In memory of Trevor Grant: a real Australian journalist

"But all I feel is sadness; sadness not just that I'm going to die prematurely, but sadness that I live in a society that, so often and so easily, still writes off human lives as collateral damage in the pursuit of profit."

Trevor Grant

"Sport is another commodity to be bought and consumed these days, and a roll-over, puppy-dog media, which often has financial relationships with the biggest sports, ensures this process goes unchallenged."
Trevor Grant

"With Trevor’s passing, Tamils, refugees and everyone concerned about truth and justice have lost a great friend and committed fighter. His commitment - which never wavered during his illness - should inspire us to continue the search for truth and justice.  Trevor was a good and courageous man. We will miss him."

Callum Macrae, director of documentary, 'No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka.'

Trevor Grant died a week ago. He was just 65, another Australian victim of mesothelioma, asbestos cancer,  a disease caused by the callous pursuit of corporate profit.

I never met Trevor Grant, but I admired and respected his writing as a journalist, particularly his exposure of the corrupt links between sport and corporate interests and the influence of corporate thinking, and his campaigning, research and advocacy work on behalf of the Tamil people.

Grant spent 40 years as a journalist  much of that time as a sports journalist and broadcaster in the mainstream media, writing about Australian rules football and cricket. 

After he left mainstream journalism, Grant started driving a truck as a volunteer, distributing food and furniture to Tamil refugees.  Martin Flanagan tells how Grant came to become involved on behalf of the Tamil people:

"Being an affable character, he engaged them in conversation and kept hearing stories he'd never heard before, stories about rape, torture, abduction and killings. Then he met a young Tamil man who had smuggled out photos of what went on during the final days of the country's civil war between the Tamils and the Rajapaksa government, the same government the Australian government is now working with to repatriate Tamil boat people ever more quickly."

Grant ran a sports program What's the score sport? on Melbourne community radio 3CRR in which he explored how sport was captured and controlled by corporate and business interests. He continued to write articles for the Age newspaper, but most of his writing appeared in leftist publications, including Green Left Weekly,  Red Flag and Independent Australia.

For Independent Australia, he wrote about what he called 'enlightened racism' in Australian Rules Football. His articles for Red Flag, mainly on the genocide and destruction of the Tamil people by the Sri Lankan government, are here.

His articles for Green Left Weekly are here.

Grant exposed the hypocrisy of the AFL on issues of racism, homophobia and misogyny and the fear and ignorance of the unconventional and critical thinking that dominated mainstream sport.  In a 2013 article in the Melbourne Age he wrote:

"The boofhead culture that has defined male professional sport, and its mostly male media, for aeons has gone through a makeover in recent times, with the AFL putting itself at the head of social justice campaigns. But the truth is that racism, sexism and homophobia still exist in footy clubs and their big support bases. And, inevitably, a man who feels so strongly about these cruel, destructive prejudices is going to struggle to cope in an environment that gives them so much oxygen.

"The highly paid image-makers project the AFL as a broad, enlightened church, free of the bigotry of the past. But, really, it is like any other corporate environment in pursuit of a singular aim, and therefore unable to accommodate anyone who dares to step outside its rigid parameters. So often there is a difference between the public face and the private reality."

In an article about cyclist Lance Armstrong, Grant wrote about the capture and corruption of professional cycling by corporate capitalism:

"The corporatisation of cycling has been a long and arduous process but capitalism has dug in its poisonous claws and isn’t about to let go. Along the way, it has produced many victims, including Tom Simpson and the 1998 Tour de France winner Marco Pantani, a serial drug cheat who died of a cocaine overdose in 2004. Now the reputation of the greatest cyclist of all time, Lance Armstrong, whose recovery from cancer inspired so many people around the world, is in tatters."

Grant continued:

"Let us be clear about one thing. International professional cycling is first and foremost a business and run by some of the world’s biggest capitalists. The cyclists are merely workers acting under instructions from their profit-hungry bosses. Indeed, as the entire sports world pours scorn on Armstrong, it studiously avoids the real culprits – blood-sucking corporations that earn huge profits on the backs, legs, and hearts, of the riders, most of whom are paid a relative pittance. The Tour de France is the flagship of a billion dollar industry, with the capacity to catch drug cheats any time it wants. All it needs is the will. It has the money to finance revolutionary testing regimes and it has a very good idea about who is using drugs. They are their workers and this business, through the Tour owners and the sponsors, is closely involved in their workers’ performance"

Grant was a high-profile activist and campaigner against social, political and economic injustice. He worked on behalf of refugees and asylum seekers, especially from Sri Lanka, and wrote a book on atrocities in their homeland, Sri Lanka's Secrets – How the Rajapaksa regime gets away with Murder. The book provided a detailed account of war crimes committed against the Tamils by the Sri Lanka government and its foreign allies.

