Why are Australians so good at sport?
Discussion
SC7 said:
Because they're raised as winners.
Over here, we're plagued by the "subdue-the-excellent-to-give-the-useless-a-chance" attitude.
Not really. Australia has a massive problem with tall poppy syndrome.Over here, we're plagued by the "subdue-the-excellent-to-give-the-useless-a-chance" attitude.
Much as they s
t me to tears as a nation, the people I've met that suffer from that least is the Americans.From my time living there I think it has a lot to do with the media. They are more than ready to talk up/encourage their sports men and focus on any achievement/success not matter how small.
Over here, however, the media vilify anything other than great success and even then devote fewer column inches to it.
Also, there is great investment in sporting facilities (though I was there during the 2000 Olympics so my view may be skewed) and people seemed to have a genuine pride about their facilities and kept them "clean" accordingly.
The above is much too simplistic really but I do believe it has a large bearing.
Over here, however, the media vilify anything other than great success and even then devote fewer column inches to it.
Also, there is great investment in sporting facilities (though I was there during the 2000 Olympics so my view may be skewed) and people seemed to have a genuine pride about their facilities and kept them "clean" accordingly.
The above is much too simplistic really but I do believe it has a large bearing.
I'll don my flame suit here, but England also seems to have a ludicrously myopic attitude towards the round ball game.
IF you cut football salaries by 90% (and they'd still be overpaid in my opinion) and directed those funds towards propotion and payment of other sports, England would have a far higher success rate in sport.
Ask Chris Hoyle what he earns compared to Wayne Rooney. Then ask yourself who's the more dedicated and hard working athlete and the better ambassador for sport in this (still fantastic) country.
Money isn't (or shouldn't be) the only motivating factor I grant you, but when one sport and its players are promoted and paid disproportionately to others, then its difficult to encourage kids or sponsors and promoters to push other sports to the extent they deserve.
Take the example of squash. We have some really world class players who have been in and out of the world #1 ranking and several in and out of the top ten for some time. Nobody even knows their names.
We've had one 'almost made something of it' and a Scotsman who play tennis and yet everyone knows
who they are.
England has some outstanding sporting talent. We simply fail to recognise and encourage it.
IF you cut football salaries by 90% (and they'd still be overpaid in my opinion) and directed those funds towards propotion and payment of other sports, England would have a far higher success rate in sport.
Ask Chris Hoyle what he earns compared to Wayne Rooney. Then ask yourself who's the more dedicated and hard working athlete and the better ambassador for sport in this (still fantastic) country.
Money isn't (or shouldn't be) the only motivating factor I grant you, but when one sport and its players are promoted and paid disproportionately to others, then its difficult to encourage kids or sponsors and promoters to push other sports to the extent they deserve.
Take the example of squash. We have some really world class players who have been in and out of the world #1 ranking and several in and out of the top ten for some time. Nobody even knows their names.
We've had one 'almost made something of it' and a Scotsman who play tennis and yet everyone knows
who they are.
England has some outstanding sporting talent. We simply fail to recognise and encourage it.
blindswelledrat said:
What a load of st.
Just give it a fking rest will you?
THis is a thread about sports, not BNP polices. Jesus christ. Some people have nothing better to think about than tabloid stories.
That's not very nice. I agree I'm generalising a lot here, but at least could you give me some good reasons why I shouldn't think this way?t.Just give it a f
king rest will you?THis is a thread about sports, not BNP polices. Jesus christ. Some people have nothing better to think about than tabloid stories.
Edited by prand on Thursday 14th October 10:12
I would suggest that the main reason Australia produces better sports people than us is quite simply that in Britain we place far more emphasis on acedemia than sports, and consider it a priority over taking sports seriously.
I have no statistics to back this up but I'd be willing to bet if you compared who produced more top scientists/academics etc between the two countries- the gap would be enormous
I have no statistics to back this up but I'd be willing to bet if you compared who produced more top scientists/academics etc between the two countries- the gap would be enormous
blindswelledrat said:
..In Britain we place far more emphasis on acedemia than sports, and consider it a priority over taking sports seriously.
I have no statistics to back this up but I'd be willing to bet if you compared who produced more top scientists/academics etc between the two countries- the gap would be enormous
I wouldn't expect so on a per capita basis. I have no statistics to back this up but I'd be willing to bet if you compared who produced more top scientists/academics etc between the two countries- the gap would be enormous
blindswelledrat said:
I would suggest that the main reason Australia produces better sports people than us is quite simply that in Britain we place far more emphasis on acedemia than sports, and consider it a priority over taking sports seriously.
I have no statistics to back this up but I'd be willing to bet if you compared who produced more top scientists/academics etc between the two countries- the gap would be enormous
Fair enough, though the UK academic institutions have had a big headstart on Australia. it woudl be hard to compare like for like as we start before From Isaac Newton go through to to the Industrial Revolution chaps - peaking between the Victorian period WWII. Since then I would have thought as a nation, we are tapering off now investment and innovation is going elsewhere, just as Australia is picking up.I have no statistics to back this up but I'd be willing to bet if you compared who produced more top scientists/academics etc between the two countries- the gap would be enormous
blindswelledrat said:
SC7 said:
Because they're raised as winners.
