Friday 27 July 2012

Dad missed the Olympics

While many people I know are either escaping from England during the Olympics, or locking themselves in their homes, or friends’ homes, as far from London as possible, we are returning from France for the spectacle. Despite my passion for watching cycling I have always considered I am not interested in sport.

I can’t catch a ball, and was always the last to be picked for teams playing anything at school. In fact, after a bout of pleurisy at 15, I had a note from my mother, excusing me from P.E. lessons at school which included the magical phrase

 “Janice shouldn’t partake in PE lessons for some time, owing to her health”.

 I carried this around for the 3 years remaining at school, and never partook again.

Somehow, over the years I have become an interested spectator. I enjoy the atmosphere of live football (soccer, and American football) matches, where I care about the outcome….so Huddersfield Town getting promoted a division last season sparked some interest. I have only seen one Green Bay Packers game live…..but it was an incredible spectacle.

Even as a stroppy 15 year old who hated sport, I recall skipping school to visit Wimbledon, queuing for standing tickets in the days before centre court was all seats, and then worrying about TV coverage and being spotted in the crowd when I should have been at school. Lew Hoad turned and smiled at me, when I applauded a shot on one of the outside practice courts in 1970. Now of course, Nadal has replaced Hoad and Rosewall in my affections.

I have perfected the same half interested way of questioning my husband about his golf games as my mother did when she pretended to care how dad had got on……however, I find myself  looking forward to the Ryder Cup every 2 years.
 


Cricket has also become something of a fascination. It’s the 5 day nature of test matches that I find absorbing. The tactics, the pace, the rhythm, and recognising that even over 5 days, every ball bowled is important….. it all has me hooked. Travelling to Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth to watch us lose and then win the Ashes over the last few years has helped cement my interest. I haven’t been to a Brisbane test yet….. something to be remedied I suspect. We’re off to India this November and will include the Kolkata test in our travels.





So….the London Olympics……
My father was an amateur athlete in his youth. During his national service stint he spent time in Berlin (during the airlift…..another story), and trained in the somewhat derelict at that time, Olympic stadium, used for the 1936 Olympics. This was the stadium where Jesse Owens upset Hitler’s applecart by winning a couple of gold medals despite not being blond and blue eyed. Ironically, my father, who loved athletics, missed the 1948 London Olympics as he was in Berlin. Had he been at home, he could almost have walked to Wembley stadium from his north London home in Hendon. So he missed London 1948, and died 5 years ago…..but as least he knew GB had won the bid to hold the games in 2012.
Dad, at the Berlin Olympic Stadium, 1948

We have some athletics tickets, and have shared them out amongst our children ( those who have managed to secure babysitting services for the appointed days) and will be among the thousands of people held up in dreadful traffic and travel problems, security nightmares, toilet queues, pouring rain, etc. etc……..but I am looking forward to it.

So…..I’m not interested in sport……except when I am.

19 comments:

  1. This is one of the most touching tributes to a father - and to sports - that I have read in a long, long time, Janice. What a handsome man he was.

    Good for you for heading into the fray and enjoy all that you can of these Olympics. I was a child who was always last picked for sports and games, except for dodgeball. Easy target, 'twas I. While I'm not one much for sports, I am one who sits glued to the television come the Olympics. Wave into the camera should it focus on you. I'll be waving back.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I promise to wave furiously if a camera comes anywhere near me Penny. Thanks for your kind words....and my dad would love the thought that you call him handsome. I've just watched the opening ceremony ( couldn't watch it live, as there was a thunder storm here in the south of France, and we lost reception)....I enjoyed it, it didn't take itself too seriously. J

      Delete
    2. I missed most of the opening ceremony last night as well, Janice, returning home just as the athletes were marching in. Gosh, I love pageantry. Late this morning, I remembered we have OnDemand, so, I did. I demanded. I received. Click of a few buttons and there it was, the opening ceremony, sans commercials. Loved it - and hope you did too.

      It is nice when thunder storms don't take themselves seriously and we can enjoy them. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

      Delete
  2. Your dad will be there alongside you, won't he....you'll be thinking of how he would have enjoyed it all.

    My mother was an amateur athlete, though in her day there weren't many events open to women. She had hopes of doing well enough to be selected for the hurdles event for the 1940 Olympics in Helsinki.....but by 1940 she was in uniform.

    Still, she's a sports fanatic to this day...I'm under orders not to call her during the Olympics unless there is an emergency...and I think it keeps her going, so active mentally at 96, and, thanks to the NHS, pretty active physically too.

    She was delighted that London won the Olympics and I know she'll be cheering from her chair in front of the box...especially for the womens' hurdles.

