The Roar » Rugby League

Why sporting seasons should never cross paths

Chris Chard — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:20:55 +0000

Much of the talk in sports circles this week has revolved around Channel Nine’s scheduling clash between a One Day cricket international and an opening round NRL fixture. But can we really pin the blame for this on Sutcliffe, Spidercam and the boys at Nine?

Surely it’s the sports themselves, in this case perennial Prime Minister favourite, cricket, who have made the goof.

Cricket Australia made the clear decision to drag out its season by starting its ODI’s later than usual, which has caused it to stray into the territory of league season. And when it comes to sports seasons, there should be no such thing as a disputed territory.

Or should there?

Ask any Aussie sports fan old enough to sport an embarrassing moustache or ruffled suit picture in their wedding album and they will tell you footy runs from March to the end of September, with cricket filling the gap in between.

My old man, for one, refuses to budge on this stance and cannot muscle up the faintest bit of interest for any pre-season trial, tournament or All Star spectacular for any rugby league match that occurs before the 1st of March.

The only time I saw him bend ever so slightly on this principle was when the 2000 Olympics pushed the start of the NRL season forward to February, and even then he still complained like a sin binned Steve Roach whilst sweltering in his seat at the Homebush season opener.

Of course, this black and white view of sport is something that has begun to diminish in recent years, and in some parts of Australia is completely arse about.

For example, a look at the sports pages in February can find rugby league being played in Tasmania, Aussie Rules in the Northern Territory (NTFL) and sports like hockey being played everywhere.

Constantly.

On this note, can someone tell me when exactly hockey season is? Does it in fact have a season? Every time I speak to my brother law, at any time of the year, he seems to be sitting in his car at a hockey game waiting for his wife to stop belting other seemingly fearless women with heavy blunt wooden objects.

Then, of course, there are the sports like football* (*the artist formerly known as soccer) and basketball, which have flipped between seasons on a professional level for exposure purposes, yet remain at other levels in their traditional periods, giving them a strange year-round presence that leaves you not knowing whether you’re coming or going.

So is there something about a sport that ties it to a particular season?

I feel there is, and I rate watching a 50-over cricket international in the middle of winter at Etihad Stadium up there with standing in light drizzle at a taxi rank at 4am in Surfers Paradise on a Sunday morning on the depressing scale. Similarly, watching a game of football in temperatures too hot to actually wear a football jersey seems frankly absurd.

However, with sport a firm TV ratings winner and simultaneously increasingly reliant on television money, it’s unlikely things will revert back to their natural order any time soon. After all, the seasons are just man-made ideas anyway, and signing the kids up for footy/cricket/hockey on the same day would be convenient.

But would you please excuse me if I prefer to pine for the good old days of my footy in winter, my cricket in summer … and my hockey jammed everywhere in-between.

Vic_Arious@twitter.com

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Article link: Why sporting seasons should never cross paths. Written by Chris Chard, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

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