Over here, we're plagued by the "subdue-the-excellent-to-give-the-useless-a-chance" attitude.
What a load of sOver here, we're plagued by the "subdue-the-excellent-to-give-the-useless-a-chance" attitude.
t.Just give it a f
king rest will you?THis is a thread about sports, not BNP polices. Jesus christ. Some people have nothing better to think about than tabloid stories.
k has that got to do with BNP "polices"?9 years ago I left a school where I was made to play 8 different sports, including rounders and hockey, despite only being remotely interested in two or three. This included playing basketball in a mixed sex class with at least one tool who purposely "forgot my PE kit, Sir" in each team, who would move out of the way and squeal rather than catch the ball.
This was followed by two years in college where I studied PE at A Level and spent as much of my final year in education doing Orienteering as I did studying Football, despite only one person in the class choosing the former and 10+ choosing the latter.
The schools in this country don't encourage the elite. Instead of trying to push the idiots up a level they just drag everybody else back to suit.
So no, I won't "give it a f
king rest", and I don't repeat what I read in the tabloids - I speak only from my own personal experience.We now live in a country that excels in practically nothing, illustrated this week by the fact we rely on a foreign manager to guide our national team to a 0-0 draw with a country with close to 1/100th of our population.
We celebrate mediocrity in every way imaginable - In Australia it simply wouldn't slide, and the same goes for the U.S.
You can get down off your high horse now you mouthy
.SC7 said:
What the fk has that got to do with BNP "polices"?
9 years ago I left a school where I was made to play 8 different sports, including rounders and hockey, despite only being remotely interested in two or three. This included playing basketball in a mixed sex class with at least one tool who purposely "forgot my PE kit, Sir" in each team, who would move out of the way and squeal rather than catch the ball.
This was followed by two years in college where I studied PE at A Level and spent as much of my final year in education doing Orienteering as I did studying Football, despite only one person in the class choosing the former and 10+ choosing the latter.
The schools in this country don't encourage the elite. Instead of trying to push the idiots up a level they just drag everybody else back to suit.
So no, I won't "give it a fking rest", and I don't repeat what I read in the tabloids - I speak only from my own personal experience.
We now live in a country that excels in practically nothing, illustrated this week by the fact we rely on a foreign manager to guide our national team to a 0-0 draw with a country with close to 1/100th of our population.
We celebrate mediocrity in every way imaginable - In Australia it simply wouldn't slide, and the same goes for the U.S.
You can get down off your high horse now you mouthy.
Ill tell you what:k has that got to do with BNP "polices"?9 years ago I left a school where I was made to play 8 different sports, including rounders and hockey, despite only being remotely interested in two or three. This included playing basketball in a mixed sex class with at least one tool who purposely "forgot my PE kit, Sir" in each team, who would move out of the way and squeal rather than catch the ball.
This was followed by two years in college where I studied PE at A Level and spent as much of my final year in education doing Orienteering as I did studying Football, despite only one person in the class choosing the former and 10+ choosing the latter.
The schools in this country don't encourage the elite. Instead of trying to push the idiots up a level they just drag everybody else back to suit.
So no, I won't "give it a f
king rest", and I don't repeat what I read in the tabloids - I speak only from my own personal experience.We now live in a country that excels in practically nothing, illustrated this week by the fact we rely on a foreign manager to guide our national team to a 0-0 draw with a country with close to 1/100th of our population.
We celebrate mediocrity in every way imaginable - In Australia it simply wouldn't slide, and the same goes for the U.S.
You can get down off your high horse now you mouthy
.I will apologise if you can back up a single thing that you have said with provable statistics as opposed to anecdotal fond memories from a mate who did PE once.
In return, if unable to do that then you retract what you have said and vow to stop whinging about the state of this country, without knowing why you are doing it?
So to clarify- here are your statements to prove with a link anything which demonstrates it as fact:
1)People in Australia are raised as 'winners; but people in Britain aren't
2)Governments in the UK seek to subdue people who are excellent within a given field
3)The schools in this country don't encourage the Elite
4)We live in a country that excels at practically nothing (for your information- the fact that we have a foreign England manager does not prove this statemnt in any way whatsoever)
5)We celibrate mediocrity in every way imaginable
Edited by blindswelledrat on Thursday 14th October 11:00
Becuase 'straaaiiiiaaa invest very heavily in sport for their national identity and more importantly, their international identity. Otherwise they wouldn't have one, at all.
Ask yourselves why all those tin-pot Soviet dictatorships were so good at gymnastics and track & field back in the 70's & 80's - same deal applies.
Besides, it's only running and swimming against the Commonwealth countries (where GB is split up also). Look at the 2008 Olympic medal table - we came 4th and they came 6th.
Ask yourselves why all those tin-pot Soviet dictatorships were so good at gymnastics and track & field back in the 70's & 80's - same deal applies.
