Prior to many sporting events this long weekend, teams and officials will gather together along with spectators, stand in silence and reflect on the ultimate sacrifice paid by those who gave their life for this country in various conflicts.
Each of those one-minute silences will be bracketed by the eerie and stirring lone bugler playing The Last Post and Reveille, followed by the playing and singing of the national anthem.
It will once again stir the blood and amplify the pride we all share for this nation.
No sporting venue will provide a more powerful poignancy than the 90,000-strong crowd at the MCG for the Collingwood-Essendon Anzac Day match.
For many, it will be day of heroes – past and present.
So many sports fans see the people they follow as heroes, and according to the dictionary definition, they are.
The Australian Oxford Dictionary states that a hero is “a person, typically male, noted or admired for nobility, courage, outstanding achievements, etc”.
The majority of those who run out onto the field to play Australian football, rugby league and union this weekend can be thus defined.
However, make no mistake, the deeds and actions of those involved in any sport pales in significance to the true wartime heroes who are rightly honoured and revered on Anzac Day.
While the relevance of the term ‘hero’ to sportspeople is often debated, other words used in sporting circles are simply hyperbole.
‘Courage’ and ‘bravery’ are two such cases.
Both qualities will be oft displayed at the likes of the MCG and Suncorp Stadium tomorrow. But how often do we hear them applied to those who come from two sets down to claim a tennis match, or birdie the last three holes for victory at a golf tournament?
Honestly, unless said golfer lost a leg to an alligator while recovering his ball from a lake on the fifteenth of a Florida golf course, it is hard to assign the epithet ‘bravery’ to his effort.
Similarly, every elite sportsman nowadays seems to be a ‘great’, a ‘star’ or a ‘champion’. The terms are ridiculously attached to what former Richmond captain Jack Dyer would have described as “good, ordinary footballers”.
Another case is the description of a setback or unexpected failure. Losing a match unexpectedly or being disqualified does not really qualify as a ‘disaster’ or ‘tragedy’.
There are tragic events in sport – Ayrton Senna’s death at San Marino or the injury that recently beset Alex McKinnon are two – but to apply it broadly and freely is to deny the true meaning of the word.
Then there is the word ‘carnage’. Such terminology should never be assigned to a sporting contest.
It is the preserve of warfare and barbaric butchery that results in an extreme number of dead, not the likes of a pile-up in the peloton at the Tour de France.
Sport is a vehicle that captures most of life’s emotions. It is rightly described as a microcosm of life.
If you watch sport you will likely experience, along with the competitors, the human emotions of joy, despair, anticipation, frustration, annoyance, anger and elation.
These are all commonplace during sporting contests, and drive us to dedicate so much of our time to it, whether as participants or spectators.
There are words to aptly tell the story of what we are watching and experiencing without delving into the world of hyperbole to describe it.
Here endeth the lesson.
Emric
Guest
Today is ANZAC day. This day is about the soldiers who risked it all to protect our society, our lives and the way we live. Today is a soldiers day.
Jack Smith
Roar Guru
"The stage of human social development and organization which is considered most advanced" - Civilisation according to Oxford dictionary. I tried Macquarie but wants me to sign up...eh. Roman civilisation was one of the most advanced of its time by a mile, hence the term civilisation. Gecko 'civilisation' applies to multiple groups from various ages. Aztec civilisation (highly advanced for its time even with human sacrifice) and the Egyptian civilisation. I could continue...
Floyd Calhoun
Guest
I think Tom was quoting from Monty Python's Life Of Brian there Gecko.
Tad
Roar Rookie
Whats worse is a incessant poster like yourself who from all accounts fails to grasp the basics of what ANZAC day actuallly means. Do you think ANZAC day celebrates war ?. And of course, as only you can, you manage to turn it into a code war. You must be so proud.
Titus
Guest
What's worse, mocking war or celebrating it?
ciudadmarron
Guest
I've been struck by the servicemens posts on this and Debbie Spillane's article decrying the crassness. Titus might be doing it flippantly but there is a national debate about the increasing jingoism that surrounds the day as there are less diggers to tell us otherwise. It's not his fault soccer doesn't have an equivalent. I've watched Eddie and others revel in the day with boys own enthusiasm, as many more do increasingly around the nation, pinning medals to their chests. I don't watch the coverage anymore and it's nothing to do with a code war!
Tad
Roar Rookie
The only one making a attempt to turn this into a mockery of war is you, its pretty pathetic, even by your low standards.
AR
Guest
It's surprising that some people (presumably adults too) dislike a particular sport so much, they jump online to spout provocative spiteful comments about that sport's efforts to commemorate ANZAC Day. Now some people criticise the day and that's fine. Free speech and all that. But there are soldiers at that game who take it very seriously. There are decorated diggers, old men, widows, grandchildren and thousands of others affected by past conflicts. The 90,000 people at the MCG is the single biggest gathering of Australians who stand together for the minute silence. Yet Titus mocks: "What do we want? WAR……….When do we want it? NOW". Code-warring truly knows no bounds...
Tanami Singh
Guest
so should sport hold events on days that will draw the smallest crowd??
Titus
Guest
No I'm not.
Tad
Roar Rookie
Yet you are still posting !.
Titus
Guest
Ok, thanks Tad. I feel much better now.
ciudadmarron
Guest
And on the subject of Anzac whinging: http://www.sydneyoutsider.com.au/SydneyOutsider/battle-of-central-station/
Tad
Roar Rookie
Pretty easy solution then, dont pay any attention, or post , obviously that just gets you more upset.
Gecko
Guest
Tom, if civilisation means science and infrastructure, agreed we owe a small debt to the Romans (though most of their inventions actually had to be 'rediscovered' after being lost in the Dark Ages). If civilisation means people acting in a civilised way to each other, we gained far more 'civilisation' from the Ancient Greeks, the Magna Carta, and the suffragette and chartist movements of the 19th century than from the Romans. Roman 'civilisation' was wonderful if you belonged to the right group of people, and that hasn't changed much in the last 2000 years if you look at poverty around the world. At least we have sport, which mostly treats people as equals (if one has enough leisure time to take up sport).
Titus
Guest
I remember the people who have been affected by war, all over the world, every day. I don't need the AFL to fire me up for it.
HardcorePrawn
Roar Guru
Mrs Prawn has that problem with the word 'chorizo', preferring to say 'Spanish sausage' instead.
AR
Guest
ANZAC Day is about remembering people who lost their lives. Even with your juvenile attempt at parody, your "support for war" comment is pretty offensive to thousands of people who have been affected by it.
Titus
Guest
Islamic Allstars vs Christian Allstars could be a goer I think, the media and pollies are doing a lot of good ground work in regards to that one, or there are some stirrings once again in Russia that could see the biggie come true, East V West!! We can only keep our fingers crossed and keep pushing--act local, think global. I know come ANZAC day I will be standing(in front of my couch) with 100 000 others and showing my full support for war. What do we want? WAR..........When do we want it? NOW
ciudadmarron
Guest
So long mom I'm off to drop the bomb So don't wait up for me But as you swelter Down in your shelter You can see me On your TV