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He’s Eddie Everywhere but he’s not Eddie Everyone

Anthony Sharwood

by Anthony Sharwood

14 Feb 01:10pm

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Filed under: Cities, Controversy, Eddie Mcguire, Felafel, Racism, Television

99 comments

This is not an anti-Eddie piece. Nice guy, by all accounts. It’s not an anti-Melbourne piece either. Nice city, by all accounts too. Very liveable and all that.

Who's in the hot seat now, Ed?

This isn’t even a piece written in outrage against Eddie McGuire’s cheap, nasty “land of the felafel” slur against people of Arabic origin in Western Sydney, the sharpest rebuke of which was by young freelance blogger Antoun Issa.

Despite that slur, and the national backlash, and Eddie’s embarrassing half-arsed apology, the fact is most people outside of Melbourne couldn’t give a toss about what Eddie says or thinks about anything. That’s what this piece is about.

Like trams and dinner cabaret, Eddie doesn’t travel beyond Melbourne. Punch editor Tory Shepherd begs to differ a little on this front, arguing that in her AFL-mad home city of Adelaide, much of what he says resonates.

But here in Sydney, we barely even know who he is. Seriously, we don’t. Oh sure, we know he’s in charge of some footy team down south.

And if we really pay attention to AFL, which most people north of the Murray don’t, we might have gleaned that he retained such cleanskins as Alan Didak in his Collingwood culture cleanup, which clearly was not as important as a premiership.

But generally, Eddie’s a bit of a non-entity up here. We see him turn the letter “l” into the letter “y” with relentless monotony on Who wants to be a Miyonaire and we think, ‘yeah, he’s a pretty natural game show host’. This is not a compliment.

Eddie himself will no doubt tell you he didn’t get Sydney either. As you’ll recall, at least if you’re from Melbourne, he came here in 2006, “boned” a few people as CEO of Channel Nine, then returned to Melbourne in 2007 with his tail between his legs.

There’s a great anecdote which demonstrates just how much of a “meh” factor Eddie generated when he lived in Sydney.

I can’t give too many details, but let’s just say the editor of a major Sydney newspaper was about to splash with a story about Eddie on his front page.

Then an hour or so before early edition deadline, something happened in the Big Brother house. So long Eddie, hello turkey slap. Hardly the sort of thing Eddie would be bumped for in Melbourne, you’d have to say.

Just why Eddie doesn’t travel is anyone’s guess, and I certainly welcome your input on this one. Maybe he works everywhere else bar Sydney. Maybe this is yet another fickle Sydney thing.

But you know what I think? I think that when Eddie made his racist felafel slur, he was actually expressing his frustration at the one Australian city where his magic potion of everywhereness just doesn’t wash.

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99 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • Sheedy"s Left Foot says:

      12:19pm | 14/02/11

      Nah, I’m in Brisbane and I don’t have any clear idea who this guy is.

      Something to do with Carlton and AFL, but other than that wouldn’t be able to tell you 5 things he has done or even pick him out of a lineup.

      Reply

    • Jade says:

      12:29pm | 14/02/11

      Collingwood….

    • Kika says:

      12:58pm | 14/02/11

      CARLTON!!! Thanks! Collingwood more like it. How dare you pollute the Carlton name with Eddie Maguire. Thanks.

    • Bilby says:

      03:21pm | 14/02/11

      Kika - I know!! The Carlton name is still trying to live down John Elliot if you don’t mind.

    • john says:

      07:47pm | 14/02/11

      @Sheedy"s Left Foot, he’s just a washed up channel 9 CEO, and painful to listen to as a game show host and calls you “pal” if he doesn’t like you.
      He’s a true Bogan in every sense, he’s more suited to your suburban bogan crowd outside the 10km radius of any CBD. He can’t be refined, its a lost cause, likely to go the way of Tony Barber, into TV ads and finally into the obscurity of eternal suburbia, that immigrates on mass with other bogans to chapel or lygon street for some culture on Friday Saturday nights, Locals are aware of this event and stay indoors until the migration has ebbed back into the obscurity of suburbia.

      http://thingsboganslike.com/the-full-list/

    • JK says:

      08:42am | 15/02/11

      John - He is from Collingwood of course he is a Bogan he is king of the Bogans.

    • stephen says:

      12:22pm | 14/02/11

      Broadmeadows, where Eddie comes from, was always - and still is - a retirement home for the guys and gals of the prison system.
      So why can we expect him to know about a multiculturalism, and if he’s in Melbourne, why, indeed, can anyone expect our Eddie to know anything of culture ?

      Reply

    • Max Redlands says:

      03:50pm | 14/02/11

      So, you can make generalized statements about people from Broadmeadows but Eddie can’t do the same about people in western sydney?

