Melbourne Cup & the State of Aussie Sport:

WEBVTT

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Welcome to Why Is It So, your last defence for common sense,

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with your co-hosts Paul Zammett and Vince Locizzano.

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Well, good morning Vince, and it's been a bit hectic for the last couple of

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days, and of course, the Melbourne Cup has been run and won.

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And I haven't got my shirt on.

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How did you go? Did you pick the winner? Oh mate, I was down in my undies.

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Well, it was a very, very memorable Melbourne Cup day. It was.

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For all the right reasons.

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Fantastic story, of course, with Jamie Mellon, formerly Jamie Carr,

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champion jockey that she is.

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And she won the Caulfield Cup, Melbourne Cup double with the same horse,

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of course, half yours. First thing about the door?

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Well, that's right. And, of course, it's on the 10th anniversary of when Michelle

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Payne won the first Melbourne Cup, Won by a female jockey back in 2015 with Prince of Penzance.

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And who can forget that? So a wonderful story.

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And yeah, it's just a very successful Melbourne Cup Day.

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Flaring to put Melbourne Cup

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Day up magnificently. I'd say it's as good as any other race in the world.

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There's no doubt that it's a world-class event. And there's lots of people that

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come from right around the world just to be there. and in some cases they compete

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for it if they've got a horse that's good enough.

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So there's a lot of money spent by a lot of these people who own these horses

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from all parts of the world now and they bring them from Australia.

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All parts of Britain and Japan and places like that just to compete for the Melbourne Cup.

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And, you know, if they walk away empty-handed, which most of them do,

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you know, they'll spend a fair bit of money coming here.

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But it's a great experience to even be part of.

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But when you think about it, to the amount of difficult countries that they

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come from, the force that won it on your half or something? Half yours.

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Half yours or something?

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Well, I think that was... That was the only Victorian, or Australian,

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born here, born and bred here in Victoria, with a Victorian.

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It was the only Australian bred horse in the race. And so was the jockey.

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I think there were other Australian jockeys. No, but not riding an Australian horse.

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Oh, right, yes. That's what I'm saying. Yes. Yeah, it was the only Australian

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horse. Yes. And even the jockey was Australian.

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We were in love with other jockeys. Oh, right. Other horses had,

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you know, American jockeys, Japanese.

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And they do a magnificent job. They really do. People look forward to it for weeks ahead. Yeah.

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Well, it's got the reputation and has had for many years now as the race that stops the nation.

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But I think in a lot of cases, it's a race that stops the world now.

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Yes, sure. Or at least a lot of the Western world who love their horse racing,

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especially in parts of Europe and America, I would have thought it would get

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a lot of coverage as being the world's best just handicap race competed for,

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you know, by horses all around the world.

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See, what gets me is if Flemington could do this sort of and keep it up for

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many, many years, why don't some of the other sports that we have here do the

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same thing for promotion?

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First, cricket, Heinemann's racing, any of these larger parts of entertainment,

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if you like, or sports, and yet they let the opportunity pass.

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The worst offender is harness racing.

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They've come down from...

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Halfway up to what the Melbourne Cup was, but they've disappeared all together now.

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Well, I guess the, what would you call them?

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The glory days of harness racing were probably back in the 70s and 80s.

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Had some absolutely legendary trotters and harness horses, just to name some of them.

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Maori's Idol, the famous trotter, Popular Arm, Pure Steel, Gamalite,

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these sorts of names to people who know the harness racing world.

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These are the household names of horses that were champions.

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These were horses that, you know, became household names literally in the 70s and 80s.

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And especially when harness racing was a very popular sport,

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it had television on a Saturday night.

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All of the races were televised on Channel 7 back then. There were replays on the Sunday.

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You know, there was coverage all over the newspapers. And I

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think the industry probably missed the

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opportunity to elevate itself in the same way

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that thoroughbred racing did and yeah i

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think there was also a bit of a pinup boy in harness racing

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back in the 80s and early 90s by

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the name of vin knight and tragically he

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was found dead on the side of a road in

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his car somewhere back in the early 90s and

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i think when he passed away i think to a

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lot of in a lot of people's opinion that was the death of

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harness racing because he was so pivotal

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to the promotion of the sport and and he was

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like you know the champion trainer and driver

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who had popular arm and and horses like that in

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his stable and he was just to win just used to win everything and

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to lose someone of that ilk back then really was a a big dent in the future

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of the sport but anyway since then it also went through a popular period in

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the mid-90s to sort of early 2000s with some famous horses such as Courage Under Fire and Shaker Maker.

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Christian Cullen, horses of that nature.

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Who won Miracle Miles and Hunter Cups and Victoria Cups, some of the biggest

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harness races in the country.

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And that's in the days when we'd see 15,000, 20,000 people pack Mooney Valley.

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I remember being there for some of those. What would you say we have to do to

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get the people back again to Sarabrug? Well, to be honest with you. Sorry, to the trots.

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To the trots. Yeah, look, I don't know that the opportunity's just passed it by now.

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I don't know whether it's retrievable or not. But if you're going to attempt

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to do it, I think you'd need to glamorize the sport a bit more and ask the participants

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in the sport, for starters, to get behind this and to really raise their own standards.

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Even how they go to the trots.

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I mean, if you go to the thoroughbred races, everyone's dressed up in suits

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and ties and the ladies are all dressed glamorously, et cetera.

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It doesn't happen in the harness racing scene. and I think that's the sort of

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thing that you need to do is to make it something that's going to be attractive

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to younger people to go to as an entertainment option.

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Most people are not really into the internet race.

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So it's almost like an excuse to go out for a social interaction.

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And they have fun and they tell people about it and that's why they pack the place.

