Hypocrisy much, Aussies? Huss asks NZ to go easy on Clarke

[EnterTheVoid]

You are being extremely idealistic. Suit yourself. I am done.

[The Outsider]

You are being extremely idealistic. Suit yourself. I am done.

I am sorry but you are the one who is being opportunistic by expecting other people to render to your medieval callings to satisfy your "sporting" emotions without having the guts to implement them in your life, thereby downgrading the quality of the sporting spectacle we pay to watch, not people abusing each other - I personally am pretty adept at that and don't need a McGrath to show me the way.

[Mr. Wicket]

Pick an analogy thats more relevant to the situation rather than attempt to draw connections between instances where there isn't one.

No analogies exist that are realistic, hence Shwetabh's point. You aren't going to see a grad student asking another what his advisor's dick tastes like. You're not going to see a corporate executive asking an executive on his competition's board what the CEO's dick tastes like. Not will you find a journo asking the guy who beat him to a scoop what his editor's dick tastes like. And so on and so forth. In pretty much any civilized field, you're not going to come across people making those sorts of comments in a professional setting. People get paid for certain skills and people compete with each other using the same skills. The only situations where you will see that kind of behaviour are the really crude, uncivilized sports like European football or glorified thuggery like professional wrestling. As much as I admire McGrath as a person and cricketer, there's no way that his outburst (or other similar outbursts) can be justified or defended.

[EnterTheVoid]

I am sorry but you are the one who is being opportunistic by expecting other people to render to your medieval callings to satisfy your "sporting" emotions without having the guts to implement them in your life' date=' thereby downgrading the quality of the sporting spectacle we pay to watch, not people abusing each other - I personally am pretty adept at that and don't need a McGrath to show me the way.[/quote'] Say what you will, this changes nothing. So many U - turns, so many contradictions, so many arguments and counter arguments based on hypothetical, I lost track, and none the wiser.

[thevortex]

sree_india - I am not sure why you are hesitating to criticize Mcgrath for the part he played in this confrontation. Surely Sarwan only responded. Yes, he was not very polite in his response, but nor was Mcgrath who started the whole thing off and finally ended up crossing all lines of propriety on a cricket ground. In this case, Mcgrath is the guilty party and must have been punished.

[The Outsider]

Well said, Salil. It's ironic that possibly two of McGrath's biggest cricketing admirers are having to castigate his atrocious behavior in the Sarwan incident.

[EnterTheVoid]

No analogies exist that are realistic, hence Shwetabh's point. You aren't going to see a grad student asking another what his advisor's dick tastes like. You're not going to see a corporate executive asking an executive on his competition's board what the CEO's dick tastes like. Not will you find a journo asking the guy who beat him to a scoop what his editor's dick tastes like. And so on and so forth. In pretty much any civilized field, you're not going to come across people making those sorts of comments in a professional setting. People get paid for certain skills and people compete with each other using the same skills. The only situations where you will see that kind of behaviour are the really crude, uncivilized sports like European football or glorified thuggery like professional wrestling. As much as I admire McGrath as a person and cricketer, there's no way that his outburst (or other similar outbursts) can be justified or defended.

See, jokes about players girl friends and wives are nothing new. By the same token, if you advocate for more "civilized manners" in sports, the least you could do is lead by example and not commit the same act you find reprehensible. Fair ? So, by that token, I see nothing wrong in what Hussey said unless you sledge Clarke about his personal problems anyway and justify it under the guise of payback.

[Mr. Wicket]

Well said' date=' Salil. It's ironic that possibly two of McGrath's biggest cricketing admirers are having to castigate his atrocious behavior in the Sarwan incident.[/quote'] Well, we're huge admirers of McGrath, but hardly human shields. It's a shame that some people feel the need to defend every single little thing their hero does, rather than accepting mistakes. Heck, even McGrath accepted his mistake and later apologized/said he regretted it - meanwhile his human shields continue to try and find justifications.

[The Outsider]

^ I am yet to witness Kasparov and Anand talk about each others' and their wives' private parts in one of the most competitive sporting rivalries.

