Australia has
officially, certifiably and clinically gone mad. By every scientific measurement of ones
mental state known to man, we have completely lost the plot!
This week, the excessive scrutiny and ridiculous expectation
placed on everyday human beings that through fault of their own god given
sporting ability, have been labelled by some idiot with the tag "role
model", has gone too far.
I am of course referring to athletes. In this case in particular, the disgraceful
shit storm that is currently surrounding swimmers, Nick Darcy and Hendrick
Monk. For those who don't know, these
two guys, recently travelled to America
to compete. While they were there they visited a gun shop. While in the gun shop,
they took photos of themselves holding guns.
They then put the photos on Facebook.
MY GOD! HOW COULD THEY PERPETRATE SUCH A DISPICABLE ACT ON THE AUSTRALIAN PEOPLE?
Are guns not legal in the United States? Is shooting not an
Olympic sport? Are 20 something year old men not entitled to take holiday snaps
and share them with their friends?
Apparently not.
The reaction by the media, swimming Australia and the
Australian Olympic committee beggars belief. It has been on the news and in the
papers going on its second week. The
pair were ordered home and made explain themselves. They have now been banned from social media
until after the Olympics and are being sent home from London as soon as they
finish their events. WTF AUSTRALIA!?
This whole issue speaks to a problem that has been around
for years. The inflated perception that
somehow, athletes should be held to a higher standard then, in this country at
least, even our politicians. What a
joke!
Athletes are everyday humans like you and I. They are not the moral compass of our
society, they do not promise to uphold the integrity of a nation, they do not
ask that your little Billy do as they do.
They run fast, jump high and hit hard.
That is it!
The expectations placed on these people is a cop out. Parents should
be role models, the leaders of our country should
be role models. Running 100mtrs in
under 10secs does not qualify someone as a role model. The current practice of placing such strict and oppressive rules and
guidelines on these young people is unrealistic and farcical.
That said, obviously there are extremes here. Athletes who break the law, probably deserve
the circus that follows. They know how
this messed up world works and yet they still put themselves in a situation
that will only end badly, for them I have no sympathy. But we are not talking about any laws being
broken here. To my view we are not even
talking about anything even remotely shady on the side of morality and ethical
standards. We are talking about a couple
of young blokes who posted a couple of photos of their holiday on Facebook,
doing something completely legal and in a totally inoffensive manner.
WAKE UP TO YOURSELF AUSTRALIA!
Peace
