Category Archives: Shumpty Speaks

For the love sport: State of Origin

June 14, 2012 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , 1 Comment

As many of you will have worked out by now, I am a sports fanatic: simply put, if it is sport I will watch it and I will follow a team.  Over the years I have fallen in and out of love with many sports.  Rugby League is a sport that I have loved and fallen out of love with over time and it would be fair to say that aside from my ongoing support of the Canberra Raiders, the NRL competition in Australia really does not interest me much.

That fact declared, it is that time of the year again that my fervour for the game of rugby league reaches its peak because it is State of Origin time.

For as long as I can remember as a young child there were only three nights in a year that I was allowed to stay up late and they were the Wednesday nights that State of Origin was on.  I would sit with my Dad, watch and listen to his oft frustrated rumblings about high tackles, repeat sets of six and head high tackles all the while not really knowing what was going on. It would be fair to say that during my formative years I was not so much a rabid supporter of State of Origin rugby league but more a passive observer.

That all changed when I went to my first game of State of Origin at Lang Park.  12 June 1991 was the date and it was the third game of a hard-fought series ultimately won by Queensland 2-1.  I have three vivid memories of this game: first that we were in the old outer of Lang Park sitting on concrete steps; second that Mal Meninga kicked a goal from the sideline and I had never heard a sound like it and third, it was Wally Lewis’ last game.  To that point in my life I had never experienced anything like it and was hooked.

Still though, even after my 1991 experience I did not possess that “hatred” of New South Wales that most of us from the Sunshine State possess around this time of year.  It was not until 1995 that I really understood what it meant to Queenslanders to beat New South Wales.

For those that can remember it, the 1995 series was held at the start of the “Super League War” and all of the expectations were of a New South Wales whitewash, the bulk of Queensland’s usual team sheet being aligned with the rebel faction.   New South Wales players, coaches and supporters were insufferable before the series started and I wanted nothing more for Queensland to prove them wrong.  Everything that those much more senior to me had been complaining about with respect to those who reside on the other side of the Tweed River finally was sheeted home to me. 

History shows that Paul Vautin’s team of “Nevilles” (as he described them) defeated their much more fancied opposition 3-0.  Sitting in the lounge room of the Humphreys’ Family homestead in Ipswich images of Billy Moore screaming “Queenslander”, Brett Dallas running away to score under the posts in Melbourne and Trevor Gillmeister leading Queensland into the last game when we all knew he was crook sent chills up the spine.  Even now as I sit here writing this I get the chills.

That was a series Queensland was given no chance to win by anyone and yet despite all of the disadvantages put in front them prevailed against all odds.  That win meant so much to me, my father, my mates and anyone else I spoke to and for the first time I really realized how much it means to Queenslanders to beat New South Wales.

I am not going to get into the usual banter about which state is better: the fact is that I am biased and it is impossible for me to answer impartially.  What I am going to say is that the “hatred” between the supporters of the two States is, to me, what continues to make these series of State of Origin games what they are.  For weeks before game one, the best of mates will be sniping at each other about their respective teams chances and, with the advent of mobile telephony, there seems to be not a moment in the game that goes past that does not lead to a text message or a tweet directed at the opposition teams supports being received or responded to.  Having attended two games in “enemy territory” in New South Wales proudly sporting my Queensland jersey I have felt (and heard) the disdain with which interloping supporters are considered with.  Without that byplay between the respective groups of fans, I do not think the series would be what it is today.

It is important to recognise here though what I also consider to be the essence of State of Origin.  It is the fact that for the period of the game and its preliminaries it truly is mate against mate from the players right through to the fans.  Which, by extension means, that the following day we are all still mates no matter what the result.  It is for this reason I have purposely put the word “hatred” in inverted commas during this post.  Hate is a word easily bandied around but the fact is that we do not hate each other (as that word is meant to be used), we just hate losing to each other.   It is just sport afterall.

