The Australia v India Racial Saga

Honestly – will this thing ever go away? I’m so over it I’m halfway to the moon, with a good portion of the nation as my travelling companions. Everyone everywhere has an opinion on the issue and these are as diverse as the two countries involved. No doubt it’s keeping cab drivers, hairdressers and shopkeepers everywhere occupied in engaging discussion for hours on end.

It’s getting to the stage now where it no longer matters who started it, who said what to whom and who heard him say it. It’s just a major hissy-fit on steroids. If the new season of Desperate Housewives has anywhere near half this much drama, it’s a shoe-in for a massive haul at the next Golden Globes.

The media of course has a lot to answer for as well. They love this kind of trash and will keep flogging it until some other poor unfortunate person comes along for them to flog instead.

Quite frankly, the teams on both sides are monkeys. Actually no, they’re gorillas in the mist – great hulking silverbacks beating their chests and jostling each other for the alpha male position. I swear a group of 10-year-olds could behave better than this. It’s just so very disappointing. It makes one want to rethink the whole theory of Darwinism. Did we really evolve from apes, or was it the other way around? Looking at this behaviour, I'm not so sure I know the correct answer any more.

The saddest thing about this whole situation is that the original issue of racism is a very serious one. Not only does racism have no place in sport, it has no place anywhere. Any person who says or does anything that deliberately excludes another person from the general pool of humanity in whatever form it may take – racism, sexism, ageism, religion, economic status, education level; and the plethora of pathetic excuses that seem to be used to justify appalling behaviour – should be punished in whatever way is appropriate under the law. Vilifying another human being on any basis whatsoever is simply a vile and cowardly act, and can never be condoned under any circumstances.

The problem is that now, it’s not about the racism thing any more. It’s back to being about winning the argument at all costs. The racism issue has simply been lost in the endless games of one-upmanship between the two teams and it’s become a pathetic standoff. Everyone becomes tainted with this nasty stain, with precious credibility and reputation being lost all around.

Both the Australian and Indian cricket teams should simply count themselves as fortunate that they have at their unfettered access a tribunal that can deal quickly with racism complaints on their behalf. What about the millions of ordinary people everywhere else who have to face this kind of evil on a daily basis; in their workplaces, their communities, in public and sometimes as part of inherent government policy? Tell me this – who is on TV demanding that respected judges or anyone else make determinations in favour of those ordinary people to soothe their bruised feelings and justify their whingeing at the expense of the taxpayer? Welcome to the real world. Toughen up princess.

I don’t think there’s a person on the planet who takes these guys as seriously as they take themselves, and their egos have been let off the leash for way too long now. Time to pull your heads in boys and just get on with it. You lead extremely privileged lives and are revered by millions of people for what you do. Have some sensitivity about how the rest of us might feel about it and get some perspective about your position.

When it all boils down to it, there’s not a woman in the country who hasn’t had a major eye roll over the whole thing and is ready to simply say this, “OK boys, line up in the playground, all facing this way. That’s right. No shoving down the end there. Now, when I count to three, drop your pants and we’ll get out the ruler”.