tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6193495965695124697.post6031737919819183278..comments2024-03-29T01:10:34.095-07:00Comments on The Old Batsman: A little bit pregnantThe Old Batsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14376172807195747856noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6193495965695124697.post-48634682831714820752009-11-24T16:32:25.722-08:002009-11-24T16:32:25.722-08:00The hypocrisy over Henry has been funny more than ...The hypocrisy over Henry has been funny more than anything else. <br /><br />The press innvoking moral righteousness is always a cause for amusement. After all, this is a highly secular society now and we must have some moral guidance from somewhere.Vimnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6193495965695124697.post-5223381713684983252009-11-24T16:29:44.483-08:002009-11-24T16:29:44.483-08:00Strauss doesn't seem to know if he has 'co...Strauss doesn't seem to know if he has 'conceivably' caught or grounded a catch either. Doesn't stop him claiming though.<br /><br />It was Clarke who claimed a catch he may have 'conceivably' not known he had caught or not.Vimnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6193495965695124697.post-29206169547150251572009-11-24T03:01:11.380-08:002009-11-24T03:01:11.380-08:00Apologies if you know this or have read it already...Apologies if you know this or have read it already, OB, but the issue of relative sporting morality is well-discussed in Chapter 10 of 'What Sport Tells Us About Life' by Ed Smith, which I happen to have just read.<br /><br />Personally I thought the fuss over Henry's actions was overdone and wholly hypocritical. As one or two<br />people (Steve Bruce for one) pointed out, if an English (or Irish) player had done the same it would have been condemned, but only in a limited way and would have been excused on the basis that England were cheated by Maradona in 1986.Brian Carpenterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10336241250446877498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6193495965695124697.post-25275406135880540462009-11-23T03:18:29.768-08:002009-11-23T03:18:29.768-08:00Tony,
there was one over here, and I can't re...Tony,<br /><br />there was one over here, and I can't remember who the batsman was, which he took at second slip, *conceivably* he might not have known it had bounced. But there was the Dhoni one in the infamous Harbhajan-Symonds match too?The Old Batsmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14376172807195747856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6193495965695124697.post-2961507413134339392009-11-22T05:51:53.115-08:002009-11-22T05:51:53.115-08:00Indeed, OB. I think the rugby example - you get a ...Indeed, OB. I think the rugby example - you get a longer ban for blood-faking than for eye-gouging - most clearly shows the gap between sporting internal morality and everyday morality. ie. sneakiness is a greater sin than brutal, repulsive violence.<br /><br />The fuss over the Henry handball is way OTT - a thousand instances of cheating occur in any match - this one just happened to be decisive. But if you've played football you'll know that deliberate handballing IS considered a worse crime than hacking at someone's legs. The latter is just a natural extension of aggressive tackling, whereas handballing goes against the very footbally nature of football. Most people, when playing football, actually don't have the instinct to handle it like that.Brithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6193495965695124697.post-46192850535152759942009-11-21T15:26:42.295-08:002009-11-21T15:26:42.295-08:00TOB
I take your point about the relative equivale...TOB<br /><br />I take your point about the relative equivalence of walking, claiming catches, hand-balls, etc, and their weight vis-a-vis the various cultures of different sports. <br /><br />On that basis, I'd suggest diving for penalties is the clearest equivalent to a hand-ball.<br /><br />Speaking of the French; this time on the receiving end. I'd also throw in the incident in which the German keeper Harald Schumacher flattened a French player in the 1982 ('86?) world cup semi-final.<br /><br />By the way, what catch has Ricky Ponting claimed that clearly bounced in front of him?Tonyhttp://aftergrogblog.blogs.com/agb/2009/11/main-dieu.htmlnoreply@blogger.com