I have tried hard.
I have.
I really have.
I have honestly given it my best
shot but for some reason I just cannot get excited by the Paralympics.
Every time I turn on the
television I find myself faced with a depressing autumn schedule bursting at
the seams with lowest common denominator programming. In an attempt to avoid
watching two annoying Geordies and the humiliation of dense people from a strata
of the population I don’t recognise I find myself channel hopping and pretty
soon I am sat watching the Paralympics. It’s packaged the same as the normal
Olympics, it’s using the same locations as the normal Olympics, everything
looks the same but it’s just isn’t. It isn’t otherwise I would watch as enthusiastically
as I did a month ago.
The problem I find is pretty soon
after tuning in I find my hand edging back towards the remote control. I get
bored quickly and find myself trying to guess red or black along with the rest
of the population with my brain resting in another room.
I really like sport, I love
playing it and watching it so what is it about the Paralympics I just don’t get?
Is it the various disabilities? Is it the need to classify and grade the
disabilities to ensure a level playing field? Is it the implausible events ranging
from the rather pedestrian sounding seated volleyball, through the improbable blind
football right up to the laughable, whatever could go wrong, visually impaired
javelin?
Honestly I don’t know why it is,
it could be that if I am watching someone run 100meters I want to watch the
best in the world, not the best of a particular segment of the population. I
want to see the best, the fastest man on earth, the highest or longest jumper
the best football players, the best swimmers, tennis players etc. I am simply
not interested in the fastest man on earth with a particular disability or
within a certain age bracket. Sporting endeavor is and should be Darwinism in
its purest form.
Please don’t misunderstand, it’s
not the disability which turns me off, I feel the same about watching ‘senior’
competitions, the over 40s or 50s or for that matter the under 21 competitions.
Frankly I don’t care about them either. Why not go the whole inclusive hog and have
a tournament for people with a BMI of >30?
In fact I would probably tune in and
watch that, but just because it would be laugh.
I’m not against it, far from it,
good for them for competing but I for one am going to watch Ant and Dec eat
rhino turds in the jungle instead.
So why is it that I uncomfortable
about the above?
A good friend of mine is a huge
cricket fan and I have no issue whatsoever stating the obvious to him that
cricket is a seriously dull game played at the speed of a koala on weed by a
bunch of fannies in stupid clothes. That fine and he normally just nods in an
accepting way without taking offence, as he should, because it’s true. But if I
was to say for example, the Paralympics are shite the reaction I would receive
might not be quite so accepting.
Maybe I should keep my opinions
on such matters to myself to be on the safe side. In future when asked did I
see the S2 dwarf hurdles last night I should respond with ‘yes, wasn’t it
fantastic?’ and hope the conversations quickly shifts to I’m on X-Factor get me
out of here.
But it does feel like I cannot say
what I think or worse what I think or feel is horribly inappropriate and out of
touch.
Bad sexual etiquette was George Galloway’s
way of describing Julian Assange’s alleged rape charges recently and of course
the reaction to his statement was predictably vitriolic. If some people could
have their way he would be hung by the neck from the nearest lamppost and Mr
Galloway himself knew this would be the reaction. He did it because he enjoys
the infamy and the publicity this type of outburst gives him.
Regardless of his motivation
though is he so wide of the mark to justify such a strong response? I would
argue not, it’s more the subject matter which has become almost unmentionable.
Opinions on the subject are so strong that most politicians of a serious bent
steer the hell clear. Don’t touch it, it’s a minefield and you are guaranteed
to piss one section of the population off if you do. Ken Clarke fell into
the trap a couple of years ago and was castigated for suggesting there should be different
degrees of rape, i.e. a 16 year old boy having consensual sex with a 15 year
old girl is very different to the violent type of rape. I accept the age limit
is there to ensure consent is given with a mature mind but it is different no
matter how you look at it. In the same way that Julian Assange’s alleged crimes
are different.
So what is so wrong with saying
so?
What is wrong is there seems to
be a culture where people cannot speak their mind, even if it is just to bring
a healthy dose of common sense into the discussion.
Race and religion are another two
topics which are untouchable and we have seen some ridiculous cases recently where
applying a bit of common sense would have resolved the issues before they even
became an issue and probably saved millions to boot.
It is almost as we continue to pursue
our insatiable desire to protect people’s religious, sexual or racial freedoms
we are losing our ability or the inclination to speak our minds on such subjects.
We are too scared. We are losing the freedom to say what we think and I would
counter this is something much more dangerous and definitely worth protecting.
If we lose sight of this we could
very easily find ourselves sat at a mad hatter’s tea party, mute.
Anyway, enough of the soapbox.
I don’t like the Paralympics and
that’s ok.
You want free sex?
