The British Paralympic team have been given their
Targets by Sport UK, an arm of government. They have to win so many medals and
finish no lower than such-and-such a position in the final table.
Why? Why do bureaucrats have to indulge in this
silliness?
This is profoundly and disturbingly stupid.
Profoundly because it would be hard to imagine anything much stupider, and disturbingly
because it’s fools like Sport UK who are running the bloody culture.
Athletes only need one target, and it comes built
in. Their target is to give of their very best and finish as high up the order
as possible. And that, no doubt, is what every one of them will do. They don’t
need besuited jerks sitting in an office in London telling them how many medals
they have to win. Does Sport UK really think that any one of those athletes will
be mindful of targets when they’re taking part in their events? Of course they
won’t. It’s just another example of those running the show justifying their
existence (and being paid rather more than the national minimum wage, no doubt)
by hiding behind the modern mania for numbers obsession. I wonder whether
anybody’s thought of giving them a dope test.
Still, it could be worse. I could be living in a
country where you get sent to prison for publicly criticising the
President. And on that subject, I wonder
whether one of my frequent Russian visitors might answer the following
questions:
Why does Putin insist on projecting an image of
Russia as a third world dictatorship? Does he think he’s Ivan the Terrible
reincarnated? Or are we getting a false picture, manipulated by the western
media for propaganda purposes? I have an open mind.
Best not answer the questions, though. I wouldn’t
want anyone to suffer just to satisfy my curiosity.
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