P&J Column 18.8.16


18.8.16 pic

We’d all be getting a lot more sleep, if it weren’t for these medalling kids!

Cava Kenny Cordiner, the sports columnist who’s just happy to have made the final.

I can’t not get enough of the Reno Olympics, and like a lot of folk I’ve been staying up way past my bedtime to see the Team BeeGees athletes in action. It’s great to see some new sporting heroes hitting the headlights. In the gymnastics Max Padlock done a great job on the pummel horse, and got another gold for his floor exercises. It was impressive stuff but it fairly made me feel my age. These days, old Kenny’s floor exercises are limited to getting back up again after I’ve tied my lacers.

The cycling has been a lateral gold mine for the Brits. I seen that golden girl and boy Laura Trott and Jason Kenny is engaged to be married, and it got me wondering how fast their kids would be on a bike! You never know, they might be even faster than their parents, and one day catch up with that bloke on the moped.

It was great to see Andy Murray winning another gold. He fairly put us through the mill in a couple of matches but he took care of big Juan Martin Del Monte in the final, and he took care of John Inverdale in the interview after. The lovely Melody said she thought Inverdale was unbelievably sexist, but I never understood what she was speaking about. He looks well past it to me.

One of the stars of the games for me was trampolinist Bryony Page. When I seen her win a silver it inspired me to have a go my loon Zander’s trampoline in the garden. It was easy at first as old Kenny built up some height, but I got my angles all wrong when I tried a sommersault and careered right off it, and landed legs a limbo in the hot tub! It was lucky really, half an hour earlier and Melody would have been in there with the rest of her book group.

But for me the story of this Olympics was the two female runners in the 5000m heat who took a tumble but stopped to help each other so they could both cross the finish line. It reminded me of an incident from my own career. I was playing for Longside against rivals Methlick FC and when the ball come into the box me and their center-forward both went up together, leaping like gammon. Him for the header, me for the deliberate hand ball. There was a clash of heads and the two of us both hit the deck. The other lad got up first, but he never tried to get me sent off or nothing. Instead he put out his hand and helped me to my feet. ‘You ok mate?’ He asked. I was fine, and I never forgot his kindness. So in the second half, I only halfed him the once.

Jonathan M Lewis, head teacher

The Parents’ Association here at Garioch Academy often labour under the misapprehension that the school is in some way ‘off limits’ to our young learners during the summer holidays. This couldn’t be further from the truth, and I can think of no better example than Mr Prentice’s Astronomy Club meeting last Friday night in the local park to marvel at the Pleiades Meteor shower. Sadly, even this demonstration of commitment to learning out with the strictures of the classroom has attracted criticism from some quarters.

I think Mr Prentice would be the first to admit that he should have noticed when attendance was unusually high and perhaps ought to have been wary that the astronomy club ‘regulars’ were somewhat outnumbered by Jordan McGregor and the rest of the lads from the ‘challenging behaviours’ group. In an ideal world, he would have checked the ‘refreshments’ that the pupils had brought with them. but I think we would all concede that in the dark the sound of multiple cans of cider opening is not easily distinguishable from those containing, as was claimed, Vimto.

I am disappointed that the boys proceeded to use Mr Prentice’s high powered camera to document their own activities in the park, rather than the celestial fireworks display. However, there was, at least, a valid scientific element to their high-jinks. When they pushed Astronomy Club captain Stephen MacKintosh on the swing they came close to demonstrating that centripetal force can overcome the pull of gravity. So close. We wish Stephen well and hope that he is soon out of traction and back to staring at the night sky, rather than the ceiling of ward 49.