Having just had a couple of mates up for the weekend/cricket at Chester-le-street I have unfortunately consumed all he recommended units of alcohol a man should drink in a month over 3/4 days. I am hardly one to talk, however I attempted to go my usual fitness jog and could cover only half the distance at a very slow speed. So I can vouch or attest for the fact that alcohol does have an affect on highly tuned athletes. Sport has changed on saturday we were commenting that fielding at cricket is now done by fast fit young men, Mr Colin Cowdry would struggle to get in the side. Similarly in football most of the players run about 10k mostly at a sprint. Andy Reid had avery sweet left foot, but being over weight he could not get to use it very often. I know some young athletes hoping to get chosen for next years olympics they never or very rarely drink. So today a footballer has to look after himself as an athlete if he wants any sort of long lasting career, I believe Mr Henderson was not an imbiber and Zendan also. Miss Carol is an idiot he may or may not have talent but he seems he is a piss artist in a select community that demands and expects almost total abstinence.
I think any young footballer or athlete is mad to throw it all away for the sake of a few pints. They will have 10 or 15 years if they are lucky playing the game and hopefully 50 or more years to live after that, when they can indulge as much as they want. Most of us on here would give anything to have the talent these lads have, and if that means not drinking while training and playing then so be it. It's about self discipline and taking responsibility for your body by not putting poison into it for a start. But that's not to say that alcoholism is caused by a lack of self-discipline. There is lots of research evidence that some people are genetically more susceptible to becoming addicted and no one knows whether it might be you or not when you have those first drinks as a teenager. I have no issue with social drinking but we all know someone who goes too far and can't seem to control it. Imagine if you had unlimited supplies of money to feed the habit too! I find it all a bit sad that even talented footballers have such low self esteem that they only feel like real men if they can get off their face with the drink. I do find it interesting though that when I am in Spain I see local youngsters gather for social events (football on telly, pool matches etc.) and they tend to have soft drinks or coffee rather than beer or wine. The only obnoxious drunk people I have ever seen there are British, so I do agree there is a problem in the British psyche connected to alcohol consumption.
I remember an interview with Bent when he first arrived, on Seaburn beach. He had an ice cream and after the interview he gave it to a kid watching, the interviewer asked something like, not an icecream lover Darren, he said he was but was in training. The moral is simple, part of the role is putting your body in peak condition.
In the bad old days Cest we had players eating pie and chips and having a pint most days a week and, maybe the odd tab or 20 just for good measure how many of those had the injuries we see today from the pasta and piss brigade? Maybe that is the problem with the modern footballer he is too concerned about his international duties and his diet instead of getting a few pies down him and a few pints of guinness to build them up. Still think Capello should have had a quiet word with the pikey and Dalgliesh rather than just blurt it out for all and sundry to jump on the band wagon but, that's his way isn't it.
Up to the player but there can not be much doubt that getting pissed out of your head is not a good idea if you want to be a top athlete. Few beers here or there can't hurt but if you want to be at the top of the game come your 30's you need to stay off the booze.
One of my sporting heroes (for want of a better word) was and is Sir Ian Botham. Now, he could drink like no-one else but could also play cricket like a Titan and was a colossus on the pitch. His drinking never effected either his playing days (even as an ageing cricketer when at Durham) or his charity work. His achievements outside cricket have even eclipsed those of his playing days, so drinking and sports can and do go hand in hand at times. On the other hand of course, there is Alex Higgins amongst many others who were blighted with a drink problem. My point being is that it only becomes a problem when the drinking eclipses the sporting prowess or closer to home, the working and private lives of those that participate. No right and wrong answer I guess!
There is the answer for me.... Football today has no characters. Plus the media stops them having any kind of enjoyment...They are humans after all...
