IN THE FEAT OF THE MOMENT

Have you seen the ad in which Merv Hughes spruiks cereal to building workers? The last line is a peach: "Merv, you reckon you could pass a brick?" Well, I was thinking along roughage the same lines after reading about the enshrinement* of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame Three Greatest 'Moments' (Not 'feats') in Australian Sports History as voted by News Limited readers:

Aloisi's penalty a great Australian sporting moment

SOCCER'S ever-increasing grip on the hearts and minds of Australian sports fans has intensified again.

John Aloisi's penalty shot against Uruguay in Sydney in November 2005, which catapulted the Socceroos into last year's World Cup finals in Germany, has been voted as one of three greatest moments in Australian sporting history.

It has been joined by Australia II winning yachting's America's Cup in 1983 and, in a surprise result, Sydney's AFL premiership two years ago.

* A word meaning giving historical, almost sacred (not forgetting sacrosanct) recognition to the proud actions or achievements in the past while contributing a significant thread to the Australian sporting tapestry. Just in case you didn't know.

Comments

[Tony T.]

1.

Oddly, the Sport Australia Hall of Fame Three Greatest 'Moments' (Not 'feats') in Australian Sports History didn't crack a mention in yesterday's Age.

[Adsy]

2.

Lucky it was only a moment because after the debacle that was the Asian Cup, soccer (sorry, I meant foodboll) has retaken its rightful place amongst the great Aussie sports such as basketball, croquet and touch rugby.

Media interest might peak in another few years before a qualifier of some sort before heading back into the few lines of space newspapers need to fill after the race results from Dapto dogs.

[Adsy]

3.

And I never knew simply staying on your feet at the back of a race could qualify as needing to be 'enshrined' as a 'great sporting achievement'

[Tony T.]

4.

Great sporting moment, Adsy, not great sporting achievement. "It is important to understand that it is the 'moment', not the feat, that is being recognised. In other words, the emotion, the excitement and the lasting memory matter more than the significance of the result." See: emotion, excitement, lasting memory. According to Ideas Healy's criteria, Bradbury apparently has that in spades over Landy's sportsmanship, which is ONLY the very essence of sporting moments or Cathy Freeman's Sydney moment which wasn't, I suppose, momentous enough.

[Mark]

5.

Off the top of my head, I'd say Warne bowling Gatting in 1993 must rate pretty high, surely? Up to that point, the Ashes pendulum had swung backwards and forwards fairly regularly - England win a couple of series, then Australia. That moment told a lot of us in England that we were going to be royally reamed for quite a few years to come.

Along the same lines, Benaud bowling May round his legs on the 1961 tour.

[pat]

6.

One of the greatest sporting moments I remember is when my old man was teaching me how to take an 'up and under'. He drove the ball high into the stratosphere as I bravely positioned my spindly frame somewhere in the vicinity of where the ball would land. Somehow I took it, just barely holding on with a nanosecond of joy to celebrate before I was promptly smashed and driven into the ground under his furious bull like charge. What a moment! What a game!

[Big Ramifications]

7.

For a poofter-sport-grate-moment-goal-to-qualify-for-a-major-tournament ya can't go past Ned Zelic, surely?

Olympics does not equal World Cup, granted. But a lot of other factors make it a much GRATER moment. The fact it was pure ring of Steve Bradbury proportions, for starters.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=7-SKnV17Nf0

The mullet on legs that grabbed Ned after the goal was pretty grate as well

[Big Ramifications]

8.

Have you seen the ad in which Merv Hughes spruiks cereal to building workers? The last line is a peach: "Merv, you reckon you could pass a brick?"

Possibly West Oz only, but there's a worksite-themed flavoured milk (what is it with blue collars and flavoured facking milk?) advert that is CHOC a block full of great lines. Like the bird with grate chest puppies walking up to the subject with a metal contraption asking "is this rack good enough for you Steve?"

Subtle or what?

[Guido]

9.

I was there and that was truly an amazing moment. Had to wait 32 years for it.

And adsy, that moment was reported in most newspapers worldwide. Try that with an AFL grand final or even a cricket test match.

And I am pleased to say that after the Asian Cup we will be again at the World Cup with Advocaat at the helm.

Why any Australian would like any Australian team to fail astounds me.

I could not care less about Rugby but I was sorry the Wallabies lost.

[Tony T.]

10.

The soccer thing was huge and I can see why it was included, but I've got my doubts about the Swans flag.