Roosters come home to roost

I wouldn’t want to be Mitchell Pearce just now. And that’s not just because he plays for the Roosters (although that’s part of it).

Imagine the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever done… or perhaps that should read “remember the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever done.”

How many people knew about what you did?

Even if it got plastered all over social media, how far and wide did it spread?

Because from now on, Mitchell’s got a few nicknames that are going to stick with him for life… and one of them will start with the word dog.

He follows in that growing tradition of sports people and celebrities who become notorious for one reason or another and get stuck with a great big scarlet letter on their foreheads.

Like I said… I really, REALLY, wouldn’t want to be Mitchell Pearce just now.

Notice I DIDN’T say, poor Mitchell Pearce. He is the architect of his current situation. The repercussions he is experiencing are the consequences of his own actions.

Pearce went way beyond acceptable limits in his behaviour with the woman in the video, who, amazingly enough, was not attracted to his ability to wet his pants, and her couch, and simulate sex with her dog.

There is no defence that can be (apologies in advance for this next word) mounted for his behaviour towards her.

But I have to say the rest of it… the wetting of pants, even the pretending to have sex with the dog… I’ve seen or heard of that and worse many times before. And no I’m not excusing it, I’m making another point entirely.

In the rush to outrage, many sports writers have forgotten to mention the stories I imagine they’ve all heard, and some of the antics they’ve witnessed first hand, by sports people (and that’s almost exclusively by sportsMEN) in local sporting clubs around the nation.

Sports clubs… particularly team sports clubs … particularly men’s footy clubs of all codes… are one of the last bastions where boys can be boys, where “being boys” means to feel free and even encouraged to continually outdo each other by setting new standards in “you’ll never believe what thing-a-me just did.”

As a previous sports journo and a bloke who’s been around a few sporting clubs, I have to say the public wetting of pants ISN’T all that extreme. Some years ago, primarily at B&S balls, it wasn’t uncommon for some guys to try and outdo each other by doing “the rash” in which they’d watch to see who’s self-urination left the broadest stain on their daks. Renaissance men, they were. And that story is in no way the worst I could tell.

But I don’t include that account to embarrass anyone, only to say that dopey, boorish and socially unacceptable behaviour is not new to sporting teams, and is definitely not limited to those at the elite level. I need to point out that disrespecting and mistreating women is a whole separate category again from just being a jerk.

But just with regards to stupid, outlandish and you might even say disgusting behaviour, I won’t feign outrage because I used to laugh myself silly at some of the ridiculous things I heard of guys doing. I even egged some guys on to do a few ridiculous things, and the only reason I didn’t do a lot of them myself is probably that I’m a a bit boring, bland and vanilla… and besides my toilet training as a kid took so long I didn’t want to undo all that good work.

Some have suggested that grog is a problem for Pearce and for some other players that get into trouble. No schiesse, herr Sherlock. But so what. If drink is a problem and you are earning big dollars, then make the decision which you prefer… continuing to get the dollars or continuing to get on the drink.

But the grog’s not the real issue. And neither is social media, which I haven’;t mentioned until now because it’s like air… it’s everywhere and just assume that it will always be there. Perhaps the bigger problem is that many elite players don’t make the connection between the amount they get and what is then required of them.

When D grade footy players from Uppercumbuckta West do something outrageous (and again, I’m not talking about anything that harms another person) then the damage they do will be to their own reputation, and potentially that of the club. If he’s lucky he may pick up a few hundred dollars in match payments in a winning game, and maybe he might be fined some of that, but it’s unlikely.

At the top level, an NRL footy player earning upwards of $700,000 gets that money for a lot of reasons, and talent is only one of those. A great player helps sides win matches, and success is good for a club.

But a successful club wants to have people love the club. Bad publicity leads to less bums on seats, less people buying merchandise, less sponsors wanting to be associated with the club. There are many hard working people, struggling with a mortgage and all of the other assorted costs of living, who earn a tenth (or less) of what these guys are earning. And should some of those guys stuff up, there are usually repercussions too although the publicity is on far less a scale.

When a top level sports person receives the big bucks, someone should draw them  a pie chart and explain that THIS much relates to your skill and THIS much relates to not being a dickhead. If you drop off a little in form, you may get a contract somewhere else for a bit less. But if you do something that makes you a pariah, you may lose THE LOT.

Sport is filled with the stories of both those that have a huge public stuff up that leads them to a “Road to Damascus” realisation and reform, and those that just continue to think their ability  alone is enough and that the big bucks don’t come with an expectation of an amazing amount of attention and conditions.

Time will tell which group Mitchell Pearce belongs to.