The Commodification of Sport (How to Lose Your Integrity: Part 1)
Once upon a time, I was a cricket fan. My introduction to the sport, as for so many people born in the 1950s, was through the suave tones on the radio of such commentators as Alan McGilvray, Lindsay Hassett, John Arlott, Tony Cozier … This early interest impressed my parents so much that I was taken – at the age of five – to watch the one-day match between the Southern Highlands and the inimitable West Indies in the summer of 1960-1961 at Manuka Oval. (I lasted until the luncheon break. Then my mother took me home, leaving my father to watch the rest of the match in peace.)
Cricket continued as a background to my life during the 1960s and 1970s – an exciting yet reassuringly predictable part of summer. Then came Packer’s Circus, and the move from cricket’s status as an essentially amateur but – where professional – lowly-paid sport to one where the top players suddenly received substantial rewards. With that change came, to my eyes at any rate, a change as well to the nature of the game: the gradual disappearance of “sporting” behaviour, the longevity of the top players (because of the money – after all, what other career options do most of them have after 15 plus years in the game?) to the detriment of youngsters wanting to have a go at representing their countries at the highest level – in short, the commodification of the game for the benefit of promoters and media proprietors. During the 1980s and 1990s I rapidly lost interest, and though I could generally tell you the results of a series, I rarely listened or watched any more.
Then, in the late 1990s, Adam Gilchrist erupted onto the scene. My interest in cricket was revived – not merely because he was a very good keeper (not the greatest, but still pretty damn’ fine) and an enchanting batsman, but because of the spirit in which he played the game. He walked – even when the umpire had given him not out – if he believed that he was truly out.
After delivering the 2009 Cowdery Lecture– which even cricket traditionalists may find interesting – Gilchrist, in conversation with Mark Nicholas, was asked about the time when he “walked” in the 2003 World Cup semi-final against Sri Lanka, even though the umpire had ruled in his favour. This is my transcript of Gilchrist’s explanation, which I first heard on 28 June 2009. To me this illustrates his personal integrity, which why I admire him as a cricketer, and more importantly, as a person (any errors in the transcript are my responsibility):
It’s something that I guess was ingrained early in my life. I spoke right at the start about my parents and the values and qualities that they instil in you as a person. I guess that’s what defines you and carries you through your journey of life, and for me it’s been a cricketing journey. Probably two significant moments in my career that I hadn’t really thought about until around, funnily enough, the semi-final in the World Cup in 2003 after the well-documented walking incident in that match. That was the catalyst for me to start thinking and thinking why have I got this approach.
When I was 17 I came over – had the great fortune of coming over here and playing for the Richmond Cricket Club on a scholarship. And in a match during that year when I was playing here I got a nick on one and just walked and got into the rooms and everyone said “Oh, the umpire wasn’t going to give you out. What did you come off for?” I wrote a letter to Mum and Dad and I said I was really disappointed, I shouldn’t have walked, I might have got to the 100 and so on. But my last line was, “Oh well, but at least I did the right thing.”
A couple of years later I was playing for the New South Wales 2nd Eleven in a trial match against the ACT. Got a big nick on one, got given not out and I didn’t walk, and I went on to get 100. But I tell you I felt lousy for the rest of the innings. And I went to the bowler, who was an ageing bowler about to retire from the game and I went to him and I said, “Mate, I’m so sorry about that, and I feel terrible.” And he said, “Oh, don’t worry about that. Look, I’m nearly finished, you’re on the rise, this game means much more to you than what it does to me.” And that line just sort of struck a nerve in me, sort of “At what cost does it mean that?”
And I think they are probably the defining moments that led me to play that way. But it’s never been a crusade. The greatest thing that I’ve found awkward about this whole discussion is that I feel that some people look upon people that don’t walk as being dishonest or unsporting. I very much don’t feel that way – I can accept that it’s part of the game. It’s here to stay, this issue, and do you or don’t you – it’s an individual choice.”
(my emphasis)
Gilchrist retired in 2008, and Ricky Ponting’s tenure as captain went on and on and on and on … For the last couple of years, I’ve mostly neither known nor cared when, where, or whom Australia is playing.