      My view is, however, making such comments is not so out of line. Also I disagree there was a natioanal outrage - many people , myself, included felt the inhabitants of western sydney shouldn’t be so thin skinned.I mean, a Scot is supposed to take haggis jokes in his or her stride - are they not?

      It seems to me “outrage” over these sorts of comments is selective- certain groups are fair game , others, somewhat hypocritically, are not. I and others have thought taking a joke at your own expense was a quintessentially australian trait - not crying about it.

    • PaulB says:

      11:31pm | 14/02/11

      Dunno about Sydney but he’s certainly right about Broadmeadows.  What a hole!

    • Cornilius says:

      12:39pm | 14/02/11

      I don’t know if still there, but right in the heartland of Eddie’s beloved Collingwood suburb (mind you the club no longer is based there but across the yarra in eddies toorak) there was a big billboard promoting his mmm show with eddie looking like a corporate slug in the middle. Someone had spray painted “EDDIE IS A W%&*#R” in big bold letters. So really no one down here likes him bar collingwood ferals.

      Reply

    • papachango says:

      12:47pm | 14/02/11

      I’m not particularly a fan of Eddie, but I don’t see what the big deal is about the ‘land of the felafel’ comment. How is it racist to observe that those of Arab heritage display a penchant for felafels?

      It’s definitely factually correct, but I don’t see how all but the most ‘desperate to be offended for someone else’ PC busybody can possibly think that’s racist?

      It it similarly racist to refer to a particular northern European country as ‘the land of flat pack furniture’ and safe but boring cars?

      Reply

    • Matt says:

      12:54pm | 14/02/11

      Please dont go around practicing common sense, it may catch on, and we wouldn’t want that…

    • James1 says:

      12:57pm | 14/02/11

      The offensive (although I am not sure it is racist) part is that he implied no one would want to live in “the land of the felafel”.

      Otherwise, who is the Eddie guy exactly?  And what does he do for a living?

    • Markus says:

      01:00pm | 14/02/11

      Any comment on those of Arab heritage that is not loudly praising their significant contributions to Australian society is racist.

      Goes doubly for those of indigenous heritage.

    • Kika says:

      01:03pm | 14/02/11

      Or like referring to Logan in Brisbane as being the land of the Bogan?

    • Bruce says:

      01:29pm | 14/02/11

      What “slur”. It was just observational humour ! I got a feeling the media has just made a another ‘beat up” out of a non story. Only the emotionally thin skinned could get up set at such a non issue. I have a name for these poor dears who get so upset, but then I guess I had better no say !

    • HappyCynic says:

      03:05pm | 14/02/11

      @James1

      Have you been out to Western Sydney?  In Summer it’s hot and humid, in Winter it’s freezing cold and there’s nothing of note out there except Parramatta Westfield and even then Bondi Junction’s Westfield, though smaller, is much better.  I wouldn’t live out there if you paid me smile

      Besides, Bondi’s more the land of felafel smile  There’s a couple of Israeli restaurants in Bondi that do the best felafel anywhere in Australia.  Start with Sabbaba   smile

    • Loulou says:

      04:06pm | 14/02/11

      @James1 It was pretty accurately implied! no one wants to live in Western Sydney, it’s a place where dreams go to die, regardless of the prevalance of delicious felafels.

      @HappyCynic - Come on man, there’s more to Western Sydney than parra westfields!! you forgot the Blacktown Drive In theatre, and the Panthers Club and Mean Fiddler, and the Rooty Hill RSL, the Macquarie Fields riots! They also had Australia’s Wonderland before it was flogged off and turned into an industrial estate..

      All awesome stuff. All top places to go to get drunk, get in a blue with some bogans, and then stop & get a felafel on the way home.

      Ah god’s country indeed! smile

    • GMAN says:

      06:02pm | 14/02/11

      @happycynic & Loulou,

      You wouldn’t last 5 mins in Western Sydney. There’s no latte sippers out here.
      It’s where your women come to find a real man.

    • Loulou says:

      08:44am | 15/02/11

      Lol Gman - I lived in Western Sydney, my family come from there, I don’t like lattes, and I’m female - not to mention that I was taking the piss.. wink

    • Imalleeringneck says:

      12:52pm | 14/02/11

      Why is felafel a racist slur?

      Reply

    • Seano says:

      03:44pm | 14/02/11

      I guess because it implies that Greater Western Sydney has little offer other than Felafel stores. It also implies the people of Arab descent a beneath the AFL.

      As a sports fan who is has recently banned the AFL from my house because of their constant arrogance towards every other sport in this country, I’m happy for them to continue to offend large part of the demographic they have obviously targeted as a key market.

