They are not all saints who use holy water. ~English Proverb
LONDON, ENGLAND – When the initial reports starting wafting in from New Zealand and the Rugby World Cup about England center Mike Tindall’s over-celebrating after a team victory on a well-earned night off with his mates, our initial thought was basically what it remains right now:
That he is a knucklehead who should know by now that he can’t handle his booze. And that his new bride would not be happy…
And that was it. End of story. Right? Wrong.
Fast forward to today. Mike Tindall, a 33-yearold rugby player who gave his country 11 years of blood, broken bones and countless head knocks (with a nose that can smell around corners to prove it), gets fined $40,000, fired from his job, treated like a traitor and made the scapegoat by England Rugby honcho Rob Andrews for the team sucking in New Zealand and acting like a bunch of… misbehaving rugby players.
For Andrews to do this now, after the team is home for weeks and after the whole nonsense had been dragged repeatedly through the press, is – as this excellent piece by The Telegraph’s Paul Ackford so accurately describes, is an act of the highest hypocrisy. With that, we assembled an unequaled panel of Rugby Hypocrisy Experts, not just to defend Michael Tindall, but to also help Lord Andrews see the err of his ways:
One should examine oneself for a very long time before thinking of condemning others. ~Moliere
All of us are experts at practicing virtue at a distance. ~Theodore M. Hesburgh
Nothing so needs reforming as other people’s habits. ~Mark Twain
Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo. ~H.G. Wells
God has given you one face, and you make yourself another. ~William Shakespeare
Don’t fire a rugby player for acting like a rugby player if the rugby player is not managed properly by Management. – Johnathan Wicklow Barberie
While all of these opinions/observations are exceptional, we tend to favor the last one. It’s not too late, England. End the Tindall Folly.
Please tune in tomorrow, for Monday Morning Flyhalf – a recap of all things rugby from this weekend.
