These musings have always been about me putting a metaphoric pen to paper and is an outlet for the inner journalist I never was but thought about being for a while! This past weekend you could be forgiven for thinking that the only thing newsworthy was the Mitchell Pearce saga. I have no doubt that the media thought they had a responsibility to air what would probably have ended up on TV and in the press anyway as they all competed for maximum shock value and the rights to exclusive interviews and video footage. As far as I’m concerned the video has been given far more attention than it deserves and I won’t be mentioning any of the details except to say that it amazes me that these sports people and celebrities think that their bad behaviour won’t be caught on film and then sold to the highest bidder. In this day and age where Social media stuff is easily accessible, as are mobile phones with cameras the idea that ANYTHING would be kept private is naive and unrealistic. I also don’t really get the complaining that they should be able to have a private life free from the public and or press. There are most definitely lines that should not be crossed, especially when it comes to kids but with great success comes great responsibility. As my clever husband would say “that’s why they pay them the big bucks”!!!!

My sympathy for our sports stars and TV and movie celebrities who get caught doing things they shouldn’t is very limited! The tearful public apologies leave me very cold and you’ll have to excuse my cynicism but as far as I can see, more often than not the regret is not over the bad act or acts but is much more likely to be about ruing the fact that they were caught. There seems to be a script they recycle, apologising for bringing embarrassment to their families, friends, work mates, team mates etc and begging for everyone’s forgiveness as well as a chance to prove themselves again. Add to that a hefty dose of self pity, a dash of “it’s not me it’s the drug and alcohol dependency I’ve been keeping a secret” and a dollop of “if I can pass the buck I will” and you have a perfectly scripted and trotted out statement that we see way too often. Whatever their public relations managers are being paid it’s not enough and even though there were an inordinate amount of previous cautionary tales like Todd Carney and the John’s brothers just to name a few, it doesn’t stop the next bright spark from a) engaging in the same stupid behaviour and b) thinking they won’t get caught!  So now we can add Mitchell Pearce to the long list of transgressors. I wish I could say he would be the last but I am fully confident that once Mitchell Pearce has served the obligatory time in purgatory and there is some distance between then and now the next super star will take his place.

I have come to realise though that not all of the blame can be levelled at the misbehaving sportsperson or TV personality or movie star. In Australia we have a phenomenon called “Tall Poppy Syndrome. It’s something we’re proud of, particularly when it champions the underdog. For the average Aussie bringing down a “tall poppy” levels the playing field. You could be mistaken for thinking that it’s almost another type of sports, and it bands people together for a common aim. For the most part it’s relatively harmless and is usually directed at our politicians who, by the mere fact of having grown up in this country, develop a thick skin and usually role with the punches. The exception to the Tall Poppy rule is our sporting personalities. Not only do we NOT cut them down to size, so to speak, but we exalt them high up on pedestals. We turn them into Australian Royalty and, unlike our politicians who incur our wrath over every cent of their salary and benefits, our sports men and women are idolised and afforded liberties that would never be afforded to other public personalities.There is no doubt that they deserve a good portion of the accolades, we admire men and women who work hard, hone their skills and show off their sporting prowess. There are some who use their powers for good and not for evil, and are superstars on and off the field. There are some who are true heroes and deserve every bit of the fortune and glory. Unfortunately we hear about more of the bad stuff and less about the good stuff, not because there are less heroes than men and women who misbehave, but because a bad news story will trump a feel good story every day of the week and then some.

And it doesn’t end with the press. Clubs hire public relations teams who market star players, giving them maximum exposure be cases they know that big name sporting personalities draw the crowds which increases profitability. Even though the governing bodies have checks and balances in place with the aim of levelling the playing field, they too enjoy the benefits of super stars for the same fiduciary reasons. They hire publicists and market key personalities which natural contributes to the burgeoning ego of said men and women. Add to that the media who also understand that rock stars, and I use that word in the generic sense, sell more papers, magazines and more advertising dollars. All of these organisations deliberate or otherwise feed the egos  and the result is that before lomg they buy into the hype. They elevate them to the level of heroes and treat them like royalty. But they are not alone…

I firmly believe that you are responsible for you own choices.  I know some may think I’m too simplistic on this issue but no matter how hard the choice may be at the end of the day you still have a choice. Mitchell Pearce, and all the others who went before him had choices and no matter how much deflecting they do they should be made to fill the full weight of the consequences of those choices. But here’s the thing. We put these men and women on a pedestal, we hero worship them. We idolise them. We live vicariously through them and dream about their wealth and status. We make them think they are infallible. We make them think that everyone wants to either be them or date them. I was in a nightclub once, many many years ago and a well known football player came into the club with his entourage. After the club management found out he was there they cleared a space for him and had one of the staff wait on him hand and foot. When he was ready to leave he approached a girl who hadn’t noticed what the fuss was about and told her she was going home with him – a risky move but it was before the digital day and age we live in today and so the worst that could happen was a he said, she said scenario. When the girl declined his offer he sneered at her and said “Don’t you know who I am?” It is quite possible that the girl didn’t know who he was but even if she did it was inconceivable to this player that this girl would even entertain the idea of turning him down! In the same way I have no doubt that even in his highly inebriated state Mitchell believed that the girl he made advances to would not only be expecting his attention but would welcome it!

There are a number of men and women who are not celebrities but who have a certain amount of swag. They are confident and it shows, some might even be considered arrogant and conceited, but I doubt that even the most confident, conceited or arrogant non-superstar would have the same expectations that Mitchell Pearce and those who have gone before him. Our sporting superstars think they can get away with what would otherwise be considered inappropriate behavior because the press, their management and the public place them very firmly on a pedestal and as such make them feel like they are entitled to behave any way they want. So, while I still believe that each of our misbehaving celebrities are responsible for their own choices and should be made to face the consequences of their bad decisions, until we change the climate around the way we idolise our heroes we should expect more of the same. When they sign on the dotted line and become public personas, they have a responsibility to earn the respect that their gifts and skills afford them. They become role models and as such have a responsibility to make sure they model good behavior! If our politicians behaved in the way some of our celebrities have, they would and have been demoted, fired, removed etc. without the luxury of the three strikes rule we so loosely apply particularly to our sporting personalities. I don’t expect all of our public personas to have the quiet air that Roger Federa has, but I do expect them to have his class. A little bit of bite, a little bit of mongrel helps push people to the next level. But leave it on the field, leave it on the set, leave it in the recording studio. We need to require more of our celebrities and until we do, we can expect more of the same. But that’s just my two cents worth.