THANK you, thank you all! Yes, it has been a gruelling process, working out who was Australia's foremost sportsperson of 2008 - at least the one who deserves to be most celebrated - and TFF has spent many a long night staring at the cracks in the ceiling, trying to work it out. In the end, it boiled down to three candidates - all of them Olympians. There was Matthew Mitcham, the diver, who, you'll recall, in the clutch, with one dive left to either win gold or face oblivion, nailed a dive from 500 metres on high, with 24 somersaults and 48 twists, into a bowl of chicken soup and didn't raise a splash. There was Grant Hackett, who went out after an extraordinary third successive Olympic gold medal in the 1500 metres, came up only centimetres short, and yet comported himself with great grace throughout, despite what must have been massive disappointment, and even a few suspicions. And there was Sally - Sally McLellan, who won silver in the 100m hurdles, and whose transparent, unconfected joy at the end was so strong, so memorable, so wonderful, it served as a great reminder of what sport is meant to be about in the first place - challenging yourself , and overcoming. Oh, go on, Sally, one more time for the road: "Did you see me? Oh my God, you've got to be kidding me. Is this real? This is amazing. I was really ready to go … just said, 'No guts, no glory', and I got it."
Yes, Sally, you did, we did see you, and you will be long remembered for it all - far more so than if you had won gold and immediately reached for the corporate cheque.
In the end though, there could only be one winner - drum roll, please, maestro - and that winner is … Grant Hackett. This year he brought to a close a career sans pareil . Throughout, he has been a great ambassador for Australian sport, and Australia itself. No, he didn't get the gold in his final race, but he gave it everything he had in him and won't die wondering. Good on his pluck, and good luck for his future. Girls just wanna have fun
The NSW State Age Netball Championships in Newcastle in July. You and I have arrived just in time to see our mighty Wagga Wagga under-12s getting ready for their opponents from Port Stephens. But hang on, look at the Port Stephens girls! Doing a few stretches, passing the ball around, jogging up and down on the spot, there is no theme, no organisation to their warm-up. And, then, suddenly, someone puts Tina Turner's immortal song Nutbush City Limits on the stereo. As one, the Port Stephens girls instantly go into a beautifully choreographed dance routine, perfectly synchronised with the song and each other, as Tina belts it out. Let's rock with them!
Church house, gin house
(Hand up, as you spin … )
School house, out house
Hands down, as you change direction … )
On Highway number 19
(Swivel those hips … )
The people keep the city clean
(Now everybody belt it out!)
NUTBUSH CITY LIMITS …
Wagga Wagga went on to a big win, regardless, but well done you Port Stephens lassies. Cricket cliffhanger
On a Saturday afternoon in April, the lads of the St Ives under-12 cricket team were playing against Roseville at David Thomas Reserve in Manly Vale and doing it tough. Chasing St Ives' total of 130, Roseville were on top at 4-122 with three overs to come. But wait! One wicket fell and then another. And then, suddenly, another!
From an easy romp home to victory, Roseville suddenly had a fight on their hands. And, in the way of these things, the sudden tension in the air stops passers-by in their tracks from as far as 200 metres away and brings them all to the edge of the field to see how it will play out. One over left, six balls to the promised land, one way or another, with Roseville having just five runs to get and three wickets in hand.
The young lad with the honour of bowling that last over steams in, the Roseville batsman hits and risks a run and … and is run out! Cheers and groans in equal measure ring out around the ground. The next Roseville batsman manages to ease things a little with a single, but then another wicket falls! People are coming from everywhere to see what the commotion is.
After Roseville score another couple, there are two balls to go; Roseville have one wicket still in hand, needing three runs for victory. The young bowler runs in and delivers a ball Andrew Symonds might have been proud of. Though game, the young Roseville batsman just misses it, to the sound of the death rattle behind. Bowled him! Game over. The bowler, exhausted, joyous, collapses in the arms of his father, who has stormed the field with all the other parents.
