Book 25 of the 50 Book Challenge

The Meaning of Sport  by Simon Barnes, 357 pages

Started April 18th, finished April 25th.

This is a book I borrowed from my friend Shane.  he is the main contributor to a great sporting blog Greatest Events in Sporting History 

This was one of the strangest reads I've had.   Trying to capture the Meaning of 'Sport' is hard.  Sports may all have common goal but every sport is still different.  I also think that meaning may be different to each person contemplating the question.

Simon barnes is without doubt a good writer.  He also understands his remit.  It's just that we don't always see eye to eye on the subjects he raises.  I found myself having an 'aah, thank God he managed to make that clear to me' moment half the time.  The other half I was struggling to try and phrase why I disagreed or wanted to take the question further.

He is fond of using the term 'Redgrave' for a great sportsman.  Redgrave's achievement's can never be denied.  But he doesn't explain what Redgrave had that his teammates hadn't.  Redgrave never won on his own.  This leads to the main question I would have added to the text.  What is the difference between solo and team sport.  he does look at how one man can change the force of a team but no further.

He mentions Liverpool's 'shock' winning of the 2005 Champions' League more than once.  But never really gives mentions to other 'shock' wins.  He seems more interested in what makes the great sporting minds tick.  Those that win again and again.  At the risk of sounding whiny I couldn't understand why he failed to talk much of Arsenal's unbeaten season and what created such a great team.  The word 'Treble' is never mentioned.  I can only think that this means he doesn't see that as an achievement worthy of note.

I would have liked to see how he thought of a football manager.  Is he part of the team?  Does he think they have a big effect on what happens on the pitch or do they just shop well?  Is a football manager different to an athletics trainer?  But he seems to think that football is given far more exposure than other sports.  Maybe he was trying to level the balance.

His thoughts on Paula Radcliffe seemed very harsh.  You couldn't deny the points he made though.  I wish he had said if he ever thought she could recover from 'Failure'.  Or if her career was indelibly stained.

All in all I enjoyed this book.  It did seem to make me query sport more than I have before.  It also revealed more questions for me than it answered.  Which is always good.

I don't have the author's passion for sport.  It sits on the periphery of my life.  I look at it mostly as an outsider if at all.  I find it interesting rather than have a passion for it.

The author made no friends telling me of his animal sightings ;-)  I just got very jealous!

 3.5 out of 5 pawprints

Total so far, Books - 25, Pages - 7,906

Next - Doctor Who and the Android Invasion by Terrance Dicks