Sporting icons are not coronavirus immune
Icons have become much more symbolic in recent times whatever they purport to represent, people, figureheads, religious depictions, portraits and even images which are often weirdly bowdlerized. Today the word icon is now widely used to cover virtually any imagery that is outstandingly colourful and challenging. God wot… a special idol. Fashions change in a way which is astounding and added another ( albeit ancient) descriptive word to my lexicon.
Originally icons were very ornate carved, figurines or painted and framed pictures which were highly inspirational religious artefacts used in many Eastern Churches to venerate Christ, a saint or a visionary great leader.
Today, an icon – often a figure associated with the world of sport – is probably more representative of an actual person who was or possibly still is a superb athlete, gymnast or physically fit Olympian.
Sport fans and even active sportsmen have their objects of admiration. Icons and idolatry is no longer just an object of antiquity, a thing of the past.
As recently as last week, I actually read a few comments by Andy Murray, Great Britain’s finest tennis player for many years and one I admire, looking upon another player using the expression ICON.
Read any sports page columnist and sooner or later some cricketer, footballer or rugby player will be dubbed in this manner because of his talent and physical skill. Overnight he becomes an icon within his sport. Making the point, just over 10 years ago a very talented rugby league player, Martin Offiah put together a book entitled 50 OF THE BEST. Surprisingly the book was edited by local Alfaz- del- Pi ex- pat Phillip Spires……. in which Offiah used the term ICON over 100 times, refusing Phillip’s entreaty and advice not to do so. That the book was about rugby, one of sports toughest games says it all.
Sport icons are probably here to stay but here’s the rub, over the past few months despite their physicality they are mortal and are as open to sickness as we are: they cannot ignore or have a blind eye to the existing C- 19 threat, which currently appears to have no boundaries.
Facing this situation recently was World Tennis’ number one, Novac Djokovic and his wife. They had both been tested positive yet their two children did not. From that point, I checked out other tennis players. Result. A Japanese, Nishikori, twice tested positive and there were more. Some tournaments had been postponed and there were even withdrawals from the US Open.
Concerned, I checked further sports. A footballer named Pogba was tested positive; in England a rugby league match between Hull and Salford was cancelled. Players in a football training session at Chelsea had been disrupted by quarantine restrictions.
An England versus South Africa women’s tournament was cancelled due to C- 19 travel restrictions. In France, a Marseilles football match was cancelled. Two further tennis tournaments were postponed and an RFU Friendship Rugby event was left with an ‘ uncertain’ tag! A ‘ white ball’ cricket test in France was postponed until next April. Although positively tested players in a mixture of sporting encounters were cancelled or postponed, there were many unaffected ‘ negative’ endings to fixtures and some unfinished stalemates.
My original aim in this article was to pontificate on Sporting Icons. Side tracked to more current news I finished before I had started! So I resorted to going for broke.
I snatched up a bottle of my favourite La Mancha Don Quixote tinto tipple, grabbed a ripe black avocado and a few slivers of salmon ‘ marinado’ whilst her who must be obeyed was crunching a fresh ‘ langostino’ and nicking the last of the Chinese gooseberries. I had already laundered my antivirus nosebag and see- through polystyrene gloves so I was ready again to go out nowhere in particular. Then in a charity shop down the road, I went in for a nosey around. Who knows, in a dusty corner I might find a discarded ancient Icon that I could focus upon and include in my Iconoclastic exposure next week!