• Home
  • SOCRATES’ THINKING
    • News and comment
    • Editorial
  • About
  • US
    • Sportsocratic team
    • Contributors
  • Reviews
    • Adventures
    • Books
    • Places
  • Contributions
  • Advertise
  • Contact

Sportsocratic

Thoughts, ideas, opinions and postulations on sport and adventuring

  • Sport & society
    • Ethics & Values
    • History
    • Favourite photos
    • Cultural and social issues
    • Politics
    • Big questions
    • Sport fashion
      • Sartorialism and style
  • Wild sports
  • Silly stuff
  • Sports science
    • Research
    • Coaching
    • Innovation
    • HEALTH
  • The things that made me
  • Stories
    • General sporting stories
    • Waves of Pain
      • No Respect!
      • Death Wish at Fairy Bower
      • Fried nuts
      • The ocean is a trickster… especially Hawaii’s North Shore – Gas chambers bites the unwary!
      • Titus Kinimaka’s nightmare Christmas
      • Dix dumped – the trials of a self-confessed elite body surfer
      • The little surf that nearly ruined a promising career…
      • Rabbit killer – a master takes a caning at pipeline!
      • Death Wish at Fairy Bower
      • Easternmost memory – surfing in the wild at the end of the continent
      • Nothing ruins a good surf like a couple of blokes with automatic assault rifles…
      • Agony for Miki Dora
      • Smashed at Gas Chambers
      • Who was Europe’s first surfing woman? Introducing the wonderful Witch of Newbury.
      • A bad day at Palmy – surfies and clubbies at war!
      • When being a proven waterman is not enough!
      • The highs and lows of surfing Sunset Beach while competing at the Duke Kahanamoku Invitational
      • An American midnight surf – that goes very wrong!
  • What does it mean?
    • What is a snake?
    • What does “shag” mean?
    • What does “Freddy Jones” mean?
    • What does “hook and ladder” mean?
    • What does back walk-over mean?
  • Philosophers Sport Bar
    • Socrates and Aristotle debate football defence
    • Michel de Montaigne on coaching sports
    • Ancient philosophers discuss what makes the beautiful game beautiful! Laozi and Socrates get technical.

The Sporting Life of Albo

August 15, 2019 By TIMOTHY EDWARDS Leave a Comment Filed Under: Cultural and social issues

Sometimes it doesn’t pay to get out of bed. I had had one of those weeks. In between supervising burial duty for my favourite pet and negotiating several familial and automotive calamities I had the chance to talk to the bloke who might end up Australia’s next Prime Minister (about his love of sport) and, of course, something just had to go wrong.

Coming from a lecturing background I was only too aware of Murphy’s Law as it applies to technology. The number one rule as a presenter is to check your technology several times before you start because if something can go wrong, it will. Well, I checked the technology. Twice. I had several family members call me. Both times the app worked fine. So, I went ahead with my chat with Albo and while we talked, I carefully watched the level meter on the phone recording app telling me that it was picking up every word. After thanking him for his time and saying goodbye I immediately switched the app to play mode and discovered that our entire thirty minutes of conversation had come out garbled. Like I said, sometimes it doesn’t pay to get out of bed.

What should I have done? Should I have called the Leader of the Opposition and told him that I didn’t quite get it right last time, and would he mind if we had another go? Nah. Somehow, I figured that that was not going to work for a bloke who has barely enough time to scratch himself. I guess I was going to have to rely on memory. Forgive me, Albo, if I got some of this stuff wrong, but keep in mind that I am the grieving soulmate of a recently expired cat, the parent of young adults making their way in the world and the owner of a Mondeo! Life can get tough sometimes.

Anthony Albanese MP (Leader of the Opposition – Commonwealth of Australia) and his thinking on a range of important sporting issues. Dig as hard as you may, you will find nothing of a political nature in this story.

Albo’s thinking on the events of 1999.

As publisher of one of the few web sites that focuses on the philosophical and sociological aspects of sport Anthony Albanese’s media advisor had assured me that his boss was passionate about the critical role that sport plays in communities and, as such, he would (most likely) be keen to find some time for a chat if he could. He was. He could. He did!

