Summer of Sport

In the wake of my last blog I've encountered another bout of writers block and henceforth could not blog. The reason being, I didn't want to come out after my last blog and write about any old rubbish. Several topics came to mind but none of them really seemed worthy of being given the time of day to show up on the CHRIS THOMPSON BLOG. But then I decided to settle on a topic that has kept cropping up in my mind throughout the summer, this whole notion of the 'Summer of Sport.

Interpromotional items, discount vouchers and new 'mars balls' are all the range as pre-season, wimbledon, the ashes, and im not quite sure which golfing tournament tee off, kick-off, serve and bowl for the summer which so far has looked to be a magnificent array of athletes that have not only done their countries proud, but their sponsors too. But that's where it gets interesting. As all the events have take place, it's around the same time that all these sponsors, the likes of ADIDAS (please don't shut down the podcast because of this), NIKE, PUMA etc, start to reel in the money.

You see, people who just watch Wimledon once a year for the sake of it when it comes on just to shout at how poor the brittish are will go out and buy the likes of these polo shirts that you will see Andy Murray and Roger Federer wearing then go out and hit the court once or twice claiming they are big fans of tennis. Then only to never play again until the following year, 'Oh me? Yeah, yeah used to play when I was little.' My arse, you buy into all this shit, just like me, just like the rest of us. But the credit goes to the promotional side of things. The likes of JJB, ADIDAS or TOPMAN, places that will have picked up on this and will have been battling for air-time maybe just before it started.

'Mars', that often thought of as healthy, sport-related, exercise company once again released their 'mars balls' this year. These being free footballs that you have to blow up yourself, although this year they have released new ones including tennis, rugby and I think I saw cricket balls in the advert. But what is ridiculous about the entire thing is that to win one you have to collect an 'interpromotional code' from a mars wrapper. Well thankyou Mr Frank C. Mars, I bet you collect a nice little profit for yourself there, despite the fact that the entire campaign is about getting people and I quote 'to have a kick-about'. It's gonna be pretty hard when there's Mars wrappers everywhere not to mention the fact that everyone feels sick because we've been trying get the right code for your stupid ball.

The other thing about football is because the likes of 'Mars' and BNB (big name brands) are pushing people to play sports in the summer that's the only time people ever do play, so by the time it comes round A LOT of people have shocking fitness. If fitness levels aren't maintened then they can easily plummit. I know this through first-hand experience. Coming back after a year and playing football in the summer wasn't bad for me, but because I was playing at the very least once every week it was easy to maintian my fitness, if I had any at all. This was late May by the way. Then as the summer progressed I played slightly more frequent and I think my knowledge of the game has improved. But the same has happened with tennis and i've never played that in a year or so. But recently with football I haven't played in approximately 4 weeks, not counting kicking the ball in my front yard for the odd 20 minutes/ 30 minutes when i'm bored shitless. Then last week I played football again, we only played 'wembley pairs', not too much running involved , just basic pass and shoot but against opponents. But to avoid getting lost in the details following these yesterday I was invited to a game of football in some of football courts with some better players and I can honestly I felt it. But to be honest, had I been with the others I don't think it would have made a difference because after 30 seconds of running about it was clear that I was one of the most un-fit there. 4-a-side on a giant football court, you're going to running around a lot but even an averagely fit lad could have done better than me. Nevertheless, after 3 hours of crazy panting, a nervous stint in goal, being shouted at several times from charvs and a goal I did work quite well we headed home. It would be lazy on my behalf to say that it was the media's fault I sucked at football yesterday and that all those people who watch wimbledon also play worth shit but they could definitely help more. It's obvious that with the blistering heat we get here in britain they would want ro make the most of it, there's no denying it. But why not make the most of our glorious winter? Why don't they promote all of the sports wear and equipment as well? 'Get Britain pumping those muscles during the winter' could be a slogan!

The Ashes is always an interesting one to watch. In my house Sky Sports 1 will always be on one of the 2 TV's downstairs. The Ashes are always are always Australia v England and back in 2005 were lucky enough to beat the skippies and never let them forget it. But this rivalry gets so fierce it actually gets quite funny because you (well I) would never associate cricket which always seems like being a rich, noble sport, almost pompous with people talking trashmouth about each other. You almost expect Ricky ponting to go behind the titontron and have a few words with Todd Grisham about how he's going to dismantle Andrew Flintoff (for you WWE fans).

After filtering through all the liars and phonies you see the people who really are dedicated to their sport and play all year round, ones that when you go and play make you look like a 60 year old man on a drip. So credit them, these people you can imagine actually watching in wimbledon, or at the ashes or in a premiership football match when they're old enough.

Turner

Cheers