Bloody Australia

I've lived in Australia for a fair chunk of my life.
and I wanna say I'm a little disappointed today in all Australia.

Last week a cricket player was hit in the head with a cricket ball and died.

Philip Hughes had played for 4 yrs and while the death was sudden and a shock - it has been greatly inflated to the point of ridiculous.

Nurses perform miracles every day.
Doctors save lives.
Police risk their lives to keep up safe.
Soldiers die protecting our way of life.
Scientists dedicate their lives to incredible discoveries
Medics travel to dangerous places to save the lives of people we never know.

The Media & Australia doesn't give two craps about it.

But a cricket player dies? the whole country goes into mourning.



There's marches in the street, there's tributes, the PM makes statements, government officials and dignitaries go to the funeral, its plastered all over the news for days on end.... because a cricket player died.

WHAT THE F?

Our priorities are so warped, its very worrying.

A cricket player dies suddenly and the whole country mourns, a policeman dies saving a life and no one even mutters a word.

What have we become?

a reply to: Agit8dChop

Our world... AND no matter what country we live in are plagued by the greedy bar stewards in MSM trying to get as many views and cash as possible.

RIP... and deepest sincere respects to those who really gave up their lives for a veritable cause... No matter what country we come from.

I feel for you mate.

Kindest respects

Rodinus

a reply to: Agit8dChop
I totally agree with you, I have been wandering WTF? myself about all of this media show.
I minutes silence in #ing parliment!? Jeezus

a reply to: Agit8dChop

Couldn't agree more.
I had the exact same thought this morning. You make a breakthrough with a young suicidal child and turn their life around, but you barely get minimum wage and no recognition. As you say, doctors are saving lives daily, police, fire, ses and ambos all put others before themselves etc.
But you can hit a cricket ball and all of a sudden the whole country stops? It's madness. And he wasn't really that consistent anyway and was in and out of the team (as per Cricket Australia's insane selectors).

I used to like cricket growing up. Ritchie's tones calling the game. It was a nice way to enjoy a lazy summers arvo, but they completely lost all my support and in my opinion the whole team has suffered ever since. It was the moment they sacked Andrew Symonds because he decided not to turn up to training because he needed a break so went fishing and had a few beers.

Honestly, what they did to him because he just needed a little break was disgusting. He brought excitement, a great all rounder. But ever since they became super serious sticks in the mud - constantly filing in and out the young men who show the most 'form' at that minute, the whole team has suffered for it. All under massive stress that if they don't show form in a game or two they are out. So I barely even know the guy, as with most of the team now, let alone any of the personalities which have all been squashed to the point of boredom.

Tragic for the team and family yes, but people die in sports quite often without this fan fare.

a reply to: Agit8dChop

Fred Hollows, Victor Chang, Steve Irwin, Peter Brock etc.

Australians like winners - regardless of their field of expertise.

Phil Hughes died on the cricket field playing a gutsy game; that ironically would have seen him back in the baggy green
This test against India.

He had done what it took to overcome being dropped, we respect that.

It was a case of country boy making it - in a city oriented country.

The small town of Macksville, gave the local hero and all round good bloke a huge send off.

We are a small nation with a huge sporting heart ...

We deal with that stuff as it happens.

Overkill ? Maybe. Tragic ? Indeed!

Australia lost a son doing something that no one has died doing for 350 years.

Now is not the time for whingeing.

RIP Phil Hughes.

63 not out.

a reply to: Agit8dChop

The Australian media has equally commemorated the deaths of other Australians in the past. Although this does seem a tad more extreme, and i would point that to Australia's traditional sporting culture. If you watch or read the Australian news regularly, you'd know that a significant portion is reserved for sports. Even to the point that more words or air time is given to sports over breaking news. Let's put it this way: During the MH17 crisis, not even an hour after the news broke, Australian media was showing sports news...CNN and others on the other hand continually aired news as it happened.

I hate it, but others must love it for sports to take precedence in the news cycles...

That said, RIP Phil Hughes.

I agree with Op but at same time i cant help thinking that Phillip's death has shocked many due to the circumstances surrounding the accident. It was an unexpected freaky accident, above all its rare as hens teeth for a cricket player to die while playing cricket. Also Phillip is the ideal son most people would want, a next door neighbor type bloke everyone could relate to & had a life ahead of him with a very bright future. This death was so sudden & came as a shock to many.

Believe me when i say this, i never heard of Phillip Hughes before this tragic accident "i stopped following cricket for personal reasons" but yet its touched me due to the freaky circumstances surrounding the accident.

R.I.P Phillip Hughes...

a reply to: Agit8dChop

Obviously it's a sad thing and folk want to show their respect.

Ok, i've got that out of the way...

I'm a Brit, i've got three different branches of family that i know of and still see every few years over there, on opposite side of your land. I freaking love Aussies, you used to be the very definition of rugged outdoor blokey charm. I kinda see you as Brits high on sunshine and wide open spaces and we seriously admire you guys for not being all pale and uptight like us.

But you are all getting a bit overwrought and it just doesn't feel right.

Australia, please stop being so touchy feely.

originally posted by: Timely
a reply to: Agit8dChop

Australia lost a son doing something that no one has died doing for 350 years.

But an umpire was killed as well in the last few days on the cricket field. Do we stop for him? Sadly no because I guess we are supposed to cheer for testosterone and manliness...

