January 12 2022

9 Serbian People I’d Rather See in the News Everyday than Novak Djokovic

hsadmin Unqualified Opinion Border Force, court case, Deported, Jelena Dokic, Novak Djokovic, Serbia

9 Serbian People I’d Rather See in the News Everyday than Novak Djokovic

DYOR Dave

Serbia, it’s a beautiful country with a long and interesting history full of wonderfully unique people.
Unfortunately, if you were to ask the average dribbler these days what he knows about the country, chances are they’ll come up with one name, Novak.

For better or for worse Novak Djokovic has become the face of Serbia, but with so many other notable people that have helped to build the country in the last century, I thought there are far more deserving Serbian faces that should be plastered on our screens relentlessly.

Nikola Tesla – Scientist

One of the greatest minds in history, Tesla’s experiments dazzled audiences around the world and laid the groundwork for many of the devices we take for granted today. More than just a scientist, Niko was a well renowned dribbler and loved to invent cool shit. He created a remote control boat, wireless lightbulbs, giant lightning machines, and he once made Mark twain shit himself using an earthquake machine at his lab. With his face appearing on the $100 Serbian note, Tesla still holds supremacy over Novak, and doesn’t look like losing it anytime soon.

The Pink Panthers – Jewel Theives

This international network of jewellery thieves used their military training from the Bosnian war to execute some of the most unbelievable heists in history, reportedly stealing over half a billion dollars worth of jewellery since 2003. Fleeing police on speedboats, escaping from maximum-security prisons, and smuggling diamonds in ice cream tubs, are just some of the tricks these ingenious Serbs used to steal jewellery around the world. I saw we bring them here and let them loose! I’d rather see Serbian jewellery heists on the front page than Serbian tennis players.

Check out the Pink Panthers stealing $5 million worth of Jewellery in 2 minutes

Jelena Dokic – Non-controversial Tennis Player

Jelena Dokic made history as a 16-year-old in 1999 when she upset Martina Hingis in straight sets, becoming the only qualifier to ever beat the world #1 at Wimbledon. During her career, she’s represented Australia, Yugoslavia, and Serbia and Montenegro, and her family lived in Serbia prior to immigrating to Australia. Despite tremendous hype following her stunning form as a teenager, Dokic never went on to make a grand slam final, as well as finishing fourth in the Sydney Olympics. Throughout her career, she kept a low profile and promoted a positive image for both Serbian and Australian tennis, unlike some others.

Natasha Williams – Neighbours

Played by Serbian-Australian actress Valentina Novakovic, Natasha made her impact on Ramsay street in 2010 when she lied about being 18 to become a model and caught the attention of Andrew, whom she ended up dating. During this relationship, she again lied about being pregnant in order to stop her boyfriend from breaking up with her. Were these writing decisions a racist stereotype of Serbians or merely a coincidence? Her character left the show in 2013 to travel through Europe and hasn’t since returned, rumours suggest her re-entry may have been denied due to a lie on her customs form.

Gavrilo Princip – Assasin

Born just before the turn of the 20th century to a peasant Serb family, Princip went on to change the world perhaps more than anyone else in modern history with one woefully executed assassination. In 1914, with tensions at breaking point in Europe, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was touring Sarajevo in a motorcade. Gavrilo and five of his armed pals were lined up along the road awaiting the duke. After the first man chickened out, the second lobbed a grenade, missing the car and causing a panic that allowed Ferdinand to get away. Later that day, after visiting victims from the grenade blast, his private driver stalled the car outside a cafe, where our friend Gav happened to be sitting. Two gunshots and a whole lot of political scrambling later, war was declared, and despite his death in prison four years later, Gavrilo is commemorated with a museum at his home which has been destroyed and rebuilt three times due to conflicting governments.

Kristina Peric – Victoria’s secret model

It was unanimously agreed by myself and my colleagues during a 12-hour layover in Serbia’s capital on the way home from rippin’ and tearin’ in Europe, that Serbian women were easily the most beautiful out of any country we had ever stepped foot in. It was surprising to say the least, why is no one else talking about this? Were we delusional from a month’s worth of drugs and alcohol or were we finally seeing clearly for the first time? The moral of the story is, if I awoke to seeing Serbian models on the front page of news websites instead of Serbian tennis players, my days would start off a lot better.

Peter Blagojević – Vampire

Born in what is now Serbia, Peter Blagojević was accused of 9 murders in 1725, despite the fact he had died weeks previously. His alleged victims reported seeing visions of him in the nights leading up to their own demise, and villagers jumped to the most obvious conclusion, Peter was a vampire. Naturally, they exhumed his body and were shocked to find freshly grown hair and nails, as well as fresh blood that spurted out as they drove a stake through his heart. This case was one of the first documented reports of a vampire in Eastern Europe, and as the tale spread far and wide, it initiated a vampire craze in Western Europe during the 18th century. Now there’s a headline.

Vesna Vulović – World Record Holder

This Serbian flight attendant made headlines in 1972 when her airplane was struck by a bomb, leaving her the only survivor out of 28 passengers. As a result of this, she currently holds the Guinness world record for surviving the highest fall without a parachute, dropping 10km out of the air into a snowy mountainside. Miraculously, she was able to walk 16 months later, although with a limp, and used her fame towards political activism up until her death in 2016. She attributed her longevity to “Serbian stubbornness,” which may explain some of Novak’s behaviour as well.

