Thursday, March 29, 2012

No quiet stars

To be an Olympic athlete is a deeply enviable thing. It’s not a cross that some unfortunate people have to bear, it’s something everybody would like to be. You may as well talk about the great sacrifices a person makes to be a rock star.
So said Simon Barnes in powerful piece in The Times deriding the notion that to become a great sporting star involves sacrifice.

I object to those assertions, while agreeing whole-heartedly with his general sentiment.

I cannot be the only person in the world who views the idea of being either a rock star or a champion athlete with horror, something which sends me running away screaming with my hands clasped over my ears.

But now everybody is having another think about the virtues of the quiet ones – paying us way too much attention.

Please. Just go away & leave me alone!