Fairfax journalist Rohan Connolly says the “my game’s better than yours” discussions are pointless and urges everyone to be grateful of our sporting diversity and celebrate their successes.
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Few sporting discussions are as tedious as the perennial “my game’s better than yours” competition, over the years one fought between AFL and rugby league, but in recent summers between cricket and soccer.
Hopefully, the weekend will have provided enough evidence how futile, unnecessary and anachronistic these dick-swinging contests have become.
Sydney hosted a Big Bash and an A-League derby on Saturday night. The crowds were significant, just under 40,000 turning up to the SCG for the cricket, and even more to Allianz Stadium for the soccer.
In Sydney, not noted for its dedication to attending live sport, that was no mean feat. But surely also more proof that there’s room for people to enjoy more than one.
It was underlined in Melbourne again on Saturday night, too, when a run-of-the-mill A-League clash between Melbourne Victory and Brisbane Roar pulled more than 21,000, not a whole lot less than the MCG crowd yesterday for the Australia-Pakistan ODI.
There’s fewer and fewer sports fans in this town that don’t have an interest in most winter and summer sports. And hardly any among the next generation. Ask a kid today who they barrack for, and the odds are you won’t just hear the name of an AFL club, but one in the A-League, the BBL, the NBL and probably as many in other parts of the world.
That’s something to be celebrated, not scoffed at. And those who still see this game or that as some mythical enemy to be criticised at every available opportunity increasingly look like dinosaurs.
The world continues to change at a rapid rate, but sport, in this country remains as big a constant as ever, and getting bigger still. Let’s be grateful for that diversity, and enjoy the successes of all of them.