The Importance of Being a Little Bit Shit

Hi there,

So in 10 days the soccer World Cup kicks off and I couldn't care less. Unless Australia wins a few games and then I, and hundreds of others, will pack into pubs and theatres at 3 in the morning to drink beer, sing songs and watch a game we don’t care about for three years and eleven months out of every four. If Australia does really well, I may even call it football rather than soccer for a month or two. There will be many brand new die-hard fans, most of whom would struggle to name a player, or even a team, in the domestic game. Their patriotic fervor will be such that they have to stay up till 4 am to watch all the games and hangovers and tired rings under the eyes will be so common it's like the whole city becomes Pete Doherty for four weeks.

Around this time of year, the only thing more common than finding Jon from accounting asleep at his desk, is finding people kicking a soccer ball around the local parks. Seriously, in the weeks leading up to the World Cup and for several months after you will see more balls flying around than.... well lets just leave that analogy alone. Thing is, everyone in Sydney seems to dust off the round ball and head to the park for a kick around and this is an amazing thing.

It is also a unique thing. There is another, once-every-four-years, month long sporting event that attracts millions of viewers – and around the time of the Sydney Olympics did you notice a massive upswing in the number of people doing handstands and triple back-flips in the park? Or people training for the equestrian by riding a horse to work? Was your gym suddenly filled with massive fat men in alarming pantsuits doing power cleans? (Actually, I was just starting to get into Olympic lifting in 2000 so my gym was filled with massive men in alarming pants, but that was on purpose.)

The sudden surge of players is also uniquely Australian. There is no massive upswing of players in Brazil, everyone in Brazil that has legs already plays football and some of their amputees do as well. There is no sudden increase in ‘pommies’ heading out to kick a ball around, they are all at the pub praying that it doesn't go to a penalty shoot out. Australians are unique in that we watch the world’s best compete at the world’s most popular game and say, "That looks like a bit of a laugh, lets have a go."

See, when it comes to soccer, Australia is a little bit shit. Not completely shit, if they were, no-one would watch. And I don't mean to denigrate the Socceroos, in a couple of weeks I will be cheering wildly for them. It's just that we, as a nation, are not expected to do very well at football and so the fact that we are there at all is, in itself, a fantastic thing. And because we are a little bit shit, everyone is really excited that we are there at all. It is not about winning, although that would be great, it is really about just getting out there and having a crack. This is why being a little bit shit, is great.

When it comes to the Olympics, all the coverage is of people winning stuff, we even have that horrible word medal-ling, which should only ever be used in Scooby-Doo cartoons. (All you youngsters can ask me what the hell I meant by that later). This is why the world cup makes every Aussie in the land kick a round ball about the park and the Olympics does little for physical participation. The world cup is about playing and the Olympics about winning.

So the moral of this rant is this. It’s better to be a little bit shit! If you are out there doing something and you aren't all that good at it, it is usually because you are doing something new. And, in my opinion, it is better to do something new and do it badly than do well at exactly same thing over and over and over again.

Also, if you are doing something that you’re not world class at, you are happy just to play the game. Kiwi's hate losing the rugby. Professional athletes cry when they lose big games or miss free kicks or whatever. Us sucky amateurs are happy to just walk around the stadium. We are free to care deeply while we are playing and then forget about it straight away. After their matches, the really good go watch replays to see why they lost, the rest of us go to the pub. Who is the winner here?

So in honour of being a little bit shit, there are two events I am inviting your personal best, but probably globally mediocre efforts towards. You can do either or both, but you should really make an attempt to do one or the other.

MyGym Powerlifting Comp. Your best deadlift, squat and bench. Lots of chalk, grunting and hopefully many Personal Bests (alarming pantsuits are optional). The 17th of July. Put it in your calendars, let me know if you are keen and I will forward more details. 17/7/2010

or

The city to surf. It is 14 k's. I have never figured out how the word fun applies to running such a distance but it is a great day, a great run and a good excuse to get down to Bondi in early spring. We will start up some running classes for those interested, I am going to do it and I am sure we can get a good group together. All levels are welcome.

So there ya go folks, take your pick or do both! Have a good weekend and see you in the gym…

Mac

BTW have you joined our facebook group yet? Make it happen.

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