Comments on: Bombshell sports probe: drugs and corruption to ‘disgust’ fans

By: Harry Rogers

Harry Rogers — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 09:38:53 +0000

I stopped going to sport years ago now long after I stopped playing. I watch verry little on TV , skipped the Olympics entirely. Its a misnomer these days it’s all theatre and Im sure if they could bring back the lions in the arena we will have that also.

I dont blame the Murdochs or the “big end of town” As in the Roman times the Emperor just gave the people what they want. The truth of todays society in many ways is well hidden and how quick it is to look for scape goats for its failings.

By: Mike Flanagan

Mike Flanagan — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 00:46:17 +0000

Chris Nagle;
So very, very, but sadly, true!
Big money and the top end of town have stolen the essence of sport and its intrinsic part of society and its’ development of past, present and upcoming generations.
We never see discussed the aesthetics of sport and the participants, it is all PR packaged to the simplistist of criterias, bloody clocks and bank balances.
We rarely see in print or otherwise commentary on the balletic movements of some of our sportsman and women,
It takes a good and adaptive journalist to put to the writtren word an intersting piece that encapsuletes the aesthetics of sport. Far easier to go to print with a clock, or figures of a bank balance.
All to the benefit of wannabe Flett and Wall St tycoons.

By: Christopher Nagle

Christopher Nagle — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 06:32:46 +0000

All this schlock horror is a bit nauseating, as if any of this was a big surprise!

Modern professional sport has become so ‘totalitarian’ in its demands on athletes, it forces them to the absolute margins of human endurance and musculoskeletal performance boundaries in the pursuit of winning at absolutely any cost.

This is being fed by absurd amounts of money being invested in top performers in a winners take all reality paradigm. It prematurely wears out and damages existing talent that has to keep fighting on regardless to stay in front of a relentless flow of new talent trying to topple them. And once they are compromised, their income and lifestyle will collapse and they will be has beens.

Ordinary games are turned into gladiatorial combats where any advantage, no matter how small, has to be used to stay or get in the game.

And the ‘bad boys and girls’ who get caught breaking the drug rules become the fall guys for a system that systematically drives them into that very behavior.

But nobody dares to question anything below a certain level, because there is just too much money involved in the status quo; a charmed circle of sponsors, advertisers corporate apparatchiks and team administrators/coaches, who will keep driving this accelerating treadmill ever faster and harder until one day, for whatever reason, it can’t.

By: Mike Flanagan

Mike Flanagan — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 03:15:18 +0000

Mikeb;
“our” was intended in a broader context than it may convey.
But I submit that if we waited for the media to carry out their function and inform us of the facts we will all be in suspense until we are nourishing daisey’s.
Good luck to your offsprings endeavours and I wish them well, as they represent our future and the manifesto of our efforts.

By: mikeb

mikeb — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 10:24:09 +0000

No Mike F. - you specifically used as an example our female tennis players. Now there is only one elite Australian female tennis player that you could possibly be referring to.
You call it paranoia to be concerned with allegations of drug taking and cheating and match fixing being thrown around by people who know nothing about it. I say wait until the evidence is revealed before jumping to conclusions and smearing everyone.
…and for what it’s worth I have no association with any sport associations apart from a child who competed at a high level at athletics. No money came my way mate.

By: phyllis stein

phyllis stein — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 10:08:13 +0000

…I await the connection that makes it Julia Gillard’s fault. I’m not sure how it got into print without it.

By: Suzanne Blake

Suzanne Blake — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 08:27:16 +0000

Andrew, this was a McTernan ploy to get Obied and Thomson off the front pages. It has failed, now World’s media are having a feeding frenzy on Australia. labor have damaged our reputation. If they have codes, teams and players they should make arrests, or SHUT UP and continue investigating until they do.

Its was a Labor ploy.

By: Mike Flanagan

Mike Flanagan — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 06:33:43 +0000

In fact I assert I had no one in particular in mind. Except to say I have witnessed spindley young fifteen year old be presented by the media as the upcoming heroes of their sport and low and behold two years later they have bulked up like sumo wrestlers and their voices have dropped by ten octaves.
I spent a good period of my adult life assisting our young ones and youth to acquire acrobatic and circus skills. Some of them in their adult maturity are built like 44 gallon drums with eight packs, but to the best of my knowledge they never participated chemical enhancers that is becoming evident in the professional field of sports, that our media moguls and gambling dens have expropriated for the own money grubbing ambitions.
Where ever the Murochs go, they usually leave a pile dietritrus behind for others to shovel up.