    • fairsfair says:

      03:46pm | 14/02/11

      People seem to have missed the intended hummous of his comment. Parsley due to their desire to make an issue where there is not one.

    • papachango says:

      04:24pm | 14/02/11

      @fairsfair - “Parsley due to their desire to make an issue where there is not one”

      Excuse me, but PARSLEY? WTF?

      Is that a thinly-veiled reference to tabbouleh?

      Racist.

    • Likes Joining Dots says:

      05:36pm | 14/02/11

      @papachango, steady on.

      Only the banana benders would say things like that.

      The mexicans and sand gropers would never do it.  Taswegians might, but they would have to say it twice. The crow eaters may have an opinion, but who can understand them anyway?

    • fairsfair says:

      08:52am | 15/02/11

      Just a tahini attempt at humour from me. I tip my hat to you boys for getting it wink

      Harem comes another, the just keep cumin….

      Ah, if that makes me racist (and not a bad dad joke apologist), than a racist iams (hold up thats dog food, I’m getting off topic).

    • Dave-o says:

      01:02pm | 14/02/11

      Eddie is Victoria’s Phil Gould.

      Lets be honest, “Land of the Falafel” is hardly the most vile insult in the world. Some people are being precious.

      Reply

    • Macca says:

      01:14pm | 14/02/11

      Eddie is a full-blown obnoxious retard who channel 9 continuously put on screen because he won’t go home?

      Makes sense.

    • Daniel says:

      03:03pm | 14/02/11

      You may be right there Dave, I live in Victoria and have never heard of Phil Gould.

    • Seano says:

      03:32pm | 14/02/11

      Not true. Phil Gould is an expert in League. Eddie M might be useful in a pub trivia comp.

    • n_dude says:

      12:10pm | 15/02/11

      Dave-o - you are right “Land of the Falafel” is hardly the most vile insult in the world.
      However Phil Gould knows more about rugby league than Eddie knows about Aussie Rules.

    • Kika says:

      01:02pm | 14/02/11

      I don’t think he really travels anywhere. My conspiracy theory is this. Collingwood have a huge support base. Being on the Victorian footy show and then president of the Collingwood footy club would get your foot in the door in a lot of places in Melbourne - in AFL and Channel 9. So he can get his mug on TV whenever he wants thanks to being the president of Collingwood.

      Reply

    • Daemon says:

      08:47am | 16/02/11

      Didn’t they release 20,000 fans on day leave for the last (proper football)  grand final so Collingwood had a presence?

    • SM says:

      01:03pm | 14/02/11

      all this faux “no-one knows who Eddie is” bullshit

      of course you know who he is

      his comments were inappropriate

      but true

      Reply

    • ibast says:

      01:28pm | 14/02/11

      Yeah but we don’t know why he’s a TV “personality”.  He has the demeanor of wet cardboard, so why is he hosting a television show?  Like Hey Hey, his popularity must very much be a Melbourne thing, because the rest of us find him either dull or grating.

      And no, his comments were not true.  Had they been about Punchbowl or Bankstown they may have been.  Blacktown is still very much “Hamburger and Large chips thanks luv”.

    • James1 says:

      02:37pm | 14/02/11

      Why should I know who he is, exactly?  What has he done that makes him so noteworthy?  I bet he hasn’t even been photographed with Liz Hurley…

    • Daemon says:

      08:49am | 16/02/11

      There was a recent discussion here to the North on “who you would change channels to avoid”. My answer was Eddie. He drives me nuts with his “Pal” crap and “hail fellow well met” to anyone and everyone. Tosser of the first order for mine.

    • Brad Coward says:

      01:04pm | 14/02/11

      Some people should just pop back into their little PC boxes and grow a pair.  It’s so sad how thin everyone’s skin has become, offended by anything and everything.  My eyes are filling with tears !

      Build a bloody bridge, for goodness sake.

      Reply

    • Erick says:

      01:05pm | 14/02/11

      Just when I thought media beat-ups couldn’t get any sillier than Shitgate, along comes Falafelgate.

      Reply
    • Anthony Sharwood

      Anthony Sharwood says:

      01:29pm | 14/02/11

      The other big issue here is whether you spell it felafel or falafel. I’m in the John Birmingham camp. Two e’s for me.

      By the way Erick, your comment on the sushi thread the other day was hilarious.

      For those who missed it, here’s how Erick weighed in on the nationally-important issue of whether sushi is girl food.

      “Sushi is a feminist plot to oppress men. Stick to pizza”

      Don’t anyone ever say that Erick doesn’t have a sense of humour

    • Kika says:

      01:47pm | 14/02/11

      It doesn’t matter how it’s spelled because Arabic doesn’t have ‘vowels’ only dots and lines to indicate the sound that goes with the consonant.

