'AVE A GO, YA MUG!

Stakeholders Sutherland - with his nickname ominously apt - says he is comfortable with the way the commentators are now spruiking the odds:

Cricket satisfied after reeling in commentators

THREE summers ago, worried that betting promotions were becoming too ingrained in Channel Nine's cricket commentary, Cricket Australia approached its broadcast partner and asked that the odds only be mentioned when they were presented clearly as commercial messages.

Since then CA chief executive James Sutherland has not had a problem with the way Nine spruiks odds for Betfair, which has separate commercial deals with CA and Nine.

"I'm comfortable with the balance that has been struck."

No. Worries. Blue. Glad you think the general disquiet will subside, even if it won't. Quite the opposite, since betting agencies have deep pockets and sporting organisations and broadcasters have a deep desire to get their mitts on mugs' money. 

Perched at the back of the same sports section is a terrific article by Anson Cameron which, to me, a non-punter, far more accurately represents sports betting as it currently appears in Australia:

Build house on mugs' money

Easy to ignore the rest of the Nine gang parroting sporting odds at you. Who's going to take any notice of a global buccaneer like Tony Greig? Or Chappell, a backstreet scrapper averse to giving a sucker an even break? And Shane, well, you wouldn't be surprised if Beelzebub chose Shane as his front-of-house guy. But Richie? This is Mother Teresa lovingly sucking on a Marlboro. This is Jesus endorsing a bottled water and you knowing it will become Grange.

Ninety per cent of punters don't know what they're doing. They'll bet on national allegiance, favourite players, hatred of other players. There'll be big money against Harbhajan Singh for being an insufferable dick. Never mind the guy can bowl. They'll back Michael Clarke to make a duck because they dislike Lara Bingle. The betting exchanges get 5 per cent on all this. Hard to lose when you're taxing people for stupidity.

Comments

[Cameron]

Good article by the oddly named Anson.

[Tony]

Named after the Avro Anson.

[Big Ramifications]

Same with piss. The AFL and the NRL know they've got problems with their players and ALCOHOL FUELED acts of violence and stupidity.

But the "footy shows" can't seem to shake the habit of yukking it up when it comes to alcohol, like it's a bit of harmless, enjoyable fun. The Allan Border medal night was a bloody embarrassment.

It's a no-brainer that ALCOHOL FUELED sponsorship bucks has some influence, but I think a lot of the time the commentators are major league pissheads themselves, schooled in the drink-drive-bloody-legend era... and THEY JUST CAN'T HELP THEMSELVES.

Piss = funny. Hey look at me everybody, I'm a fun guy and I'm being funny.

[There was an AFL Footy Show promo – admittedly going back at least 5 years, but well after THE UNPLEASANTNESS had started – where you could win something ridiculous like a slab of beer a week for a year. All a bit vague now, but whatever it was it had to do with piss. And lots of it. Billy Brownless was in a wheelbarrow or wading pool or something, surrounded in cans, holding one up to his mouth pretending to be paralytic drunk [see, what did I tell you? piss = funny]. I think there was a then-current player with him doing the same thing. Crawf, maybe?]

It's the elephant in the room at the moment, along with gambling. Make that two elephants in the room. Gonna be fun when someone in power with a head full of steam finally issues a please explain to the sport / sports media / piss cabal.

/FEER THE POWER OF RANDOM CAPSLOCK

[Bill Lollypop-Head Shorten]

Gonna be fun when someone in power with a head full of steam finally issues a please explain to the sport / sports media / piss cabal.

I will be that man.

[Big Ramifications]

Look at the Brownlow Medal night The Footy Show "Street Talk" circa 1998 - 2008 with 20/20 hindsight. I hope you're suitably ashamed, Eddie.

You're gonna laugh at me, but I reckon Sam can really handle his piss. He was extremely messy, yes, but I reckon he'd had enough to kill a horse. I know the type. That helped them get away with it for an extra five years. It really went downhill fast when they gave it to Crawf... and then there was the Fev train wreck.

[Lou]

Big Ram, I think you are being a bit tough on them all. Sure, they set bloody horrible examples, but re the Alan Border medal, there is hardly a brain cell amongst the Aus cricketers, and it can't possibly be any better in the football community.

Of course they are going to think that drinking is really funny and 'maketh the man'.

They are mostly young blokes who don't know any better. And the commentators are old blokes who don't know any better.

[Lou]

I'm saying this as they are no different to the general community. Every time I go back to Perth, I can't believe how much the younger men in my extended family drink. These are people with jobs and reasonably successful lives, these aren't winos on the street.

I don't think the footy players and the cricketers are doing anything different to most young, healthy and pretty dumb people.

[Tony]

I hope Pat's not reading.

[Big Ramifications]

I agree with most of what you say, Lou. Wasn't quite my point, but.

The TV stations can't have it both ways. There's been umpteen recycled navel-gazing pieces regarding alcohol abuse in the football codes on the same networks. And whenever there's such an incident reported in the nightly bulletin, it's a fair bet you'll get some smug, judgemental banter between the presenters as they cut to a break.

On Nine's Today "news" show, the morning after Karl's big Logie win, three presenters, including a female, got into a conversation about how great Kate Middleton's sister's ass was. Then they got into a detailed conversation about how great Kate Middleton's ass was. Then they started talking about how great Karl's wife's ass was. I'm not joking.

In a few shows time they'll have one of their template bang-em-out "us fatties need some lovin' too!" stories. Women's body image, it's another one that's all over the shop with the networks sending mixed messages.

It's the mixed messages that bug me. I guess what I'm asking for is some consensus in the MSM, which is absolutely fanciful thinking. So don't mind me, I'm just having a rant.

[Lou]

TV stations have things all ways. It's called appealing to the widest audience possible. I work in media and am VERY choosy about what news stations amongst other things that I watch.

I was horrified by the crassness of what passes for current affairs and news in Aus. I'll believe any low thing about it after spending three weeks in Perth and trying umpteen so-called news programmes and being revolted by the lot.

That show Kerry O'Brien was on the verge of retiring from was ok, and SBS.

[Cameron]

Tony, State of Origin 1 on tonight. No HD broadcast on 9:

http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2011/05/state-of-origin-vs-state-of-hd.htm

Just when you think they've hit rock bottom they actually regress further.