Success (well nearly)

15th November 2024

I hope that you’ve had a good week. The autumnal feel can weigh heavily at this time of year. But a little bit of bright sunshine, over the last few days, has probably cheered some of us up. And keep your eyes up to the skies this weekend for the last supermoon of the year. It won’t be quite as bright as last month’s Hunter’s moon but the Beaver moon will still be spectacular with our clear skies.

I guess I can’t avoid making some comment about sporting or athletic achievement, this week.

It’s Children in Need day, as I write. And there has been so much attention, and a degree of celebration, about Paddy McGuinness’ cycle ride from Wales, through England, to Scotland. Probably significant in itself, but more so as it was undertaken on a modified 1970s Raleigh Chopper. Those of us who are of a certain age remember this bike very well. There were a few ‘kids on the block’ who had one of these bikes in the 70s, and they certainly made something of a splash when they were first built. The fact that they didn’t last that long might tell us something about their durability and road worthiness. That said, they were great for wheelies, had a three-speed mechanism, with the handle for the gears on the main frame, like a ‘proper’ gear stick.  splash. To be honest, after a short period of time they were generally dispatched of and those children that had one turned back to their more practical road bikes. The Chopper wasn’t easy to manoeuvre, you couldn’t go particularly fast; more style over substance – I would say. And so, that makes the achievements of McGuinness much more significant.

And it’s all for a good cause. Children in Need is recognised across the schools and college but we really don’t want to impact upon learning too much and there certainly won’t be dressing David Brentesque whilst engaging in ‘wacky’ things in the name of Pudsey and charity. If you’re into that sort of thing, enjoy! Not all of us will necessarily participate in or watch the events/programme but most will make a contribution in recognition of Paddy’s endeavours, or the pyjama wearing, or the ‘character’ sitting in a bath of beans for the day.

And on sporting achievement. What a week of sport in South Yorkshire. Not Barnsley versus Rotherham – best forgotten, or United versus Wednesday – best ignored, but at the apex of team sport achievement, the last 16 of the Ice-hockey Champions Leagues, the Sheffield Steelers.

The Steelers welcomed the German champions Eisbaren Berlin (which means Polar Bear Berlin) to the Sheffield Arena, in the presence of 9000 fans. The match day announcer likened the fixture to “Rotherham United playing Real Madrid”. The Steelers are currently UK Grand Slam champions and they have already upset the odds in the competition by beating the Swedes (Skelleftea AIK and Vaxio Lakers) and the Czechs (Sparta Prague)

Unfortunately, the Steelers lost 3-5, having pulled it back to 3-3 at one point. The head coach,  Aaron Fox believes they can turn the tie around when the teams meet for the second leg in Berlin. The biggest night in the Steelers history, South Yorkshire’s finest sporting team (?), worth celebrating – I’d say.

 ‘I went to a fight the other night, and a hockey game broke out.’ Rodney Dangerfield