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Issue No. 128 | 15 March 2002 |
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Why I'm Marching
Interview: The Wedge Buster History: Fighting for Peace Unions: Rattling the Gates International: Facing Retribution Technology: How Korean Workers Used The Web Industrial: Working Futures Review: Rumble, Young Man, Rumble Satire: GG Survival Doomed: Fox-Lew In Charge Of Rescue Bid Poetry: PSST
The Soapbox The Locker Room Week in Review
 Carr and the Fire FightersOn InequalityHarmony Day
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The Locker Room Oh, The Humanity!By Jim Marr
As a nation we've watched on as sporting identities ran the gamut of life's experiences, from god-awful embarrassment to the immense satisfaction of hard yakka rewarded. Icons, Wayne Carey, Andrew Johns and Shane Warne held up mirrors to our condition. Only in a world awash with corporate bullshit, could sections of the media make a case for denying Andrew Johns the Kangaroo captaincy he so richly deserves on the basis of an argument with a team-mate, settled without resort to fisticuffs or anything or the sort. Fair dinkum, what planet do these blokes inhabit? The reality is that the ever-diminishing streak of larrikin in Johns is a point of identification with fans even if the suits at NRL headquarters don't understand. Maybe, because they don't understand. This is, after-all, the sport that still theoretically eulogises past Test captains, Bob Fulton and Wally Lewis. Johns got a smack in the gob from purveyors of an alien culture just as many others from his background do every day. His sport won't realise its potential until it celebrates Johns, person and player, any more than society will bloom until it recognises the thousands of dinkum Aussies prepared to make contributions on their own terms. Wayne Carey earned headlines for succumbing to that most male of indulgences, the wandering willie. The media concentrated on his football club to the near exclusion of the universal reality that those most deeply hurt will be the families involved, not least his own. Many people live with the humiliation of similar misadventures, very few though, in Carey's defence, with the whole country cut in on the act. Then there was the irrepressible, sleek, new-look Shane Warne trundling his way through 70 probing overs in a man-of-the-match performance in South Africa. Deprived by time and injury of the freak factor which made the old-model leggie virtually unplayable, this was a victory for the tradesman, albeit a great one, putting in for his workmates. Warne celebrated his marathon with well-chosen words that would resonate with most. He likened the effort to a big night on the turps - "you get your third and fourth wind," he explained. "It gets past midnight and when you get to two o'clock in the morning, you get your third wind. You just start to find a bit extra." On ya, Warney. Jockeys, too, are human no matter what you might think on a blistering Rosehill day when the only thing you're losing faster than sweat is next week's rent.
They'll prove it next Sunday when they go in to bat for Alan Cowie, thrown from a favourite at the Gold Coast in January and now facing life as a paraplegic. The 34-year-old is supported by his wife and year-old son as well as fellow Queensland hoops. Sydney-based jockeys will lend their support with a New Zealand-Australia cricket match at Kensington Oval to raise funds. Slap-bang in the middle of the autumn carnival some of the biggest names in the game are padding up. Glenn Boss, Darren Beadman and Chris Munce head the Aussie line-up, while Brian York, Shane Treweek, Jimmy and Larry Cassidy will appear for the Kiwis. Greg Childs has also confirmed he will stay for the match if he has engagements on the previous day's Golden Slipper programme. Such matches are rarely devoid of controversy and Australian skipper Mark DeMontfort is already putting question marks over the bowling actions of opponents York and Terry Marney. New Zealand sources suggest the allround skills of apprentice Richie Whitworth will bamboozle DeMontfort's men. The match, supported by the AWU and NSW Jockeys Association, has a serious purpose. Race riders, like construction workers, operate in a dangerous environment and are similarly disposed towards helping each other out in tough times. Forget the money and hype, sport continues to reflect the lives we lead.
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