Albo in Bunnies clobber

When Albo called, the first thing that he pointed out was that he had recently attended a reunion for those who were involved in the events of 1999 when the oldest, most successful and most community-driven club in Rugby League history was booted from the top grade competition. In 1999 Anthony had been a board member of the South Sydney Rabbitohs Rugby League Football Club and he, along with tens of thousands of Rabbitoh supporters and hundreds of thousands of other Rugby League fans, had been horrified that a club so steeped in League history and so critical to the lives of so many in the Rugby League community could be “axed” because their club no longer conformed to what the competition organizers considered to be important business criteria.

It took several years, but community activity and protest, legal action and an alliance of such unlikely fellow-activists as Alan Jones, George Piggins, Mike Whitney, Nick Pappas and Anthony Albanese, to name a few, eventually won the day and resulted in the most loved team in Rugby League history being readmitted to the premier competition in 2002.

Knowing that Sportsocratic.com is interested in how communities are impacted by sport Albo wanted me to know just how important the Rabbitoh’s are to the South Sydney (a collective of Sydney inner city suburbs including Redfern, Surry Hill, Marrickville, Alexandria, Zetland, Waterloo, Mascot etc) community, to the Sydney community as a whole, to the Australian Rugby League community and to Australia’s entire sporting community as well. He is right. When we look back now it is remarkable to remember that there was a moment in time when a business argument was considered more important than community considerations in one of Australia’s most important sporting competitions. As Albo pointed out, the community won in the end. Sport is much more than just business.

Albo’s thinking on the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

When Anthony asked me what rugby league team I supported I explained that I was rather fond of a few the Sydney-based teams and that I was not devoted to any particular tribe. I did suggest that the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and the South Sydney Rabbitohs were my two favourite clubs.

He was horrified. Mortified. He found this pairing totally unacceptable!

If I remember correctly, his response went something along the lines of…

“Well you should take a bloody good look at yourself. That is not on. Simply not on.” (This may not quite be a direct quote. I might have even left out one or two rude words uttered by the leader of the opposition here.)

Having deeply offended the bloke who may be my future Prime Minister I tried to explain that my local publican, Tom Mooney, was a former champion player and favourite son of both clubs and hence it was not unreasonable for a bloke like me to be keen on both teams.

Albo was not impressed. He was quick to point out the error in my thinking.

“Tom Mooney is not a favourite son of Manly,” he said. “He is a favourite son of Souths and Souths only! Manly stole him. They stole him in the same way they got their grubby fingers on other South Sydney favourite sons like Bobby Moses, John O’Neill, Ray Branigan and Ian Roberts.”

Albo and the South Sydney community waiting for the next victory!

I suspect that Albo is steeped in the Roy Masters school of rugby league thinking where it is far safer to not even hint at having any sympathy for a sporting team based north of the Sydney harbour bridge at risk of being branded a “silvertail” and being considered untrustworthy. (Note: “silvertail” is a pejorative term initially used by former Rugby League coach and Rugby league journalist Roy Masters to describe people from supposedly affluent areas and their sporting clubs that achieve much of their success through pilfering star players from not so well-off clubs).

Albo’s thinking on himself as a kid

Anthony explained that his very first sporting love, as a participant, was for rugby league. This probably came from his family’s devotion to the South Sydney Rabbitohs. As a child he fondly remembered many family outings to see the bunnies play at Redfern Oval. I got the impression that a visit to Redfern Oval with other people from the Rabbitoh community was not far from being a spiritual experience for the young Albanese.

From a very young age, Albanese plied his trade as a rugby league half-back, five-eighth or lock for clubs and schools in the heart of South Sydney territory. He was pretty good, too. He remembers being as quick as hell over ten meters (quick enough to wreak havoc against opponents around the scrum base) but not quite so quick any further than that.

The young Albanese was also a keen cricketer and Australian Rules Football player in those early days. As a cricketer he says that he could catch anything but, unfortunately, his batting and bowling were not quite up to the same standard as his fielding.

