Anzac Day
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Mrs Womble and I went to two services, Rugby Club put one on and was really well done, told stories of a couple of our former members that went to war but also talked about something like 70 of 90 members enlisted and went to war...talked about really thinking about if pretty much everyone in the room around us just disappeared
we cranked up the BBQ and put on a feed of bacon/egg/sausage for players and old mates alike, chatting with a few of them and really got the impression that events like that or days like ANZAC day might be one of the few times these guys still got out and about, was proud to give them some breakfast and some company for a few hours
We then nipped down to the Port Melbourne service on the beach with the HMAS Adelaide and HMAS Sydney docked behind. Im always surprised how little NZ gets mentioned at some of these service but i guess in this instance it was more about the local port melbourne residents war contributions
I dont have a problem with bars/cafes/restaurants opening or sports games associating themselves as long as we keep up those aspects of commemoration
Happy i dont think i saw much/any "ANZAC day sales" or anything, that would be too far probably
as @voodoo mentioned i fall into the "what would those blokes have wanted to do" and i imagine a beer, a yarn with mates and maybe watching a bit of code would have done it for a lot of them
If the feeling i got is true and ANZAC day is one of the few times some of these blokes actually get out and do something then i think its much better than them sitting at home alone because everything is closed
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@Kiwiwomble I drove past my local RSA at about 6:00 p.m. and there were still old buggers with their jackets adorned with campaign medals exiting then.
If they'd put in an all-day session (a) fair play to them and (b) might explain why they don't get out much the rest of the year.
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who knows the deal with "two up"? one of them asked me if i knew anywhere around they could go to play after the service and i had to admit i had know idea what they were talking about
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@Kiwiwomble Two or three coins (traditionally pennies) are placed on a wooden board known as a 'kip'. The player who throws the coins, known as a spinner, tosses the coins in the air and players bet on which side they'll land. Gambling on this activity is only allowed on ANZAC day in Australia (mostly.. Im sure a state will have some variation lol)
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@bayimports thats about as far as i got with people explaining....but why is it only allowed on ANZAC day?
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@Kiwiwomble said in Anzac Day:
@bayimports thats about as far as i got with people explaining....but why is it only allowed on ANZAC day?
Because it is uncontrolled and untaxed gambling.
Amazing scenes if you go to one or get involved. The one I went to was a room with about 200 punters all signalling and the runners (or whatever they are called) taking the bets to hold. You bet one on one with someone across the ring. The coins are tossed, the result signalled, the cash handed to the winner and you start again. -
@Kiwiwomble said in Anzac Day:
who knows the deal with "two up"? one of them asked me if i knew anywhere around they could go to play after the service and i had to admit i had know idea what they were talking about
An opportunity for a young @antipodean to turn $5 into four figures one particular ANZAC Day. For some reason it was a tails game and yet practically everyone I bet against was convinced the odds would even out, not realising that's not how individual events work.
FWIW I don't really care what people do on ANZAC Day - dawn service or stay in bed. It just feels like a societal expectation now with people posting on social media about attending. Which to me makes it more about them than solemn reflection. Especially with fewer and fewer people having a tangible connection to service and sacrifice.
Doubly so for hypocritical politicians such as Adam Bandt turning up to a dawn service at a RSL while his party consistently votes against Defence spending. fluffybunnies.
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@antipodean I wear my old man’s dog tags which we found in his bedside drawer after he died
It makes me think of him wearing something that he had on for five years and remember the life lessons he taught me
Always stand your round and if you walk into an empty urinal take a spot at the end
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@antipodean I wear my old man’s dog tags which we found in his bedside drawer after he died
It makes me think of him wearing something that he had on for five years and remember the life lessons he taught me
Always stand your round and if you walk into an empty urinal take a spot at the end
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I know I got called sanctimonios etc for trying to explian my feelings of ANZAC day etc, and using it as it is for promotion etc, and perhps this copy of a post from GR&G rugby sums up how I feel. Man can obviously put in words better than I what we feel about it.
"I did 18 years and multiple tours, I don't necessarily have an issue with sport been played on the day, I do however have an issue with professional sporting organisations leveraging the ANZAC reputation in order to profiteer for themselves.
I hate the repeated references to how the playing field is a battlefield like war.. it isn't..
I hate the inference that these players are warriors or embody the warrior spirit that ANZACs did...they don't, its a ridiculous analogy
I hate that the NRL awarded an "ANZAC Day Medal" to the player of the match a couple of years back, that term and medal already represents something far more important than POTM.
I also hate all these teams marketing ANZAC Day jerseys and merchandise with a lack of transparency about how the profits of these jerseys are been distributed back to support veterans, some teams do it well, other teams make no mention at all.ANZAC Day isn't about commercialisation and profiteering off the ANZAC reputation, some teams/companies/organisations are taking it too far in order to chase a dollar, that doesn't mean sport shouldn't be played, it should just be done respectfully.'
I would add that apparently there has been aa ANZAC day league jersey with picture of American soldiers etc?
