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Hottest Summer
It may not have been the hottest summer on record, but it’s had its moments.
Predictable as ever, Wimbledon bought its annual rainfall during what has officially been declared a drought. And there have been anxious questions over whether or not certain areas of our green and pleasant land have had a little assistance in remaining just that with the football season kicking off. Apparently die hard footie fan Rod Stewart has been asked to provide Ground Force advice on how to keep things thriving when all around is simply shrivelling up with neglect…well if this agile golden oldie can’t give hints on how he has kept his pitch passion alive, with not a hosepipe in sight, who can!
One thing there has been no shortage of, is summer sporting headlines, perhaps even a glimpse of a determination to go all out for new opportunities, so long as they don’t involve a national arena at Wembley to showcase them.
For a start, England won the gay world cup, beating the USA 2-1, surely gaining the team the right to another coveted prize, a place on Sports Personality of the Year. .And then there have been signs that,just maybe, sport has taken on a new die hard attitude. Prior to the European Championships this month, Britain’s athletics bosses sent out a strong warning to their team to go all out to perform well or risk losing their lottery funding. Chief Executive, David Moorcroft talked about the last world championships where Britain had suffered as a result of, “ The apparent inability of people to lift their game.” John Terry pulled himself up from World Cup despair that he said left him, “ Heartbroken and I will never get over that.” And somehow found the strength to pull on the England captain’s armband.
How do you dig deep in times of adversity? There are ideas and thoughts on this theme reflected throughout this issue. You could, like England’s rising cricket star, Monty Panesar, turn to a guru for motivation. A real life retail academy is setting up to nurture the next generation of high street hot shots, owing much to the popularity of The Apprentice. Television programming devotes hours to creating entertaining business scenarios such as this, Dragon’s Den, or The Hotel Inspector - seen mentoring a desperate owner in the way to take their business out of the comfort zone and into a consumer must have. We are transfixed by their humiliation, appalled by their lack of awareness and could no doubt have solved all their problems or prevented them.
Brian Barwick, the Football Association’s Chief Executive recently said that for the England team, “These are exciting times.” But as one national sports writer put it, if you are being kind to him, they are challenging times, if not, then consider them crisis times. And for many in our business the same may equally be said. The chance to have someone guide you and provide the strength to succeed is rare indeed. In reality it is about digging deep, looking outside what you knew, using what you do know - and giving it all you have.
Lauren Fox, Editor