With that, I look forward to 4 July when the third game of the present series reaches its crescendo at Lang Park and hope the best side wins: of course we all know that that team is Queensland.  Let the banter begin!

What ever happened to the umpire’s always right? An addendum

June 13, 2012 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , 2 Comments

Last week I wrote about the lack of respect shown to sporting officials and lamented that short of the players taking personal responsibility there was nothing really that could be done to restore the maxim that I grew up with (being that “the umpire is always right”) into the sports we all love to watch.

The principal feedback I received was whether I had considered the impact of parental behaviour at sport’s events on the future conduct of players.

To be fair I had considered that factor but really my initial view was that parental behaviour was perhaps not that big an issue in considering the totality of the “player respect” debate. Principally, in my mind, I had only considered my era of playing sport. Going back to those days I can not recall an event of “ugly parent” type behaviour at any of the sport that I had played. Equally, upon reflection it was not anything that I had ever paid attention to: I was too busy playing.

That being the case, I have had a read of recent reports of poor parental behaviour at sport and done a bit of a survey of mates of mine with kids who play sport. Ultimately, from both of these sources I have come to two conclusions:

1. Whilst there are a number of identifiable events of poor parental behaviour at sport, such behaviour does not appear to be happening at every game of sport played by children; and

2. It would be silliness to suggest that the behaviour of parents does not impact on the views of child / player with respect to the role that officials play in sport.

From a personal perspective I always had role models around me, in my parents and coaches, who hammered into me the maxim that the “umpire is always right”. I concede the obvious here that if the role models of players are not imparting and reinforcing that maxim then they are not likely to live by it like the sportsmen of my generation.

I wonder if that is to simplistic though: the people playing the sports we love are all adults. They all live by their own values systems and on the basis of their own judgments. It is trite to say, given what flows above, but at some point the excuses have to stop and personal responsibility for ones conduct must come to the fore.

I finish on a point that has been rattling around my head the last couple of days: if the boot was on the other foot would the players routinely abusing officials expect to be respected? I would suggest that they would and they would be lying if they posited otherwise. If that is the case, why does it seem to be foreign for those players to show some respect?

I love my country and I will sing our national anthem: why won’t you?

June 11, 2012 By in Shumpty Speaks 1 Comment

“Australian’s all let us rejoice, for we are young and free;”

For readers that are unaware, those are words that start the national anthem of Australia. Much is made by many about the wording of a national anthem or how it is performed. A rendition of our national anthem at the recent State of Origin rugby league match in Melbourne by a young actress playing “Annie” in the musical of the same name set social media networks alight with, in the main, condemnation of the Australian Rugby League’s choice of singer.

I have been heard to regularly lament the inappropriateness of those chosen to sing our national anthem at sport and other events of note. My frustration in that context is the fact that often the singer chosen seems to think they need to make the melody sound like one of their songs. Whilst this is something I dislike, it is not the subject of this blog. What I did want to mention however was a worrying lack of respect for our national anthem that seems to regularly arise at events I attend.

This lack of respect reached its epoch for me on Saturday night when I attended the Australia v Wales rugby union test match at Lang Park (regular followers on twitter will know that I decline to refer to the hallowed turf by its corporate moniker). As is usual for me I got to the ground early, was well settled in my seat and had already struck up a conversation with some of the fans around me in anticipation of the game ahead.

All too soon it was time for the players to run onto the ground and the national anthems. This is where my enjoyment of the night ratcheted down a notch. Upon hearing the announcement “Would you all please be upstanding for the national anthems of Wales and Australia”, an attendee sitting behind me was heard to retort “there is no way I am standing up for any stupid #$#$%# anthem”. The bloke behind me was lucky that the music had started because I was incensed. How dare he be so rude? Fortuitously, the two friends that he had attended the game with and his girl friend all castigated this individual during the break between anthems and he did stand up for the Australian national anthem.

