And on the topic of boozing athletes....

The biggest topic so far in the NRL season has been that of the boozing footballer. On one side we have had the usual moral outrage of the tired old sports journos who hate footballers and think they should all be banned from drinking, on the other we have had the unabashed apologists who think that our poor downtrodden footballers are being picked on.

And to both sides I say "Shut the fuck up"

The idea of a "booze ban" on NRL players is completely illogical and could never work. To suggest that a guy like Todd Carney would be told "it's in your contract so you can't drink" and actually comply is a complete joke. The players that would comply are not the ones going around causing troubles (this would include the majority of players). The minority that go around tinkering with 17 year olds and playing tags with a groupie in a pub toilet are exactly the ones that would ignore the ban anyway.

However, to say that footballers are young men being held to unfair scrutiny and double standards is an equally dumb position to take. There were so many ex-player types in the media suggesting with a straight face that Brett Stewart was hard done by and copped an extra harsh punishment becaue he was "The face of the League". Well, no one was holding a gun to his head there, were they? He agreed to let the League spend a couple of mill centering their whole advertising campaign around him, money that they can definitely not afford to waste with clubs on the brink of busto even before this recession started. So if he signs on for this, he must expect to be held to higher standards.

The same concept applies for footballers and athletes in general. Don't get me wrong, the "athletes are role models" argument trotted out by every predictable sports columnist is a lazy, stupid postion to take. Kids can admire athletes for what they do on the field, but only the biggest bogan parent would actually suggest that their kids should model their behaviour after someone because they are good at tackling people. Role model should be a job for parents, and probably teachers. That's the list.

While I don't think that athletes should be role models, they must also understand that the reason they get paid at all is because people care about the sport they play. If you are the 86th best player in the NRL, everyone knows who you are and you are making around 100-150 k a year. If you are the 86th best javelin thrower in the world, no-one knows who the fuck you are and you make nothing. This means you will get media attention- if you weren't well known, again, you'd get nothing from playing league and lets face it, a lot of NRL players aren't exactly rolling in other quality job prospects. Sponsors and many potential spectators are turned off by with drunken dickheads and that threatens the livelihood and earning potential of all the non-drunken dickheads playing the game. So while there is a double standard in whats expected in your off field behaviour compared to a local plumber, this double standard is really the reason you get paid to play a game. It might be unfair, but it sure beats the shit out of digging ditches for a living, so deal with it.