The 'celebrity' of Irish boxing

Matt_Trakker

Ewan MacKenna wrote a great article about the hounding of the Irish Indo of Kenneth Egan's personal life.
Really worth a read.
http://eircomsports.eircom.net/News/Ewan-MacKenna-silver-standard.aspx

Sport is now the silver standard. One rung up is the cheap and shallow and spiteful world of celebrity that handpicks who it wants and eats them up and chews on them until it’s good and ready to spit them back out. Even those sports stars that don’t want or aren’t ready to be a part of one of the most grotesque features of modern Irish society are hoovered up to the extent we think they are somehow public property.

Not good enough for Horan {Niamh Horan - Irish Indo 'journalist'} though who has never properly covered him doing what actually made him well-known in the first place. She picked up an autobiography she would have gotten at that book launch way back in 2011, saw him honestly admit that as a kid in a tough area of Dublin, long before he was a successful boxer that was carded by the sports council, he dabbled in ecstasy and cocaine on a couple of occasions. She used a tone that questioned why he was working with Wada and suggested he was living it up at a conference in Singapore when he never should have been there in the first place.

alanceltic

What an absolutely biased one sided point of view, journalism just as thrash as the piece (and journalist) he reviewed.

Firstly Ken Egan courted the media, his choice, FACT. He was the one who went off the rails of his own accord, its very disingenuous to blame the media for reporting on a character who so blatantly "danced with the devil". Everyone remembers the wheres wally episode when he tweeted from new York. Its just to easy to blame the media.

Reference is made to Paul McGrath, why????? as an example of how bad the media really are??? Come off it, everyone knows Paul is a troubled soul and his worse indiscretions were kept out of the media. There are no parallels.

As for the journalist questioning Kenny's background I believe she has every right to do so. If you are going to take a paid job with WADA and you are on record for taking illegal substances well im sorry at some stage you are going to have to answer those difficult questions. In fact he has a bigger challenge rebutting these comments than someone with no baggage.

Matt_Trakker

alanceltic wrote: »

What an absolutely biased one sided point of view, journalism just as thrash as the piece (and journalist) he reviewed.

While you're entitled to your opinion, your opinion is obviously wrong.
Did you actually read it?

Plenty of parallels.
Let me explain 1, you obviously didn't get it.
These are sportsmen, not celebrities. What good comes of gutter rags like the Indo and other tabloids delving into the personal lives of sports players?
None.
It's like the clowns you hear in the uk media constantly saying that 'footballers are role models for kids' Sorry, but if you're a parent and your kid thinks a footballer is more of a role model than you are, then you've failed miserably as a parent.

Complete nonsense to waste so much ink and page space on the personal lives of sports players. Celebrities choose to live their lives in the spotlight, people like Egan & McGrath just want to be the best at their individual sports.

alanceltic wrote: »

As for the journalist questioning Kenny's background I believe she has every right to do so. If you are going to take a paid job with WADA and you are on record for taking illegal substances well im sorry at some stage you are going to have to answer those difficult questions. In fact he has a bigger challenge rebutting these comments than someone with no baggage.

Yet again, you are showing that you didn't really read/understand the article.
1. You are calling Ms Horan a journalist. Please, read some of her material, she's not a journalist. She's a clown of mammoth proportions who could barely write a postcard.

2. From the piece.

She didn't even mention David Millar as someone who had tested positive but now represented Wada.

If she was going to write about Egan trying out yokes and coke back in the day (both of which are not performance enhancing drugs if you didn't know) then she should have also mentioned Millar. Double standards from a weak, lazy 'journalist'

3. Do you think he hasn't already answered those questions to WADA? Seriously? That's something between his employer and him. Not the national press.