In 2012-2013, he campaigned for a boycott of the Sri Lankan cricket team in Australia and led protests outside cricketing venues. 

In an article in the Melbourne Age he described the direct links between the Sri Lankan Government's policy of murder and genocide targeting the Tamil people and the Sri Lankan cricket team:

"But what will be forgotten in the excitement is the dark side to this team. It's not so much the individual players but, what and who, they really represent. In other words, the rich and powerful in the Sri Lankan nation and an elected government that is alleged to be engaging in genocide against the poorest of its own people, many of whom are seeking refuge here. The Sri Lankan President is part of this elite and a man who loves to align himself with sport, especially cricket. He has openly influenced selection, made sure the new national stadium in Colombo was named after him, and rarely misses a photo opportunity with a star in creams. Brutal oppressors love to use sport to launder their image. But Rajapaksa can't fool anybody who reads about world affairs......

The links between this regime and the cricket team are there for all to see. The recently retired captain, Sanath Jayasuriya, is now an elected representative of the Rajapaksa government. Spinner Ajantha Mendis, named on stand-by for the Tests but likely to play in the one-day series, is a second-lieutenant and gunner in the Sri Lankan Army who saw active service in the civil war. Rajapaksa was guest of honour at his wedding last year.

The former captain, Arjuna Ranatunga, is a politician who was in the government camp before switching further to the right in recent times. He described General Sarath Fonseka, the military commander of the Tamil massacre, as a wonderful man who can "save" Sri Lankan politics."

Grant  co-founded the Tamil Refugee Council  and served as its Convener. He founded  Refugee Radio at 3CR Community Radio and organised vigils and protests to highlight ongoing human rights violations in Sri Lanka.

Grant was highly respected amongst refugee campaigners for his principled stand and campaigning for the rights of Tamil asylum seekers and refugees. One activist colleague of mine wrote about Trevor:

"I very quickly friended Trevor on Facebook, would immediately devour every article he wrote for the magazine, and was thrilled to bits to finally meet him when we protested at the MCG against Sri Lankan human rights abuse. He was a hero, a lovely man, a great writer, and he will be sorely missed for years to come by everybody with a social conscience".

In 2015, aged 63, Grant was diagnosed with mesothelioma, the result of decades of working in newspaper offices containing asbestos. He wrote about his diagnosis in this ABC article.

'What I discovered through the process of a Supreme Court action I launched in September last year shocked me to the core. Thanks to the work of an industrial hygienist whose files can pinpoint asbestos in buildings throughout the Melbourne CBD, I discovered I had been working close to the dangers of asbestos for decades, both at The Age building at 250 Spencer Street, where I worked from 1969-1970 and 1978-1989, and the Herald office on 44-74 Flinders Street, where I worked from 1970-74 and 1989-1996. Records showed workers in both these buildings, mostly printers and tradesmen working with insulation, had contracted mesothelioma during these times. I worked on separate floors from these people, but I'd had a lot of regular contact with many on the printing and composing room floors, especially as a young sub-editor. 

My first question was, how come I didn't know that I'd been working for decades in an environment that had killed people? Why isn't it compulsory for those responsible for these death-traps to notify potential victims?"

Grant concluded with these powerful words:

"I expected to be angry about all this; angry about a cynical corporation (Hardie) risking so many thousands of lives, including my own, for the sake of its bottom line; angry every time I saw the foreign minister Julie Bishop on television and was reminded she was paid handsomely as a lawyer to represent one of these vulture corporations; angry that nobody warns potential victims that they had worked in places where others had contracted the disease."

Grant was a committed trade unionist, a member of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance and was actively involved with the Australian Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), until his death. He was a committed supporter of Palestine, West Papua, and Indigenous peoples around the world.

Richard Flanagan has written this fine piece about Trevor Grant in the Melbourne Age. Sri Lankan and Tamil spokesperson acknowledge the contribution of Trevor Grant in this article. Other pieces  in memory of Trevor Grant are here, here, here and here.

