Siegfried wrote:
And this is where I disagree with you Marci. Because while it is right that there are general standards of behaviour (and preparation and attitudes etc) for the general community, we are not talking here about the general community. We are talking about an elite part of the community, in terms of performance. And just as those who reach the elite of business, music, film etc do so with a higher level of performance than the general community, you will find that they also have an accompanying higher level of preparation and discipline than the general community (it is a generalisation of course, there are some people in the general community who apply themselves enormously, but don't have the ability or talent. But we all know stories of talented individuals / teams which didn't achieve what they could have achieved, because they did not apply themselves in the manner required).
Honestly, opinions get posted like this and call people who say that everyone should just let him play footy
naive?
It is patently ridiculous to suggest that a footballer needs to conform to higher general standards of behaviour because he is an elite footballer. A cogent, reasoned argument could be mounted but perhaps a few examples from the domains you mention as proof of your argument would suffice...
Politics - Clinton, JFK, Martin Luther King
Art/Literature- Van Gogh, F Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway
Music (did you write that with a straight face?) - Kurt Cobain, Elvis Presley, Gallagher brothers
Sport (in general) - Mike Tyson, OJ Simpson, Bobby Fisher
AFL - Ben Cousins, Leigh Matthews, Wayne Carey
The list is endless. What about M Hurley? He'll be shown the door, will he?
Channel 9 were furious (why else did the cameras keep rolling) and they've worked hard to trash Fev. Fall for it if you will but don't concoct fanciful reasons for doing so.