No one can believe it. St Ives have taken six wickets for six runs in 17 balls. And yet, although gutted, the Roseville captain seeks out the St Ives coach, looks him right in the eye as he shakes his hand and offers his sincere congratulations, before leading his team in three cheers for St Ives … who offer the same in kind. Gotta love this city. Cometti's best
And here, for those who weren't paying attention, is the best of Australia's greatest sports commentator, Dennis Cometti in 2008:
During the Swans versus Essendon game at the SCG as Swans captain Brett Kirk kicked the ball: "Kirk, with enterprise, chips the ball into the forward 50 …"
On Melbourne's first win of the season: "In the first half, Melbourne were like nervous African dictators, always taking a different route home. Now they are going long to the goal square."
As Collingwood, in particular the Shaw brothers, struggled early: "Rhyce Shaw, Heath Shaw … unsure."
On Collingwood youngster Ben Reid, whom Cometti noted had played only four games and already had been to Arizona, Johannesburg and Dubai. "So at that rate if he plays 200, he will rival Phileas Fogg [of Around the World in Eighty Days fame]." And this as the match in Dubai drew to a close: "You say Dubai and I say hello." Super scribe
TFF's favourite bit of sports writing this year was by Amy Lawrence in The Guardian on Diego Maradona: "In his own extraordinary, egomaniacal way, Diego Maradona has lived by the motto 'Yes we can' all his life. Play football as easily as breathing? Yes we can. Ingest copious amounts of cocaine and enjoy as much female company as possible? Yes we can. Eat for Argentina? Yes we can. Shoot an air rifle at unwanted guests outside your house? Yes we can. Incite thousands to protest on the streets of Buenos Aires against the 'human garbage' otherwise known as George W. Bush? Yes we can. Coach the Argentina national team to the World Cup success that came to him so naturally as a player? So sorry to be a killjoy, but, no, we probably can't." Well said, sir
By coincidence, the Olympic torch relay hit our shores in April at the same time Australia entered the finals of the BTPWC - the Best Tibet Protests World Championships. Our main competition were the Londoners, whose own efforts were remarkable.
On Gold Coast ABC FM, a caller by the name of Carlyle told a story about his father, a London bobby high up in command of the detail guarding the Olympic torch. His dad told him that the most violent people in the whole thing were the Chinese guards, who kept belting the protesters - backing up Lord Coe, who was reportedly caught describing them as "thugs".
Twice, our bobby reprimanded the Chinese commander about the overly rough behaviour of his men. Enraged, the commander demanded to know why Carlyle's father wasn't shooting the protesters. "Well," replied the bobby, "in the first place, these protesters are English citizens exercising their freedom to express their opinion, because the citizens - not the police or the government - own the country. In the second place, these people are taxpayers who pay my salary and we don't shoot taxpayers in England, sir. And in the third place, sir, that pro-Tibetan separatist demonstrator over there is my nephew. However, we do sometimes shoot foreigners who invade England and threaten our citizens. If you doubt that sir, just ask the French or the Germans on the other side of the channel. That's called the English Channel, sir, not the French, German, Russian or Chinese channel, sir."
Well said, Carlyle's dad, Sir. Passion pays off
Gotta love this city. David Hurwitz, known to his many friends as "DH7", is a fine young man with a mild intellectual disability. The 15-year-old has a passion for soccer, and as his elder brother, Danny, is coach of the under-11 and under-12 Ku-ring-gai rep teams, has been a constant presence at their training and games as their No.1 supporter, motivational speaker and helper-outerer.
For the past few months, the running gag between David and the team had been for them to ask if he scored a goal in his own game for Lindfield FC under-16s the day before, and for him to reply, "I nearly scored … but missed by this much," holding up his fingers a couple of centimetres apart. High hilarity all round. Those same kids, however, decided that it would be good to go and cheer for David, too.
So, on a Saturday, 20 of them, plus their parents plus 15 first-graders from Lindfield FC, showed up to support David in his game against Asquith at Lindfield UTS. With such a cheer squad, David played his heart out even more than usual, as every touch raised a roar.
