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

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)

Made in China

The chances are that at least one of your, or your children's, Christmas presents were manufactured in China. Maybe even all of them!

And in buying products such as ipods, computer games, toys and shoes from that nation - whether or not you knew it - you've helped make it the world's largest exporter, overtaking the mighty Germany, who'd been top dog for most of the last decade.

The rise has been almost overnight for China. After a 13-month decline in trade, they had a brilliant December, with an increase in exports of 17 per cent. Many are praising China's manufacturers for their resilience in the face of the economic downturn, but others, especially China's competitors such as the US, claim their success is only because of their undervalued currency - the government has deliberately weakened the Yuan to make its goods cheaper.

Well, it may be dirty tactics on China's part but it's certainly worked. This news is significant but is hardly a surprise. The rest of the world has been buying products from earth's most-populated nation for some time and their influence has also been growing in Africa in recent years too.

My concern about all of this is people's desire to buy dirt-cheap stuff from China on a whim without thinking about the consequences. Our craving for a bargain, and for the latest technology, takes priority over considering the impact on other people,resources and the environment.

We have questions to answer. Has our product from China been made by people who are being underpaid and overworked in a 'sweatshop' environment? Is it fairly traded and correctly sourced? How much pollution was created in making it? Could we have bought something similar from our own country? And, probably the biggest question of all: 'Do we really need this product?'

Sadly, I believe China's rise to the top is a clear indicator of humankind's greedy, selfish and materialistic nature and, whilst there's no denying their power in world economics (it's not all about the West anymore!), some caution is required. China's success, unlike their products, comes at a price.

(Photo credit: James Sann)

It doesn't rain - it snows! After my previous post about the wintry weather in the north, the heavy snow made its way down to my neck of the woods - Oxfordshire. This time of year is usually rainy, windy and relatively mild, so the 20cms snowfall in 24 hours here last Tuesday and Wednesday was a bit of a shock to the system.

What's irritated me though has been the hype and how 'newsworthy' of it all. There's been too much of a focus on health and safety, meaning schools stayed closed longer than they should have done and sporting fixtures were unnecessarily called off. The idea of panic buying makes me mad too - but that's because of the media frenzy. Let's just get on with life, even if it's slightly harder work!

Finally, a couple of positives. The way the rail network has responded has been a pleasant surprise. Without making a fuss, the majority of trains in most parts have been running. I've been grateful for that. Plus, we've had our milk delivered, so praise to that service too.

The ultimate lock-in

How did you celebrate New Year? Staying in watching tedious telly reviews of the past year and decade? A wild night out in a big city with fireworks, silly hats and Auld Lang Syne? (Me? I settled for champagne, a rental film and bed before midnight... sad aren't I?)

Well, 30 guests at the highest pub in England certainly got more than they bargained for - and had a New Year's celebration they'll never forget. They planned on staying overnight at The Tan Hill Inn in the Yorkshire Dales - and ended up staying three days because of the wintry weather.

The resident DJ told BBC News that people's spirits were kept up (gin, vodka, brandy, sherry no doubt) and that it was a "heart-warming" experience - again, probably helped by the copious amount of alcohol quite literally 'on tap'. Everyone mucked in, doing chores around the inn, which stands at 1,700 metres above sea level in Swaledale.

It must've been quite a community - the ultimate 'big brother' experience (without the cameras!) Among the group were students from Leeds University and one summed it up by saying, "It's been fun - the ultimate lock-in!" I'll raise a glass to that!

No doubt when snow ploughs got through the seven-foot drifts on Sunday and it was time to finally head downhill and back to reality, some of the guests felt a little sad. I wonder if a local bobby was on hand with a breathalyser at the bottom of the hill - it would've made for interesting results.

I've enjoyed a relaxed, family Christmas and New Year. The week spent with the in-laws in the Kent countryside was fantastic, though it was a shame my father-in-law was only just recovering from a knee operation and not on best form. He's a very active guy usually, so being stuck on the sofa and struggling with sticks was frustrating for him to say the least.

Seeing him certainly made me wonder how I'll be in 30 years' time - and made me appreciate my working joints. My mother-in-law certainly made the most of it, getting me to shovel snow and ice and collect logs for the fire. Hope you're back on your feet properly again soon, Alan!!

Finally, one resolution for 2010 - to ensure my blogs are more regularly written. This is my first 'muse' for six weeks and I'll endeavour to add more in the coming weeks. And for those on Twitter, you can follow me at www.twitter.com/andrewdubock

A bridge over troubled water

As a new working week begins, people living in parts of Cumbria are opening their curtains to see something that resembles a disaster zone.

Floods from unprecedented rainfall have destroyed the infrastructure in places such as Cockermouth and life is very different to normal, with schools and workplaces closed and travel severely disrupted. Hundreds of people are homeless, staying either in temporary shelters or with friends and family.

