SKINS Water-Cooler

In the last 24 hours, a pretty hefty letter has been dropping on the desks of some pretty important people. They may not know it but they could hold the future wellbeing of the sport of Cycling in their hands. The letter is the latest action by SKINS as part of a global movement that wants to give professional and competitive cycling a chance for redemption.

There’s an internationally syndicated TV programme, made in the United States called “Judge Judy.” For those who aren’t aware, it covers real-life cases, presided over by the fully qualified lady in question. Judge Judy uses basic common sense to hand down sensible, reasoned decisions for the benefit of the TV cameras and the poor dribbling morons that watch it (my apologies and commiserations if you are one of those).

Tiger Woods wasted a golden opportunity to confirm golf as the standard bearer of sporting integrity at the weekend but he blew his chance. I wonder if a sport that has gained its impeccable reputation through three centuries will suffer in the long term as a result?

As the only person in the world who knows without fear of contradiction that he’s never wrong, it’s not often I agree wholeheartedly with someone else. And, as it’s such a rare occurrence I thought I’d share it with you.

Monday morning in a sports company like ours is always a fascinating thing. The Americans call it Monday morning quarterbacking, we call it the water cooler conversation. I can tell you the hot topic this morning has been yesterday’s Malaysian F1 Grand Prix and what a fascinating race it was.

Ok, is it me or are some sports stars getting too big for their own boots? Perhaps I’m just an ageing old fool (cue private giggling from SKINS’ staff) but I really feel that many modern day ‘heroes’ are losing it and are in danger of bringing their sport into disrepute.

Why is there so much debate about the use of technology to assist referees and umpires in sport? This is the 21st century and sport at the top level is now a multi-billion dollar industry, so why wouldn’t you use every conceivable opportunity to ensure that the prize money, the trophy and the sponsorships that follow are going to the right teams or players?

Have you ever considered why Las Vegas has no major league sports franchises?

Dear SKINS fan,

As a bloke who likes to think he’s reasonably realistic with his approach to life, I tend to work on the principle that if I don’t expect too much, then I’ll rarely be disappointed. And that was certainly the case with the “confession” that disgraced cycling hero (and consummate actor) Lance Armstrong attempted to make with Oprah Winfrey.