My lack of interest has been compounded by the promotion of betting on every possible aspect of the game. Obviously this is most observable on the commercial channels, but despite protests from many listeners even the ABC’s radio coverage has been contaminated.
Of course, cricket is not the only sport where betting has now been normalised: it occurs in all the football codes and – guess what? – one of the consequences is that match-fixing is now rife and has been described as a “disease that could kill football”.
Is it any wonder that the get-rich-quick-at-any-cost attitude that seems to be so pervasive nowadays spawns greedy fools like Lance Armstrong, who not only take risks with their long-term physiological and psychological health but also compromise their own moral compass, perhaps permanently? Not to mention corrupting their chosen sport …
Sport has become yet another victim of late-stage (terminal?) capitalism: commodify it, add a healthy lashing of “wagering”, let the white-collar and underbelly criminals rip, and as for the competitors and their adoring publics – well, they know what they can do with themselves.
Meanwhile, as crime writer John D. MacDonald wrote:
Integrity is not a conditional word. It doesn’t blow in the wind or change with the weather. It is your inner image of yourself, and if you look in there and see a man who won’t cheat, then you know he never will.
Integrity? The commodifiers of all things wouldn’t recognise integrity if it bit them on the bum.
THE PUB 
http://bit.ly/UAB00u (top link)
Julia Gillard signals cuts to fund ALP ‘values’ as business and wealthy put on notice
BY: SID MAHER, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT From: The Australian January 30, 2013 12:00AM
JULIA Gillard will today promise substantial structural savings in the federal budget to pay for key Labor priorities such as the national disability insurance scheme and the Gonski education reforms in a declaration that will put big business and high-income earners on notice for further cuts to entitlements.
In a speech to the National Press Club in Canberra that will set out priorities in Labor’s re-election pitch, the Prime Minister will promise that her big-ticket initiatives in disability and education will be funded according to “Labor values”, saying “fairness can only be funded through economic strength”.
From watching that Sean Hannity clip, and from a few observations of some local nuts around here (now banished to the Outlands, thankfully) and at other blogs, I have come to the conclusion that, like TV aliens, and other carnivorous reptilian humanoids who have assumed human form not quite perfectly, there is a guaranteed way to detect unhinged conservative loonies.
The aliens in The Invaders, an old TV show from the sixties, had a pinky finger on their right hand they couldn’t un-straighten.
The reptiles in V were forced to wear sunglasses and sometimes the humanoid skin around their eyes tore, revealing the scales underneath. The way they ate live rats and guinea pigs whole and wriggling was a dead giveaway too.
Monsters in the Men In Black series of movies always had their carapaces or tentacles sticking out in revealing places.
When it comes to right wing nutjobs, anyone who says or writes a phrase beginning with “a little thing called…”, followed by
* “Freedom of speech”,
* “our right to bear arms”,
* “democracy”,
* “our right to insult each other” (a Bolt special),
* “fair and balanced reporting”,
* “fair play”,
* “parliamentary procedure”
* “common decency”
or any other inalienable right, point of etiquette or phenomenon they wish to cite (but really want to exploit and abuse for their own purposes), is an unhinged right-wing loonie.
Works every time. Sure-fire.
i enjoyed Prf. Bonhams piece on the poll yesterday.
To be have you read that..
all so on ess, one has to register to be polled.
i registered, but now ignore, when comes to in box, takes to long
to fill out becauce of other non politcal questions..
There you go…
More two-bob-each-wayism: Abbott’s telling the punters they can ditch the tax AND keep the goodies too.
This is surely a new development. The idea was that if we got rid of the Carbon Tax we wouldn’t need the compensations anymore. I wonder what Joe thinks of Tony’s largesse?
Incidentally, every time Gillard claims Abbott won’t keep his promises to axe this and repeal that she plays right into his hands.
He wants to be able to make out he’s the tough, committed conviction politician, slashing and burning Labor waste like the NBN and the Carbon Tax, conducting endless elections until he gets his way and keeps his swingeing promises, while at the same time he’s dog-whistling that he’ll let the punters keep the glittering prizes.
It results in phenomena like petitions to play out the NBN cables to Dutton’s electorate in Queensland, while Dutton himself vows he’ll fight to destroy the NBN.