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And I think if you introduce some musical entertainment, get some famous people there,

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people who are in the news or in the entertainment world, whether they be singers

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or actors or people that are just generally well-known media personalities,

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that's the sort of thing that gets people willing to be there, to be part of all of that.

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You know, to have Harness Racing's own version of the birdcage.

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You know, when you look at the birdcage at Flemington during Melbourne Cup week,

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it's filled with people who are, you know, glamorously dressed and well-known.

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Yeah. And sometimes even international stars.

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But even the guys get their stuff too. I mean, every trainer that I saw yesterday

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being interviewed after the run and whatever, all had a hat.

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Well, not just the hat. They were dressed beautifully. Fantastic suit and tie

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and the suit with tails. It looks fantastic, doesn't it?

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And they, admittedly, they've got their strappers and all that sort of stuff.

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So, in effect, the trainer doesn't have to sort of go and physically do anything.

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He's got the staff that will look after him, make sure that everything is right.

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They miss everything at the trots. The trainer does, you know, settles up himself.

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He makes sure the horse is riding, brings the water for the horse.

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Some of the biggest labels might have some stuff, but a lot of the basic trainers,

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you know, your hobby trainer type of thing, he hasn't got people like that.

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So, look, it's a bit of an ask maybe, but if it's going to elevate itself as

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an industry and as a sport, I think it needs to raise its own standards amongst

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its own participants before you can expect the public to do that.

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Yeah. Do you know what I mean? It's got to be a joint effort.

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It does have to be a joint effort.

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As well as incorporating promotion and marketing and advertising and make it

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something that is seen to be a really good option as a night out.

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Well, if they don't do that, it won't be long before they'll finish up sort

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of saying, well, it's hard to afford to go there, so you can run your horse

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wherever you like. Like they're doing Rolta with that.

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And they put them on the back of a little cart.

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Every Maltese person would be very disappointed not having a trotter race.

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They loved it. Well, look, if it doesn't elevate itself, it probably starts

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to recede into a sport, which is just a bit of a hobby thing.

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You know, there's a lot of tracks even now in Victoria, for example,

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where they're reduced down to one or two meetings a year.

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They basically have their pacing cup and trotters cup meeting and that's it.

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You know, and it's a big day out in the town, but that's it.

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They don't have any other regular harness racing during the year.

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The industry has had to re-establish itself after a lot of government funding

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was pulled from it, from the Victorian government, because they've basically run out of money.

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So it used to be propped up a lot by government funding. Now it's no longer

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in a position where it can rely on that.

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And now they have to stand on their own two feet. And that's meant a lot of

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the races during the week have been reduced in prize money and they've had to

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reduce the prize money on even some of their biggest races of the year.

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So that makes it a lot harder for the participants to make a dollar out of it.

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And with that makes it harder to fill a race meeting with enough horses and all that sort of thing.

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So you're starting to see race meetings that are no longer eight, nine, 10 races.

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They're down to six and seven. And the fields aren't full of 10 and 11 and 12

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horses. They're down to six and seven and eight.

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So if that continues, I do fear for the future of the sport.

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But yeah, I think something seriously has to be done in terms of promoting it

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to bring it back to being an entertainment option for people.

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It must be the only sport that hasn't really tried to better itself.

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Even in cricket, they've gone to the T20.

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They started off in the Pajama Games when.

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It's a guy from Channel 9. I mean, Kerry Packer. Kerry Packer.

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Made it, made it, they put pajamas on everybody and they made it 50 overs a side.

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And have a look how... Well, even 50 overs a side is too long for people now.

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Half the reason for this is because people are time poor.

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They haven't got all day to watch one team have 50 overs, another team have

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50 overs, and seven hours later you get a result.

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That used to be, back in the 80s and 90s, an exciting brand of cricket.

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They didn't have a short first shot. Yeah, today there's an even shorter version,

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which is 20 overs a side each, T20 matches.

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And they go mad. And that's what people are going mad for, because it's crash and bash cricket.

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There's no blocking the ball anymore. Every ball that doesn't have a run scored

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is a wasted ball. That's right.

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So now they're hitting fours and sixes, you know, every over.

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And they all get into uniforms.

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They all look like some cricketers themselves.

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Yeah, hit and giggle cricket, they call it. The Indians get worse people there than they have in India.

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Do you know what I've noticed lately with the T20 matches in Australia? Yeah.

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Have a look. And if you haven't noticed this to anyone who's listening,

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check it out next time Australia and India are playing any form of cricket,

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especially these one-day matches, you know, 50 overs a side or 20 overs a side T20 cricket.

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When the Indians have something go well for them, whether it be a batsman scores

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a four or he scores a seven.

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Or the Indians get an Australian batsman out, the crowd goes wild.

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They're unbelievable. And when the Australians do that, there's hardly a murmur anymore.

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The Australians must feel like they're in a foreign country,

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yet they're playing in Australia.

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It's amazing how many people of Indian heritage, and they love their cricket.

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I was just going to say that. They are so passionate about their sport.

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That is their national sport.

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It's a religion. It's like a cult. It is, actually.

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It's like a cult, don't it? You can't say anything about the band.

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I mean, even this guy that's the captain. Yeah.

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Crow, what's his name? Which one? The guy from India.

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Well, there's an Indian captain now, Shugman Gill. No, definitely.

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He's the captain of their test team now. Who was the last? And then you've got Rohit Sharma.

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He was the captain. And you had... Who's? No, you're thinking of one of the

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best batsmen ever. He used to be a captain a few years ago.

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Virat Kohli. That's the man. Virat Kohli. He's like a god. Yeah,

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but he's like the evil person, isn't he? No, no.

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He's the man that they want to get out. Yeah. And then you've got the Indians

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on the other side sort of pushing him along.

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Well, he's like a cult figure over there. I mean, seriously,

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if you're an Indian cricketer and you play for the national team,

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you are held up in such high esteem.

