So, Steve O’Keefe became heavily intoxicated, made several stupid, tasteless, and inappropriate comments to various guests at an official Cricket NSW function.
For this he was fined $20,000 and suspended from playing in the domestic one day series. As widely discussed, this was not his first offence, having incurred a $10,000 fine several months earlier after an altercation with police outside of a Sydney pub.
Naturally, it seems as if it all Steve’s fault right? I mean, he is the one that became so intoxicated that he couldn’t control himself. A simple summing up of the remarks floating around social media and forums is that the man clearly “can’t handle his booze.”
Legendary Australian players have gone down in folklore for their ability to consume vast amounts of alcohol in one sitting, and still retain control of themselves. David Boon’s consumption of 52 cans of Victorian Bitter during the flight to England for the 1989 Ashes series is listed in many contemporary publications and websites as one of the “greatest ever” moments in the history of the series.
‘Boonie’, as we had come to know and love him, scored 21 Test hundreds, seven of which came while facing our traditional rivals England. Yet for all his undoubted class and ability with the bat (and he even has a Test wicket to his name as well!), most Australians remember him solely for that one act of binge drinking on a plane.
Heck, he even made a lucrative post-cricket career out of it doing advertisements, first for VB, and then getting pilfered by Canadian Club who wanted Boonie’s ‘drinking man’ image for their own product.
I even have a big, inflatable, David Boon in my home (actually he is in the shed), leftover from that VB campaign.
Maybe it is just me, but I am a little saddened by the fact that someone who accomplished so much in his life – far more than I ever will – is being remembered for something so little. That such a sublime stroke player, and one of the best first drop batsmen ever to put on the baggy green cap (wouldn’t we love another Boon in the team right now?), is being remembered for something as mundane as drinking beer!
For me, it is reflection of the role that alcohol plays, not only in our sporting community, but, in a larger context, within Australian society as a whole. If you can drink vast amounts of alcohol in one session and not totally lose control you are a ‘bloody legend’. However, if you can’t, or don’t, then it becomes some sort of indication of your lack of status as a ‘man.’
Unfortunately, not only have I seen it with my own eyes, I have been on the receiving end of it. I openly apologise if there is something I am clearly not getting here, but I fail to see the point of participating in a sport if the only real objective of it involves getting together afterwards to drink yourself stupid.
I know remarks will involve concepts of ‘mateship’ and ‘bonding’ and ‘tradition.’ What I would like to know is why those things require alcohol?
Can’t we be mates without the drink?
This returns me to O’Keefe, Cricket NSW, and the Steve Waugh Medal function. The question I am going to ask here is was there really a need to even have alcohol at this event in the first place? A more pertinent issue is, was there a reason to have so much alcohol served at this event that someone could get as drunk as O’Keefe did?
The ultimate question I am asking here is how is really to blame? It is O’Keefe for drinking to much and saying stupid things while drunk, or Cricket NSW for continuing to embrace and encourage drinking culture?
Clearly, O’Keefe may potentially have some issues surrounding alcohol that this incident has finally revealed that he needs help with.
However, by putting all the blame on O’Keefe, and heavily punishing him for it, Cricket NSW, and by proxy, Cricket Australia, have absolved themselves of all blame. Is that entirely fair?
Yes, O’Keefe made a complete arse out of himself, and probably destroyed whatever was left of his cricketing career in the process; which in itself is quite sad. As we saw in India, on his day he is absolutely brilliant. So, in that sense, Australian cricket suffers from losing a potential match winner in its team.
O’Keefe may have pulled the trigger and shot himself, but it was the drinking mentality of Australian sporting culture being perpetuated by Cricket NSW that put the gun in his hand.
Cricket Australia’s high performance manager Pat Howard is quoted at saying that CA is taking a ‘zero tolerance’ approach toward O’Keefe’s actions. I call BS on this, because if they were really taking a zero tolerance approach to this they would be banning alcohol at all official CA functions and events. This does not seem to be happening.
Sadly, O’Keefe is not an isolated incident, just a high profile one. A study in 2013 found that 22 per cent of Australians had been the victims of verbal abuse from someone who is drunk. That is one in five of us.
In Australia every year 5,500 people die as a direct consequence of alcohol consumption and a further 157,000 people are hospitalised. That is 15 people a day dead and 430 people a day in hospital.
Alcohol is the single most damaging drug Australia, far and wide in excess of the ‘ice epidemic’ everyone seems to be panicking about right now.
Maybe it is time for Cricket Australia, Cricket NSW, and indeed all of us, to think about what role we play in sustaining that trend. CA and the others need to seriously consider the serving of alcohol at events.
Maybe those of you reading should consider it too. Try having a ‘dry’ function for your local team or club and see how many people that claim to ‘love’ their team show up. Who knows, we might all be pleasantly surprised.
world in union
Guest
No matter how much alcohol is available - it's up to EVERY person to show self discipline and self control and that applies to SOK. It's wrong to blame CA or Cricket NSW for providing alcohol at a function ... every other attendee was able to show self control and SOK himself knows and admits that he overstepped the mark of acceptable social behaviour and also admitted that he has an issue with his behaviour when consuming alcohol. There is no "spin" involved here it's purely a personal matter
Alan
Guest
Seriously dude, David Boon's claim to fame is drinking? Apart from playing tests from 1984 to 1996 and scoring 7,422 runs at 43+ he served as a test selector for a decade... If you choose to remember him for his drinking I suspect the problem is yours old mate. P.S. O'Keefe isn't the messiah, he's just a dumb@.. who has taken an opportunity most of us would die for and peeed it away. C'est la vie
Andrew Young
Roar Guru
nailed it, Neville.