    As for me...I stick to cricket....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love the thought of your 96 year old mother enjoying all the fun....and particularly your comment about some of this being possible due to the NHS. I just wish my dad could have been sitting there watching it too.
      So, you enjoy cricket too ? I am really looking forward to our India trip later this year, and seeing the Kolkata test. 9 I thought I had replied to your comment earlier....but it seems to have vanished, apologies if this is the second version you've read ) J.

      Delete
    2. I think it superb that the NHS can see that an old woman can be helped to stay independent...a hip replacement at 95, a new knee at 96 and she's still in her own home doing what she wants to do.
      Yes, cricket brings all activity in this house to a halt.

      Delete
    3. I love hearing people being positive about the NHS. It seems so easy for people to complain about things that dont go perfectly, but I believe that for the majority of people, it is a stunningly good service. My own and my family's experience has been very positive. I am sure you need to have some luck in getting the right consultant at the right time, and that signals some unfairness in the system, and is worrying. It sounds as if someone has made excellent decisions along the line for your mother...long may it continue.

      Delete
  3. Hello Janice:
    We have so enjoyed reading this post, particularly for the way in which so many apparently disparate elements have been woven together in your account. This is a touching tribute to your father who, surely, will be in your heart if not actually by you as you join the Olympic throngs.

    As for us, we are the stay away types.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do understand the stay away mentality. I may be wishing I had gone along with it when I am involved in the crush that will be London next week. However.... our children are delighted we have been able to give them tickets, and I am prepared to suspend cynicism until after the event, and of course, my father would have adored it. J.

      Delete
  4. I wish I'd had one of those "get out of games free" cards when I was at school :) I had to resort to just skiving. But like you, I enjoy watching some sports -- notably tennis and the TdF. And I'm sure I'll be glued to the opening ceremony this evening! Enjoy whatever events you get to see.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That note from my mother was a much envied scrap of paper. I am surprised how I have developed interest, albeit in spectator form over the years. The storm here in the Aude stopped us watching the opening ceremony live last night, but we've managed to catch up now. Hope all is well with you. Janice.

      Delete
  5. Would LOVE to be there for everything! The US Women's basketball team has the granddaughter of one of our good friends playing...Lyndsay Whalin. Great name; great player. We'll be rooting for them, of course. I have a friend that leaves next Wednesday and has tickets for several final events, including gymnastics and the women's basketball. Lucky her. She has been to, I think, 6 Olympics with this one. Enjoy!1

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am quite prepared to cheer for the US women's basketball team Jane....you can have that one ! We will enjoy it, despite all the hassle that I am sure will be involved with actually getting into the stadium next Friday and Saturday nights. J x

      Delete
  6. I'm afraid I am totally unsporty, Janice, but I still thought this was a lovely post and memory of your father. I used to watch Wimbledon and some Olympic events such as the gymnastics, but being in France every summer without TV means I have totally lost the sport-watching habit. I can't even catch a glimpse of the opening ceremony this evening online, as the BBC can't show it in other countries.:-(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Believe me Perpetua, you could not be more unsporty than me. I feel as if enjoying watching athletes perform has crept up on me over the years. A storm stopped us watching the opening ceremony live last night, and to be honest, the 4 of us here at the moment (me, husband, daughter and d's boyfriend) probably enjoyed watching the storm's lightening show in the black mountains from our terrace just as much as we would have enjoyed the live coverage of the ceremony. J.

      Delete
  7. I've just discovered your post after doing mine on the Olympics. Well I guess there'll be a few more blogs containing olympic posts before the next two weeks is up.

    I was also useless at sport at school, not for medical reasons, but I was simply completely unco-ordinated. I used every excuse in the book to get out of gym and games.

    That's where our similarity ends though, as you have gone on to enjoy being a spectator, whereas I haven't. Having said that, I enjoy the football World Cup and the European championships..more a kind of patriotic thing I think. Although I refused to watch Euro this year on principle because of the way Ukraine slaughtered thousands of dogs beforehand to clean up the streets for the supporters.

    Very sad about your Dad, missing the Olympics twice. But as you say, at least he knew they were coming to London for 2012.

    Enjoy the games xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, my spectator interest has crept up on me over the years and ha surprised me if I'm honest. I never thought i would get interested,let alone excited over a sporting event.
      I was happy to have the medical excuse at school, ( it should have lasted for a few weeks rather than years) as I was, and remain, also, completely unco-ordinated. Take care in all that heat. J xx

      Delete
  8. I was useless at sport but always had dreams of winning Wimbledon or the 100meters. I'm married to a sports fanatic so get to watch a lot of it by default. I feel a bit of a party pooper by not being able to watch any of the Olympics but am tryng to catch the best bits on You Tube. Love your writing about your dad. Hope you write more about him.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much B to B....I always feel a bit self indulgent when my posts slip into thoughts about my father, and they often do. Hope you manage to get to see some of the olympics....are you back in Turkey or still in Sweden. J.

      Delete