This frankly is not an isolated incident. It seems that every time I attend an event at which the anthem is to be sung there is a melancholy that surrounds its singing. If it is not failing to stand for the anthem it is not removing ones hat when the anthem is sung or talking to your mates during the anthem.

How did we get to a point where it would seem that the singing of a song that celebrates our country is chore for many that is not respected?

The national anthem of any country is, or ought be, a celebration of its people, the country and its identity. This issue of respect for the anthem having bounced around in my head for a while, I was left to ponder what the younger generations of Australians (or of any nationality) are taught about their national anthem.

I went through school during a time when in grade 1 we learnt the words of the national anthem and at every school assembly (every week) we sung the anthem (along with God Save the Queen before 1986). The anthem was a pivotal to the teaching of history in the early grades and was interwoven through our understanding of our nation identity. Is it the same now?

Ultimately, I just don’t understand the mindset that leads one to not want to celebrate the identity of their country. I love my country and I will always sing the national anthem loudly and proudly.

The question to leave you with is: will you?

Becoming Uncle Steve: it took me a while but I got there

June 6, 2012 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , 1 Comment

Today marks twenty days until I become an uncle for the third time. To say that I am chuffed would be an understatement. My nephews Jack and Cooper, it would be fair to say, have changed my life.

To say that before they came around that I was not that most “kid friendly” of chaps would be an understatement. Having worked at a Tenpin Bowling Centre for 5 years during my university years, I had often seen the worst of the behaviour of children and my cousins all being basically around the same age as me (with a variance of maybe 5 years either way) meant that I never really been around really little kids. Those factors led to my default setting around children to generally be taciturn and standoffish to say the least.

That all changed when my little mates, first Jack and then Cooper, came along. I remember the day Jack was born like it was yesterday: my sister went into labour moderately early in the morning, an ice age passed with me pacing and checking my phone, the call came through that he had arrived, I had a little bit of a cry and then I went out and got absolutely slaughtered (I used to drink then).

When I met Jack for the first time the next day I was astonished by how small he was (forgive me but I was a 27 year old bachelor lawyer workaholic: babies weren’t within my social sphere) and by how my heart beat got so much faster when I held him. I wasn’t the best catch of a cricket ball during my playing days and all I could think of was dropping him!

By the time Cooper came along two years later I was an old hand at the “holding the baby” lark but my heart beat still hastened every time I held him.

At this juncture, I have a confession to make that just breaks my heart. Frankly, until 15 months ago I was a pretty terrible uncle. Indicative of that is the fact that even though I try my damnedest I really can not remember much of my interactions with my little mates before then. I could make all of the excuses under the sun for this aberration but the fact is I was a selfish prat who put his family last for those first five years of Jack’s young life.

Now, I spend every moment I can trying to make up for that lost time. This has become even more important to me now that the boys are moving with their mum and dad (and soon to be new brother or sister) to the other side of the country.

What I love most about the time I am now spending with my nephews is watching them grow up. They are different in so many ways and yet they share some of the same DNA as me. They have their own personalities and yet they still rely on me, when they are with me, for so much. Jack is the quiet one whereas Cooper is the more rambunctious one. Jack is the tall one whereas Cooper is going to be more stocky.

Now that they are a bit older they are starting to play sport which has added a whole other dimension to our relationship. Rugby league, soccer, tennis and swimming have all become fixtures to varying degrees for my nephews and try to make every game I can. They have even started following rugby league teams though the fact they have become followers of the Broncos and the Dragon is something that will be subject of discussion in the years to come.

There is so much to look forward to in their coming years and I look forward to hopefully being a part of that. I know that I will miss them terribly when they head to the West but I will keep my promise to Cooper to “come for sleepovers” at every opportunity.

They both are truly at the epicentre of the best things that have happened in my life and I know that during some particularly dark period in my life their unconditional love for me as their uncle was a fill up I needed to push on rather than chuck it all in. That is what has made becoming Uncle Steve in more than just name over the last 15 months all the more special.