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It's the pinnacle of your life to be seen in that way by the Indian population.

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They love their cricketers. They love them all.

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The other thing, I'd say 99% of the people in India are cricket men.

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In Australia, you've got 400 different sports. You've got soccer,

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you've got cricket, you've got force racing, you've got football.

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You've got, God, there must be hundreds, rugby, whatever you've got.

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You know, there's so many other distractions. That's why it's,

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and we've only got a small population.

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So when you divide that population. Well, in India, what have they got?

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What have they got in India? 1.3 million, haven't they?

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I mean, you could fit Australia's population into India's population about,

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I don't know, 500 times. That's right.

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And so we. Maybe more. And when you think that 99% of them are a cricket man, like, it is a religion.

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Oh, it's unbelievable. And that's the thing.

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There's only enough room for 11 players on any particular game. Yeah, that's right.

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And a 12th man who comes on if someone's injured or someone needs a rest or whatever.

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But really, other than those 12, the rest are all trying to burst into the team at any opportunity.

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And once they get that opportunity, you've got to take advantage of it because

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if you don't, you're out again.

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Yeah. And if they do something bad, the population's just going mad.

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Oh, look. Seriously, I reckon those...

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Cricketers in India would be loved and admired way more than any Indian politician

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or any Indian, you know, anyone else in India, even actors and actresses in

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India wouldn't be as revered as the cricketers are.

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Yeah, no. But anyway, look, cricket, I think a lot of this, you know,

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comes down to the nature of the sport and also how it's promoted.

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I mean, cricket really is not a sport that requires anyone to get dressed up and go along.

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Yes, if you've been invited to a corporate box or you've been invited into one

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of these dining rooms at the cricket, yes, there's probably a dress code.

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There's not that many people that go on to functions like that.

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No. That would be just the elitist people within the cricketing industry that

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get invited for these sorts of functions.

00:15:55.149 --> 00:15:59.049
The majority of people that go to the cricket are just sitting in a seat up

00:15:59.049 --> 00:16:02.789
in the stand somewhere watching the cricket, just like the bloke down the road

00:16:02.789 --> 00:16:04.389
who might be a street cleaner. Yeah.

00:16:04.709 --> 00:16:08.549
So whether you're a millionaire or whether you're a street cleaner,

00:16:08.789 --> 00:16:10.409
you're all the same at the cricket. Yeah.

00:16:10.549 --> 00:16:14.509
You're just watching the game and enjoying it. And that's the beauty of that

00:16:14.509 --> 00:16:18.469
sort of sport. It doesn't really require anyone to do anything other than purchase

00:16:18.469 --> 00:16:20.249
their ticket to get into the ground.

00:16:20.429 --> 00:16:25.529
Yeah, but mostly, we go back to the amount of sports that we have here.

00:16:25.729 --> 00:16:26.949
It's like the Americans.

00:16:27.289 --> 00:16:30.709
But they've got baseball and football.

00:16:31.209 --> 00:16:37.529
But getting a ticket to the American football, like at Super Bowl.

00:16:37.829 --> 00:16:40.309
Can you imagine how much it costs to get into the Super Bowl?

00:16:40.309 --> 00:16:43.249
Super Bowl, yeah. Yeah, you just, the average person couldn't do it.

00:16:43.329 --> 00:16:47.929
Whereas here, if you will go on to the AFL Grand Final, if you're fortunate

00:16:47.929 --> 00:16:52.589
enough to be able to purchase a ticket or to get access to purchase a ticket,

00:16:52.789 --> 00:16:54.409
it's not going to send you broke.

00:16:54.789 --> 00:17:01.449
It still only costs you $200 and something to, or it might be $300 or something, to purchase a ticket.

00:17:01.589 --> 00:17:05.889
But again, it's not even going to be the average weekly wage for somebody.

00:17:06.009 --> 00:17:06.649
No, it doesn't go that far.

00:17:06.969 --> 00:17:11.069
So it's affordable. It's affordable if you can get access to the ticket.

00:17:11.671 --> 00:17:15.751
But in America, even if you can get access to purchase a ticket to the Super

00:17:15.751 --> 00:17:20.051
Bowl, it would send you almost to the point of having a second mortgage.

00:17:21.611 --> 00:17:24.771
And same with their basketball matches, because there's only a certain amount

00:17:24.771 --> 00:17:25.751
of people that can attend.

00:17:25.931 --> 00:17:31.771
Well, the main three to three sports there is basketball, baseball, and football.

00:17:32.731 --> 00:17:34.731
Baseball is the other one. Very, very popular.

00:17:35.771 --> 00:17:40.331
That's more like the cricket. In fact, the baseball matches are more like your

00:17:40.331 --> 00:17:46.131
cricket games because, again, the average person is just sitting out there in the stand, right? Yeah.

00:17:46.371 --> 00:17:52.091
Super Bowl is a bit like that too, but such is the high demand that it makes

00:17:52.091 --> 00:17:55.031
it impossible to be able to afford it. Yeah, that's right.

00:17:55.151 --> 00:17:58.831
Because they can charge whatever they like because of the fact that… Thousands

00:17:58.831 --> 00:18:01.411
of dollars per ticket. It's almost like it's an auction.

00:18:01.831 --> 00:18:04.691
Well… Yeah, they keep going until someone says, yeah, I want it.

00:18:04.751 --> 00:18:08.451
It's like anything, Paul, supply and demand. Yeah, exactly. If the AFL here

00:18:08.451 --> 00:18:16.071
in Melbourne made the average ticket $1,000 or $1,500 to go to just sit out

00:18:16.071 --> 00:18:18.331
in the stand as an AFL green fire, a lot of people would say,

00:18:18.431 --> 00:18:19.491
no, thanks, I watched it on TV.

