As ever, there is endless hoopla over the UFC coming to Sydney again, and someone called Dana White – a bully recently filmed slapping his wife – has been here promoting it this week.
As discussed, it is an even more appalling “sport” than boxing. The aim of the UFC game is, with minimum safety rules, to inflict maximum damage on your opponent’s body and brain while the crowd yells for more. The inevitable end result is legions of brain-damaged people coming out the back end, while the crowd yells for endless new blood up the front end.
All agreed? Any questions?
’Cos I have a key one: Why the hell is the NSW taxpayer subsidising this unacceptable, brutal sport to the tune of $16 million? The answer given so far is because it will bring in so much extra turnover to the NSW economy that it will be all worth it, you’ll see.
Seriously? What would we need in terms of extra expenditure on hotels, restaurants etc by people coming from outside the state to get back the money put out for this taxpayer funded cage-fighting? I’ll go with squillions.
You’ll recall this same kind of argument was used for the Supercars at Homebush a decade and a bitty ago to spend $80 million in making a track, and that folded after just a few years. And, of course, the same bodgy kind of figures were used to justify new stadiums. They just don’t stack up.
Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland headline Sunday’s UFC card in Sydney.Credit: AP
I say again: if you put a special all-seeing camera on top of Centrepoint Tower, capable of spotting the areas of greatest need around the state for public monies, who truly thinks the map of NSW would show up with throbbing red lights at the new Penrith Stadium, for greyhound racing – which the NSW Government also subsidises – and bloody UFC, where most of the profits go overseas anyway?
Dana White, they reckon, is worth $500 million. So why are we kicking into his tin?
Get in the bin.
Will Dutton play Trump card on transgender athletes?
Meantime?
Meantime you will recall the regular bouts of tabloid hysteria that have arisen in Australia over the last few years claiming that transgender athletes are over-running the sports of women and girls and becoming a general danger to shipping.
The previous government of Scott Morrison tried to whip up the mob on it going into the 2022 election, with the key problem being that whatever the bovver-boy boffins were shrieking at the time, it was not truly a grassroots issue at the time.
As Liz Ellis has pointed out, when Netball Australia sent out half a million questionnaires asking for feedback from netballers on improvements they sought, not a single one named transgender athletes as a problem. Nor was there a single other sport, nor sporting CEO, who had called on the government to introduce a legislative ban on transgender athletes.
In the best Australian fashion, the broad view seemed to be “live and let live”, and that inclusive Australian sport should be able to accommodate everyone, whatever their gender. With Morrison’s departure, the issue sputtered and died for a time, until re-emerging this week.
For you see, in America, President Trump signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from competing in women’s sport.
“The war on women’s sports is over,” Trump grandly announced, implying that the hulking battalions of women born as men heading the way of little girls and mature women in women’s dressing rooms had been stopped cold because of his own magnificence. So the war on women’s sports is over? More to the point, is that in Trumpian America, the war on vulnerable minorities is only just beginning and transgender athletes are the easiest targets of all.
The question is whether Australian politics, which is now flirting with Trumpism will try to resuscitate it as an issue and the early evidence is that it will. First out of the blocks was Opposition Leader Peter Dutton on Sky, making it clear that if elected, a Dutton government might indeed try and play the Trump card.
US president Donald Trump signs an executive order barring transgender female athletes from competing in women’s or girls’ sporting events.Credit: AP
“I just don’t believe in discriminating against anyone,” Dutton told Peta Credlin, “not on the basis of anything, and for young girls not to be able to achieve their Olympic dream, their pathway to a World Cup, or to be displaced from a team, because, you know, somebody has a physiological advantage over them. I just don’t think that that’s in the spirit of sport.”
Who could disagree, Mr Dutton?
But here’s the question. Do you have some examples in Australia where a young woman has had her Olympic or World Cup dreams shattered because a transgender athlete has taken her place? Can you name an Australian sport where the CEO or chair has called on you to do something, because we are being over-run by hulking hordes?
Or is this, in fact, just warmed-over toxic sludge from America that had no takers in 2022, but for which you’re hoping to find a market in 2025?
What They Said
Sam Konstas’ older brother, Billy gave the quote of the summer: “When we were kids, dad took us to a bowling machine for the first time. He set it to 90 miles per hour, thinking it was 90 kilometres per hour. Despite the speed, Sam hit the ball right out of the middle. That experience helped him develop confidence against fast bowling from a young age.”
