This edition features a selection of stuff I wanted to rant about over the last few months but it was too hard due to experiencing "technical difficulties" still not fully resolved.
(There will be a story about that debacle when it is fully resolved. Unless something radically changes, it's not going to be very favourable to companies represented in advertising by smug Irish backpackers wearing bad sweaters.)
Let's get to the newz~!
Daly Cherry-Evans
Daly Cherry-Evans signed a contract with a six-month cooling off period, then used that period to negotiate a better offer.
This outraged approximately every rugby league fan in Australia, except those who support Manly, who naturally were quite reasonable and balanced about it, and not out of shameless self-interest either of course.
The media consensus seems to be that the outrage means he was poorly advised. A work colleague made the point that we could all only dream of being as poorly advised. He's around the 4th or 5th best halfback in the comp. I'm not sure he'll ever be better than the 4th or 5th best halfback in the comp. And yet he's going to be making more money than anyone in the NRL to date. Perhaps his contract will look small once the next TV broadcast rights deal is negotiated, but I don't think so.
The media also ignores that however DCE was advised, the plan doesn't work without them being either complicit or played like puppets. No other early contract signing has had so much public speculation, generated by the press, over the possibility of backing out of the deal.
The big negative for DCE is he looks a little dishonest and lots of people will boo him. But I think this short video explains how he will recover from the perceptions and catcalls:
By the way, I think this was a blessing for Gold Coast and a terrible deal for Manly. I wouldn't be surprised if the Titans in 3 years have used their DCE fund to build an impressive young team around promising half Kane Elgey, while the Sea Eagles that will need to replace at least half their team due to age soon struggle to compete for quality players to support DCE.
Sepp Blatter
The FIFA corruption story was news in the sense that it happened, rather than in the sense that it was a breaking informative development.
Possibly Sepp Blatter will escape accusations, because he is "not corrupt and will go to heaven one day".
The other great quote from that article is, "I own a golden cross that has been blessed by Pope Francis." I think the statement that he owns an expensive trinket that possibly convenes the commandment about praying to idols is meant to be further evidence that he is above reproach.
Meanwhile, Russia were exonerated from possible corruption in the successful 2018 Russian World Cup due to lack of evidence because Russian bid officials conveniently used rented then destroyed computers. Also they were unable to access their emails anymore because, uh, reasons.
Blatter was satisfied with this outcome. He probably owns a small square of the Shroud of Turin you know.
Nick Kyrgios
Kyrgios is undoubtedly one of the most exciting things to happen to tennis is recent memory, not just within Australia, but worldwide.
He plays without fear and conjures up ridiculous winners, entertains with his on-court reactions, and offers praise to opponents for great shots. During the course of a match, he also happens to occasionally act with the immature, aggressive cockiness of a 20-year-old. This doesn't seem out of character for a person that is in fact a 20-year-old.
The tidal wave of morality against Kyrgios is therefore staggering.
The popular opinion on modern men's tennis is it's boring, and I would agree with this. There are fantastic players, but not personalities that capture the broader public imagination.
So it's boring, until it's not, and then the person causing it to not be boring should stop being a tosser until the sport becomes boring again.
Other opinions on Kyrgios, gleamed from having the misfortune of viewer reader comments to news articles, include:
There is no excuse for his appalling behaviour
Now I don't think arguing with umpires and smashing racquets is a good thing, but how bad is it really?
I tend to think that perhaps it's slightly unreasonable to expect athletes that are more talented, competitive and driven than about 99.99% of the worlds population in their chosen sport to behave like normal, well-adjusted people all the time.
Even if you don't agree with that premise, what do normal, well-adjusted people behave like anyway? A lot of the time, like Nick Kyrgios. I've sworn at work. I just don't work in front of millions of people watching me on TV.
Nick Kyrgios is a...
... dickhead, prat, bully, thug, overpaid, embarrassment to Australian tennis, overpaid dickhead, and so on.
He behaves badly. The response is to behave badly, anonymously in print. There is no self-awareness about the hypocrisy.
I don't want him representing Australia
Seriously, he doesn't represent Australia. He represents Nick Kyrgios. This is an individual sport.
I'm sure most elite tennis players consider the Davis Cup something they have to do, rather than want to do. I doubt a single tear would be shed by the best players if the event ceased to exist tomorrow.
Federer is a great player AND a gentleman!
Except he wasn't always. And sometimes he still isn't a gentleman in more recent times.
He should learn from Aussie greats like Newcombe and Roche
Good advice for any young adult - listen to this council of wise senior citizens!
Comparing the behaviour of a modern player like to a bunch of provincial amateurs is ridiculous.
There is an unconscious element to this nostalgia for the golden age of Australian tennis. Perhaps the whiter age would be a more appropriate description - not whiter in a strictly racist sense, although that may be part of it for many people, but in a sense that Newk and Rochey and others represent the conservative, suburban, isolated Australia your traditional tennis viewer best understands.
Kyrgios has nothing in common with your typical Aussie tennis great other than that he plays tennis. This multicultural kid, who loves rap and the NBA, wears diamond earrings, and just doesn't know his place, is confronting for the average tennis supporter, even though he more accurately represents modern Australian than say, Bermuda's greatest tennis player Pat Rafter.
Australia loves diversity until it challenges us - consider too, the reaction to Adam Goodes when he did that dance rather than deal with middle Australia's abuse in a subservient way.
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