Dick phelan

It always makes me laugh when people go on about athletes being role models, that they should be someone for kids to look up to ect, listen they are famous for their sporting abilities that does not mean that being a famous sports person they should also be upstanding citizens, like when Tiger Woods did his apology to people about his affairs, WTF for the man is paid to play golf that is what he is famous for him being a bad husband is not anyone else concern and he doesnt have to say sorry to anybody other then his wife and family, sports stars in general are not role models and nor should they have to be they are paid and admired for their sporting abilities who cares if they are a good or bad role model

Strongbow10

Dick phelan wrote: »

It always makes me laugh when people go on about athletes being role models, that they should be someone for kids to look up to ect, listen they are famous for their sporting abilities that does not mean that being a famous sports person they should also be upstanding citizens, like when Tiger Woods did his apology to people about his affairs, WTF for the man is paid to play golf that is what he is famous for him being a bad husband is not anyone else concern and he doesnt have to say sorry to anybody other then his wife and family, sports stars in general are not role models and nor should they have to be they are paid and admired for their sporting abilities who cares if they are a good or bad role model

I can see where you are coming from yes, but sponsors would feel differently at the end of the day. When the likes of Nike pay him millions of dollars a year they are buying into the whole package.

When theres scandal then their brand is damaged by association. If Woods was a stand alone figure supporting himself then fair enough, he can tell everyone to get f*cked. But he is a major enterprise in himself.

Egan was naive in the extreme. Theres absolutely no doubt in anyone's mind that he is a decent fella with a record of high achievement in a very disciplined game.

But he most certainly did court the media. I don't for one buy into the story that his escapades were a "nightmare". He was well and trully living the dream as a fella would say. He does seem to revel in the spotlight, the talk shows, the parties and the like. And when the parties stopped, he revelled in telling everyone he didn't like parties. Attention I suppose it is.

The fact he released an autobiography says it all.

The fact he held the launch night at Krystle nightclub also tells a story, hardly appropriate given his previous problems.

He just made some very odd choices, he definately enjoys the attention but thats no crime either.

The drugs "exposé" is an absolute joke, and its clear the author has absolutely zero knowledge of the sport the guy is famour for. And in which he represented Ireland with distinction.

alanceltic

Matt_Trakker wrote: »

While you're entitled to your opinion, your opinion is obviously wrong.

Obviously its MY opinion so obviously you cant tell me its wrong! It just doesn't coexist very comfortably with yours.

Without getting drawn into a personal spat with you, we all know Kenny's story and he represented his country with honour but he did court the media in a way which ultimately was to his extreme detriment.

Like it or not the biggest celebrities in most countries are in fact sports stars, its not a new phenomenon and wont be changing anytime soon. To say someone has failed as a parent because their son/daughter idolises a sportsperson is a slur on any parent who brings their son/daughter to a sporting event and encourages sport in their life. Lets face it we all had our sporting heroes when we were younger. Its a very narrow minded view of the world you have if you think this is wrong and shouldn't be confused with having respect for your parents!!! Its very much NOT a failure and I can only assume you don't actually have any children.

The facts are if you are successful in sport it is very difficult to stay out of the medias eye and quite often a lot of sportspeople enjoy their day in the sun with the public acclamation that goes with it and so they should, what is very different here is that Kenny actively courted the media in a very naive and silly way, something which you have overlooked and are unwilling to accept.

As for the drug thing, it was very obvious that this was going to resurrect its head regardless of the background and is something that he will just have to deal with.

Frankie Lee

Very sad.

gene_tunney

Frankie Lee wrote: »

Very sad.

Those beatings he got off Ward must have had more serious implications than anyone realised at the time.

kumate_champ07

Matt_Trakker wrote: »

While you're entitled to your opinion, your opinion is obviously wrong.
Did you actually read it?

Plenty of parallels.
Let me explain 1, you obviously didn't get it.
These are sportsmen, not celebrities. What good comes of gutter rags like the Indo and other tabloids delving into the personal lives of sports players?
None.
It's like the clowns you hear in the uk media constantly saying that 'footballers are role models for kids' Sorry, but if you're a parent and your kid thinks a footballer is more of a role model than you are, then you've failed miserably as a parent.

Complete nonsense to waste so much ink and page space on the personal lives of sports players. Celebrities choose to live their lives in the spotlight, people like Egan & McGrath just want to be the best at their individual sports.



