argy-bargy (n.) — a lively discussion, argument, or dispute, sometimes involving a physical confrontation
In the last couple of days, the Olympic field hockey competition has seen some unseemly behavior both on and off the pitch.
First came the revelation that Tom Craig was arrested for purchasing cocaine the day after the Australia Kookaburras were eliminated in the quarterfinal round of the men’s competition. He was made to issue a statement by team officials, who suspended his Olympic credentials and moved him out of the athletes’ village.
Then, there was the final second of play in yesterday’s women’s semifinal game between Belgium and China. With the clock running down and the horn sounding and the sides level, Chinese player Fan Yunxia smacked the ball away, half in desperation and half in frustration. The ball hit Belgian player Delphine-Daphne Marien, who crumpled like a bag of flour onto the Yves-du-Manoir turf. The Red Panthers’ Judith Vandermeiren confronted Fan, a scene which resulted in both players receiving yellow cards (which didn’t lead to an on-field suspension, since the game was over and headed to a shootout).
And then, there was the final action of the men’s gold-medal match today between The Netherlands and Germany. With Duco Telgenkamp having scored the game-winning goal, he could have celebrated with his teammates on the pitch. Instead, he got in the face of German goalie Jean-Paul Danneberg. Germany’s Niklas Wellen, seemingly not understanding the odds, rushed into a huddle of of celebrating Dutch players to raise objection. It took a couple of his teammates and technical staff to get Wellen out of the melee.
The latter two scenes were characterized in tabloid media as a “brawl,” but I never saw hands thrown. Indeed, I have covered my share of field hockey games over the course of 33 years, and I have never seen fisticuffs in a game.
I have, however, read accounts of one game between two conference opponents which ended in the second half after a physical confrontation. I have seen a red card issued for verbal abuse of an official. I have seen an instance when, in an overtime period, a player was given a second yellow card for pushing, and received a red card.
It’s a miracle that, in a game in which players carry heavy wooden, composite, or (at one time) aluminum sticks, that there aren’t more instances in which these have become antipersonnel weapons instead of implements used to craft plays, passes, and, ultimately, goals.
I guess I got a perspective on this when attending a mid-tournament social event when talking to one of the participants. He said, “Hockey players are just a little bit better behaved than rugby players,” he said.
Given the tight reins that rugby officials hold on the game (see videos of Irish rugby referee Nigel Owens), that’s saying something. And it’s a shame that some of the more vivid memories of the Paris field hockey competition will not be the most savory.