My fantasy 2026 World Cup travelogue, spiced with musical, literary and filmic signposts. worldcupanalysis.ws/paris-2024-l...

So, I and others wrote a lot about the 2026 FIFA men's World Cup and geopolitics leading into the tournament. Then the first ball was kicked and the politics has receded. Not for the first time. Here I discuss the rhythms of mega sport event attention. theconversation.com/with-the-wor...

On the day Iran played Aotearoa New Zealand at the 2026 FIFA men's World Cup in Los Angeles, this book (warning, I'm a self-interested co-author) seemed especially relevant! idrottsforum.org/macmal_rowee...

More on the 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup in a radio interview, including ambivalence and the football fan as ethical being. www.thewire.org.au/story/geopol...

A news podcast interview on some of the less palatable aspects of the 2026 FIFA men's World Cup, including the banning at the border of Africa's best referee. play.listnr.com/podcast/the-...

Regional legacy news media is in rapid decline. A few words from me and others on why this is a significant loss for local culture and politics. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06...

Not so long ago, most elite male association football/soccer players made only modest incomes from short careers in the game. Then came a court case ending its neo-feudalism. Game changers: how soccer’s mega-money era was sparked by a little-known Belgian athlete theconversation.com/game-changer...

Why Trump and FIFA are perfect bedfellows as the World Cup heads to the US theconversation.com/why-trump-an... An odd couple perhaps, but a 'Presmance' made in heaven.

A little Seasonal Sociology from Australia with some remarks on radio about temperature, cultural fantasy, and material circumstances. www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

World Aquatics is the latest Olympic sport allowing Russian & Belarusian flags and anthems. A few multiplatform words from me about this reintegration as Ukraine slips from view and LA 2028 closes in, its White House Taskforce chaired by Putin-friendly Donald Trump. www.youtube.com/shorts/rQadK...

World Aquatics is the latest Olympic sport allowing Russian & Belarusian flags and anthems. A few multiplatform words from me about this reintegration as Ukraine slips from view and LA 2028 closes in, its White House Taskforce chaired by Putin-friendly Donald Trump. www.youtube.com/shorts/rQadK...

Here comes another epic women's association football (soccer) tournament in Oceania but classified as an Asian Football Confederation event. The most valuable sport brand in Australia is the Matildas. Can they win it for the first time since 2010 and progress? www.openforum.com.au/forums/waltz...

Another mega media sport events, another sport diplomacy, sportswashing and PR disaster opportunity. humanities.org.au/power-of-the...

Time for some real action on gambling harm in Australia, where the losses are the highest in the world per capita. You spin some, you lose more: how Albanese’s gambling rhetoric falls short theconversation.com/you-spin-som...

Vince Rugari explores British-Australian variations in sporting fandom. I find myself saying, "My rule of thumb is that a British football crowd of 5000 is noisier than a 20,000-25,000 crowd at Australian rules or rugby league.“ Plymouth Argyle is inevitably mentioned. www.smh.com.au/sport/why-do...

One from my archive as struggling England face the Adelaide Ashes Test. The media in Australia having fun with what symbolises success and failure. Then it was the moustache over health food, now it's the mullet over the beach break. Cultural Sociology the winner! theconversation.com/the-ashes-au...

Good piece by La Trobe Uni student Joshua Grobbelaar, with a few words from me, about regulating and refereeing rugby union. I & many others getting tired of arcane rules & constant whistleblowing to the point of the great media sport sin - reaching for the remote. www.upstart.net.au/theres-a-lot...

On the threshold of this year's Melbourne Cup, the claimed 'race that stops the nation' beset by concern about animal cruelty & human gambling harm, Catharine Lumby & I venture to the (dis)course to take on the cultural politics of this somewhat tarnished sporting spectacle. youtu.be/0KG8Vt1JaBA?...

I did a quickfire Guardian interview after Australian PM Albanese was criticised in Parliament for wearing a Joy Division Unknown Pleasures T-shirt (I have one too). I don't recall any outrage when Joy Division Orchestrated played the Sydney Opera House in 2019. theconversation.com/will-time-te...

Tonight, ABC TV's Four Corners program asks why there's been so little government action to reduce online gambling harm in Australia. I recommend watching it (it's online too). I posed the same troubling question about the gamblification of sport last February. theconversation.com/will-the-gov...

It Was 25 Years Ago Today: Revisiting Cathy Freeman’s Sydney 2000 Olympics Victory Free event light refreshments provided. Time: 4-6pm, Thursday 25th September, 2025 Place: IPSQ, PC-01.6.53 (LS), Western Sydney University RSVP: Please email [email protected] if you’d like to attend.

To accompany my recently reposted reflections on the Sydney 2000 Olympics and Paralympics, a review I wrote at the time of a famous event moment, adopting the persona of an irascible and self-centred sport fan obsessed with the cultural capital of 'being there'! webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20010131...

The Sydney 2000 Olympics and Paralympics commenced 25 years ago today. So, I've been doing media interviews, partly prompted by this piece written for the 20th anniversary. Debates continue over the legacy of the big, expensive party that was the Millennial Games. theconversation.com/the-sydney-o...

The United Nations, by resolution, declares an annual World Football Day. A chance to celebrate and critique a game that is by turns 'beautiful' and, shall we day, 'tarnished'. humanities.org.au/power-of-the...

For anyone working in the area of community and rugby league, the Wes Smythe Award could support your work. Applications close on Monday 9 June 2025. www.tombrock.com.au/the-wes-smyt...

Legislation promised in Australia before the next election to deal with online ad gambling harm, but put on ice. Wouldn't be vested interest lobbying to blame, would it? Will the government’s online gambling advertising legislation ever eventuate? Don’t bet on it theconversation.com/will-the-gov...

My first post - apologies if the image is a little disturbing. This piece starts with the old saying about law and sausage-making being similarly unsightly activities. It ends with new metaphors of cauldrons, spoons and competitive reality TV cooking shows. www.openforum.com.au/forums/sausa...