In fact quite a few people have been killed playing cricket, there was;

7 december 2013: promising young pakistani cricketer, Zulfiqar Bhatti died after being hit on the chest by a rising ball that caused his death on the pitch.
Bhatti, 22, was batting at his usual one down position for his local club “Super Star cricket club”, when the tragedy occurred.
The authorities, as a mark of respect for the popular cricketer, announced a three-day suspension of all sporting activities in Sukkur, which is the third largest city in the Sindh province.

On Sunday, during a match, South African cricketer named Daren Randal died as they ball hit his head. On this sad occasion, ICC consoled the rest of the players and expressed deep sorrow. Daren Randal was playing the hard cricket board premier league that took place in the eastern cape city of South Africa. He was playing a match where he tried to place a pull shot on a bouncer and instead the ball hit his head and he died. He was on 32 years old. He fell right away on the pitch when the ball hit his head.
Similar events had taken place in the past as well. In the past such events, one umpire and 4 cricketers have died. The victim of the hard ball incidents have been a Pakistani former cricketer Abdul Aziz, Indian Batsman Raman lamba, English players George Smerz and Ayan folay.

So it's not like this is unheard of. Maybe we're just so over because I hear on the radio all day for the last year has been Essendon and the Doping Saga, and for the last week seemingly every time the radio is on - Cricket. Sport, whoopty doo. Science please needs some more spotlights for a change!

Source

The answer to this behaviour is because a lot of people like cricket.

Crikey gentlemen, I dunno how to reply to you lot sometimes. So a good man gets a top send off. He had a lot of friends and admirers regardless of his form. Everybody he met liked him.

He was just a down to earth aussie but, sadly, passed away before his game peaked. He was a mister nice guy not worthy of this "knocking down the tall poppy syndrome."

I'm happy he got a great send off.

Worse people get more attention nowadays.

Tragic loss of a fine role model for young people.

Beers mate.

Bally

a reply to: Qumulys

Not at all - he was an Israeli umpire - they can deal with it however they want.

Had not heard of the other deaths, same thing applies though, I have no problem with the way nations mourn.

Are you saying this should have been a non-event ?

?

a reply to: Timely

No, not at all. Just that it has been wayyy over-saturated to the point that I just couldn't take it anymore. Yeah, send him off in a nice way, broadcast the funeral if you like. But it has been practically a non-stop lip flapping fest as if we lost a king or something. I understand people are shocked, I'm not, 150 km/h rock hard balls coming at you is destined to cause grief one day. These sportspeople know the risks, in fact people die at work everyday. Is he more important because he was cute? Hardly anyone I've talked to know the first thing about him to be honest, so I just don't understand this non-stop newsfeed.

I just think that so much time is wasted on sport and we get pathetic actual news coverage because of it.

Watch this.


Piers Morgan faced Brett Lee and copped quite a bit of damage, all the while the crowd cheers for his pain, commentators lapping it up and laughing. Imagine if he copped the bouncer to the head. How would the crowd feel then? Perhaps the 'grief' is in part a little 'guilt' that this spectacle for our enjoyment is quite dangerous. I just want real news again, not lazy re-hashing over and over which our media loves whatever it may be.

a reply to: Qumulys

Thought I posted a very poignant reply.

Android is , ummm - not a great alternative to a real keyboard and mouse. There I said it!

Gist of it was : Yes that was media "Whip it up!" At its best !

Piers Morgan ... lol .

Getting off topic mate ..



(Hating on androids ... #%&&*-.&%54$+ blechtard error - whatever)

Might even get some further OP input ...



Ed: "Bloody Australia" ... really ?

Spent x amount of time here. OK.

You still about ... bud ?

a reply to: Timely

yeah still here, 18th yr and counting.

Today I walked past a homeless man being helped by a copper because he was clearly disorientated and lost.
no one even stopped to show their appreciation for the man in uniform.

but on the train today every one was going on about how much a great guy Phil Hughes was and what a tragedy it was.

Majority of these people had never heard of him until this accident.

people love cricket, but come on...

Having a minutes silence in parliament?

Tomorrow a single person could save the life of a child... and the people around him will mourn a cricket player they never met, never knew and never cared about until he died.

a reply to: Agit8dChop

There should be more of the "right kind" of minutes in parliament.

Not the right time.

originally posted by: Timely
a reply to: Agit8dChop

There should be more of the "right kind" of minutes in parliament.
Not the right time.

One of the best statements I've read in a long time on this site!

The picture you posted says it all. "We have never seen anything like this" & "Australia might never see a tribute like this again". Your acting like this is common place and happens all the time when it doesn't, even the news article says that.

This may sound offensive (it's not supposed to be) but please stop being so ignorant. There are and have been plenty of tributes to nurses, police officers, soldiers and scientists.

Here is just one for each:

Nurses -
NSW awards for excellence in nursing & midwifery

Police Officers -
National Police Remembrance Day: Australia pays tribute to its fallen officers

Soldiers -
Fallen soldiers honoured on Remembrance Day

Scientists -
Tribute to Australian Scientist Who Rid the World of Smallpox

I'm sure there are lots more too. What have we become? We've become ignorant

Celebrity death + slow news week and you get this, it's not the end of the world...

Thank God they finally put him to rest its a pity they didn't bury all the television,radio,sports hacks and politicians involved in the funeral train with him,no one mentions the elephant in the room this guy committed the cardinal sin of taking his eye off the ball and the rest is history.