Cashing In On Cadel

Well what an amazing three weeks! For those of you like me who sat up each night watching Le Tour de France, I hope you all enjoyed what was an amazing race from the very first stage right through to Cadel Evans wearing the Australian flag as a cape on the Champs-Élysées. Aside from being the first Australian to ever win the General Classification at Le Tour, (Don’t forget that Robbie McEwen and Baden Cooke are both former Points Classification winners), it appears to be a true victory for clean cycling bringing hope that the tainted era is in the past.

Personally, I’m spoilt. On a daily basis I am surrounded by some of the world’s finest athletes and a new bread waiting in the wings. Unfortunately, watching sport on a daily basis doesn’t capture my attention as it once did. Don’t get me wrong… I still love sport! It is a huge part of my life. But I think it’s like eating ice cream… Everyone loves ice cream but no one likes it when it’s shoved in your face. I see so much sport on a daily basis that in my spare time I enjoy noodling round with music or working on our family farm more than sitting in a grandstand or watching an event on TV. Perhaps, god forbid, actually getting out there for some physical activity myself. Maybe this is why AFL football doesn’t appeal to me. But isn’t it interesting how some events capture your attention. For me, there are two sports I cannot go without: Le Tour de France and Formula 1.

The later more so because of the gross indulgences of the sport. The most brilliant drivers in the most technologically advanced cars with the largest budgets in the most exotic locations etc, etc, etc… And Le Tour (team budget and bike design technology aside) for it’s complete simplicity and it’s extreme physiology. “A lap of France as fast as you can.” Maybe it’s because just about everyone can relate to the bike. If you’ve been on a bike you know the sensation of riding into a still headwind, or trying to get up a relatively steep bike path. And this is just taking that experience to another relative level. For instance, one of the climbs on Le Tour took 40min at an average power output of 5.4watts per kilo of bodyweight for the winner. Try that next time you are down the gym. Multiply your bodyweight by 5.4 and sit on that figure for 40min! I be you will struggle to last 4!!! For those of you who want a little extra complexity, try it at 2,000 meters…

So enough of all that… Time to get down to the business of this entry. The cashing in on Cadel. The money side of it is clearly obvious. HTC who sponsor Highroad, a US based pro team, is said to have gained $100 million worth of sponsorship exposure over the last three years (no reference). But that’s what they are in the game for. So while this figure, if accurate is impressive, has no real bearing on truly cashing in.

I’m more interested in what’s happening here. Bicycle Exchange (http://www.bikeexchange.com.au/), who are an online “eBay style” shopping network has had their site traffic take off in recent days. Shane Perkins was telling me that a friend of his bike store is expecting a 60% increase in sales over the coming weeks based on Le Tour results. And do remember we are in the middle of winter! So are the sellers of bikes cashing in? Well yes but they aren’t the real winners in this deal. The real winner is our society. And here’s how:

I made an interesting observation on the weekend. My home in Richmond is about a 40min walk from work and there is nothing better than on a Saturday morning than grabbing a nice coffee in Richmond on my way to… and way from work. Richmond is always a hive of activity in particular with the road bike traffic who have made their way down Beach Road nice and early (to avoid the traffic) feasting in the cafes on Swan Street. But last Saturday was different. Not a bike to be seen. All the poor souls who sat up watching the enthralling stage of the Col du Telegraph, Col du Galibier and L'Alpe d'Huez. On the way home however, something was different… Bikes everywhere! Yes the normal blend of the lycra covered bodies making their way out onto the open road… But what was even better were the masses of people who had brushed the cobwebs off the old Malvern Star to head our for what was quite obviously the first time in months or years.

It got me excited to think that the old ethos that rationalized high performance sport funding in increasing mass participation maybe (well certainly in this instance) alive and well. What a great thought that Cadel’s performance would motivate those who get out on the bike regularly to push themselves a little harder on their next ride and suffer like he did on the Galibier, or to attack their ridding buddies like he did up L’Alpe d’Huez, or the tri-athletes to bury themselves like Cadel did in the time trial. What a great thought that kids hound their parents for a new bike so they can charge round the streets racing each other like kids used to do 15-20 years ago. What a  great thought that a whole family might make a day trip out to the Yarra Trail for some fun in the sun.

