Thoughts from the Ed - Who needs the high jump?
Author : Paul Wolfe
As the Olympics rolls on into its second week, I’ve been wondering about how relevant the games are to the average Joe on the street. I mean, the high-jump is all well and good, but how practical is it in the real world? What we need to see is sports that we can associate with.
Running 10,000 metres is one thing, but the sprinting for the bus challenge – with bonus points added for pretending you didn’t really want to catch it as the bus pulls away – is quite another. Besides, who would choose to run 10,000 metres? That’s why we have cars. I’d re-invent the swimming events too, just to make them more realistic. Everyone has to swim lengths in the fastest possible time, whilst also contending with children swimming widths and playing water polo with a beach ball.
There’s no denying that Team GB is doing tremendously well and the haul of medals is astonishing, but I do wonder how many golds we would win in real world Olympics. Personally, I’d like to see darts in the Olympics, with style points awarded for scoring a treble 20 whilst holding a pint and not spilling a drop.
But whether it’s the real Olympics, or the real world Olympics, like most things, achievement comes from dedication, practice and skill.
A story on EP this week (Electricians reassemble a piece of Manchester’s history) explains how apprentices put their skills to the test by moving a 1930s fuse board that measured 22 feet long. Whilst this isn’t an every day event, it is something that took considerable skill and the apprentices involved won’t forget that task when they face a similar problem in the future.
The old adage, ‘practice makes perfect’ could not be truer, and the EP team salutes Team GB, and everyone else who is practising to improve their skills in their chosen field.
Contact Details and Archive...
Related Articles...