I’m not sure if there are any documented cases of people actually dying of boredom, but we might get one this A-League season if we have to watch many more games like the one between Perth Glory and Sydney FC in the round just gone.
And that is the part of the argument surrounding the scheduling of games in fierce summer conditions that doesn’t get as much focus as the obvious one to do with the potential threat to the health of players.
It is a provocative line to say that someone could die from playing in extreme heat and the awful conditions for a 4.30pm game in Perth on Saturday represented as good a time as any to trot it out. Sydney coach Graham Arnold knows how to feed the chooks.
But the thing is that nobody ever does seem to die. Players can get distressed, they can lose several kilograms, but nobody seems to actually drop off the perch.
I’m not trying to be flippant by saying that. I think it’s ridiculous to be playing a game in such difficult conditions, no matter what a wet bulb globe temperature might tell officials and whether it should be used to justify such a decision to go ahead.
Sometimes, common sense should be all that is needed and there is an enormous amount to be gained from avoiding such confrontations with the weather.
Apart from not putting players under unfair duress it would also eliminate the damage to the game as a spectacle that comes from playing a match like the one between Perth and Sydney in such conditions.
I consider myself lucky. I went to the earlier game between Western Sydney Wanderers and Wellington Phoenix and only got home in time to watch the second half of the Perth-Sydney clash.
That was bad enough, particularly after witnessing the much more entertaining Wanderers-Phoenix match. But at least I was able to avoid the first half of it.
It’s not the fault of the players. They are naturally going to play at a reduced pace and try to conserve energy when it is so hot. But it inevitably leads to uninspiring football and that is a turn-off.
The rusted-on fans will understand the situation, but even they won’t turn up at the ground in the same numbers under such conditions and the attendance at nib stadium was disappointing but understandable.
The regulars will probably be back, but what of the casual fan? If any of those went along then what they watched was hardly the sort of advertisement to get them to return. Same if they watched it on TV. In fact, the A-League would be better off if no casual fans had turned up or tuned in.
Matches like the Perth-Sydney one that are very unattractive hurt the A-League brand. The players struggle in front of a reduced crowd. There is no atmosphere at the ground and it is painfully obvious watching on TV.
One of the best things the A-League has got going for it is the tremendous atmosphere created by fervent fans. It has a great effect at the ground and it bursts through on TV. It can make a poor game seem average, an average game seem good and a good game seem great.
No atmosphere and the effect can go in the opposite direction.
So the real question is why do games have to go ahead in such conditions in the first place? Why wasn’t the Wanderers home game scheduled for a 7.30pm kick-off, instead of 5.15, and the Perth home game scheduled for 6.30 there and 9.30 in the east? Wouldn’t that have made more sense?
That is the question the FFA, pay television and the clubs, the game’s stake-holders, need to answer.
You can get a bad game in the best possible conditions, but let’s not make it easy for a poor match to happen. The A-League can do without that.
Jon
Guest
I agree Waz, Arnold's FC is one of the most boring A-League teams to watch - what ever the conditions.
Towser
Guest
Now where do we begin on the Dung beetle stories. However here's an interesting fact "Dung beetles are currently the only known non-human animal to navigate and orient themselves using the Milky Way". Now rather than deliberate on the nasty habits of these creatures, how can they be employed by NASA.
Lionheart
Guest
ha ha, great idea. Hope the job is well paid.
jbinnie
Guest
kevin -Careful mate your 100 degrees is actually a measurement commonly used used in the Centigrade Scale and is the boiling point for water the 35 degress being spoken about here is a third of that and is a temp quite often reached in Australia.Now when yuu say it was a 100 degrees in Brisbane to what scale are you referring ????? Centigrade of Fahrenheit. You get my point? Was the Brisbane river "boiling" on that day Cheers jb
albatross
Roar Pro
the pick your nose – armpit test. Have a 44 gallon drum between the security bag check and the gate. Each fan picks his/her nose with armpit over the drum. If the Wet bulb genius can take a bath in the drum before kick off Other than the fact that SBS had a program on last night about dog owners who had dogs that ate their own poo, this is the most revolting thing I can think of.