Young Anthony… fast over ten meters and could catch anything

A little later, in his sporting career, Albo discovered a love for tennis. The Marrickville Tennis Club was only a few blocks from his childhood home, and it was here that he developed a passion for the sport that he still plays competitively today. When I asked him what it was about tennis that won him over, he initially claimed that…

“I just loved it… I don’t know why.”

On thinking a bit more, Albanese explained that the thing he most loves about tennis is that it is such a mental or psychological game. In most other sports your mind can wander off onto other things, from time to time, he suggested, without there being too much in terms of consequences. Not in tennis. In tennis, if you don’t maintain one hundred percent concentration all the time you are done! Albanese just loves the intensity of the concentration that is needed to play tennis well!

It’s remarkable that Albanese ended up a politician given that politics hardly ever involves doing something with a ball. Most of Albo’s early life involved either playing games with balls or watching other people play games with balls. Other than going to his local Catholic church with his family it seems that balls were Anthony’s only other early obsession.  

Albo’s thinking on unfulfilled dreams

Anthony admits that he would have loved to have played sport professionally. Probably a professional NRL player would have been his first choice but a cricketer or tennis player would have been good too. There was only one problem, explains Albo. He wasn’t good enough to make it to the pro ranks in any sport. He was good… but not good enough.

While Albo has accepted that he is now unlikely to make it as a pro half-back for his beloved Rabbitoh’s (leading them in a miracle grand final victory over the “silvertail” Sea Eagles), he does have one or two remaining sporting ambitions.

He suggests that he would still love to win a Division 2 tennis championship with his Marrickville Lawn Tennis Club team… something that apparently has not happened for a while. While the tennis he plays is not exactly Wimbledon (in that a single win in a tournament usually finds you a spot in the quarter finals), winning a championship is still winning a championship and something to get excited about! There is nothing quite like taking out a competition with your mates!

Albo’s thinking on the Marrickville Lawn Tennis Club

That’s a pretty handy back-hand

Albo played a lot of competition tennis over a lot of years at the Marrickville Tennis Club but, as the years passed, he discovered that a grass surface is a lot gentler on aging joints than a hard-court surface is. While Anthony is still a loyal member of the Marrickville Tennis Club, some years ago he listened to his aching joints, and joined the Marrickville Lawn Tennis Club where three hard sets of competition tennis is far kinder to old knees and rickety ankles.

Albanese loves both clubs for the community spirit that they promote. Some of the clubs that his tennis team plays against require members and visitors to play in all whites. At these clubs, afternoon tea and scones are served to players by waiters resplendent in white shirts, dark trousers and white gloves. Albo explains that at the Marrickville Lawn Tennis Club there are no waiters. At the Marrickville Lawn Tennis Club there are not even any employees! Everyone is a volunteer. Everyone helps around the club. Everyone is a cleaner. Everyone serves at the bar. Everyone hands out sausage rolls, beers and other snacks. Albo loves the fact that everyone in the tennis club community is just a tennis player who loves the club and loves to help wherever they can. No-one is more special than anyone else. They usually don’t even bother to talk about politics!

Albo’s thinking on smart-arsed young journalists

Wanting to hold up my end of the conversation, I told Anthony a story about a young Northern beaches journalist who, while playing a game of footy against a western suburbs club, made disparaging comments to teak-tough and uber-talented rugby league superstar, John “Dallas” Donnelly, who happened to be on the sidelines supporting the team from the west.

Albo suggested that there was one potential positive outcome from making smart-arsed comments to one of the toughest blokes who ever pulled on a rugby league boot.

I asked what possible positive outcome could come from tormenting “Dallas.”

Albanese explained that the only positive thing that could come out of provoking Donnelly would be that…

“It would be over very quickly. Instantly, in fact. And that the young journalist would remember none of it!”

Albo’s thinking on great people in sport

Anthony finds South Sydney Rabbitoh’s coach, Wayne Bennett, as “hard to go past” as one of the greatest people he has met in the world of sport. Albanese, being so close to the Rabbitohs, has had the opportunity to observe Bennett’s coaching approach for several years and he is full of admiration for the multiple NRL premiership-winning mentor and ex-policeman.