    • Erick says:

      02:30pm | 14/02/11

      Sushigate! I deny everything.

    • Erick says:

      03:02pm | 14/02/11

      “It doesn’t matter how it’s spelled because Arabic doesn’t have ‘vowels’ only dots and lines to indicate the sound that goes with the consonant.”

      So is it “f.l.f.l” or “f_l_f_l”?

    • HappyCynic says:

      03:15pm | 14/02/11

      @Kika

      Don’t forget Hebrew smile  Israelis have in my opinion improved on the traditional felafel.  Fresh baked pita, tabouli, this delicious chili and sesame paste, khatzilim (it’s like roast eggplant with raw garlic), mmmm *drools*

      We also don’t use vowels in the English senseeither but use dots or dashes for the sound to go with the consonant.  But we only use those Nikud dots with the noobs smile

    • Jugg says:

      03:19pm | 14/02/11

      Oh I thought Erick was serious?  I even gave up sushi.

    • Richard says:

      01:09pm | 14/02/11

      In light of the backlash against Eddie’s land of the falafel “slur”, I do hope no-one will ever crack racist jokes about Queensland again. You know the ones: “Land of XXXX (because they don’t know how to spell beer)” and racial vilification against queenslanders because of the colour of their skin (on their necks i.e. red).

      But seriously, what is it with left-wingers and their thin-skinned lack of humour? Its ok to laugh at yourself sometimes….

      Reply

    • Shane says:

      01:32pm | 14/02/11

      Left-wingers? As if they’re the only ones with a “thin-skinned lack of humour”. Take a listen a any screeching right-wing talkback hysteric and try to get them to laugh at themselves.
      Never mind though Dick, don’t let facts get in the way of a good story.

    • TChong says:

      02:05pm | 14/02/11

      No Richard , you are so correct, and you lead by example.
      ( presuming you are The Richard of ” Sen. Sophie shows me the Light “)
      How funny was that ?
      The Abbott - Mr 2 Blue Ribbons,- stirling stuff, critics are “leering Hyenas”  ,
      as I so readily acknowledge, very funny stuff. Indeed.

    • Syl says:

      02:09pm | 14/02/11

      Queenslanders aren’t a race…..

      I think a hell of a lot of people from both sides of the political spectrum need to HTFU and realise that the world is full of people you don’t agree with, and not being offended is not a basic human right.

    • Loulou says:

      03:57pm | 14/02/11

      Richard, I just moved to Gympie from NSW & have come to the realisation that:
      A, Although I don’t know if you can SPELL beer or not, you sure don’t know how to DRINK beer. Where are the schooies of something other than XXXX - and why does nobody drink schooners?
      B. Gympie is full of rednecks.

      Forgive me for being State-ist. But it’s 100% true.

    • Shane From Melbourne says:

      05:18pm | 14/02/11

      With Right wingers humor is privatized and you need to buy it from the company the government gave the monopoly to. With left wingers humor is socialized and everyone expects it as one of their rights…..

    • Gregg says:

      01:15pm | 14/02/11

      Eddie is a guy from the rough and tumble who has made it good in some respects, all without the talent of a Warnie or a gladiator from one of the footy codes though he probably wishes he had been able to kick a footy.

      I had to laugh when he was shown on the Footy show repeatedly attempting to kick a ball and stubbed his foot, mobile phone popping out of his pocket in one direction, battery case coming off too and sunglasses in another.
      Not sure if he had false teeth about to come out but that kind of sums up his media career too for
      . moved from Footy Show to Hot Seat
      . about the same time he thought he was good enough to be Nine’s CEO and James did too for a short time but there’s another bit of a dill with money he can lose.
      . so back to the Hot Seat and happy at Collingwood.

      But he dropped some clangers from time to time, the Broadie mouth coming back into play but he is not alone in the media world with that.

      A guy as co commentator on the Ladies Gold yesterday was talking about a lass from US it she might have been and ” Pretty little piece ain’t she ” comes out - total silence ensued for as about as long as Tony can muster.

      And then how many times was it on Seven that we were shown one of the Williams sister’s backside even if she was wearing sheer pnts and tights under a nice yellow dress that got blown up by a breeze as she was delving into her tennis bag.

      Television would be nowhere the fun it is without the Warnies and Eddies and other commentators with the bloopers.

      Reply

    • Macca says:

      01:16pm | 14/02/11

      Who are we talking about? it looks like some sick experiment where someone grabbed a test tube and comined the bad genes of Shane Warne and Michael Buble.

