Myopic Deans bashers reveal the ugly head of xenophobia

This week a xenophobic antagonism towards Robbie Deans has emerged in mainstream media. It is being asserted publicly that a New Zealander - and an All Black to boot - can't be trusted to coach the Wallabies to victories over the All Blacks. This is Australian rugby's equivalent of a Barack Obama Birther controversy. Deans has never been accepted as a legitimate Wallabies coach by an unholy alliance of recalcitrant former coaches, players, rugby power brokers and commentators who want to take over the ARU from the establishment. He was given the disgraceful nickname "Dingo" on being appointed. Now, following the losses to the All Blacks at Sydney and Auckland, the nasty implication behind the nickname (''untrustworthy'') has been laundered into the argument that the national coach can only be an Australian.

The proof of this contention, so the dingo line of argument runs, lies in the number of defeats suffered by the Wallabies against the All Blacks on the Deans watch. After the Wallabies went down to the All Blacks 22-0 at Eden Park last weekend, a shaken Deans told journalists that his side had been given a "masterclass in rugby" by the best team in the world. This comment was seized on by the Birthers as a capitulation and an excuse by a coach whose heart wasn't in the contest.

Anyone who knows anything about Deans will understand that the personal attacks on him as a sort of All Blacks stalking horse are nonsense. There is no team in the world with a winning record against the All Blacks. Colleague Josh Rakic has produced statistics in the Herald that show that since 2008 the All Blacks have won 84 per cent of their Tests. Only South Africa (45 per cent winning record), France (20 per cent) and Australia (18 per cent) have won Tests against them during this time. Deans's Wallabies account for almost a third of the 10 All Blacks defeats since 2008. The Wallabies won the Tri Nations last year for the first time in a decade. And two years ago they defeated the Springboks at altitude for the first time in 47 years. This year the Wallabies defeated Six Nations champions Wales in three successive Tests. And they are ranked No.2 in the world. This is not the record of a stalking horse.

To read the rest of this excellent Sydney Morning Herald article by Spiro Zavos, click here.

In our opinion: Former cycling champion Lance Armstrong's fall from fame disappointing

We're not sure which is more disappointing: the hard evidence the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency says it has against cyclist Lance Armstrong and his decision not to contest those charges, or the way so few people seem surprised by the prospects of another athletic hero being tarnished.

The disappointment stems not so much from the need for genuine heroes in the athletic world, but from the need for genuine heroes in all walks of life who place integrity and fair play above other considerations, especially money and fame. The young people of the world — themselves vulnerable in a world dominated by people older and more powerful than they — need such examples. They need assurances that success in life hinges on things within their grasp — honest effort and hard work — and not on their ability to secure unfair advantages.

The athletic world has seen its share of heroes fall in recent years. Baseball has been riddled by accusations and admissions of steroid use. Former Olympic runner Marion Jones had to give up her medals and serve time in jail. The unfortunate result has been that virtually any major athletic achievement immediately is tainted by suspicion.

Armstrong's case is particularly compelling because he overcame cancer to become a world-class athlete. His victories were seen as inspirational for people undergoing physical challenges. If he tarnished that record through dangerous drugs that might harm his health, the tragedy becomes doubly distressing.

Armstrong still professes his innocence. His decision not to contest the charges against him in arbitration, however, casts doubt on his claims. The USADA says it has strong evidence he used illegal substances and encouraged teammates to do the same. Ten former teammates reportedly were ready to testify against him.

Armstrong may well have decided that contesting the charges would have posed a never-ending battle against his relentless critics. The reason that seems unlikely, however, is that his decision now costs him his record seven Tour de France titles and his legacy as one of the greatest athletes of his era.

To read the remainder of this Deseret News Editorial, click here.

Mario Balotelli: The Crown Prince of Football

KIEV, Ukraine -- The sweetest moment of Euro 2012 didn't fit the script. In the celebration after Italy's 2-1 semifinal win over favored Germany on Thursday, Azzurri striker Mario Balotelli made a pilgrimage to the stands of the National Stadium in Warsaw and embraced a small, aging Italian woman in the front row. So fearsome on the field, so ready to project anger and strength, the 21-year-old Balotelli melted in her arms like a gentle giant.

It was the kind of warmth you see between a mother and son. Silvia Balotelli, Mario's adoptive mother, had come to Warsaw to support him, and he had done something transcendent, scoring both Italian goals in a breathtaking display of power, speed and skill. But for the polarizing wunderkind of Italian soccer, the one who's on the verge of holding the English Premier League and European titles, the importance of those goals paled in comparison to the emotion he felt afterward.

"The best moment of the night was when I saw my mother after the game," Balotelli would say. "Those goals were for her."

To say that Balotelli is larger than life would be accurate these days, even in a literal sense, thanks to the gigantic piece of crop art showing the back of his Mohawked head in a field near Verona. Balotelli has become a symbol in the world of European soccer, one that has produced its share of ugly moments from others during Euro 2012.

