A bit of sport and adventure stuff!

Futbolisticamente - that’s a word to conjure with! It’s a word I heard in television commentary after the game in which England defeated Sweden. Contundente - as in una victoria contundente - is another. A resounding victory! Well, okay, I suppose so!

Female Swedish fans were filmed weeping. Did they weep because they knew the cameras were on them? Could they see themselves on the screens around the stadium? Oh, dear! My inner cynic must be strong! But it’s only a game after all!

The Tour de France began yesterday. After all the hype about could he or couldn’t he ride this year, Chris Froome fell off his bike about ten kilometres from the end. Well, really his bike slid off the road on a bend. Others had slid off at the same point. I suspect their tyres skidded on the painted lines on the roadside which are slippery even when not wet. Froome said he was just glad he wasn’t injured. He got back on his bike but was unable to rejoin the leading group.

A Colombian called Fernando Gaviria won the stage. It probably makes for a more interesting race if the big names, last year’s winner included, have to fight a bit to gain leading position in the new race. A little bit of interesting jockeying for position to look forward to.

Meanwhile the bullrunning in Pamplona has also got off to a start with the usual set of injuries. Five people have been hurt, at least one of them gored by the bulls’ horns. The bulls weigh between 550-630 kilos (1,100 to 1,400 pounds) each. So running in front of a load of charging bulls is rather like dashing across the road in front of a lot of speeding cars. And people do this for fun!?

Rain had made the narrow cobbled streets more slippery than usual, adding a bit more spice to an already dangerous situation. Hmm! Wet and slippery roads, eh? That sounds a little bit like the usual start to the Tour de France.

Some people will do anything for a thrill! I still haven’t discovered what kind of adventure the 12 boys trapped in a cave in northern Thailand were being taken on by their coach. Rescue attempts are still going on, working against the clock as monsoons approach. I read somewhere that one of the rescuers had died. What a sad end.

Apparently the parents of the 12 boys have written letters to them, and to their coach, delivered by the fescue team. They have told the coach: “Please don’t blame yourself.” One mother wrote to him: “We want you to know that no parents are angry with you at all, so don’t you worry about that.” And a letter to one of the boys went like this: “To all the kids, we are not mad at you at all. Do take good care of yourself. Don’t forget to cover yourself with blankets as the weather is cold. We’re worried. You will come out soon.”

Let’s hope they do!