Steve Regan: the King of Hull 29 August 04

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I wonder how Humberside police chief David Westwood is frittering away his time as he waits and waits to learn his fate after being suspended from duty pending the result of an inquiry. I rather hope that he might use this enforced rest period to take up a hobby which he once used to practise with some enthusiasm. For Mr Westwood, with whom I once had lunch at the expense of the Dull Daily Mail, was in his younger years an accomplished interpreter of tunes on the ukulele-banjo.

He even played competitively. The ukulele-banjo is the instrument which, when played and accompanied by a cheesy grin and sexually suggestive lyrics, made a star out of George Formby. Formby - Wigan's second most famous son - was massive all over this isle and beyond in the 1930s and 40s. They were particularly fond of Mr Formby in the former Soviet Union.

Now, Mr Westwood, who was suspended by the Home Secretary in an action backed by a High Court ruling, should not waste time fretting about the details of what might happen to him or his police pension once the inquiry has considered all the criticism contained in the Bichard report on the Soham case.

He shouldn't worry about "Hard Man" Blunkett either, who has distractions arising from his lurrrve action to keep him busy now. Although Mr Westwood really isn't the type to be flashing saucy smiles and delivering double entendres in the style of the late Mr Formby (a thin, watery smiles is more Mr Westwood's bag, in my experience), I do urge the suspended top cop to pick up his instrument again.

And it is better to occupy himself with a bit of strumming on that than waiting for the powers-that-be on Humberside to come to his aid.

The last time Mr Westwood won "major" public backing - from Hell City Council's Colin "Davros" Inglis and the editor of the Hull Daily Fail, John "The Meekon" Meehan, well .. a fat lot of good it did him.

IT'S good to see young people do well in sport by dint of their enthusiasm, grit and determination. The more sports grounds such as the threatened James Reckitt playing fields in Hull which can be saved from the bulldozer the better. Sports facilities are vital for young people because otherwise many of them will drift into anti-social behaviour, drugs squalor and criminality. Come on, you've seen it happen..

Another reason why sport is generally a good thing is that it teaches people one of life's most important lessons - that you can't always win. The truth is all of us learn more from losing than we ever do from winning. Still, it is good to see young people pursuing their dreams and trying to win. We all feel like cheering them on. To admire someone for their sporting skills is something we should all do more often. It is good to admire. But - and there is always a 'but' in this column - I am worried that enthusiasm for sport can so easily turn into single-minded obsession. That's not healthy, as Paula Radcliffe found out last weekend ... Her dreams of Olympic glory in the women's marathon ended in despair - with the athlete slumped in an Athens gutter bawling her eyes out. No-one wanted to see Paula fail like that. She seems such a good person - one that inspires much affection from the public. But the signs of failure in her had been around for those wanted to see them. She seemed frail, vulnerable and painfully thin. Her gruelling training regime will doubtless have stored up health problems for the future - for her as it does for many sports stars.

The perceived glamour and mystique of the Olympics and the crazy quest for a gold medal caused Paula, and many others like her, nothing but heartache and spiritual weariness. I'm not at all surprised. Whatever the ethics of the ancient Olympics - and I am not convinced they were as noble as people reckon - the modern games is a freak show, absolutely riven with corruption, legal actions, drug abuse, and ruined lives.

Steve Regan: the King of Hull continued here..

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