Larry Ryan: A sinking feeling we don't see much behind the scenes

Is the true reality of what happens after kick-off gradually becoming less interesting than the soap operas and narratives grafted on afterwards by flies on selective walls?

The Australian Cricket Team Dressing Room ahead of an Ashes Test match at The Gabba. The Test fly on the wall series allows viewers a longer look inside the Aussie inner sanctum. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images) 

What became of quicksand, is a question my lady wife often poses. In the television of our youth, quicksand was an ever-present danger. The deadliest predicament. The stuff of nightmares. The leading cause of near-death. MacGyver hauled one or two out, with that roll of cable he had handy, just as all you could see was a hat.

Quicksand and custard pies — as good as obsolete too — were the two staple substances really, of the small screen. Sinking ominously and throwing pies into people’s faces was the full gamut of entertainment. Besides The Sullivans and Sons and Daughters.