Hey, you think the fact that NRL referees can’t count is a scandal, or that AFL clubs have been giving players ‘supplements’ is a scandal or that the location of the next world soccer cup was fixed against Australia is a scandal then you don’t know what a real scandal is!
To see what sports officials are really capable of let’s talk about the world’s first motor race. The 1895 Paris- Bordeaux-Paris event. Now I know that many readers like Adelaide’s Michael McMichael and Ken Messenger and Sydney’s Gerry Crown were probably there in Paris with me to see Emile Levassor scream across the finish line in his Panhard & Levassor but the rest of you have probably forgotten the story.
How far ahead was Emile? Well, let’s put it this way, 50 kms outside Paris, on the way to take the chequered (or tricoloured) flag, he stopped at a restaurant for a ‘rather luxurious snack’ and still finished six hours ahead of the next car. So that’s like Jamie Whincup hitting the brakes at 300kmh near the end of Conrod Straight , dashing into the Chicane Bar & Grill, at the Rydges Hotel, for a herb and garlic stuffed chicken supreme with a glass of Renzagli chardy ($35 all up) before heading off to take the race.
