excuses :?
he cheated on his wife
she is the only paerson he has to anser to, not some nuffy at the ABC
Obviously not... since there is a program airing on the ABC about this type of stuff. And the program says it will be about much more than Johns, it's about the issue in our code (and his involvement as the lead example).
it is :?
it happened in 2002 and had not been an issue till the ABC decided to make it one
suddenly players must abide by their rules
the rules of some trashy prog which has been sued a few times
says a lot for them
So no denial that the indicent happened, and no denial that such incidents (when they inevitably become known) hurt our game... So why no focus on what our game can do about the issue/problem (like the program summary says is the focus of the show), rather than reactionary fundamentalist stuff, attacking the messengers.
clean up what?
why do league players have to live by dfferent rules to AFL players?
I've said I don't give a toss about the AFL comparisons, don't atch it and don't know who the players are. This is about our game alone, and whether it can improve itself in regard to its employees attitudes to women. I want to see the game - and it's broader appeal, and hence finances - improve. I personally think that's better than playing attack the journo, which is an excuse not to get to the core issue.
only if he is found guilty
if he's not then the only thing he did wrong is what he was suspended for
Which misses the point that legality is only the measure of the court. The measue of public perception of our game - and hence its potential appeal, sponsors, grants, broadcast rights and ongoing financial solvency - does come down to the wider population's morals and expectations of behaviour, which are very different to "being found guilty". Just read some of the comments under the Johns stories on the DT site to read what the average non-footy tragic reactions are like - parents saying they don't want their children playing league and becoming part of this culture etc.
a decade of incidents that are nothing compared to spoertsman of another code yet the ABC have decided what they do is fine
it's a hatchet job on one code. simple as that
But our code - in this case Matty Johns and his conga line of whackers - have given them the amunition in the first place. Fix the problem at the source, and there won't be a hatchet job about it...
they are being educated
the media just gloss over those stories and make things out to be something they're not
Obviously not being educated well enough.... to point is for our code to improve, so that there won't be ammunition for journos to make (compelling, to the average person) cases that league has a problem culture. Who care's about a comparison, that's just an excuse for our game not to be accounatble.
I think even the staff involved in this education that occurs have been on the footy show last year and admitted that more money directed to their efforts would mean more staff, means more chance of helping our guys not to f**k up their industry's image, but also to develop a bit more of a healthy character in regards to their attitudes to women, sexuality, other cultures etc.
Play shoot the journo, or get on the back of our game's administrators to use this story about a decade's worth of unneeded crap as a springboard to prioritise player behaviour in relation to the game improving its image?
