Sometimes sport really does make a difference in society. At least Nelson Mandela thought so. Though the movie Invictus plays with and stretches the reality of what happened in South Africa during the…
Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke became involved in a sledging imbroglio after stump microphones picked up a comment aimed at Englishman Jimmy Anderson.
AAP/Dave Hunt
Picture this scene: you and a colleague sit down for a meeting with your counterparts from another organisation. Before discussions begin, one employee leans over and questions whether you know what you…
By developing effective concentration and cognitive strategies, athletes can learn to ignore or reframe comments by their opposition.
AAP Image/Dave Hunt
In cricket it’s known as sledging; in basketball, it’s trash talk; in ice hockey, chirping. Whatever you prefer to call it, the banter that occurs between players, whether it is on the field, court, or…
Trott has been open about why he left the Ashes.
Travis Hayto/AP
Cricketer Jonathan Trott went home early from the Ashes last week citing a stress-related condition. While the Australian team said they would not use his illness as a sledging opportunity, Trott’s illness…
Rupert Murdoch may look to a more sympathetic government for reform to the anti-siphoning list of sporting events.
EPA/Drew Angerer
As the dust settles after a decisive change of government, it is time for the main support players to call in their favours. Among the cheerleaders for a Coalition government, none was more vocal than…
Football’s popularity in Asia has fuelled illegal betting.
Eugene Hoshiko/AP
In the run up to the London Olympics, Jacques Rogge, then president of the International Olympic Committee, made a surprising statement. Doping, he said, was no longer the number one threat to the integrity…
An Ashes series – the latest set to commence in Brisbane – symbolically ushers in the Australian summer in a manner akin to the loud soundtrack of thrumming cicadas. The media will cover the sporting exploits…
Football, with its passion, drama and larger-than-life characters, has all the elements for a good literary genre.
Boris Roessler/EPA
A great football novel is like a perfectly executed bicycle-kick goal, like players such as Argentine legends Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi; they come along once in a generation. Against the accumulated…
The best photos do more than freeze time. They capture a moment and take us there, making witnesses of us all. Here lies their power to inspire, touch and transform; a power tied to the stories, hopes…
Sports fans in the US are being offered the chance to buy shares in their favourite athlete, so what’s stopping the same thing happening in Australia?
AAP/David Crosling
“You just lost 9% of your value, what’s your response to that?” That’s how an interview with your favourite football player might kick off if US startup Fantex succeeds in building a global trading market…
The man touted as the next Socceroos coach, Angle Postecoglou, meets Australian soccer’s greatest export Craig Johnston. Should we have local coaches for our national teams?
AAP/Hamish Blair
Another foreign coach of an Australian national sports team has been ushered to the overseas departure terminal. Having overseen the team’s qualification for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the Socceroos…
Who was in charge of selling tickets again?
Bescker
With the 2014 Winter Olympic Games fewer than six months away, the last thing Russia needs is another scandal. But that is exactly what the organisers have got. The latest controversy involves migrants…
Elite sports training is starting earlier and earlier – but is this always a good thing?
School sport image from www.shutterstock.com
A short conversation with a parent a number of years ago made me realise the extent of the problems we have in youth sport. This parent wanted advice on how to make his child faster and stronger to ensure…
A country that is more interested in sport than in politics is a ‘happy’ one, remarked prime minister Tony Abbott after his election success.
AAP/Paul Miller
After the gladiatorial combat of the federal election campaign, prime minister-elect Tony Abbott appeared on Sunrise to call an Olympic-style truce. Happy is the country which is more interested in sport…
Victorian soccer club Southern Stars has been caught up in the biggest match-fixing scandal to hit Australian sport. What can be done to prevent further instances of corruption?
ABC News
Since taking over as chief executive of the Football Federation Australia (FFA), Australian soccer’s governing body, David Gallop would have “sold his arse” (to paraphrase Tony Abbott) to have the sport…
The Essendon supplements scandal that has enveloped the current AFL season has created the narrative of villains and heroes. Is it a sports marketers’ dream?
AAP/Julian Smith
This season, some sports commentators and footy fans have argued that the investigation into the supplements regime at Essendon has brought the club, the AFL and “the code” to their knees. From a branding…
The devotion of Essendon fans towards their coach and club legend James Hird - despite his involvement in the club’s supplements saga - can be easily explained away.
AAP/Julian Smith
It’s times like these when we get to see just how much sports like Australian rules football shape the thoughts and dreams of so many Australians. Not only has the Essendon drugs scandal dominated much…
We’re about to reach intermission in the ten-part Ashes series. What have we learnt about the way we consume the sport of cricket as a social and cultural construct?
EPA/Peter Powell
The end of the English summer beckons, and Act One of the current Ashes drama is reaching its appointed denouement across the Thames from London’s Theatreland at The Oval. The interval will last until…