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Milestones... time to party!
IT'S been quite a week for milestones, one way or the other.
Team GB has proved a revelation and is the envy of the world – well, most of it.
Australia is taking our supremacy in the so-called "sit-down" sports particularly badly, it seems.
In fact, it's a national catastrophe described in one flagship newspaper as an "unexpected and potentially devastating phenomenon of Pommy power".
After years of gloating about their sporting supremacy and telling us to get on our bikes, they seem quite upset that we have taken them at their word and are trouncing them in the velodrome. And they have slunk off to lick their wounds now that Britain rules the waves – and parts of the swimming pool – once more.
Some things are worth waiting for, aren't they? Now if only our cricketers could get their act together...
As terrific as our Olympians were, there was another, less publicised, triumph.
Swimmer Michael Phelps finally ended Mark Spitz's reign as the top medal winner in cracking style – but it was the way Spitz handled it that showed his true strength of character.
Most of us would feel slightly peeved that all we worked so hard for had been overshadowed.
But not him. With truly Olympian graciousness the man who won seven golds at Munich in 1972 said: "Not only is he the greatest swimmer of all time and the greatest Olympian of all time, he's maybe the greatest athlete of all time."
But the thing is you can't really compare the two.
Phelps is a fantastic swimmer but would be the first to admit that he is the product of scientific training methods and nutrition, waxing and hi-tech aids. Even their swimsuits – sorry, bodysuits – are engineered to shave thousandths of seconds off times.
All Mark Spitz had was a pair of Speedos, a moustache, talent and bags of determination. And the kind of body that made young girls come over all unnecessary.
Madonna also hit a bit of a landmark – she turned 50.
Love or hate her, you have to admire the way she defiantly threw back her hair and quipped that 50 was just a number and a great excuse for a party.
Yeah right. The body may be great, but the face... Let's just say it's a bit of a giveaway.
Even I have had a bit of a reality check, one of those milestone wedding anniversaries.
I don't quite know what I was expecting but, on the whole, despite lots of treats, it was a bit of an anti-climax. To be honest, all I felt was, well, old.
We all know people who have been middle-aged since they got out of nappies. It's a state of mind. The person in my head is about 16 and the only thing that seems to change, unfortunately, is the outer casing. Oh, and circumstances.
Maybe Madonna has it right, perhaps we should just use milestones as an excuse to party. To Olympic standard. Bring it on.
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Weather for Halifax
Saturday 11 February 2012
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Temperature: -2 C to 0 C
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