Two cases rocked the football industry this week, one your typical footy folderol that everyone hyperventilates over for several days, the other an incident that cut to the core of a league trying to effect serious cultural change. In both instances, all parties professed absolute certainty in their version of events.
First, to the relatively trivial matter, where umpire Nick Foot alleged that Port Adelaide’s Zak Butters abused him by asking: “How much are they paying you?” Complicating matters was the fact that the senior umpire, and I can’t believe I’m typing this, also moonlights as a betting analyst for Sportsbet. All parties brooked no doubt as to what had happened. Foot was “100% adamant” he was insulted. Butters was “100% sure” he wasn’t. Ollie Wines was “100% confident” it didn’t happen.
