I’m writing this the day after two footballers, Paul Pogba and John Stones, were sold for a combined total of £136.5m.
There’s a word for sums like that being spent on two talented young people, crazy.
From a business perspective it’s very hard to see how their clubs can ever recoup that investment.
That’s a good few schools or hospitals that could be built for the money.
I’ve no problem with young men becoming multi-millionaires, especially these two as they are both superb players with potential who no doubt worked hard to get where they’ve got.
But when you watch the Olympic athletes competing in Rio there feels something more pure and sporting about what they’re doing.
Maybe it’s that most of them are doing it for the love of their sport not for any huge financial gain.
I saw a great interview with the diver Tom Daley who along with Daniel Goodfellow earned a hard fought and thrilling bronze medal.
The popular Plymouth born plunger spoke about the years of hard work that go into his dives which are over in just 1.5 seconds.
He spoke about the dedication, discipline and commitment needed to reach his level of success.
He called the seconds waiting on the 10 metre diving board before carrying out his dive at these Rio games ‘the moment of truth’ as they acutely highlight if he’s worked hard enough in training.
I think a lot of business owners’ experience plenty of moments of truth, when all of their hard work is laid on the line.
I can recall one of mine vividly. It came when the very first My Abbots News was delivered to my home from the printers more than 10 years ago.
It was the culmination of an idea and a lot of hard work convincing local businesses this was something worth advertising in.
I can recall the sense of excitement I had and the smell of the print, flicking through the magazine making sure things looked right and then getting out there and delivered through doors. This was a moment of truth.
The same could be said for builders at the end of a project, a chef serving up his cuisine or even a hairdresser on completion of a haircut.
And with the start of the English Premier League this weekend there’s going to be plenty of moments of truth for Messers Pogba and Stones.
Thanks for reading,
Nik
0 Comments