Running Solo and the stuff you think about (Mainly Brian O Driscoll Tonight)

I ran 5k this evening in 31.05 I'd set out just to run for 30 min, the distance was secondary. Ray wasn't with me, and I found this run completely different because of it. First of all, it didn't matter what time I went, so a 5pm start as intended, turned into a 7pm start because I was watching the Tennis. Secondly, when I got to the Harriers, there was one other person running on the track, and Pauline Curley was finishing her session, so I set off on my own. And thirdly, I found it harder to get the rhythm going and the first 3 laps were difficult but once I got into the grove, I really enjoyed the run.

I have an exam tomorrow, and I'd intended to think about questions likely to come up and how I might answer them, but I couldn't get the news that Gatland had dropped O'Driscoll for the last Test match between the Lions and Australia out of my head. Rarely has a selection decision annoyed me so much that I think about it all day, but that has been the case today.  Primarily I was annoyed because it seemed to come out of the blue, B.O.D hadn't been playing badly and I, and a lot of others, expected him to be Captain. Then I was disappointed for the man himself, A man who has won a Grand Slam, Heineken Cups, Celtic Leagues, Captained the Lions, The most capped player to ever play for the Lions, Six nations player of the Year, Idol of a Nation, and so much more. For Brian to be denied the chance to finally achieve one of the few milestones missing from his resume, because of a jumped up Kiwi, who's made some appalling decisions on this tour right from the selection of Captain for the tour, just further increases the outrage.

Then I decided to take a more balanced view, and I took off the green glassses, and I tried to go through the thought process of the man the Aussies were calling "Sideshow Gat" earlier in the tour, might have gone through and I still can't get it. I ran 2 laps and wasn't able to come up with a single rational reason for dropping the only chance for inspiration the Lions backline had. When you consider his experience in winning tough, back to the wall matches, his determination to never miss a tackle, his leadership which will now be sorely missing and his ability to create opportunities out of nothing, The decision to leave him out of the whole squad is even more baffling.

I could go on in this vein for the whole night, (I've already edited my blog, cutting it in half) but I don't want to bore you with my rugby views, but suffice to say, I'm still bloody vexed. I was hoping the run would calm me down, but it's only seemed to increase my discontent. On the plus side, the half hour seemed to fly by! Anyway, until tomorrow when hopefully I'll have calmed down, Slán.