So who has really cashed in on Cadel Evans wining Le Tour? The winners are the general public who have been inspired enough to get out of the house and enjoy what is one of the most accessible, pleasurable forms of exercise that can cater for all of any age or skill level. With the Geelong Grand Fondo fast approaching, the Great Victorian Bike ride coming up, a World Championship course set up so some of our sprinters and of course Round the Bay in a Day just round the corner, the opportunities to build momentum off Cadel’s victory is limitless.

In a time where we have never eaten worse, been more lazy our been totally uninspired by the world around us, one guys victory has given us the best reward of all… To get us motivated enough to go outside, get on a bike and enjoy a ride!

Everyone can cash in on that. Viva Le Tour! Merci beaucoup Cadel Evans!

Ten Human Traits: Part 2

Sorry it took a while for Part 2. Have a read of trait 8 however and you'll understand why! Please leave your feedback in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

      6.   We use our imagination

Surely our greatest strength. The solutions and understandings that have come from our incredible ability to imagine is astounding. What a great ability we have to distract ourselves from reality of our day to day lives. Ever made a shopping list based around winning Tattslotto? Ever though about living on a tropical island? How about as a kid. What was your dream job? Ever want to be a rock star? Or kick the winning goal in a grand final? Damn I still dream about all that stuff. Then you wake up and some bugger tells you to get your head out of the clouds and get back to reality. Why can’t we have both? Why can’t we occasionally let our imagination run wild to inspire us and others to move on to bigger and better things? Why do our thoughts always need to be rational? Image this business proposal: I’m going to write an online computer program that allows people to publish what they are thinking in 140 characters or less. The first question asked surely was: What else will it do? Answer: Nothing. How much is Twitter worth these days. OR my favourite: How bout we stick someone on the moon? First question: Why? Answer: Because we can! Sure we need reality checks and balances. Sure we need our reality checks, but not at the expense of our greatest gift.

     

      7.
We are precious

It’s funny. My job(s) on a daily basis require me to ask lots and lots of questions of everyone I interact with. I need information to make decisions to help the very people I ask questions of. Sure my job is to identify problems and fix them which leads to many interactions being perceived as negative. But the response has changed significantly over time. More and more a grilling is returned as to the ulterior motives behind the question. Maybe I’m just trying to help. Getting grilled with questions, people analysing your work or performance, modes or feedback both positive and negative are all methods the vast majority of people use to help you produce higher quality. Isn’t it interesting though how in recent years, the trend in teaching has been to avoid negativity and to just positively reinforce success. Isn’t the success enforcement enough? If I sink a 60 foot put I don’t need someone to tell me it was a good shot. I know it was! Just like I don’t need my boss to say nice work when I get my paperwork in on time. It’s my job to get it in on time! So what if I missed that put? Well if someone had a better way for me to put, I would be mad not to listen. Or if my paper work wasn’t in on time and my boss called me out on it, well it’s an opportunity to find a better way of getting it out on time next time it was due. We call receive feedback from a variety of people on a daily basis, but we choose how we perceive it. Feedback is just more information for you to digest as an opportunity to get better. It’s not a criticism of you as a person unless you want it to be. People ride you about doing something better because they care. If they stop giving you feedback, trust me when I say it’s not because you’re doing it perfectly… It’s because they’ve given up on you. And how negative is that.

      8.
We get distracted

Hence the reason why this entry is in two parts… Is this a flaw? I’m not sure. It’s funny when I look at the juggling act of my own life. I have a lot on the go. I seem to have an endless list of projects that have been started, that never get finished… Or do they? I’ve actually noticed some of these projects that I haven’t touched for months have been completed within other tasks or projects. Maybe the reason the original concept was flawed in the thought process or structure, so it hit a wall. Or maybe it was of limited value so I lost interest only for it to reappear as an add on to another project. Maybe the timing was just wrong and it wasn’t a priority. Maybe you just identify a fundamental flaw in your thinking or process and it’s better to cut your losses. But if it refines your thinking and helps you prioritise your work, well I say bring on another thousand projects. Don’t get me wrong… There is a fundamental difference between juggling concepts and ideas versus sitting round the coffee machine talking crap… Or is there value in the crap conversation? How often does a irrelevant conversation turn into an ingenious brainstorming session? Will it ever evolve into anything? Maybe… Maybe not, but you never know where an idea is going to come from. Maybe the distraction comes from an unreasonable time. And I’m not talking about a short time line. Giving me a month to do a task that takes a day is as unreasonable as giving me an hour to do something that takes a day. We work best when we are focused on the task at hand. How many school or uni assignments did you start the day before it was due? How many times did you hear a teacher or your parents say to you “Just get it done as soon as you get it so it’s out the way” Everyone says it but I do not know one single person that has done it… Not one! Give a task the time it deserves. If you get distracted, you have either given it to much time or there was a flaw with the task.

