Showing results by author "Titus O'Reily" in All Categories

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?

Australians will gamble on anything, from two flies crawling up a wall to less important things like federal elections. Thanks to the internet, mobile phones and gambling-tax loving federal and state governments, Australians can indulge their love of a punt no matter what they're doing. Aussies can be at the birth of a child, performing open heart surgery or handling heavy machinery and still put a bet on.

Where there's sport, there's cheating. No sport is immune: athletics, swimming, rugby, American football, cricket, baseball, badminton, motorsports, tennis and curling. Yes, even that sport on the ice with brooms. Almost as soon as humans started playing sport competitively, they started to cheat. They cheated to win, for the fame, for the money and sometimes for reasons that are hard to understand.