What's mildly amusing you today?

[ZenGum]

Mildly amusing me today (although I suspect it will wear thin over the next few weeks) is the media hysteria surrounding the Melbourne Storm.
The Storm are a rugby league club, founded in the mid-1990s as part of the superleague shennanigans.
Turns out they have been deliberately cheating the salary cap. Careful, calculated, deliberate cheating; two sets of books, hidden in a secret file in the secret safe, kind of cheating. Been at it for years.
Now that it has come out, they have been thoroughly spanked: stripped of two premierships, three minor premierships, all associated prize money (well over $1 mil), fined $500,000, stripped of all this years points, and not eligible to win any points for the rest of this year.
Ouch. But still, they were deliberately cheating. It is quite possible that the club will collapse under this and never rise again.
I find it amusing for two reasons. The whole club was born when aggressive business muscled its way into sport. Now folks seem startled that they were doing business just like, well, business. No kiddin?
The other source of amusement is how the media are in a tizz about it all as if it really mattered. The Biggest Scandal in Australian Sport Evah!!!
Yawn.
Given what rugby league players get up to (steroids, drugs, drunkenness, public violence, rape, gang rape ...) this is really quite mild.

[xoxoxoBruce]

That's because you're not a fan. Imagine what LJ would do if it happened to the Cowboys.

[Griff]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

Given what rugby league players get up to (steroids, drugs, drunkenness, public violence, rape, gang rape ...) this is really quite mild.

American football has similar problems. I find the disconnects startling. The team I follow got rid of a guy for smoking dope but have so far hung on to a guy who is an unproven but obvious serial rapist.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

Mildly amusing me today (although I suspect it will wear thin over the next few weeks) is the media hysteria surrounding the Melbourne Storm.
The Storm are a rugby league club, founded in the mid-1990s as part of the superleague shennanigans.
Turns out they have been deliberately cheating the salary cap. Careful, calculated, deliberate cheating; two sets of books, hidden in a secret file in the secret safe, kind of cheating. Been at it for years.
Now that it has come out, they have been thoroughly spanked: stripped of two premierships, three minor premierships, all associated prize money (well over $1 mil), fined $500,000, stripped of all this years points, and not eligible to win any points for the rest of this year.
Ouch. But still, they were deliberately cheating. It is quite possible that the club will collapse under this and never rise again.
I find it amusing for two reasons. The whole club was born when aggressive business muscled its way into sport. Now folks seem startled that they were doing business just like, well, business. No kiddin?
The other source of amusement is how the media are in a tizz about it all as if it really mattered. The Biggest Scandal in Australian Sport Evah!!!
Yawn.
Given what rugby league players get up to (steroids, drugs, drunkenness, public violence, rape, gang rape ...) this is really quite mild.

That'll teach you to follow or care about League...

Should have been following Union.