I Me Us Them

Brilliant article by Simon Hill tho I would share ...

http://www.foxsports.com.au/football/simon-hill-says-its-about-time-aussies-refererred-to-football-as-our-sport-not-theirs/story-e6frf423-1226735254373?sv=fc45dd830b216cd9698f553bef1fde10

Fox Sports expert Simon Hill says it's time Australians refererred to football as 'their' own sport

ON the eve of a new season, is it pertinent to ask whether football has made the crossover from "them" to "us?"


Let me explain. In recent weeks, I've had an interesting email exchange with one of my old sparring partners, Peter FitzSimons. I met Peter for the first time recently, and he was engaging company - hugely intelligent and fantastically knowledgeable on a range of topics.

But when it comes to football, he does rather suffer from the same cultural blind spot afflicting many in this country. There was a little example of this in one of his weekly Fairfax columns a few weeks ago, where he wrote the following line.

"Brazil, beat the Socceroos 6-0. Bloody hell - is their coach up to it?" After figuring out he was talking about Holger Osieck, I questioned Peter on his use of this possessive pronoun, especially as earlier in the same column, he had referred to the Wallabies as "we."

Peter admitted it was a fair point, but said it probably reflected the fact he felt little connection with the Socceroos. I went on to ask him how we could make him feel a greater connection. I'm still waiting for an answer.

All of this is not to throw stones specifically at Peter FitzSimons (although I'll happily do so when he deserves it!), but to illustrate a wider point. Has football got to the stage whereby such views are just a relic of a bygone age - or do they still represent a broad sweep of the Australian public?


Furthermore - is it just the game itself that causes this disconnect, or is it something more deep-seated?

Over the last week, a few articles have popped up from non-football journalists, having their predictable pre-season swing at the game, based upon prejudices and stereotypes as old as Australia itself. Invariably, they focus on hooliganism (as if it doesn't exist in the other codes), manliness (whatever that means) and, most pertinently, in my view, foreigners. Truly, the Sheila's, Wogs and ****ters mentality is alive and well.

One such critic directed his ire towards Josep Gombau, the Spanish-born coach of Adelaide United, after Gombau complained about the standard of training fields in South Australia. The journalist (a former AFL player, so not really a journalist at all, which may be half the problem) responded by telling him, and the game, to be quiet.

"What a whingeing mob they are. Josep - shut up and stop whingeing. This is Adelaide, not Barcelona. We don't need a recently appointed, little-known coach becoming an instant critic of our culture and conditions."

And there it is again. What a whingeing mob THEY are. OUR culture.
But who are "they?"

Aren't "they" overwhelmingly Australian? Is the writer suggesting that ALL football people are foreigners? If so, perhaps those from the indigenous communities can look around any sporting stadium and say exactly the same thing - no? Would a foreigner be more warmly received if he was agitating for better AFL facilities? I suspect he might, even though football has been played in Australia since the 1800's.

Modern-day Australia is a hybrid of many different backgrounds, and football leads the way in reflecting the demographic look of the nation.

This was another point I put to Peter FitzSimons. I wondered whether his push for a new Australian flag (removing the union jack specifically) to represent a more inclusive version of the country, doesn't put him at odds with his lack of connection with the properly multi-cultural Socceroos? Again, I'm still awaiting an answer. Australia is progressive in embracing almost every form of international interaction in business, politics and culture. Yet it remains instinctively conservative when it comes to connecting with the one truly global sport - football. Far easier to stick with putting one over the English, the New Zealanders or the South Africans - people "we" know.

Changing a flag can be done quite simply if the will is there. But if it's to mean something, then engaging with who "we" are, requires a deeper commitment and understanding. Football, as the most inclusive sport, has a part to play in that, whether the nay-sayers accept it or not

The critics message meantime, remains stuck in neutral. It may be okay to be foreign - trendy even. When it comes to sport, however, you have to be like "us." Witness the fuss that is made of any African kid who chooses AFL as a career path if you want further proof.
Strangely, most Australians seem to quite happily accept that who "we" are is very different to 50 years ago. It's time that message filtered through. Football people are actually just other Australians - most of whom support the other codes during winter as well. They should no longer be classed as "them," portrayed as outsiders, refuseniks or troublemakers. 

The ritual of demonising football (this year without a ball having been kicked), is not only unfair, it's wrong.

You (Oz) really are chock full of xenophobes and racists.

Summary..?

"Us" when we win; "youse" when we lose.

3 amazing insightful posts ... yep get the message guys... WGAF I understand ... 

Mine was serious - and insightful. Peter Fitsimmons, like most Aussies, loves winners. When they are winning/succeeding they will adopt you as their own, ie"us". It happens in non sporting ventures too - which is why Crowded House are "one of ours" from an Aussie perspective, Pavlova is another example; Phar Lap, Russell Crowe etc. When they are not successful they are "them", in the case of football: "those poofter, wog, carpet-billiard playing OTHERS"; when the Footballroos win they become one of "ours". This will happen before the first game in Brazil and then revert to type when they are unsuccessful. Ergo, "us when we win", "youse" when you lose.

Chin-up sunshine, I actually thought it was an interesting article. Thanks for posting.

Using Adelaide as an example is an interesting one because I think that if there was one coach last season that was "one of us", it was Kosmina. I spent a bit of time there a couple of years ago and they seem to love the bloke. So maybe there's a bit of extra backlash against their new coach given that not only is he a foreigner, he's also replaced "our" Kossy?