Wednesday, October 4, 2023

A READER WRITES AND A MESSED UP REX


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I received the following email from Byter Bruce R in response to the post about football quotes:
Hi Otto

I saw your blog from Sunday and it brought back to mind a quote from our very own Rex Mossop. As you may recall Rex played for Manly, NSW and Australia in both league and union way back. As a somewhat celebrated commentator Rex, without fail, would come up with a way to massacre the English language without even realising it.

The following quote from Rex was not about football of any code but given Rex was a football player I couldn’t resist sending it to you (perhaps to be kind to Rex, who has departed this earth, he may have put his head on the line once or twice too often)

The quote is:

In 1976, Mossop made a citizen's arrest of a nudist at Balgowlah Beach later stating "I don't need the male genitalia rammed down my throat".

A classic Mossopism!

All the best.

Regards

Bruce
Thanks Bruce.

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That quote, and more, was written about in Bytes on the occasion of Rex Mossop’s death in 2011.

To add body to Bruce’s comments and to look back to when political correctness did not have the strength it does today, here is that 2011 post . . .

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Sunday, June 19, 2011

RIP: Rex Mossop

Rex Mossop (1928-2011)
Manly rugby league legend and former commentator Rex Mossop died today, aged 83. Mossop, who played rugby league and rugby union for Australia, suffered from Alzheimer's disease. He was admitted to Royal North Shore Hospital this year and his condition is understood to have deteriorated in the past week.

Mossop played rugby union for the Manly club and played Tests for the Wallabies between 1948 and 1951.He switched codes in 1951, joining English club Leigh before returning to Australia. Mossop played for Manly-Warringah from 1956 as the cornerstone of their forward pack before retiring in 1963 at the age of 35. He was rugby league's premier television commentator on Channels Seven and Ten from the 1970s until 1990.

- News Report, Sydney Morning Herald
Rex “Moose” Mossop, aka The Moose That Roared, Rex Messup and Tyrannosaurus Rex (ie a dinosaur), played football hard and uncompromising. He lived life the same way. Decried by feminists, vilified by gays and opposed by civil libertarians, Mossop had no time for political correctness and typified the Frank Sinatra song “I Did It My Way.” He was also known for his mangling of the English language, regularly winning sports commentator tautology awards.

Some memorable moments:

The famous appearance on Steve Vizard’s Tonight Live, when he was seated next to Julian Clary:




The blue screen falls on Rex:

Rex lived near Balgowlah beach which became a favoured nudist beach. He regularly made citizen’s arrests, declaring "I don't think the male genitals or the female genitals should be rammed down people's throats … to use a colloquialism…"

Some other quotes:

"The referee gave him a verbal tongue-lashing",

'That match was so bad it made me want to go home and thump the missus!' (unconfirmed)

"If I keep getting Boyd and O'Grady mixed up, it's because they look alike, especially around the head"

“He seems to have suffered a groin injury at the top of his leg.”

“That kick had both height and elevation.”

“I don’t want to sound incredulous but I can’t believe it.”

"He's made a great yardage of 25 metres."

"He's making good forward progress".

Former Manly hooker Max Krilich recalls: 
"We used to play touch football down at Brookvale Oval when I was 15 or 16, and he coathangered me one day - in touch footy. He said 'Son, if you're going to play grade football later on, you've got to learn to cop that'. I went home crying!"

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Some pics:





 

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