David EdwardsWhen will shameless self-promotion stop???
October 20th 2008 03:49
SportingMind recently documented Adam Gilchrist's desire for 20/20 cricket to be an Olympic sport, labelling the push as nothing more than shameless self-promotion.
At the risk of being labelled supercilious, i will quote my own article (August 2008):
"While the quixotic Gilchrist may have cricket's best interests at heart, the addition of 20/20 cricket to the Olympic games would be nothing short of farcical. Any sport that could potentially have Luke Ronchi claiming a gold medal at the end of proceedings deserves to not be an Olympic sport."
So it was to my horror that Libby Trickett - during a staged photo op with the Wallabies - decided that this was the perfect forum to open a similar debate on Rugby Union.
All nonchalance as she passed a Gilbert to Sterling Mortlock, Trickett purred: "Honestly, I think it would be great. Swimming obviously has a very proud history in the Olympics and I think rugby has such a great history in Australia, it would be a great fit."
In a news story that was even lighter and fluffier than a Jamie Oliver omlette, Trickett and Mortlock merely continued the trend of sportstars jumping up on the Town Hall steps, in what i can only assume has become a free for all topic.
So its a slow news day? Find someone to rant about how their sport should be in the Olympics.
With this in mind, SportingMind took to the streets to find the scoop. Who would raise their hand and volunteer their sport as the latest Olympic inductee?
Walking through Sydney's Hyde Park, one homeless man was quick to take up my offer. Benny "Smoky" Patterson offered his own invention, the Art of Begging. He proposed that the most delinquent homeless people from around the world are placed in a city, dressed in tattered "clothes", with the aim of collecting as many tangible assets as possible within a 2 hour timeframe.
Smoky seemed confident that his sport would meet IOC approval, saying: "Begging truly is a world sport. Every country has beggars, why not glorify them and turn it into an Olympic event? Not like cricket or rugby, which are clearly aimed at Western nations like Australia; Begging would give some of the smaller nations a chance to compete on the world scale. A place like India might even claim a medal, something that would bring glory upon the nation."
I got Smoky to carry a stick with a piece of cloth on the end holding his meagre possessions, thrust a "Big Issue" magazine in his wrinked palm, and got him to kick a Coke can around with a few other homeless guys. This became a fanatstic photo opportunity for the media, who were down to Hyde Park within seconds once i had given out the word that a new sport had been suggested for Olympic inclusion.
Once a few puns had been reeled out for the newspapers: "This sport is no longer hiding in a brown paper bag", "We want to go straight from the streets to straight into your hearts", etc - we had a story!
Like lemmings to a cliff face, the media had bought it.
-SportingMind
At the risk of being labelled supercilious, i will quote my own article (August 2008):
"While the quixotic Gilchrist may have cricket's best interests at heart, the addition of 20/20 cricket to the Olympic games would be nothing short of farcical. Any sport that could potentially have Luke Ronchi claiming a gold medal at the end of proceedings deserves to not be an Olympic sport."
So it was to my horror that Libby Trickett - during a staged photo op with the Wallabies - decided that this was the perfect forum to open a similar debate on Rugby Union.
All nonchalance as she passed a Gilbert to Sterling Mortlock, Trickett purred: "Honestly, I think it would be great. Swimming obviously has a very proud history in the Olympics and I think rugby has such a great history in Australia, it would be a great fit."
In a news story that was even lighter and fluffier than a Jamie Oliver omlette, Trickett and Mortlock merely continued the trend of sportstars jumping up on the Town Hall steps, in what i can only assume has become a free for all topic.
So its a slow news day? Find someone to rant about how their sport should be in the Olympics.
With this in mind, SportingMind took to the streets to find the scoop. Who would raise their hand and volunteer their sport as the latest Olympic inductee?
Walking through Sydney's Hyde Park, one homeless man was quick to take up my offer. Benny "Smoky" Patterson offered his own invention, the Art of Begging. He proposed that the most delinquent homeless people from around the world are placed in a city, dressed in tattered "clothes", with the aim of collecting as many tangible assets as possible within a 2 hour timeframe.
Smoky seemed confident that his sport would meet IOC approval, saying: "Begging truly is a world sport. Every country has beggars, why not glorify them and turn it into an Olympic event? Not like cricket or rugby, which are clearly aimed at Western nations like Australia; Begging would give some of the smaller nations a chance to compete on the world scale. A place like India might even claim a medal, something that would bring glory upon the nation."
Future Olympic medallists?
I got Smoky to carry a stick with a piece of cloth on the end holding his meagre possessions, thrust a "Big Issue" magazine in his wrinked palm, and got him to kick a Coke can around with a few other homeless guys. This became a fanatstic photo opportunity for the media, who were down to Hyde Park within seconds once i had given out the word that a new sport had been suggested for Olympic inclusion.
Once a few puns had been reeled out for the newspapers: "This sport is no longer hiding in a brown paper bag", "We want to go straight from the streets to straight into your hearts", etc - we had a story!
Like lemmings to a cliff face, the media had bought it.
-SportingMind
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Comment by damian
Urban Telegraph
Sports and All
The Squirter McGee Diaries
I would advocate taking it a step further and starting up a rebel Olympics, full of sports that - pound for Dick Pound - didn't quite measure up to trampolining and bmx racing.
Comment by Norm
Consumption Malfunction
Equal and Opposite
Arses and Elbows
Footy Power
I can see the judges holding up bits of old cardboard with the competing beggar's score on it, and a little note about how long since they last ate.