Usman Khawaja on the sacking of Peter Lalor by SEN: “Standing up for the people of Gaza is not antisemitic nor does it have anything to do with my Jewish brothers and sisters in Australia, but everything to do with the Israeli government and their deplorable actions. It has everything to do with justice and human rights. Unfortunately, hatred towards the Jewish and Muslim community will always exist. Pete is a good guy with a good heart. He deserves better.” I agree. Lalor is a fine journalist of impeccable integrity, who has distinguished himself outside his career by putting his time and energy to progressive causes.
Luis Rubiales kisses Jenni Hermoso on the podium after the World Cup final.Credit: Getty
Spanish footballer Jenni Hermoso at the trial of former Spanish football chief Luis Rubiales on the kiss he gave her after the 2023 World Cup Final, which “stained one of the happiest days of my life”: “My boss was kissing me, and this shouldn’t happen in any social or work setting. I didn’t hear or understand anything. The next thing he did was to grab me by the ears and kiss me on the mouth. A kiss on the lips is only given when I decide so. No one came to ask me how I was.”
The Chilean tennis federation after a crazy end to their tie against Belgium: “We have no words to describe the unsportsmanlike situation that occurred in the Davis Cup when the Belgian player Zizou Bergs ATTACKED Cristian Garin in a change of sides. Whether intentionally or not — see for yourselves — he hit Garin in the eye and shoulder. The referee washed his hands, ruining the series and all of Garin’s effort.” Not happy, Juan.
Mitch Marsh still terrorised by Jasprit Bumrah: “Actually my little nephew Ted, he’s four years old, we played backyard cricket the other day. He came in with Bumrah’s action, and the nightmare continued!”
Travis Head on how he just went for it and became a completely different player: “I was very fortunate, very lucky that it was able to pay off on the first day I tried to make that shift . . . It quite easily could have been one more series and back to South Australia. So I understood that, I was fine with that. If it was 25 Tests and done, at least I gave it a crack. Very pleased it worked that day, and very pleased with how consistent I’ve been at it.”
OCOG President, Andrew Liveris on welcoming Greg Norman on board: “I am absolutely delighted. What better Australian sports brand is there than Greg Norman? What better Queensland sports brand than Greg Norman? He will help put our state and our city on the global map over the next seven years.” Shoot me.
Fernando Roig, CEO of Spanish soccer team Villarreal on their turnaround: “We have not hired Ted Lasso to make a big change.”
Pantomime villain of the summer Danielle Collins at the Australian Open: “It was a tough crowd, and I figured if I’m going to be out here, I better take home that bigger paycheck. Thanks for the paycheck, Australia.” I liked her moxie.
Donald Trump on banning transgender women from women’s sport: “With this executive order, the war on women’s sports is over.” And the war on vulnerable minorities is just beginning. (See item above.)
Matildas captain Sam Kerr during her cross-examination in a London court, as she fights one charge of racially aggravated harassment of a police officer: “The point I was trying to get across was I felt like they were treating me differently and not believing me and treating me as a person who had done something wrong, because they were in a position of power, and I believed they were treating me differently because of the colour of my skin.”
Wales coach Warren Gatland after their 43-0 loss to France: “I don’t think it was an entirely bad day at the office.” And what would a bad day look like then, Warren?
Team of the Week
Travis Head and Annabel Sutherland. Are the Allan Border and Belinda Clark Medallists, respectively.
Kansas City and Philadelphia. Contesting the Super Bowl this weekend.
Australian Davis Cup team. Defeated Sweden and will now host Belgium in September.
Waratahs. Open their Super Rugby season next Friday against the Highlanders.
Malabar Magic Ocean Swim. Supporting Rainbow Club Australia, it is on next Sunday at Malabar Beach, over distances from one to five kilometres, for swimmers of all abilities, from seasoned ocean competitors to first-time swimmers wanting to get fit and enjoy the summer – an aquatic city to surf, with focus on helping those with disabilities.
Extreme E. This new electric off-road racing series – told yers electric racing would take off! – which claims to have “equality and sustainability” at its core, has been going for four years and involves eight teams of men and women drivers, racing in rough country. The interesting thing is that having crunched the numbers this week, female drivers have closed the speed gap with their male counterparts by an incredible near 70%”.
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