      Reply

    • Michael says:

      01:19pm | 14/02/11

      You assume most of us in Melbourne give a toss what he thinks.

      Reply

    • Aitch says:

      01:24pm | 14/02/11

      It’s 1pm in the Punch offices and the tension is becoming almost too much to bear. The website needs a new lead column - fast. Under pressure, the editor turns to Anthony Sharwood. Surely he’ll save the day ...
      Editor: Sharwood, we need a new column to lead the page - something fresh, insightful and thought-provoking.
      Sharwood: Errrr, can’t you ask someone else?
      Editor: Nup. You’re it. I need 15 solid pars. Something fresh, something that’ll reach out and grab the readers by the throat. What have you got?
      Sharwood: Ummm, errrr, ahhhh ....
      Editor: Anthony!
      Sharwood: Well, what about something on Eddie McGuire? Apparently people call him “Eddie Everywhere” cos he’s got his fingers in so many pies.
      Editor: That’d be a reasonable topic - if this was 2001 and you lived under a rock.
      Sharwood: OK, what about that “land of the felafel” thing he said about western Sydney last week?
      Editor: Mate, that was LAST week’s story! #^@% me! How much am I paying you? Haven’t you got any new ideas at all?
      Sharwood: OK, OK, I’ve got it. How about a piece that says Eddie McGuire is only relevant to Victorians? That no-one outside of Melbourne even knows who he is?
      Editor: That might work - if you put aside the fact the man has been a firm fixture on national television since 1999. Even if it were true, who gives a $#!^? For God’s sake son!
      Sharwood: But couldn’t I write about how people in Sydney barely even know who he is?
      Editor: Sure you could, if you really, really wanted to patronise and underestimate our readers around the country who, I’ll guarantee you, know exactly who the #^@% he is.
      Sharwood: But it will tap into this thing I’ve noticed during my career as a trained observer: apparently there’s some kind of rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne! I’m told it goes back many, many decades and it could be a real hot-button topic for comments.
      Editor: So you’re proposing the 41,713th Sydney versus Melbourne piece?
      Sharwood: Sort of, not exactly though.
      Editor: OK, so it’s about Eddie McGuire’s racial slur of February 11?
      Sharwood: Kinda, but not really.
      Editor: Is it about footy?
      Sharwood: Nup.
      Editor: You’re not going to write a column saying Australians who live outside Melbourne barely know who Eddie McGuire is? He’s a #^@%ing household name!
      Sharwood: Yeah, but apparently there’s some kind of rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne ...

      Reply
    • Anthony Sharwood

      Anthony Sharwood says:

      01:36pm | 14/02/11

      Holy crap, Aitch. Where did you put the bug? is it under the lampshade? Under my phone, perhaps? What else did you overhear?

    • Aitch says:

      01:49pm | 14/02/11

      Just the rumble of a long, thundering fart as your column came into being.

    • Tory Shepherd

      Tory Shepherd says:

      02:36pm | 14/02/11

      Baha, Aitch! Wrong, but plausible and hilarious!

    • Al Hammond says:

      02:43pm | 14/02/11

      My God, genius. Also see the numerous ‘test cricket is dead’ think pieces

    • Jugg says:

      03:25pm | 14/02/11

      You have a lampshade on your desk?  I see…

      (adds to file: Eats Sushi, Watches Sex in the City, Has a Lampshade)

    • Simon says:

      10:29pm | 14/02/11

      Aitch..you are my hero.

    • Anthony says:

      01:29pm | 14/02/11

      No one gives a crap what he thinks in melbourne, his radio show wasn’t doing that well last year. I thought his felhfal comment was pretty funny. At the end of the day he can host a footy show and run a football club, enough said about the man. Like anyone with those skills he may think he can do more but he can’t AKA Justin Maden.

      Reply

    • Aitch B says:

      02:57pm | 14/02/11

      @Chongy

      “.....the only footy club that is worthy of following and believing in.”

      Only a few million people would disagree with you, Chongy but hey….. facts were never your strong point. smile

    • TChong says:

      01:55pm | 14/02/11

      Hes a capital L Liberal, from Victoria , but I like him because ....,
      Hes prez of the only footy club that is worthy of following and believing in.
      The Mighty ‘Pies.
      And for this reason , alone, he should be treated with the same level of reverance one holds for the queen, a saint, the pope ,the Abbott and Bishops.
      Doth your hats and prostrate yourselfs before utterings his name, yea Punchers of little faithe.

      Reply

    • Bilby says:

      03:26pm | 14/02/11

      Pies?? Really? And there I was thinking that when you get off the topic of politics you have something sensible to say. Silly me. My mistake.

