There are lots of reasons why an individual might not want to put their hand on their heart and heartily sing “Advance Australia Fair” at a sporting event. One might think that the words of the song are not only trite and childish but also inaccurate and it would thus be hypocritical to boom them out. If you were an indigenous Australian you might feel the anthem … [Read more...]
How do television networks determine the market value of their presenters?
According to news services Channel 9 sports broadcaster, Erin Molan, had been receiving a pay package that was a fraction of what some of her male colleagues (who were doing much the same job) were receiving. According to reports a recent pay increase has somewhat addressed the discrepancy. When asked to explain the pay disparity between male and female employees doing … [Read more...]
What does the “black-face” incident and its aftermath tell us about sport in Australia?
Where do I start with this one? The background. A few months back Alice Kunek (Bulleen Boomers basketballer and member of the Australian Opals national team) posted images of herself in “black-face” dress-up on the internet. Her Opals team mate, Liz Cambage (an Australian of Nigerian heritage), expressed disappointment and disgust that a team mate of hers could think … [Read more...]
Help us find the worst sports team… anywhere
On Saturday morning the Channel 7 Sunrise program raised the big question about who is the worst sports team anywhere. They nominated the underperforming Nunawading Lions Australian Football team as pretty close to the bottom of the barrel but predicted that bigger things were in store for the boys. It was a great story. A heart-warming story. But… with their focus on how … [Read more...]
Tackling sheep? Surely someone would have more sense!
Late last week the ABC 7.30 program jumped all over a story about rugby teams from one of Sydney’s prominent private schools “tackling sheep” as part of a training drill at a pre-season training camp held on a country property in NSW. School rugby officials had videoed the training session and posted it on Facebook. Officials from both the RSPCA and the NSW Farmers Federation … [Read more...]