Nothing like persecution to fire up the fans

shane says:

08:22am | 05/05/10

Completely agree. Sports all well and good, go for it, stay heathy, whatever. But the stupid amounts of government money we pour into it whilst there are so many other problems in the country (let alone the world) is sad.

Bruce says:

08:37am | 05/05/10

Tani: Agree. Football players are not gods, or hero’s or what ever you want to call them. They are just a bunch of blokes playing a game chasing a ball.

Gavin says:

10:11am | 05/05/10

Shane, high profile sport generates a significant amount more (via sponsorships etc) than the Government purs into it. It’s an important part of the economy as sport is culture in this country.

mickey says:

12:20pm | 05/05/10

I’m not about to say footy players are gods HOWEVER if I had to make a religion mine would definitely be ‘the Church of Preston Campbell is Amazing’

Plus - holy crap are Melbourne people that daft they can’t even tell the difference? Poor form Melbourne, poor form.

Bazza says:

02:48pm | 05/05/10

I think the “God” remark is more a statement of how the punters revere their players, rather than an affectionate term on behalf of the author.

Sporting moron says:

10:35am | 05/05/10

Did you check the fixture?

Randal says:

04:06pm | 05/05/10

To clarify, Friday night’s test against NZ is expecting a sell out crowd of over 30,000 with over 20,000 tickets already pre-sold, the Storm will play the Bronco’s on Sunday with more than 5,000 tickets pre-sold and a crowd of over 20,000 expected.

Whilst Elise has mixed up her dates the point she makes is very sound, and if we see over 50,000 people turn up for two league matches in Melbourne on a weekend where there is direct competition with the AFL, then that is clear evidence that the people of Melbourne have embraced the Storm into the Melbourne sporting culture.

karl says:

11:24am | 05/05/10

@DDR
I agree.  The authors of this blog, although at times interesting and able to stir a debate, have the writing and grammatical skills of year 9 students. There must be something wrong with the education system if paid journalists can’t spell, let alone know basic idioms.
Guys, at the very least, have your colleagues proof read your articles.

Nick says:

09:43am | 06/05/10

Actually SM, it’s “just desserts”, not “just deserts”.

Dale says:

04:24pm | 05/05/10

So you are all for “drug dealing, gang rape, rape, assult, bashings, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, salary cap fraud, dogey betting, drink driving.etc etc.” I think these peope should be sent to jail not given a slap on the wrist because they are sports players? This is a big part of what is wrong with Australia.

Gavin says:

10:16am | 05/05/10

I started to agree with you, vic, until you said you were GLAD you were from NSW (lol) but more importantly your last sentence. Yes I believe the Storm deserved what they copped, but what you said about the people backing them lacking sportsmanship is WAY out of line. It wasn’t the supporters who got them in the mess, and loyalty does not equate to condoning an action. But what the hell are they supposed to do, support a Sydney team? I would sooner support the Taliban (ok maybe a slight exaggeration).

I’m not a Storm supporter by the way.

Greek Snake says:

01:59pm | 05/05/10

It is an overzealous prosecution of a club that showed Sydney up at its own game. Never before has a punishment like this been handed down in the history of the sport.

Canterbury was convicted of similar offences some years ago. Their punishment, a mere slap on the wrists, saw them win the premiership in just 2 short years.

Let’s face it though, the salary cap itself is a pathetic restriction on sport. It’s the equivalent of forcing an elite sprinter to use a wheelchair just to promote competition. Why hold teams back? To cite an example… The English Premier League has no salary cap on its teams. Millionaires from around the globe fund teams to get to the top but there is never one clear dominant team in the league. There is always competition. This crap that salary cap promotes competition is garbage. Look at AFL clubs for creative ways to get around the salary cap. Offering AFL players “advertising” contracts for recycling products? Pull the other one.

Brian says:

02:28pm | 05/05/10

No, Greek Snake, it’s more like forcing a more capable horse to carry an additional weight… hang on, we do that. Maybe like forcing some runners to run further in certain major weights, hang on, we do that too. Hmm… forcing race cars to have a standard engine size? Oops, we do that.

The premier league doesn’t have one dominant team, that is true, but it DOES have a select few (roughly four to six, depending on who you ask) who are considered a real chance to win - simply because they have the money. Unlike the situation in Australia, these same clubs have been there for a decade or more…

Bruce says:

01:24pm | 05/05/10

S.L : Sydney siders do not go to most commercial sporting events in great numbers. Unless its an important international event. A good example is Rugby Union, it can hardly get a crowd on the weekends, but when a test against england is on, Sydney can get a reasonable crowd of eighty thousand. Sydney sports supporters seem to spread themselves across a number of winter sports they support, such Rugby League, Rugby Union, Hockey, Tennis, Soccer,  cycling, squash, Basket ball, Net ball,  etc ,etc. Not to mention the large number of families who follow their children around on the weekend to attend “little athletics” and weekend school sport. In winter time you only have drive around a Sydney suburb and see the large number of people participating in various weekend sporting activities.

Bruce says:

02:47pm | 05/05/10

Not much else to do on a cold winters day in Melbourne. I know, I lived there !!