The following letter regards Rotherham Gazette’s Sports editor Paul _ ‘s comments to freelance sports reporter Don Gill who mentioned to myself during the ‘2003’ racing season in a telephone conversation that Paul “can’t promise anything” meaning ‘Room’ or ‘Space’ in his newspaper to mention one of my riders (Sheffield born) Steve Cocker and Sheffield’s Winning Wilson Cycles Team’s consecutive victories in the Yorkshire Road Race League Championships.

This is a familiar tale for all so called *‘minority sports’ at the eternally bigoted British front door of Britain’s media bias; Rider(s) not being from Sheffield was the excuse for ‘not being able to’ (not wanting to) put cycle racing in the news columns this time! Even though there were riders from Rotherham in the race and two of the race series were held on Rotherham’s doorstep! When the Rotherham United football team play another team (that is not from Rotherham!) do the sports reporters and journalists exclude the opposition players’ names and their efforts from the sports news and results in their ‘newspapers’? Of course not! They wouldn’t dream of it!

No wonder Britain is in deep Shit at a Cultural level as well as at sports! When we can’t even give our neighbouring *‘minority’ sports, their people and their sports institutions an inspiring pat on the shoulder: that is by recognizing the efforts of these ‘MINORITY PEOPLE!’ Because in my view that is what the British media are saying and portraying, - and have been saying and portraying for an eternity! - in not giving recognition where it is deserved!

Would any sports editor dare to leave out our footballer’s efforts from their ‘news’ papers? Improve ‘SPORTS’ coverage in the media and you will improve our Nation’s culture, thus improving our Nation! (i.e. its People, Society!)

In contrast I welcome riders from anywhere in Britain (or the World) to ride for my Team, because the main point here is that they are People (British?), if they aren’t they are still helping Britain at sports and creating a better Culture! Which is a damn sight more than can be said for ‘our’ (?) British media! If we want Britain to be successful at World level, and not just in narrow-minded regional and national divisions we have to start looking at the Bigger Picture, Here on our once Great but ‘AT THE MOMENT’ Oh so little Island!

* ‘Minority sports’ is a term invented or trumped up by sporting racists!

If we as a Nation want England, Scotland, Wales or Ireland to Win at the final of football’s World cup in the future all that we have to do is become more of an Open-minded, Varied Sports Orientated, Less Bigoted Nation! As I have said and written on numerous occasions THIS LIES IN THE HANDS OF ‘OUR’ BRITISH MEDIA, AND IT DOES NOT LOOK LIKE THEY ARE GOING TO CHANGE!

SO WHAT ARE WE TO DO? THE ANSWER? VOTE WITH OUR FEET AND FINGERS! DO NOT BUY THE NEWSPAPERS UNTIL THEY CHANGE! SWITCH OFF THE TELEVISION UNTIL THEY CHANGE!

REDUCING OLD HAT IS AS EASY AS THAT! Once this change occurs and our sports reporters report on a VAST variety of SPORTS, ensuing over time our people will develop an all encompassing natural fitness, one that finally translates into greater SPORTING success! BRITISH TOUR DE FRANCE WINNERS! BRITISH WORLD CUP WINNERS! BRITISH WORLD CHAMPIONS! BRITISH SPORTING WINNERS AT EVERY SPORT IN THE WORLD THAT THEY TURN THEIR HANDS, HEADS AND FEET TO! But if we allow ourselves to stay in this rut that the British ‘Established’ media has furrowed long and deep for us! THERE WE WILL STAY!

Dear Don,

The attached letter (being the PM letter) is an unveiled Tribute! To the Hundreds of Un-discovered! British Yellow Jersey and Rainbow Jersey Wearers and Winners! For as long as living memory! Thanks in Full, to a time immemorial biased British media!

Your remark, “the cricket season is upon us and football…. therefore it is very unlikely that any Cycle Racing news would be required…” reminded me of this letter that I have recently penned to the Prime Minister. Of which, I mentioned I would forward to you as there is a major sporting interest involved.

In my opinion, the more Sports British people see, hear and read about, the richer a sporting Nation we will become; that is to say, ‘likely’ sporting people will find their niche (their natural sport), and are more likely to become paid competitors - with the right media mindset - rather than a Nation of dogmatic participants, followers or even spectators of ‘traditional?’ sports. Natural spectators with an open-mind will also obviously benefit as there will be a greater variety of sporting spectacles and heroes to watch and worship.

There is in this Country a ‘National sport’, as there are in other countries, but I think it would be better to have Sport as a National Sport! Especially on our relatively small insular media led Island. As this would lead to much more of an unbiased perspective; let the people chose what they want to watch, without the restraints of a biased media, what are these media afraid of? If these traditional sports ‘are all that!’