      9. We fear change

Our fear of change directly relates to out OCD issues and our lack of self confidence. Many years ago I met a coach (funny how his coaching never really took off as he was labelled a trouble maker and a boat rocker) who had an interesting twist on the “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” approached. He coined a phrase “If it ain’t broke, break it and fix it better.” Interesting approach. But when you look at some examples of some highly successful people, change has been a huge influence on their success. Tiger Woods swing changes over the years have been well documented, and the results have normally followed. Madonna appearing from the shadow of Cindi Lauper (yes their breakthrough albums appeared at the same time, but Madonna continued to evolve, Lauper kept producing the same.) Have a read of Richard Branson’s autobiography and will see the very definition of change. Why don’t we change? Risk. Most of us are in a constant state of risk management. We fear the unknown and it’s associated risks. But what if not changing was putting us at risk? What if the decisions or actions we made put us more at risk. Did you exercise today?... Or yesterday?... Or the day before?... Might be time for some change

     10.
We are a pessimistic lot

Well if you are reading part 2 and have gotten this far, you’re more open minded that most! I’m not sure where I fit. I’ve always called myself an optimistic realist. I keep an open mind to everything but don’t waste my time with crap. Why do we get so glum? Why do we look at the negative first? Why can’t we do what Monty Python suggested and always look on the bright side of life? Maybe we just bog ourselves down with the crap. So what’s the crap? “Devil is in the detail” Cool… Now I know that, I’ll avoid the detail. Try this tomorrow. Come up with a really abstract idea that will make the workplace/school/team and better place to work or play, then ask people for their thoughts. I guarantee the responses will consist of “It wont work because…” “We don’t have the money to…” Who’s going to take ownership of…” etc etc. Keep answering the pessimism with solutions until they run out of problems and see if they are now interested. Get through the pessimism and what the ideas evolve. You need to decide if you’re going to be a Tigger or an Eeyore.

Ten Human Traits. Part 1

O.K. So today’s posting is inspired a little by the TV show “Can of Worms” a little tongue in cheek, a lot of truth and hopefully thought provoking. Below are ten generalised human traits which, if you take a minute to people watch and observe cover off most people you interact with on a daily basis.

Within some of these traits lays the great strengths of human nature, but also some it its greatest flaws. No doubt, some of you who read this will disagree with my observations, which is great. If you do, feel free to slam me in the comment section at the bottom of the page.

And away we go…

1. We are sheep

Plain and simple… There is safety in numbers, and credibility in following the masses. Labor or Liberal? Ford or Holden? MySpace or Facebook? Google or Yahoo? The list could go on forever. There are 1,000’s of alternatives to choices we make on a daily basis, but we choose to follow the masses. Are there better alternatives? Most of the time yes, but we generally will choose the popular because it’s safe. We know what we are getting. Once you know what you are getting, there is the establishment of credibility. But here’s the thing: To fit the masses, you need to fit a conservative norm (probably Facebook and Virgin excluded). What if the norm is flawed? What if the conservative that has been developed over a period of time was just the wrong model (Ask the guys at MySpace about that one…). How does this relate to physical activity? The recommendations are that children participate in an hour of high level physical activity per day. Is this occurring? Does the school system allow for it? Is the structure of a child’s day conducive to getting this exercise in? Is an hour enough or is it a conservative norm?

