Commenting on the story: The night I cooked schnitty for Barry Humprhries

I too remember meeting Barry Humphries when he first came to Adelaide in 1953 with the Melbourne Student Theatre group. He was the outstanding performer of the entire Festival, and I got to know him at after-show parties.

I caught up with him every time he came to Adelaide, and in later years he confessed to trying to seduce me at these parties. That is not true – it was Darlene Johnson he was after! – Anne Levy

Fabulous story, Sa. – Deborah Cranston

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Commenting on the opinion piece: Leave the swagger out of sport, thanks

I am 65 so can fit into the conservative fuddy duddy group on first examination.

I attended three days of LIV after a few games the weekend before at the Gather round. It was entertainment through sporting excellence, as well as swagger and a bit of corny carrying on. I loved it.

The crowds and visitor numbers show it brings new people to the sport. Provided it is not harmful, rude or disrespectful then I am all for it. – Peter Cleary

Thank you Ali, for your observations about the extreme ‘wankerism’ and ‘swagger’ that seems to have infected our sporting life at all levels.

The excessive congratulatory behaviours and rituals that seem necessary for even fairly mundane accomplishments on the field, from multiple ‘high-fives’ to spraying champagne over all on the podium is embarrassing and childish. It is not only inappropriate but losses any credibility of the accomplishment itself.

Maybe it stems partly from the child rearing notion prevalent today to be super encouraging with positive reinforcement for any attempts and that everyone is a winner for fear of traumatising unsuccessful attempts in participation.

But I fear that this swagger is partly imported from abroad, embarrassingly for me from my birthplace in the USA. Upon my arrival in Australia in the 1960s, I remember being impressed with the self-effacing and modest responses of outstanding athletes here following successful competitions. Shuffle their feet and say, “Ah, just lucky, I guess”.

That degree of modesty raised the credibility of their performance and, if anything, enhanced its impressiveness. It contrasted, at the time, with the swagger of American athletes following their performances. It is disappointing to see yet another unfortunate cultural more from America adopted here. Australia has many unique and valuable characteristics. Let’s have confidence in them and stop aping the bad habits of others. – Leon Lack