I had a lot of time and respect for Adam Goodes going back and in spite of the eroding of his performance as a footballer with his whinging and staging in later years, I never really cared enough to comment or react because it seemed just small blips on his otherwise good football character, but the single thing that lost me was his disgraceful behaviour to a young child who had little or no idea that what she was saying was racist, or had the maturity to have a valid comprehension of the meaning of her words. A true "good person" or "gentleman" or "indigenous leader" would have handled that issue in such a different way instead of the inflammatory, egotistical, petulant and completely unforgiving way Goodes went about it and at that point that was it for me. Nothing about his race, but all about his character. And his actions since, especially his speech on being named AOTY, have done nothing but confirm in my eyes what a self-absorbed person he really is. He has an agenda that is all about Adam Goodes and he doesn't give a flying f about the mechanisms he uses to push that agenda. A true leader would speak about the issues he cares about seeking an outcome that is for reconciliation and promotion of sharing the common purpose for the betterment of our country, not embarking on a mission of inciting division and hatred. He is exactly the person he rails against but he has a large number of media sycophants who are more than happy to peddle his poison for the sake of a headline or conflict to scoop on, mostly because it is easy and lazy journalism, something that comes naturally to so many in the p-weak fraternity that call themselves journalists in our country.