This Improvement in sporting culture will only happen when the media equalizes its sporting coverage! Giving talented and dedicated amateur sportspeople who end up working full time on building sites etcetera, the Equal opportunity of a professionally paid sporting career. Given the lopsided balance of the none equal sporting variety in the British media, many sports and their competitors do not get this much needed opportunity; over many years I have known scores of people in this sorry predicament in the sport of Cycling alone, and I have slowly come to realize that I would easily class myself as one of them! In a letter to Prince Charles I say that it is the recognition or fame not the money, but the latter is a clearer metre stick of importance particularly to the lay person, when you have some sporting competitors on Millions and other sporting competitors on shillings!

We are in a situation where British people are losing their talents to nine to five jobs or worse! At the hands of THEIR OWN NARROW-MINDED BRITISH MEDIA! WHICH ARE LETTING THEIR OWN BRITISH PEOPLE AND COUNTRY DOWN! This is not only the individual’s loss, but our Country’s in every possible way! Even football’s, cricket’s and the media’s loss! Why then should I want to help the media? Because I want to help my Country and its people achieve their highest possible potential; and I see an unbiased and Open-Minded media as the undoubted key!

A simple example would be the average football player or cricketer that might have made a World class bike rider! If the sport had been introduced to them earlier as a serious sporting option and as a viable career objective! This would cut both ways, for instance some may take cycling up after seeing Extensive Coverage of the Tour de France or Tour of Britain etcetera, on terrestrial TV, and in the press, (As if!?) Through this, he or she might train for let us say four years in this chosen sport, achieve a certain level that falls short of personal expectations, and then chose to try football or whatever with a flourish of natural talent, honed and kept in hand by a hard surrogate sport! Without that choice of sports there is at the moment a huge loss of ‘talent cross over,’ on top of this there is a definite chance that the very same people will be totally lost to SPORT! It is almost as if there is a kind of sporting racism running through the majority of British thinking when it comes to SPORTS in general; I can only pigeon hole it as an inbred bias created over the years from a constant and insolent media brain-washing of our Culture and consequently our Society!

This helpful crossover will only work if there is an equal coverage of sports by every form of medium; not for instance eight double pages of football and one inch of cycling, swimming… on a good day! Half a page on a bad day! because it will be a report of a death or a scandal! AND AS USUAL NONE AT ALL ON A NORMAL DAY!

A sports section or programme should be just that, not the football section! If the roles were reversed I would say the same about cycling or whatever was being over done! Ironically what the bigoted British media don’t realize is that the beauty of a more evenly balanced sporting coverage would mean an improvement on both and many a side! More naturals find their real vocation, and in good time. People can adapt to other sports a lot more easily if they have enjoyed practising other sports, and readapt back! We become a Stronger, Healthier, Fitter race of people in Every Sense! Our Children have more choice, more chance of wanting to emulate persons with something about them, not some fake media manufactured dead-beat bad boy or bad girl Bullshiter!

More people will buy newspapers and turn their t.v’s back on! as they become increasingly more interesting with varieties of new sports and their characters; who wouldn’t buy a newspaper or tune into the television if they themselves were featured? Even if they were not themselves featured and were more of a spectator at nature chances are that they would know someone that was! Along with all the other people associated with these sporting persons, down the line to sponsors, acquaintances, locals and eventually, believe it or not fans!

Even from that potted example you can feel the increase in motivation to the athlete. Cyclists, as do many under supported athletes, have to compete in Europe along side the rest of the World with a massive disadvantage! Where other Countries’ have whole Nations fully behind their HEROES! This goes with EVERY SPORT!

Whilst at home there might be three sheep and a telegraph pole watching in the Peak District a HUNDRED MAN Cycle race peloton go by, during a NINETY MILE Premier Calendar road race event with nothing short of sore legs for prize money! While millions of viewers watch games of televised snooker on t.v. contested for prize money worth hundreds of thousands, Great! (If it wasn’t promoting cigarettes and funded by their sales!) Good Luck to any sport, but let the United Kingdom’s population have a fair and diverse share of sports coverage, especially where it is deserved!!

All the advantages are too numerous to mention here: Youngsters would then be influenced by more than two or three ‘traditional?’ sports. At the moment if these sports do not happen to take their interest they are out on the streets, lost and in trouble. Also some of these young people may enjoy a ‘traditional’ British sport to start with and then lose interest; at the moment, such is the sporting abyss in Britain that this practically means losing interest in Sport!

Don, you also mentioned in our telephone conversation that certain editors may take a favoured stance towards competitors from their home town; I would do the same myself! but I do not think that it is just about that, as I’ am sure that if David Beckham or the Queen paid a visit to any editors town that they, we would find ‘a few spare inches!’ Regardless of their place of Origin!

Thanks for Your Time, Continued Interest and Support,

Nigel Wilson

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