Scotland's victory!
I was glued to the radio on Saturday afternoon for the Scotland France game! What a range of emotions. First half we were less than classy but once Gary Caldwell "slide-tackled" (his words!) the ball in, suddenly we became a team and a great victory was ours.
In the many column inches and double page photo spreads in Sunday’s papers, that team spirit was constantly referred to. It’s something deep in the Scottish psyche that we play our best or achieve our dreams when we are the underdog. I just hope that we don’t end up with the same kind of experience as the last time we beat a top side at Hampden in the Euro qualifiers (Holland) only to get thrashed away from home. I am sure Walter has a better handle on how to stop that happening.
Two things struck me about the game. First of all, there’s what can be achieved when people work with and for each other. When that kind of passion is channeled into working for a common goal it’s just as powerful as the individual skills of superstars. (As it happens the idea that we achieve more together than we do apart is at the heart of Labour thinking, which our Scottish founder Keir Hardie knew all about.)
The second thing was simply the power of sport to change lives. I stayed on at school because of sports, in particular because of the attitude of my PE teacher who simply treated us as young adults. He respected us so we respected him. His attitude helped me win at sports when otherwise I wouldn’t even have taken part.
Those experiences gave me a self confidence that meant I achieved much more than I might otherwise have done. As we saw on Saturday, winning at sport means much more than just beating the other guys.
In the many column inches and double page photo spreads in Sunday’s papers, that team spirit was constantly referred to. It’s something deep in the Scottish psyche that we play our best or achieve our dreams when we are the underdog. I just hope that we don’t end up with the same kind of experience as the last time we beat a top side at Hampden in the Euro qualifiers (Holland) only to get thrashed away from home. I am sure Walter has a better handle on how to stop that happening.
Two things struck me about the game. First of all, there’s what can be achieved when people work with and for each other. When that kind of passion is channeled into working for a common goal it’s just as powerful as the individual skills of superstars. (As it happens the idea that we achieve more together than we do apart is at the heart of Labour thinking, which our Scottish founder Keir Hardie knew all about.)
The second thing was simply the power of sport to change lives. I stayed on at school because of sports, in particular because of the attitude of my PE teacher who simply treated us as young adults. He respected us so we respected him. His attitude helped me win at sports when otherwise I wouldn’t even have taken part.
Those experiences gave me a self confidence that meant I achieved much more than I might otherwise have done. As we saw on Saturday, winning at sport means much more than just beating the other guys.
posted by Councillor Ewan Aitken at
4:20 pm