00:18:19.731 --> 00:18:22.831
Yeah, but I think they'd still fill the MCG. No, I don't think they would.

00:18:22.851 --> 00:18:25.511
You don't think? No, because if they could, they would do it now.

00:18:25.891 --> 00:18:30.131
Well- They know that they would not get 100,000 people there in Melbourne if

00:18:30.131 --> 00:18:32.231
they charged $1,500 a ticket. No, they wouldn't.

00:18:32.511 --> 00:18:35.251
They would not get that many people there. I'm telling you now.

00:18:35.888 --> 00:18:39.528
People do spend that sort of money when they're desperate to buy a ticket.

00:18:39.708 --> 00:18:44.328
And they often, what they do now, funnily enough, is a lot of the clubs actually

00:18:44.328 --> 00:18:46.028
sell their grand final tickets.

00:18:46.548 --> 00:18:49.728
They're meant to only sell it at the face value of the ticket.

00:18:49.868 --> 00:18:53.228
And at the face value of the, no, if the face value of the ticket's $300,

00:18:53.748 --> 00:18:55.348
that's all they're allowed to sell it for.

00:18:55.508 --> 00:18:58.228
Otherwise, it's in the group of, what do they call it? Scalpy.

00:18:58.568 --> 00:19:01.588
So what they do is they attach a lunch to it. Yeah. So they put,

00:19:01.668 --> 00:19:07.308
oh, grand final ticket plus lunch at, you know, lunch at the higher hotel. Plus limo.

00:19:07.708 --> 00:19:10.168
Right? And transferred to the Grand or something. Yeah.

00:19:10.708 --> 00:19:15.408
$1,500 or $2,000. Yeah. Right? So the lunch is meant to be worth $1,200.

00:19:16.528 --> 00:19:20.228
Right? But the ticket was only $300. There's always a way around.

00:19:20.228 --> 00:19:21.448
There's always a way around everything.

00:19:21.668 --> 00:19:25.308
So that's what a lot of the clubs do now to make their $1,500,

00:19:25.308 --> 00:19:28.168
$2,000 per ticket that they sell.

00:19:28.368 --> 00:19:32.128
Yeah. I can, like I'm a member at Carlton Football Club, I can ring up Carlton

00:19:32.128 --> 00:19:36.748
any year if I want to and say, yep, how much is it going to cost me for two

00:19:36.748 --> 00:19:39.588
tickets to the grand final together with your lunch package and whatever?

00:19:40.048 --> 00:19:43.908
Oh, that's $2,000 each. So it's $4,000 for your two tickets. Okay.

00:19:44.348 --> 00:19:49.768
If I write them a check or if I send them $4,000, I can get my two grand final tickets.

00:19:50.108 --> 00:19:54.108
Now, whether Carlton plays or not, seriously, whether Carlton plays or not,

00:19:54.168 --> 00:19:57.208
I can get those two grand final tickets, but it's going to cost me $4,000.

00:19:58.132 --> 00:20:01.372
Well, that's where it comes from. Yeah. That's where they...

00:20:01.372 --> 00:20:05.792
But that's what I'm saying. Anyone can do it if you've got the money. Yeah.

00:20:06.192 --> 00:20:10.432
You can go to the Super Bowl if you've got the money. You can go to Wimbledon

00:20:10.432 --> 00:20:13.272
and watch the men's final and the women's final if you've got the money.

00:20:13.372 --> 00:20:17.292
If you're going to go to the Super Bowl, and you said before that it's the cost

00:20:17.292 --> 00:20:19.972
of a house, they're going to...

00:20:20.672 --> 00:20:24.372
Well, I was exaggerating a little bit. The cost of a hotel. I said a second.

00:20:25.192 --> 00:20:29.592
Well, I'm not saying it that much, but it's quite hefty. It is. It is.

00:20:30.152 --> 00:20:34.652
But again, if it's that affordable that anyone could go, can you imagine the mayhem?

00:20:34.852 --> 00:20:40.972
They always have to keep the price up to get rid of 95% of the people that want a ticket. Yeah.

00:20:41.292 --> 00:20:45.832
Because all they're interested in is the 5% that have got that much money that

00:20:45.832 --> 00:20:48.432
it doesn't matter to them if they spend $2,000 a ticket.

00:20:49.072 --> 00:20:52.892
And more. Or more. The same thing happens with England. They're cricket.

00:20:53.152 --> 00:20:56.452
Yeah. There's another cricket. You want to go to the Test match at Lord's to

00:20:56.452 --> 00:20:59.032
watch Australia and England play in the Ashes? You can do it,

00:20:59.072 --> 00:21:00.172
if you've got enough money.

00:21:00.472 --> 00:21:05.072
You want to go to soccer's another one, World Cup. They go mad, don't they?

00:21:05.652 --> 00:21:07.512
They burn faces. If you've got

00:21:07.512 --> 00:21:10.632
enough money, you can go and watch as many World Cup matches as you want.

00:21:10.792 --> 00:21:15.232
But a lot of the people that go to Europe to watch the Flames or whatever have

00:21:15.232 --> 00:21:19.092
you, they're really not even going for the soccer. They're going there just for...

00:21:19.630 --> 00:21:24.270
To rub shoulders with other people that have got just as much money. Yeah, exactly.

00:21:24.490 --> 00:21:28.970
Well, unfortunately, that's the way the world is. But look, I think what we're

00:21:28.970 --> 00:21:30.250
coming up to now in Australia,

00:21:30.470 --> 00:21:35.150
we've just had the Melbourne Cup, so we're recording this on the Eve of Oaks

00:21:35.150 --> 00:21:39.190
Day on Thursday, and then you've got Champagne Steaks Day on Saturday,

00:21:39.190 --> 00:21:42.310
and then that's technically I mean, turn over and done with.