Abbott is signalling we can have both the “baseball bat” satisfaction of getting rid of Gillard and her disgraceful policies in a Reality TV-like binge of vengeance and retribution, while retaining all the benefits and advantages that arose from those schemes.
all so on ess, one has to register to be polled.
i registered, but now ignore, when comes to in box, takes to long
to fill out becauce of other non politcal questions..
Denese, I think you might have hit on to why the Essential poll doesn’t seem to move, while most other polls have shown a slowish creep back towards Labor.
I’m pretty sure that that is the pattern, even if we haven’t got a reliable fix on just where it is. (My guess is about 48-52, but it could be anything from 47-53 to 50-50.) The trend is the thing, rather than the actual score, anyway.
That is also confirmed by the wildish, erratic behaviour of the Liberal Party with its mini-campaign and the desperate attempts to reshape Abbott. Their internal polling would be saying much the same.
I’m sure the spreading of the JWS polling into the media was an attempt to rally their own and rattle Labor, possibly bringing out the Ruddites.
We see it also in the OM attempts to turn almost anything to do with Gillard into a mini-crisis, whether its the Novs Peris nomination or Tim’s tired joke. This at a time when Gillard has never looked more relaxed and in control.
I think they’re on the run. It will still be a couple of months before we have substantial evidence of this in the polls.
It is becoming so very obvious that Abbott is playing the Mussolini card…He acts as the front man who is backed by those who will benefit from his slash and burn freemarket policies.
He’s coming across as Mr. Nice-guy till he gets in office, then the hammer will fall…notice his “own-private-haemorrhoid ” ; Chrissy Pyne, talking about parliament reform this morning while being softly massaged by Sabra Lane?
I tell you, these OM. journos have to be given a damn good kick up the clacker……Did you hear Sabra..?…”…Some people are saying…”…NO SABRA!!! some people are not just saying…we are bloody shouting ” You Mr. Pyne ..and your mates have been abusing parliament proceedure for the best part of a year plus just to push a bullshit agenda!”….THAT sabra is what we are shouting!..and now THEY want to change parliamentry proceedure!
All this hand-wring interviewing by a sychophant OM is just bullsh!t.
morning all
GD
Agree entirely with your analysis.
The hyperbolic behaviour of the coalition and the msm this week has been jaw dropping to say the least. They are so desperately trying to get Labor off balance. Instead we have Crossin accepting her situation and McClelland annoucing his retirement at the election. Seems to be a party in control to me, but of course, the impression in The world of the ABC, News Ltd and Fairfax it is all doom and gloom. Beyond pathetic.
Jaycee
The msm need more than a kick in the clacker! They are truly disgusting at present
BB @ 6:53am,
Christopher Pyne on AM this morning encapsulated your “unhinged right-wing loonie” in spades!
Someone asked:
… in reference to Abbott’s third mad publicity binge in six weeks. Full coverage, his daughters, shovelling sand, playing firey, dress-ups, Town Hall meetings American-style, declaring Lidcombe(!) to be “Liberal Heartland”…
No. It’s not “The Family Hour”.
It’s “Newspoll Week” again.
Polls are all they have.
With good polls for the Coalition the whole “Gillard is a lame duck PM” meme can be run ad infinitum.
That way we don’t get policy discussion – lame duck governments’ policies aren’t worth considering, and Oppositions don’t do policy – and the contradictions can be dismissed by saying “When Abbott inevitably wins, we’ll just have to cop whatever he does. So relax.”
Meanwhile the size of fingers involved in digital prostate examinations assumes top national prominence.
fiona
I did not near Pyne, but apparently he blames JG for QT being so bad. Unfrickinbelievable.
Was his pinky finger straight, or did he just have the permanent stiffy that Libs get when they fantasise about walking into the Lodge through the front door?
Oops hear
Sportsbet should run a book on who will be the first journalist to specifically use “lame duck” in relation to Julia Gillard.
The next shoe malfunction may be the appropriate time.
I’d put a few shekels on Michelle Grattan at $1.50.
