Oh lucky country! Where are all the good idols ?

This post is about my newly adopted country, Australia; a land that's been referred to as the "Lucky country" oh so many times. Its the land of plenty, with temperate climate, multi-cultural atmosphere; a thriving and sustainable economy and most of all, the land where sport resides in practically everyone's blood. Oh, but one moment! Granted sport is widely followed and talked about over here, but I have reservations about the people who serve this land of plenty in whatever sport it is that they represent.

Three days ago, such a hoopla was raised about Australia's shock defeat at the hands of the "ultimate" minnows Zimbabwe in a game of "twenty-20 cricket". For those who're not familiar with the concept, its a cricket match involving two teams that bat 20 overs a side; scoring runs with shots created more out of madness than out of skill. Ok, so they lost one game; it was a good wake-up call... but why the fuss ? Every darn newspaper, even the 20 odd page free newspaper "MX" distributed freely in the underground stations of Town-hall, Wynyard and other stations that make up the holy grail of the "city circle" line screamed "shame!" as the title for their shocking defeat.

Which makes me wonder; for a land which has consistently proved to have a better annual per capita income of superpowers like UK or even the USA, and where many of the unsung heroes are scientists, doctors and the lot who work tirelessly to bring about ways to cure 21st century's prime scourge; CANCER, it sure attaches a great deal more importance to a lame game of childlike cricket. If only it would stop at that... here we have kids being drilled with the importance of inculcating sport into their mundane lives idolizing footy (the rough, gruff and rowdy version which is more popularly known as rugby) stars. Who are these people afterall ?Well, for the most part, in a different time and under different circumstances, atleast 60% would be spending atleast a year in a Juvenile detention centre for attention deficit problems, coupled with history of abuse, violence and the lot. In other words; boofheads! Yes, these are the people that the kids here idolize... only to be crushed at the discovery of several skeletons that have found their way out of these so-called "legends" ' closets. Most notable in recent times, is the startling admission of drug-taking by Andrew Johns, arguably the best player to have graced Rugby League's haven.

Just what lessons do these people teach today's kids ? From what I can see, not a lot I would say. Why is this nation so obssessed with sport to the point that kids would rather choose footy stars as their inspiration as opposed to the unsung heroes who use their intellect, wisdom and years of research and learning to put to good use for the common good of humanity. Where, oh and why have these heroes not got what they justifiably deserve ?