Summer Is Here

At long last Summer is here, it must be, people are complaining about it being too hot, English men and women are starting to go beatroot red, other than those who were already orange, but most of all sport has come well and truly alive.

Wimbledon

Summer is heralded by Wimbledon, and this year we have seen a noticeable lack of rain! Not suprising considering they've just paid for a roof!

What I love about tennis is the mental side of the game, you can see the mindset of the player through their body language. One great point can turn a match giving confidence to the underdog and assailing the player who ahd the upper hand.

Tennis requires great character and mental strength. Andy Murray just won a 5 set match against Stan Wawrinka in 3 and a half hours, the amount of twists and turns, as he had to dig deep within himself to beat his opponent. Technical ability is a pre-requisite of tennis and Murray has it in spades, but the technical side is useless unless you have a strong mental side. Determination, pluckiness and passion are often the difference between good and great players. Murray managed to fight off 10 of 12 break points, and hold his nerve at crucial times, where as a player like Marat Safin, who is technically one of the most gifted players has a fragile mental state.

Personally after watching the Murray match I came to a conclusion. I believe Tim Henman took Andy aside and said, it's all well and good winning in straight sets, but the English don't like that, no, they much prefer it if they feel like you are going to lose and you pull it out at the end.

The Ashes

Soon we are to enjoy another of the great summer sports, cricket. The Ashes return and it does not feel like long ago since England triumphed over Australia, yet it is 4 years. This is probably best displayed by the fact that from the winning 2005 side the only players likely to play for England are Pietersen, Strauss, Anderson, Flintoff (if fit), Collingwood (who was a bit part player in the 2005 Ashes) and Ian Bell (if he can get his place back).

The series promises to be as thrilling as ever, although unfortunately I doubt the cricket will reach the levels of 2005, as Australia have lost; Langer, Hayden, Gilchrist, Warne, and McGrath and England have lost; Trescothick, Vaughan, Hoggard and Harmison.

However those taking part are likely to give their all and as is often the case another star might be born in this series be it an Aussie like Warne or an Englishman like Freddie Flintoff.

Lastly the TOUR DE FRANCE

I recently completed the London to Brighton, 54 miles of gruelling hills and rolling flats. Whilst the first 20 miles were mainly walking due to the weight of cyclist traffic, the last 30 were a thrill as I put everything in to making it to Brighton, but one obstacle stood in the way.... Ditchling Beacon. This behemoth of a climb has sharp pitches before you reach the top. In just one mile it goes up 150 metres. Ok so it's no Mont Ventoux, Alpe d'Huez, Everest or even Snowdon, but it is hard on a bike, and it takes character to reach teh top when the body is saying STOP!!!!

Le Tour

This is why I love the tour, it is for me the epitome of sport, it is gruellingly hard 3 weeks of punishing cycling, riding on average 150miles a day. They climb some of Europe's biggest and steepest mountains, but most of all they ride mano a mano, you have to beat your opponent, it's sport and competition is a pre-requisite. In cycling you can see the faces, you can see the agony, especially on a mountain where every pedal turn causes more strain, as another ride jumps away from the yellow jersey, you try to calculate how much time is between them.

I love summer, I love sport, because it builds character and character shapes us to be like God.