Mike Hosking: Netballers deserve tough questions

Mike's Minute: Netballers deserve tough questions

In a very sad sign of just how PC we have become as a nation we have "outrage" at a question, and whether it should ever have been asked.

Jenny-May Clarkson, a colleague of mine and a delightful woman, asked the Silver Ferns captain - upon yet another loss at the Commonwealth Games - whether they had any pride in the black dress.

The captain, Katrina Grant, cried. Cue the outrage. Outrage at what? The rightly-held expectation that we might have got our act together after the loss to Malawi - one of the biggest upsets in games if not netball history?

The expectation that this is the major female sport in this country (or at least was) and we have seen a steady decline in performance that at some point, someone, somewhere needs to address.

The expectation that the Silver Ferns represent this country at the highest level of the sport and at the highest level, we expect performance and accountability.

Gosh, if we are outraged because of any of that, why don't we all just give up, form social leagues and be happy handing out participation ribbons. I would have asked the question.

In fact, in perhaps another sign of how PC and tragic we are these days another colleague of mine Steven Stuart in interviewing Laurel Hubbard, failed to ask a single question about the controversy surrounding her presence at the games. It was a patsy effort, but probably widely praised on twitter by the hand wringers.

And not only was the question fair to the Silver Ferns Captain and not only would I have asked it, Jenny-May Clarkson was the most qualified to do so.

A former Silver Fern, and a top level coach. Who better - an expert in the field, an expert who has known success been in the very same team she's just watched get spanked - to inquire as to what the hell is happening?

Further, here's the elite athlete's reality: you win, you lose. But at all times, when you represent your country you need to explain. You are never not accountable. It is part of the job, part of the privilege, part of the expectation.

And maybe, here's the upside, maybe the crying during the answer was an indication that yes they do have pride. That yes, laying it out that plainly in a simple question, showed us that the pride is there.

The technique or fitness or the plan and strategy might not be. Maybe the crying was the answer, which of course is what a good question is designed to do.

But if the outrage is real (to be honest I suspect it's not) it'll be confined to the usual selection of soft pussy tragies on social media.

But if it's real, then God help us all. If we fear tough questions and accountability, if we fold at a few tears we're buggered.