Higher, Richer, Sleazier

How drugs and money are changing sport forever

Nonfiction, Sports
Cover of the book Higher, Richer, Sleazier by Roy Masters, Allen & Unwin
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Roy Masters ISBN: 9781742691077
Publisher: Allen & Unwin Publication: September 1, 2010
Imprint: Allen & Unwin Language: English
Author: Roy Masters
ISBN: 9781742691077
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Publication: September 1, 2010
Imprint: Allen & Unwin
Language: English

An overview of the evolution of Australian sport during the 20th Century, Higher Richer Sleazier is a lament for the innocence and good sportsmanship of a former time. In today's Winning-Is-Everything world what has sport - and we as viewers and society as a whole - lost as a result?

In the Australian Dreamtime, sports stars were inspired amateurs, filled to overflowing with the glorious Olympic dreams of Baron de Coubertin. Guys who had begun by banging a golf ball with a stump against a water tank and just got better and better at it; golden girls who ran and swam gloriously before settling down as wives and mothers.

What would happen today if a modern athlete, sponsored to the hilt and laden with logos, stopped a world-record-setting run to lend a hand to a fallen comrade, as John Landy did with Ron Clarke in 1956? Would he become a national hero, as Landy did, or would he now be considered a bit suss, 'holier-than-thou' and not quite right, the way much of the media portrayed Adam Gilchrist when he walked?

Today it's a cut-throat world of big money, poisonous rivalries, sledging and the temptation to dabble in performance-enhancing drugs. Aussie sports fans love winners; but they still value sportsmanship. In a timely polemic, the eloquent Roy Masters explores how we have come to this and how we might be able to juggle the inherent inconsistencies in our vision of sport in the 21st Century.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

An overview of the evolution of Australian sport during the 20th Century, Higher Richer Sleazier is a lament for the innocence and good sportsmanship of a former time. In today's Winning-Is-Everything world what has sport - and we as viewers and society as a whole - lost as a result?

In the Australian Dreamtime, sports stars were inspired amateurs, filled to overflowing with the glorious Olympic dreams of Baron de Coubertin. Guys who had begun by banging a golf ball with a stump against a water tank and just got better and better at it; golden girls who ran and swam gloriously before settling down as wives and mothers.

What would happen today if a modern athlete, sponsored to the hilt and laden with logos, stopped a world-record-setting run to lend a hand to a fallen comrade, as John Landy did with Ron Clarke in 1956? Would he become a national hero, as Landy did, or would he now be considered a bit suss, 'holier-than-thou' and not quite right, the way much of the media portrayed Adam Gilchrist when he walked?

Today it's a cut-throat world of big money, poisonous rivalries, sledging and the temptation to dabble in performance-enhancing drugs. Aussie sports fans love winners; but they still value sportsmanship. In a timely polemic, the eloquent Roy Masters explores how we have come to this and how we might be able to juggle the inherent inconsistencies in our vision of sport in the 21st Century.

More books from Allen & Unwin

Cover of the book The Man on the Headland by Roy Masters
Cover of the book The Man Who Saved Smithy by Roy Masters
Cover of the book How to Organise & Operate a Small Business in Australia by Roy Masters
Cover of the book Dish It Up by Roy Masters
Cover of the book Blame by Roy Masters
Cover of the book Postcards from the Other Side: True stories of the afterlife by Roy Masters
Cover of the book Emilio: Through My Eyes by Roy Masters
Cover of the book Backyard Chickens by Roy Masters
Cover of the book Eat In by Roy Masters
Cover of the book White Time by Roy Masters
Cover of the book True Crime and Punishment: Mutinies by Roy Masters
Cover of the book Sweet Envy by Roy Masters
Cover of the book Quilting: Inset Piecing by Roy Masters
Cover of the book Project Management in Health and Community Services by Roy Masters
Cover of the book Amundsen's Way by Roy Masters
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy