As the rock band U2 sang in the song Sunday Bloody Sunday, "I can't believe the news today". And so it was that today the news came across the wires that the beloved Aussie Steve "Crocodile Hunter" Irwin met his match with a stingray off the Great Australian Barrier Reef.
Readers of this site will know that one of my first posts involved Irwin's famous incident where he held his infant son in one hand while feeding a 4 meter croc with the other. In that post, I questioned why people would get so freaked out that Irwin would do this while tolerating abortion practices. After all, Irwin was potentially threatening his infant son, but what do people who decide to abort their children do?
I suppose that the easiest thing to do would be to say (like everyone else) that at least Irwin died doing what he loved best. There could hardly be a better way to go. One does have to think about his wife and children. I hope that things turn out well and that they will be looked after.
There is something inside me which wonders whether Irwin might have started to get a bit too adventureous as he got older. The incident with his son and his final trip against the sting ray makes one wonder. Still, I loved watching his shows as much as everybody else. To me it seemed that Irwin was almost a caricature of what everyone wants Aussies to be like - fearless adventurers of the Outback, casually dressed in their khaki colored clothes, and capable of... well taming crocodiles. Then everyone would go back to the ranch, fire up a barbie and have a laugh and a Fosters afterwards.
One wonders what the future would have held for Irwin. I imagine he would have continued to do television. He sure made it a lot more fun to watch that those dreadfullly boring Jacques Cousteau documentaries which we had to put up with as kids in the 1970's. I wonder if one of Irwin's kids will take up the torch in memory of their father in another 20 years? Wouldn't that be a great tribute to their father?
Steve Irwin - RIP
Posted by The Mighty Wizard at September 4, 2006 05:23 PM