To quote Obi-Wan Kenobi, you were the chosen one!
And yet it seems that Tim Paine, far from being the one who would bring balance to the Force, has turned out to just be another sporting pimple, waiting for the chance to burst all over his own team and the country that cheers for it.
Tim Paine, it had always seemed, was a genuinely good guy. Sure, he was terrible at sledging and would be ill-advised to ever get up at an open-mic night, but everything pointed to him being what we’d searched for so long: a mature, intelligent Test captain who fought to the last breath for his country but carried himself always with an innate sense of decency.
It wasn’t just that he would refrain from ball-tampering and have the strength of character necessary to make sure the rest of the team did too. It wasn’t just that under him the Australian team would be summed up more by footage of players having a cuddle and sharing flavoured teas than by the image of fast bowlers screaming threats at batters.
(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
No, Paine was nice. He was nice to us. He was nice to his players. Even when he wasn’t nice to the opposition, he was not-nice in quite a nice way. He was nice enough that even when his on-field form slipped (and to be honest it never really slipped as badly as his harshest critics would have it), everyone felt it was worth having him at the head of the side. Because a good man is hard to find, and Tim Paine was a good man.
Hell, for all we know he still is a good man. Not every man who behaves like an unspeakable creep for a certain amount of time forfeits the right to be thought of as a good man for all time. We don’t know whether Paine is a lifelong distributor of uninvited genitalia, or just your average twit who temporarily forgets how to behave like a decent human being.
But what we know is that Tim Paine is not the man we thought he was. And at this stage we have to question whether anyone is.
(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
It seems that revelations about sporting heroes – at least those of the male variety – are almost never of the positive sort. When we learn something about a sportsman that we never knew before, it’s hardly ever that they secretly visit children’s hospitals on their days off or that they donate half their salary to a fund for hunting war criminals.
It’s always more likely that at some point in their life they made a hobby of racial abuse, or that they’ve been telling people that vaccines cause autism on Instagram, or of course that old favourite: their penis has been seen somewhere it shouldn’t have been.
That last one is nothing new to Australian cricket fans, of course. One can only imagine what we’d have been put through if Shane Warne had gained the captaincy he so coveted. Every week would’ve been another round of ‘I deeply regret my behaviour, but I will not be standing down…’
But even Warne was, once upon a time, a golden boy of whom nobody could speak ill. They all were, the Feet of Clay Brigade that have gone marching through our national team for decade upon decade. So many heroes, so many disappointments.
(Photo by Getty Images)
Not that sportsmen have to be virtuous. Their job is to play games, and maybe looking to them for moral excellence was always a bad idea. Expecting professional athletes to be role models in anything but prowess at their chosen sport is naive in the extreme by this stage in history.
But still, it feels good when we think a great sportsman is also a great man. And the feeling when we turn out to have misjudged him is a terrible leaden thud inside our chests.
How many times will we feel that thud before we stop believing that our heroes can be decent at all? How many times will we be disappointed before we stop giving disappointment the opportunity?
Tim Paine’s was not the worst act committed by a sportsperson, and maybe he’ll one day make proper amends for it. But it’ll always be there: we’ll always remember the thud.
Maybe it’s time we all gave up on heroes. Maybe we’ve just got to accept that they only ever existed in movies.
sheek
Roar Guru
Ben Pobjie, I'm contributing late because I found some info late. I was at dinner some weeks ago & caught a very brief conversation between two ex-school mates, one of whom's son plays with Paine in Tassie. The other guy asks the dad a question, then checks himself with, "Oh, I remember, you don't have a high opinion of Paine (or similar)". The conversation ends quickly before the dad is compelled to expand, but enough was let out of the bag to be illuminating. Yes, it seems we were all sucked in by Paine. He seemed a good choice at the time. But his childish prank was as crude & thoughtless as it gets. Bradman wasn't liked by his team mates, too remote & self-absorbed, but he was a decent person by most measures. Chappelli isn't liked by today's generation, his forthright nature too grating, but revered by his generation & team mates. Punter was like us, a good, knockabout bloke, but was tactically naive. But then again, with the team he had, he could be. Clarke was the opposite, tactically astute, but seen as shallow & an egotist by a majority. Smith was a clone of Clarke. But he went further, disgracing the position of captain by abdicating his responsibility once he knew foul play was about. The best guy to never captain Oz, Keith Miller, was apparently emotionally cruel to women, using them for his pleasure, & neglecting his kids. We remember as the devil-may-care, athletic, exuberant batter & bowler, winning games for Oz with his daring brilliance. We didn't see the other side. And ultimately, that should not detract from his statistical achievement. After all, there are worse crimes. As Malcolm Fraser said, but for the wrong reasons, "Life wasn't meant to be easy". Selecting your heroes is never easy either.
