S is for SPORT

We were talking the other night with friends, about the rules of cricket when someone happened to mention that he loved listening to cricket on the radio, especially the Ashes series from down under in the early hours of the morning. Sometimes I find cricket hard enough to watch on television but the thought of being deprived of sleep just to listen to a commentary is enough to send me to sleep. Though when he explained that he would have done it more in the days of that great radio commentator, Brian Johnston, everything came more into focus and I understood where his passion came from. I suppose I'm equally guilty of such crimes, for many nights in the sixties, I found myself tuned in to a boxing commentary from stateside as the then Cassius Clay 'floated like a butterfly' in the images that someone's words were making on my brain. And so it was with so many sports. I longed for the Lions tours, the live boxing bouts, the Olympics, the World Cup and just about any great sporting occasion that kept me out of bed in the wee small hours, when most of the neighbourhood was dreaming. And because television money didn't dictate the starting times, it made the whole event more mysterious and exciting in an odd sort of way.

Grandstand, recently demised and World of Sport controlled Saturday afternoons, though unless it was a 5 nations rugby day, both channels amounted to little more than horse racing and. for an hour before the football results, wrestling with Jackie Pallow and Mick McManus. I can't say I found the whole thing very exciting, and without teletext, it was back to the radio to keep up to date with the latest scores. And there were so many heroes who kept us informed all the way. Dan Maskell on the tennis court, Eddie Waring with the rugby league microphone, Bill McClaren on the other rugby code, Kenneth Wolstenhome and Brian Moore on soccer, Peter O'Sullivan with the gee gees, David Coleman on the athletics track, Harry Carpenter and Reg Gutteridge in the ring, Richie Benaud at the crease and Murray Walker in in the pits.

There were so many events that just had to be seen like the FA Cup Final, the British Grand Prix, Wimbledon, the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final, the WInter Olympics, the Lions Tests, the Ashes, the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship, the European Cup Final, even the Royal International Horse Show on the night of the big wall. And in the days before video recorders, there was no option but to watch it live. Now, with all the sports channels and so many sports being shown on a whole range of other channels, video, DVD and Hard Disc recorders, I find that the saturation coverage and the ready availability of sport has somewhat dulled my interest and certainly my passion. Gone are the days when I need to stay up to watch rugby from New Zealand or boxing from America and with the advent of Pay-per-view, I just don't bother anyway. For in many ways, money has killed a lot of the passion and excitement and I know I would find it hard to motivate myself to great heights when I'm being paid such huge amounts of money as some of our sporting stars are receiving now.

Yet for many, with the availability of so much sport being beamed into our homes or taking place on our doorstep and the promise of great wealth for those who are successful in their particular field, sport is quickly becoming God in people's lives. Church and Bible studies are squeezed in before the big match and few would consider leaving the entry price to a top sporting event on the offering plate.I guess our churches only have themselves to blame as the product they promote is often shamefully presented and unlikely to encourage non-believers through the door while sport thrives on the excitement it brings. But in truth, the sporting heroes and commentators of my youth have all gone and are mostly forgotten yet God is still on the throne. And that's what we must never forget, for when your sporting hero lets you down, remember God always has the victory!