The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
The Forum - On Line Opinion's article discussion area



Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Main Articles General

Sign In      Register

The Forum > Article Comments > The death of Phillip Hughes: cricket's 'Diana' moment? > Comments

The death of Phillip Hughes: cricket's 'Diana' moment? : Comments

By Duncan Stone, published 8/12/2014

Only a miniscule minority who are currently grieving ever met the man, let alone knew him well.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. All
Phillip Hughes meant absolutely nothing to the majority of people, it was the media which day after day of reporting was sickening to say the least, almost to the stage of not buying the papers talking about him, he was not the first person to die young.
Tony Abbott and Bill Shorten should have been in Parliament than attending a cricketers funeral, let's be honest he was after all only a cricketer, did he save lives by some means, no he didn't, flowers etc placed at venues by people who never knew him
Is ridiculous, give the money spent to charities and look after the living, not the dead.
Get over these celebrity deaths media witers, one hates to think of the six months of paper rubbish when the old Queen dies, who wants to hear day after day of drivel, it will then be time to not buy any newspaper or turn the TV set on.
Posted by Ojnab, Monday, 8 December 2014 9:16:01 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
It is indeed sad that we lost a young, dashing cricketer in Phillip Hughes.

However, besides the media's over-reaction, the reaction of Cricket Australia (CA) was over the top, if not farcical.

CA had no hesitation in dropping Phillip Hughes from the Test Team, when it saw fit. Yet, when Phillip died, CA went to the extent of cancelling the First Test against the visiting Indian team, something that Phillip would not have wished, given his sporting spirit and love for the game, and the mental and physical strength of his fellow players .

And, as Phillip would have told them if asked, it is silly, if not reckless, of CA to reschedule the Brisbane Test such that 20 days of intense Test cricket are force-fitted into a 33-day, hot-summer period. Let's hope that no players do their 'hammies' as a result of CA's ineptitude.
Posted by Raycom, Monday, 8 December 2014 9:42:32 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
The comments by the author accord with mine . The sad death of Philip Hughes was for grieving by his family and friends , with only passing relevance for the majority of the population .

An appropriate response by the cricketing industry would be to ban bouncers outright , with any offenders being suspended for long periods with forfeiture of match payments . This will not happen .

The choreographed grieving for Diana Spencer [ whose sole contribution to the world was as a breeding partner for the sole male offspring of the English monarch ] was nauseating . It was designed both to encourage public support for the continuation of the taxpayer funded position of the Windsor family and to produce profits for those in the media who report on their irrelevant activities .

The media inspired outrage at the prank call to the London hospital , where another Windsor breeding partner was confined , was similarly unjustified . It should have been treated as the silly prank that it was and forgotten .

The unfortunate nurse who took the call in naïve good faith was hounded to her death by the enforcers of the Windsor family and their sycophants . Now , another Windsor scion seeks public admiration by handwriting a letter of sympathy to the widower of the nurse . If the nurse had dismissed the call and it turned out , in reality , to be the Queen , she would have been severely punished for disloyalty .
Posted by jaylex, Monday, 8 December 2014 10:05:17 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Where was these peoples grief when our troop's or police die.
Hundreds of Aussie die in work place accidents each year, why does Mr Hughes get special treatment.......

The media of this country is hopeless.
Posted by Cobber the hound, Monday, 8 December 2014 11:33:55 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
I think the death of any young person for any reason is a tragedy. And those that knew and loved this apparently very popular young man; even more so!

But why did he die? Well, a technical error!
Of all the things one does when facing a sharply rising ball, taking the eye of the ball is not one of them; nor turning the head, so that the ball is able to hit that part of the head not protected!

The problem here is instinctive reflexes, learned at a very young age.

Now let me say I've played and umpired, when there were no helmets; and can see no prospect of the bouncer ever being banned!

Better that players should learn and develop their essential reflexes at a very young age, when they first start cricket.

And this is down in the nets day after day, with their only protection the willow; where they would face served wet tennis balls that sting enough to hone those reflexes; and sort the whimps from the gladiators, who go on to play professional cricket; along with all the inherent risks.

You don't protect your wicket with your shins, your testicles, your hands or your head; just the willow!
And if that is taught as the very first and founding principle, we will see far less injuries in cricket.

Cricket is a very simple game that goes, see ball hit ball!
And learn to keep it on the ground so you can't be caught out.
And these is where we need to eliminate never ever played, nor even like the game, teachers who know little or nothing, yet are asked to coach, and indeed, teach/hone the basics/instinctive reflexes!