Yet again, you are showing that you didn't really read/understand the article.
1. You are calling Ms Horan a journalist. Please, read some of her material, she's not a journalist. She's a clown of mammoth proportions who could barely write a postcard.

2. From the piece.
If she was going to write about Egan trying out yokes and coke back in the day (both of which are not performance enhancing drugs if you didn't know) then she should have also mentioned Millar. Double standards from a weak, lazy 'journalist'

3. Do you think he hasn't already answered those questions to WADA? Seriously? That's something between his employer and him. Not the national press.

depends on the circumstances whether they will have any benefit, but they are on the WADA/IOC banned list.

walshb

Egan put himself out there after Beijing, and in doing so he created the "celebrity," not the media. With that came heat. I don't see why the media should be slated for this. The problem for Kenny was that he couldn't handle the little bit of fame that came his way.

As for WADA and the drugs. Damn straight he should have been pulled on this and queried. Whether he took PEDs or not is irrelevant. Is cocaine 100 percent proven not be be a PED?

FTA69

Working class man joins the most anti-working class party in the state? Is he off his head?

FTA69

walshb wrote: »

. Is cocaine 100 percent proven not be be a PED?

It isn't generally associated with athletic excellence like.

walshb

FTA69 wrote: »

It isn't generally associated with athletic excellence like.

I am aware of that, but it has properties that can be helpful.

Frankie Lee

pac_man wrote: »

What's sad about it Frankie?

What FTA69 said, he couldn't sell out much worse. If he cared about politics enough he could run as an independent and get elected rather than being a stooge for one of the right wing parties.

gene_tunney

walshb wrote: »

Is cocaine 100 percent proven not be be a PED?

...

cowzerp

Fine Gael? I won't say what I think of him if he is joining them or I'd be banned off here. He made his own celeb and thats the truth of it.

FTA69

walshb wrote: »

I am aware of that, but it has properties that can be helpful.

Like allowing you to feel super important and tell everyone how great you are?

walshb

FTA69 wrote: »

Like allowing you to feel super important and tell everyone how great you are?

No, there is more to it than that. Alertness and confidence and a sudden energy kick. It's been well documented. Yes, it's not quite anabolic steroids, but it's not like there's NO benefits.

Anyway, anyone getting a paid role in WADA needs vetting and screening, and if they don't stack up then maybe it's not for them.

WADA list: http://www.wada-ama.org/Documents/World_Anti-Doping_Program/WADP-Prohibited-list/2013/WADA-Prohibited-List-2013-EN.pdf

FTA69

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/fine-gael-are-probably-using-me-kenny-egan-gives-rambling-radio-interview-as-he-begins-election-campaign-30004212.html

When asked by Boylan what his views on controversial issues such as the property tax and water charges are, Egan said he wasn’t ready to give his position yet as he hadn’t started canvassing.

“I’m not going canvassing any time soon, this is all new to me - I’ll be well up on all that type of stuff when I start canvassing” he said.

When asked what motivated him to run for Fine Gael ahead of other parties he said: “They were the only party that approached me”.

He denied media reports that Fianna Fail has attempted to woo him onto their local election ticket.

Boylan also quizzed him on his view on gay marriage, a topic which Egan seemed uncomfortable with as his response was punctuated with long silences.

“Look.... to be honest with you, I’m not going to actually comment on that at the moment..... Hmmm... yes.... (laughs)... no I’m not (commenting).

“Look, I’ve no problem taking your call, but the fact I’m going to be working in local political I’m going to be working on local issues”.

Boylan continued to press him on the issue - reminding him of his pledge to help young people – and quizzed him about what he would do to help a young LGBT person.

“They’re exactly the type of things I’m going to address.”

He was then again asked again would he support marriage equality: “I’m for, or course. Of course I’m for it.

The presenter then suggested to him that Fine Gael could be exploiting him by using his celebrity status to win votes.

“They probably are I don’t know what their motives are. I’m just hoping to help my local area.”

Before closing the interview, Egan was asked whether he went to counselling for his porn addiction.

“I didn’t no. It’s gone. I’m currently in AA the last three and a half years, and I’m happy in myself and have piece of mind.”

Is Egan actually a dope?