David Schütz: Sporting Hero!

Not. Anyone who knows me knows that Schütz and Sport are not only two words rarely used in the same sentence, they are two realities that rarely intersect in this universe.

But on the rare occasion that your humble servant has ventured into the sporting arena as a spectator (eg. last year's Commonwealth Games), he has been most impressed with this phenomena called "The Mexican Wave" as a form of social interaction and bonding. It has the effect of making the entire stadium full of thousands of individuals into one body. Quite liturgical, really...

Now Cricket Australia is attempting to BAN THE WAVE. Yes, I know that the reason is because some dimwits have been in the habit of throwing objects while "waving", but can't sporting-manager-types see the simple difference between "use" and "abuse", that is, the right and proper use of a thing for public enjoyment and the disruption and unpleasantness that comes from the abuse of this same thing? Can they not ban the abuse rather than the use of the Mexican Wave?

The editorial in the Age said that this is a case of the Nanny State gone haywire. Only it isn't the state doing this. It is a sporting association--which has enlisted police to enforce its own dictatorial dictates.

I'm no sporting hero. Hell, I'm no sportsman. But then it appears that the "sports" at the Cricket Association are not "good sports" either. In fact they are almost a perfect definition of "spoil sports".