First of all, huge congratulations to Eve Muirhead and her team for securing what will undoubtedly be regarded as one of the all-time great Scottish sporting achievements. I'm sure I was one of many tens of thousands who stayed up to watch the whole game against Japan in the wee small hours. However, if you'll forgive the shameless self-indulgence, I really must take a moment to mark the fact that the Olympic curling over the last couple of weeks has also unexpectedly provided me with a little highlight of my own blogging career.
As long-term readers will know, I genuinely am a big curling fan. I think it probably goes back to the fact that there seemed to be someone in the BBC Scotland hierarchy when I was growing up in the early 90s who was sympathetic towards curling and used to make generous space in the schedules for highlights packages from events like the Scottish Junior Championships. (Those days are long gone, sadly.) So I was exposed to the sport back then, and since around 1999 I've been religiously glued to either Eurosport or the World Curling channel on YouTube every November, March and April, when 99% of people probably don't have a clue anything is even happening. I've been to the Scottish finals day in Perth a few times, and I remember in 2016 a very nice chap from UK Sport approached me in Braehead when I was practically the only spectator (an exaggeration, but only a slight one) for the Norway v Sweden men's semi-final in the European Championships, and said "bit of a disappointing turnout, isn't it?" So I think it's reasonable to say I'm not exactly a fair-weather fan, unlike the jingoistic Brit journalists who jump on the curling bandwagon for a couple of days every four years and then immediately forget the sport even exists.
Yes, Douglas Dickie of the Mirror, and yes, David Walker of the Daily Express, I'm looking at you. Thanks to James Sellars on Twitter, I've only just found out that my occasional wind-up tweets about "Scottish and European curling" and "Scolympic silver medals" have triggered no fewer than two barking mad articles in national newspaper websites - one in the Mirror yesterday entitled 'Scottish nationalists hijack Team GB curling silver medal for divisive agenda', (which cluelessly uses a photo of David Murdoch's silver medal-winning team from eight years ago!) and one in the Express way back on 8th February entitled 'Nationalist blogger slammed for 'hate-filled' anti-British comment on the Winter Olympics', with the sub-heading 'James Kelly, who is a pro-independence blogger and says he is an elected member of Alba's National Executive Committee, was criticised for his tweet about curling'. Even better, the Express went to all the trouble of getting a Scottish Conservative spokesperson to make an official comment about my tweet.
Words fail me. I've finally made the big time now, and it's all thanks to the Roarin' Game. It's amazing, isn't it? Think of all the deadly serious topics I've covered at length on this blog over the years, from gun control to the death penalty, from Covid to the destruction of devolution. Not even the remotest flicker of interest from the mainstream media. But a bit of throwaway banter on Twitter about the indisputable fact that the "British curling team" are all Scottish, and it's like the end of civilisation as we know it.
One day, someone will write a book about the fascinating psychological phenomenon of a minority winter sport proving to be more "triggering" for the Brit Nat hordes than practically any other subject I can think of. The Express noted that I was heavily criticised for my tweet, which is perfectly true, but what they didn't bother mentioning is that almost all of the criticisms came from borderline-fascists, many of whom seemed to think I couldn't be Scottish because I have an Irish surname. "Is dat royt, James?" was a particular highlight. Blair McDougall must be so proud.
I've learned something valuable over the last couple of weeks. If you want to *really trigger* the Brit Nats, you don't have to say 'It's Scotland's Oil' or even 'the Pentland Firth is the Saudi Arabia of tidal power'.
— James Kelly (@JamesKelly) February 19, 2022
You just have to point out the curlers are Scottish.
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ReplyDeleteNo, I won’t be watching the curling at the Olympic games, even though I spent fifty years competing at national championships in every age group from schoolboy to pensioner, served on the governing body, represented Scotland in international competitions, been chief umpire at a national championship, commentated on TV and had a fabulous, memorable, cherished lifetime of pleasure. Quite apart from any temporary misgivings I have about holding the current pinnacle of sport as a patriarchal experience, in a country that has one million Muslims in jail for being, well, Muslim, my contempt runs much deeper. The Olympic movement is sport’s Anti-Christ. It does not represent participative sport for all, it demonstrates the triumph of the excellent over the good. Elite exhibitions of sport as just another offering of the entertainment industry, that justify the staggering amounts of money involved by spreading the ‘message’ of sport and as a cost-effective way of encouraging participation. The UK government has committed to an expenditure of £60m per gold medal at the next summer Olympics on elite sport, while spending how much per school child? I have done the research on the ‘encourages people to take up sport’ story. I call it the ‘Torvil and Dean effect’, best ice dancers ever on the planet for years, how many kids took up the sport? One answer is ‘there was nowhere to do it’. There are others.
To me a country’s success at sport has only one measure, how many people take part? Taking part in sport is a lifetime’s pleasure and we should maximise the opportunities for everyone to do it for all of their lives. That should be our most important mission, not gold medals. When, in pre-Olympic times, I was on the ruling body’s finance committee, I remember discussing how many changes of kit we could afford for the Scottish team going to the world championships. Now there is huge Olympic size funding, and the top British pool of players gets paid. I remember competing in the Scottish championships when one hundred teams entered, you had to take two Fridays off your work if you made it all the way. This year, six teams entered, and you need to take a week off your work. For most of the entrants, this is their work. Why would a team of amateurs take a week off their work to compete against professional athletes - gym-conditioned, nutritionally perfect, coached every day? Are they better than ‘we’ were? Unquestionably. Does that make ‘it’ (whatever that is) better? Is six times world class better that one hundred times excellent? Only to a television audience. The Olympic movement bought my sport, and sold it to the highest bidder. I won’t watch. There is a much longer version of this rant, with spreadsheets. Consider yourself spared. I feel much better now.