Joska Broz – Serbian Politician

The grandson of renowned Yugoslav leader Josep Tito, Broz carries on his family’s legacy as leader of the Serbian Communist party, and part of Serbia’s coalition government. He had a modest upbringing where he worked as a forester and a metal worker, before turning towards politics and campaigning for education, workers’ rights and better healthcare. Sure, some Australian’s may not agree with his political views, but I bet he can run a border operation better than this bunch, and I reckon people are willing to give anything a shot at this point.

Fancy yourself as a bit of a writer? Got some unqualified opinion and unwavering bias you’d like to share with the world? Send it through to dyor@hellosport.com.au to be featured on the site

Check out the Latest Hello Sport Podcast episode #330 – Small Town 10’s

January 11 2022

Novak, Sinatra, Snoop Dogg, Pistol and Boo: A History of Australia’s Rejects

hsadmin Unqualified Opinion Border Force, court case, Deported, Frank Sinatra, Immigration, Novak Djokovic, Pistol Boo, Snoop Dogg, Tyler the creator, visa

Novak, Sinatra, Snoop Dogg, Pistol and Boo: A History of Australia’s Rejects

DYOR Dave

For those of you living under a rock, metaphorical or otherwise, #1 tennis player in the world Novak Djokovic recently had to endure a few hours of the calamity that is Australia’s Border Force. After initially being told he was able to play in the Australian Open, his visa was then cancelled after public uproar. Then, in a sensational turn of events, a federal judge overturned the cancellation of Djokovic’s visa and granted him free passage to enter Australia.

While Novak wasn’t lucky enough to land himself an extended stay in immigration detention like the hundreds of refugees unlawfully imprisoned offshore, his situation made global headlines as Australia’s questionable processes were once again put in the spotlight.

Novak’s case is the latest in a number of high-profile controversies involving global celebrities and Australia’s border and visa laws. However, the vast majority of these have involved musicians, political activists, or dogs.

In 2007, Snoop Dogg had his visa denied due to criminal offences involving drugs and firearms, and was forced to cancel his tour. 4 years later he was back in the country touring, and another 10 after that, Snoop was plastered all over our screens flogging food delivery apps.

It seems the border police can be forgiving when they want to be. In 2015, rapper Tyler, The Creator cancelled his tour after a campaign was waged against his music for alleged themes of domestic violence. 5 years later, he was headlining Sydney’s Field Day festival.

In recent years, the most notable of these instances involved Johnny Depp and Amber Heard smuggling their Yorkshire terriers, Pistol and Boo, into the country. Blatantly violating our strict and necessary biosecurity protocols, the actors were given an ultimatum by then Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce, of Beetroot fame.

The dogs were to be removed from the country in 50 hours or they would be euthanised. The world was once again shown that Australia doesn’t mess around when it comes to who the government feels like letting in to the country.

Floyd Mayweather Jr, Chris Brown, and Skepta are among others who have been barred from visiting our shores, but one man’s memorable trip in 1974 will be forever etched into Australian folklore.

In 1974 Frank Sinatra was nearly stranded and democratically deported from Australia during his tour, after his comments about Journalists set off a chaotic backlash that took over the nation. On his first Aussie tour in over a decade, Sinatra refused to speak to the press, who desperately tried to reach the crooner by following his motorcades and hounding him outside hotels and venues.

Having had enough, Sinatra let loose an on-stage tirade in Melbourne where he likened female journalists to prostitutes while slagging the profession as a whole. His comments couldn’t have been worse timed, with Australia at that time in the flows of second-wave feminism as well as a strong union movement under PM Gough Whitlam.

Musicians, roadies, stage crew and transport workers all banded together to stop his tour dead in its tracks. Unions released statements demanding an apology, but were met with a similar demand from Sinatra, who wanted an apology for “15 years of shit from the press” or he would be leaving the country. After airport workers refused to fuel his plane, it seemed a stalemate had been reached, and only one man could break the deadlock.

Bob Hawke, at that time President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, went to meet with Sinatra’s manager, armed with a box of cigars and a bottle of cognac. A few hours later, after Hawke had become “half pissed, almost legless,” an agreement was reached, with Sinatra and the workers agreeing to disagree and allowing the tour to continue.

So what can we learn from the latest in the long saga of Australian visitors being shunned by our people and our government? Well for starters it’s clear that more sense goes into deciding which outdated pop song is played at the end of each BBL over than into deciding who is allowed into our country.

But with such a high profile, one must wonder if Border Force love creating headlines where they’re the star? Or do the media love running stories and drumming up controversy about visitors to our country? Perhaps it’s the people that love to take down an international star (especially when its someone as universally despised as Novak or Chris Brown)

One thing is for certain, if Novak wasn’t already public enemy #1 at this tournament, he sure is now. Despite his judicial victory, the government still has the power to revoke Djokovic’s visa on character grounds, and rumours suggest that officials are waiting until right before his first serve to drag him from the court and deport him. Border Force will once again be making headlines across the world, and other outspoken individuals will learn the important lesson. Don’t mess with Australia.

Fancy yourself as a bit of a writer? Got some unqualified opinion and unwavering bias you’d like to share with the world? Send it through to dyor@hellosport.com.au to be featured on the site

Check out the Latest Hello Sport Podcast episode #330 – Small Town 10’s