Winter Sports - Football
GR SSCUTTER WADA load of rubbish?
Our anonymous, and somewhat grumpy groundsman, Mr AKA Grasscutter, casts his disparaging eye over current and future legislations
As those who read my column (aka rant) on a regular basis will know, my favourite sport is tennis, so imagine my horror when one of the game’s true superstars was found to have taken performance enhancing drugs.
Maria Sharapova, for it is she, had been found with Meldonium in her system, a drug she had been taking for fourteen years for health reasons, and one that WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) had only placed on the banned list of substances in January of this year. She fell foul of the new legislation, along with ninety-eight others I might add, at the Australian Open.
The rights and wrongs of this case I will leave to better qualified people to argue; I am, after all, just a humble cutter of grass, but I am left wondering how these decisions are made, and often, it would seem, how quickly.
Is it an over reaction, a hasty decision or simply the result of extensive research over a number of years? One thing is for sure, WADA’s tentacles are now becoming far reaching.
It is similar in our industry, where a number of chemicals have been banned and, for example, it is now nigh on impossible to control leatherjackets, chafers and worms, leaving us ‘groundos’ and ‘greenies’ with a considerable headache.
The continuing ‘will they, won’t they’ saga surrounding glyphosate is one I watch with interest and, whilst its disappearance would not directly affect what I do, it is just another example of the dilemma faced by those charged with protecting the health of all living things that occupy our planet.
For the conservation minded amongst us, Neonicotinoids are a concern, especially to our bee population, whilst the debate on rubber crumb infill on 3G surfaces rumbles on. Is it carcinogenic or not?
Now, there is no denying that neonics, glyphosate and rubber crumb need thorough and proper investigation, before any final decisions are taken on each. They provide a constant stream of sensationalist news item to fill our newspapers, each time rekindling the debate for a few days, before dying
74 I PC APRIL/MAY 2016 Maria Sharapova; sorry Mrs G “
offer similar mind altering effects to cannabis, cocaine and ecstasy, are available over the counter. Interestingly, the USA and Australia have legislated against them to prevent their future sale.
In many of the instances referred to above, there is one word that muddies the waters. No, not ‘pollution’, or even ‘health’. Put simply, it is revenue. The revenue from the sale of tobacco and alcohol is of such importance to the nation’s coffers that, despite the drain on the NHS from all the health and injuries associated with each, it is far outweighed by ‘revenue’.
Similarly, having found a good way to dispose of old tyres, do the authorities really want the problem returned to them should rubber crumb be found to be cancer causing? I think we know the answer.
Having found a good way to dispose of old tyres, do the authorities really want the problem returned to them should rubber crumb be found to be cancer causing?
down again - until the next time, at least!
What is needed, in my opinion, is some clear strategies put in place to achieve definitive outcomes. It is no good saying that ‘brand X might cause ...’ Let’s have some positive results. Brand X ‘is harmful’ or ‘is safe’ is really all we want to know, isn’t it?
The problem I have here is this; if our health is of such concern to the legislators, why has there not been a total ban put on smoking? Furthermore, should alcohol be banned? I believe that, if discovered tomorrow, it probably would not be legalised.
Yet, in the UK currently, legal highs, which
Anyway, that is way off topic, so I best give you an update on my pitch!
Towards the end of March, Storm Katie passed over, dumping a considerable amount of water, repositioning a few advertising hoardings and causing some minor structural damage. She also found a loose end to one of our little used (this winter) frost covers, causing a tear that will need to be repaired.
Fortunately, we had an away game that weekend, so I could make good at something of a leisurely pace. No bad thing at my age!
Unless the team go on some Leicester like run, it looks likely that they will miss out on the play offs again this season. If we go on a Villa like run, we may even get dragged into a relegation battle, but that seems pretty unlikely. Famous last words!
I have already negotiated my renovation budget with the management so, once any local league finals and corporate games are out of the way, I can begin those in earnest. I’ve ordered my supplies, booked in a contractor and hope to have everything completed within a week.
I enjoy renovations, not least because, every year, the chairman still gets befuddled by how the pitch looks at the end of it!
Keep the faith, and keep cutting the grass. After all, that’s all we do!
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