No mucking around, it was a tense game, with the score locked at 2-2 in the second half as the minutes ebbed away. But wait, the ball is coming his way … ! A centre kick from Lindfield. A deflection back to David! Calm and quick, he draws his right foot back and then … strikes like a COBRA! GOOOO-OOOOOOAAAAAAAL! The cheers were heard in neighbouring suburbs. You can see David's celebrations on YouTube: search for "DH7's goal". IN 2008 WE WELCOMED …
The Sheffield Shield. Good to have it back.
Jordan Rankin. At 16 years
and 238 days, played for the Gold Coast Titans and became the third-youngest debutant in the game's 100-year history.
Robbie Deans. New Wallabies coach.
Chris Rogers/Brad Haddin/Beau Casson/Cameron White/Peter Siddle/Jason Krejza. All made their Test cricket debuts for Australia.
Laura Robson. Caused a tug of war between England and Australia when she won the girls' singles at Wimbledon. She turns 15 on Wednesday.
Takeshita. First name Yoshie, is one of the more outstanding members of Japan's women's volleyball team.
Ben Cousins. Was allowed to return to the AFL, as long as he promises to take all his leaks in a test tube.
Craig Alexander. Took the Hawaiian Ironman title at his second attempt after finishing second last year.
Chris Hickey. Became the new Waratahs coach.
Ajantha Mendis. Sri Lanka look to have an heir to Murali.
WHAT THEY SAID
TFF's favourite quote from last summer came from Serena Williams during the Australian Open: "Genesis is so much fun. You get to read how God made the Earth in seven days. But I wonder, like, about the dinosaurs. I don't get it. God made part of the Earth on the first day, so maybe that's when the dinosaurs lived …" Yes, that must be it!
Howard Bragman, head of the public relations agency Fifteen Minutes, on New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez cheating on his wife: "Wife-beating would hurt him, underage girls would hurt him, a gay lover would hurt him, but run-of-the-mill affairs - that's a non-issue in American life. We just don't hold affairs against people any more."
Leigh Matthews on resigning as Lions coach:
"I feel like I am breaking an addiction - you know you have got to do it but you don't feel fantastic about it but you know it's the right thing … I've got to embark on getting rid of this thing I have been addicted to for most of my adult life and that is the weekend challenge of the contest."
Swan Kieren Jack, on his father Garry, the former Balmain and Australian league fullback: "I've tried to [explain the game to him] for about six years. It's too difficult. He just thinks you can run and chip over the top and regather."
Brownlow medallist Adam Cooney: "I passed year 11, thanks to my mum. She did most of my homework for me."
Nick Davis, after the Swans let him go: "I think I probably pushed the boundaries of the club's 'No Dickheads' policy a bit, but I think I'm a better person now. That's one thing 'Roosy' wanted when he started, to make people at the club better people, and I'd have to say I'm one of those people."
Chris Judd: "I'm a bit of a sucker for letting the appropriate authority deal with the appropriate issue. I like to see the AFL running football, I like to see the police solve crime and I like to see Santa in charge of presents at Christmas."
There was a rare "double" Michael Clarke when injured German soccer player Torsten Frings was asked if he should be included in the team for the final: "Coach Frings would play player Frings in the starting line-up."
Padraig Harrington, after winning the US PGA in August, against a surging Sergio Garcia, just as he had done against Greg Norman three weeks earlier at the British Open: "It's a bit like the Greg Norman story at Birkdale. It's a great story, but you can't let yourself get drawn into it … I had to convince myself not to get into this sentimental thing of, 'Maybe it's his turn, maybe he deserves it, maybe it's his day."' If that ain't the final indignity! Greg Norman's fate: to be the inspiration for other men to pull off amazing victories in majors.
American Roy Jones jnr, BAS world champion - BAS being, of course, Boxing's Alphabet Soup - on what got him started in boxing. "God has gifted me with incredible hand speed as a tool to be used. What else am I supposed to do but fight? There ain't no hand-racing competitions." Bring it in tight, Roy. Do you really think your God looked down, saw you and said, "You know what? I am going to give that kid incredible hand speed, just so as he can beat other of my children to a bloody pulp."
Email a friend