The next twenty days is going to fly by and then I get another chance to be an uncle. I hope I am better at it this time than I have been in the past. It is funny you know, my heart just started beating faster again …

When did consumers decide it was ok to accept bad service? Or is it just me?

June 5, 2012 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , 1 Comment

Anyone who follows my twitter feed (@Shumpty77) will know that from time to time I have been known to express my dismay at being treated in a fashion I have considered to be less than helpful by customer service staff.

Today was a day that was the antithesis to those experiences that I have been known to lament loudly inasmuch as I received really good service today. I regularly attend a cafe in Brisbane called Fuel Salads. As per usual on my regular visits to this establishment I was greeted warmly by all of the staff, they knew what my usual order was (but asked me if that was what I wanted) and generally treated me well and quickly. Indeed the owner commented that it had been a couple of days since I had been in and enquired as to whether I had been unwell.

Now whether this display of customer service was simply put on for my benefit to keep me coming back to their establishment or was genuine (I hope, indeed am certain, it is the later), it got me thinking about customer service generally and led me to reflect on some of the negative experiences I have been faced with recently.

Not wanting to belabour the point but a quick perusal of my archive of tweets on this topic reminds me of these recent customer service gems:

1. My experience at Sprout on Saturday night.
2. Being variously ignored in favour of other customers behind me in the queue or because the server was on a phone call discussing last night’s “shenanigans” at the counters of various food court eateries.
3. Being told that I might “more comfortable” in a mens “big and tall” store not once, not twice but thrice (on three different shopping excursions).
4. Having my telephony services disconnected by my service provider despite being ahead on my bill payments for no reason (still waiting for a reply to my complaint on that one).
5. Various hours spent on the phone to call centres on these shores and abroad.

Now whilst I have been known on occasion to stamp my feet and walk out in some of these scenarios, generally my default setting is to grit my teeth and get through the red mist created by the poor service because either I really need the good or service I have gone to the establishment for or because I just could not be bothered to go to another establishment because I have other things to do.

Therein lies the problem: the pace of the world that we now live in means that all too often we are too busy to even ponder reacting adversely to poor service because there is always something else equally or more pressing to deal with that we have to do next. This is something that I firmly believe the purveyors of goods and services not only thrive off but they rely on.

Shopkeeps (for want of a better expression) know the odds that any particular disgruntled customer is going to not proceed with a transaction because of bad service or is going to complain about bad service (or both) is so low that they do not seem to bother with ensuring that their staff actually provide better service or are trained well enough to give such service.

As I reflected on this I had cause to pause and also ponder the difference between the service I seem to get on a daily basis in Australia with the service I have received whilst travelling, most obviously when I was in America some 18 months ago. When I was in the US, I tipped everybody. Naively I did not equate the tip that I was to give with the quality of service I was obtaining until it was pointed out to me one day that I was, to someone that I had received excellent service from, undertipping. It was only then I truly understood that the life blood of the customer service industry in that economy is tipping. Wages are low and tips necessary to keep above the poverty line.

Now I am a realist: a culture of tipping or reward for excellent service is never going to fly in Australia. Simply we have a work force that is unionised and the unions would never allow their members to suffer the disadvantage of a wage reduction.

So if the utopia of being able to reward (or punish) customer service staff for their performance immediately upon the completion of a transaction is not available (and it never will be in my life time), all that is left is for consumers to talk with their wallets in declining to proceed with transactions, walk out of stores (or hang up the phone) when they are not served with alacrity and complain vociferously when they do not get service that meets their needs.

That is what I will be doing from here on in … will you?

What ever happened to “the umpire’s always right”? A sports fan’s lament

June 4, 2012 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , , , , 5 Comments

The question of the treatment of match officials is one that has been firmly on the lips of many in recent weeks given the seemingly many and regular displays of petulance we have seen from the stars of many sports. It seems, based on the evidence before me, that respect for match officials in sport in general is at an all time low.

