Article in the Newcastle Herald-"I just can't cop Aussie Rules"

**CureTheSane** · 1 October 2004, 06:14 PM

You're right JF, bit far with the beer in the head.

I'd aim for the balls, or the TV

**cos789** · 2 October 2004, 12:57 AM

You've got to have sympathy for this guy , he could live in Perth .a headline in the "West australian" says "NRL stands for No Rugby League" .The RL GF isn't being televised here until way late at night .
I think it's time for an AFL match in Newcastle !

**Bas** · 2 October 2004, 10:21 AM

There is an apology in today's Newcastle Herald. It also quotes from letters sent to the dill during the week. Some very aggressive and threatening.

He finishes by saying that he apologises even if he still thinks it's a bloody stupid game.

Remember he is from Newcastle.

**JF_Bay22_SCG** · 2 October 2004, 11:28 PM

Originally posted by Bas
There is an apology in today's Newcastle Herald. It also quotes from letters sent to the dill during the week. Some very aggressive and threatening.

I sent mine on Thursday, and posted link to both this thread and that on Bigfooty. Yes, mine was pretty abusive as well.

No wonder the idiot backtracked. He read the derision his pathetic excuse for an article has caused. And hopefully will become better educated about the sport as a result.

AFL Fans 1-0(6)- Newcastle Herald 0-1(1)

JF

**CureTheSane** · 3 October 2004, 01:30 AM

OMG, you're serious!

You complained about a newspaper article?

Do you write in to the Footy show when Eddie bags the Swans or the salary cap too?

**OldE** · 4 October 2004, 05:52 PM

Complain about the Footy Show? I certainly have!

I used to watch it all the time, till they made one sexist joke too many and I've boycotted it since. I called Channel 9 and had a right old yarn to the lady there, who was absolutely outraged on my behalf and swore she'd pass it on. It didn't do anything, of course, but it was highly gratifying.

**peterh_oz** · 4 October 2004, 07:06 PM

Originally posted by eirinn
Complain about the Footy Show? I certainly have!

I used to watch it all the time, till they made one sexist joke too many and I've boycotted it since. I called Channel 9 and had a right old yarn to the lady there, who was absolutely outraged on my behalf and swore she'd pass it on. It didn't do anything, of course, but it was highly gratifying.

Next time, put it in writing. Remember a letter's worth a thousand phonecalls!

Send the letter to the SPONSORS of the show. No point sending to the producers, they do it deliberately.

**OldE** · 4 October 2004, 09:54 PM

Originally posted by peterh_oz
Next time, put it in writing. Remember a letter's worth a thousand phonecalls!

Send the letter to the SPONSORS of the show. No point sending to the producers, they do it deliberately.

I was going to do that- write to Mars, etc. I'm just too lazy. I really ought to, though. If ever there was an affirmation of all the misogynism that football, at its worst, advocates, it is the Footy Show. Or, at least, it is Sam Newman.

I know they do it for the publicity, but it still really bothers me. I'm female and I think I can be a real fan and have a real understanding of the game (at least, I am attempting to develop such an understanding). I am tired of the only representation of women in the football media being the token daughters of well-known men. Granted, Caroline Wilson is an exception, but look how she is despised....

Sorry about the rant. I am particularly passionate about this AND am procrastinating. A dangerous combination.....

Erin

**peterh_oz** · 4 October 2004, 10:03 PM

Firstly I reckon a lot of Sam's comments are taken out of context. Some aren't, but many are tongue-in-cheek and SHOULD be seen that way.

Secondly, Caroline Wilson is the epitomy of "token female". She's at The Age, which is full of people (footy reporters) that are good enough to have moved up from the local newspapers, but can't make it at the Herald Sun. By the way, I include Robert Walls in that list. Mr Negative 2002, 2003 & 2004. He went to the Don Scott Commentary School of Stating the Bleeding Obvious.

I assume you are referring to people such as Christie Malthouse & Samantha Lane:

I am tired of the only representation of women in the football media being the token daughters of well-known men.

That may have helped them get a profile, but so what? They have done all the training, and are sports journalists in their own right. Your comments are more sexist than ANYTHING Sam Newman has said. Imagine the outcry if he said what you did?

Your foot must be pretty sore - you shot a hole through it yourself in my opinion.