Andy
Guest
I am not saying that alcohol when drunk to excess doesnt make people act like idiots. Im saying that people should bloody stop drinking too much because they are adults. There is also a pretty big link between having a dozen panadol and dying but most people decide, because they are adults, to only have 1 or 2. You are making excuses to mitigate OKeefe being an ass, you are blaming the alcohol and yes the alcohol probably made him more of an ass but he should have known that and stopped. Because he is an adult. If you know something has a bad effect on you, dont do it.
Andy
Guest
They shouldnt have a dry function because they are adults, having one or two glasses of wine or alcohol is healthy or at the very least has no effect on ones health. Alcohol is only ever a problem when the person drinking is a douche, i cant believe you are actually blaming a drink that people can choose to not have. And if you are going to say peer pressure i will counter with they are adults and if anyone can be cajoled or teased into drinking then what the hell.
Anindya Dutta
Roar Guru
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4394410/The-Australian-cricketer-O-Keefe-fined-abusing.html
Neville
Guest
Hi Alex, Alcohol abuse in Australian society is undeniably a problem, and I agree that it is sad that for many Boonie's legacy is his 'epic' drinking on a flight to England. I also believe that CA could take a stronger lead by not 'thirstily swilling' the advertising dollars on offer from brewing companies year on year. But to suggest that in this instance CA and Cricket NSW are responsible for the state O'keefe found himself in, is akin to blaming the Road Traffic Authority for all road deaths; they let people loose on the roads, people speed, people die and using your logic somehow it's the fault of the authority in charge, rather than the person in charge of the car. Bottom line is that speeding drivers and Steve O'keefe fail(ed) to demonstrate personal responsibility, and until it is learned severe sanctions are in order.
Al
Guest
We don't know how much contact CNSW's player welfare people have had with SOK in regards to his drinking - given that this isn't his first offense, I'd be very surprised if there hasn't been any support offered. It'd certainly be more than any other workplace - if I were to do what it has be insinuated that SOK did at a work function, I'd be summarily dismissed. There is a point that, as adults, we must identify our own flaws and resolve them. That resolution is different for all of us, whether it's going completely sober, attending AA meetings, not going to these functions, enlisting friends to help - there are always options. Where the alternative is behaving so badly that it severely harms your career, you need to step up and fix it.
Pope Paul VII
Guest
Don't want to open the dreaded irony debate but it's close to the definition. My Dad (not a big drinker by the way) loved a laugh so it was his favourite toast. Indeed one of the few useful things the catho hierarchy had was a fine appreciate of grog to help while away the time on this weird planet in the middle of nowhere. Jesus of Mexico gave us Nachos because it too is divine. Unfortunately things have gone backwards in the old promised land since the old boozy weddings went out of fashion.
qwetzen
Guest
That's an odd & contradictory thing for a pope to say. Wasn't one of your lead characters partial to turning water into wine for his team? You'd think that if he was an interfering wowser it'd be the other way around. Can't recall his name. Something Mexican.
qwetzen
Guest
JoM said: "Apparently a few tried to get him to go home.." That was just after he arrived...
Andrew Young
Roar Guru
Perfect summation, Craig.
Andrew Young
Roar Guru
Yes, agreed. But that learning relies on him, NOT CRICKET NSW!
Andrew Young
Roar Guru
Womblat, you are spot on!
qwetzen
Guest
Yep, it's absolutely valid to extrapolate your parents' alleged experience to all of "society". Man: All right, it's a fair cop, but society's to blame. Church Policeman: Right, we'll arrest them instead. — Monty Python, "Church Police"
Andy
Guest
Alex, you dont have to answer but are you in your early 20s, you seem like you are in your early 20s and are doing not an arts degree but something as kind of vague, so not a Law Degree or an Accounting Degree but a Philosophy Degree or
Andrew Young
Roar Guru
I do not disagree that the role of alcohol in society, especially sporting society is quite scary. Its prevalence, and our seeming dependence upon it is indeed quite sad. Again, I made no such suggestion that a potential problem of alcoholism is only one that applies to O'Keefe, rather, at this event, the problem was 'solely his own.' Believe me, I agree that we needn't have alcohol in order to celebrate, have fun and recognise achievements, but to me, it seems there were 31 other NSW contracted players, plus supporters, family and friends, who were able to make sensible, enjoyable use of it at the function. So why is it that one player's decisions are the fault of everyone else? Cheers.
JoM
Guest
Apparently a few tried to get him to go home but that wasn't going to happen
qwetzen
Guest
A few people have asked the question; "Why didn't his mates throw him in a cab or something?". There's an obvious answer to that.
qwetzen
Guest
Ahhh yes. Prohibition. A tremendous example of how well wowser organised repression works. Thousands died from toxic bootleg and the mafia became fabulously wealthy and immovably entrenched in so many aspects of society. So what was your point?