Andrew Symond's Words of Wisdom.
September 4th 2008 05:48
This is a terribly insightful comment from a man currently not doing too well. Andrew was sent away from Darwin, where he was meant to play against Bangladesh, because he didn't go to a team meeting, but took his boat (shipped from QLD to the NT) and wen't fishing.
I'm drawn between the tension of agreeing with his comments, yet I do not think it rude to want to know what "goes on behind the man".
For we live in a world where sports, commercial endorsements and endless media engagements combine, to saturate the image of the sportsperson in every form of media. Only last week, in the BigW catalogue, did I see Brett Lee. This week, Pat Rafter's in there. Libby or Liesel was reading the weather on Sunrise. Danny Green is on Dancing With the Stars. Sportspeople are everywhere! Symonds himself was in multiple ad campaigns last summer, clad only in a white bathtowel. And Warnie is everywhere, from VB ads, to Advanced Hair, to oggling Pamela Anderson's green M&Ms.
Before and during the Olympics, an idea was floating around. Maybe our athletes should be put on a HECS/HELP scheme, whereby they would receive government loans to help them commit to training and reaching their full potential, but once they begin earning the big endorsement bucks, they have to pay back the loans. I cannot think of anything fairer.
Why should Stephanie Rice et.al. not be required to pay back whoever funded their success, with the proceeds of their tawdry underwear photo shoots and magazine pictorials? Why shouldn't Shane Warne hand over the proceeds of his tabloid and womens' magazine exclusives, his broken Nicorette contract, and his summer as the face of VB, to cover the vast sums spent on him when he was a younger hooligan at the AIS? If we, as taxpayers, are going to fund their success, shouldn't they pay the government back, when the success is attained, and the endorsements start rolling in? After all, this is the equivalent of the University graduate paying HECS/HELP fees through the taxation system, as a percentage from their wages, once they earn over a certain amount?
It seems fair, doesn't it? Especially as the average Uni grad will be unable to make millions by posing in their knickers, or publishing their Test Tour Diaries every year, in order to pay back the loans and supplement their incomes.
So whilst I do feel for Andrew Symonds' current situation and wish him well, this is the nature of the beast that is international sports. As one of its minions, capitalising on his success and saturating our summers with his bare torsoed, towel-clad image, he must forgive the media and the public's desire to know, excuse the pun, what lies beneath.
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Comment by damian
Urban Telegraph
Sports and All
.....hmm, I don't think that made any sense. Forget I said it.