A couple of clarifications:
1. Re Tim Mathieson: The Coalition argument here is not “Tim did a terrible thing.” It’s “Reap what ye sow.” They’re arguing that if the ALP are going to be so quick to point out sexism and misogyny on the Coalition side, they have to be consistent and recognise it from their own.
In that sense, deliberately choosing a weak example works in their favour, as they’ve argued all along that the ALP have been hysterical over their condemnation of Abbott. The intention (you can take this as a given for anything the Coalition come up with) is to muddy the waters.
It’s why Mathieson was correct to apologise too. If he (and Gillard) had stuck by the comment, you’d have had the other side screaming “hypocrisy!” It’s been defused now, so there’s nothing they can do about it. Abbott won’t apologise for anything he’s said, so he still comes off looking the worse for it.
2. If you’re still wondering why the media are going so hard on the ALP, it’s because they blame the NBN for destroying their industry. You can’t stand in the way of progress, but you can bitch and whine all the way, and lash out when you get the opportunity. Probably also because the ALP have made a virtue out of their situation, and have learnt to bypass much of traditional media to get their message out. It would be annoying, as a political journalist, to watch yourself get progressively marginalised. And to watch a new breed of political watcher – the blogger – gaining ground. Bloggers think harder, and are less fettered, than your newspaper journalist. Maybe not necessarily smarter, but certainly freer to go about their business without interference from above.
The Internet allowed it to happen, and the ALP are fast-tracking the predominance of the Internet. The old guard aren’t happy with that at all.
Victoria,
The lying Poodle said the PM sets the tone for Parliament and therefore it is her fault that Parliament has been dragged down into the gutter. Really the mongrel should be put in a skip bin and taken to wallow in the garbage from whence he came.
Aguirre
I am in no doubt that the msm are feral about the NBN. It is all because of the NBN.
Janice
Agree with you wholeheartedly. Pyne and the rest of the cabal sicken me.
I so desperately want the govt to put a foot on their neck and shut them up for good.
Janice
The last few weeks of QT last year was spent by the coalition trying to malign the PM over the AWU matter. Pyne et al are taking the electorate for mugs. They are offensive in every way
And to watch Uhlmann last night was to witness a performance of Oscar quality equal to the most lasciviously salivating Donald Sutherland!
Ulhmann looked like he was lolling his tounge in glee, reaming the anus of Liberal Party gloating over the Nova Perris non event, his eyes rolling in estatic joy when he could finally say the words of the possibility of the PM.s mismanagement….I’d suspect that b*stard regularly eats sh!t sandwiches just to kep his tastebuds in tune!
Jeesus..I am vicious today!…apologies for the language.
jaycee
I am so curious to know what Ulhmann’s partner thinks of his conduct
jaycee
I would say you are more frustrated than anything else. Strangely, I feel cal, today.
Calm
Victoria,
Yes, and who was it I heard on radio this morning calling for parliamentary reform? Now they want and extra half-hour of QT for backbenchers to ask questions of the Govt, because they don’t get a chance with the front bench taking up the whole of QT – no mention of the fact the front bench are merely rabble rousing and not interested in putting real questions.
Shits me to tears that the media let them get away with this sort of thing without a murmur.
Bushfire Bill,
Fortunately it was on radio, so I was spared the sight of any appendages.
Victoria,
Yep. I bet he had both hands behind his back with fingers crossed all the way through that interview.
fiona
I am still hopeful that The Ashby imbroglio will get Pyne et al
Victoria,
I’m thinking about direct action along these lines: family jewels ➡ mouth ➡ gag (hope everyone’s finished breakfast … and it’s all Jaycee’s fault …).
As for Ashby, there will be come-uppance, but not in the life of this Parliament.
fiona
You are probably correct, but as I said, still holding some hope. Especially the Brough/Ashby/Doane taking of Slipper’s diary
They want an extra half an hour of QT? Often they don’t have enough material for 10 questions as it is. It would be wonderful, absolutely wonderful, if they did use the time they have for forensic examination of Government policy. I’m all for that, the more scrutiny a government is under the better.
They could probably get a lot more than 20 questions into the allotted time if they didn’t fritter it away of frivolous points of order, or if they could keep their mouths shut while ministers are answering questions. Or if they could actually manage to keep their front bench intact for the session.
