“In the world of sport, influence takes many forms” – Wally Mason, Sports Editor, The Australian. Does it? As a sports fan, enthusiast and participant, etc, I was let down by The Australian’s ‘Top 50 in Australian Sport’ list.
I was also shocked in more ways than one.
Firstly, conceptually. I mean, the idea is ripe, let’s not confuse that. We’ve seen the success these glorified bullet lists can bring to media organisations, Time Magazine being the most notable example here.
For a privately owned media organisation to single out and actively rank the 50 most influential people in Australian sport is kind of left field, and that really appealed to me.
Admittedly I was excited to see who made the cut when I first heard of the list. What I didn’t want, and ultimately what I got, was a list of the rich and famous of Australian sport – not limited to sportsmen and sportswomen themselves.
“Perhaps the most difficult thing to come to terms with when compiling the list was the realisation that administrators, media executives, mega-rich club owners, politicians, agents and commentators are likely to have more influence on sport than the people who actually get out on the field,” Wally Mason, again.
I’m speaking on behalf of Australian sports fans here, so I apologise for anyone whose views I haven’t accurately depicted. However, I have made my own list:
– Sports fans don’t want this list.
– Sports fans don’t need this list
– Sports fans don’t care about this list.
There’s a practical list for you.
Why do I think this list is a failure? The topic range is neither here, nor there. It’s too specific, and too general all at once.
The list is admittedly based on the influence these people have on sport. Influence, it appears, that comes from status i.e. money. Sports fans don’t want to know who has the most pull within a sport because they have the most power, we want to know who the most influential sports stars are because of their ability to perform in ways which we rarely witness.
An appraisal of the most powerful executives in sport is not really something the fans necessarily care about, nor something that needs a numerical ranking system applied.
All in all, the Top 50 in Sport list doesn’t hit home with the people it really should: sports fans.
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