Such a Thing As World Sport?

If I don’t do this very carefully, it’s going to sound parochial, nationalistic, protectionist and generally negative. Which I honestly do not intend. For I think the second year, the BBC is broadcasting the Superbowl live on Sunday evening from 11 p.m. onwards. I’m sure a minority of Brits and a huge number of American expats will be very pleased at this, and those individuals who are not are likely to be on their way to bed at that time anyway.
I enjoy sport myself, although not obsessively so. I may even watch a little of the opening quarter of the game as I have in previous years.
The only objection I have to the BBC’s (and previously Channel 4’s) coverage of the event is when they try to put forward the idea that it’s a World Game and that we should all suddenly become American Football fans.
I’m not particularly blaming American Football. In previous years various sports have attempted to impose themselves on us, either from another country or, as in the case of Rugby League, by elevating what is essentially a regional game to a national level. One cannot help feeling that money is the motivating factor, rather than a desire to spread interest in the sport itself.
In 2003 I was lucky enough to spend a month as driver for a friend who did the famous Camino de Santiago across Northern Spain. Just beyond Pamplona we passed through a number of villages that each boasted large handball courts, sometimes in the centre or town square. In one I noticed a statue dedicated to one of their most revered handball players. Just as we began to expect a sight of one of these little sporting arenas, they stopped appearing. All the undoubted passion and tradition end enthusiasm given to that game was limited to a particular corner of Northern Spain.
So, while allowing the sports which can engender a genuine national or international interest to do so, let’s also celebrate diversity in sporting activity. Let us be pleased that as we move around our beautiful planet we can still see a huge range of athletic endeavour that can be admired while not necessarily being televised.

New Year Fitness?

It’s probably the same where you live, but here in the UK the TV ads are full of advice as to what one needs to buy to recover from the excesses of the holiday period. Whether it’s diets, detox or a new fitness regime, we are all being encouraged to make health and activity part of our New Year resolution list.
Which got me into thinking about us Mac lovers who spend endless hours in front of our machines, both at work and at home in our leisure time. Are we less fit and more prone to obesity than the wider population? More interestingly, are we really achieving a better sedentary-activity life balance than our PC counterparts, as the appearance of the characters in the famous Mac-PC ads (both UK and US versions) would have us think?
Not surprisingly, Google reveals little regarding this particular query. There’s a lot about safe ways to sit and avoiding eye sight problems when using the computer and there appears to be much fitness software on the market. Keying in ‘obesity’ and ‘computer’ brings up pages about children and the harm caused to them by poor diet along with too much time spent with the TV, computer and other indoor ‘toys’.
So we could be breaking new ground here. Would it be fair to say that Mac lovers, if we don’t watch ourselves, can be easily seduced by Apple’s marketing methods? We have to regularly remind ourselves that Apple is in essence just another big company that wants our money. Yes, it makes great, reliable products that look good but that’s where it ends. A Mac is not a lifestyle. And yet there is something about its advertising, on TV or web that might attract a certain kind of person? One who values a lifestyle which includes a certain level of activity and fitness? What do you think?

An Excellent Sporting Day

It’s difficult not to sound nationalistic, but today’s successes for GB in the Olympics were particularly exciting. Maybe it was due to us having a few years where medals of any colour have been a bit thin on the ground.

Particularly refreshing were the post-effort interviews. First, they revealed just how much effort and emotion had been expended, not only during competition, but in the previous weeks and often years and how much the subsequent reward, the medal, was valued. In addition, whatever each athlete lacked in interviewing technique was more than made up for in sincerity. Having witnessed the clipped comments of those pampered premiership poseurs on Match of the Day last night, it was so refreshing to hear it from the heart for once.