    • Richard says:

      08:45pm | 14/02/11

      Isn’t his brother an ALP member of state parliament?

    • Deedee says:

      08:42am | 15/02/11

      ‘Isn’t his brother an ALP member of state parliament?’

      No.

      However, he is a candidate for the Broadmeadow’s by- election on Feb 19, if he gets enough votes, he will be.

    • Ben81 says:

      02:00pm | 14/02/11

      I’ve been trying my best to avoid this Eddie story, as I do with pretty much anything with a hint of the words “sparked outrage”  or “fury” in or near the headline.
      It’s a 100% guarantee that some kind of special interest group has been found that will give a handy quote or put out a press release to justify the use of those terms, and that the groups views will be reported as if they’re representative of the mood of real people on the issue, or at the very least given far more prominence.
      I’ll do my bit by not clicking on them, probably a futile little protest though.

      Reply

    • CL Angus says:

      02:15pm | 14/02/11

      I’ve noticed that comments about this whole debacle are very black and white (funny that, given Eddie’s the Magpies President). It’s either something along the lines of ‘he’s just a backward redneck racist dinosaur who doesn’t fit into modern society’ or ‘what’s everyone complaining about, it’s not racist, what a pack of thin-skinned whingers, stop supporting multicultural programs’.

      Noone seems to have asked (or tried answering) one thing in any detail - WHY is it racist? Why are people offended about something that was a spur-of-the-moment joke about the GWS team failing? What are the ‘racist’ connotations that the ‘anti-PC’ crowd is not understanding?

      I saw one brief attempt to explain this earlier, trying to connect Arabs living in West Sydney with a reluctance to live out that way. That’s a possible reason why people are upset, but you know what? - I don’t want to live in West Sydney either. Not because ‘minorities’ live there, but for the same reason I don’t want to live in outer Melbourne - there’s bugger all to do out there!

      Frankly, most of these ‘racists’ are just saying things unintentionally - remember, we’re not all perfect. How is screaming at someone who made a mistake going to solve the actual problem of racism in Australia? The same goes to people who associate any discussion about offensive statements with some sort of left-wing academic PC agenda which wants to take away all their freedoms. How is abusing people for being upset going to get people to tough up, or inspire them to become part of Australia’s mainstream culture?

      The answer to both questions about is that it won’t do jack. Neither response is going to improve understanding between different cultures - it simply makes everyone suspicious and resentful of one another, yet everyone’s too afraid to come out and say what they think, which would help them learn something new. Why come out and speak your mind if someone will call you a racist or a thin-skinned crybaby?

      Please people, enough anger and stupid accusations - we need more tolerance and dialogue from BOTH sides of these debates.

      Reply

    • Markus says:

      03:03pm | 14/02/11

      I am fairly sure everyone who was part of the ‘anti-PC brigade’ knows that Eddie meant that Western Sydney is crap and boring so no-one would want to live there.

      There is no tolerance from this brigade because the accusation that Eddie was saying it is a crap place to live because of all the people of Arab heritage is a stupid accusation, only made by stupid people going out of their way to be offended.
      I for one can’t be bothered reasoning with someone that stupid.

    • John says:

      02:43pm | 14/02/11

      It was a stupid comment by Eddie and showed a distinct lack of understanding of Sydney.  Melbourne is more incorporated in terms of different cultures and not as sensitive to this sort of thing.  Sydney has some real cultural enclaves that are far more distinct than any in Melbourne, and thus a remark like this was always going to get some response in Sydney. 

      It’s not directly offensive, however people will always object to some degree when you try to label large groups of them based purely on ethnicity, particularly when you target an area that’s traditionally been the subject of some level of ridicule.  There’s more to people than their ethnicity.

      People see the suit and the large profile and probably expect him to be a sophisticate on some level.  It’s not really the case, his knowledge of the world north of the Murray is probably quite limited.

      Eddie’s a successful bloke but he’s really just a chubby kid from the suburbs who worked his arse off and made good in the media, and still just loves his footy club above all else.  It’s the only thing he gets emotional about.  He’s shit scared of losing star players to Western Sydney and thus he’s rattled and saying silly things like this.  As an Essendon supporter I must say I’m somewhat enjoying it.

      Reply

    • CL Angus says:

      03:23pm | 14/02/11

      Ah, nice to see some more thoughtful comments appearing! I agree with your take on the situation - it’s just a shame that he didn’t understand the connotations before he spoke, and also that the offended people don’t realise that Melbourne is a lot less ‘enclave-y’ than Sydney. And yes, just because you’re a celebrity doesn’t mean you know anything about the world. Hell, I’ve never heard a talkback radio host ever say anything profound - it’s normally non-stop ‘outrage’ to get some phone calls into the station!

