>
Petulant Today reveals identity Tony Jones has sued fellow Channel 9 reporter Sarah Abo for using a popular American phrase ahead of Saturday’s AFL Grand Final at the MCG.
Jones was in a pedantic mood on Friday and immediately reacted when Abo called the long-awaited decision maker between Geelong and Sydney the “big dance.”
“TJ, Geelong will enter the decider as favourites. They’ve won 15 games in a row, which is quite a bit. Do you think they’ll last for the big dance on Saturday?” Abo asked.
It prompted Jones to declare that he “hates that expression” and that he would like to “veto it” before complaining about the “Americanisms creeping in.”
In 2017, Jones wrote an op-ed that appeared on Today’s. popped up website prior to the AFL Grand Final between Richmond and Adelaide.
He outlined his frustration at using the term ‘big dance’ and compared it to ‘zip’ and ‘dee-fence’.
Show Identity Tony Jones has sued fellow Channel 9 reporter Sarah Abo for using a popular American phrase ahead of Saturday’s AFL Grand Final at the MCG
As Jones would be well aware, the term is often used by journalists when referring to a sporting grand finale.
While some sports fans might agree with Jones that the cliché is poignant, it was patronizing and unnecessary to pick up his colleague Abo on live television.
Especially when you consider that Jones himself has been the subject of countless and infamous TV blunders in recent years.
He went viral for all the wrong reasons in 2016 when he tried to plant a kiss on the cheek of Bec Judd during a Melbourne news segment – only for the wife of AFL great Chris Judd to turn away in awkward scenes.
Three years later, Jones received a lot of criticism after an interview with Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open.
Osaka had just beaten Petra Kvitova in the women’s singles final and appeared overwhelmed during the interview with the pair.
Jones asked Osaka to smile after her Grand Slam title, before suggesting that she spend some of her $4.1 million prize money in Melbourne.
TV veteran Jones was in a pedantic mood and reacted immediately when Ms Abo called the highly anticipated decision between Geelong and Sydney the ‘big dance’ (pictured, Swans fans)
“It’s a very, very big trophy. I’m not sure how you behaved it all like that… there’s the smile,” Jones told Channel 9 before a live audience outside the Margaret Court Arena.
‘How are you going to reward yourself? You do pick up a nice check at the Australian Open (for) $4.1 million.
‘We would like to pump that back into the economy.’
Osaka was unable to respond – and the ‘creepy’ Jones hadn’t finished commenting on her nationality and family.
“Your grandparents were back in Japan and you left Japan at three o’clock and you still consider yourself Japanese,” he said.
“It took your grandparents a while for you and your sisters to want to play tennis, and then they finally came aboard.”
Jones himself has been involved in infamous TV gaffes with colleague Bec Judd and tennis star Naomi Osaka
Jones was widely reported on social media after his bizarre comments, with one tennis fan tweeting that his behavior was “beyond embarrassment – rude, patronizing, dull and awkward”.
Earlier this month, Jones was again destroying the AFL after not receiving an invitation to the AFL’s night of nights, the Brownlow Medal.
On the Footy Show, the ‘King of Cringe’ told viewers that he’d been to Brownlow for the past 30 nights, but after brushing up this year, he threw his toys on live television and told the AFL to ‘get full ‘.
“If the AFL is watching, you can get full, it’s a shitty night,” Jones said.
When asked if he might have done anything to justify the rejection, Jones replied, “Just promote the game in a good light.
“I wasn’t aware of it until I heard Damo (Damian Barrett) talking to the wardrobe department. I’ve searched all my emails, archives, junk… anyway, so I’m officially rejected.”