Much as I detest the tabloid journalists in this world there are moments when the broadsheet hacks of this country seem intent on showing just how blithely shallow and just plain ignorant they can be.
You see, I have just been reading a few words (or to put it another way a rambling three pages which could have been condensed into two paragraphs) by the Times journo, Michael Gove. I must admit I do not read newspapers unless I am forced into it by having read every other piece of paper in the dentists, I find them filled with the modern equivalent of Goebbels style propaganda but tend to have slightly less credibility than the former Nazi’s words.
Mr Gove says this… that Formula One is not worthy of having a star such as Lewis Hamilton. That the sport itself is inane, unable to show all the integral action and just plain boring.!
I shall present the defence in just three short paragraphs…
1, No other type of sport EXCEPT motor sport requires such a fitness level as Formula One. Top class marathon runners do less work than an F1 driver in easier circumstances. VERY few footballers, cricketers or athletes could even keep pace.
2, Formula One may be the playground of the super rich but is that not true of any sport.? At a lower level there are plenty of forms of motor sport that you can delve into without breaking the bank. It isn’t F1 but the racing is just as frantic.!
3, I invite Mr Gore to sit down and watch some of the classic races of all time, Dijon-Prenois in 1979, Senna vs Prost throughout 1988/89/90, Mansell vs Piquet Silverstone 1987, Hakkinen vs Schumacher in 2000.
I suggest, dear boy, that rather than watching such inane sports such as cricket, football, rugby, golf, take your pick, you should start watching Formula One with a more open mind. Then try the touring car races, maybe throw an IndyCar race in there as well. Sooner or later you might get the idea that pretty boy footballers may be more “in your face” physical action wise, but they deserve a fraction of their over inflated wages when compared with the ultimate in athletic challenges. Put Ronaldo in a MacLaren, put it on a track with a 40 degree air temp and let him drive without a chance of taking a moment to reduce his concentration for almost two hours and let us see how long he survives. You can be subbed as a footballer, you can take a breather at half time, you can have a few moments while the ball is at the other end of the field but try that at 190mph and see which bits of your car you see breaking off first.
This talent show that has (thankfully) just finished on television. What was the point of it.? It’s just that it seems that Simon Cowell has devised a format so that he makes more money and, well that is about it.!
The judges are Mr Cowell (naturally, because his judgement is always better than anyone else’s… Will Young, Michelle McManus, Hear Say, etc, etc), Amanda Holden, a woman with the same amount of talent as a scotch egg and Piers Morgan, one of those irritating people who are branded “Press” when they should have the word “Punch” on their hats instead.
Just stop. Oh dear GOD please stop. Singing six year olds (send her to Portugal), a paedophile with a big organ, ahem and an opera singer. That is not talent, that is a bad day in casualty.!
Oh and thanks to Hwang for this little bit of interesting data…
Now we have our own personal countdown to that first cool pint on a Friday night.!!! Genius.! Cheers Hwang.