Who were the greatest… most egregious… most vile… most talented cheaters in the history of sport? Socrates announces his list of favourites. Number two, but only by a whisker, is the Sydney 2000 Paralympics Spanish Intellectually Disabled Basketball team. When it comes to singling out the world’s worst cheat one would think that Emperor Nero, discussed in our first … [Read more...]
Greatest cheats ever Contender No. 1. Nero
Who were the greatest... most egregious... most vile... most talented cheaters in the history of sport? Socrates announces his list of favourites. He starts his series with Emperor of ancient Rome, Nero. Think that politicians could be tempted to cheat at sports? Surprise surprise. They do. It’s not just a recent phenomenon, either. Fudging the rules of sports by leaders has … [Read more...]
Kahanamoku – Australia’s first surfer? Nah!
Manly Beach, 1913. Olympic silver medalist swimmer, Cecil Healy, meets a local ratbag beach bum for a beer and a chin wag. Hmmm. Maybe this chat never actually happened. But it could have. Tommy skips down the two sandstone steps from the front door of the Seagulls club house, traverses the tarmac footpath, crosses the South Steyne, then wanders past the timber surf club to … [Read more...]
Toxic style
Surfing is a unique sport. It can be so enthralling… so enchanting… so addictive… that, for some surfers, it can go beyond pleasurable and become a toxic experience damaging relationships, families, career, and even health. Sociologists have called this phenomenon as going past the “stoke apex”. These surfers have become victims of what journalist William Finnegan described as … [Read more...]
Are surfers sheep?
On a drizzling, dark late afternoon a few weeks back I was running on the track that links two surfing spots, The Pass and Wategos Beach. The path travels up a flight of steps, traverses a cliff line with a beautiful view of the ocean (a view that often includes sea eagles, dolphins, and whales), then passes down a second flight of stairs onto Wategos Beach below. It’s one of … [Read more...]