Bridges that have stood for hundreds of years have either already collapsed or are in serious danger of falling, and all 1,800 bridges in Cumbria (that's more bridges than a Westlife song!) are getting vital safety checks. One remarkable thing I read is that, because of bridge problems, people in Northside face a 40-mile detour just to get to the town centre... a journey which usually takes a matter of minutes.

This is the sort of thing we read about happening in other countries, particularly in the developing world. And, whilst we are undoubtedly richer and better resourced to face disasters such as this than in countries such as Bangladesh, the scenes in Cumbria remain truly devastating.

Families will be without basic essentials. Businesses will be forced to shut. Children's education will be disrupted. Sitting here safely in Oxfordshire, I count myself fortunate (though this region has had its fair share of floods in recent years.)

I believe climate change is to blame for record rainfall like that in Cumbria on Friday and Saturday. On a world level, we need leaders committed to tackling climate change - the forthcoming Copenhagen summit is crucial. In the UK, we need to better equipped - the government and county councils across the country need to take flood prevention more seriously, and have solid plans put in place for situations like this.

We also need to monitor levels and trends on all rivers better (some residents in Cumbria say they were not sufficiently warned) and BBC blogger Mark Easton says that "the River Eden, for example, had been behaving entirely normally for the past few months".

My thoughts go out to those most-affected by this situation - but I hope that experts are understanding that words like 'freak', 'unique' and 'unprecedented' can't keep being rolled out - bad weather is now all too common.

(Photo credit: Peter Thody)

Nasty Nick: fair show or not?

There's been one story that has dominated the newspaper columns and TV news bulletins in the last couple of days, culminating last night.

The decision by the BBC to invite British National Party leader Nick Griffin onto Question Time has sparked all sorts of emotions amongst people, including those who protested (some violently)outside Television Centre during the recording of the programme yesterday evening.

I managed to catch most of the show and feel it gave Griffin far too much publicity, a special treatment, and was far too much about him rather than politics and issues. He was verbally attacked, bullied you might say, by members of the audience and others on the panel, including the chair David Dimbleby and, whilst I would wholeheartedly agree with their sentiments and totally stand against what the BNP stand for, it wasn't particularly balanced, fair and democratic.

What needed to happen, more fully than it did, was for each topical issue - such as immigration, the recession, workers' rights - to be explored and addressed to each of the politicians there, particularly Jack Straw as a member of the ruling Labour party. Instead, it turned into solely the Nick Griffin show. And in that he lied through his teeth, contradicted himself and came out with some stunningly outrageous statements, which showed exactly why people are so passionate in being against him and the party he leads.

I tried to glean positives as I watched it, and one was the fact that the audience was multi-racial, including people of different ages and backgrounds, and almost to a man/woman standing together against fascism, racism and ideologies that tear communities apart and are ultimately about hate, and not love.

Whether we like it or not, God loves Nick Griffin as he loves each one of us. As a church housegroup last night we prayed for Griffin, and I pray for him as I type this - that God would reveal his love in some way to him, that he would repent from how he has acted, and see that there are better ways to go about being politics - and life.

(Photo credit: Rex Chen)

We're not watching anymore

I suppose it was inevitable given the fast-moving 'digital revolution' and the way in which the web rules over everything.

Plus, it's already happened in other areas of interest such as music... but, football - really?!

Yes, the news that England's match in Ukraine this Saturday will only be shown live on the internet - and for a fee - has not been warmly-received by fans. Rightly so too in my opinion.

OK, so England have already qualified for next year's World Cup finals, but this is still our national team playing a competitive match and hugely popular with football fans, as viewing figures show. We love to watch Rooney, Gerrard et al put on the white shirt and (hopefully) play with pride! We're on quite a roll at the moment too.

However, the 'powers that be' - whoever they are, and apparently it's not the Football Association - have deemed that supporters must fork out at least a fiver for the privilege. And it won't be shown in pubs - where most England fans (who aren't travelling) watch matches because of the atmosphere. There will be grumpy landlords up and down the country this week. Some cinemas have been selected to show the game - but can you really see football fans wanting to do this?

It's really sad that none of the terrestrial channels wanted to show this match. It came down to money apparently, but I think England supporter is right when he says, "Fifa and Uefa should insist as a condition of entry that all nations sell their games to terrestrial stations, whether it's the home or away market."

And all this in a country where, it was announced last week, there is a relatively poor broadband service (we're behind the likes of Bulgaria and Latvia in terms of quality and speech). You can see it now: you tune in to watch and the little circle spins on a black background or England are about to score on Saturday and the screen freezes. This won't work - not yet anyway.

I hope England get another win on Saturday to keep up their great record - but I won't be watching.