Dont Waste Your Talent by Geoff Waugh
Posted on March 22, 2007 @ 9:55 AM
Did your school report ever have comments like this: so and so (insert your name here) “could do better if he applied himself, will improve once he learns to concentrate, a more consistent effort is required”, or “needs to put in maximum effort all the time in order to reach the high standard he is capable of”. Gems, every one. From the only school report I ever managed to keep. Obviously I had a concentration problem! But reading back over this slice of history, got me wondering how many – and I am never, ever going to put myself in the same category as these – sporting stars had reports in a similar vein.
Do you think Gazza’s studies suffered because he was always kicking a ball around whenever the opportunity arose? Is it possible that he is a very intelligent man who could have made it in another field of life altogether had he not squandered his cerebral talents for a life of punting a bit of leather, drinking copious amounts of booze, snorting the odd line and generally having a, pardon the pun, ball? More importantly, do you think he cares?
And what about that other shining star of the beautiful game who, for one reason or another, self destructed when he had the world at his feet, George Best. Do you consider it a crime that he drank away the best years of his footballing life and eventually his life? Do you consider it wrong to waste a God given talent? Should we be allowed to judge?
There is always going to be an athlete that can make you look silly without trying. At my school there was a kid who bunked off loads, never came to practice but when the big game came he was always ‘The Man’. He ran rings around the opposition, never looked tired and had a constant grin on his face that meant he was loving every minute. He was gifted, an innate talent, and rather than waste time practicing it, he’d rather go off and do something else like chase girls or ride motorbikes or drink a bottle of cider in the park. Practice was for swots; playing when it mattered was all that counted. How frustrating it must be for someone who has to work very hard and practice over and over knowing that he would never be as good.
In our world of sport we have similar characters. To a casual bystander, Cedric Gracia would appear to be living the dream. He rides, he shows out, he parties like it’s 1999 (did we survive that?), oh well like there’s no tomorrow then. His skills are the envy of practically every biker since they seem so effortless. Nothing is forced and nothing appears to be serious to the enigmatic Frenchman. It is all faced with a Gallic shrug and a smile. Goofing around when the camera is on him. The boy can’t help it. Because of his showmanship, it could be said, that Gracia doesn’t take racing seriously enough. But if you were a sponsor and knew that all eyes are on him when he rides and that to the crowd his antics and style are endearing, you would undoubtedly want him to endorse your product, podium or no podium. So who is right? Downhillers used to have a great anti-training regime which was based around the psyche out. They pretended that training was not required; skill and balls on the day were what mattered and sod being seen on the road bike or pushing some weights around. Everyone wanted to make it look easy. Training was for pussies. That changed when the cold and calculating methods of a certain Nico Vouilloz appeared on the scene. He made no bones that hard graft, a bit of science and a dose of talent could lift a rider to the ultimate prize. He never knew how to waste talent. Today his next door neighbour Fabien Barel keeps that work ethic alive and has the stripey collar and cuffs to prove it works. Poles apart from Nico’s nemesis Shaun Palmer, who always looked like he biked for fun and to wear the gold lamé and slug the Chandon Moet should fate shine on him. In the early 90’s an eastern European trials rider by the name of Libor Karas came to the UK. He couldn’t speak much English, but three years later he had a big name sponsor, a place in New York and spoke the Queen’s English excellently, albeit with a Brooklyn accent. Then he began working the stock market on–line. Then, well, that’s the last I heard of him. But did he waste his talent? Never. He got to travel all over the world and soak up the experiences. He learned a new language and for all I know he may have made a million. I hope he did. And I hope he showed his old school teachers. Don’t waste your talent.
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