quentinThe tackle from behind - a blight on sport and society
February 21st 2010 05:39
Sport Talk is today departing from the normal trend of discussing sports stories and results and instead is focusing on something that is sorta related to sport (soccer being the most obvious) but also related to society. I am of course referring to the tackle from behind.
Now the tackle from behind is a very interesting one. It's referred to as someone attacking someone from behind and the most common examples refer to being tackled around the body and slammed into the ground from behind but also refers to a soccer player clipping someone or clattering into them when they frankly have no hope of getting the ball.
The reason I bring this up is to highlight a few examples which have either really gotten under my skin or examples that I've witnessed and/or been stunned to witness.
Exhibit A:
It's a Sunday afternoon in Sydney and there's 10 minutes to go in the A-League match between Sydney and Melbourne. Sydney are leading 2-0 and are looking good to win the title. Robbie Kruse has the ball and is starting to sprint up the wing. All of the sudden, he is clipped across the foot in a blatent act of gamesmanship from Terry McFlynn and is sent spawling to the ground and is subsequently stretchered off. McFlynn escapes with a yellow card and Kruse is subsequently in doubt for the finals.
On the scale of tackle from behind, it was a clear cut disgrace and he clearly meant to clip Kruse and bring him to the ground. For McFlynn it was unfortunate that Kruse got injured because that made McFlynn public enemy number 1. Still, it wasn't a tackle that needed to be made and I cannot believe there was no retrospective action taken against McFlynn.
Exhibit B:
It's the first leg of the Major Semi Final in the A-League between the Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC. The Victory are 2-1 up and reeling from the controversial sending off of Nic Mrjda for an alledged elbow on Shannon Cole who went down like he'd been shot. The Victory fans were already irate with referee Peter Green and their fury only increased 3 minutes later as Brendon Gan launched himself off the ground and banged his studs into Muscat from behind who then went down (fair enough). If Mrjda's alledged elbow was worth a red card, this would normally get the same but it only got a yellow. Aisle 31 (where Sport Talk was sitting) went berserk and spent the remainder of the game sledging Peter Green
On the scale of tackle from behind, this was a hell of a lot worse than Exhibit A. While McFlynn kept his feet when clipping Kruse, Gan actually dived to tackle from behind. What made this even worse is that a tackle from behind of this nature is an automatic red card for violent conduct and yet referee Peter Green saw fit to only issue a yellow. A shockingly inept decision and again, I would expect retrospective action to be taken for something so disgusting.
Exhibit C:
It's a warm to hot Friday afternoon and upon finishing conducting an after-school sports session, I headed to Knox City in the anticipation of getting the bus home. Suddenly my attention is drawn by a crowd of some 40-50 people all milling around near the shopping center entrance. Security get called and a person is led away for their own safety. Suddenly that person is tackled brutally from behind and slammed into the pavement with punches being thrown. Eventually the person tackled was led away and left the premises and after a short time, the crowd also departed.
On the scale of tackle from behind, this is bloody dangerous. If the tackle were truely executed properly, he would've had no protection and been slammed face first into the pavement. The fact that it was done on the pavement as well is just absolutely insanity. It was a poor tackle and to do it from behind when the other person isn't expecting it, is pretty ordinary.
So what we've gleaned from this is that the tackle from behind is a blight on sport but also society. It's nasty, can be fatal and is something that should be punished accordingly. When it's not punished, it seems to give people the belief they can keep doing it but from my perspective, it's a disgrace
Now the tackle from behind is a very interesting one. It's referred to as someone attacking someone from behind and the most common examples refer to being tackled around the body and slammed into the ground from behind but also refers to a soccer player clipping someone or clattering into them when they frankly have no hope of getting the ball.
The reason I bring this up is to highlight a few examples which have either really gotten under my skin or examples that I've witnessed and/or been stunned to witness.
Exhibit A:
It's a Sunday afternoon in Sydney and there's 10 minutes to go in the A-League match between Sydney and Melbourne. Sydney are leading 2-0 and are looking good to win the title. Robbie Kruse has the ball and is starting to sprint up the wing. All of the sudden, he is clipped across the foot in a blatent act of gamesmanship from Terry McFlynn and is sent spawling to the ground and is subsequently stretchered off. McFlynn escapes with a yellow card and Kruse is subsequently in doubt for the finals.
On the scale of tackle from behind, it was a clear cut disgrace and he clearly meant to clip Kruse and bring him to the ground. For McFlynn it was unfortunate that Kruse got injured because that made McFlynn public enemy number 1. Still, it wasn't a tackle that needed to be made and I cannot believe there was no retrospective action taken against McFlynn.
Exhibit B:
It's the first leg of the Major Semi Final in the A-League between the Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC. The Victory are 2-1 up and reeling from the controversial sending off of Nic Mrjda for an alledged elbow on Shannon Cole who went down like he'd been shot. The Victory fans were already irate with referee Peter Green and their fury only increased 3 minutes later as Brendon Gan launched himself off the ground and banged his studs into Muscat from behind who then went down (fair enough). If Mrjda's alledged elbow was worth a red card, this would normally get the same but it only got a yellow. Aisle 31 (where Sport Talk was sitting) went berserk and spent the remainder of the game sledging Peter Green
On the scale of tackle from behind, this was a hell of a lot worse than Exhibit A. While McFlynn kept his feet when clipping Kruse, Gan actually dived to tackle from behind. What made this even worse is that a tackle from behind of this nature is an automatic red card for violent conduct and yet referee Peter Green saw fit to only issue a yellow. A shockingly inept decision and again, I would expect retrospective action to be taken for something so disgusting.
Exhibit C:
It's a warm to hot Friday afternoon and upon finishing conducting an after-school sports session, I headed to Knox City in the anticipation of getting the bus home. Suddenly my attention is drawn by a crowd of some 40-50 people all milling around near the shopping center entrance. Security get called and a person is led away for their own safety. Suddenly that person is tackled brutally from behind and slammed into the pavement with punches being thrown. Eventually the person tackled was led away and left the premises and after a short time, the crowd also departed.
On the scale of tackle from behind, this is bloody dangerous. If the tackle were truely executed properly, he would've had no protection and been slammed face first into the pavement. The fact that it was done on the pavement as well is just absolutely insanity. It was a poor tackle and to do it from behind when the other person isn't expecting it, is pretty ordinary.
So what we've gleaned from this is that the tackle from behind is a blight on sport but also society. It's nasty, can be fatal and is something that should be punished accordingly. When it's not punished, it seems to give people the belief they can keep doing it but from my perspective, it's a disgrace
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