Remembering Peter Norman: A athlete who sacrificied personal glory for the cause of justice

"Even as late as August 2012, the AOC denied blacklisting Peter Norman. The time is right to tell the story of the former teacher who won a silver medal in one of the strongest sprint races ever run.  Indeed his athletic achievements warrant greater recognition on this alone. But Norman was more than this; his words to Smith and Carlos “I will stand with you” represents one of the high points of Australian sporting history"

Steve Georgakis 

Nine years have passed since the death of Peter Norman, who is one of the Australian sportsmen I admire the most.

Peter Norman did something few Australian sportsman are willing to do.

He choose to surrender personal glory and fame to a greater good and to the fight against injustice. It was a decision that was to affect the rest of his life.
 

Peter Norman won the silver medal in the 200 metres at the 1968 Mexico Olympics behind American Tommie Smith and ahead of American John Carlos.

 

In that race Peter Norman ran a time for the 200 meters that has never been bettered by an Australian. Norman still holds the 200 meter record for the fastest Australian.

Tommie Smith and John Carlos's act of defiance during the medal ceremony- black gloves, closed fist, black power salute and black socks- was designed to express their solidarity with the American civil rights and black power movements and intended as a statement against racism and injustice.

For me it is an iconic moment in sporting and political history.

Matt Norman's documentary Salute and Damien Johnstone's biography of Peter Norman show that Peter Norman was an active co-creator and participant in this act of political defiance. It was Norman who suggested the Americans each wear one glove (hence the reason why one salutes with the left fist and the other with the right). 

Norman was proud and committed in standing alongside the two Americans. His was an act of solidarity in recognition of a greater cause. Norman actively supported the American's action and on his chest he wore the same the same large button as the Smith and Carlos. It was emblazoned with the letters O-P-H-R- Olympic Project for Human Rights.

At Peter Norman's funeral in 2006, John Carlos described how events unfolded on the way to victory dais that fateful day in Mexico:

Carlos and Smith asked Norman if he believed in human rights. He said he did. They asked him if he believed in God. Norman said he did. When they told Norman what they were going to do he said "I will stand with you". Carlos noted how Norman never flinched on the dais, never turning his eyes or head"

Norman, who was a teacher and guided by his Salvation Army faith, was also motivated to take part in the Black Power salute because of his opposition to racism and the White Australia Policy.

The backlash against all three was not long coming.

Smith and Carlos were withdrawn from other races and sent home. On returning to the USA they were ostracized and had trouble finding employment. All three athletes suffered for their stand for human rights and against racism and injustice. Smith and Carlos were never again chosen to represent their country and were hounded out of athletics. 

On his return to Australia Norman faced horrendous criticism and was treated as a pariah, despite his remarkable performance. His desire to coach athletics at the highest level never came to fruition and he was the victim of a blacklist in Australia. He was forced to work as a physical education teacher to survive.

Despite being the 5 time national champion in the 200 metres, the Australian record holder for 200m and an Olympic silver medalist, Norman was not selected for the 1972 Munich Olympics, despite qualifying.

Despite the brilliance of his performance, Norman's name  still does not appear in discussion or books about finest Australian sporting performances or the greatest moments in Australian sport.

Norman, who died in 2006 aged 64, was a lifelong campaigner and fighter against injustice, and continues to be denied a place in Australian sporting history because of his act of defiance. He was not invited to the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but went as a guest of the American Olympic Team.

In 2012 the Labor politician Andrew Leigh led an officially apology in Parliament to Peter Norman's family for his treatment in Australia.

Peter Norman and an iconic act of political resistance

"Even as late as August 2012, the AOC denied blacklisting Peter Norman. The time is right to tell the story of the former teacher who won a silver medal in one of the strongest sprint races ever run. 

Indeed his athletic achievements warrant greater recognition on this alone. But Norman was more than this; his words to Smith and Carlos “I will stand with you” represents one of the high points of Australian sporting history"

Steve Georgakis 

On Monday night this week, National Indigenous TV channel (NITV) showed Matt Norman's inspiring documentary Salute on his uncle Peter Norman who is the Australian sportsmen I admire the most.

Norman won the silver medal in the 200 metres at the 1968 Mexico Olympics behind American Tommie Smith and ahead of American John Carlos. In that race Peter Norman ran a 200 meter time that has never been bettered by an Australian. Peter Norman still holds the 200 meter record for the fastest Australian.