00:21:42.730 --> 00:21:46.330
What most people don't realise is it's not actually the end of the spring carnival

00:21:46.330 --> 00:21:51.110
because then you've got the sand down races a week or two after that.

00:21:51.430 --> 00:21:54.570
But it's all part of technically what's the spring carnival.

00:21:54.710 --> 00:21:58.770
In the eyes of, I suppose in the minds of most people in this country,

00:21:59.070 --> 00:22:03.790
once the Flemington races are finished with, it's all over.

00:22:03.830 --> 00:22:08.110
Yeah, there's no more racing. So what we now have coming up is you're going

00:22:08.110 --> 00:22:10.070
to start seeing a lot more cricket games.

00:22:10.810 --> 00:22:15.230
You've got Australia and England playing the Ashes. Yeah. In Australia at this

00:22:15.230 --> 00:22:17.130
time. It's going to be an interesting competition, absolutely.

00:22:17.630 --> 00:22:22.590
Well, five test series. You know, it was interesting to note that one of the

00:22:22.590 --> 00:22:25.870
most recently retired English bowlers, I think it was Stuart Broad,

00:22:26.070 --> 00:22:30.170
said that this is one of the most substandard Australian cricket teams that

00:22:30.170 --> 00:22:32.810
you can remember. That's a pretty big call.

00:22:33.450 --> 00:22:36.910
You're playing Australia in Australia. I don't know. He might have even on his

00:22:36.910 --> 00:22:38.870
face after saying it. I think that's why he did it, though.

00:22:39.010 --> 00:22:44.730
But I think it's also because they like to actually do this to promote.

00:22:44.730 --> 00:22:47.090
To get some rivalry going on.

00:22:47.170 --> 00:22:50.430
I wouldn't be surprised if someone put him up to saying that just to try and

00:22:50.430 --> 00:22:55.030
get some media coverage and, oh, how dare they call our cricket team that and

00:22:55.030 --> 00:22:58.290
get the Australian. And the other thing that they're calling too,

00:22:58.410 --> 00:23:00.870
the same old Aussies, always whinging.

00:23:01.330 --> 00:23:04.990
Aussies or Poms? No, the Aussies, the Poms are same.

00:23:05.970 --> 00:23:09.830
I thought it was the Poms that were always with the reputation of being the whinging Poms.

00:23:10.590 --> 00:23:16.350
Listen, they're for the cricket. And I think the saying is something to the effect of...

00:23:17.308 --> 00:23:20.568
The same old Aussies always win you or something, you know.

00:23:20.648 --> 00:23:28.028
Don't underestimate what the media will put people up to to generate some interest

00:23:28.028 --> 00:23:32.108
and generate some rivalry and generate that bit of public, you know.

00:23:32.408 --> 00:23:36.328
Desire to want to see a bit of a battle, right?

00:23:36.448 --> 00:23:40.028
So, I mean, if they were all nice to each other and the English came here and

00:23:40.028 --> 00:23:43.008
said, oh, no, the Australian cricketers are wonderful people and,

00:23:43.108 --> 00:23:46.808
you know, we really respect them and we love them, and that's not going to get people for the cricket.

00:23:46.808 --> 00:23:49.888
And if they come here saying, ah, this team's hopeless, we're going to beat

00:23:49.888 --> 00:23:53.428
them, well then all of a sudden it creates some interest. That's what they say

00:23:53.428 --> 00:23:54.888
about the media, isn't it? Yeah.

00:23:55.028 --> 00:23:59.348
It's sort of, you know, if they don't read the good stuff, it doesn't sell papers.

00:23:59.468 --> 00:24:00.488
No, that's exactly right.

00:24:00.688 --> 00:24:03.008
It's always the negative stuff that sells papers. The negative stuff.

00:24:03.248 --> 00:24:07.128
The thing that's a problem, the things that are ugly, that gets...

00:24:07.128 --> 00:24:10.828
Well, then someone has a jab at you, that's what gets people's back up and that's

00:24:10.828 --> 00:24:12.628
what gets the hair standing up in the back of their neck.

00:24:12.688 --> 00:24:16.628
And the media sell more papers and more TV and whatever.

00:24:16.808 --> 00:24:20.128
I told you before about, you know, watching the Australians and the Indians,

00:24:20.288 --> 00:24:23.928
and there's more crowd noise for the Indians when they do something well.

00:24:24.108 --> 00:24:29.348
Well, I think part of the reason why there's a lack of passion amongst the Australian

00:24:29.348 --> 00:24:36.228
public for the Australian cricket team is because of the stances of some of their cricketers,

00:24:36.388 --> 00:24:42.008
none more so than the captain, on some of these woke issues like climate change and all this business.

00:24:42.188 --> 00:24:47.128
Oh, they're still down. Yeah, Patrick Cummins has recently had a meeting with

00:24:47.128 --> 00:24:53.328
our Prime Minister about it and wants some funding for sporting clubs around

00:24:53.328 --> 00:25:00.468
Australia to improve their facilities so that they take more advantage of the natural climate,

00:25:00.608 --> 00:25:04.288
whether it be solar panels on their roofs and what have you.

00:25:04.388 --> 00:25:07.728
I mean, stay out of all the politics. Just play cricket.

00:25:08.248 --> 00:25:11.908
That's all we want you to do. Play cricket and stay out of politics.

00:25:11.908 --> 00:25:15.848
This is the same man who was degrading,

00:25:17.247 --> 00:25:20.687
actual... The sponsors. The sponsors. Like a Lent of Energy.

00:25:20.807 --> 00:25:23.907
I think he said, no, I don't want to do any of their commercials because they

00:25:23.907 --> 00:25:26.947
use fossil fuels. And who pays their wages?

