Kildonan
Premium Platinum
Steven Baker - a remarkable career
9/10/2011 2:52:00 PM,
Grant Thomas
9 Wide World of Sports
Steven Baker has had a remarkable career; 203 AFL games, one club, 13 seasons, club best & fairest and life member of St Kilda Football Club. His greatest award is the unspoken word of respect and acknowledgement from his team mates and opponents.
He is 31-years old however mixes in a very accomplished manner with people of all ages - especially teenagers. "Bakes" is a rough diamond and does not exude many airs and graces. He does not tolerate protocols and tradition too well - in fact he wouldn't even understand them.
He is somewhat shy, respectful of those who have earned it from his lofty standards (old-time) and as loyal as they come in the most intimidating and unconditional manner. He would die for those important to him and I do not say that lightly.
For all of these reasons I cannot for the life of me understand the distasteful and shoddy treatment afforded to him late in the season by the club he served so well.
By his own admission he was only aware of the "retiring" statement five minutes before it was announced. He was confused, puzzled and bewildered by the scene as it unfolded in front of him. True to his nature he just copped it on the chin and did what he was told. Hardly the deserving exit for a man who has delivered way beyond his call of duty, sacrificed his body and safety to unbelievable standards and gave everything he had to his team, his coaches and his club.
The unprofessional account of his absence from the club best & fairest awards also lacked class.
He has a new and exciting business venture that he has been developing for a few years preparing himself for this time in his life when he can no longer answer the call to shut down a brilliant opponent or take his turn by putting his body in a deeply dangerous situation. It's called life after football.
He was fortunate enough to set up a meeting with a very senior person within the industry in Sydney. In fact the meeting was with the president and co-founder of Freelife, Kevin Fournier from the United States.
He respectfully declined his invitation to the Saints awards evening and informed them of the unfortunate clash in events. When I heard he was not attending I sent him a message outlining my thoughts on how he needed to attend and leave the club on a professional and harmonious basis - unlike the bloke advising him! He told me of his circumstances which made utter sense and put a completely different slant on the things I had been reading in the media. The official comments from the St Kilda media person were both disappointing and inaccurate and had the potential to cast a cloud over Steven Baker's credibility and his departure.
St Kilda has a very poor record with the treatment of it's people full stop. This culture is a legacy of the poor history and lack of premiership success.
Irrespective Baker deserved better.
A whole career of memories, love and devotion can be flitted away in a nanosecond.
Im sure Ross Lyon and Tim Watson would agree with me that players like Baker mean more to a team than anyone. Their contribution and value is immeasurable and in fact you build club cultures around their character and attitude.
Sure "Bakes" had his fair share of indiscretions both on-field and off-field. He loved a cold drink on a hot day and enjoyed a fight even more. He was easily adept at both forms of man-to-man combat; whether it be Marquess of Queensbury rules or simply "dog and goanna". In fact I think he actually preferred the latter - no rules.
He is a man of strong principles, an eye for an eye along with protection of family, friends and women in general. He was incredibly coachable and rarely if ever beaten, especially in one-on-one contests at ground level. He possessed enormous strength for his diminutive size and would not take a step sideways in any situation. His bravery and courage is legendary amongst those close to him.
He was able to extract every last drop of energy, effort and skill out of his frame and maximised his potential to the hilt. He was a naughty boy, a bit of a cheeky mischievous but highly loveable rogue.
And in a flash its all over.
I hope the Saints forever welcome you and treat you with the highest respect afforded to any of their small army of heroes from this time forward.
I salute you Steven Baker, you will do me any day
9/10/2011 2:52:00 PM,
Grant Thomas
9 Wide World of Sports
Steven Baker has had a remarkable career; 203 AFL games, one club, 13 seasons, club best & fairest and life member of St Kilda Football Club. His greatest award is the unspoken word of respect and acknowledgement from his team mates and opponents.
He is 31-years old however mixes in a very accomplished manner with people of all ages - especially teenagers. "Bakes" is a rough diamond and does not exude many airs and graces. He does not tolerate protocols and tradition too well - in fact he wouldn't even understand them.
He is somewhat shy, respectful of those who have earned it from his lofty standards (old-time) and as loyal as they come in the most intimidating and unconditional manner. He would die for those important to him and I do not say that lightly.
For all of these reasons I cannot for the life of me understand the distasteful and shoddy treatment afforded to him late in the season by the club he served so well.
By his own admission he was only aware of the "retiring" statement five minutes before it was announced. He was confused, puzzled and bewildered by the scene as it unfolded in front of him. True to his nature he just copped it on the chin and did what he was told. Hardly the deserving exit for a man who has delivered way beyond his call of duty, sacrificed his body and safety to unbelievable standards and gave everything he had to his team, his coaches and his club.
The unprofessional account of his absence from the club best & fairest awards also lacked class.
He has a new and exciting business venture that he has been developing for a few years preparing himself for this time in his life when he can no longer answer the call to shut down a brilliant opponent or take his turn by putting his body in a deeply dangerous situation. It's called life after football.
He was fortunate enough to set up a meeting with a very senior person within the industry in Sydney. In fact the meeting was with the president and co-founder of Freelife, Kevin Fournier from the United States.
He respectfully declined his invitation to the Saints awards evening and informed them of the unfortunate clash in events. When I heard he was not attending I sent him a message outlining my thoughts on how he needed to attend and leave the club on a professional and harmonious basis - unlike the bloke advising him! He told me of his circumstances which made utter sense and put a completely different slant on the things I had been reading in the media. The official comments from the St Kilda media person were both disappointing and inaccurate and had the potential to cast a cloud over Steven Baker's credibility and his departure.
St Kilda has a very poor record with the treatment of it's people full stop. This culture is a legacy of the poor history and lack of premiership success.
Irrespective Baker deserved better.
A whole career of memories, love and devotion can be flitted away in a nanosecond.
Im sure Ross Lyon and Tim Watson would agree with me that players like Baker mean more to a team than anyone. Their contribution and value is immeasurable and in fact you build club cultures around their character and attitude.
Sure "Bakes" had his fair share of indiscretions both on-field and off-field. He loved a cold drink on a hot day and enjoyed a fight even more. He was easily adept at both forms of man-to-man combat; whether it be Marquess of Queensbury rules or simply "dog and goanna". In fact I think he actually preferred the latter - no rules.
He is a man of strong principles, an eye for an eye along with protection of family, friends and women in general. He was incredibly coachable and rarely if ever beaten, especially in one-on-one contests at ground level. He possessed enormous strength for his diminutive size and would not take a step sideways in any situation. His bravery and courage is legendary amongst those close to him.
He was able to extract every last drop of energy, effort and skill out of his frame and maximised his potential to the hilt. He was a naughty boy, a bit of a cheeky mischievous but highly loveable rogue.
And in a flash its all over.
I hope the Saints forever welcome you and treat you with the highest respect afforded to any of their small army of heroes from this time forward.
I salute you Steven Baker, you will do me any day