[achilles]

Ahh Achilles, you are good value.. the same guy who was blaming the Australia police after they solved a murder within three days, but couldn't handle that it was an Indian who did it. If you knew anything about the issue you would understand that McGrath regrets it, and talked to Sarwan for hours after the game and they smoothed things over. Sarwan was unaware that McGrath's wife had cancer, and they were both apologetic about it, I don't see why people feel the need to dig it up. McGrath said he regrets it, but obviously just exploded in the heat of the moment. Can you imagine how hard it must be if you and your wife had been battling her cancer for years and you had the leave her every few months? I don't see how it's such a big deal, if someone sledged me the 'Lara's dick' sledge, it wouldn't faze me - just as it didn't bother Sarwan.

1. There's no point regretting and sitting crying in a corner AFTER you lacked the guts to fathom a comeback. 2. Heard this quote - "Prevention is better than cure"? 3. McGrath could've avoided this altercation had he kept his trap shut. But you must feel that he is well within his right to sledge players unprovoked and then whine like a baby when sledged back. 4. There is no point crying over split milk. 5. Why do some Aussies take sledges personally when they go about lecturing people that its "a part of the game", all "fun and humour" and nothing to get annoyed about? 6. Do NOT get personal (under the guise of an emotional jibe). Have a civilized debate.

[achilles]

Then why couldn't McGrath laugh it off once he was told jovially by Sarwan to ask his wife - oh that's right she had cancer - so everyone's cultural sensibilities are meaningless and yours should be the one around which the laws should be formed? Instead of treading this treacherous path, is it not better to just play the game with the kind of comments which are truly appreciated amongst cultures, there are quite a few of them, rather than go down a risky slope? EDIT : Forget about actual cricket, there are cricket forums who are going to ban you for that kind of language.

Great post :clap:

Well' date=' we're huge admirers of McGrath, but hardly human shields. [b']It's a shame that some people feel the need to defend every single little thing their hero does, rather than accepting mistakes. Heck, even McGrath accepted his mistake and later apologized/said he regretted it - meanwhile his human shields continue to try and find justifications.

Ofcourse 99.94 will miss this post or come up with a "there were worst sledges" post or get personal again. But yeah Salil (thats your name I guess), agree with the gist of your post. I am a big fan of McGrath but not his misdemeanors

[graphic23]

^ Salil is just his nickname. He's actually distantly related to Jack Fingleton.

[achilles]

Post of the decade :clap:

McGrath is one of my favorite bowlers, in fact one of my picks into an all time world XI, so this has got absolutely nothing with my admiration of the man's skills and talent. With that out of the way, what transpired in the West Indies against Sarwan was entirely McGrath's fault. It was a completely boorish comment from him, which deserved Sarwan's retaliation and all the agony to follow. Just because your wife is suffering from cancer, it does not give you the right to ask your colleagues or opponents how someone's dick tastes to them. And if you have transgressed and asked so, be ready to take everything in your stride. If Sarwan was the instigator, and brought in his wife with no reason it would have been a different case - McGrath instigated the entire incident and then got physical. Where was the ICC clause of no physical contact, then BTW? Once you are out on the field no one is above the laws and spirit of cricket and McGrath was in blatant violation of anything that can be construed to stand in the spirit of cricket. No other profession except, sports tolerates blatant abuse and disregard for fellow opponents and rightly so. Cricket did not have this kind of garbage earlier but is descending into medieval times. Here is an earlier thread and OP of mine on a similar theme :

A hypothetical example - There is a research scientist job opening at a top university and by some fluke I am among the 2 shortlisted candidates who have been called to give a seminar. My rival is really good but I feel I can "mentally disintegrate" him. So when he is in the middle of his lecture, I ask him, "Hey, how does your thesis advisor's d!ck taste like". After that the university hires me because I managed to mentally unsettle my rival during his talk, never mind that he was more deserving. If modern cricket has to move towards true professionalism, it has to move against amateur and backyard notions like sledging and abusing. That's the mantra of the professional world, the job description is to play cricket and showcase your skills for which you are getting paid, not for treating your fellow professionals with contempt. Sadly, abuse and sledging are robbing us and deflecting attention from a lot of cricket.

http://indiancricketfans.com/showthread.php?t=87323

[achilles]

^ Salil is just his nickname. He's actually distantly related to Jack Fingleton.

