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A Sporting Chance

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A Sporting Chance

By: Titus O'Reily
Narrated by: Titus O'Reily
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About this listen

 In Sport, the term 'good bloke' doesn't mean what it says. Like 'fun run', it in fact often means the exact opposite.

Titus O'Reily, the sports historian Australia neither needs nor deserves, examines why our nation's sportspeople can do terrible things yet be so readily forgiven.

In this Great Southern Land, a sportsman can be excused almost any sin if he is elevated to the mythical status of being a 'good bloke'. So, what does it take to earn the title of 'good bloke'? And can female athletes be good blokes too?

With ridiculous tales from Australia's chequered sporting history, A Sporting Chance dissects the scandals big and small, the mistakes made in covering them up and the path athletes tread back to redemption.

From the corrupt cop who gave us the race that stopped a nation, to the Australian boxing champion who refused to train - not to mention the sandpaper-loving Australian Test cricket team - Titus reveals the key archetypes at the heart of our greatest sporting scandals.

In his own rambling and at times incoherent style he asks the question: are Australians really that forgiving of their sporting heroes? Or, with the rise of social media, women's sport and the drive towards greater equality, are the good blokes of Australia's sporting landscape becoming an endangered species?

'An indispensable voice for serious fans, who need to be reminded to take sport a little less seriously.' Inside Sport©2018 Titus O'Reily (P)2018 Penguin Random House Australia Sociology of Sports Sports History Sports

Critic Reviews

"An indispensable voice for serious fans, who need to be reminded to take sport a little less seriously." (Inside Sport)
All stars
Most relevant  
some funny stories, good sarcasm . a bit repetitive in parts but worth a listen

worth a listen

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This book is such a delight to listen to. One of the things that is so good about this book is that there so many interesting facts like I didn't know that Australia's greatest boxer liked drinking. Without this book, I don't know what to do, it is just so good. 😀👍👌👏

My review on this book

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Qudos, Titus O’Reilly, for showing us behind the curtain and saying out loud what I have been thinking about many sports people in Australia. Well done on your bravery and your courage to speak the plain truth. I also enjoyed your sardonic humour! Cheers.

Truth-Teller

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Fantastic book. Equal parts investigative journalism & comedy. Really entertaining. I’ll be sure to check out more of his work.👍

Great listening

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good story and it was nice to reminisce about some tales from the past days

cool

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Another great read from Australia's funniest sports comedian. The stories are both interesting and funny. I also enjoyed hearing Titus narrate the book himself.

Great Read

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Titus has given us an extensive look behind the scenes of Fame and fortune into the character and misdeeds of some of our most celebrated Australian stars. While personally I do not care for cricket or football I found this book riveting and very interesting, well done Titus.

About Time

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Titus doesn’t miss and because of this it’s a wonderful and entertaining book. I’ve always had the same views and cynicism of our misbehaving sports stars. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Really enjoyed this

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Written with a preconceived opinion. Many subjects not researched thoroughly. Over politically correct.

Biased

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.