By: Mike Flanagan

Mike Flanagan — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 06:11:21 +0000

— - be silenced at this rate.
Sport was a compulsory in my schooling days to develope and enhance our physical prowess and co-ordination that assisted in the intellectual development of the participant.
Today it is about money, not so much for the competitor but for the media and gambling houses.
As some one else posted, sport and gambling lead inevitaly to corruption.

By: Mike Flanagan

Mike Flanagan — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 06:04:59 +0000

Mikeb
A little paranoia mate.
I don’t think the Crime Commissioners and the Federal Police are chasing their tales!
The recent reports of the fixing of games in the soccer competitions on an international scale point to a another area of corruption in professional sports.
Sport was and is to be encouraged and the achievements of the best are to be applauded. But the three way mariage of sport, media moguls and gambling are destroying the essence and purpose of competitive sports and the public accolades of our finest achievers will

By: mikeb

mikeb — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 04:58:58 +0000

@Mike Flanagan. “It must be obvious from a cursory spectatorship of many of our ‘sporting heroes’ body builds that there is considerable more than weight lifting and gym work to their physical build. Our women tennis players are an obvious example.”
You can only be referring to one person here and this is a worrying aspect to me. Because of the lack of information at this early stage every sportsman, clean or dirty, are being tainted with the same brush. The media love a beat-up, and anti sports commentators jump into the fray tut-tutting their disapproval of sporting “heroes” and the hoi-polloi who follow them. If there is rampant cheating as suggested then give us the facts before launching into a frenzy of speculation.

By: Venise Alstergren

Venise Alstergren — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 04:46:07 +0000

REVOL OOSHON: Brilliant!

By: revol ooshon

revol ooshon — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 01:05:09 +0000

Bubonic plague epidemic
Australia-wide
550 Deaths
1900–1910
- Not Australia’s blackest day

Sinking of AHS Centaur off North Stradbroke Island, Queensland
268 Deaths
14 May 1943
Hospital ship torpedoed by a Japanese submarine.
- Not Australia’s blackest day

Japanese Air Raids
Darwin
1942
243 Deaths
- Not Australia’s blackest day

Bushfires
Victoria
173 Deaths
February 2009
- Not Australia’s blackest day

Prison break
Cowra
238 Deaths
5th August 1944
- Not Australia’s blackest day

Sea battle between HMAS Sydney and German Cruiser Kormoran
Indian Ocean near Shark Bay
19 November 1941
727 Deaths
- Not Australia’s blackest day

Rail Accident
Granville
18th January 1977
83 Deaths
- Not Australia’s blackest day

Earthquake
Newcastle
28 December 1989
13 Deaths
- Not Australia’s blackest day

Massacre
Port Arthur
July 1996
35 Deaths
- Not Australia’s blackest day

Two blackhawk helicopters down
Townsville
March 1996
18 Deaths
- Not Australia’s blackest day

Terrorism
Bali Indonesia
12 October 2002
88 Australian deaths
- Not Australia’s blackest day

couple dumb arse footy players on ‘roids
Melbourne
2013
Australia’s blackest day

By: zut alors

zut alors — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 00:11:50 +0000

Professional sport has been elevated to risible importance. In the past decade it’s not uncommon for a sporting story to lead the ABC radio news.

Surely sport should be about the joy of exercise and the satisfaction of participation. And fair play - above all, fair play.

These days unless you’re a winner you’re a nonentity - coming second is not an option. It’s jingoistic piffle which has reached epidemic proportions courtesy of indulgent sponsors.

By: Spike

Spike — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 23:55:13 +0000

All sport should only be as was originally: AMATEUR only. Why pay billions to men/women just because they are skilled sportswise?. Then there’s the associated: Drs, physios, spin Drs, managers + myriad hangers on: reaping the taxpayers $’s via sport! Better to INVEST those billions into becoming a smarter, better educated + technologically more advanced Australia! Developing superior water pipelines, rail transport, roads education, hospitals + schools: few examples where sporting billions should be diverted into! Research + development: needs $’s, we’re slipping back + behind other nations! One radio quote this week: 20 BILLION spent on sport Aust, 2012…Hospital beds cut, waiting lists increase..This country has priorities wrong! Sport may be Australia’s major religion: won’t help us on the world stage including our SEAsia location.

