Not the weather: it's a still autumn day. No,
the rugby team.
It turns out that they, naughty boys, have been paying their players more than the big boss makulus permitted, in a bid to keep their best players, with foreseeable results: they won big time. There was the predictable tut-tutting and shaking of heads when it was all exposed, but c'mon--isn't winning everything? This isn't about sportsmanship, winning with honour and losing with grace, courage in the face of adversity, tenacity when you're losing, or integrity seeing off grubby commercialism.
It's about
money. Fat incomes for the players and obscene profits for TV companies. Melbourne Storm is owned by News Corp. No one has drawn the obvious conclusion, which is that professional rugby (and footy and... ) will always be about bending the rules. The bosses at Melbourne Storm appeared in public with downcast faces and contrite expressions. But how they must have loved the publicity: the touching headlines about brave fans, and braver players. I shall say no more, since I am attacking a golden calf, and will offend all right-thinking people.
But the brouhaha did produce some delicious pics. I suggest you forget about the seedy greed behind Melbourne Storm and enjoy the pictures. Just in case you wanted to know, (a) no animal was hurt making these images and (b) none of the players shown is gay or even bi, so far as I know. They're just nice to look at.
It turns out that they, naughty boys, have been paying their players more than the big boss makulus permitted, in a bid to keep their best players, with foreseeable results: they won big time. There was the predictable tut-tutting and shaking of heads when it was all exposed, but c'mon--isn't winning everything? This isn't about sportsmanship, winning with honour and losing with grace, courage in the face of adversity, tenacity when you're losing, or integrity seeing off grubby commercialism.
It's about money. Fat incomes for the players and obscene profits for TV companies. Melbourne Storm is owned by News Corp. No one has drawn the obvious conclusion, which is that professional rugby (and footy and... ) will always be about bending the rules. The bosses at Melbourne Storm appeared in public with downcast faces and contrite expressions. But how they must have loved the publicity: the touching headlines about brave fans, and braver players. I shall say no more, since I am attacking a golden calf, and will offend all right-thinking people.
But the brouhaha did produce some delicious pics. I suggest you forget about the seedy greed behind Melbourne Storm and enjoy the pictures. Just in case you wanted to know, (a) no animal was hurt making these images and (b) none of the players shown is gay or even bi, so far as I know. They're just nice to look at.
No comments:
Post a Comment