“At what point did people start to talk about sporting defeats as terrible tragedies, and wins as glorious triumphs?” In his seminar The Birth of Passion, Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Dr Michael Gard asks, in modern sport, do highly paid players need to demonstrate their “passion” for sport in ever-more overt ways because, if they didn't, it would be more difficult for us “mere mortals” to overlook the huge sums of money players are paid? “Sport has become a bigger and bigger business. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy. People get swept along with it; suddenly they really do think it is important whether or not Federer wins the French Open, and if he does, you have people dancing in the street. And the players, instead of just shaking their opponent’s hand, are prostrate on the ground. The displays of emotion have changed dramatically over time.”