TWO weeks ago I wrote about how excited I was that the Rubis Jersey Town Criterium is coming to the Island on 24 May.
Following my comment piece, only three days ago, I was delighted to learn that former Tour de France rider Malcom Elliott, a double gold medallist in the Commonwealth Games, is set to compete in the event.
At the time of writing I know that 11 professional riders will now be taking part in the race. For local riders like Chris Spence any UK professionals taking part should be seen as a godsend for even if they beat you, you can look at their pedigree, compared to that of part-timers and amateurs, and be comforted by the fact that they are among the best of their peers.
Elliott is 48 years old now, so the chances of his winning the event are probably decreasing with every passing day. However, the chance of a local boy beating a legend is always a good topic for conversation (and always worthy to print in the local paper).
And, in my experience as a sports journalist, any Islander who has proved him (or her) self at national level will always remember the best, the most famous, the most talked-about sportsman or woman of their generation, even if they have only taken a point from them because losing to the best is far more preferable than losing to someone a lot further down the ladder.
In terms of rugby, for example, I’d much rather lose to the likes of Gareth Edwards than Paul James (who was a very good rugby player but not an international).
Similarly, I’d be quite happy to lose to Bjorn Borg, 6-0, 6-0 at tennis because afterwards I could talk about the experience. And to lose 6-0, 6-1, having taken a game from him, would be even better.
So I am delighted that Elliott is coming to Jersey, even if he’s now in his late 40s. I also hope that the organisers of this year’s Town Criterium keep the momentum going and that this is the first town race of many.
I was interested to read in the national press that there are very few towns which can close their roads and stage such an event – so if that is the case, let’s make the most of it and dedicate one day a year to St Helier becoming the home of cyclists going very, very fast while there is no other traffic on the roads.
Finally, on the subject of ‘the best’ sportsmen, in all kinds of sports ranging from football to rugby, to swimming, netball and motor sports . . .
One of the questions I have always asked sportsmen and women who are approaching the zenith of their careers, is ‘will you carry on playing, as a vets’ player and just for the sheer pleasure of playing once you retire?’
The number of people who’ve said ‘yes’ can probably be counted on the fingers of one hand. JPR Williams was an exception – he said that he would carry on in any position on the field as long as his legs would carry him.
However, looking back on the names and the numbers, most professionals said that once they hung up their boots, that would be it. And all of them made the same point.
For they have no more to prove while being intensely aware that there’s always going to be someone ten or 15 years younger who wants to beat them, so that they can say that they’ve done just that – beaten a World, Commonwealth or National figure.
Most top sportsmen, once they have retired from their sport, don’t play it again simply because they have nothing more to prove while being well aware that the next generation wants to be able to talk about the likes of beating a Stirling Moss or Peter Shilton.
‘I’ve nothing more to prove’ is probably the commonest saying any professional, on the edge of retirement, has said to me. So once they hang up their boots, nine out of ten of them hang them up for good.
. . . But not Malcom Elliott, and I’m looking forward to seeing him in May – fully 33 years after he made his cycling debut for Great Britain!
It’s all in the mind games
There are not many games where gender is irrelevant: ie you’re either very good or very bad and being either a male or a female doesn’t enter into it – so along with partner-whist, bridge, croquet and darts, which other sport is there which doesn’t favour a man or a woman, because both are equal?
Horse riding seems to be a sport which favours neither man or woman, while I was reminded of losing at darts to a 20-year-old trainee (female) teacher at college while speaking to Phil Speak at the Stafford Hotel last weekend.
Phil played badly in the doubles of the Quants Jersey Winter Darts League finals night with partner Steve Eusebini but then knocked his partner out in the Rosebowl, which means he will be representing Jersey in the inter-insular this weekend.
‘Sometimes you have days like that,’ Phil explained, ‘when you play badly with your partner but then come back to play much better in the singles.’
And there aren’t many other games where you can play badly for five minutes and then be inspired for the next five while also walking to the oche to the sound of the Blues Brothers in the background . . .
Most sports, if you haven’t the talent, will find you out. Darts – is it a game or a sport? – is interesting because it is normally over within a few minutes . . . but then that’s far longer than the 100m event in the Olympics.