They’ve obviously made that request specifically in order to have it rejected so they can complain about lack of government transparency or some such rot. The response ought to be, “Sure, we’ll look into that. As soon as the Opposition can demonstrate they have enough material to last an hour of QT, we’ll consider the extra half hour.”
victoria re \calm
now instead of sitting here reading and freting , these mornings
i may make one comment and
vacumn through ,,this morning i have done most of the house.
28 sq uares of it, pruned and watered geranmimns
showered dressed,
NOW i am not bragging , what i use to do was worry my self sick
reading all the hope i could find
and may be start these chores about 9 am.
so something has changed in my handling of things,
but it still on my mind 24 hours a day, i suppose,
my daughter says why do you worry about stuff u have no
control over, i say.. some has to.
well ill worry later she says, the older one doesnt worry at all
she only says wh o would vote for him
she knows nothing about the left wing sites and buries her head
in teaching i think.
but calmer yes.
yesterday i wasnt , un til Professor Bonham had his say
about that poll.
my middle daughter turns 37 today,,,,, gosh
only seems like yesterday.
the tasman bridge did not excist after a 1/4 of it was hit by a ship.
and we had to catch an army
barge to the western shore to the hospital
the army then built a bailey bridge between the east and west.
i remember mr whitlam coming down to look a the bridge
no flro jacket in site
whats get me,,,,,,, who will they personally vote for.
after all,, they dont live on a island,
have they thought an abbott gov. would effect them and there famlies
i said this once before and was howled down
becauce the other poster said they where wealthy
jourlanlists that is.
well if abbott didnt do his SSo
is that what they are called.
he would have that,
less sso, more questions,there fixed
i wish the ind, juno sites would send some one to thepress
club
or are they not members
will the guardian be members.
when does that start.
now off to birthday
denese
Wish your daughter a happy birthday from me.
They didnt have flouro jackets back then!! 🙂
Good morning everyone. As I was saying, Mum went home Monday, now have the other Mum coming today, so will be haphazard for a while.
Heard Whiny Pyney this morning, and was shouting at the radio, then Albo came on, he pointed out everything everyone has said here about the Noppositions behaviour, haven’t heard anything since. Go Albo.
Trying to get house work done before Julia comes on at 12.30 and if they have any technical problems, you will all here me scream, no matter where you are.
I stand vindicated.
Ross Gittins in the SMH today:
They have inflicted a terrible wound on themselves, their customers and the nation. And all for what?
A few opinion polls, and a possible win in an election that – at one stage – was three years hence.
Bastards.
BB,
And fools. Criminally negligent fools.
An extra half an hour of Question Time might be a good idea. It would give Peter Dutton a chance to ask Tanya Plibersek all those questions he’s never had the opportunity to ask before. If he can remember what his portfolio area is, of course
I notice that yesterday he tried to make Frances Abbott do most of the talking. He did manage to blurt out a few words which revealed little about his knowledge of the health system and a lot about his inability to speak coherently and his poor grammar. Sadly the strain of actually having to talk about health (for a whole minute) while dealing with the unfamiliar experience of visiting a hospital was just too much for him. He had to be taken away to a nice quiet ward for a cup of valium and a good lie down.
http://www.tonyabbott.com.au/News/tabid/94/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/9046/Joint-Doorstop-Interview-Melbourne.aspx
And speaking of Frances Abbott –
Will any of the fawning journos ask her about that famous comment to her dad – ‘You’re a lame, gay, churchy loser’? C’mon you lot, ask her if she still thinks the same about dear old Tony.
I don’t know what Abbott is hoping to achieve by demonstrating that he’s the stupidest member of his own family.
I suppose using Frances will get him some young voters. She obviously has political aspirations. Not another Abbott, please!
Maybe wheeling his dog out would be a good move. It’d be a fair contest. They can both bark. They both understand simple commands, but will stare at you blankly if it gets too complex. If you toss them a bone they’ll both chase it. They can both dig holes. And you get a similar sensation seeing either of them bare their teeth.
Aguirre
gold!
Aguirre,
The Abbott family dog is way cuter than its putative master, and from the available photographs doesn’t think much of him.
