We Should be Better Than That
I’ve never really been a fan of Nathan Buckley. However this week Buckley shared a story about taking his kids to the footy. When one started booing an opposition player, Buckley told him in no uncertain terms that he could barrack as hard as he liked for his team and the players he loved, but that booing was taboo (1). I admire Nathan Buckley for that excellent piece of parenting.
When watching the football at home I’ve hurled all types of abuse at the television. When attending games I’ve abused umpires, opposition players and players on the team I support. I’ve decided to stop doing that. I should be better that that and I want my two year old son to understand that booing isn’t acceptable. If I can’t get it right how can I expect my son to?
Recently one AFL player has been abused more regularly than has been the norm. The booing of Adam Goodes should stop if for no other reason than the one Nathan Buckley provided for his child. Booing should be taboo. We should all be better than that. If only the context under which Goodes has been abused were so simple.
To begin with to imply that the booing of Goodes is not in part racially motivated is ludicrous. He was never subjected to that kind of treatment consistently until he picked out a member of the crowd at a game during the indigenous round of the 2013 season and called them on a racist remark they had made.
The abuse of Goodes by crowds across the country escalated after he was chosen as Australian of the year in 2014. Goodes used his profile to highlight Aboriginal issues and racism in Australia. Predictably, your average Aussie punter didn’t like this one bit. Of course racism is not the only reason people abuse Goodes.
His behaviour on the footy field has been highly questionable at times. He has often been accused of being a dirty player. This reputation is the result of a habit of sliding tackles targeting player legs and a history of questionable high contact. This along with a reputation as a player who stages for free kicks combines in a way which makes it all too easy for many football fans to dislike Goodes for reasons that are not racist.
Furthermore Adam Goodes is an extremely talented player. He has won two Brownlow medals and that is the games highest honour. In pure footballing terms he is an excellent footballer. This is of course another reason for people to hate him as Australians are well known for our love of cutting down tall poppies.
Goodes has been abused fairly consistently over the past few seasons but matters really escalated further this year when Goodes, who was abused all day by the crowd, responded with an aboriginal dance directed at the crowd. It was remarkable behaviour. The AFL’s response was perhaps even more remarkable. They did nothing. Let’s just put that into context.
In 2007 Mark McVeigh was fined $900 for a giving a mate in the crowd ‘the finger’. In 2009 Ben Cousins was fined $2,500 and given a $7,500 good behavior bond for giving an unmanned change room camera ‘the finger’ at Subiaco Oval before the match even started! Dustin Martin copped a $2000 suspended fine for a ‘jailbird salute’ to the crowd during the 2013 finals series (2).
What about examples of similar situations elsewhere in the world? FIFA’s view is that “If a player incites the crowd and/or takes his shirt off after scoring a goal he is likely to get booked by the referee” (3). In Brazil first division club SAO PAULO recently suspended a player who confronted his own team’s fans in the middle of a match because they were constantly jeering him. The club said a decision on whether he will continue at the club will be made shortly (4).
We need to remember here that whilst Goodes behaviour is pretty clearly inappropriate, I have a great deal of sympathy for him. That’s because the crowd’s behaviour has been nothing short of disgraceful. If I had been abused as consistently as he has for as long as he has I’d have told the crowd to go fuck themselves long before Goodes finally snapped and did his dance.
Compounding the crowd’s behaviour has been the fairly hysterical response from the media. On one side you have the clearly delusional such as Alan Jones who is convinced that the crowd’s behaviour isn’t racist (5). On the other hand you have the people who focus only on the racism and ignore the fairly obvious fact that professional sportspeople should not be inciting the crowd.
To conclude in my view this is a perfect opportunity for the AFL, Goodes, the coaches and the fans to show some real leadership by agreeing on a solution which is inclusive. Simply, discourage booing for any reason. It doesn’t matter if it’s racist. It doesn’t matter if people are booing because of any other ist or ism. Don’t boo, simply because we should all be better than that.
(1) https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sport/a/29122927/booers-just-don-t-get-it/
(2) http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-09-11/suspended-fine-for-martin