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Part 6 - The "Jacko" Show

 

Mark "Jacko" Jackson in his famed music video "I'm An Individual"

Australia had clearly taken the United States by storm in the early 1980s.  By the late 1980s, however, that storm had certainly calmed down, or so we thought.  Then, when Americans least expected it, a storm came brewing in from Down Under!  It all started in the early 1980s when a certain character playing full-forward at Melbourne, St. Kilda and Geelong, had everybody rolling in the aisles.  He was none other than that "individual" himself - Mark Jackson, alias "Jacko."  Although the VFL had a number of characters who played throughout the years, Jacko was clearly one hot-dogger on a completely different wavelength!  No other player in the history of footy could possibly have a rap sheet that could top Jacko's.  Among the reported incidents include:

• Been known to distract his opponents by doing handstands in front of them
• "Stripped" in the middle of a boring game
• Charged a million miles an hour directly at an opponent only to veer away at the last second
• Threw half filled beer cans at people booing him
• Showed his athleticism to his coaches by "climbing the goalpost" during practice

Jacko's talents were not limited to his unusual football style.  In 1985, he recorded a pop song video entitled, appropriately enough, "I'm an Individual."  By early 1986, newly appointed Geelong coach John DeVine had seen enough and released Jacko.  It would be the last time we would see Jacko or, again, so we thought.  In 1987, from out of nowhere, during an Energizer battery commercial came a loud screaming maniac with a definitive "Oi!"  It was Jacko and, somehow, he had found his way into American waters and onto our television sets.  After doing a handful of commercials for Energizer, in spring of 1988, he appeared on the short lived television show "The Highwayman" on NBC (the show lasted only a few weeks and went belly-up).  Though I'm sure most Americans were only too happy to see Jacko pack his bags, for American footy fans it was a small (yet unusual) victory in that Australian Football was starting to make its way onto American soil.  It would only be a matter of time before the then-VFL would bring their act to the USA to show all of America what us precious few supporters were going crazy about.

 

Mark "Jacko" Jackson teamed with Mark "Chopper" Read on the "I'm Innocent Tour" (Rod Henshaw is in the center)

Since the time Jacko was ejected from the USA, he returned to his native country and appropriately went into show business.  He could be found as a spokesperson for Jenny Craig, conducting speaking engagements at organized functions, or even as a director of his own movies.  His most recent activity was to team up with former Australian criminal Mark "Chopper" Read, who served 24 years in prison, and travel cross-country in Australia on the "I'm Innocent Tour" - a comedy act.  Though Jacko's antics may seem tame by present standards, there's no doubting that he is considered a founding father of the wild and crazed entertainment that's now commonplace in the United States, Europe and Australia - whether that's a blessing or a curse, I'll leave up to your own personal judgement!

Part 7: The Hard Times