Wow, our relationship sure has been rocky. I felt like we started off well when you favourited one of my tweets – I felt special. Loved. And worthwhile. Despite only having X chromosomes. But then I crashed back to earth when I realised you had only favourited my tweet because you hit the wrong button; you blocked me instead.
Now you’ve come out swinging at one of Australia’s best rugby journalists because she is a woman and therefore surely couldn’t possibly comprehend the game. You see Mr Campese, being a former player with a Y chromosome doesn’t make you smarter or more qualified than anyone else to write about the game. It just makes YOU think YOU are. You have also previously questioned Peter Fitzsimons’ credentials because he didn’t play what you consider “enough” Wallaby games. This did surprise me given that he is a former international player with the requisite Y chromosome. The additional qualifying criteria does somewhat limit our eligible commentators.
Smarter?
Apart from “forgetting” the circumstances that allowed Willie Ofahengaue, also a New Zealand U20s player, to play alongside you at Club, State and National Level (or Ilie Tabua who played for both Fiji and Aus, Tiaan Strauss for SA and Aus, Clyde Rathbone for SA U20s and then Aus; I could go on, but I feel my point is made)
But more than that, David, although you have yet to produce a single tweet with fewer than 5 grammatical and/or spelling mistakes, I’m more upset that you seem to have forgotten what life was actually like when you were playing. You see, David, you are one of Australian rugby’s most vocal critics and yet you played in teams with worse records than the current Wallabies. You personally won only 9 of 27 Bledisloe Cup matches (less than 34%); you scored 7 tries (in total) against the All Blacks in those 27 matches (in a 15 year international career). You won 1 of 4 Rugby Championship (or what were then called Tri Nations) games.
Yes, I may not have played rugby at the elite level, but I do know how to do my homework. My ovaries only slow me down a little.
More qualified?
I’m intrigued about what you feel makes someone qualified to talk about rugby in the media. Should they have a degree? A love of the game? An open mind? A knowledge of basic spelling and grammar? You see, David, Georgina Robinson has all of these, and it appears you have none.
Or is “doing” what you are talking about the only thing that matters? Because in this respect Campo – you lose too.
You have been a vocal critic of the coach; you have never coached a national team.
You have criticised the Wallabies’ ability to pass the ball; Lions. You. 1989
You commented on the NRL’s decision to ban the shoulder charge; you’ve never played rugby league at the elite level
You question players’ decision making and leadership; you have never captained a side at an elite level and You. Lions. 1989.
You tweeted that you thought Andrew Hore should get 8 weeks; you are not a lawyer and you have never sat on a judiciary panel.
You say you were “just joking” about the tweet, yet you still deleted the tweet. If it was only a joke, why did you delete it? Oh, and I’ve just thought of something else Georgina Robinson has that you don’t: a willingness to talk to people who disagree with her and find out where they’re coming from; she doesn’t immediately block someone who holds a different view.
Campo, as far as I’m concerned, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. You can either learn to spell and construct sentences while ceasing to have opinions on anything outside of Australian rugby 1983-1996, or you can accept that gender and a playing history has absolutely nothing to do with someone’s ability to write about rugby. You are walking, talking, breathing proof of that.
Yours most sincerely
Cat
