Sporty to the ballot box

We are experiencing a dream. A summer that doesn't seem to end. Well, a few early morning fogs cannot be avoided. But otherwise you can't complain. Nature beckons. Freedom is apparently still limitless. In the mountains anyway, as long as you have them around you and have a certain basic level of fitness, because a summit attempt is always sweaty. Or there are foot-friendly paths in the woods with a little shade, which is quite pleasant given the still intense sunshine. It's just good to get your head and body out in the fresh air every now and then, because I know from my own experience that a fairly consistent step frequency also helps to get your thoughts going, if you're not one of those notorious tormentors who have to chat all the time. As we know, the calm always comes before the storm and in the next few days it will hit everyone who lives either in Bavaria, in Hesse or in South Tyrol and Trentino. October, with its beguiling play of colors, is the month of elections. So we're back at it again. We can once again determine our future or at least help shape it. There is no shortage of suggestions and while we quickly put one foot in front of the other, we give our minds all the freedom that is necessary to make final decisions about the personal approach in the voting booth or at least the circle of candidates and theirs Limit promises more closely. In this case, a view from an elevated vantage point down into the valley may be more beneficial than a circular path that flows along. Because when you look at it from above, you realize more intensely how small and insignificant we are. We, the voters, are the ones who are being fought over so mercilessly. With pithy beer tent slogans, with small brochures that actually just tell us that the respective distributor is of course the best of all the competitors. Ideas full of dreams From a sporting perspective, everyone without exception overshoots the mark. Noise barriers, roundabouts, new apartments, of course affordable for everyone, increased kindergarten places, cozy apartments in retirement homes, care with heart and ointment at its finest, new industrial zones that guarantee jobs, cycle paths so wide that tanks could use them. There are no limits to your imagination. Everything is sustainable. Organic, of course. There are scrappage bonuses for cars. A comprehensive subway network is being planned in Lower Bavaria, which will make the main route in the state capital Munich look old. Then you can be at the airport in Erding from Viechtach in twenty minutes. Perhaps the old Transrapid idea of the former Prime Minister of Bavaria, Edmund Stoiber, will become relevant again. What was once a fiery speech for the project to connect Munich's main train station to the airport, quite seriously by the way, has long since acquired cult status as a parody and still serves as an eloquent testimony to how much we are promised and led to believe so that we can tick our boxes do it in the right place. It's good to take a break every now and then. The head and body need breaks to cope with the flood of constant bombardment, and one question becomes more and more urgent. Can I, the voter, really make such a difference? Are you even listening to me? Are my wishes even realistic? And then you can and must explore yourself and create your own catalog of life. What can I do without? What can and should not change under any circumstances? And you will realize, perhaps with a panoramic view of a few mountain peaks or sitting dreamily on the shore of a lake, that, as always, you will not be able to make do without compromises. Doing everything right is, especially in politics, an art that no one can do and no one can do. Because the carpet of millions of different needs is woven in too many layers. Sport falls by the wayside But of course I don't want to neglect my actual business in this case, although I regret to say that all the elections mentioned above are sporting zero numbers. The sport doesn't appear anywhere. I don't read or hear about any increases in trainer allowances in any election program. Of grants for clubs for their self-sacrificing youth work. Relieving the burden on volunteer work or increasing its value: none. Renovation of dilapidated sports facilities or even new construction of gymnasiums: none. And nowhere do I read or hear about closed indoor swimming pools being reopened in many communities. Where has the sport gone? Well, there are always subsidies for large, public events, which also serve to keep the new, future voters on board and to suggest to them that you are doing something. Yes, politicians are happy to take part in the big show, because it promises publicity, which representatives of all colors and views are only too happy to perceive. When it comes to details, however, the sport seems to continue to be left to its own devices. In any case, there are no election promises in this regard and perhaps that is better that way. After all, in sporting competition you never know how it will end. Only this much is certain before this hot October: There will be winners and losers and we, the voters, will only know how our team performed after the votes have been counted (and of course we went to the polls). Politics is like a football game with players who promise us a lot but whose abilities we have never been properly informed about. Maybe it's even a gamble sometimes. For all. About the author: Sigi Heinrich The award-winning sports journalist, author and Eurosport commentator from the very beginning (since 1989) dedicates his column “Sigi's Peaks” to the entire diversity of sport and also enjoys poaching in foreign regions. Sometimes with a smile and a wink, sometimes seriously or deliberately provocative. There should be something for everyone.

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Sporty to the ballot box

Before the upcoming elections in Germany and Italy, mainly at the state level, our columnist Sigi Heinrich is thinking about sporting connections and, like everyone else, is faced with a flood of generous promises that experience has shown can never, ever be kept.

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