I’m still not convinced, despite the Eusebinis trying to convert me into believing that darts is a sport rather than a game, but then again I do recognize that to hit treble 20 on a regular basis you do need talent.
Also, you need to be mentally tough to play in front of any audience which is probably the undoing of many would-be sportsmen or women. How many closet golfers are there who play miraculously well when they’re not being watched but fade away as soon as anyone turns up to see them?
And the older I get, the more I realize that nine-tenths of being good at any sport isn’t solely having a fitter body: it is that mental toughness which separates one person from another.
As for darts? – Okay, let’s call it a sport, because you do need that mental agility as well as the ability to throw a dart accurately and with skill.
However, don’t try to persuade me that partner-whist or bridge are sports, because although there is a skill element you’re only as good as the cards you’re dealt. And that’s not down to skill, that’s down to luck, and the gods . . .
Give me a break!
Finally, the chairman of World Snooker, Sir Rodney Walker, wants to introduce a seven minute game to replicate the success of Twenty20 cricket.
His idea is that the new format would feature only six colours on the table and that snooker would emulate Twenty20 cricket. This is what he had to say about the new format: ‘As an observer of snooker you cannot churn out the same diet year after year. Look at what Twenty20 has done for cricket. It has brought in a whole new audience so what we have in mind we think would be appealing to a younger audience.
‘The working party who looked into this thought that a six-ball tournament with matches that take an average of six to seven minutes to play, with maybe the best of five, best of ten frames could work.
‘We think it would give players other than top-rank players chances of winning because once you get on the table with fewer balls other people have a chance.’
Personally, I think the idea is completely mad. Why can’t you ‘churn out’ the same diet of a perfectly decent game, day after day?
Snooker, at its best, is such a clever and skilful game that the last thing it needs is to be tampered with, and the idea that a quicker game will give the also-rans more of a chance of winning is ludicrous.
Surely, in any sport, the idea should be for us to encourage players to get better at what they do rather than having to rely on luck. Being skilful is far more preferable to being lucky. And the idea of quickening up any game might sound attractive in a world where most youngsters have an attention span of no more than five minutes at a time . . . but six-ball snooker? Thanks, but no thanks.
And, while on the subject of snooker, can we not have it moved from Sheffield to China next year, which is what the organisers are seriously considering? – I love the atmosphere at the Crucible theatre and would like to think that the sport remains in its spiritual home. Sheffield. And the Crucible.
Helpful advice for the elite sporting performer
OVER 60 local elite sports people attended a special conference last weekend to help them plan ahead and set goals within their chosen sport.
Guest speakers at the Sports Performance Conference, organised by the Commonwealth Games Association of Jersey, included Jersey tennis player and sports psychologist, Dr Jeremy Cross, former world No 8 and England squash player, Jenny Denyer, and former member of the British rowing team and Athens Olympic silver medallist in the quad skull rowing event, Dr Alison Mowbray.
At the conference on Saturday at Haute Vallée School, delegates from a variety of sports including archery, athletics, lawn bowls, shooting, and squash, among others, focused on topics such as goal setting, mental preparation and lifestyle preparation.
Organised as part of an on-going support programme for potential athletes for the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, the conference was a great success, according to organiser and Assistant General Team Manager for the 2010 Games, Paul du Feu.
‘It was successful on two levels,’ he said. ‘Those involved were challenged with new ideas and they were reminded of old ideas they had got lazy on. It was great to see representatives from totally different sports and of mixed ages come together and hopefully they will have got a more focused way of planning out of it.
‘Also hopefully it will help them to think positively about the challenges they may face rather than negatively about the problems – you would be surprised how many sports people are always talking about what they should have or could have done.’
And du Feu added that as well as the conference, local athletes have been benefitting from other programmes to help them get to Delhi and future competitions, including on-going fitness and nutrition programmes, and there will also be the opportunity to follow up on the ideas of the conference with a local sport psychologist.
‘It is part of a long term plan, most of which is for Delhi, but then also beyond that,’ said du Feu. ‘We are hoping that these kind of programmes are going to give the athletes better habits, and it is about giving them the opportunity to achieve their goals.’
Also at the conference were Derek de la Haye, from ESC, and Andrew Goodyear from the association’s lead sponsor – the Sanne Group.
