We see good sportspeople go bad, because they just don't give a f--- about the things they should, and good sports people become great because they only give a f--- about the things that actually count.
It is more important than ever for those of us in the business of #realnews to make sure our assertions are based on solid facts.
Excuse me, while I exult once more. I mean, just how extraordinary is the culture of golf?
Goodness! There I was, minding my own business at home, on Thursday evening, when I checked in on the SMH website.
Good luck to Castle
The reaction of Premier Gladys Berejiklian to the stadium protests quite stuns me.
Now, where was I before I was interrupted?
No joke, in 30 years in this game, I've never had a reaction like it.
Twenty-odd years ago in this space, I wrote: "Sports stadiums are the cathedrals of our time." My basic idea was that whereas cities around the world would measure their glory by the grandeur of their cathedrals, the real steeple people now are those who build sporting cathedrals. I was wrong.
What continues to stun me is the continued flagrant abuse of the concussion protocols in 2017.
Ange Postecoglou coached the Socceroos all the way to the World Cup, only to resign right when his side can at last see the summit! Sorry, what?
Bravo you Socceroos, and go you Wallabies! Yea, though for too long, both teams have walked through the shadows of the Valley of Death, yet did they fear no evil, for as Australians, they knew the Goodies would triumph in the end.
A good day for Australia, with the "yes" vote on marriage equality coming within four percentage points of doubling the "no" vote?
Dusting off the old rah-rah speeches and trying to apply them to the Socceroos is a tad presumptuous. But I can't resist.
Just this once, as the current sports editor isn't looking, can I return to the old days?
Good luck to the Socceroos for their coming two matches – home and away – against the Hondurans, as they try to hang on to their World Cup qualification like cats to a curtain.
Sometimes you meet people who make such an impression, it stays with you ever afterwards. Tony Madigan was one such man.
"Listen to me," I said. "The Wallabies could bloody well win this," I said.
Listen. If you cock your head to the wind, close your eyes and strain your ears, you can just hear it.
I refer of course to his starring role in the Allan Border Testimonial Match, played at the Gabba in December 1993.