Two of the world’s greatest global games are rotten with jargon. Positively stinky with it! Why? I can’t say, for sure, but it has something to do with the fact that while both games crave growth and acknowledgment as the globe’s biggest and best sports they, ironically, seek to exclude outsiders by generating their own exclusive languages. Is basketball and soccer jargon … [Read more...]
2017 Koori Knockout – where NRL superstars and small town athletes come together to represent their communities
My daughter and I dropped by Leichhardt Oval on the Monday of the Labour Day long weekend to check out the Rugby League Grand Final. This wasn’t your everyday Grand Final, of course. For most of the footy-loving world, the season ended either on Saturday at “the G” when the Aussie Rules men wound down their competition or on Sunday at the ANZ stadium where the League boys … [Read more...]
The A-League – a football feast that fails to fill
For a product to sell, not only does its marketing have to be flawless, but the product itself must be pretty bloody good. At the commencement of the 2016/2017 Hyundai A-League season, the FFA, Australia’s leading football organisation, announced that they would be rebranding to enhance their expansion both nationally and internationally. This rebrand came in the shape of a new … [Read more...]
(It’s Great To) Suck at Something – Karen Rinaldi reveals why being a surfing kook is better than just okay.
Over the past 15 years, surfing has become a kind of obsession for me. I surf eight months a year. I travel to surf destinations for family vacations and seek (forgiving) waves in the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. I have spent thousands of dollars on boards of all sizes and shapes. In the sport of (Hawaiian) kings, I’m a jester And yet — I suck at it. In the sport of … [Read more...]
Introducing Ferris Gump… the ultra marathon man!
What kind of person runs three and a half thousand kilometers from Townsville to Darwin without a support crew, pulling a 50-kilo trailer for no glory and no gold? This guy. Meet Ben Ferris, 33, a man who just needs to run and looks to an unlikely hero - Forrest Gump, as his inspiration. Ben is the ultra marathon man. Not all pro athletes are rich! When you think of a … [Read more...]