00:25:27.187 --> 00:25:29.607
But do you know the irony and the hypocrisy of it all?

00:25:29.927 --> 00:25:35.127
No one would have as many flights around the world as the Australian Cricket.

00:25:35.247 --> 00:25:38.627
I mean, Pat Cummins, if you want to have a look at his carbon footprint compared

00:25:38.627 --> 00:25:42.507
to the average Australian, well, have a look at how many flights he takes on

00:25:42.507 --> 00:25:43.707
aircraft all around the world.

00:25:44.347 --> 00:25:47.767
You're a hypocrite. Just stay out of it, mate. But it was still like the...

00:25:47.767 --> 00:25:52.647
Oh, you had people like the ex-Vice President of America, Al Gore,

00:25:53.007 --> 00:25:58.707
flying from country to country in his own private 747 jet. And what for?

00:25:59.687 --> 00:26:04.147
He's making money out of it all. It's all money-based. But he's still using the chill.

00:26:04.847 --> 00:26:07.407
Of course he is. He's still flying all around the world. That's right.

00:26:07.587 --> 00:26:09.147
That's where the hypocrisy comes in.

00:26:09.227 --> 00:26:13.527
The other thing is, apart from Pat Cummins and his woke climate change ideology

00:26:13.527 --> 00:26:16.347
rubbish, is people like Usman Khawaja.

00:26:16.727 --> 00:26:20.827
Usman Khawaja, who is the opening batsman for Australia.

00:26:21.147 --> 00:26:24.867
Now, again, as a batsman for Australia, we love him and we love the way he plays.

00:26:24.867 --> 00:26:31.307
But he recently wanted a meeting and got one with the Prime Minister preaching to him about Palestine.

00:26:31.867 --> 00:26:35.227
Now, again, this is the sort of thing. This is the sort of thing.

00:26:35.407 --> 00:26:36.247
They stick politics out of the bloody court.

00:26:37.247 --> 00:26:42.767
Why should these people use their platform as Australian cricketers to all of

00:26:42.767 --> 00:26:47.427
a sudden and get a meeting with the Prime Minister who's stupid enough to give

00:26:47.427 --> 00:26:48.567
them a meeting for starters.

00:26:48.967 --> 00:26:54.747
Why? Because he's doing it purely so that he can appease the supporters of all of these people.

00:26:55.378 --> 00:26:59.638
It's all about getting votes. And yet I don't believe that they should be even

00:26:59.638 --> 00:27:01.318
asking for a meeting with the Prime Minister.

00:27:01.658 --> 00:27:04.778
Stay out of it. And if they feel strongly enough about this,

00:27:04.938 --> 00:27:06.418
don't do it with media attention.

00:27:06.718 --> 00:27:10.578
Don't ask the media to get involved in you wanting to push your agenda,

00:27:10.578 --> 00:27:14.378
whether it's Palestine or whether it's climate change or whatever it is.

00:27:14.458 --> 00:27:18.298
And I'm telling you now that it's this sort of thing that's really turned off

00:27:18.298 --> 00:27:21.198
a lot of people away from the Australian cricket team.

00:27:21.378 --> 00:27:25.138
And, by the way, Cricket Australia, there's another one.

00:27:25.378 --> 00:27:30.158
Cricket Australia have decided that on Australia Day next year,

00:27:30.298 --> 00:27:36.158
which is only a couple of months away, not even, there is to be no cricket games held anywhere.

00:27:36.498 --> 00:27:38.778
How crazy. It's on a long weekend.

00:27:39.258 --> 00:27:43.118
Australia Day is on a Monday. So that particular weekend, the 24th,

00:27:43.158 --> 00:27:46.758
25th, and of course Australia Day on the 26th is a Monday.

00:27:47.118 --> 00:27:52.418
What better day could you think of than to be putting on a one-day match or

00:27:52.418 --> 00:27:57.878
something along those lines or a 2-20 match Australia and England or Australia and India or whatever.

00:27:58.318 --> 00:28:02.458
No, we're not going to hold any men's cricket and not women's cricket.

00:28:02.818 --> 00:28:06.838
Nowhere in the country is Cricket Australia scheduling. Is that being confirmed?

00:28:07.098 --> 00:28:13.018
Yes, they announced it. And again, that infuriates Australians because it's a public holiday.

00:28:13.238 --> 00:28:16.258
What better day could you think of than to be watching the cricket?

00:28:16.578 --> 00:28:20.058
When you've got a barbecue happening on Australia Day, people are coming over.

00:28:20.258 --> 00:28:23.318
Like Boxing Day. Yeah. It's a Boxing Day type of match.

00:28:23.658 --> 00:28:25.798
That's right. Although the Boxing Day. But they're not doing it.

00:28:25.918 --> 00:28:30.298
Why? Because they're too afraid to offend anyone of the Indigenous community

00:28:30.298 --> 00:28:35.918
who feels like it's a celebration of the day that Australia was invaded and all this sort of stuff.

00:28:37.278 --> 00:28:41.098
We've actually fallen into the same thing. Well, all I'm saying is one of the

00:28:41.098 --> 00:28:48.718
reasons why Australian cricket is in danger of losing its most passionate supporters.

00:28:48.878 --> 00:28:50.358
Because of rubbish like that.

00:28:50.977 --> 00:28:55.057
Well, we started off with the sport and we've gone into politics.

00:28:55.377 --> 00:28:58.517
Let's lead the politics out of it and let's go back to sport, are we?

00:28:58.877 --> 00:29:02.777
So anyway, I think we've covered it all right now. Well, the only other sport

00:29:02.777 --> 00:29:04.037
I was going to mention was golf.

00:29:04.197 --> 00:29:08.337
And I think coming up now in November and December, there's some fantastic tournaments.