In the medal ceremony after the 200 metre final, Norman made a choice few sportsmen are willing to do. He choose to surrender his personal glory and fame to a greater good and to the fight against injustice. It was a decision that was to affect the rest of his life.

Tommie Smith and John Carlos's act of defiance during the medal ceremony- black gloves, closed fist, black power salute and black socks- was designed to express their solidarity with the American civil rights and black power movements and intended as a statement against racism and injustice.

For me it is an iconic moment in sporting and political history.

As Matt Norman's documentary shows Peter Norman was an active co-creator and participant in this act of political defiance. It was Norman who suggested the Americans each wear one glove (hence the reason why one salutes with the left fist and the other with the right). 

Norman was proud and committed in standing alongside the two Americans. His was an act of solidarity in recognition of a greater cause. Norman actively supported the American's action and on his chest he wore the same the same large button as the Smith and Carlos. It was emblazoned with the letters O-P-H-R- Olympic Project for Human Rights.

At Peter Norman's funeral in 2006, John Carlos described how events unfolded on the way to victory dais that fateful day in Mexico:

Carlos and Smith asked Norman if he believed in human rights. He said he did. They asked him if he believed in God. Norman said he did. When they told Norman what they were going to do he said "I will stand with you". Carlos noted how Norman never flinched on the dais, never turning his eyes or head"

Norman, who was a teacher and guided by his Salvation Army faith was also motivated to take part in the Black Power salute because of his opposition to racism and the White Australia Policy.

The backlash against all three was not long coming.

Smith and Carlos were withdrawn from other races and sent home. On returning to the USA they were ostracized and had trouble finding employment. All three athletes suffered for their stand for human rights and against racism and injustice. Smith and Carlos were never again chosen to represent their country and were hounded out of athletics. 

On his return to Australia Norman faced horrendous criticism and was treated as a pariah, despite his remarkable performance. His desire to coach athletics at the highest level never came to fruition and he was the victim of a blacklist in Australia. He was forced to work as a physical education teacher to survive.

Despite being the 5 time national champion in the 200 metres, the Australian record holder for 200m and an Olympic silver medalist, Norman was not selected for the 1972 Munich Olympics, despite qualifying.

Despite the brilliance of his performance, Norman's name  still does not appear in discussion or books about finest Australian sporting performances or the greatest moments in Australian sport.

Norman, who died in 2006 aged 64, was a lifelong campaigner and fighter against injustice, and continues to be denied a place in Australian sporting history because of his act of defiance. He was not invited to the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but went as a guest of the American Olympic Team.

In 2012 the Labor politician Andrew Leigh led an officially apology in Parliament to Peter Norman's family for his treatment in Australia.

Remembering Mike Marqusee (1953-2015)

"Go back to his books and rediscover the potency and the appeal – and, often, the joie d’esprit – of his writings: on cricket, on Muhammad Ali, on his own journey as an anti-Zionist Jew and, of course, on Bob Dylan."

Anne Beech, Pluto Press




"The crowd reminds me that I only put myself
in other people’s shoes
because I couldn’t find my own
and the common locker was so near at hand.”
Mike Marqusee

Mike Marqusee, who died in London last week aged just 61, was a man of immense talents and a beautiful writer who combined a career and life of writing with a profound lifelong commitment to political activism.

One of many things that I appreciated about Mike Marqusee was that he was a living example of the ways that popular culture and writing could be harnessed as a vehicle for radical political analysis and protest without becoming ideological dogma. 

His work also reminded us of the essential importance of art and culture- past and present- to radical political struggles. In a piece in Red Pepper he once wrote:

"The art of the past, is a precious, irreplaceable resource, and one that can be a powerful stimulant in the struggle for that other world we insist is possible. Listening to the voices of the dead is a necessary aspect of ‘contending for the living’..... 

Under capitalism, art is treated as a commodity, but there is something in art of any value that resists that status, breaks out of that dimension. There’s always a disconnection between its market value and its artistic value – whose very nature resists quantification. Each work of art has a claim of its own that cannot be measured in terms of another and thus cannot be reduced to exchange value. This was what William Blake had in mind when he declared: ‘Where any view of Money exists Art cannot be carried on, but War only"

 Marqusee was a writer, a radical journalist, poet, Marxist writer, commentator and political activist. He wrote arguably the finest book on Bob Dylan Wicked Messenger: Bob Dylan and the 60s (2005), in which he explored the political, cultural and historical significance and legacy of Dylan’s 1960’s music.

