Five sporting heroes… from the Best of Sport & Leisure Game
It seemed fair to balance things up.
Previously, we gave you five *fails* from the new LOGO game of ‘stuff we do in our spare time’. Episodes from the world of sport to prompt a chuckle then a good old natter with your fellow-players in true LOGO Board Game fashion – regardless of whether you knew the answer on the card or not.
So here we go with the flipside: five heroes, from the ‘sort-of heroic’ to the ‘truly heroic-heroic’! And, as you’d expect if you’ve played a LOGO game before, they’re not just the usual suspects…
We’ll start off with:
Jim Fixx – the jogging guy
If you’re one of the millions of Brits who have ever donned a pair of running shoes for a breathless stagger round the block, then you have Jim Fixx to thank. The New Yorker is widely credited with elevating the act of jogging from the pastime of a handful of zealous fanatics to the mainstream keep-fit activity that it is today.
His bestselling books preached the benefits of jogging as a means of keeping the body young and healthy, and he undoubtedly made a difference to the fitness levels of entire populations.
He died of a heart attack, aged just 52, whilst jogging.
Eddie the Eagle – ski-jumping hero
After attaining a resounding last place in both events at the Calgary Winter Olympics, the glib thing to do would be to place Michael ‘Eddie’ Edwards in the ‘fails’ category. That’s certainly what many people did at the time.
But this was a guy who had no money, no equipment, the barest minimum of specialist training and the lousiest of eyesight. Yet by sheer weight of determination, he still went and bloody did it – launching himself off the terrifying slopes with the world’s best; refusing to accept that a plasterer from Gloucestershire had no business to be following his dreams.
If you’re playing LOGO Best of Sport & Leisure with your kids (and we hope you are), then we reckon that’s a pretty heroic role model to talk through with them. Here he is in action…
Rachael Blackmore – top jockey
We wanted to highlight one ‘conventional’ sporting hero from the game, as in ‘somebody who has won something big’. So why not Rachael Blackmore, winning jockey of the 2021 Grand National? She was the first woman to achieve this, but - by all accounts - was reluctant to be known as a ‘trailblazer’ (she cheerfully insisted that it was the horse that did most of the work.)
And whilst we're there, let's tip our hats to the fact that the age of 'boys-only' sports seems to finally be on the wane, and that our kids might be baffled by the notion that: 'back in our day, girls didn't play...'
The Scott’s Porage Oats Man
*Mops brow*… now THERE’S a heroic figure for you! Adorning millions of boxes of breakfast cereal from the mid-fifties until recently was the muscular, kilted physique of Highland Games legend Jay Scott. Cereal-fame aside, look up some of his athletic records and you'll discover that he was far more than just a pretty face. And torso. And biceps. And...
A towering presence in sport across his nation, Mr. Scott was not related to 'Scott's' the oat manufacturers, and – given that these were the days before new-fangled notions of ‘image rights’ – there is some debate as to whether he was paid for the use of his likeness… or whether he even knew about it in advance.
The Invictus Games
The international Games for wounded, injured or sick members or veterans of the Services has been an extraordinary success since its first event in 2014.
Founded by Prince Harry, who had served two terms in Afghanistan after graduating from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, the vision for the Games was to ‘inspire recovery, support rehabilitation and generate a wider understanding and respect for those who serve their country.’
Here’s the background, in a three-and-a-half minute YouTube video that features both heroes and heroic families. Watch it with the kids; it’s inspiring.
Find LOGO - Best of Sport & Leisure at Amazon!
#from the games