I wonder if the Scottish curlers put on a poor performance and finished last would they still be miffed at you for calling them Scottish
ReplyDeleteI remember hearing Terry Wogan saying once on Radio 'oh well Andy Murray is out of Wimbledon way too early this year, at least now he'll be called Scottish again' (maybe we can find that comment somewhere still?)
James, your doing a good job and you've highlited how the Yoon media react and how they use and quote and show pictures of 'so called members. Of the public's' reaction and offence to such simple trivial matters (99% of their public reaction are Rangers fans, orange lodge people hard core yoons etc)
The average person anywhere won't react because it doesn't hit the same nerve
What we've learnt?.... Let's All do what you did at sporting events in huge numbers to really dent their union rag moments
Never mind James.
ReplyDeleteObviously your experience with the rabid tabloids demonstrates that all we have to do is politely ask for Section 30 permission for a bit of uk style 'democracy', win the vote and walk away. We are after all a respected part of a voluntary union.
Or perhaps.......
John Major set up the lottery to buy olympic medals after a year when 'Team GB' came home with very little. I was disappointed to hear one of the men in the curling team thank the lottery for the funding and urge people to play the lottery. I thought and still think that if there is any money for sport then it should be used to encourage and enable as many people as possible to participate at grassroots level.
ReplyDeleteI am just finished speaking to my family in Norway and the children are being taken by their nursery and school to the ice rink. That is the sort of thing we should be spending money on here - facilities for trying all sorts of sports.
David is right in what he says. A country has a successful sports programme if everyone is exposed to different sports and then have the facilities to progress in their chosen sport or sports.
(I am commenting as 'anonymous' because I can't work out how to do it otherwise)
A look at the medal table for the Winter Olympics shows Norway way out in the lead with a total of 36 medals. Germany a distant second with 25 medals. China and USA are next.
ReplyDeleteThe wee independent country Norway 36 medals and GB with 2 medals. What a contrast.
I very much doubt the Britnats will be shouting about that comparison.
Biathlon. 11 events of skiing/shooting so 33 medals available.
DeleteAnyone who knows anything about Norway knows they love their guns.
As to why there's 11 events involving skiing/shooting, well it might just possibly have been lobbying eh? ;)
And before any unionists say well Norway has a lot more snow than the UK please note that the Netherlands got 15 medals.
DeleteThat's mostly because speed skating is a popular sport in the Netherlands. They specialise in it like Scotland specialises in curling. It's just unfortunate for us that there are only three medal events in curling, but God knows how many in speed skating.
DeleteI remember at the last winter Olympics (or maybe the one before) when Claire Balding made Rhona Martin apologise for calling the curling team Scottish during a live interview.
ReplyDeleteStuart C McDonald SNP MP for Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East in the H of Commons having a jolly good time with the Tory Defence Minister slagging off Salmond and the Alba party. Mc Donald couldn't look more of a Britnat if he tried.
ReplyDeleteWhy do the SNP need a shadow Defence Minister? They are supposed to be getting us out of Westminster not warmongering along with the Tories.
If I lived in Cumbernauld, Kilsyth or Kirkintilloch East he wouldn't be getting my vote. Why because at best he is a Britnat at worse he works for Mi5.
All the Tories have done today in the H of Commons is prattle on about freedom.
ReplyDeleteFreedom for Ukraine not to be invaded or bullied by a bigger neighbour. What hypocrites. Westminster has a long track record of invading and bullying other countries.
Freedom to catch Covid and pass it on to anyone you like or not like or don't know.
Freedom for Scotland nae chance. Get back in your box Scotland and here is some Covid to help you on your way.
What a shit awful place the UK is and its little helpers in the Scotgov seem to have all got Covid and lost their sense of smell.
So was Sturgeon just too scared of the Daily Mirror and Express to mention Scotland in her tweet congratulating Team GB. Or is she just happy being a Britnat?
ReplyDeletePeople continually ask the question - how did Sturgeon and her gang get away with the persecution of Salmond. The answer is simple - they are Britnats and they were and still are protected by the Britnat machine.
ReplyDeleteBreaking News
ReplyDeleteFellow WGD Numpty Dr Jim gets something right.
Jim says: “ There are more and more underhand politicians who couldn’t give a monkeys toss about their political party of their country or indeed the world because their desire for more and more cash is paramount, is there anything left these people won’t do?”
Spot on Jimbo and Sturgeon is one of them.
Sturgeon tells us the world is facing its most critical time since WW2. The WGD numpties will be pissing their pants.
ReplyDeleteMind you she still has time to slagg off Salmond for the bizillionth time.
What a world leader. She seems to have discounted/forgotten the Cuban missile crisis. But hey Sturgeon always knows best.
As Sturgeon and Johnson both seem to be saying everything is going back to normal re Covid why is there no date in law being put in place for Indyref2?
ReplyDeleteSurely a wee stushie in Ukraine won't be the next excuse for Sturgeon doing nothing. Is that why she and her gang are bigging up Ukraine as the biggest crisis since WW2?
Sturgeons priorities at present seem to be:
1. GRA
2. Ukraine's sovereignty
3. Attacking Alex Salmond
4. Selling off Scotlands assets at bargain rates.
5. Making sure we all have smoke alarms.
6. Keeping the donkeys onside by chucking a few carrots in their direction.