I like that last sentence Kirsty lee.... the same sentence resonates with me quite frequently... good point!

Brian Lake, though, is not just kicking a footy around on a field. He is an elite sportsman, a professional. He is currently not under contract and highly underpaid by his club (probably due to salary cap limitations)... anyhow that is not really relevant. But a few people have alluded to his career as just playing footy. It's more than that. Refusing to accept that just diminishes the argument. Football might not be your focus in life but you can't dispute that it is a multi-million dollar industry based on consumer demand. I completely understand it when people post in frustration that football is such a trivial part of life... I too once really hated the sport (when I was exposed to rugby). But now I consider myself a fan. Most people who know me know that I tend to think too much about things and this doesn't exclude football. It is something that fascinates me because it brings so much about human nature to the fore. It brings out the best and worst in people.... both as fans as players. It generates a lot of healthy discussion: about morality (should a player play so passionately that he puts another players safety at risk? etc) and in OUR society... our safe peaceful war-free society we "need" this "conflict" in our lives to exercise our emotions and arguably our bodies. Brian Lake is not just playing footy... he is not just entertaining... he is a part of the process which helps us explore and deal with conflict. This needs to be acknowledged.

The fact that the media have decided that this aspect of his personal life is worthy of discourse is interesting and instead of being outraged by what this couple is doing we should take the opportunity to open up a larger discussion about it. All of us do things without properly considering the consequences. Most of us blame our busy lives: "I'm too busy to research all the pros and cons" and this couple are just the same. I get frustrated when people don't stop to think about what all the Coke they drink is doing to their bodies... we all have our focusses and our blind-spots.

I am not defending Mr and Ms Lake... I am hoping that something good might come out of this. As a viewer of many Footy shows i do see that often an issue (eg sexual harassment, think of Sam Newman's antics) is often given much needed attention and is discussed thoroughly and often intelligently (believe it or not) and often the people who need to hear it most actually sit up and pay attention because it's all in the name of football. Does this make sense? Not meaning to be an intellectual snob... but the average person needs an interesting context to bother giving anything that doesn't directly affect them more than a seconds thought Footy IS an interesting context to millions of people, like it or not. That's why it gets the advertisers dollars. If it's footy then people take notice. We should learn to do what they already know: spring-board our own agenda off the foot of the footballer! Write to Sam's Mail Bag girls... if you really want a chance at expressing your concern. Don't expect a good reaction... but even a bad reaction can be good: "Any publicity is good publicity" and all.