You’re as close to hell on earth as you can get, stuck in a frozen muddy trench a few hundred metres across from a bunch of blokes trying to kill you. It’s five months into a conflict so devastating they’ll call it the Great War and — at least for the next twenty years —…
This is still our Sydney
It’s Monday morning and I’m running late. Walking late. It’s twenty minutes to ten when I turn left from Phillip St into Martin Place. I don’t look at the Lindt cafe as I pass. My eyes are focused on the Channel Seven news ticker. I can’t remember now what it says but I’m sure Michael…
Catch a falling star…
It was a classic own goal. Having successfully offloaded serial biter Luis Suarez in July after he took a chunk out of Italy’s Giorgio Cheillini during the World Cup, the powers that be at Liverpool Football Club could look forward to some relative peace and quiet. All they had to do was hire a less…
The legacy of No. 408
I didn’t know Phil Hughes but I reckon he’d be gobsmacked by the global outpouring following his death. There have been condolences from the Queen, a mid-concert song dedication by Elton John, a Vatican Mass in his honour. Flags have flown at half-mast at cricket grounds from Sydney to London. Parliament was silent for one…
The line between news and voyeurism
Twenty-four hours beforehand, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation had public opinion on its side in the wake of Government-imposed budget cuts. Then Phil Hughes, playing a Sheffield Shield match for South Australia and vying for selection in the Australian Test cricket team, was hit in the head by a fast delivery. As he was airlifted to…
Is Roger saving something special for the weekend?
I’m calling it: there’s not a more accomplished blubmeister in sport than Roger Federer. Yes, there are other athletes that have been handy with the waterworks. English international footballer Paul Gascoigne and former Aussie cricket captain Kim Hughes spring to mind. And we must never forget the particular talents of Jana Pittman, most amply demonstrated…
Sports pursuits for our G20 visitors
Dear world leaders. Welcome to Australia. I will be your sports concierge during your G20 visit. Any sport you’d like to see or try, to take your mind off the weighty problems of the world, I’m your guy. For those of you with tickets to the much hyped Shirtfront Showdown between Tony ‘The Duke’ Abbott…
Could Bernie Ecclestone be a closet greenie?
It’s possible I’ve underestimated Bernie Ecclestone. When Formula One’s governing body announced plans to make the sport more environmentally friendly, we all rolled around the floor in hysterics. Except Bernie. He was spewing. Cut the noise to a mere orchestra of vuvuzelas? Limit each vehicle to ‘just’ 100 kilograms of fuel per race? “A total…
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