After scoring an exquisite goal against Champions Manchester United, Manchester City player Mario Ballotelli lifts up his shirt to reveal under attire with the question ‘Why always me?’ printed upon it. Let me answer that question Mario, if you are going to let fireworks off in your bathroom, fight your teammates and put thousands of pounds behind a bar for people you do not even know, all the while playing for one the richest football clubs in the world, you are going to get a lot of media attention.
Now Mario Ballotelli’s behaviour is a special case. It's bizarre, controversial and if I was Roberto Mancini I would have given up a long time ago trying to tame him. In fact Ballotelli’s short football history has become so eventful now that a lot of people have stopped taking him serious, after all everything you hear about him is not exactly bad, it’s just bordering insanity.
What about other figures in the sporting world? How do they ensure that their media reputation remains positive and professional? Let’s start with the social side and more specifically, the alcohol. Sportsmen are allowed a life as well and yes, like us, many of them enjoy a drink. But their popularity within society surely means that they need to act as role models and avoid any senseless drunken antics that the media will jump on. Take the Welsh Rugby team as an example, their behaviour in the world cup was perfect and their performances on the field were superb. Despite getting knocked out in the semi-finals, they returned from New Zealand as heroes and gave the country a real boost.
In the same tournament England got caught very drunk in nightclubs. There were pictures of the team ‘dwarf tossing’, there were stories of players being abusive to hotel staff and you had the captain getting very close to a blonde women who wasn’t his wife, his royal wife. Look what has happened since New Zealand- Martin Johnson, the head coach, has resigned. Mike Tindall, the England captain for many of those world cup games, has been dropped and in the current six nations table, Wales sit ahead of England after beating them at Twickenham on Saturday. Wales themselves have been no saints in the past, just look at Andy Powell driving down the M4 in a golf buggy and Mike Phillips getting arrested for fighting outside a McDonalds. But this change in behaviour is certainly reflecting on their results and performances.
If you want to be a professional and respected model sportsman then you should look no further than Wales captain Sam Warburton. He very much orchestrated this good behaviour policy in New Zealand as well as leading his side to fourth place. Now Sam himself is a fantastic rugby player; strong, fast and fit. Sam may have been sent off in the semi-final of the world cup for a dangerous tackle but how he handled that situation was extraordinary. He didn’t kick up a fuss, just left the pitch when instructed to and waited until the post-match press conference to give his views. The decision was to say the least dubious and the media pundits, journalists, and pretty much the entire Welsh nation slammed the decision, yet Sam Warburton did not. He came out and apologised to his supporters and agreed with the decision as he believed the tackle could be deemed dangerous in regards to the laws of rugby.
Sam Warburton has said that he is not a drinker and that because rugby means so much to him, he wouldn’t want to jeopardise his career with the substance. Now while this may seem like a very sensible and incredibly respectful view on the game, situations like this can give sport stars an un-human side if you like. It can seem that their respected sport is their life and that they offer little else in personality. It can make them, dare I say it, boring and dull. This is certainly not the case with Sam Warburton. He interviews fantastically well and comes across as a friendly and approachable figure through the Welsh media. He talks about how he enjoys walking his dogs, his choice of heavy metal music for his iPod and interestingly his love and desire for a bar of chocolate after a game. This certainly brings up a human side to the rugby icon, something his fans can relate to. His love and passion for his country is clear to see and thus far he has been the model sportsman and captain for his country. At the age of 23, that is truly remarkable.
If you want an example of how not to be a model sportsman, Heavyweight boxer Dereck Chisora is perfect. Slapping your opponent in the face during the weigh in, spitting on your opponents brother minutes before a fight and then initiating a nasty brawl with a fellow country man during the post-fight press conference is what I would describe as shocking and disgusting behaviour. Dereck Chisora is not only the opposite of a model Sportsman, he is an embarrassment to the sport of Boxing.
