Forwards. As a species, as a society, we are all moving forwards. Scientifically, socially, ethically, and in evolutionary terms, the human race continues to advance with purposeful strides. This week, that is exemplified in the most unusual Olympic Games in living memory, where despite the ever present pandemic, the current generation of the planet's physical elite are competing to achieve sporting glory and push the limits of human performance to the next level. They are the very latest examples of Darwinism in action, and although they will be performing in front of empty stadiums (a sad normality for most of these professional athletes) it is worth remembering that even those who fall at the first hurdle have spent the last four (ok, five this one time) years gearing up for this chance to shine. As Michael Johnson has said, the Olympics are unique in all sport as they take place every four years (normally), which means that you have to time your peak performance to one split second every four years. To put that into context, there are thirty-one million, five hundred and fifty-six thousand, nine hundred and fifty-two whole seconds in just one year. That's over one hundred and twenty million seconds between tournaments. Every athlete there, even those that come last (who would still leave us spluttering in their wake), those who falter and collapse under the pressure of the moment. They have all trained, strived, sacrificed and worked for four years for the chance of glory for, in some cases, missing out by the barest of margins. I salute them all, and watch in awe of their abilities and dedication. They are all prime examples of the human spirit to push ever forwards, to test the limits of endurance, strength and fortitude, and to carry us all along with them. This ever-enduring endeavour to move forwards is part and parcel of all nature, without it, there would be no evolution, and species of all shapes and sizes would not be able to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves, and there is plenty of scientific proof to back this up. Carrying this forward, some "experts" have hypothsised about human development, the more imaginative theorising that we will end up as a space going species, with four arm like limbs, having no need for ambulatory legs, but requiring extra limbs to utilise our phones - perhaps the recent billionaire non-astronauts ought to take note. Of course, for every rule, there is an exception. For all that the human body is evolving as we speak, there are still some things I do find rather odd. A prime example of this I noticed just this morning where, when rather than going upwards and outwards, the hair follicles on my scalp seem to have decided on a very different path, preferring to head downwards, re-appearing as superfluously long nasal hairs. Quite what evolutionary benefit I gain from extra long nasal hair is beyond me. There is, without doubt, a benefit to nasal hair. After all, they act as a natural filter to prevent unpleasantness entering our bodies alongside the precious air we need to breathe. Why, however, my body sees it as necessary to accelerate said growth, is as yet undetermined. Suffice to say, said nasal moustache wannabe has been summarily removed, albeit with some trepidation about what the future might hold as a result.. Perhaps though, this was my bodies version of moving forwards (I am getting to the golf bit, I promise)? Perhaps we don't know why extra long nasal hair is human progress, Everything else seems to be geared to going forwards. Maybe this is progress too, and we just don't know it yet? It is my firm belief that we must always strain every fibre of our being to move forwards, to improve and excel, to try and be better, and generally speaking, most Kiwis seem to be of the same mindset It was, then, with some surprise that on Wednesday, I witnessed a Kiwi that bucked this basic tenet of human spirit, a kiwi that was prepared to laugh in the face of progress and tweak the nose of human development. Now I have played this game for over thirty years, and I have seen some shots go in some very strange directions, but I have never seen one go backwards before.. Our former leader, ex-President King (surely the ultimate oxymoron of political systems), made a lovely smooth swing on the fifteenth tee (site of a certain Mr J A's misadventures as previously reported) which went wrong somehow and resulted in his topping the ball in such a way that it drove the ball into the ground right in front of the tee, with such force that it immediately rebounded a metre behind it's starting point. Three of us were dumbstruck, while Harvey was a picture discombobulation searching in vain for his ball in the direction of the green, not realising that a he had caused a seemingly physical impossibility to have occurred. Ladies and gentlemen, the world's first full-swing-reverse-lay-up shot. Progress of a sort, I suppose. Stay safe and play well (forwards, ideally though) Steve |