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The Lost Boys Of Australian Sport

March 22, 2013 in Current Affairs, Mental Health, Society, Sport

I’ve been thinking a lot about sport recently. That’s not unusual for me – I like watching sport, and I’ve written about the state of Australian cricket and the whole Homework-Gate thing on my personal blog. That whole shemozzle with the touring Australian cricket team in India – plus other sporting meltdowns, such as the Aussie swimmers, and the NRL players Rose mentioned in her recent post – have made me question the way we treat and manage our professional sports-people. Sam de Brito has written about “the lost boys” in his novel of the same name. Like the lost boys in Peter Pan, Sam writes [...]

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Ian Thorpe and Homosexuality: Is It Any Of Our Business?

August 14, 2012 in Current Affairs, Entertainment, Film & TV, News, People, Relationships, Sexuality, Society, Sport

Until Day 13 of the London Olympic Games, Ian Thorpe had won more gold medals in his career than his entire nation had managed at London 2012. Yet for some strange reason we treat Thorpe like we’ve forgotten he was a superstar of the pool just over a decade ago. I’m also baffled as to why Channel Nine chose Grant Hackett, who has not been short of a scandal in recent memory, to host the swimming commentary with NRL legend, Ray Warren. What is wrong with the Thorpedo? Is this just another case of tall poppy syndrome? I was pleased [...]

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Olympics: Swimming And The Media

August 1, 2012 in Current Affairs, Entertainment, Film & TV, Fitness, Health, News, Sport

Whenever the Olympics is on, I become an armchair expert at the swimming. You see, I was a swimmer as a young’un, therefore my expert hat appears every 4 years.  So getting up at 5am and ignoring all my other TV shows for a week becomes standard fare in my household. I have to say, all my squealing and clapping my hands at the TV (and possibly waking my neighbours downstairs) has not resulted in the plethora of medals the Aussies have been expected to take home. I’ve noticed two things in the media over the last few days in [...]

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I Owe My health to Stephanie Rice

July 10, 2012 in Body Image, Celebrity, Entertainment, Health, Lifestyle, Mental Health, News, Nutrition, People, Self, Society, Sport

I owe Stephanie Rice my life. Okay, so that may sound a tad melodramatic but I at least owe her my health. As the London Olympic Games fast approach us the spotlight is firmly fixed on the 24-year-old queen of the pool. 60 minutes interviewed her on Sunday night and Sunday Life ran a cover story profile on the swimmer at the beginning of the month. This looks to be her last Olympic Games as she plans to retire from professional swimming following the 2012 London Games. This makes me a bit sad but we all know not to trust [...]

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