Obama flew all the way from the US today to Copenhagen to make a direct appeal/plea to the International Olympic Committee for the 2016 Olympics to be held in Chicago.  Backing Obama was his wife, Michelle who also gave a heartfelt message of support.

All this to no avail.  Chicago was knocked out first, much to everyone’s surprise.

Congratulations to Rio.  I am sure that South America will add razzmatazz to the Olympics after the GREAT 2012 London Games.

So time to think for Obama.  Perhaps the star is starting to dim……?

Latest medical reports show that Felipe Massa has regained consciousness and is talking to his family.  That is a blessing.  There is some concern over the damage to his eye.  It looks like he may not race for the rest of the season.  He needs to rest and return to full health and obviously let his brain heal.  Another blow quickly could be fatal.  So thank god Massa is ok, let’s look at a fitting replacement.

Wouldn’t it be a huge honour if Massa’s friend and mentor, the legendary, and best grand prix driver of all time, Michael Schumacher, returned to Ferrari as a temporary stand in.  Yes Ferrari have stand in drivers like Mark Gene and Luca Badoer but F1 has lost its magic.  It has lost its excitement.  For me F1 was Schumacher.  The perfectionist.  The fighter.  The guy who could steal victory from the jaws of defeat.  The guy who was a winner through and through.  The guy that could real off qualifying laps, one after another, mid race.

Yes, Schumacher at times was a devil on the track.  But that desire to win made it more compelling to watch him.  Like Dick Dastardly, he HAD to win.  Those who call him a dirty driver, dont understand F1 and its history.  Schumacher was schooled in the era of Senna and Prost, who would routinely smash into each other, including to win the world championship.  That was F1 at its compelling best.  2 great drivers like gladiators fighting for their lives.  F1 today is a sanitised version of what it once was and needs the injection of magic again.

Schumacher’s close PR person Sabine Kahn has said that Michael would be willing to return short term.  Schumacher’s manager Will Weber said no because Michael was a perfectionist.  He has to know a car, feel it, drive it to the limit and he does not know this years version so driving at Valencia would damage his reputation as everybody would expect him to win and he could not through lack of experience.

Schumacher would certainly be able to show his class in the latest Ferrari.  He would be able to beat Kimi.  Kimi has not flourished at Ferrari.  Yes he has won a Championship but never has he really flourished.  I also think, Schumacher at the age of 40, could still show this current field true class.  He is a 7 time world champion, age dims raw talent but it is still there.  I have witnessed him recently, ‘the limit’ is still within him.

What a fitting tribute to Massa if we could witness the brilliance of Schumacher once again.  Oh to dream of him guiding the Ferrari through parc ferme and celebrating another magnificent victory……ready for Massa to return next year to win the Championship.

I am a huge sports fan especially of Motorsport and Formula 1.  Yesterday in Qualifying Ferrari Driver Felipe Massa was hit by a piece of debris from Brawn Driver, Ruben’s Barrichello’s car, whilst driving at 170mph.  Massa subsequently went off at a speed of 120mph into a tyre barrier.  He had emergency surgery yesterday and is being keep in a coma whilst his brain heals.

Please say a prayer for Felipe tonight. 

Huge congratulations to Rebecca Adlington.  Of course everyone remembers her for her two superb gold medals at last summer’s Beijing Olympics and is one of Britain’s great hopes for the London 2012 Games.  She is a true national asset and sporting icon.

Adlington is causing controversy because she has refused to wear a new performance-enhancing costume.  Adlington claims  that the new costumes are akin to ‘technological doping’. “I would never in a million years take a drug to help me, so why would I wear a suit just to improve my performance?” she said. “It’s just not who I am.”  Now that is integrity in the world of sports where micro seconds make the difference between winning and losing.

Adlington is exactly the fibre of person we want at the Palace of Westminster.  She would not have been an MP caught troughing at the swill of expenses. 

Adlington is opposed to these costumes as they artifically distort skill.  Apparently the new costumes work like wetsuits to compress muscle and add extra buoyancy in the water — by trapping air, which is against the rules according to critics.  The suits are manufactured from 100 per cent polyurethane, an impermeable material that reduces drag in the water and gives swimmers more forward propulsion.