2. We are all OCD

Think about your normal week. Do you wake up at the same time? Do you have the same breakfast? Is your order of getting ready for school or work the same each day? Do you travel the same route to work or school every day? Do you start and finish work at the same time? Do you have the same set meal on each night of the week? (personally, I love Thursday night pizza night) Do you get your pizza from the same shop? Do you watch the same TV shows? Do you sit in the same spot on the couch? Do you sleep on the same side of the bed?... the list is endless. We are critters of habit and borderline OCD in the big picture. Sure we occasionally get out of our comfort zone, but not very often. So lets think about our physical activity. If it is not in your routine to exercise every day, or schedule enough time to get the minimal amounts of exercise is, our OCD nature may forbid us from ever getting in the activity we need. But kids… Well they’re still establishing their OCD tendencies. What if you hard wired their compulsive routine of getting to school by bike? Or you pre-program them to turn up to school with a basketball in their hand? Or they go straight from school to tennis training?

3. We are lazy

A buddy of mine in school lost the remote control to his TV one day when I was round at his house. Now instead of getting off the couch to actually look for the remote, he used his innate ability to formulate an easy, lazy solution to the problem. He grabbed a broom and used the end of the handle to press the button on the TV that change that changed the channel. Genius! When I came back a week later the remote was still nowhere to be seen, but there was the broom stick (he removed the brush) sitting next to the couch labelled “remote” . True story! How about car park stalking? I’m sure you have all driven round a shopping centre car park for 20 minutes looking for a park while swearing at yourself and any other car round you that might have the nerve to pull into the park that you’ve been searching for. Or you could park in the spare spot right next to the exit, walk the 100m and save yourself 18min of time and stress. Nah that would make to much sense. Kids follow the same pattern. Give them the option of walking home or getting picked up… What will they do? Give them the option of cleaning their room now or later (knowing full well that they are even lazier than mum and dad who’s OCD nature (pre-programmed of course) will kick in before theirs causing them to do it themselves. Give them the option of watching a crap TV show that they don’t even enjoy watching or doing their homework. How often did you leave homework, an assignment or a work task to the last minute before you even started it? Ah the art of procrastination and laziness. What would happen if we just limited the options or the timelines? What if little Johnny’s movie started at the cinema in ten minutes but the bus was twenty minutes away?... But a bike was sitting there. Would he ride down? You bet.

4. We look for the easy way

I hate technology (I love the irony at the fact that this is written in an online forum). It makes everything too easy but in a way I don’t understand. Take regular mail versus email. Regular mail makes sense. You walk to a post box, place the letter in the box, a guy in a van picks it up and takes it to a sorting house, more people sort where it should go, then another person delivers the mail to your house. With email, with one click just disappears and reappears where it’s supposed to go (and sometimes where it shouldn’t) with no explanation. I want to know how? I think that understanding the mechanics of how things happen allow for a greater appreciation of detail, therefore as soon as I look at any kind of task, I can appreciated it’s own complexity regardless of how simple the task may seem. But what if you have never witness the mechanics? What if you’ve never posted a letter? (which a lot of kids these days would never have done!) What if you were then faced with a complicated task that required sound mechanics and an appreciation do detail? Could you complete the task or would you just look for an easy solution? The simple fact of the matter is while everything in life is becoming easier and easier by the day, the complexity is getting harder to decipher and at some stage, the ease and complexity have to come to a head. This happens within physical activity on a daily basis. There is no fast track to getting fit and healthy. The eight minutes abs is a figment of a marketing gurus imagination. Consistent volumes of accurate training lead to an increase in performance. Does this exposure to volumes of work and attention to detail create better tools for everyday life? …We choose to go to the moon not because it’s easy but because it is hard… Good quote that; but from a different era.

5. We lack self confidence

Next time some is an all mighty cock-up round the office or round the house, have a look at who steps forward and takes on the responsibility of fixing the problem. I put money on the only sound that you’ll hear is crickets. Does this often reflect the difficulty in solving the problem? In most cases, no. Most problems are caused by a minor oversight, a lack of appreciation in the complexity or detail of a task, apathy, laziness, someone having too much control, someone following orders rather than using initiative or someone just doing a half assed job. So considering that most problems can be solved quickly and easily from just finding the root of the problem and tweaking it a little, why do so many people duck for cover? What’s the consequence of trying to fix the problem and failing? It was broken in the first place so what’s the risk? What’s the reward for fixing it? (probably none but it’s your job to fix problems) So where does this lack of self confidence start? Does the problem begin with the very solution that schools have tried to implement? The “everyone passes/no one fails” academic system? The everyone gets a trophy attitude to sport? I do know this. That in life at some stage we all succeed and we all fail at different times. The level of success and failure is in direct proportion to the risk taken. But what if we teach a culture (I hate that word… but more on that another day) that doesn’t encourage or promote risk taking? Are we developing a conservative lifestyle? Are we learning to be sheep? How does this develop the confidence from taking a risk and seeing it pay off? What would you rather do… Play for the sheep station or be one of the sheep?

