Text 19834, 146 rader
Skriven 2008-08-18 09:22:47 av Joe Bruchis (1:3828/12.0)
  Kommentar till text 19698 av Ward Dossche (2:292/854)
Ärende: A passing of signific
=============================
Ward Dossche wrote in a message to Joe Bruchis:

 WD> I must make a general remark and not because a certain country is
 WD> listed or not.  
 WD> A lot has to do with possibilities for youngsters to practice
 WD> sports and develop talent. Statistically we can suppose that talent
 WD> is equally distributed around the globe, it's just other factors
 WD> which surround it which determine whether or not a talent will be
 WD> discovered and develop.

Yemen finds them.....yuck!

 WD> Practically Belgium, because someone else launched that subject, is
 WD> a very urbanised country with little open space, the most populated
 WD> country per square km (or close to anyway) in the world. That means
 WD> if you want to build a sports accomodation (track, swimming,
 WD> hockey, gymnastics, etc...) the first issue is to find enough open
 WD> space to build it. The whole country has been subdivided in zones
 WD> for living, industry, agriculture, recreation ... for example you
 WD> cannot build a swimming pool in a zone which has been designated
 WD> for industry <period>.  

We have zoning laws in the U.S. as well. Are you saying you have no olympic
sized swimming pools, no gyms with boxing rings, no voleyball, or tennis
courts, no running tracks, etc?


 WD> Second, there are no school-sport programmes here. Sports are not
 WD> part of the curriculum at school where every available moment is
 WD> invested in scholastic learning. Everything which is intent at "not
 WD> learning" happens outside school ... it explains the high academic
 WD> achievements of youngsters here.  

C'mon... working mind and body has been proven time and again to greatly
improve character, stamina, intellectual activity, ad infinitum. That was a
poor excuse. The truth is, in European countries, there are now more old than
young people, and the population has ceased being replaced with new borns.

 WD> School sports are a major scouting-ground for talent overthere,
 WD> that level is lacking here for a number of practical reasons.
 WD>  
 WD> There's also a reason in climate. There only are that many number
 WD> of good days available here for outside events. Last summer in
 WD> Belgium we had 2 (=two) sunny days plus a lot of rain. This year
 WD> there's more sun, but still heavy rains. Being able to practice
 WD> outside, to have safe running-tracks instead of just running
 WD> alongside dangerous roads, to practice in the open and do it in the
 WD> sun ... it helps the mind.

Who would want to live indoors?

 WD> And be not that overjoyous for medals won by a specific country.
 WD> Subtract the 7 golds for Phelps and look at the overal medal count,
 WD> it changes dramatically.  

Not total medals. The USA currently has 65 total medals and China has 61.

 WD> There's also a mental switch. In a country like the US people think
 WD> in numbers ... that many gold, that many silver, that many bronze
 WD> ... if Phelps will not win them then Lochte or another guy will.
 WD>  
 WD> But what is the individual value of those medals? In Belgium a
 WD> single medal, any medal, will be the talk for years ... even if
 WD> it's bronze.

I can certainly see why.

 WD> Mongolia just won a gold in judo, their first gold ever. That makes
 WD> him a national hero there and a role-model for years. Phelps? He
 WD> will have a photo taken with 8 medals around his neck, just as
 WD> Spitz with 7 in 1972, and sell it for a million dollars, just as
 WD> Spitz in 1972. But is he going to be a role model for a generation
 WD> of youngsters? Nope, he will just be a statistic which will be
 WD> rcalled in next Olympic games and then not be mentioned anymore
 WD> because something more exiting happens.

I would think he is an inspiration for swimmers worldwide, and so would the
swimmers.

 WD>  
 WD> Success in sports is very relative and volatile, Joe.
 WD>  
 WD> My daughter is a national champion in gymnastics. If I see all the
 WD> training that goes into it while trying to combine it with keeping
 WD> her grades at school. Plus the expense. Plus the time. Plus the
 WD> family time lost...

The same holds true if she played a musical instrument in the school band (if
you have those). I certainly spent half of my best years hauling band equipment
for the schools my two children attended. 

 WD> A young Belgian girl made the individual all-round finals in
 WD> gymnastics (she finished 24th and last). I drove out in the country
 WD> yesterday morning at 3am to be with her mom and dad in front of the
 WD> large screen with hundreds of others. He told me "Ward, she's
 WD> practicing for 32 hours a week, but she follows a full school
 WD> programme and needs to keep-up with her grades because once she's
 WD> finished with gymnastics, her achievements mean nothing"...

It's ashame you feel her achievements will be for nothing. She has learned the
power of mind and body. She will always be able to look back on her achievments
with pride. When she is low, she can raise her spirits just knowing her true
capability. You have given your child an asset she will carry her entire life.
Be proud of her and be proud of yourself, as the time you invested in her is
something she'll remember long after you're gone.

 WD> Joe ... 32 hours each week. That is close to a full-time employment
 WD> ... and then comes school.

Tell her I said, she's fantastic!

 WD> There's so much to be said about this, that a Fido-conference is
 WD> not even an appropriate medium because too many participants can
 WD> only stoop to meaningless one-liners.

Well, I received you loud and clear and wish I had time to respond to
everything you said.

 WD> So, Joe, instead of saying "<country> sucks" because of the medal
 WD> standings, it is so much better to reflect upon your own country,
 WD> the opportunities that are afforded to youngsters overthere, the
 WD> ability to develop their talents and say "How lucky we are..."

That's true in the light I commented on above, as to the great asset your
daughter can carry, however, when one looks at Olympic statistics and sees one
medal for a country, that sucks! But who really cares?

 WD> And don't take this personal ...
 WD>  
 WD> This coming Friday our Northwest (in the US) phototour of
 WD> highschool sportsteams starts, so I know about the opportunities
 WD> that youngsters have there. And, yes, I am envious ... but envious
 WD> in a sportslike manner for opportunities overthere afforded to
 WD> these kids. If only they knew how lucky they are.  
 WD> BTW, my daughter has been offered a scholarship to study at the
 WD> university of Kentucky to combine her college education with
 WD> sports. I'm praying she'll take it ... for more than one reason.

Again, congratulations to your family. You are truly a great Dad!


Regards,

 Joe 
--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: D'Bridge 2.99 -={Fire on the Bayou}=- (1:3828/12)