Tag: sports

Formula One on the streets of London

I spy rumours around the Internet that one possible future usage of the Olympic Stadium could be a Formula One race circuit. Apparently, Intelligent Transport Solutions Ltd of London have been in discussion with F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone regarding the prospect of bringing the world’s most glamourous high-octane circus to town. And what a prospect it is!

The route would likely see McLarens, Ferraris et al racing inside the stadium as well as around the Olympic Park and while it wouldn’t have the added glamour of multi-million dollar yachts moored casually nearby like Astra vans parked in a supermarket car park as does Monaco or Abu Dhabi, it would have impressively modern facilities and arguably one of the more scenic circuits on the calendar . I don’t know about you but the promise of twenty or so V8s screaming around a manicured park in the East End of London is a mouthwatering one.

Yes, I know what you’re thinking – “They’ve been talking about a London street circuit for years” – and while that’s true, it seems a lot more likely to happen now that there is a suitable site that can be used without bringing the capital to a complete standstill. Although Ecclestone has elsewhere stated that plans for a London circuit that would take in such landmarks as Buckingham Palace and Big Ben were “no joke”, I find it a little harder to imagine cars racing down Whitehall, navigating the Parliament Square chicane and hitting the Birdcage Walk DRS zone than I do around the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Logistically, the new site would be much less of a headache for the organisers.

Of course, Silverstone, the current home of the British Grand Prix is scheduled to host the event for the next 17 years and much investment has and is being injected into the site because of this however, this doesn’t put a lid on the Olympic Stadium proposal. It simply means the UK would host two, count them, two Grand Prix meetings each season. So, all you race fans out there, how cool would that be?

Schools Put Girls Off Playing Sports

No, it’s not because they would much rather be making their man a sandwich in the kitchen, it’s because of their treatment at an early age. I think that all of us will remember those old-fashioned PE lessons where some old man/woman who obviously couldn’t teach would scream and yell things at the fat kids because they couldn’t bench press one of their peers over the banister of the stairs. And this is apparently what has put many girls off of sport.

PE Lessons

The research carried out by Loughborough University measured the differences in attitudes to sport between girls and boys. The figures showed that around 60% of girls and boys aged eight did at least five hours of exercise each week.

However, for 14-year-old girls this had been halved down to 31%, whereas 50% of 14-year-old boys completed at least five hours of exercise a week. In other words, this means that girls are generally being put off sport by the time they reach the middle of their high school education.

Common complaints included things like many girls weren’t confident of their sporting ability in PE lessons, they didn’t like exercising in front of boys, and they felt that teachers generally didn’t pay attention to those with less sporting ability.

All of these things are valid complaints as we all know that those who are useless at the conventional sports, such as hockey and football, are going to be laughed at by their peers. This only leads to a lack of self-confidence and a reduction in their desire to continue with sports of any kind.

Let’s look at another complaint. They don’t like exercising in front of boys. In the past this wouldn’t be a problem as being a gentleman was more of the done thing. That doesn’t happen now because now you have sex-charged maniacs who think that it’s ok to sexually harass members of the female gender. I’m not talking about rape or anything physical, I’m talking about the verbal abuse and the other comments that girls all around the world, and of all ages, have to put up with on a near daily basis.

And finally, the fact that teachers generally won’t pay attention to those girls who are no good at sport is something that has persisted for generations. The only way many of these teachers can motivate those who are not interested is to scream at them, and that only pushes them further away. The solution to this problem is that you need to find teachers who can actually teach PE lessons, as screaming is the sign of a teacher who can’t teach without descending to the motivational techniques of the white supremacist who drives a vehicle to work which runs off the bodies and broken dreams of an African-American family.

Screaming teacher
WHICH PART OF NON-STOP 16 MILE RUN DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?!?!

As the research suggests, people need to accept that not everybody is interested in competitive sports. But it’s still important to remain as fit as possible, and this doesn’t have to come as a result of competitive sports. Walking, cycling, and dance classes are all perfectly valid forms of exercise.

Moving away from the main point, though, I will admit that the reduction in the number of people carrying out regular exercise is going to be partially down to the fact that our society isn’t one that encourages physical activity. Most of the technical advances of the last 30 years have been great, but they have also been simultaneously directing people towards doing less physically.

So all of this can’t be put at the feet of what happens in schools.