Hi,
I hope is well with you. Ok, what’s been happening this week..?
After travelling around Greece for a week, the Olympic torch was handed over to the British team, (more priestess action!) and flown to Britain on a special plane BA2012.
I did hear a commentator write about Princess Anne, who accepted the flame. She took part in the 1976 Games, and the commentator said she must have decided to honour that event by wearing an outfit from the same year!
A bit harsh maybe, but even I noticed that amongst the ancient robes of the actress priestesses, Anne’s outfit did not look the most, er, modern?
The torch relay has now started here, and 3 days in the torch has gone out!
Actually that’s not as dramatic as it may sound – it always goes out on the relays, the logistics of getting something like that over such a long haul without going out make it virtually impossible for it *not* to go out at some point. So, they have spare flames in the convey vehicles, lit from the same original flame in Greece – that’s what I call preparation!
Sad to hear that Robin Gibb has died. The Bee Gees were one of the most successful song writing partnerships Britain has produced – much maligned in the press, but selling over 200 million records is not to be sniffed at.
Talent and skill combined with hard work, with luck thrown into the mix – no easy ride, but success earned by hard graft.
European football saw its biggest club event on Saturday with the Champions League Final. It was won on penalties by Chelsea, but the problem I had was with John Terry, the club captain.
He had been suspended from the final after being sent off in the semi. I’m not a big fan of his – he tried to use a court order to stop the press reporting about his affair with the wife of a friend and team mate.
He is currently being prosecuted for allegedly making racist remarks during a match, and then there was this latest sending off. Despite walking up behind a player with a snarl before kneeing him in the back, Terry said it had all been an accident, that the other player had walked into him…
Then when challenged with the replays, he admitted that it ‘looked bad’.
That’s right John, it looked bad because you had walked up behind someone and kneed him in the back – that will tend to look bad!
So, he was banned from the final, and sat on the sidelines in his Chelsea suit. After the final whistle though, there he was on the pitch, in his playing kit, and walked up the steps to collect the trophy!
That can’t be right! The logic is that he was punished by missing the match, that the punishment shouldn’t extend to missing the celebrations!
Poor John Terry, boo hoo, can’t hold the trophy up, poor multi millionaire, boo hoo.
Where’s the integrity? The consequence of actions? I found that disappointing, and reckon he’s a shocking role model to have for the younger generations.
In the English domestic league, the Playoff Final took place. Both Blackpool and West Ham had worked for the whole season, and the playoff final would secure the last place in the Premier League for next season, with the extra millions that would bring.
It’s a huge game in the football calendar, and something you won’t find in the NFL, for example – can you imagine if any team could work their way through the leagues and get promoted into the NFL?
That’s the one thing missing from the NFL in my book, and why a lot of football fans won’t get into it.
Sport is riddled with stories of hard work, and success or failure being decided by tiny margins. It’s why I write about sport a lot (you may have noticed) and the Playoff Final is a great example of it.
Ok, that’s it for now,
‘Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. Don’t forget, if you want to read more about integrity, hard work and goal achievement, then grab my book ‘Transform Your Life in 21 Days!’
