Wednesday 24 February 2010

Going for gold

For two weeks every four years, sports fans – and those who usually couldn’t care less – go barmy for bobsleigh, crazy for curling and mad for moguls (bumpy skiing for the uninitiated!)


The Winter Olympics in Vancouver comes to a close this weekend and it’s been a fantastic fortnight showcasing speed, strength and agility on the Canadian snow and ice.

The death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, fatally injured in practice on the eve of the games, was a tragic way to start proceedings and demonstrated just how dangerous winter sports are.

On a positive note, Amy Williams’ achievement in the women’s skeleton last week was brilliant. She hurtled at 90mph on her trusty sled named Arthur and grabbed Britain’s first individual gold medal for 30 years (above). All the practice on specially-cut runners at Bath University has paid off.

Then there’s been the weather. First, there wasn’t enough snow and tonnes of the white stuff had to be imported. Then, a mix of warm temperatures, snow, rain and fog led to some events being postponed. And we thought the UK winter had been unpredictable!

Behind the scenes, three thousand Christian volunteers with the More than Gold ministry have been reaching out to both athletes and visitors in Vancouver which, significantly, has the lowest church attendance of any city in North America.

John Boyer, Baptist minister and chaplain of Manchester United, is part of the multi-faith chaplaincy team at the games. In both the highs of gold medals and the lows of human tragedy, John says that he and others are there ‘to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice’.

Finally, I’ve been reading testimonies of some Olympians who follow Jesus. American speed skater Chad Hedrick was a brash bad boy when he won three medals in Torino four years ago. However, Chad has since found faith and it has transformed his attitude.

He’s been competing in Canada with ‘CGIM’ emblazoned on his skate blade – standing for ‘see God in me’. God blessed Chad with a bronze in the 1,000-metre event last week.

This blog first appeared in The Baptist Times, 25 February 2010

Photo credit: The Last Minute

Wednesday 3 February 2010

Tarnished Terry

It's World Cup year and, just to help England's preparations, there's negative press again flying about to deflect from the football.

Usually it's in the month before the tournament (think the dentist chair of 1996 and the many metatarsal injuries) but this time at least we can let the hype cool before June.

I'm talking of course about John Terry, whose name has been 'mud' since the revelations of his private life were published last weekend. The fact he's not just any run-of-the-mill England player - he's the captain of the side, a leader, a role model - has made Terry's affair with Wayne Bridge's model girlfriend a national scandal, so it seems.

Before this 'news' hit the headlines on Saturday morning and stayed there since, after Terry had legally failed to keep it out of the papers, the Chelsea player was considered a top professional and all-round nice guy. On the pitch he was a hero; off the pitch he was 'dad of the year'. But now he's public enemy number one and debates are raging among people who don't even like football as to whether Terry should remain England skipper at the World Cup finals in June.

I must admit I feel a little sorry for Terry. What he did was very wrong, no doubt. But it's a private matter, not one for every Tom, Dick or Harry Redknapp in this country to judge him on. He's the not first human - let alone footballer - to make a mistake and he won't be the last. Former England legend Stuart Pearce spoke out today not so much in Terry's defence, but trying to keep a lid on the hype, saying this "witch hunt" is wrong.

I totally agree with 'Psycho' - let's not forget what a great footballer and leader JT is and let's separate his professional career from his private life. I hope he remains as England captain. And in getting off Terry's back and concentrating on real news (Afghanistan, Haiti, this year's general election), the British public might even give his marriage a chance of reconciliation too. So, I'll leave my blogging here and not mention it again!

(Photo credit: Downing Street)