Towser
Guest
Even better Uncle Junior give the fans the pick your nose - armpit test. Have a 44 gallon drum between the security bag check and the gate. Each fan picks his/her nose with armpit over the drum. If the Wet bulb genius can take a bath in the drum before kick off, the game is off or postponed till later. Great article,spot on.
Uncle Junior
Guest
Maybe instead of a Wet Bulb Test to figure out if it's too hot to play sport, we need a Common Sense Test? Or, even better, "make the FFA's climate assessor run around outside for 10 minutes test"?
spruce moose
Guest
Well considering the ratings for that game, I hardly think there would be a difference in moving it back 2 hours.
RBBAnonymous
Guest
With the EPL gone next year there is no reason why this game cant be scheduled at 6.30 pm local time or even later. It is madness having any A-league game starting earlier than 5.30 pm. I like the late starts anyway. I prefer watching A-league over EPL. As for boring games you will get that now and then and in this case the heat was a factor. Most games this season have been really entertaining especially with the Victory, Brisbane and even Wanderers.
AVictory
Guest
My rationale is that Fox Sports chose the schedule. They scheduled this match for primetime Saturday night, for the Sydney market, the highest TV ratings market in Australia, as Perth was playing Sydney FC. They were perhaps gambling that it won't be hot, but Perth temperature is very consistent in the summer. Your article is spot on, this type of game is extremely boring and does more damage to the A-League and Perth brand more than anything else. If they had a kick-off time at 9:30pm AEDT, The game would have been more exciting and in all honesty the TV ratings changes would be minimal. All Sydney FC fans with access to Foxtel will make the effort to watch this game if they're available on that night.
Brian
Guest
Never quite got the obsession with all games finishing by 9:30PM AEST. Its summer the cricket goes till 10:30 and the tennis till the wee hours. Sure there needs to be one Sunday afternoon game but it shouldn't be in Brisbane or Perth.
Brick Tamland of the pants party
Guest
Well Franko if the game were to kick off at say 5:45pm Perth time you will find that a good 75-80% of the pitch is covered in shade and the temperature is starting to decrease. This makes things much more comfortable for the players and gives them more chance to play at a good level. I am sure many people haven't gone beddy byes by 8:45pm on a Saturday on the east coast so that would be ideal.
Waz
Guest
As we play in summer this topic has got to be reviewed, I'm personally comfortable with the criteria used for determining if games go ahead for the athletes concerned remembering there is a simar criteria in place for all summer sports including tennis and the cricket, but as for the spectators - few of our stadiums offer sun protection so for their own comfort we need to look at this. Now just on SFC, the next most boring game also involved SFC and was played at night, in cool conditions, in the rain. The opposite if Perths heat. And it was really boring. Let's not let Arnie off the hook here - he is sending a team out to bore his way up the league table whether its daytime sunshine or night time rain.
kevin
Guest
This is truly bizarre , last year we attended a day game in Brisbane at about 3 pm, it w as a 100 degrees, crap to sit in crap to watch and I think they had drinks breaks once a half Come on FFA, U can do better
Vic
Guest
STOP talking common sense! WE live in Australia and it will NOT be tolerated!!
melbourneterrace
Guest
The issue comes back to FFA and Foxtel needing to be far more flexible in it's scheduling. Sunday afternoon games in Perth and Brisbane are ridiculous, they'd be better of playing midweek games. On the other hand, some other cities could probably do with more afternoon games. Refusing to move the Melbourne Derby earlier so it didn't clash with the AFC CL Final last year was a no brainer but the FFA make it easy to be incompetent. In the opening and closing points of the season, it's cool enough to schedule day games in Melbourne. Regional areas like Central Coast and Adelaide thrive on them.
Franko
Guest
Sorry Greg, what is the answer....? Games in Perth are only played at night, meaning they are on TV in the east from 10pm or later. Or introduce a new concept of "Brunch-time" kick offs at 10am, BYO smoked salmon........?
Mister Football
Roar Guru
It's a really good question about the scheduling. I too have only recently learned about the wet bulb globe temperature policy and the fact that a meteorologist is on call 24/7. It's unclear whether the meteorologist's prognostications are made from the comfort of an air-conditioned office, or whether he's there on the spot, in the blazing sun, doing warm up laps, to determine whether the players should be playing or not.