A whole new slant on racing around Town
TWO weeks ago I wrote about how excited I was that the Rubis Jersey Town Criterium is coming to the Island on 24 May.
Following my comment piece, only three days ago, I was delighted to learn that former Tour de France rider Malcom Elliott, a double gold medallist in the Commonwealth Games, is set to compete in the event.
At the time of writing I know that 11 professional riders will now be taking part in the race. For local riders like Chris Spence any UK professionals taking part should be seen as a godsend for even if they beat you, you can look at their pedigree, compared to that of part-timers and amateurs, and be comforted by the fact that they are among the best of their peers.
Elliott is 48 years old now, so the chances of his winning the event are probably decreasing with every passing day. However, the chance of a local boy beating a legend is always a good topic for conversation (and always worthy to print in the local paper).
And, in my experience as a sports journalist, any Islander who has proved him (or her) self at national level will always remember the best, the most famous, the most talked-about sportsman or woman of their generation, even if they have only taken a point from them because losing to the best is far more preferable than losing to someone a lot further down the ladder.
In terms of rugby, for example, I’d much rather lose to the likes of Gareth Edwards than Paul James (who was a very good rugby player but not an international).
Similarly, I’d be quite happy to lose to Bjorn Borg, 6-0, 6-0 at tennis because afterwards I could talk about the experience. And to lose 6-0, 6-1, having taken a game from him, would be even better.
So I am delighted that Elliott is coming to Jersey, even if he’s now in his late 40s. I also hope that the organisers of this year’s Town Criterium keep the momentum going and that this is the first town race of many.
I was interested to read in the national press that there are very few towns which can close their roads and stage such an event – so if that is the case, let’s make the most of it and dedicate one day a year to St Helier becoming the home of cyclists going very, very fast while there is no other traffic on the roads.
Finally, on the subject of ‘the best’ sportsmen, in all kinds of sports ranging from football to rugby, to swimming, netball and motor sports . . .
One of the questions I have always asked sportsmen and women who are approaching the zenith of their careers, is ‘will you carry on playing, as a vets’ player and just for the sheer pleasure of playing once you retire?’
The number of people who’ve said ‘yes’ can probably be counted on the fingers of one hand. JPR Williams was an exception – he said that he would carry on in any position on the field as long as his legs would carry him.
However, looking back on the names and the numbers, most professionals said that once they hung up their boots, that would be it. And all of them made the same point.
For they have no more to prove while being intensely aware that there’s always going to be someone ten or 15 years younger who wants to beat them, so that they can say that they’ve done just that – beaten a World, Commonwealth or National figure.
Most top sportsmen, once they have retired from their sport, don’t play it again simply because they have nothing more to prove while being well aware that the next generation wants to be able to talk about the likes of beating a Stirling Moss or Peter Shilton.
‘I’ve nothing more to prove’ is probably the commonest saying any professional, on the edge of retirement, has said to me. So once they hang up their boots, nine out of ten of them hang them up for good.
. . . But not Malcom Elliott, and I’m looking forward to seeing him in May – fully 33 years after he made his cycling debut for Great Britain!
It’s all in the mind games
There are not many games where gender is irrelevant: ie you’re either very good or very bad and being either a male or a female doesn’t enter into it – so along with partner-whist, bridge, croquet and darts, which other sport is there which doesn’t favour a man or a woman, because both are equal?
Horse riding seems to be a sport which favours neither man or woman, while I was reminded of losing at darts to a 20-year-old trainee (female) teacher at college while speaking to Phil Speak at the Stafford Hotel last weekend.
Phil played badly in the doubles of the Quants Jersey Winter Darts League finals night with partner Steve Eusebini but then knocked his partner out in the Rosebowl, which means he will be representing Jersey in the inter-insular this weekend.
‘Sometimes you have days like that,’ Phil explained, ‘when you play badly with your partner but then come back to play much better in the singles.’
And there aren’t many other games where you can play badly for five minutes and then be inspired for the next five while also walking to the oche to the sound of the Blues Brothers in the background . . .
Most sports, if you haven’t the talent, will find you out. Darts – is it a game or a sport? – is interesting because it is normally over within a few minutes . . . but then that’s far longer than the 100m event in the Olympics.
