Sports clubs used to be pretty adept at cutting blokes back to size.
Lairs with “tickets” had to earn their stripes.
I vividly recall Drew Morphett on the wireless one night “introducing” a debutante…he feigned a look in the Record for the player’s number, then hesitated as he spotted him running on to the field.
“We won’t miss him. Yellow boots son. You’ll wanna be good”!
(those were days when black was de rigueur)
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I thought of this the other night when “The Big Show” came in to bat at 3 for the Test side. Responding to (chasing??!) a patient Pakistan foundation, Maxwell tried the reverse sweep early and perished soon after.
Hmmm. Is this tall poppy syndrome or showbagging?
“Fabulous” Phil walked, nay strutted, the walk…on an admittedly fine line.
Daics was a marvel.
The Kid was “Demolition Dermie”.
Ali, of course, was The Greatest.
But there are many cases of the reputation exceeding the reality.
I reckon a lot flat track bullys always seem to have been pretty happy with themselves, Graeme Hick,Greg Richie,Michael Bevan
Indeed, no shortage of examples across all sports…..one can go back to those who wore the ankle strapping outside the sock, witness Peter Yeo at Port, to support this notion
The ‘Scud’ promised so much, and there were the occasional flashes of brilliance, but they were rare, considering the talent he allegedly had.
Glen!
Watto!!
Dr: I know what you mean re Yeo – I remember a bloke at Nwd (Poulter?) who was ridiculously oiled as he emerged with his perm and was not seen much thereafter (a bit of a joke amongst opposition fans)
Dips: you have to get over Watto. He doesn’t push his own barrow excessively.
My thoughts here were more to do with nicknames/hype etc – Steffenson is more appropriate to this conversation than Michael Bevan who couldn’t help getting picked in a different format – he was never promoted asBasher Bevo!
Crio, My mate Noel and I were en route to the Bay to see the mighty Redlegs v Glenelg,,,,it was a cold day I recall and we dropped into a hostelery along Anzac Hwy….about midday and we saw Poulter knocking back what looked liked brandies (Gilt Edge most likely)….I made the comment to my mate that I was surprised that Poulter was not playing as nothing in the “Tiser to that effect
To our surprise he ran out from the race, with what appeared to be a warm glow notwithstanding the conditions……needless to say played a serviceable game…he hailed from St Marys in the NT I believe….
Dips,
I’m with you on this but how about Watto’s physio , not a great record for keeping him on the park
Mike Poulter was from Waratahs, I think. Quite the Afro he sported in the day. Immortalised in that picture with Bob Hammond from the 75 GF that was on the cover of the ’tiser sporting photos of the century, or some such.
People with missile related nicknames tend to end up on the wrong side of the sausage / sizzle divide – Magnussen, Philippoussis and dare I say Eddie Hocking. That said, the Poo did make two grand slam finals and won a Davis Cup final off his own racquet on clay in France, so he went ok when the moment took him.
If Tom Boyd had played sufficient games to actually earn a nickname, we could include him.
‘Missile’ Magnussen and Jana Pittman/Rawlinson/Pittman both trod the line very finely. That said, I had a great deal of respect for how Pittman rather quietly went about a career change and ended up tackling the bobsled in the Winter Olympics. She showed a lot of guts.
I always felt Mark Webber’s slightly snooty aloofness wasn’t matched by results. I think deep down he envied Seb Vettel’s ability to back up his cockiness. How many times did Webber make a poor start off the grid? Or crash when ahead of the field?
But right now Bernard Tomic is the biggest ‘showbag’ in Australian sport. All the talent, but none of the heart. Most modern male tennis greats start to enter the top echelon at 21/22. A couple of wasted years (admittedly injury hasn’t help) means that at 22 Bernard has his work cut out to make it into the top 10.
cowshedend – I’m not sure about Graeme Hick. The knock on him was confidence according to a few of his old teammates.
Dave, you couldn’t say that about AUFC legend Egils ‘The Latvian Warhead’ Olekalns
I wouldn’t dare, Swish. As his nickname relates only to the payload rather than the propulsion mechanism, my hastily devised rule would not apply…
Where does the ‘Man’ fit in this conversation ?
Glen!