i hate that i live in a country that would give matty a second chance!

as you may or may not know i hate rugby league, almost as much as i hate the foo fighters and the red hot chilli peppers. the whole game and the culture that surrounds it glorifies recreational violence, binge drinking and elevates brainless steroid riddled sexist 'athletes' to the status of gods.

this all comes from my anger that i live in a country that would give matthew 'matty' johns a second, wait third, hang on sixth chance. how many times are australian league fans willing to look past sexual impropriety because....well the guy is funny? he can make a penis joke AND insult the sexual revolution at the same time. and who said men can't multitask?

though this has larger ramifications in my mind as none of this raises any alarm bells anymore. no one really cares or is even remotely surprised when our great athletes are caught in a hotel room with cocaine and prostitutes! just so long as the police don't lay charges it's all ok. rugby league is perhaps not the only or even worst offender in raising athletes with the emotional range of a teaspoon. but, as i live in new south wales they are all over the media i consume. now i'm not saying that all of the members are like this but, they are happy to play on teams with men who at very worst rape women and on the tamer side strip down to their undies, dance on a table top then drive home with a blood alcohol reading three times the legal limit.

these are the men who are role models to young new south waliens! teaching young boys that if you train real hard and show up every saturday morning at your match you could grow up and get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars. then you can run people down with your car and be famous enough to get away with it. not to mention the way they will look at women. as objects to use as an attractive date to some sort of awards show who really love them for their winning personality, ability to quote episodes of the footy show and not their cash.

there is some 'hope' though. the balmain tigers have implemented etiquette classes for its players. how to ask a question without ending the sentence with a proposition and using unfamiliar words like 'please' and 'thank you'. it is also frowned upon calling a date a 'hoe' and instead telling her she looks pretty and holding a door for her. this isn't in my mind enough, but it is a start. it's a bit like teaching a monkey sign language and how to not throw faeces, difficult. moreover, it is a bit late. by the time these men reach the professional level of the game they aren't likely to change their behaviour. and why should they? they are at the peak of their physical fitness, are rewarded handsomely for that and are getting laid by cheap flooseys. they don't need to change the habit of a life time. not when it's working for them.

the australian rugby leagues institutional sexism needs to be stemmed earlier in these athletes careers and men like matthew johns should not be given an unlimited amount of second chances. the real world doesn't work that way. not for us poor folk at the very least.