“Wally punted a line dropout!” “He did what?” I yelled to myself. I was listening to a conversation between Queensland State of Origin great Gene Miles and Andrew Moore of the ABC on the radio. Miles was telling a story about how his Captain, Wally Lewis, (during a state of origin match that was so wet that drop kicking was almost impossible), instead of doing a legal … [Read more...]
Wallaby v France test – the moment that soared above all the others
What was the greatest moment of Saturday night’s thrilling rugby test match where the Wallabies managed a tight victory over a magnificent French team? It’s hard to say. There were so many wonderful moments in a game that see-sawed from the first kick off. The most patriotically inclined might have experienced a moment of chicken-skin even prior to the kick-off as they watched … [Read more...]
Never cheated in my life!
Cheat? Not me. My high school rugby coach thought that I was a terrible cheat. I went through an entire season of semi-serious high school rugby under the constant threat of being dropped from my team for my cheating ways. I was a rugby hooker. This was the seventies. Rugby scrums were different then. I was never a cheat. Well, not really. Even back then the … [Read more...]
Sport and the question of ethics
"Come on. Get over it. Move on. It's just a game!" Most sports lovers have, at some stage of their sporting lives, experienced what they perceived to be a significant sporting injustice and had their complaints answered with just such a response. But is it "just a game?" Do injustices within the sporting realm have the potential to do real damage to individuals and to … [Read more...]
Sportswear with a mission – Patagonia!
The store manager handed me a copy of “Let My People Go Surfing” by Patagonia’s founder, Yvon Chouinard, and said that it would give me a good foundation for understanding the company and what it stands for. While we were chatting, a well-dressed young woman approached the manager and asked if she could submit a resume because she was looking for a job. He politely accepted … [Read more...]