Quick Hands
David Wilson (68)
I believe Pearce was on a drinking ban during the season so I doubt he is addicted.
AA is full of people on self-imposed drinking bans - doesn't mean that they aren't addicted to alcohol.
I believe Pearce was on a drinking ban during the season so I doubt he is addicted.
^^^On one level you are right, but on a human level, I'd be worried if any young person had a serious alcohol problem. Anyone who engages in activities which cause themselves or others harm, leads to significant damage to their reputation or their ability to function in society as a result of drug and alcohol use needs help.
QH, you do make a good point. Part of me absolutely is in that camp of knowing that youth, free time, and money, will lead to these situations.
HOWEVER
This has all happened before, and will happen again. And not a single fucking person, in the NRL or any other pro sport, appears to be learning from the mistakes of others.
- Not the players, who aren't robots and are entitled to use their free time in any legal manner they see fit (and some illegal ones if they want, I'm not against recreational drugs per se)
- Not their agents, who will not hear a bad word said against their clients, to the point where these kids get smoke blown up their arses from the time they're a teenage prospect, and don't know how to deal with failure or the actual realities of life
- Not the clubs, who actually don't give a rancid cat's testicles about anything moral, judicial, or legal, as long as they've got money to win premierships
- Not the commentators, like Gus Gould, who will blather away about the immorality of videoing these poor, young blokes, and never actually discuss the massive cultural issues their code has (and I'm not saying its restricted to the NRL)
- Certainly not the NRL, who have given multiple chances to multiple players, instead of just setting a fucking example and drawing a zero tolerance line in the sand for actual crimes, not just misdemeanor bollocks like pretend-humping a dog.
I don't think anyone is beyond help, but jeez they've got to fucking want it. And not just as lip service to appeasement of the public.
I have often wondered this, why the club doesn't hire a minder to go and collect skanky women to meet the players at a private mansion where all phones are handed in and then the players do as they please with no possibility of being caught out.I've been thinking about this more today, and have a few points:
I wonder if the reaction would have been different if the video was released after the Roosters won the Grand Final? Or the Blues won Origin? Think we have a much higher tolerance for antics in the name of 'celebration' than just general shenanigans.
Also, if this was a Roosters organised day, why didn't they all go to someone's place after the boat trip instead of the pub?? They're all pissed (and more), and of no use to anyone. Why go to a public place? Organise a room somewhere at very least. It's just dumb from the club.
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Its interesting that so many pro sports people from so many different sports have big issues with behaviour. Is it education? Upbringing? I have no idea. But I look at two professional surfers, a sport which has through its history been synonymous with a partying lifestyle, who have never had a moment of bad press. Mick Fanning and Kelly Slater. Slater especially so since he has been a professional for over 24 years and while still competing at the highest level only ever finds the headlines for the right reasons. It is too simplistic to say its just money and youth that leads to these incidents.
Another aspect that would make an interesting study is if the team sports produce more incidents that individual sports, but the tennis brats on court behaviour would tend to dispute such an assertion on a cursory look.
I hear that the Canterbury-Bankstown mascot has gone into hiding.
A possible marketing opportunity to rename the "NRL Auckland Nines" to the "NRL Auckland Canines", perhaps?
I hear that the Canterbury-Bankstown mascot has gone into hiding.
That's a bit ruff
Fanning and Slater were also 21 fifteen to twenty years ago, so when they did get up to this kind of stuff there was no-one there to film it on their mobile.The common thread between the football codes and tennis is that from the age of about 15, these young men are surrounded by people who (a) tell them how good they are and (b) cover up any poor behaviour. The result being that they don't really have an all-round education, they have an inflated view of their own importance in the world and they have no real concept of personal responsibilty and consequences. In less high profile sports such as surfing, it's a real hard slog to get anywhere near the top and the bogans and boofheads tend to fall by the wayside very early in the piece.