SPORTS: watching/not watching/not participating
I've kept meaning to post about the US Open. It's been strange not to be able to watch it, but to have to check up online and on sports headlines to see what's been happening. Highlight clips aren't the same! It was particularly heartening to see Robson building on her Olympics and having such a good run in the first week. Getting beaten by a defending champion is not too shabby. Having had Wimbledon and the Olympics behind her, and such dominant championships, I thought Williams had to be the favourite going in - who does she need to be afraid of? Whereas, with the men, it’s more open. I didn't expect Federer to be out at this point, especially as he'd had a walkover. Murray and Djokovic ought to be facing each other in the final - you would think - and, hopefully providing another classic, but with a different result to the Australian. But we'll see. Well, I won't see for myself live.
However, I've been able to watch the Paralympics. After last night, it feels churlish to say that, of course, the coverage hasn't been as good as the Beeb's would have been, but I haven't been able to switch to other sports when stuff I have no interest in watching comes on etc, although I've sat gripped in front of the swimming and athletic races. Claire Baldwin is an ace, I like it when former Paralympians get all technical (for instance about how individuals' disabilities affect them and what they have to do to adjust) and the fact that we move from heats to finals (in the races) and that there are so many different categories makes it all the more explosive. Then there are the moments where you realise what these people who run or swim so fast must have to face in their daily life. There's a lot more to say about disability , elite sports, gender and a myriad things than is getting raised - there’s a consensual attitude about certain topics in the coverage that I don’t always agree with, although if both the Games get girls who thought they weren’t able to ‘do sports’ to get up/out and exercise more, that is a good thing. But then, while the Paralympics are going on, sports coverage is tending back towards the belief that what the boys and their managers in the Premier League are doing is all that sport is, which is, frankly, depressing.
This entry was originally posted at http://www.dreamwidth.org/12345.html. Please comment wherever you prefer to.
However, I've been able to watch the Paralympics. After last night, it feels churlish to say that, of course, the coverage hasn't been as good as the Beeb's would have been, but I haven't been able to switch to other sports when stuff I have no interest in watching comes on etc, although I've sat gripped in front of the swimming and athletic races. Claire Baldwin is an ace, I like it when former Paralympians get all technical (for instance about how individuals' disabilities affect them and what they have to do to adjust) and the fact that we move from heats to finals (in the races) and that there are so many different categories makes it all the more explosive. Then there are the moments where you realise what these people who run or swim so fast must have to face in their daily life. There's a lot more to say about disability , elite sports, gender and a myriad things than is getting raised - there’s a consensual attitude about certain topics in the coverage that I don’t always agree with, although if both the Games get girls who thought they weren’t able to ‘do sports’ to get up/out and exercise more, that is a good thing. But then, while the Paralympics are going on, sports coverage is tending back towards the belief that what the boys and their managers in the Premier League are doing is all that sport is, which is, frankly, depressing.
This entry was originally posted at http://www.dreamwidth.org/12345.html. Please comment wherever you prefer to.