Simply put, and to overstate the blindingly obvious; young Phillip Hughes would be with us still and playing the game he loved most in the world, if he had simply ducked into the ball, and let the helmet wear most of the damage.
That being so; impossible to blame either the bowler or the bouncer!
Rhrosty.
Posted by Rhrosty, Monday, 8 December 2014 11:40:51 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Nice article. I'm glad it is not just me who is sickened by national outpourings of grief over people whom most of us have never heard of and certainly don't know intimately.
Posted by Rhys Jones, Monday, 8 December 2014 12:43:58 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
I sympathise with this article. 57 million people will die this year - 157,000 every day. Each week, more than a million die, and tens of millions are bereaved. People cope, as they have to, we could not have such outpourings for all.

Death is the inevitable consequence of life, and though Hughes' death was unfortunate, sad and regrettable, I can't understand the extent of the response to it. As a Pom, accidentally emigrating in 1979, I could not believe the outpouring for Princess Diana - it didn't seem to reflect the country I'd left. But life goes on, and things change, including responses to celebrity deaths.
Posted by Faustino, Monday, 8 December 2014 1:16:37 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Can someone please advise how to stop the media from day after day carrying on as though Phillip Hughes is the only ever person to have died young, most people seem to be saying as per these OLO opinions, enough is enough of reading daily of a cricketer's death, three weeks later it is still daily news, when will it stop and get on with life.
Likewise we are not interested in the goings on of Corby in Bali, but this person also has the media in a frenzy, as though we all want to read about her, which we do not.
Perhaps if people stopped buying daily papers the editors may get the message, but like politicians their brains are a bit thick.
Posted by Ojnab, Monday, 8 December 2014 3:50:02 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Jaylex correct, but why do people stand for hours waiting to wave their hands to them, when in actual fact that person is no different to them, except their wealth and what the media makes of them, as we all know death is the leveller of all mankind, rotting or burnt up the order of the day. No escape from that.
Posted by Ojnab, Monday, 8 December 2014 9:35:39 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Surely it was simply a beat up by the corporate owned presstitude to distract from the government's budgetary woes? Embarrassing, though, all that weepin' and wailin' and gnashin' of teeth... like living in a nut house. OOps...head challenged, or whatever the correct euphemism is.
Posted by ybgirp, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 6:21:04 AM
Find out more about this user Visit this user's webpage Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Jaylex,

".... for the sole male offspring of the English monarch ] was nauseating ...."

ER II had other male children, Edward, Earl of Wessex and Andrew, Duke of York come to mind.

It's a bit OT but as you mentioned finances, taxpayer funding for the Royal Family is probably off-set by the interest earned on the billions {in today's dosh) that the British Government got from from the family when they gave most of their wealth to the Government of the day, there is also the considerable tourist money that is positively affected by Britain having a Monarch etc.
Posted by Is Mise, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 7:07:50 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Meant to add to the above:
Fine post Rhrosty, it says it all and in perspective.
Posted by Is Mise, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 7:11:07 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Is Mise & Rhostry, when you say if he had done this or that he would still be here, so would the millions of other people in the world who have died young,if they had done this or that at the time, it is an accident, it happened, so be it.
All most readers of daily papers want is for the media to stop writing about Phillip Hughes. I have never met him, never heard of him before his death, therefore his death means no more to me than any other person in the daily death list, so media get over it.
Posted by Ojnab, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 1:38:46 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Ojnab,

I think that you miss the point, properly trained from an early age, as Rhrosty said, then there would have been no accident, just heavy contact or a glancing hit on the helmet where it offers maximum protection.
Posted by Is Mise, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 7:58:54 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Is Mise, if he had been properly trained it may not have happened, when I play golf ones own instinct tells you to not stand in front of the person hitting off, I have not been trained, crossing a road our instincts & training tells us not to walk in front of a car, but people do walk in front of cars and get killed, therefore it becomes an accident.
All things in life are timed to happen regardless of any protective gear being worn or no protective gear being worn, we all tend to say "if only" it would not have happened, but unfortunately in life it is not that easy, we have no say in our ending. Many young people killed I have known in my life, that saying of "if only" things would have been far different as to what happened
Posted by Ojnab, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 9:11:28 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Ojnab,

"....All things in life are timed to happen regardless of any protective gear being worn or no protective gear being worn,...."

Predestination, surely not?
Posted by Is Mise, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 9:40:04 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. All

About Us :: Search :: Discuss :: Feedback :: Legals :: Privacy