    • petery says:

      04:21pm | 14/02/11

      Eddie has never lived in that part of Sydney. it is not particularly racist just a rather and inaccurate stupid piece of so called. observational humour, It might be hilatious, if it bore resemblance to reality but it does not..Tthat part of sydney is so multicultural, that a remark about chop suey would be just as irfrelevant

      Eddie is a successful television host, who earns a lot of money for being a good talker, and does not necessarily have to show his intelligence or be clever. Therefore, anyone who suggests he should be taken seriously would appear to lacking something up stairs.  Just because you appear on televsion on a weekly basis does not mean you are a genius, just lucky to have a glamorous cushy job, as Eddie is.

    • Seano says:

      03:28pm | 14/02/11

      Another arrogant AFL type having a go at Sydney, another nail in the coffin of the Doomed to Failure Greater Western Sydney Giants (to use their full and correct title).

      Reply

    • AnthonyG says:

      03:52pm | 14/02/11

      Eddies a champ. The best Host, Presenter or MC in australia.

      Reply

    • Jugg says:

      05:11pm | 14/02/11

      You play for Collingwood right?  Can’t get a run in the A grade huh?

    • Dick says:

      03:59pm | 14/02/11

      Racist slur? .  No. How easily some people are offended. Perhaps certain types take offense too easily , or is it just confected ?

      Written from the land of   the car rebirth !

      Reply

    • Henry says:

      04:03pm | 14/02/11

      This is the bloke that said that Adelaide’s Crows AAMI Stadium is the most dangerous sporting venue in Australia!  The Crows crowd are made up of chardonnay drinkers and families!

      He is a serial hysteric and poor loser. 

      He is laughed at and loathed everywhere.

      Reply

    • david says:

      04:07pm | 14/02/11

      i think it is good that Eddie stay in Melbourne. When he goes further afield - it can get very embarrassing.

      Eddie hosting the Winter Olympics is a case in point - especially when Wayne Gretsky had to correct him that a puck was used in ice hockey, not a ball. Or watching athletes from non-english speaking countries try to make sense of ‘goodonyamate’ in every other sentence…

      Reply

    • Ads says:

      12:33pm | 15/02/11

      This is why we are all on a hiding to nothing when Nein’s coverage of the summer Olympics begins next year (I’m not sure how many they’ll do after that). Jingoism is something all commercial media outlets do well, but Nein and Seven do it best - you’ve been (Shane?) warned.

      As for the subject matter of the article - the comments re: GWS were unlikely racist in intent but dangerously ignorant in delivery. As one of the Axis of Mediocrity’s (Austereo, News Ltd, Channel Nein) chief guns-for-hire, he’d been out of the public’s thinking for a while (by his own standards) so the need to re-acquaint himself with the great unwashed was pressing.

      Toorak has bogans too you know…

    • mary monica roche says:

      04:19pm | 14/02/11

      the Australian Rules game is trying to expand into Blacktown Western Sydney which is filthy on Rugby League for the lack of a Blacktown or a Wentworthville team in the NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE Competition.
      So what does Eddie Everywhere, AFL Boss of Collingwood the AFL Premiers 2010 have to say about the new area for AFL expansion ?
      “Its the land of felafel”
      its obvious eddie everywhere has been nowhere in sydney .
      send the Australian Felafel League back to Melbourne where it belongs!

      Reply

    • mary monica roche says:

      04:23pm | 14/02/11

      when Greater Western Sydney enters the AFL competition in 2012, they could play for the Felafel Cup when they play Collingwood each time

      Reply

    • ches says:

      08:10am | 15/02/11

      brilliant. you watch, eddie will make it happen!

    • Zeta says:

      04:26pm | 14/02/11

      What pissed me off most is that saying Western Sydney is the land of the falafel (spelling? I don’t eat them, they taste like goat shit) is like saying Melbourne is the land of skinny jeans - sure, I might see a few blokes in an alley way off bourke street with lumberjack beards and constrained testicles but that doesn’t mean everyone is a sketchy hipster. Not even most people. They’re just really obvious.

      Sure, there are Middle Eastern people living Western Sydney. But there’s also a lot of Tongans. A lot of Samoans. A thriving Sudanese community. The new arrivals from Afghanistan don’t eat falafels and aren’t strictly Arabian. There’s Indians, Sri Lankans, Tamils in Strathfield, Vietnamese in Cabramatta. That’s just off the top of my head. There’s also stupid white people like Eddie.

      Reply

    • Loulou says:

      04:50pm | 14/02/11

      Meh - why get so upset over what a hack like Eddie McGuire says? My family live in Western Sydney, I went to school there, and I honestly say this with the utmost affection, it’s a sh*thole. It really is =)
      I love it to death. But it is.

