Another Chapter Completed

I think I've settled on ten chapters (make that eight) for the new book. A chapter on modelling has been split into three; one on general modelling and then one each on fundamental and technical sports trading models.

A chapter on money management has just been completed with the help of Trader247 who tested something for me. The book will contain programming and spreadsheeting to put forward my philosophy of trading.

I don't think that the book will be ready until autumn. Although it is raining a lot, between the downpours the weather is amenable to tennis so I am usually at the club. On returning I am too exhausted to do anything else for the rest of the day so I watch sport rather than write. Wimbledon, the Tour de France and the Olympics will keep me busy when I am not writing during the summer.

Have four years really passed since the last Olympics? I remember taking a train from the English midlands down to London in 2012. It seemed as though everyone on the train was heading to the Olympic stadium. Every passenger was talking about the event they were going to see.

I was heading to the nearby velodrome to watch Victoria Pendleton win the Keirin and the Team GB's men win the pursuit. Watching cycle racing made me want to get back on my old road bike but I was soon off it again. Twenty years had passed since my road racing days and although I could ride, I could not attack the hills as I used to. I'd rather not ride a bike than be reminded each day of what might have been.

That is why I now play tennis rather than cycle. I was a keen watcher of tennis as a boy although I didn't mention it at school because in those days tennis was regarded as a 'girl's game'. Probably due to British men being at a far lower level than Virigina Wade (3 singles and 4 doubles Grand Slam titles) and Sue Barker (1 singles Grand Slam title) during the 1970s.

I remember that one day a male teacher came into class and said, "Would anyone like to come downstairs and watch the women's final?" In those days the ladies final was on a Friday and the gentleman's final was on Saturday. It was 1979 and Martina Navratilova was to play Chris Evert-Lloyd as she known as then. Before I could say yes the teacher added, "Of course I am asking the girls. I am sure none of the boys would want to watch it." My hand stayed down. I didn't get to see the final.

I was a big Borg fan. I still am. Nobody played tennis like he did. Walk on, win, walk off. Not a word. He did crack in the 1981 US Open final with an outburst and he was soon to retire but Borg would always be a hero for quietly getting the job done with minimal fuss.

Borg's attitude and my grandfather telling me that, "patience is a virtue" (I had to be told by him, seeing it written or said by others meant nothing to me) have guided me through life. Maybe in these more brash times, not speaking up has cost me in terms of career and life in general but at least I can say that I have not stepped on other people to carve out a life of my own.

Recently, I read Late to the Ball by Gerald Marzorati, the former editor of the New York Times Magazine who, at the age of 60, decided that he was going to learn to play tennis and be damned good at it. He didn't but as with most of us middle-aged tennis players he realised that singles is a completely different game and either you have played it all your life since you were a child or you play doubles. I can't beat people in their 70s at singles. They know all the angles. I'll stick to net poaching in doubles.

Although I don't race any more I still watch the Tour de France. I didn't during the Armstrong years. Maybe I sensed something. Today, cycle racing is as clean as any other sport. Cycle racers are probably the most tested athletes in the world. More so than tennis players and a lot more than soccer players. When I see a chiseled Christano Ronaldo I sometimes doubt if soccer players are tested at all.

I was a climber during my cycle racing days and so the mountain stages of the Tour de France will be the ones that I will be most keen to watch. Last year, I sensed a certain element on the roadside watching the race that I hope will not be there this year. Let's leave spitting and the throwing of urine to the fans of another sport. With regards to doping, I do have my doubts about Vincenzo Nibali who couldn't beat plodding Wiggo when he won the tour in 2012 and since then has become a different rider after joining the tainted Astana team.

Today is a rest day from tennis so I will get back to the book and attempt to complete another chapter. Enjoy the world of sport!