Albo says that Bennett is as much concerned about helping young men to become the very best young men that they can be as well as assisting them to become the very best footballers that they can be. His concern is for them as people as much as it for them as professional athletes. It thrills Albanese to see a coach committed to the lives his players. It’s impressive building winning football teams, year after year, while at the same time making a difference in the lives of hundreds of young athletes.

Albo and Mario

Albanese also tips his hat to many of the indigenous athletes that, through their hard work and example, have made a difference to the lives of many individuals and to the indigenous community as a whole. He explains that Yvonne Goolagong Cawley (former champion tennis player), throughout her entire career and post-career, has not only set a fine example of extraordinary play, sportsmanship and dedication to her sport but has also ceaselessly worked with aboriginal communities to create opportunities for advancement for its members. Albanese points to people like Cyril Rioli (AFL) and Kathy Freeman (athletics) who, along with many others, have worked ceaselessly for their communities as well!

Albo’s thinking on sporting clubs making a difference

According to Albanese the South Sydney Rugby League Club are a huge example of how important sporting clubs can be to communities. The Rabbitohs have been a beacon of community pride for the southern Sydney region for over one hundred years. For a long time the suburbs of the South Sydney region weren’t exactly flushed with money (in fact, for much of their existence, they had been among the least wealthy parts of Sydney) and turning up on a Sunday at Redfern oval to see the local team play was one of the few highlights of many people’s lives. Add in the fact that the South Sydney Rugby League Club had given so many young indigenous athletes the opportunity to make their way in the world and improve the lot of their families and communities is no small thing.

Albo’s thinking on how he would change the world of sport, if he could

Albo would love to be able to convince people that they should see sport as a positive thing in their lives and an opportunity to make a positive difference to their communities through their sport. He cites the professional tennis world where he believes some athletes have a positive approach to the game while others seem to see the game as a means for them to line their pockets and little more. He explains that Ashleigh Barty demonstrates how a positive approach to sport can work. She is warm, modest, generous, has impeccable behaviour and never takes herself or the game too seriously. Barty seems to understand that living a “good” life is more important than winning the next game of tennis. That doesn’t men that Barty doesn’t work hard and demonstrate commitment and determination. Despite her decency and warmth Barty is still one of the toughest and most skilful players on the tennis circuit. Albo explains that there are several other Australian professional tennis players who should follow her example.

Thanks to Anthony Albanese for his time and willingness to offer some insights into his sporting life. From his comments it seems that, while Albo is a sporting tragic (and like so many others would have loved to have played various sports at the top level), his love of sport goes a bit deeper than merely a love for playing the game. Albo’s fondness for sport is directly linked to its ability to enhance the lives of individuals and communities. If Albo, someday, succeeds in becoming Prime Minister of Australia I have no doubt that that will not stop him from finding at least some time to continue to chase balls – most likely Slazenger but possibly Steeden, Sherrin or Kookaburra as well.

TIMOTHY EDWARDS

Tim Edwards has had a completely rubbish sporting career so it is odd that he seems so obsessed with sport and adventuring. As a basketball shooting guard he had an okay jump shot but couldn't do anything else. As a rugby hooker he spent more time puking then actually playing. As a runner he won an awful lot of consolation prize chocolates for coming fourth but almost never won a ribbon. Despite his inadequacies he still loves sport and has opinions on almost any sporting subject. Tim has spent large parts of his working life in publishing and writing roles and has even done his share of teaching sport management to Uni students. He has coached more sports teams than he cares to remember. Tim is an awful surfer and skier but his lack of competence does not bother him one little bit!

Support Sportsocratic

Thanks for reading this story! We appreciate your visit to Sportsocratic… and love providing alternative information, opinions and angles from the sporting world. The world of sport is so full of the same old stuff from the same old sources that it drives us nuts… and it makes our day giving voice to less orthodox views. If you appreciate our free service, give some thought to helping us out. It costs us big bucks to keep Sportsocratic going but, if our readers support us, our future is much more secure.