His book on Muhammad Ali Redemption Song: Muhammad Ali and the Spirit of the Sixties is considered one of the great sporting books of all time. In it Marqusee restores Ali as an exemplar and symbol of radical conviction, and explores the ways that popular culture can be simultaneously a vehicle of protest and a vehicle of incorporation.

His political memoir and family history In If I Am Not for Myself: Journey of an anti-Zionist Jew combined his own family history, with political theory and analysis of religious texts, to distinguish Jewishness from its co-option by the state of Israel.

Marqusee who described himself as a 'deracintaed Marxist, American Jew" was of Lithuanian-Jewish background and was born in the US, but had lived and worked in the UK since 1971.

Marqusee combined writing and journalism with a lifelong commitment to political activism for left and progressive causes. He was a dedicated political campaigner and activist and for many years, he was the Press Officer for the Stop the War Coalition that organized the over a million people march in London against the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. 

He wrote books and articles on a remarkable and eclectic range of topics as diverse as history, cricket, India, sport, leftist and labor politics, poetry music and arts, popular culture, UK and world politics, anti-Zionism and his own experiences with cancer. He wrote a regular column for the Indian publication The Hindu, and was a regular columnist for the left-wing magazine Red Pepper (his columns are here). 

His last book the Price of Experience: Writings on Living with Cancer was published in 2014 and explores the politics of cancer and his own experience of cancer treatment under the UK National Health Service. Marqusee wrote about the connection and interplay between neoliberal and market fundamentalism and the politics of cancer and the suffering experienced by people living with cancer.

Marqusee was also a published poet. His last book of poetry Street Music included poems written between 2009-2012, including this one.

THIS MORNING’S SURPRISE

This morning’s surprise is how much I’ll miss rail travel.
The green fields looming up and falling behind,
the milky tea wobbling in a plastic cup,
the engine’s steady vibration.

This afternoon’s surprise is how many shades of red there are,
each one sitting in a room of its own, dense in meditation.
Each one a field of conflict, a medium of conciliation.

This evening’s surprise is not that the novel ends
in a desultory return to the working week –
loose ends trimmed and tucked out of sight –
but the ferocity of my recoil
at the author’s glib contrivance.

Midnight’s surprise is Lorca’s moon floating over Hackney
full-faced, round-eyed and speaking Spanish.

An obituary in the Guardian is here  and personal tributes from his colleagues and comrades on the British left are here, here, here, here and here. The Red Pepper Magazine has published these tributes. 

The American sports writer Dave Zirin has written this heartfelt tribute to Mike Marqusee. 

Remembering the vision of Tom Wills

"I'm shunned and ignored
by the mighty who preside
I'll not curry for their favour
I'll not bootlick at their side
I'll be gone with those who knew me well
My dark friends have died in their own sad hours"
Neil Murray song Tom Wills Would

"I think the answer lies in the fact that his story contains such a broad range of factors from our collective past"
Martin Flangan on Tom Wills

"I often think that, although he was a cricketer and created this Aboriginal cricket team, that this act of his creating the team, was one of our first great acts of national healing between white and black Australians"
Greg de Moore on Tom Wills

The juggernaut of the commercialized and corporatised version of AFL Foootball is thankfully coming to a close after 8 months. Next week is the Grand Final and large swathes of the nation will stop for a couple of hours to watch that game.  Australian Rules Football is a uniquely Australian sport, played no where else in the world.

For the millions watching the AFL Finals the name Tom Wills (1835-1880) won't mean much. Which is a pity. Wills was one of the founders of the game and perhaps its first superstar. Wills also understood and lived with the consequences of the profundity of this country's history of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal relations, an experience embedded in the Australian psyche.

The Australian writer Martin Flanagan calls Tom Wills a uniquely Australian legend whose story draws together many elements of our national and collective past.  Greg de Moore (who wrote a biography of Wills) and Martin Flanagan both note that Wills was one of the early pioneers who acted to heal the wounds caused by Australia's racist history.

Tom Wills was born in Western Victoria and went to the UK for schooling. There he played first class cricket and on his return to the colonies in 1857 captained Victoria in cricket. Wills was the leading cricketer in the colony and was instrumental in establishing cricket matches between the colonies.