And to be honest the other thing that makes me cringe (and was something used in Aus a lot, and not to do with the day) is when a commentator says a player is a hero FFS. They play rugby or league, it's hardly heroic! -
@Dan54 i dont think anyone was justifying the really egregious/thoughtless stuff like the jersey(s) showing an american soldier or ANZAC day medal (that just seems thoughtless, they give medals for all kinds of sports awards, feels like a "say that again out load" moment)
and i dont think anyone is claiming these comps dont get something out of it but there is a bit of quid pro quo, having 96k at the MCG for the AFL game and taking that captive audience and just reminded them theyre able to enjoy this because of the sacrifice of those ANZAC soldiers reminds people they should keep frequenting their local RSL, they should check in on former soldier they know etc
The use of "warrior" or "hero" goes much wider that ANZAC day, those terms are used every week and of course its cringy when you look at the whole picture
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I know I got called sanctimonios etc for trying to explian my feelings of ANZAC day etc, and using it as it is for promotion etc, and perhps this copy of a post from GR&G rugby sums up how I feel. Man can obviously put in words better than I what we feel about it.
"I did 18 years and multiple tours, I don't necessarily have an issue with sport been played on the day, I do however have an issue with professional sporting organisations leveraging the ANZAC reputation in order to profiteer for themselves.
I hate the repeated references to how the playing field is a battlefield like war.. it isn't..
I hate the inference that these players are warriors or embody the warrior spirit that ANZACs did...they don't, its a ridiculous analogy
I hate that the NRL awarded an "ANZAC Day Medal" to the player of the match a couple of years back, that term and medal already represents something far more important than POTM.
I also hate all these teams marketing ANZAC Day jerseys and merchandise with a lack of transparency about how the profits of these jerseys are been distributed back to support veterans, some teams do it well, other teams make no mention at all.ANZAC Day isn't about commercialisation and profiteering off the ANZAC reputation, some teams/companies/organisations are taking it too far in order to chase a dollar, that doesn't mean sport shouldn't be played, it should just be done respectfully.'
I would add that apparently there has been aa ANZAC day league jersey with picture of American soldiers etc?
And to be honest the other thing that makes me cringe (and was something used in Aus a lot, and not to do with the day) is when a commentator says a player is a hero FFS. They play rugby or league, it's hardly heroic!Now you mention it that whole “war” thing is completely overblown in sport.
Shit, even Ali vs Frazier was child’s play compared to an actual war and what they went through was tougher than any Union or league match.
Then there’s this which I love……
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@Kiwiwomble, that why I said heroes wasn't an ANZAC thing. But understand what you say etc, just I not comfortable using ANZAC day to promote the game, and saying they tell people to go to their RSL's etc is to me small payment for the cash they make. Remember they have the clash on that day because they know they can make more money, and no other reason! And I say again, ,I happy for them to play on the day if it a weekend etc, but not with using it to promote the games.
And also add again it's just my personal opinion. -
@MN5 that is a good quote.
Same as a few years back in Aus , one announcer had said it was a tragedy how badly things had gone for a league club, Peter Fitzsimmons jumped on him, and said bugger off a tragedy is people dying in a flood (that had happened somewhere), what you are talking about is just bloody unfortunate. -
@MN5 that is a good quote.
Same as a few years back in Aus , one announcer had said it was a tragedy how badly things had gone for a league club, Peter Fitzsimmons jumped on him, and said bugger off a tragedy is people dying in a flood (that had happened somewhere), what you are talking about is just bloody unfortunate.Yeah I suspect Keith Miller would have been my favourite cricketer ever if I saw him play. Legendary stats and by all accounts was an absolute gun.
Then again, the pressures of top level sport are very tough in their own way and not to be downplayed ( unless comparing them to war )
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i can completely get the argument about not equating sport with war, the pitch ISN'T a battlefield. I think some would argue a metaphor doesnt completely and inherently equate one thing with another but its probably respectful to not even try
but are we gatekeeping the use of words like tragedy? so we're not allowed to use that word unless its equal to the greatest loss of life in human history? the beauty of is context, i think you can use a generic word like tragedy (as opposed to a specific one like battlefield, or warrior) and the context scales the context scales it accordingly
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@Kiwiwomble said in Anzac Day:
i can completely get the argument about not equating sport with war, the pitch ISN'T a battlefield. I think some would argue a metaphor doesnt completely and inherently equate one thing with another but its probably respectful to not even try
but are we gatekeeping the use of words like tragedy? so we're not allowed to use that word unless its equal to the greatest loss of life in human history? the beauty of is context, i think you can use a generic word like tragedy (as opposed to a specific one like battlefield, or warrior) and the context scales the context scales it accordingly
We have not been involved in a major conflict for 50 odd years. It's been 80 odd years since WW2. A whole generation who have no idea what it means to go to war. Couple that with a commentator's intent to make the sport exciting, they use the hyperbole without a thought for the deeper meaning
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@Kiwiwomble said in Anzac Day:
and i dont think anyone is claiming these comps dont get something out of it but there is a bit of quid pro quo, having 96k at the MCG for the AFL game and taking that captive audience and just reminded them theyre able to enjoy this because of the sacrifice of those ANZAC soldiers reminds people they should keep frequenting their local RSL, they should check in on former soldier they know etc
Call me a cynic, ut I sincerely doubt a single person attending a fixture then thinks and follows through on that.
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@Kiwiwomble said in Anzac Day:
i can completely get the argument about not equating sport with war, the pitch ISN'T a battlefield. I think some would argue a metaphor doesnt completely and inherently equate one thing with another but its probably respectful to not even try
but are we gatekeeping the use of words like tragedy? so we're not allowed to use that word unless its equal to the greatest loss of life in human history? the beauty of is context, i think you can use a generic word like tragedy (as opposed to a specific one like battlefield, or warrior) and the context scales the context scales it accordingly
I think Hero gets overused in the sporting context