Pondering this issue over the last couple of days the thought that kept coming back to me was the question “what happened to the umpire is always right?”. As I recall childhood spent trundling medium pacers and standing at fine leg / second base in summer and kicking balls of various shapes in winter, the only rule that as young participants in sport that was drummed into us other than “have fun”: was that the umpire / referee was always right.

Indeed, as I, and a sampler of friends from those many moons ago, recall it the rule went something like “even when the umpire is wrong he is always right” and it had a punishment for breaking it that involved a clip over the ear from a parent and a sit on the sidelines the next game.

On the premise of what sports fans have all witnessed over the last couple of weeks across many codes either the rule that we all played by as kids in my generation was not pressed on professional sportsmen when they were kids OR something has happened that has changed the kids running around the local sports grounds into the petulant performers that grace our screens on a regular basis.

It is important to stop at this juncture and briefly examine what I am complaining about here. Obviously I watch a lot of sport and these are the things that I have seen that have concerned me in just the last month:

1. The regular habit of dummy halfs in rugby league throwing their hands up in disgust at seemingly every play of the ball that takes one second longer than they think is appropriate.

2. The regular habit of rugby league and rugby union teams who are waiting for a decision by the television match official to walk back to their own half in anticipation of a try being awarded.

3. The claiming of catches by fielders in the slips in test matches were the fielder could not possibly think they have caught the catch.

4. The captains of teams in both rugby codes regularly and vociferously questioning any call that they consider to have gone against their team. Such questioning now seems to, as par for the course, include swearing.

5. Tennis players questioning every call in an attempt to keep themselves in the game during an obvious losing cause.

Such behaviour appeared to reach its epoch in the first State of Origin game where the captain of the New South Wales team had a running battle with referees and was heard to quip “this is your first State of Origin isn’t it? You can tell” among other choice lines.

Put simply: there is not a game of sport that one watches these days in which such questioning of the match officials is not seen.

Now I acknowledge that the business of sport is big business these days and I also acknowledge that never have players whilst they are on the field been under more scrutiny with the advent of microphones on referees lapels and cameras focused on every facial expression of the players. These competing interests mean that on the one hand it might be said that a wrong decision can have a bigger effect on the team that the decision goes against and on the other hand we as fans get to hear and see more of the interactions between players and officials.

That said, I actually do not care what excuses players and codes might roll out to defend player behaviour in this regard because it is clear to me that changes need to be made. This was really sheeted home to me when my father told me anecdotally about running the line in my nephews under 7 rugby league recently. He (my dad) was shocked when one of the combatants quipped to him after one call “you aren’t doing us any favours are you”. The kid was seven.

If this is what our future stars think is appropriate conduct (and I know my sample size is small) then now is the time to do something about it.

Trying to get back to the rule that the match official is always right seems to me to be an appropriate starting point for the codes that are presently in the news on this issue and the only way that it seems to me that that “golden” rule is going to return to the games we love is for there to be strict punishments for breaching the rule.

Some sports deal with this well. In baseball, if you show dissent you are thrown out of the game; regardless of the state of the game and the position the player / coach holds. In cricket, players who dissent (and this includes the simple act of lingering after a decision is made and looking at the umpire) are punished on a sliding scale that runs from fines through to bans.

Conversely, other sports such as rugby league seem to treat the problem by resting the blame with the match officials themselves. This is simply not good enough.

Whilst I do not advocate a baseball style removal from the game for dissenters in all sport, it seems to me that that is nearly the point we have reached in order to bring the players back into line.

Sport is already playing a losing battle with video games, tablets and junk food and does not need the future generations (and their parents) to be put off by the poor conduct of the stars of the game. Sport also does not sports fans to turn off their TVs and stop watching because they simply can not stomach the whinging any more. Perhaps now is the time for serious action to be taken.

Until such action is taken (and I doubt it ever will), sports fans such as I are left with the continuing lament about the decline of the rule “the umpire is alway right” and our fingers lingering over the off buttons of our remote controls.