By: Michael Hilliard

Michael Hilliard — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 23:30:09 +0000

I’m with SBH. The performance enhances do nothing for their intellect, sorry but I cringe whenever I happen across an interview with some buff head bragging about how he bashed the living daylights out of another player to bring his team and the supporters victory. It’s win win at all costs with billions spent on it, reams of media devoted to it and for what? I only wish their was a quick drug fix for some important areas like the built & living environment. This revelation (if you could call it that) gets a big so what from me.

By: drmick

drmick — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 21:12:39 +0000

2 things here. Everything & i mean everything murduck touches is rotten. He makes it so if it wasnt before & acceleates it with funding,rule changes, complicit dodgy sportscasting & dodgy officials if it was dodgy to start with. Super league rugby league melbourne storm. I rest my case

Mcdonalds hav sponsored funded supported nearly every athlete that has repreented australia for the last 4 olymplc games. In spite of targeted aggressive opposition their bottom line has grown every ysar since they hav been here

By: Bill Hilliger

Bill Hilliger — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 20:51:57 +0000

Just as well sport betting is not compulsory. Fools will continue to bet on sports rigged or not.

By: Harry Rogers

Harry Rogers — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 20:38:59 +0000

All about 25 years too late. In this country Packer saw dollar bells ringing with World Series Cricket and played on the publics greed. Club managers and coaches being paid ridiculous sums of money.

Way too late now its endemic just look at that teenagers who have been brought up to idolise these people. We as a society are to blame and unless there is a total mindset change you’re just pissing in the wind.

By: MJPC

MJPC — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 20:21:51 +0000

I love this, we fawn over sport “stars” calling them “hero’s” and now the truth comes out and the media is aghast with shock and horror!
Sports is just a microcosm of the general decline of society; anything is acceptable as long as there is money to be made.
What is particularly galling is the sheer volume of money thrown at the major sporting codes, be it in grants or the cost for building and maintaining sports infrastructure (i.e. the Sydney Olympic infrastructure site, a true “white elephant”) and for this taxpayer largesse we are rewarded by learning that some players in the codes are not quite honest.
Let’s see the codes supporting themselves and pull all taxpayer support, now that would make them squel.

By: Liamj

Liamj — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 12:23:14 +0000

Any bets that taxpayers will have to fund regulation and testing to ‘restore faith’/bail out the crooked pony circus?

Its just another market failure, jail the crooks and let the rest go broke; upside - it might even get the spectators off their arses. Commercialised/elite sport is contributing to making us less healthy.

By: michael crook

michael crook — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 09:43:47 +0000

professional sport + gambling = corruption. Someone is surprised at this?

How much for pitch conditions these days?

By: GF50

GF50 — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 09:08:05 +0000

Hells bells! shock horror! Fair dinkum? Blind freddy knew betting was bound to inject integrity into general sport!Look at horse racing where a big noise spiv has his mum trainer recommending him!
Money paid to the ill educated, overhyped, bimbos of Australia, believing all their own publicity? sense of fair play? All total crap! Now for the bloodport of all Australia,Politics! Don’t give us policies or rational thought follow the money! No need to cast a vote just put your money on the spivs all know.

By: Anthony

Anthony — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 08:22:44 +0000

The fact that the AFL has only one reported positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 20 years of testing says it all. As cycling has found with the UCI, if the governing bodies are afraid of the financial impacts of positive tests they will look the other way. The AFL has become very vocal about recreational drugs yet has remained very quiet about PEDs. Despite peoples impression the most thorough testing regimes via blood passports are found in pro cycling. This just shows how far behind the other sports are. Cycling failed because the testing was under the control of the governing body. If any sport is to learn it is to separate the powers of testing from the general governance of the sport, they are the ones with the most to lose if things become murky. Are these sports involved in blood doping? Who would know? The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Agency conducts the random and target tests in Australian sports like the AFL but do they decide who to target or is it the governing bodies as is the case with the UCI?

By: Hamis Hill

Hamis Hill — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 07:25:48 +0000

What about that unacccountable sporting prowess of a certain shifty LOTO? ????