    • mickael j says:

      05:39pm | 14/02/11

      Edide who i thought,till i read half the article and 1 or 2 of the comments,i realised he was trying to save the australian beef
      industery,two late its been fu-ked 4 years,,then i thought it might have been about radical racist,but witch ones an from what direction,,whatever its about you can be sure a fair dinkum aussie
      bloke who has ten $9,000 imported suits in his cuboard proberly carn’t be wrong,,,,

      Reply

    • Stace says:

      08:45pm | 14/02/11

      I find him sleazy and annoying. And I’m from Melbourne.

      Reply

    • Golly Gosh says:

      11:48pm | 14/02/11

      Oh cmon ‘Sheedys left foot’. Make up your minds !! One week the mags are complaining of him being in every soup, the next it’s where’s Eddie. He actually appears as a half decent guy, so find someone else to bag and just worry about grubby Sydney.

      Reply

    • OchreBunyip says:

      07:24am | 15/02/11

      In the interests of disclosure yes I have heard of Eddie, I have seen the ads for his game show and I am aware he’s something to do with AFL (neither of which I care about).

      The frequency of “personalities” and their reported statements of no newsworthiness other than the “personality” said it prompts me to believe either (a) it is again a slow news day, (b) the “personality” does it deliberately to get some mug to report on the “shock, horror, outrage!” for some free publicity/ justify some wasted newspaper space or (c) the “personalities” are just like ordinary people and say the same things as other ordinary people but when they make a joke about f.l.f.l it makes it into the papers.

      Reply

    • Z says:

      08:36am | 15/02/11

      Two more drive-by shootings in western Sydney during the past 36 hours involving guess who. 
      Eddie was spot on.  Not sure why any 18 year old Victorian, South Aussie football player would want to live there.

      Reply

    • Syd & Melb are not World Class Cities says:

      08:58am | 15/02/11

      Eddie isn’t well known in Sydney but the scores of so-called Shitney ‘celebs’ are not known outside of Shitney!

      For people not from Shitney, Melboring, or Brislame - you have no idea how boring and cringing the morning shows, news discussion, and current affairs programs are celebrating non-entities that are hero’s in the the back blocks of these over rated, nasal voiced, convict hell-hole burbs.

      Eddie is the least of the bad.  Sydney and Melbourne fighting is like two bogans fighting over whether a Torana is better than a Cortina.

      Reply

    • The Original Oz says:

      09:25am | 15/02/11

      Anthony - you stated that “most people outside of Melbourne couldn’t give a toss about what Eddie says or thinks about anything”. I think most people in Melbourne couldn’t give a toss about Eddie either.

      Reply

    • ggfisher says:

      09:42am | 15/02/11

      Eddie didn’t work in Sydney because he had nothing new to offer Sydney.
      Sydney is a place where people love you if you are useful, glamorous or funny, and they love you if you are all three. Once you stop being one of them- thanks for coming see you next time.
      Eddie provided no humour, no glamour and as it turns out we had no use for him either.

      Reply

    • Ugly Stick says:

      10:55am | 15/02/11

      Sydney is where pretentious wankers hang out.
      A sewer of a city

    • Loulou says:

      12:31pm | 15/02/11

      Oh the city envy is palpable Ugly Stick.

    • leelee says:

      12:32pm | 15/02/11

      I’d take Eddie any day over the hate-mongering fools that are Alan Jones and John Laws.

      Reply

    • Laura says:

      04:12pm | 15/02/11

      I’d rather claw my eyes at at the prospect of listening to any of them for extended periods of time.

    • Davo from St Kilda says:

      09:45pm | 15/02/11

      Can’t a day go by without some hack journo from Sydney writing a piece putting Melbourne down? What’s wrong with people down there? Why are they so obsessed with us? Is it jealousy because of our higher standard of living? Our much – MUCH – lower crime rate? Our better weather? There’s a reason why our population is exploding while Sydney’s is stagnating – we’re better.
      Although I’m a life-long Blues fan, I give credit to Eddie’s beloved pies with their amazing membership base – all 53,000 of them. By comparison, TOTAL rugby membership amongst all clubs is only 120,000 (there’s over 600,000 in AFL). It’s no wonder we can set up a second team in Sydney. We’ve got the cash and we’ve got the muscle. Here’s some free advice Sydney – get on the winning side and sign up with our biggest, most popular sport. Rugby is dead.

      Reply

    • Bilby says:

      03:34pm | 17/02/11

      1. Sydney is “up there”.
      2. Rugby and Rugby League are two different sports. Did you know that?
      3. Better weather wink

 
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