Friday, July 22, 2005
"Large firework" explodes at Bulldog game
In an unprecedented and sickeningly timed incident, the spectre of Islamofascist terrorism visited and wrenched the collective stomachs of Australian rugby league fans last night.
Nearly 30,000 of them would have thoroughly enjoyed a possible NRL grand final preview at Sydney's Olympic Park, but for a frightening explosion - within the stadium - late in the game.
Police are saying that "2 hooligans" are being detained over setting off a "large firework" in the north-east corner of the Telstrastad after the Canterbury Bulldogs scored a late try to beat the Brisbane Broncos in a thriller.
There are no reported injuries. Most in the stadium were suddenly disturbed by the loud blast, including many of the players.
The ripples of the blast have already resounded amongst many angry Bulldog supporters and in the broader community, as well.
I have written about the club before:
... (O)ne of the distinct changes that (Sydney's) beachside Bondi has seen since my own long-ago youth (is) its growing rowdiness, especially in the evenings. People from outside suburbs flock there now for entertainment.
Some of them seem to come there with "have-not" chips on their shoulders. Bondi is noted for being glitzy and touristy, frequented by "haves" and, famously amongst these, Jews. It's also a very, very multicultural area - but that doesn't change these other givens.
Amongst Bondi's visiting outsiders are a not-inconsiderable number - many of them with Lebanese or other Middle Eastern ethnic roots - who ostentatiously wear "Bulldogs" shirts and identificants.
The famous Canterbury Bulldogs are currently Australia's champion rugby league team.
Their Canterbury headquarters is in a Sydney suburb far away from Bondi. Their broad support base includes a percentage of persons with Muslim and Arab heritage. One of the current team's star players is the brilliant Hazem El-Masri, proud muslim, national icon and one of the finest goal-kickers in the history of rugby league.
Bulldogs paraphernalia was much in evidence around Bondi in the days following the 2004 championship Grand Final. In that match, the Bulldogs triumphed over the Bondi-based Sydney Roosters.
Thrashed 'em.
So the parading of the Bulldogs shirts and hats and banners around Bondi Roosterville after that game was a bit like rubbing salt into wounds.
In a good-natured way, perhaps. Nobody really minded. The 'Dogs supporters were proud, and deservedly so. Australian sport is about fun and enjoyment and good-natured rivalry, where everyone ribs each other and has a drink together afterwards.
Having said that, a slightly eery pallor has tainted Australian sport in recent years.
It was during 2004 that an in-season Bulldogs-Roosters match became embroiled in large-scale crowd violence. It was big news, and perhaps the first time in the history of traditional Australian sport that such a thing had ever occured.
Much has been done by rugby league authorities since that time to crack down on the psychotic behaviour of the minority of spectators who might be tempted to engage in violence at games, and their efforts have so far been successful. There has never been any overt hint of ethnicity or racial motivation inspiring such behaviour, nor have any such overtones affected or coloured the crackdown.
Nor should they. Paranoid joining of far-flung dots ... has no legitimate basis.
There are indeed minor - psychotic - groups that bear watching though, as underlined by the youth recently featured in Australian headlines after a video was found showing him making a suicide-bombing style threat against Australian military targets, Australian flag in the backdrop of a film piece otherwise notable for its Islamofascist style.
Let's hope patriotism and love of country runs deep with many of us, and that same does not become muddied with cancerous, violent ideas.
In the wake of this new incident, let's indeed continue to hope.