I’m still not convinced, despite the Eusebinis trying to convert me into believing that darts is a sport rather than a game, but then again I do recognize that to hit treble 20 on a regular basis you do need talent.
Also, you need to be mentally tough to play in front of any audience which is probably the undoing of many would-be sportsmen or women. How many closet golfers are there who play miraculously well when they’re not being watched but fade away as soon as anyone turns up to see them?
And the older I get, the more I realize that nine-tenths of being good at any sport isn’t solely having a fitter body: it is that mental toughness which separates one person from another.
As for darts? – Okay, let’s call it a sport, because you do need that mental agility as well as the ability to throw a dart accurately and with skill.
However, don’t try to persuade me that partner-whist or bridge are sports, because although there is a skill element you’re only as good as the cards you’re dealt. And that’s not down to skill, that’s down to luck, and the gods . . .
Give me a break!
Finally, the chairman of World Snooker, Sir Rodney Walker, wants to introduce a seven minute game to replicate the success of Twenty20 cricket.
His idea is that the new format would feature only six colours on the table and that snooker would emulate Twenty20 cricket. This is what he had to say about the new format: ‘As an observer of snooker you cannot churn out the same diet year after year. Look at what Twenty20 has done for cricket. It has brought in a whole new audience so what we have in mind we think would be appealing to a younger audience.
‘The working party who looked into this thought that a six-ball tournament with matches that take an average of six to seven minutes to play, with maybe the best of five, best of ten frames could work.
‘We think it would give players other than top-rank players chances of winning because once you get on the table with fewer balls other people have a chance.’
Personally, I think the idea is completely mad. Why can’t you ‘churn out’ the same diet of a perfectly decent game, day after day?
Snooker, at its best, is such a clever and skilful game that the last thing it needs is to be tampered with, and the idea that a quicker game will give the also-rans more of a chance of winning is ludicrous.
Surely, in any sport, the idea should be for us to encourage players to get better at what they do rather than having to rely on luck. Being skilful is far more preferable to being lucky. And the idea of quickening up any game might sound attractive in a world where most youngsters have an attention span of no more than five minutes at a time . . . but six-ball snooker? Thanks, but no thanks.
And, while on the subject of snooker, can we not have it moved from Sheffield to China next year, which is what the organisers are seriously considering? – I love the atmosphere at the Crucible theatre and would like to think that the sport remains in its spiritual home. Sheffield. And the Crucible.
Helpful advice for the elite sporting performer
OVER 60 local elite sports people attended a special conference last weekend to help them plan ahead and set goals within their chosen sport.
Guest speakers at the Sports Performance Conference, organised by the Commonwealth Games Association of Jersey, included Jersey tennis player and sports psychologist, Dr Jeremy Cross, former world No 8 and England squash player, Jenny Denyer, and former member of the British rowing team and Athens Olympic silver medallist in the quad skull rowing event, Dr Alison Mowbray.
At the conference on Saturday at Haute Vallée School, delegates from a variety of sports including archery, athletics, lawn bowls, shooting, and squash, among others, focused on topics such as goal setting, mental preparation and lifestyle preparation.
Organised as part of an on-going support programme for potential athletes for the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, the conference was a great success, according to organiser and Assistant General Team Manager for the 2010 Games, Paul du Feu.
‘It was successful on two levels,’ he said. ‘Those involved were challenged with new ideas and they were reminded of old ideas they had got lazy on. It was great to see representatives from totally different sports and of mixed ages come together and hopefully they will have got a more focused way of planning out of it.
‘Also hopefully it will help them to think positively about the challenges they may face rather than negatively about the problems – you would be surprised how many sports people are always talking about what they should have or could have done.’
And du Feu added that as well as the conference, local athletes have been benefitting from other programmes to help them get to Delhi and future competitions, including on-going fitness and nutrition programmes, and there will also be the opportunity to follow up on the ideas of the conference with a local sport psychologist.
‘It is part of a long term plan, most of which is for Delhi, but then also beyond that,’ said du Feu. ‘We are hoping that these kind of programmes are going to give the athletes better habits, and it is about giving them the opportunity to achieve their goals.’
Also at the conference were Derek de la Haye, from ESC, and Andrew Goodyear from the association’s lead sponsor – the Sanne Group.
Article posted on 24th April, 2009 - 3.00pm