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Sign up todayA Sporting Chance
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Learn moreIn Sport, the term 'good bloke' doesn't mean what it says. Like 'fun run', it in fact often means the exact opposite.
Titus O'Reily, the sports historian Australia neither needs nor deserves, examines why our nation's sportspeople can do terrible things yet be so readily forgiven.
In this Great Southern Land, a sportsman can be excused almost any sin if he is elevated to the mythical status of being a 'good bloke'. So, what does it take to earn the title of 'good bloke'? And can female athletes be good blokes too?
With ridiculous tales from Australia's chequered sporting history, A Sporting Chance dissects the scandals big and small, the mistakes made in covering them up and the path athletes tread back to redemption.
From the corrupt cop who gave us the race that stopped a nation, to the Australian boxing champion who refused to train - not to mention the sandpaper-loving Australian Test cricket team - Titus reveals the key archetypes at the heart of our greatest sporting scandals.
In his own rambling and at times incoherent style he asks the question: are Australians really that forgiving of their sporting heroes? Or, with the rise of social media, women's sport and the drive towards greater equality, are the good blokes of Australia's sporting landscape becoming an endangered species?
'An indispensable voice for serious fans, who need to be reminded to take sport a little less seriously.' Inside Sport
Writer and broadcaster Titus O'Reily was born in Melbourne and raised by the Sisters of Collective Misery, a kindly but sombre order who placed an emphasis on sport above all other things, including religion.
At the age of eight, Titus set off from Melbourne for London in a rowboat containing only himself and a positive attitude, arriving just two months later thanks to a powerful stroke and favourable currents. In London, Titus developed a love of drinking, writing and ice skating, the last being something he did professionally across Europe for almost a decade.
Upon returning to Australia, Titus turned to writing about sport, carving out a reputation for inaccuracy and being difficult to work with. Titus's unique take on sport has been hailed by some of the most respected figures in sport as 'awful', 'childish' and 'barely comprehensible'.
titusoreily.com
Writer and broadcaster Titus O'Reily was born in Melbourne and raised by the Sisters of Collective Misery, a kindly but sombre order who placed an emphasis on sport above all other things, including religion.
At the age of eight, Titus set off from Melbourne for London in a rowboat containing only himself and a positive attitude, arriving just two months later thanks to a powerful stroke and favourable currents. In London, Titus developed a love of drinking, writing and ice skating, the last being something he did professionally across Europe for almost a decade.
Upon returning to Australia, Titus turned to writing about sport, carving out a reputation for inaccuracy and being difficult to work with. Titus's unique take on sport has been hailed by some of the most respected figures in sport as 'awful', 'childish' and 'barely comprehensible'.
titusoreily.com