Besides, it's only running and swimming against the Commonwealth countries (where GB is split up also). Look at the 2008 Olympic medal table - we came 4th and they came 6th.
prand said:
That's not very nice. I agree I'm generalising a lot here, but at least could you give me some good reasons why I shouldn't think this way?
[]
Fair reply.[]
Do you not think, though, that to take such an overwhelmingly negative attitude towards your own country- it is YOU who should have the reasons to think that way and not have that as your default feeling which is up to someone else to change?
SC7 said:
blindswelledrat said:
SC7 said:
Because they're raised as winners.
Over here, we're plagued by the "subdue-the-excellent-to-give-the-useless-a-chance" attitude.
What a load of sOver here, we're plagued by the "subdue-the-excellent-to-give-the-useless-a-chance" attitude.
t.Just give it a f
king rest will you?THis is a thread about sports, not BNP polices. Jesus christ. Some people have nothing better to think about than tabloid stories.
k has that got to do with BNP "polices"?9 years ago I left a school where I was made to play 8 different sports, including rounders and hockey, despite only being remotely interested in two or three. This included playing basketball in a mixed sex class with at least one tool who purposely "forgot my PE kit, Sir" in each team, who would move out of the way and squeal rather than catch the ball.
This was followed by two years in college where I studied PE at A Level and spent as much of my final year in education doing Orienteering as I did studying Football, despite only one person in the class choosing the former and 10+ choosing the latter.
The schools in this country don't encourage the elite. Instead of trying to push the idiots up a level they just drag everybody else back to suit.
So no, I won't "give it a f
king rest", and I don't repeat what I read in the tabloids - I speak only from my own personal experience.We now live in a country that excels in practically nothing, illustrated this week by the fact we rely on a foreign manager to guide our national team to a 0-0 draw with a country with close to 1/100th of our population.
We celebrate mediocrity in every way imaginable - In Australia it simply wouldn't slide, and the same goes for the U.S.
You can get down off your high horse now you mouthy
.As to the original question, Australians are fabulous sportsmen (and women) because it is one of the defining elements of their culture. There are all sorts of contributing factors but as a young, sophisticated and ambitious nation it is simply one of those things that they "do". Good on 'em I say, it makes it even sweeter when this old knackered also-ran of a country beats them!
SC7 said:
blindswelledrat said:
SC7 said:
Because they're raised as winners.
Over here, we're plagued by the "subdue-the-excellent-to-give-the-useless-a-chance" attitude.
What a load of sOver here, we're plagued by the "subdue-the-excellent-to-give-the-useless-a-chance" attitude.
t.Just give it a f
king rest will you?THis is a thread about sports, not BNP polices. Jesus christ. Some people have nothing better to think about than tabloid stories.
k has that got to do with BNP "polices"?9 years ago I left a school where I was made to play 8 different sports, including rounders and hockey, despite only being remotely interested in two or three. This included playing basketball in a mixed sex class with at least one tool who purposely "forgot my PE kit, Sir" in each team, who would move out of the way and squeal rather than catch the ball.
This was followed by two years in college where I studied PE at A Level and spent as much of my final year in education doing Orienteering as I did studying Football, despite only one person in the class choosing the former and 10+ choosing the latter.
The schools in this country don't encourage the elite. Instead of trying to push the idiots up a level they just drag everybody else back to suit.
So no, I won't "give it a f
king rest", and I don't repeat what I read in the tabloids - I speak only from my own personal experience.We now live in a country that excels in practically nothing, illustrated this week by the fact we rely on a foreign manager to guide our national team to a 0-0 draw with a country with close to 1/100th of our population.
We celebrate mediocrity in every way imaginable - In Australia it simply wouldn't slide, and the same goes for the U.S.
You can get down off your high horse now you mouthy
.JB! said:
Totally aggree!
Then presumably being in such wholehearted agreement means you can back up the statements.To remind you
1)People in Australia are raised as 'winners; but people in Britain aren't
2)Governments in the UK seek to subdue people who are excellent within a given field
3)The schools in this country don't encourage the Elite
4)We live in a country that excels at practically nothing (for your information- the fact that we have a foreign England manager does not prove this statemnt in any way whatsoever)
5)We celibrate mediocrity in every way imaginable
Edited by blindswelledrat on Thursday 14th October 11:15
Please everyone stop talking pish. They're not any better than us.
We beat them at Rugby regularly - and them us. The same goes for Cricket.
At the Bejing Olympics we were considerably better than them. We finished 4th in the medal table, and they finished 6th.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/medals_ta...
We beat them at Rugby regularly - and them us. The same goes for Cricket.
At the Bejing Olympics we were considerably better than them. We finished 4th in the medal table, and they finished 6th.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/medals_ta...
rhinochopig said:
Please everyone stop talking pish. They're not any better than us.
We beat them at Rugby regularly - and them us. The same goes for Cricket.
At the Bejing Olympics we were considerably better than them. We finished 4th in the medal table, and they finished 6th.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/medals_ta...
Per capita, Australia dominated.We beat them at Rugby regularly - and them us. The same goes for Cricket.
At the Bejing Olympics we were considerably better than them. We finished 4th in the medal table, and they finished 6th.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/medals_ta...
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