Diving has reared it’s head once again with Ryan Babel’s rather ludicrous, if effective tumble against Birmingham last week.
And once again, every man and his dog is up in arms about how it’s bringing down society, instigating armegeddon, signalling the demise of humanity etc etc etc.
I used to wholeheartedly agree with the masses. I was most definatley on that particular bandwagon.
But now, I’m not so sure.
You see, the thing is, I’ve found myself questioning where the line is drawn between right and wrong when it comes to gaining yourself an advantage in sport.
It’s not as easy as you think.
On the face of it it is wrong. Wrong on every level. It is breaking a rule (simulation), it is against the ethos of the game, and it is gaining the upper hand unfairly.
But if these are the parameters from which we are to judge right and wrong, then, people, for an ordely cue and the rule change office. Sport as we know it will never be the same again.
Wherever you turn liberal treatment of the rules of the game are bent and pushed as far as they possible can be.
Rugby – that bastian of manly honesty. Where two teams of real men compete in gladitorial majesty; “may the best man win”…….my arse.
On friday I was unlucky enough to witness Wales almost give it away against a spritely, if unremarkable Samoa team in Cardiff.
And every time the referee blew his whistle, someone was doing something they shloudn’t have. Not by accident but in order to try and cheat the rules and gain an advantage. Hands in the ruck? illegal. Intentional. Pulling down the scrum? Illegal. Intentional. Offside, maybe not as blatant but pushing the limits none the less.
And it doesn’t stop there.
Cricket – sledging. F1 - crashing on purpose, NFL – any foul you wish to pick!
And I reckon, if you look into any sport you like you’ll find some sort of underhand tactic used to gain some kind of advantage.
But that’s gamesmanship. Apparently.
And to my mind gamesmanship is fine. In fact it’s good. It’s what makes sport the battle of body and mind that is loved by millions.
Diving is gamesmanship in exactly the same way. No difference at all. It just makes a noticeable difference.
It just changes a game in an instant.