Rebecca has shot up even further in my estimation after this stand. Some sportspeople stop at nothing to win as we have seen with the likes of Ben Johnson.  But for Rebecca.  If she is to win….she wins fair and square.  That is what Britain is about and she is a terrific advert for not only the UK but also for sport.

This morning I attended my daughters school sports day….wow what an eye opener into the type of society we have become.  Scary.

First up, all the parents walked into the school and were faced with the stark message.  No cameras please.  We were told because of rules, regulations, privacy and data protection laws we were not allowed to take photos of the sports day.  Forgive me for saying so, but I go to sports day to share in my daughters joy in taking part in a fun sporting day.  I want to capture that memory on film and share with friends and relatives.  I don’t go to take photos of other children…they may creep into shot but these are my daughters friends and she wants pictures of her with her friends but the main purpose is capturing my daughters joy on film.

How crazy we live in a world that we are made to feel guilty of wanting to take photos to share memories.  There are only a small proportion of people who object to such draconian rules.  The nanny state is ruling us with an iron rod.

Interestingly the school hired an official photographer for the day, who was charging parents for taking photos, (which yes included other children in the background).  That was ok…and the school made money from this.  And the school is happy to charge for group class photos.  So the rule is therefore that it is alright to have photos from school days BUT only if you buy them from the official photographer.  What a bizarre ruling that official photos are ok, parents photos are not.  Surely privacy and data protection is the same whether official photo or parents photo…………?

Next eye opener was the structure of the sports day.  It was important there was no competition to the day.  Competition results in winners and losers.  Losing is something bad that schoolchildren should not face as it can be distressing.  The message is all about taking part.   Now I have nothing against ensuring all feel included but the spirit of competition is an important element that children have to learn and cope with.  Competition will come into whatever they do….be it school results, be it in their careers in seeking promotion, be it competition in the boardroom.  Competition is how entrepreneurs are born. 

So schools are breeding kids, who are socially inclusive but non competitive.  Then, us adults, pass them conflicting messages about winning.  The UK is all behind Andy Murray….we all want him to win Wimbledon…it’s not the taking part we are interested in…it’s the winning.  At the Olympics, it’s the medal table that matters….especially the number of Golds.  And of course, the World Cup next year….we will all be cheering for our home team.  None of these examples do people say…it’s the taking part that counts!!!

We are really becoming the ‘cotton wool’ society—nicely wrapped up and protected by the nanny state…..is this the UK we really want?  Come on Ed Balls….let’s ditch the political correctness…….and prepare kids for real life.

Some quick reflections on this Sporting Sunday.

Formula 1 is on the verge of a messy break up.  8 teams from FOTA, (Formula 1 Teams Association), do not agree with new rules, specifically budgetary caps/limitations due to come into force for the Formula 1 2010 season.  The teams proposing to leave F1 and set up their own breakaway series would be…. Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, BMW Sauber, Toyota, Brawn, Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso.

That would leave, as it stands for now for next year, F1′s line-up in 2010 comprising Williams and Force India, who were forced to break with FOTA due to their own contractual obligations, and three new entrants in Campos Racing, Team US F1 and Manor F1 Team.  Formula 1 would be left with 1 big name team, and that nowadays is midfield team Williams, whose glories now seem more historical footnotes that reigniting future world championships.

The best drivers, Hamilton, Alonson, Button, Raikkonen, Massa, Vetel etc would all be part of the new breakaway.  Formula 1 would have nothing left.  It would have to start again. 

So where does that leave the BBC’s new £250 million 5 year TV Deal?  Allegedly, reports are coming through that there is remarkably no break inclusions in the new contract!  Let’s hope the BBC have not sent negotiators to do a 5 year deal with no break clauses!  Otherwise tax payers could be paying for viewers to watch a poor series with Manor vs Campos.  Dull, dull, dull.

Perhaps you may feel I am being cynical to the BBC as they could not have predicted this.  Well yes, splits have been brewing for a while.  Other stations have made their own agreement nicely eg Sky in Italy has a clause that Ferrari have to be part of the Championship, if Ferarri are not, that’s a break clause.

Let’s see what happens but it feels more tax payers money has gone walking into the fire to be burnt away to nothing……………………..