In 1858 Wills proposed an "activity" to keep cricketers fit off-season, and in 1859 called a meeting to form football teams. Wills was instrumental in writing the rules of  what become Australian rules football and was coach, umpire and one of the leading players in the competition. He was instrumental in forming teams all over Melbourne and Geelong. Wills was also one of the dominant players in the competition.

In 1861 Wills moved to Northern Queensland to work on his father's property. Wills had been there just three weeks when a party of Aboriginals killed nineteen of the group, including Tom's father in one of the biggest massacre of whites by blacks in Australian history. Tom was away from the property at the time.

Martin Flangan writes that in the retributive raids that followed, three times as many blacks were killed.

The events left a profound legacy. Despite the massacre of his father and friends Wills had a deep relationship with Aboriginal people in Queensland and Melbourne. He spoke the language of the Tjapwurrung people from west Victoria where he grew up.

Upon his return to Melbourne Wills  continued to play football and cricket playing his last first-class match in 1876, at the age of 40. 

Six years after the massacre, Tom Wills captained the Aboriginal cricket team that became the first Australian cricket team to tour England. Most of the Aboriginal cricketers were Jardwadjali men from western Victoria. Their language was almost the same as the Tjapwurrung people which Wills spoke. On Boxing Day 1866, Tom Wills captained the Australian Native XI at the MCG. 

However, psychological trauma from the massacre combined with his alcoholism took its toll  and Wills developed delirium tremors from alcoholism, extreme delusions and night terrors. After a stay in the Kew Asylum he was admitted to Royal Melbourne Hospital in May 1880 and shortly afterwards escaped. Within days Wills committed suicide by stabbing a pair of scissors through his heart. He was just 44.

The Australian singer songwriter Neil Murray has written a fine tribute titled Tom Wills Would.

Greg de Moore's biography of Tom Wills is titled Tom Wills: His spectacular rise and fall.

Remembering the vision of Tom Wills

I'm shunned and ignored
by the mighty who preside
I'll not curry for their favour
I'll not bootlick at their side
I'll be gone with those who knew me well
My dark friends have died in their own sad hours
Neil Murray Tom Wills Would

"I think the answer lies in the fact that his story contains such a broad range of factors from our collective past"

Martin Flangan on Tom Wills

"I often think that, although he was a cricketer and created this Aboriginal cricket team, that this act of his creating the team, was one of our first great acts of national healing between white and black Australians"
Greg de Moore on Tom Wills

Today is Grand Final day for the national Australian Rules competition. Large parts of the nation stop for a couple of hours to watch the game.  Australian Rules Football is a uniquely Australian sport, played no where else in the world. 

For the millions watching today's game the name Tom Wills (1835-1880) won't mean much . Which is a pity. Wills was one of the founders of the game and perhaps  its first superstar.

Wills understood and lived with the consequences of the profundity of this country's racial past, an experience embedded  in the Australian psyche. The Australian writer Martin Flanagan calls Tom Wills a uniquely Australian legend whose story draws together many elements of our national and collective past.

Greg de Moore (who wrote a biography of Wills) and Martin Flanagan both note that Wills was one of the early pioneers who acted to heal the wounds caused by Australia's racist history.

Tom Wills was born in Western Victoria and went to the UK for schooling. There he played first class cricket and on his return to the colonies in 1857 captained Victoria in cricket. Wills was perhaps the leading cricketer in the colony and was instrumental in establishing cricket matches between the colonies.

In 1858 Wills proposed an "activity" to keep cricketers fit off-season, and in 1859 called together a meeting to form football teams. Wills was instrumental in writing the rules of the what become Australian rules football and was coach, umpire and one of the leading players in the competition. He was instrumental in forming teams all over Melbourne and Geelong. Wills was one of the dominant players in the competition.

In 1861 Wills moved to Northern Queensland to work on his father's property. Wills had been there just  three weeks when  a party of Aboriginals killed nineteen of the group, including Tom's father in one of the biggest massacre of whites by blacks in Australian history. Tom was away from the property at the time. 

Martin Flangan writes that in the retributive raids that followed, three times as many blacks were killed.

The events left a profound legacy. Despite the massacre of his father and friends Wills had a deep relationship with Aboriginal people in Queensland and Melbourne. He spoke the language of the Tjapwurrung people from west Victoria where he grew up.