I'd love to hear your thoughts! Part 2 coming soon.

The Cost of Entertainment

There is an ongoing argument that sport has become far too expensive to an extent that it is out of reach for the average Australian families children. Below are the costs associated with playing various sports or taking part in recreational activities (estimates), and then the cost of various “entertainment” modes that you may have round the house. Have a shot at running the maths for yourself to work out which is more expensive.

Athletics

Shoes - $150

Membership Fees - $200

Total - $350

Australian Rules Football

Boots - $200

Football - $50

Membership fees - $140

Total - $390

Rugby

Boots - $200

Football - $50

Membership fees - $140

Total $390

Cricket

Bat - $100

Ball - $30

Protective equipment (if not supplied by club) - $300

Whites - $100

Membership fees - $100

Total - $630

Golf

Clubs - $300

Balls - $50

Membership fees – From $300

Total - $650

Netball

Shoes - $150

Ball - $30

Uniform - $100

Membership fees - $120

Total - $400

Soccer

Boots - $200

Ball - $30

Shin guards - $30

Membership fees - $200

Total - $460

Rowing

Uniform - $100

Membership fees – From $400

Total $500

Sailing

Membership fees – From $100

Cycling

Bike – From $300

Helmet - $50

Membership fees - $200 if you wish to join a club

Total - $550

Basketball

Shoes - $150

Uniform - $100

Ball - $30

Membership fees - $100

Total - $380

Swimming

Swimmers and goggles - $50

Membership fees - <$500 per year

Total – Approx $500

Baseball/Softball

Glove - $100

Bat (if club doesn’t supply) $150

Shoes - $100

Membership fees - $100

Total - $450

Tennis

Racquet - $75

Balls - $15

Membership fees – From $100

Total - $190

Surf Lifesaving

Swimmers - $50

Membership fees - $100

Total - $150

Entertainment Systems at Home

Wii - $225

Games - From $50 each

Nintendo DS - $300

Games – From $30 each

Play Station - $400

Games – From $50 each

Xbox - $500

Games – From $50

Subscription TV – From $600 per year

Now place a price on the health, wellbeing, physical, mental and social development of kids.

The article of concern

Sometimes, when you are in a environment for a long period of time, you become oblivious to trends that develop in the world around you. This has been the case for me. It's been ten years since I have worked in schools and needless to say, the world in the school environment has changed since I was last there. So why am I taking notice now? Well I have a young niece who is almost at the age where she can start developing key motor skills for life, and I was interested in what kind of world she is about to be exposed to. In particular, I found this article on Friday:

http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features20Sep+2009

Here is a summery of some key points

Obesity is a major contributor to the global burden of chronic disease and disability. Around the world, levels of childhood obesity have been rising for a number of reasons including the fact that children are eating more foods that are high in fat and sugars and spending less time on physical activity.

Overweight and obesity in children is a major health concern. Studies have shown that once children become obese they are more likely to stay obese into adulthood and have an increased risk of developing both short and long-term health conditions, such as Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Obesity not only has significant health and social impacts, but also considerable economic impacts. In 2008, the total annual cost of obesity for both children and adults in Australia, including health system costs, productivity and carers costs, was estimated to be around $58 billion.

In 2007–08, one-quarter of all Australian children, or around 600,000 children aged 5–17 years, were overweight or obese, up four percentage points from 1995 (21%).

The obesity rate for children increased from 5% in 1995 to 8% in 2007–08 with the proportion overweight remaining around 17% over this time period. This shows a shift towards the higher and heavier end of the body mass index.

The rates were much higher for adults, with 61% of Australian adults overweight or obese in 2007–08.

The goal of commencing this blog is to try and create conversation from the greater sporting community of ways/ideas/concepts/advice that could be applied to assist in reining in what is a truly national problem.

So to get the ball rolling, please post your feedback and thoughts of the article above and pass this blog address on to friends, families and colleagues that would be willing to contribute or could benefit from reading posts on this site.