Help us to keep you entertained and informed… and enable Socrates to keep asking those big philosophical sporting questions.

Support Sportsocratic for as little as a $1 and we would love you to bits. It only takes a few seconds!

Support Us

Tagged With: albo, anthony albanese, Australian Rules football, cricket, marrickville, redfern, Rugby League, south sydney, tennis

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related

SOCRATES’ RECENT TWEETS

Tweets by Sportsocratic

Secret Sports Person

Their sporting life – A journalist’s story

April 7, 2021 By SOCRATES Leave a Comment

“Bill” could have been a great rugby player… but he was more interested in other things. Do people display characteristics of their personal and working lives through their performances on the sporting field? Socrates describes the sporting life of one of his favorite people, and shows how the skill and character of one of Australia’s best journalists was always on show, even as a young man, whether on the rugby field, the basketball court or even on a quiet country headland when threatened with fisticuff by a big bloke wearing a blue uniform. Get “Bill’s” story here. Click the pic!

Olympics Rugby Teams – Who are the greatest?

April 23, 2020 By SOCRATES Leave a Comment

The rugby trivia question for the century! Which national rugby union team holds the record for the most Olympic gold medals in Rugby Union (the full-team fifteen a side game)?

Ethics and fairplay

Wallaby v France test – the moment that soared above all the others

July 20, 2021 By SOCRATES Leave a Comment

There were many great moments in the final Wallabies versus France rugby test last week but according to Socrates, one stood our far above all the others. Was it a great try? A brilliant tackle? A perfect scrum or line-out? A fantastic bit of work at the break-down? According to the rotund Greek hooker it was none of those things. He reckons that the highlight of the game was a much quieter, simpler and more subdued moment. A moment that might have escaped the attention of millions of spectators. Find out about Socrates favorite moment of the test. Click the pic.

Never cheated in my life!

November 19, 2020 By SOCRATES Leave a Comment

What is cheating? Is cheating a black and white moral issue… or are there shades of gray. Socrates spent twenty years in the engine room of the beautiful game of rugby… the scrum. He loved being a rugby hooker. He reckons that being slap bang in the middle of sixteen enormous, sweating blokes desperate to secure possession of the ball for their team taught him quite a bit about the fine art of cheating… what it is… and what it isn’t…. and how it can be done. Here Socrates lifts the veil on aspects of the workings of the 1970’s and 80’s amateur rugby scrum revealing some of its secrets. In so doing he shows that cheating is not a simple moral issue. he also claims to haver never deliberately cheated. Do you believe him?

matildas

Just six words…

May 20, 2021 By TIMOTHY EDWARDS 1 Comment

Have you ever wished that you could meet and have a conversation with someone you idolize? What would you say to your idol to convince them to want to stay in the conversation? What would they say in response to your brilliant social skills? How would the conversation go? How would it leave you feeling? An Australian ex-professional athlete who had played with and against some of the greatest basketball talent that this country has ever seen (Andrew Gaze, Ricky Grace, Shane Heal, Phil Smythe) once, by chance, had a meeting with possibly the greatest and most famous professional sports person that has ever lived. The superstar he bumped into, in a New York elevator, just happened to be the Aussie basketballer’s idol. How did the meeting turn out? Click the pic and discover the six most memorable words in this Australian point guard’s life.

Outstanding achievement

RITUAL: BEING CHAIRED UP THE BEACH

September 13, 2022 By SOCRATES Leave a Comment

Why do we subject professional athletes to embarrassing and cumbersome rituals at times when they should be celebrating. Why do athletes agree to participate in rituals that make them look like nongs? Chas Smith makes the argument for banning the post-contest victory chair-up-the-beach. Click the pic to get Chas’ important advice to the world of contest surfing.

New surfing podcast

One of Australia’s greatest ever surfers – one of surfing’s greatest story tellers – “Rabbit” Bartholomew – talks to award winning journalist Tim Baker about life, surfing and stuff. Perfect listening for lockdown entertainment.

professionalism

To smash or be skillful? Can good defense be coached or are accidents like the Latrell Mitchell and Joey Manu incident inevitable?

