Reg Regan Rogered
I accept that I struggle to take myself seriously some of the time.
Blogging is not something that should be taken too seriously.
It does allow me to get away with using words like pissheads, fuckwits, and cheating Aussies. Often all at once too!
However, from time to time issues come up that need to be taken seriously and the Mathew Johns story is one of them.
Now, let’s get one thing straight.
Rugby league players are to intelligence what Italian soldiers are to bravery.
The phrase shit for brains would normally spring to mind yet I fair it’s a rather unflattery assessment of most shits.
What a potent combination – high profile, high powered athletes powered by high testosterone. They’re typically, young, fit, and readily available.
Like it or lump it, sportsmen and women have been a natural link for many decades – the only difference now is that the players get paid more and the media actually reports what goes on tour that no longer stays on tour.
I’m not going to make comments about what did happen or may have happened in Christchurch seven years ago.
Suffice to say, Johns has not denied what happened and on the surface it would seem fair to say that the police have investigated and found no cause to press charges.
Funnily enough, as far as John’s wife is concerned, it adds a different slant to the concept of “cheating Aussies”!
I’m not defending the morality of the situation or the undoubted impact on the young women concerned. Right now, any one of the Sharks players who were on that pre-season tour will be keeping a low profile.
While some in the media seem to have enjoyed the persecution of Johns – there is a perverse media delight in seeing one of their own go down (so to speak) – I have real issues with where this logically ends.
Does this mean that if the public at large finds other acts immoral then we should deal to those players.
What does that mean for gays? Muslims even? Heck, at this rate even vegetarians won’t be safe.
In no way am I defending the indefensible.
But nor can you logically defend soapbox justice when, according to the police, there hasn’t been a crime.