Sgt Pepperoni
Roar Rookie
Struff
Micko
Roar Rookie
It's all about perception though, and what makes the sponsors stay or runaway. Magellan bailed out as the #1 sponsor of CA virtually immediately after the Cape Town affair, and if you watched Paine's teary press conference a couple of days ago, they actually put a sheet over the CT/CA sponsors' board so none were visible!
Unless your actions result in jail time, I don't care what you do when your are not on the field playing your chosen sport, I know I am in the minority, unfortunately.
Relaxed and Comfortable
Guest
‘Thrown enough bait to lure him into it’ - this ranks right up there with ‘being led by the d**k’, ‘what was she doing out so late’ and my personal favourite ‘what else can you expect dressed like that’.
Rellum
Roar Guru
All ready done
Pierro
Roar Rookie
Well done Steve I agree Cummins a bit of a hero . Look what he and Hazelwood did in the last uk ashes . Averages of 18 to 20 from memory . Phenominal bowlers . Heroes
Pierro
Roar Rookie
Ben I never said there are not any problematic aspects to any human being . That comes to the people that lead and inspire as they are amazing . Original title was around are there any heroes left . Reality is bradman Jordan are heroes to so many. We all know team mates fall out with their leaders and winners and are pushed hard by the best. I know the history of two of these sporting heroes very well . I actually don’t envy your lack of global perspective and reality Ben as many millions of young lads globally are inspired by these heroes . All humans have personality flaws. There’s a difference to bring up paine, he sexted , got political , was a mediocre onfield captain and interim placement losing two series to India and a drawn one in England that should have been one . He was not really much in the same league of the sporting heroes I’m mentioning who were the best of there sports in 100 years plus of history. Paine sexted like many men have I’m sure . I’m sure he has inspired young lads wanting to be keepers and of course the groupies on here that love mediocrity and the PC culture Paine was purportadly trying to change but he was never a Jordan , a Brady a Bradman . You don’t know sport globally and historically if you can’t see that and the global inspiration these men bought to millions . Roger Federer and Rafa nadal another two . Icons . Heroes . Few flaws to the public . Not sure your article has much weight my friend . Paines not the guy to write about . Maybe Lance Armstrong was a more prolific shamed sportsman . But Paine was always a bit of an interim mediocre captain and a poor example to right the piece about really as he’s well down the list . I’d be discussing cricket australia’s PR and PC agendas, ineptitude and poor decision making first before a piece on character flaws of sportsman . Pretty obvious we all have character flaws but doesn’t mean there arent so many sporting heroes that are the real deal
Pierro
Roar Rookie
It's not an argument . It's a fact Bradman and Jordan are heroes and massive global following to so many . Sure they have some inter team mate stashes . Big deal. I'm sure you do with you colleagues and friends . It's tedious because you have nothing left to argue about . Plenty of sporting heroes
Kim Hughes 1980
Roar Rookie
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matth
Roar Guru
Kelly Slater?
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
This argument is tedious.
Steve
Guest
Its pretty obvious by now that Cummins is going to end up well within the top 5 of Australia greatest ever pacemen, could be near the top already if he didn't have to spend 5 years out of the test team after his debut match against South Africa to remodel his bowling action. The guy is simply one of the best cricketers we've ever produced,Iconic status awaits him.
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
Their track records suggest that's not going to happen.
Tony
Roar Guru
Watch for a product recall
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
There goes his WeetBix endorsement.
Pierro
Roar Rookie
Who cares about you rellum ? You get this message once you are not worth responding too as you dont really make any sense . We have all watched Jordans doc or many are aware bradmans protestant v catholic animosity but that doesn't discount them as heroes or lesson them to much of the public . So rellum no one is listening to your personal atracks . You just don't like solid rebuttals it seems
Kalva
Roar Rookie
I believe it…he would probably be laughing too much to ever be able to take a pic of his own dick.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
Well, they wanted equality, it's not what it's cracked up to be!
Rellum
Roar Guru
You get this message once, you as a person are not worth responding to or worth anyone's time.