:omg: Gra. We have a star in here, do we? :hatsoff:

[EnterTheVoid]

sree_india - I am not sure why you are hesitating to criticize Mcgrath for the part he played in this confrontation

I am not man. When Hussey stated sledges directed at Clarke's personal life going too far, why those championing ethics and morality are silent. Some support gives credence to what they are saying, but silence, makes me suspicious.

[graphic23]

I am not man. When Hussey stated sledges directed at Clarke's personal life going too far, why those championing ethics and morality are silent. Some support gives credence to what they are saying, but silence, makes me suspicious.

I dont know about others, but I have scant respect for Clarke given his generally *****y behavior (at Sydney, claiming the catch of Ganguly without being sure of it, and of course Ponting's 5th umpire reaction shortly thereafter but we needn't go into that). But here's something that ought to enlighten your cricket "history": One man: (IMO) the greatest batsman from the visiting country, a legend bar none, and highly respected for his sportsmanship and his composure (off and on the field). What does Clarke do? [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCHjNj6lF_4]YouTube- Australian cricketer Michael Clarke is 'GAY'[/ame] Tackle him. Do you see an apology there? Oh no! Want some more evidence of why I think Clarke is an ******* ? From SMH:

India were also particularly upset at Michael Clarke standing his ground on day four of the match despite edging the ball to slip, and will ask the ICC to axe "incompetent" umpires Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson.

and then claiming that he was "shocked" at having been caught so early in his innings (I think he got a duck). Then later criticizing Ganguly for standing when the catch was clearly not clean. Are you ****ing kidding me?

[The Outsider]

The guy fracking stood his ground after being caught at first slip - nothing wrong in principle, but spirit you can forget about it! For the record, I got roundly castigated on the old ICF when I criticized Ganguly for calling for the third umpire after getting freaking bowled in the Bangalore test - it was just not done!

[achilles]

I dont know about others, but I have scant respect for Clarke given his generally *****y behavior (at Sydney, claiming the catch of Ganguly without being sure of it, and of course Ponting's 5th umpire reaction shortly thereafter but we needn't go into that). But here's something that ought to enlighten your cricket "history": One man: (IMO) the greatest batsman from the visiting country, a legend bar none, and highly respected for his sportsmanship and his composure (off and on the field). What does Clarke do?

Tackle him. Do you see an apology there? Oh no! Want some more evidence of why I think Clarke is an ******* ? From SMH:

India were also particularly upset at Michael Clarke standing his ground on day four of the match despite edging the ball to slip, and will ask the ICC to axe "incompetent" umpires Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson.

and then claiming that he was "shocked" at having been caught so early in his innings (I think he got a duck). Then later criticizing Ganguly for standing when the catch was clearly not clean. Are you ****ing kidding me?

Clarke is a MORON. He loves to act all mature and sane, when he's actually not. Goto page 1 and see what he called Gayle. And Gra, that guy is a pretentious pr-ck par excellence. Oh btw, you guys remember that bastard (Hogg's got me hooked to this word) Katich holding Gauti, not allowing him to run a single and then yelling at Gauti at the top of his voice when he protested? Did the Aussies get fined for obstructing a player? NO. Were Clarke and Katich fined? NO. Were they banned? NO. Whats bastards! I think most of the current players are tools, except for Lee, Watson (although they do get the occasional kick), Hopes and Hauritz

[thevortex]

I find all sledging distasteful. So raising the question about sledging Clarke on his personal life is a moot question to me. Degrees of sledging or abuse is something very hard to define. You either are fully for it or fully against it. That is why Mcgrath must be castigated for his part in that episode with Sarwan. And he was far more guilty than Sarwan too - of transgressing the lines of sportsmanship and even decency.

[Mr. Wicket]

That said prof, in that period on the old ICF, you could criticize Ganguly in a scenario where he might run Tendulkar out on 99 by a bad call and then colliding with him, and you'd still get castigated (and then b&).