00:29:08.577 --> 00:29:12.257
And by the way, I've got to take my hat off to the people that run golf in this

00:29:12.257 --> 00:29:16.217
country to get some iconic golfing figures,

00:29:16.217 --> 00:29:22.817
not only Australian ones like Adam Scott and Minwoo Lee and Cameron Davis and

00:29:22.817 --> 00:29:25.917
people like that, and even New Zealand's best golfer, Ryan Fox,

00:29:26.257 --> 00:29:28.317
they've got all of them over for the Australian Open.

00:29:28.497 --> 00:29:34.057
They've also got arguably the world's best player, Rory McIlroy from Northern

00:29:34.057 --> 00:29:41.197
Ireland, who this year won the US Masters, which meant that he won finally the Grand Slam of golf.

00:29:41.377 --> 00:29:47.177
He has won one tournament in each of the majors. So he's won now a US Open,

00:29:47.417 --> 00:29:54.877
a US Masters, at USPGA and, of course, the British Open Championship as well over his career.

00:29:55.077 --> 00:29:58.397
That's what's called the career grand slam. It's not all done in the one year,

00:29:58.417 --> 00:30:02.717
but over his career, he's won one of those major tournaments.

00:30:02.857 --> 00:30:03.997
A fantastic achievement.

00:30:04.217 --> 00:30:08.397
And to get him to come as well, fantastic. It should mean there's huge crowds

00:30:08.397 --> 00:30:12.197
at Royal Melbourne, arguably one of the best courses in the world.

00:30:12.817 --> 00:30:18.137
And that's just a fantastic advertisement for Australia. But also with golf.

00:30:18.596 --> 00:30:24.216
They weren't going to take on the renegades that came out with the change.

00:30:24.776 --> 00:30:27.676
Oh, Live Golf. Live Golf. Well, they've got Live Golf in Australia.

00:30:27.776 --> 00:30:30.436
They've got one in Adelaide. It's been accepted now. Yeah, absolutely.

00:30:30.616 --> 00:30:33.376
And is bringing a heap of people back to golf. Fantastic.

00:30:33.596 --> 00:30:38.876
Because it's a sort of T20 version of... Well, what it is, is it allows the

00:30:38.876 --> 00:30:40.956
golfers, for starters, to dress more casually.

00:30:41.096 --> 00:30:45.156
So a lot of them wear shorts and they still wear the polo shirts and they still

00:30:45.156 --> 00:30:51.056
look the part. But instead of having to wear trousers and it's 40 degrees, they can wear shorts.

00:30:51.216 --> 00:30:54.956
And the other thing about it is that it's quite vocal by the crowd.

00:30:55.136 --> 00:30:59.296
So most of these holes, you've got people cheering on for their different teams

00:30:59.296 --> 00:31:01.016
and cheering on for their different players.

00:31:01.236 --> 00:31:06.296
As I was saying, in Australia, in Adelaide, it's just a roaring success. It's the T20. Yep.

00:31:07.516 --> 00:31:10.516
Well, what it is is instead of playing a tournament over four days,

00:31:10.636 --> 00:31:14.756
it's over three days. Plus, instead of just having individuals that can,

00:31:14.896 --> 00:31:16.536
there is still an individual tournament.

00:31:16.756 --> 00:31:20.036
So the player that has the best score over the three days, yes,

00:31:20.116 --> 00:31:23.516
he wins the individual prize, but there's also teams.

00:31:23.916 --> 00:31:28.116
And the teams can win over the three days. And even if you have a bad day on

00:31:28.116 --> 00:31:31.596
the first day, you can still have a great day on the second day or the third day and still win.

00:31:32.456 --> 00:31:36.876
So it's a lot of a lot more interest in that respect. It's more team-orientated

00:31:36.876 --> 00:31:38.856
golf rather than just individuals.

00:31:39.580 --> 00:31:43.360
Well, it's happening in most sports. It's going all around the world.

00:31:43.540 --> 00:31:47.960
As I say, you've got LibGolf, you've got the T20s and the one-day matches.

00:31:48.240 --> 00:31:53.040
I mean, look, I think there's an opportunity in the future for tennis to do

00:31:53.040 --> 00:31:54.020
something in this respect.

00:31:54.180 --> 00:31:59.120
Because a lot of tennis matches go for a long time. And it's a long time to watch them.

00:31:59.400 --> 00:32:04.900
Especially men's matches that are going over five sets in the major tournaments,

00:32:05.140 --> 00:32:06.840
like Wimbledon, US Open, Australia.

00:32:07.300 --> 00:32:09.480
Well, sometimes they don't finish

00:32:09.480 --> 00:32:12.340
the game until 2 o'clock in the morning sometimes at the Australian Open.

00:32:12.540 --> 00:32:17.280
So, yeah, I mean, I think that tennis has got to look at a version of that,

00:32:17.420 --> 00:32:19.620
whether it's a shortened version, I don't know.

00:32:19.900 --> 00:32:25.900
Look, the Australian Open tennis is overall a very successful tournament.

00:32:26.180 --> 00:32:29.960
Again, you probably don't want me to talk about this, but I think it's ruined

00:32:29.960 --> 00:32:32.520
recently because of some political issues.

00:32:32.620 --> 00:32:38.660
Okay, but we're over that. But overall, you'd have to say it's a successful

00:32:38.660 --> 00:32:41.020
event held at the right time of year. Yeah.

00:32:41.400 --> 00:32:43.940
And being the first major tournament of the year.

00:32:44.660 --> 00:32:47.840
All the players want to be there. Yeah. Yeah. It's a good start.

00:32:48.040 --> 00:32:49.940
Everyone loves Australia. It's good weather.

00:32:50.200 --> 00:32:54.680
Yeah. Everything's there for them. Yeah. Well, I think we've covered most things.

