The apologists for rescheduling the Bahrain Grand Prix use the excuse that “sport brings people together.” I wonder?
I took a break from fighting for a Parliament for England – I gave the Ironsides the morning off and sat down with the Times and a bowl of Bran Flakes (I give up a lot for the cause.) Emblazoned upon my broadsheet (iPad actually) was a picture of Mr Andy Murray holding aloft the cup he won at Queen’s yesterday. Whilst he beat many of the worlds best I am sure, I felt no great joy whatsoever. The reason was simple.
I am not a great sport fan unless it involves hounding cavaliers off the battlefield. (Ah, Naseby, now there was good scrap!) Nevertheless, I do take an interest when it is at a national level, whatever the sport. If England were knocked out of an event, the other countries of the UK would get my support. Then came the world cup of 2010.
I was quite taken aback when I heard a certain Andy Murray, of whom I was a great supporter, state that if Scotland were out of any competition, he would back anyone but England; in fact ABE became a three letter acronym oft repeated in the media. In what was a naive view at that time, I thought the UK was a family that would always pull together – it appears not to be the case. Over that period I heard many Scots backing the ABE view, the first dawning that all was not well within the UK.
Therefore, when Nadal recently beat Murray in the French Open, I wore a satisfied smile. In my case, sport set asunder rather than bring together.
#1 by Geoff, England on 14/06/2011 - 5:36 PM
I don’t want to sound smug, but I realised many years ago that the ‘United’ Kingdom is far from being one big happy family. I’ve seen the Tartan Army in action, and it is not a pretty sight. Maybe you have to see at first hand sports fans from the other countries in this lousy kingdom to realise how much they hate us English. I stopped cheering for individuals or teams from our neighbouring countries ages back. The passport (merely a legal document) is all I have in common with them.
Mind you, I won’t mind Scotland making it to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil (the same year Scotland hosts the ‘Common’wealth Games and Ryder Cup, not to mention the 700th anniversary of Bannockburn) if they whip up enough nationalist fervour for the Scots to vote for independence.