Leone,
Which of the Abbott sisters (could there be a singing sensation in there?) disappeared OS?
bushfirebill @ 8:10 am
Another corporate bookie with the same name as Sportsbet sneeringly run a book on the following –
Whatâs (sic) next for Julia after election
Tuesday 03/12/2013
Must happen in 2013 after the election and be confirmed publically by Julia Gillard.
Markets (6)13:30 | Australian Federal Election 2013/14
Write her biography 1.60
Marry Tim Mathieson 2.50
Start her own political party 9.00
Host her own political affairs programme 10.00
Join the board of Slater & Gordon 13.00
Emigrate to another country 21.00
Suit jacket model for Versace 34.00
Become a contestant on Dancing with the Stars 41.00
Official Kevin Rudd spokeswoman 81.00
Launch a singing career 151.00
Become a hairdresser 501.00
I have considered tackling them about it but it is so difficult to locate actual management/ownership. Also I bet with Sportsbet and subsidiaries and they grant me considerable credit.
LOL Aguirre
Aguirre
Love it! Although I suspect that Maisie, the Abbott family’s dog, would win paws down if she had to compete in an intelligence test with Abbott.
fionajr
That would be Louise.
I just read somewhere this morning that Frances was the only daughter at home for Christmas. The other two managed to come up with excellent excuses for being as far away from Tony as they ciould possibly get. Louise is working overseas, Bridget was heading off to somewhere in Asia to do volunteer work in a village for a month. Poor Frances didn’t manage to arrange an excuse in time. Now she’s stuck with being dragged around with dad.
Leone,
Top researcher!
By the way, have you come across this?
Returning momentarily to the topic of this thread:
Confetti rained on the University of Alabama football team as they stood on the makeshift stage that had been quickly assembled atop the turf of Miami’s Sun Life Stadium. The team had just completed its third national championship in four years by walloping Notre Dame in the Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game, and now it was time to celebrate. The 80,000-plus crowd — smaller now that the Notre Dame contingent had largely vacated, but still boisterous thanks to Alabama fans and those lucky enough to afford a ticket — looked on admirably as the trophy was awarded to Nick Saban, the Tide’s $5 million-a-year head coach.
To an outsider unfamiliar with American collegiate sports, or to anyone watching objectively, it would be impossible to differentiate between the scene on that balmy Miami night and the one that will commence in three weeks when the National Football League crowns its champion at Super Bowl XLVII. But there is one distinction that lies beneath the hoopla, and it is one that makes all the difference between the college spectacle and the professional one: Alabama’s players, unlike their NFL counterparts, are not paid to play the game.
The exploitation of college athletes – thank goodness – is one aspect of the commodification of sport that we have not yet adopted from the Americans, at least as far as I’m aware. This is fortunate, given stories like that of Kent Waldrep, a “student-athlete” who was a running back for Texas Christian University’s football team, and
…was paralyzed: he had lost all movement and feeling below his neck. After nine months of paying his medical bills, Texas Christian refused to pay any more, so the Waldrep family coped for years on dwindling charity.
Through the 1990s, from his wheelchair, Waldrep pressed a lawsuit for workers’ compensation. (He also, through heroic rehabilitation efforts, recovered feeling in his arms, and eventually learned to drive a specially rigged van. “I can brush my teeth,” he told me last year, “but I still need help to bathe and dress.”) His attorneys haggled with TCU and the state worker-compensation fund over what constituted employment. Clearly, TCU had provided football players with equipment for the job, as a typical employer would—but did the university pay wages, withhold income taxes on his financial aid, or control work conditions and performance? The appeals court finally rejected Waldrep’s claim in June of 2000, ruling that he was not an employee because he had not paid taxes on financial aid that he could have kept even if he quit football. (Waldrep told me school officials “said they recruited me as a student, not an athlete,” which he says was absurd.)”
Not to mention all those athletes who don’t make the (sporting) grade and lose their scholarships …
However, though we do not (yet) have this system in Australia, I do wonder about all those – mostly – boys who are recruited into prestigious independent schools to add to the glory of their various sporting teams. What happens to them if they don’t make that sporting grade? Onto the scrapheap?