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Post by Kathryn on Feb 23, 2007 4:50:49 GMT -5
Topic: We are a nation of bad sports Definition: Australians, as a society, are a country of sore losers Points:- Australians hate to lose
- We are a culture where we always want to will- it is always about winning for us.
- Any sportsmen/women who under perform are kicked off the team.
- Sponsers are not going to support an athlete when they are not successful at their chosen sport.
This is the topic for my teams first debate of the year and what I was hoping for is some help with some points that our team can cover on this topic. Points against this topic will be greatly appreciated too as it can help us prepare for what the negative team will come up with! Hope you guys can help!
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Post by bbqsandwich on Feb 23, 2007 16:06:42 GMT -5
Well, geez...I don't know many australians. Yeah, some of them have attitude when they lose, but that really sounds like a sweeping generalization to say "country of sore losers."
How about the late Steve Irwin...whenever a croc got a peice of him, he just took it as a joke and was more careful the next time.
As for sports specifically, Australia has some of the best swimmers in the world outside of South Africa and the USA...I don't follow many sports, but it seems like Aussies do pretty well in the international sports competitions...biking, rugby, etc.
So maybe they're entitled to a little attitude?
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Post by Admin on Feb 23, 2007 20:49:18 GMT -5
- Australians hate to lose
- We are a culture where we always want to will- it is always about winning for us.
Maybe combine these two points and expand on it a bit. Most cultures don't like losing, and most sports are all about winning. Maybe explain why Australians are more against loosing than others, if you guys are. [/li][li]Any sportsmen/women who under perform are kicked off the team.[/quote] I suppose they should be happy that they aren't living in Saddam-era Iraq. Athletes who underpreformed and lost a match where killed. [/li][li]Sponsers are not going to support an athlete when they are not successful at their chosen sport. [/li][/ul][/quote] That's true of any country. How about the late Steve Irwin...whenever a croc got a peice of him, he just took it as a joke and was more careful the next time. It could just depend on the individual too. Some people are more resiliant than others.. no matter where you are. So maybe they're entitled to a little attitude? I'd prefer good sportsmanship  |
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Post by bbqsandwich on Feb 24, 2007 18:32:02 GMT -5
I have an ironic example of bad sportsmanship on the part of an Australian...
An Australian e-athlete of some repute, known as Decca, is captain of his team and well-respected throughout his sport -- ask Voltage if you're curious about exactly what "sport" I'm referring to -- however, he displayed terribly bad sportsmanship not once, but twice the other day while playing a pickup game on his home field.
Noticing that a "teammate" (actually, a respected member of a rival team who happened to be playing on the same side for the purposes of the recreational match) of his was not paying attention, Decca robbed his more l337 (skilled) teammate of the ability to score, a clear breach of the commonly-accepted ethics of the game.
The teammate, once he became undistracted and ended his phone conversation, was angry at Decca's earlier mistreatment of him, and so he took a cheapshot (though not a permanently game-ending one) at Decca in reaction.
Rather than accept the blow as fitting payback for his own earlier mistakes, Decca flew into one of his famous fits of rage and kicked the other player off the field completely, in an extremely embarassing fashion, and with no discussion and no warning -- another clear violation of basic civility.
If anyone needs translations/ interpretations of the events, ask and I'll translate this narrative into l337 for ya.
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