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If you had a chance to invite any five sports people to dinner, who would you choose? What rationale would you use in choosing them?
These are mine, but Roarers, who would be yours?
Wayne Carey (Australian rules)
In many circles, Wayne Carey is seen as a rat-bag with little or no redeeming features.
I am so intrigued by him due the fact that he is so accepting of his flaws, and the many mistakes he has made. This can be seen in how open and honest he is in commentary on Triple M.
It makes me want to dig deeper, firstly about his career in the game where he was viewed as the ‘King’ and often put on a pedestal as the best ever. After that, I would love to rack his mind on the current game, which he shows he has such an intimate understand of by his perceptive remarks.
Taking this a step further, I would love to see if he was open to a coaching position if he was ever offered one.
Viv Richards (cricket)
Part of the reason for inviting Viv is a vain attempt to live vicariously through the ‘King of Cool’.
Outside of that superficiality, it would be grand to bask in the stories of his career that left a legacy not only as a batting icon, but a cultural one.
I would love to delve into how he managed to put the fear of God back into the bowlers, especially the fast men, who exposed many yellow streaks in accomplished batsmen with blistering short-ball assaults on supportive tracks.
He flipped the coin with his audacious counter attacks that reeked of brutality, making bowlers cower in his wake.
After a few rums, I would touch on the tragic demise of West Indies cricket, and how it could be returned to the days when it was the lifeblood of the game.
Justine Henin (tennis)
Fans of tennis will find this as an almost absurd statement, but I always saw Justine Henin as the ultimate rebel. To give this credence, she came into the game when everything in the women’s game was about power, as well as the insidious tactical grunting and accent on fashion sense.
All of which diminished the quality, and credibility of the women’s game.
Inspirationally, she defied this through an embrace of traditions as if she was a Chris Evert clone, with her game exuding similar technical perfection. Her backhand was a sublime gift from God with no comparison in the men’s or women’s game.
The killer blow in her arsenal was her mind, steeled with a relentlessness that overawed most, if not all of her opponents.
In a very real sense she was a throwback to when the traditions of the game mattered.
Love to hear her recount of her victorious ’03 French Open campaign, where she defeated Serena Williams at her very best in what was arguably the best women’s match ever.
Gai Waterhouse (horse racing)
The natural eccentric brightness of her disposition makes Waterhouse a perfect dinner partner already.
But, behind her ever glowing smile is a woman that not only found a place in a predominantly male-dominated sport, but rose to the summit above all.
In a dramatic sense, she became a queen that ruled in the sport of kings.
Her rise as a trainer in horse racing has had so many compelling subplots. Her husband Robbie was banned for race fixing, the stories about her iconic father T.J.Smith’s part in her life and her struggles to win a big race in Melbourne.
I would love to witness some of her tales.
Jimmy White (snooker)
How can you not love Jimmy White?
A combination of flawed genius and self-effacing sincere charm that sealed in stone his ‘people’s champion ‘ moniker.
I think most snooker fans lived through him in his ill-fated six runner-up places at the World Championships. With his last in 1994 that went to a deciding frame with its destiny on his cue, only to have him miss an easy shot, inviting his opponent Stephen Hendry to feel like Lazarus in victory.
It left all heart broken on behalf of ‘The Whirlwind’ White.
The charisma in his style reached in you and made you feel a gamut of emotions. As soon as he approached the table, the record button was mandatory, just to allow you to bask in his audacious and attacking style after.
He never compromised himself, with the lack of a World Championship making pundits question whether he should adopt a more conservative style with less attack, and more safety.
White would be the perfect dinner guest. As a sportsman, he was an entertainer first, and worried about honours second.
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