While sporting competitions are held up as great and virtuous unifiers, the reality – from as far back as the ancient Greeks – is that corruption and politicisation are always lurking nearby.
He took Spurs to their first trophy in 17 years but was still punted. Now Ange Postecoglou’s ignominious exit from Forest has all but sealed his English Premier League fate.
Hard work and discipline took the bookish and ungainly John Amaechi to the NBA – and when his team abandoned him, to a new profession. In a 2007 memoir, he spoke his truth.
Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull won an Oscar for Robert De Niro, with his portrayal of boxer Jake LaMotta’s misogyny, depravity and violence in and outside the ring.
He was the force behind a quarter-century of Manchester United success. But while Sir Alex Ferguson is lauded as a hero of the club, his influence on their demise is equally telling.
Before the Olympics were open to women swimmers, Australian Annette Kellerman was pushing the boundaries of propriety – with a determination that would make her a star.
The media’s willingness and the public’s desire to hype elite athletes perpetuates a circus of transactionality in which simply being admirable is not enough.
Fifty years after Norman Mailer published The Fight – on the Rumble in the Jungle between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman – it remains a seminal work in the sporting canon.
He dared to dream and now the author can slumber easily as his beloved Fremantle FC contests the AFL finals, in a season where every top eight team is a realistic chance for the flag.
