Photograph Quiz:
Photo no. 139:- Not seen one of these trophies before, then along comes two, in my interviews for ‘The History of Coventry Godiva Harriers and Other Clubs in the City’ in the space of three weeks recently. What was the relay event??
As part of my superior position in local society, I recently attended a Charity Auction where people with more quids than they know what to do with, place excessive bids for items they do not really want but feel obliged to participate in the excitement because of peer pressure (see below on pressure!!). No I don’t know why I was invited either Blog!! I don’t know if you have ever been to an auction Blog, but I used to go fairly often to pick up odds and ends for work. We were desperately short of cash at school, and when I took over the department, I had the problem of dragging it into the modern era … part of this remit involved the need to provide accessible storage for staff and pupils (sorry, ‘students’ in the modern idiot, or ‘educational customers’ if you are really political with a capital ‘P’ Blog). So I needed cabinets, viz filing 4-drawer type. For some reason which I cannot recall, I knew the auctioneer, either I taught his daughter or she came down the running club or she used to run in the Coventry Schools Races with which I used to help … anyway, I used to go to the sales rooms. If I needed stuff for work, the viewing was on a Saturday morning, and on one occasion, while doing the walk around viewing business, my dear wife and I spotted a rather nice oak dresser. Not for school mind, but for us. We discussed at some length what we could afford and decided that £350 was absolute tops and that would push our financial bounds somewhat .. remember that this was thirty or forty years ago and quids were tight!! The auction ran at a speed of 100 lots per hour. Because I was in for a bit of shelving for the stock room at work, I opted out of work midmorning on the day of the sale because I had a free lesson. It would also get me to the saleroom in time to bid on the dresser. “I have two five”, the bidding for the dresser had already started as I entered the auction room .. late but not too late. “Three” came and then a pause. “I have three” said the auctioneer any more interest?” A pause. “No interest?” “I have three once”. Oh well still inside our limit, “Three five” goes I wondering what the new terminology was all about. It was usually, two, two fifty, three, three fifty etc. oh well what the heck. The auctioneer gave me a strange glance; a sort of ‘what are you up to’ glance, or a ‘are you off your trolley’ type of glance. “I have three five, do I hear four” “Four”. Now four hundred and fifty quids was way more than we could possibly afford but anyway it is so easy to get carried away in the bidding excitement with the adrenalin flowing full pelt, and my dear wife and I did really like the dresser; it was rather splendid. I gave my nod. “Four fifty I have”. Committed was I! “Have I five” And the room went active. Bidders were all over the room. “Five”. Well that’s me definitely out. “Six”. “Six fifty”. “Seven”. “Seven fifty”. “Eight”. Eight fifty”. And stop. “I have eight fifty once”. “I have eight fifty twice”. “I have eight fifty three times. Gone to George. Eight thousand five hundred pounds for the oak dresser.” Hey, hang on a minute, where did this thousand business come from???????? Thousand quids????????? No wonder the auctioneer gave me the funny look stares at four fifty; I was on four fifty quids matey, while you were on four thousand five hundred quids – no wonder you gave me the stare. That zero was important. Not a lot but a lot. Like bloody hell what have I nearly done important. If I had known what he was on about, I would be staring at my definitely brown trousers. Boy, Blog, was I lucky to lose that auction. God only knows what would have happened if I had been the successful bidder. Teach me to be late for an auction! I did have a laugh at my expense when I had a chat with the auctioneer the following week and I explained what all my bidding had been about. A few months later I occasion to attend a rather grand function at the Guild of Freemens’ Hall in Coventry. A posh DO. ……….. and there in the hallway, groaning under the weight of the Guilds silver ware was my dresser. MY DRESSER. My eight thousand five hundred quid dresser which was slightly less than I had paid for my three bedroom detached house in a rather desirable part of Coventry about twelve months earlier!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now Blog, that was scary, with a capital ‘S’ and a capital ‘BU’ for brown underwear. I would have been nervous if I had known. Very nervous. If I had known, the pressure would have been really on me trying to figure out how we could possibly afford to pay for it. That is pressure. REAL pressure. Life changing pressure. I read in the press and see interviews on the television set where athletes talk about the pressure of their competition. Perhaps they feel pressured to say that they were under pressure. Pressure??? Get off!! At their level, the concept of pressure is blown out of all reality. Firstly, that so called pressure is self-imaginary because in most cases no one else gives a toss. At club level athletes talk about pressure which is even more self-delusionary because in 99.99999% of cases there is not the remotest chance of the athlete winning some Mickey Mouse race. And for both scenarios, surely the indictment must be that their coaches have not done their job efficiently. Athletes should be taught that the nervous excitement of competition is what the sport is all about. They should be taught to cope and taught that everyone feels the same at the start of a run, jump or throw’s contest. But far more importantly, they should be taught at an early age to enjoy the sensation of pressure, to enjoy the feeling of dread before competition. After all, the excitement, the anticipation, the expectation and every other synonym is what athletic life is all about. From my observation, UK don’t appear to offer a badge in ‘Pressure and How to Enjoy’. I could be wrong???
Colin
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