00:32:55.568 --> 00:32:59.808
I hope so. We've gone through all the sports, even politics.

00:33:00.048 --> 00:33:03.208
I can't even believe we've talked to this focus for as long as we did on harness racing.

00:33:03.528 --> 00:33:06.028
Most people probably wouldn't even know what it is.

00:33:06.548 --> 00:33:10.128
But anyway. It compares them to a lot of other sports. Yeah,

00:33:10.328 --> 00:33:11.708
I guess so. And they've got the competition.

00:33:12.128 --> 00:33:18.148
Interestingly, there are actually a lot of other sports that are starting to pick up in popularity.

00:33:19.348 --> 00:33:22.368
In Australia, you mean? Yeah, in Australia and overseas.

00:33:22.828 --> 00:33:26.408
Basketball is in Australia. That's gone. Well, basketball is huge in America.

00:33:26.568 --> 00:33:29.848
And it's getting huge here. And the soccer. Yes, soccer.

00:33:30.128 --> 00:33:33.808
How many schools are teaching, you know, doing soccer instead of football? Yeah.

00:33:34.228 --> 00:33:37.448
And it seems to be, now whether it's because of the difference,

00:33:37.668 --> 00:33:40.728
maybe that's why the AFL stopped the...

00:33:41.498 --> 00:33:47.858
The strongman type thing is becoming more titty-touch wood, but maybe the parents

00:33:47.858 --> 00:33:50.318
are saying, no, that's too rough for us, we're going to go for that.

00:33:50.678 --> 00:33:54.738
Although, soccer is not a fun game either. Oh, you can do your knees,

00:33:54.818 --> 00:33:57.258
you can do your ankles, you can do all sorts of injuries to the soccer.

00:33:57.258 --> 00:34:00.238
I think it's more of the shoulder-to-shoulder stuff.

00:34:01.198 --> 00:34:07.778
It's where they get the heavy contact in collisions, especially with concussion.

00:34:07.998 --> 00:34:11.218
I think when you've got people that can hit their heads together,

00:34:11.218 --> 00:34:16.078
like they do in AFL, that's where it's potentially very dangerous.

00:34:16.138 --> 00:34:22.618
And I think you've got to give them a hand up, a hand clap if you like, whatever.

00:34:23.098 --> 00:34:27.458
Pat on the back. That's that, pat on the back. Because I think that is the concussion

00:34:27.458 --> 00:34:30.498
area in football was getting real.

00:34:30.498 --> 00:34:34.458
Well, they've done a lot to try and eradicate concussion and really penalise

00:34:34.458 --> 00:34:39.058
players that tackle in a certain way or if they bump or if they do anything

00:34:39.058 --> 00:34:44.638
where the player that's on the end of it doesn't expect it, unexpected contact, that sort of thing,

00:34:45.358 --> 00:34:49.778
they're really clamping down on that by suspending players for lengthy periods of time.

00:34:49.858 --> 00:34:52.358
There are ones that are going to be… Trying to get people to say,

00:34:52.458 --> 00:34:55.858
hey, you better not do this because if you do, you're going to be out for a while. Yeah.

00:34:56.078 --> 00:34:58.198
But that's not stopping all concussions.

00:34:58.418 --> 00:35:01.398
And the reality is that… There's always going to be an accident.

00:35:02.378 --> 00:35:06.718
When you've got… It just happens. Body-to-body contact, it's going to happen sometimes.

00:35:07.218 --> 00:35:12.218
Yeah, a lot of the times they don't actually, if they do it and they know they're

00:35:12.218 --> 00:35:15.738
going to do it, like someone's bending over for the ball and someone comes in

00:35:15.738 --> 00:35:17.518
and shoulders them while their head's down.

00:35:17.738 --> 00:35:20.598
Now, that's fair enough. Or thinks they're knees in while they've got their head down.

00:35:20.838 --> 00:35:23.978
Exactly. You could actually make someone a paraplegic or a quadriplegic. Absolutely.

00:35:23.978 --> 00:35:29.098
But if it so happens that you're sort of both going for a mark and you're sort

00:35:29.098 --> 00:35:32.738
of bump, you're looking at something else and someone hit you from the other

00:35:32.738 --> 00:35:38.398
side, that's the sort of thing that I think. they've got to take into consideration.

00:35:39.689 --> 00:35:45.909
I think it's good on for doing it. Anyway, thank you for being with us and took and having a chat.

00:35:46.189 --> 00:35:50.409
It's a pleasure, Paul. I hope that I haven't disqualified myself from seeing

00:35:50.409 --> 00:35:51.469
you again before Christmas.

00:35:51.709 --> 00:35:54.509
Well, no, I will see you before Christmas. Are we going to do one about Christmas?

00:35:54.689 --> 00:35:57.409
We might do one. I think we always do everything. We always do something about

00:35:57.409 --> 00:35:58.709
Christmas. And we do a prediction one too.

00:35:59.189 --> 00:36:01.669
Well, yeah, well, you love your predictions, don't you? I do,

00:36:01.789 --> 00:36:04.289
actually. We never go back over those predictions, interestingly,

00:36:04.489 --> 00:36:07.169
to see whether we were right or wrong. Do we really want to know? No.

00:36:09.129 --> 00:36:16.189
Bye mate See you next time Have a good day Bye And to our loyal listeners Thank

00:36:16.189 --> 00:36:19.949
you very much for being with us And we look forward to being with you again

00:36:19.949 --> 00:36:24.209
shortly With another episode Have a great day Bye,

00:36:25.449 --> 00:36:30.249
Thank you for listening to Why Is It So Make sure you tune in to our next episode

00:36:30.249 --> 00:36:33.749
Remember it's your last defence But common sense.