It may be hard to fathom for U.S. sports fans, but racism is still common in stadiums here, and Balotelli has been the lightning rod for much of it. The Croatian federation was fined $101,000 in part for racist chants by its fans that included a banana thrown at Balotelli. On Friday, the Spanish federation was fined $25,000 for its own racist fan chants at the towering Italian. A Ukrainian TV commentator suggested that racist taunts might be useful in throwing Balotelli off his game, as though it were just one more tactic on the field. And then Italy's sports bible Gazzetta dello Sport got into the act before the Italy-England game, publishing a cartoon in which Balotelli was shown swatting soccer balls from the top of Big Ben like King Kong atop the Empire State Building. (The paper later apologized.)

Born to Ghanaian immigrants in Sicily and adopted by a white Italian family, Balotelli has chosen (perhaps not surprisingly) to flash scowls, angry poses and provocative T-shirts (WHY ALWAYS ME?) whenever he scores, whether it's for England's Manchester City or the Italian national team. In England, he has earned a reputation as a prodigiously talented but reckless player who's always in danger of earning a red card, as he did in a late-season Premier League game at Arsenal, drawing a three-game suspension. More than a few observers thought it was foolhardy for Italian coach Cesare Prandelli to choose Balotelli for his Euro 2012 team.

Instead, Balotelli has flipped the script. There has been plenty of poor behavior by players in this tournament -- French midfielder Samir Nasri's profane tirades at journalists, tales of ego-driven meltdowns inside the Dutch camp -- but Balotelli hasn't produced any of it. Refusing to complain publicly when he lost his place in the starting lineup, Balotelli did his job and scored three terrific goals to tie for the tournament lead. (Not coincidentally, he's starting again.) Rather than clash with his teammates, as is so common in these high-pressure tournaments, he has developed a respectful working relationship with frontline partner Antonio Cassano and Italian playmaker Andrea Pirlo. Instead of spewing profanities at the media a la Nasri, Balotelli requested to appear at a podium press conference and came off as mature and even funny, saying he's both a man and Peter Pan.

Balotelli's Italian teammates appear to have genuine affection for him, and in perhaps the biggest stunner of Thursday's win, they managed to draw a smile out of him after his goals.

The closest comparison in U.S. sports that you could probably make to Balotelli would be Dennis Rodman and Terrell Owens in the prime of their careers. Like them, Balotelli has the ability to take over games with his surpassing talent and cleverness. Like them, Balotelli has the tendency to take things too far at times, provoking opponents and becoming his own worst enemy. And like them, Balotelli has acquired a kind of folk-hero status, spawning outlandish tales that resonate because, well, it's Super Mario, and even the ones that aren't totally true carry a kernel of truth.

Did you hear the one about how Balotelli set his Manchester house on fire by lighting a bunch of fireworks indoors? Or the one when he tried a full pirouette on a breakaway against the L.A. Galaxy in a friendly -- and missed? Or the one when he had a traffic accident, got stopped by the cops and responded to their question of why he was carrying 5,000 pounds with: "Because I am rich"? Or the one when he drove around Manchester wearing a Father Christmas outfit and giving out cash to the poor? (The first two are definitely true; the second two perhaps not so much.)

Balotelli has won plenty of fans (and a fair number of critics) during his club career at Inter and Manchester City. But a funny thing happens when a player puts on his country's jersey and scores big goals at a major tournament. You become not just a player but a national hero. It's as though Balotelli, already larger than life, has somehow increased his stature here.

He brought it to a new level in Thursday's game, and then he added a new layer after that. In a tournament that needed a message of racial healing, the photograph of an exultant black player hugging his beaming white mother is a powerful image that needs no explanation.
The sweetest moment of Euro 2012 came from, of all people, Mario Balotelli. Imagine that.

Read more at: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/grant_wahl/06/29/Mario-Balotelli-Euro-2012/index.html#ixzz22XzAljfl

Tennis at the Olympics Must Become a Major

I was watching a stunning 2012 London Olympic match this morning between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, with commentary by the great grand slam champion John McEnroe. McEnroe, in his usual inimitable style remarked that he thought it incredible that the upcoming Rogers Cup competition in Toronto, Canada, carried more points in the world tour for both men and women than playing at the Olympics did. McEnroe went further, suggesting that every four years, the Olympic tennis competition should be treated as a fifth grand slam and that the winners should receive points similar to any other of the regular four majors. 

Tom Chivers, the assistant comments editor of the U.K. Telegraph newspaper, believes that tennis should be dropped from the Olympics altogether. Why? Because, Chivers says, "No one wants to see bored superstars competing in the Olympics as an afterthought. Being an Olympic gold medal winner should, really, be the crowning glory of a sportsperson's career." He is totally right in his assessment but equally wrong in his solution. Having the professional associations, the ATP and WTA, wake up and give the Olympic Games the respect they deserve is the answer.  Give the Olympics Grand Slam status each year held and you will get the appropriate reaction from the players and the fans. Time for the latte drinking jet-setters in charge of world tennis to pull their fingers out and get real, and listen to SuperBrat.