Upon his return to Melbourne Wills  continued to play football and cricket playing his last first-class match in 1876, at the age of 40.

Six years after the massacre, Tom Wills captained the Aboriginal cricket team that became the first Australian cricket team to tour England. Most of the Aboriginal cricketers were Jardwadjali men from western Victoria. Their language was almost the same as the  Tjapwurrung people which Wills spoke. On Boxing Day 1866, Tom Wills captained the Australian Native XI at the MCG.

However, psychological trauma from the massacre combined with his alcoholism took its toll  and Wills developed delirium tremors from alcoholism, extreme delusions and  night terrors . After a stay in the Kew Asylum he was admitted to Royal Melbourne Hospital in May 1880  and shortly afterwards escaped. Within days Wills committed suicide by stabbing a pair of scissors through his heart. He was just 44.

The Australian singer songwriter Neil Murray has written a fine tribute titled Tom Wills Would.

Greg de Moore's biography of Tom Wills is titled Tom Wills: His spectacular rise and fall

The corporate enclosure of sport

John Pilger on the corporate enclosure of sport:

"The pursuit of profit in sport seems unrelenting............................Corporate sport has enriched Rupert Murdoch, corrupted cricket and much of football, subverted numerous other play and appropriated the Olympics and similar spectacles. Its language is that of business schools, PR companies, consultancies and banks. Its “philosophy” is that everything is for sale and monopoly rules"

Behind the hype: Protesting the winter Olympics

(image courtesy of the Vancouver Olympic Resistance Network)

As the Australian media ramps up coverage and commercial hype about the Winter Olympics, another story goes untold here in Australia. In Vancouver there is growing heat on the streets as more residents and civil society groups express anger at the negative impact of the Winter Olympics on their City.

In a recent piece my favourite sports journalist Dave Zirin cites surveys that suggest up 70% of Vancouver residents feel that too much is being spent on the Olympics and 30 % believe that the impact will be largely negative. Civil society concerns are many, namely:

1. The massive and growing cost of the Olympics is adding billions of dollars of future debt to the public purse. This debt grows daily due to the rising cost of the massive security presence and emerging problems, such as the need to helicopter snow to the venues.
2. The commercialization and corporate control of the Olympics is so pervasive and is largely driven by the desire to increase corporate profits.
   
3. Public spending is being redirected to the Olympics away from social programs and poverty reduction programs.
4. Billions is being spent on security, resulting in the "overt militarization of Vancouver" including visible troops in the street, huge increase in police, helicopters and jet flights over the City. private security firms operating everywhere and enclosure of large parts of public lands and public space.
5. The negative environmental impact of the Games including mountain blasting, clear cutting, road construction, expanded infrastructure for for mining and logging interests.
6. The crackdown on dissent and protest and erosion of civil liberties which has seen independent journalists detained and deported and attempts to suppress anti-Olympics protest.
7. The exploitation of the native title rights of Indigenous Canadian people.
8. Damage to communities resulting from rise in real estate prices, unaffordable housing, movement of homeless and poor people off the streets, profiling and lock downs of certain groups and communities.
   

The Vancouver Olympic Resistance Network which was was formed to highlight the real costs of the Games lays out its concerns here. The concerns of First Nations people can be read here.

To coincide with the opening ceremony and start of the Games a People's Summit and public protests are planned in Vancouver this weekend.

Dave Zurin: A sports writers worth reading who writes on corporate and business power in sport

Dave Zurin is the sports editor for The Nation, one my favourite US political magazines. Zurin writes about the corporate takeover of sport, the greed and corruption of sportsmen and sports administrators, and the nexus between sports, politics and business. Zurin writes about issues that are overlooked by sports journalists and the corporate media and poses challenging moral, social, political and economic questions about sport.

Zurin has written a provocative piece in the Nation this week on the media controversy swirling around US golfer Tiger Woods. Zurin reckons that the media should pay less attention to Woods's private life and more to the deals he does that directly benefit unaccountable corporations, dictatorships and exploitative governments. Zurin writes:

"Woods has every right to keep his personal problems personal. But when he makes deals that benefit dictatorships and unaccountable corporations all in the name of his billion dollar brand he deserves no privacy"

Zurin documents Woods's deals with corporations that prop up dictators, commit human rights abuses and dump toxic waste in third world countries and his involvement with governments that openly exploit foreign labour and profit from the global sex trade.