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We are.
We’re not fu©king @ssholes, mind you, but we are @ssholes.
Australia has one culture, winning, be it Grammys, Oscars or World Cups, we do it at an amazingly high level.
If we aren’t the best sporting nation on earth, we are pretty damn close.
There aren’t many sports we don’t have world class performers in.
Hell we even win winter Olympic medals.
Sport is not our religion, winning is.
And we are ruthless about it.
Friendships are lost.
Injuries are ignored.
Rules are bent.
The Opposition is intimidated.
Anything we can do to beat you.
It was the way I was brought up.
On the field we believe alls fair in love and war, sure we have moments where we are nice, even in sports, but we still want to win.
Afterwards have a beer with the guy you called a flaming @ss muncher, just trying to fire you up chance, want a cold one?
Now they are dobbing in cricketers, are they serious?
Either play like the @ssholes we were born to be, or straighten up and fly right, don’t put your feet on either side of the fence and ride it.
When the Australians first started trying to soften up their image I thought it was a joke.
A scientologist doesn’t covert to Judaism.
Why would they bother, it’s about winning, not being liked.
Lots of people like Sri Lanka and New Zealand, how does that work out for them.
Three or so years have passed and Australia’s new nice guy tag still doesn’t fit correctly.
How could it.
Ponting is a street fighter. The working class boy who loves a scrap, and would smack you over the head with a chair to defeat you.
Hayden is a Christian soldier. Like Dubya Bush before him, he is an evangelical fighter who doesn’t let knowledge or common sense affect his anger.
Roy is a black man from new texas (queensland), imagine the ©rap he has had to deal with his whole life. If that hasn’t made him harder than a teenager in a nudie club, I don’t know what would.
Hogg is 6 tests into a career, has no real talent, and is sledging guys with over 5000 test runs. Imagine what he did to the dogs on his old postmans route.
Before them were men like Justin Langer, who I personally saw threaten at least 3 Victorians with violence.
Steve Waugh, a man who believed in scarring the opposition for life and whose face broke Jason Gillespies leg.
And Allan Border, the man who told Dean Jones he was soft, as he threw up in India whilst making a double hundred.
No I wasn’t one of the guys Langer threatened, I’m not that silly.
In Aussie rules football I barrack for Collingwood, everyone hates Collingwood. That’s the way it should be. I couldn’t stand it if I barracked for a side that provoked no reaction.
I don’t know why this team decided to be liked, but I can only imagine it had something to do with making fat cash off sponsors.
Personally I think they make enough cash from cricket, they should concentrate on winning cricket matches.
If they really want to do something for their image, they can always do what Steve Waugh did, feed the starving limbless children.
Didn’t matter that Steve would have strangled an Indian to win a test on the pitch, because he did nice tings off the pitch.
India would love to be 2 zip right now, Bangladesh would love to win 2 tests.
Australia aren’t ever going to be completely nice, cause it aint in is.
So let’s drop the act gents, if nice guys finished first, we would have tried it already.
I’m with you on this old bean!In 2005, England were hard. They played hard, they fought hard, and they gave Australia a bit of a shock. As soon as we lost Jones, Vaughan, Flintoff, we turned in to a team of shy, retiring wall flowers.And they always get trampled over.I want Vaughan to get that feeling back in the boys, so that by the time Evil Empire returns to our shores in the summer, we’re ready to pound them into the floor!
Now you have an aussie wicket keeper, so that may help.
Not if he’s like that shit hole, Geraint Jones!
I can’t believe I’ve been reading the blog of a Collingwood supporter all this time.
That’s a fair introduction UJ, to those who may not know. Curious coincidence to come upon this article because I came to dig up an earlier introduction you had blogged, for Ottayan’s reference.This is good because the world can understand the basic cultural differences between Australia’s and the view the rest of the world grew up with. That should settle one side.If Australia understood the differences too, it would probably be a happier world.I’m loathe to take your word for it, but barring once or twice when you or I were probably up too late typing, I don’t think you are such an @…at least not an older @ than I. (older @’s are naturally larger @’s)It is curious but nice guys do also finish first and not-so-nice guys finish last too….so it isn’t an graven axiom. Australia has enjoyed many many great games before and we have enjoyed them too.You probably know better than I, but the only two times I saw an Australian test match live at the ground (decades apart) I saw them play with all the spirit you suggest but for a couple of things they didn’t do…one was bend rules, and the other was win the game.The first was 1969 Delhi (Ian Chappell scored a hundred..Bill Lawry was skip and a tougher guy you wouldn’t find anywhere…stood his ground…didn’t see much of sissy from him) and the other was Madras where Sachin met up with Shane Warne…Taylor was the skip, another tough guy who won and wasn’t much of a sissy either to bend rules to win. Like you once blogged, Indians seem more keen to know about the other rather than set their own game right…anyway…that’s again the cultural difference thing… here’s hoping the series gets underway and I’m hoping the Indians can whup up a victory or two.
Bollocks Jrod.If Roy is so hard, then why does he go blubbing to the teacher if he got called a monkey ?? (hardly in the top tier of insults) But I guess you’re close to the real issue in that it’s the snivelling hypocrisy around this side that pisses neutrals off.
Fuck off leg break – he didn’t go to the ump – Punter did. He ignored all of the shit in India, but at what point are we supossed to say ‘enough is enough’? I’d say when the Indians are being such fucking hypocrites’d be about right. They know damn well that Knob-head’s comments could – in context – only be construed as racist: deliberately so.And Kiwis are far from neutral – you get into us every chance you get. No-one really likes their bigger and far more talented brother, and jealousy is an ugly thing.
Of course Kiwis are neutral (with the exception of the Ashes when we are fully in behind Aus)As for saying the Pommy-Monkey-Clown “ignored all of the shit” in India; you’re taking the piss; right?
Yeah good one LB, Kiwis are about as neutral as any other country flogged by Aus. The sore loser principle in action.Every sore loser oops “neutral” is going to get in on this one.”Of course Kiwis are neutral (with the exception of the Ashes when we are fully in behind Aus)”Backs to wall gents the Kiwis are in town.
The “You guys are just jealous” line reminds me so much of the numb-skull element of All Black fans that tarnished NZ’s image so much during the controversial 2005 Lions Tour.“Never mind that we took out your captain illegally; just look at the scoreboard etc…”Open your eyes.
Just to set the record straight – I understand Procter had asked both the Captains to report to him directly if any racial slurs were used.Ponting was doing what he should.There are no two ways to look at racial abuse – hardened nut or not when it happens it hursts.Finally, as an Indian fan who has seen Australia whip all comers, I am unable to understand why their cricketers behave like they do. I know Australian cricketers play their game hard, but it is not an excuse for all this silly posturing, injured innocenceand petty bullying tactics like 5 years olds.The point is they dont have to do any of this to win. They can stop all this and still win most matches.Thats one part which is beyond me. :)
Well said Ottayan.While racial abuse should not be tolerated, there is an obvious sense of bullies not being able to take their own medicine here.As for Ponting: “There’s no way I grounded that ball,” Ponting told a press conference. “If you’re actually questioning my integrity in the game, then you shouldn’t be standing there.”Seen the photo of him not taking the catch?
Sportsfreak,I did see it live on TV.Silly, is’nt it?
People check out my latest post on http://www.wellpitched.com on the same topic. Im interested to see what everyone thinks