**OldE** · 5 October 2004, 12:12 AM

I understand that some of Sam Newman's comments are tongue-in-cheek, but there I believe there are certain boundaries of good taste, and he breeched those on too many occasions. The stupid statements like "all women are liars" did not bother me so much as the constant close-up on breasts and the like.

As for Christie Malthouse and Samantha Lane, I suppose it really is sour grapes, and I am more than willing to admit this. I would like nothing better than to be a sport journalist, but I fear this is almost impossible. It seems that, to echo the cliche, it is not what you know, but who you know. While I have no doubt that they have the neccessary qualifications to be sports journalists, I very much doubt that they are the women best able to do the job. More to the point, I doubt that they are the best people to do the job. And I believe this point stands as much for men who are not ex-players as it does for women who are not the daughters of famed football celebrities: the football media is astonishingly parochial. Unless you have connections, it is virtually impossible to be recognised.

Besides this, which really is to a large extent my personal prejudice, what really infuriates me is the stance of several prominent members of the football community that women have no place in football, other than as groupies or subjects of male lust. The objectification of women on The Footy Show serves to confirm this.

Whilst acknowledging that I am biased, I do, however, fail to see how my comments were sexist. I simply stated that I don't believe that either Christie Malthouse or Samantha Lane would have the position they have without their fathers. I still feel this is legitimate. Realistically, I have very little chance of becomming a sports journalist, without even considering writing about football. I doubt I could so much as get a job covering netball for the Blue Mountains Gazette. I will try- there can be no doubt about that- but I feel that my chances are slim simply due to the fact I am the public-schooled daughter of a scientist. I'd like to believe that Australia is more egalitarian, but as I'm also no supermodel, I hardly think I will get the break I need. If my father were a footballer, I think this may well be different.

Sorry for the treatise. It is an issue that is quite touchy for me.
Erin

PS Sorry if I'm a bit grumpy. I'd hate to think I'd damaged any future credibility as a RWO poster- and indeed as a fan- merely by this particular rant. I have alot to learn about footy (and readily admit that). I am sorry if it was offensive in any way

**Whitefox** · 5 October 2004, 01:03 AM

Was that the essay you said you had to write?

**OldE** · 5 October 2004, 01:15 AM

Are you kidding? That's absolutely nothing.

Besides, it's far easier to write 500 words on football than it is to write 3000 on representations of masculinity in Jane Austen.

I said I wanted to be a football writer

Erin

**Whitefox** · 5 October 2004, 10:11 AM

They do their micky mouse art degrees at UWS nepean - read a bit of derrida and foucalt, spend their mandatory half-day at Veruna, then hang out in katoomba st. at the Isobar or Zuppa drinking lates, surrounded by small groups of obsequious, sycophantic flat-landers, mesmerised by their only slightly greater than average education. People like this see their failure as a failure of the world, threatend by anyone who makes it in life, accusing them of simony or nepotism. They're a dime a dozen and make me want to puke blood.

**Damien** · 5 October 2004, 10:32 AM

Tiffany Cherry seems to have come through the ranks pretty naturally Erin, starting off as a physio and going from there. She seems to have much better knowledge of the game than both Malthouse and Lane (Jnr's) and is much more comfortable in front of the camera!

Maybe she can be your role model!! Much better her, than a couple of people who have benefited from nepotism!.

(Mind you if nepotism got me my dream job I wouldn't be complaining)

**ryanokeefesbabi** · 5 October 2004, 05:42 PM

My main gripe with your post Erin is mainly the examples you have drawn on and the term 'sports journalist'. As far as I can see, barring the Caroline Wilson example, you have merely stated "sports reporters" or the women on television. Appearing on 'Before the Game' and at the Brownlow is more being a tele presenter in my opinion than a sports journo and i think Sam Lane falls into this category. In Sydney alone, some of the main football reporting comes from women; Nikki Tugwell for the Daily Telegraph (although she shares with Tim Morrissey), Jessica Halloran for the Sydney Morning Herald and Jenny Mcasey for the Australian-3 women who have not got ex-footballer fathers and who have obtained their position simply through being the best suited. If you were to go to swans training one day you could potentially see 3 women covering the swans in print media in Sydney, and no famous last name or supermodel looks as a reason for it.
So if you aim to be a sports journalist, maybe it would pay to see that tv reporting is not the only way of being one and that print media in Sydney alone is an example of talented journalists who have earned their position- no excess blonde streaks and famous surnames needed.