Playing sport is about learning life lessons such as team-work and fair play… not just dosh
THE heart-warming sight of Alistair Brownlee scooping up his stricken sibling Jonny to propel him over the finish line at the World Triathlon Series was a selfless yet no-nonsense act of brotherly love.
But it was also a much-needed reminder of how powerful sport can be in bringing out the best of human nature.
Watching churlish Man Utd manager Jose Mourinho blaming his overpaid tools this week, it’s easy to forget that sport at its purest — without the skewing trappings of excess money and mega-fame — instils in its participants all the character strengths of solidarity, equality, respect, team-work and fair play.
Nelson Mandela once said: “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It speaks to youth in a language they understand.
“Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than government in breaking down racial barriers.”
Indeed it is. But more mundanely, though just as importantly, it also teaches kids that there’s more to life than what’s happening on social media; that the real friends alongside them on the pitch or field are worth a thousand of some of their supposed “friends” online.
My youngest daughter is fast approaching 13 and very sporty.
While many girls her age are experimenting with make-up, endlessly texting (or God forbid, sexting) boys or obsessing about Justin Bieber, it comforts me to know that the majority of her spare time is spent either training for netball and hockey or travelling on a bus somewhere to actually play it.
As she and her team-mates spend so much time profusely sweating in trackies and trainers, they have a reassuringly laid-back attitude to their appearance and exhibit an obvious strength of character emboldened by their support of each other.
The benefits of this were writ large at the Olympics in Rio last month when our impressively resilient and determined young women netted a gold in hockey.
It’s the same for young men too. It’s incredible how an hour or two of high-octane physical exercise can help you work any issues out of your system.
What’s more, both genders learn the valuable life skills of camaraderie, reliability, dedication and trying your best but sometimes losing.
And that, siblings or not, we’re all in it together.
Don’t let us keep you, Carey
VIRTUE-signalling actress Carey Mulligan says she feels “ashamed to be British” because of “our inaction when it comes to 600 unaccompanied minors in Calais”.
Far be it from us to detain her any further in a country in which she feels so painfully disappointed.
I believe Hollywood is lovely at this time of year.
Pip meal backfire
PROMOTING her new charity cookbook called Heartfelt, Pippa Middleton reveals that she served up one of the recipes – halibut with roasted tomato and herb dressing – for fiancé James Matthews in the early stages of their relationship.
“It was a very special dinner for us,” she says, adding that “you can serve it with lentils”.
Ambitious fare for a first date. Some might say more Fart-felt than Heartfelt.
Storm in a teacup
DID I just hear @ITVLorraine tell @GemmaArterton slyly that she is fat? Lorraine get your act together,” chided a Twitter user on Monday.
Yawn. No, you didn’t.
You heard Ms Kelly praise an actress for her normal shape then, given that Gemma has spoken in the past about the pressure to be thin, follow it up with the perfectly valid question of whether she has ever been asked to lose weight for a role.
It’s called journalism.
Every time I read of a “Twitter storm” (the online version of pub toilet graffiti) I am reminded of Ned Stark’s advice to his young son in the excellent Game Of Thrones.
“A madman sees what he sees.”
Sitcom revival
NEIL MORRISSEY is keen to revive the popular sitcom Men Behaving Badly but his former co-star Martin Clunes is less keen.
He says: “I don’t think it’ll happen . . . we’re all in our mid-fifties.”
Au contraire. The premise could be that Gary and Tony’s marriages fail and they move back in together as a pair of middle-aged curmudgeons.
Title: Men Behaving Sadly.
HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED
EIGHTIES heartthrobs Bros are set to go back on tour.
The lyrics to their biggest hit – When Will I Be Famous? – might need a tweak though.
Instead of, “You’ve read Karl Marx and taught yourself to dance”, how about something like, “You’ve read bog all and had sex on camera”?
Talking of which, according to yesterday’s Sun: “Kim Kardashian’s bra is missing.”
Presumably it’s in a drawer somewhere, along with her brain.
Worldwide protest
STUDENT Zeynab Alshelh was kicked off a beach in the French Riviera for wearing a burkini – after flying from Australia to protest against the ban.
Cripes. I’ve heard of people going out of their way to wilfully seek offence, but 12,000 miles is a world-beater.
SLIGHT OVERREACTION?
PAUL GASCOIGNE’s on-stage quip to a black security guard – “can you smile so I can see you?” – was racist and he has suffered the legal consequences of a £1,000 fine.
But bouncer Errol Rowe’s victim impact statement seems disproportionate to the crime.
He said: “I keep having flashbacks – thoughts about being abused in front of a massive crowd.
“That evening I went home and sat and cried. I have not been able to work since.”
May I suggest that, when he does finally feel ready to return to paid labour, the hurly burly nature of security work might best be avoided for such a palpably sensitive soul.