Sport 0, Fireworks 1

Many other “stakeholders” are involved too, including players, coaches, TV companies, advertisers, sponsors, caterers, stadium owners, security personnel, traffic police - and the producers of fireworks.

When a scheduled sport event goes over time, the complaints usually come from television viewers denied “live” access to the climax of the contest, or from others inconvenienced by accommodating sport within the schedule without their consent. It is rather unconventional to defer the end of the proceedings until another day in order to facilitate the post-game entertainment.

If those responsible for managing the Chico Outlaws-Calgary Vipers game thought more clearly about the context, they might have asked why people were in attendance. Were most people there for a fireworks display with a baseball game as pre-show entertainment, or for a sport contest with some pretty lights and loud bangs in the night sky afterwards?

The answer seems clear - the match would be remembered long after the extinguishment of the last spark.

Even at staid Wimbledon this year, the best courts were allocated on the basis of the “box-office appeal” (code for looks) of women players.

All sport - including Australian - would do well to remember that, without the Contest and its uniquely uncertain outcomes and enthusiastic partisanship, the embellishing razzamatazz can only ever produce a damp squib.