I am one athlete who believes that today's sportsman lives under a very large and sometimes unfair microscope. We can all debate this topic till we are blue in the face, but there are some incidents that cannot be favourable however you look at them for the athlete.
The incident I'm talking about is the Western Force Rugby Team that had a preseason gathering over on Rottnest Island, just off of the Perth coastline. Read here to get updated on incident: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gSI719K-kTnha_v61l3AuSxg7uzA
Today I watched the press conference of the sentences to these players being handed down. As usual the players involved talked about alcohol being the cause of the problem. Sure, alcohol is going to be consumed at these preseason get togethers, but you still have to know right from wrong.
Now I have not been to Rottnest Is before ( I hope to one day) but I have seen enough advertising on this destination to know that these gritters are out of bounds. Happy snaps are the closest you can get to them.
I will go out on a limb and say the Western Force as a group would have been addressed about the rules and regulations of the Island. One of them would have been, DO NOT HANDLE QUOKKAS!
Boys being boys, or is that men being men, decided to turn this into a bi-athlon of sorts. Trapping an animal in a milk crate is a cool event when you are eight, especially here in the north with he cane toad. After trapping, lets move onto the hammer throw.
It was good to see the club deal with it internally, so the players should know exactly where they stand if another offense occurs.
The problem I have with this incident is, no matter what kind of state you are in, you should know that what you are about to do is wrong. Throw in the idea that a tourist or two visit this place and you may just get caught out by one.
Until the number of these types of mishaps become extinct, it is going to be hard for the microscope to be lifted.
NBA Top Ten Plays:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDgXe3OPtos&feature=user
NBL Boxscores:
http://www.nbl.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=73292 hawks v blaze
http://www.nbl.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=73301 taipans v dragons
http://www.nbl.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=73299 kings v tigers
http://www.nbl.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=73302 36ers v pigs
http://www.nbl.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=73303 crocs v wildcats
NCAA Boxscore:
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/boxscore?gid=200711300050 WSU vs Baylor
This game was played on ESPN today. It featured two of Australia's best over there. Aaron Baynes for the sixth ranked Washington State Cougars against Aaron Bruce's Baylor Bears.
Articles:
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22855941-5001023,00.html crocs beat wilcats
http://www.theage.com.au/news/Sport/Kings-do-10092-job-on-Tigers/2007/12/01/1196394693564.html
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,22855868-12428,00.html adelaide win
http://www.nbl.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=73287 USA update from nbl.com.au
Sunday, December 2, 2007
When Will Athletes Learn?
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2 comments:
Why is there a connection between footballers (of all codes) and stupid acts?
djrod..footballers have a lot of eyes on them at the moment. Anyone with that may eyes on them are bound to be caught out once or twice. Even a squeaky clean bloke like yourself may come under a close eye if you wore a Cowboys jersey on a Saturday night in winter.
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