August 31, 2021 By SOCRATES NEWS DESK Leave a Comment

In a tough body contact sport are occasional horrible accidents inevitable? Possibly. But probably not with the frequency that many former elite players and expert analysts argue. Socrates believes that good coaching and hard work from highly skilled players can prevent many potentially dangerous tackles and that accepting the horror accidents as inevitable and high level skills as “uncoachable” sells athletes, professional sports and coaches short. Get the story here. Click the pic.

wisdom

Its just a job. Grass grows. Birds fly. Waves pound the sand. I beat people up. – Muhammad Ali

sport at mardi gras

Athletes in the LGBTQI Mardi Gras

March 12, 2019 By SOCRATES 2 Comments

Twenty-one different sports teams marched in this years Sydney Mardi Gras. That’s twenty-one groups of out and proud queer athletes. The LGBTQI community need to be “fearless” and queer athletes are no exception. Check out these fearless sporting clubs living it up on their night of night!

A life with horses

A life with horses – or Lulu in wonderland

August 8, 2018 By TIMOTHY EDWARDS Leave a Comment

It’s well known that playing sport can be a life-changing experience. For one mum, adventurer and businessperson, having a sporty pastime was more than life-changing. Lulu’s friendship with her horses has touched her and her daughter’s lives in a million ways and created a whole new life in an ever-changing wonderland for them both. But don’t think for a moment that their horses are the purpose built catalysts for their ideal lives! Its way more complex than that… and more respectful. Read on! It’s worth it!

wisdom

“Pressure? Pressure is a Messerschmidt up your arse. Playing cricket is not!”

Keith Miller

One of the greatest cricket “all-rounders” of all time, Keith Miller was not only an exceptional performer in multiple elements of test cricketing (batting, bowling and fielding) but he was also gifted in numerous other aspects of his life. Witty, entertaining, handsome, a renowned war time pilot and gifted Australian Rules Footballer, Miller was famed for calling a spade a spade and acknowledging that there was much more to life than elite sports. Having flown fighter bombers in the Second World War under life threatening circumstances he was not one to take the “pressure” of high level sport too seriously!

trivia

Here is a cracker of a trivia question.

Who was the college recruiting scout talking about when he said the following to his head coach.

“I’ve just seen a fat guy… who can play like the wind!”

Yup. The same guy who told people that just because they had shoes like his, it didn’t make them like him in any other way. Charles Wade Barkley.

Etymology

Are surfers sheep?

January 26, 2023 By SOCRATES Leave a Comment

Where do you surf? What’s your primary source of information about where is the best place to choose to surf? Over several weeks I watched the surfing grape-vine drag punters from one surfing spot to the next according to what the latest “word” was telling them about where they needed to surf. It made me wonder whether many surfers were just happier being part of the mob than in actually surfing great waves. It wasn’t long before I discovered that more people suffer from the sheep syndrome than I originally imagined. It is a powerful disease.

What does it mean?

What is Elvis leg?

Admit it. You’ve never heard of “Elvis leg,” have you? What the blazes is “Elvis leg?” As is the case with every other “What does it mean…” story we have ever posted, the answer is not directly related to the name itself. It is indirectly related to Elvis, though. Have a guess what the relationship is… then click here and check out whether your were correct. Find out for certain which sport uses this term and what it means.

What is a liberator?

Of course most you aviation buffs will think that a liberator is an American WW2 heavy bomber. Fair enough. But in a sporting context does it have a completely different meaning? Indeed it does. You are going to have to click here to find out what a liberator is and does in the world of sport.

Aphorisms, insights and wisdom

“The thing that’s depressing about tennis is that no matter how good I get I will never be as good as a wall.”

More perceptive sporting analysis from Mitch Hedberg, comic genius.

 

ebook

Phillip has returned to the south of India after eighteen years. But who is the young girl staying in his hotel? And what will he learn about his estranged brother through Inez, the Spanish backpacker?

To buy The Bangalore Test, John Campbell’s new ebook novella, just click the link.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

©2019 Sportsocratic