's comment above. AFL players get pillored in the Melb press just as much, the differemce may lie in how they Sydney media choose to spike interest by relying on the defensive siege mentality of rugby league fans. News Ltd know how this works, RL fans will rally for the game when it is being attacked, sells papers, drives interest. AFL fans dont have the same siege mentality so its no good telling us the game is stuffed or going to die becuase we would see it as the over reaction it is. Or that people recognise that Peter Costello and his generalisations are not correct. The crowds at AFL games an obvious point of strength and support. Try telling Collingwood fans the game is dying or all AFL players are scum just as they sign up their 60,000th member. There are bad eggs in AFL but people know the majority are good people.
Redb
Roar Guru
Matt S, I suggest you read the bio of any twitter account first. Its a fake Caro Wilson account designed to elicit the exact response it has. Come in spinner. :) Thanks to Geoff Lemon for making the point far better than I could.
Captain Kickass
Guest
Journalist - Integrity - Principles ... like phonebooks, landlines, VCR's and leaded petrol cars, they're fast disappearing and will become a distant fond memory of a time when journalism meant something other than a regular paycheck, and happy shareholders. Good read btw ;)
jamesb
Guest
itsuckstobeyou, interesting article. Personally I believe that sports stars are not role models for our kids. Role models should always be parents or guardians or someone thats close to them. Sports stars as role models I don't agree with. Simply because, these sports stars will always get themselves into trouble, whether its their own fault, or the media blows it out of proportion You'll always get dissapointed. They'll always be in the age bracket of 18-34. Young, immature, yet the irony of it is once a sports star becomes wise, he retires, then we start all over again with an 18 year old. Its a vicious circle. About 6 months ago, mate of mine got married and in his groom speech, he said that his parents are role models. He didn't mention any NRL,AFL or cricketer did he. As for the media, they are in the business of making money through selling newspapers or tv ratings. I remember I heard Paul Kent, journo from news ltd, he once said, "its a story that could run for 4 or 5 days" Why can't the story only run for one or two days? The answer, sell newspapers. If you got a story that the media turns it into a "saga", then people get drag into the story, and therefore buy the paper. In the end, you have some sport stars that are complete boofheads, while the media wants to make money out of it by turning it into a saga. Young kids should ignore all of that and listen close to the people that provide guidence for them.
itsuckstobeyou
Roar Pro
Gents, excuse me if I was abusive, my Brumbies got belted tonight.
Twatter
Guest
itsuckstobeyou. I've just gone back and read you're first paragraph and to quote you,the assualt charges, the drink driving,spot betting, public urination, public defacation, racism i'll leave it at that, though these sporting bodies and clubs want the media there in the childrens cancer ward to collect those special memories dont they , son you cant have it both ways ,you cant have the media in when you feel it's appropriate and out when somebody gets done for drink driving or assault or alleged rape. Thats the point of your column you want the media out when it doesn't start looking good for a sportsmen publicly. Youre looking at an unrealistic approach to profesisonal sport, thats what it is isn't it professional .Mate i've read the bloggers comments here 80% of people agree with me.You're not a player agent are you.You're a di##head.