I was riding along yesterday and had an experience familiar to any cyclist: a wacky idea popped into my head, completely out of the blue. This happens to me all the time on a bike, to the extent that I recently bought a little dictaphone that I wear round my neck so I can record and remember all those cycling-inspired ideas.
When I say ‘cycling-inspired’, I don’t mean that the ideas necessarily have anything to do with cycling. I mean simply that the action of pedalling, for some unfathomable neurological reason, elicits delightful cascades of unexpected thoughts, like the tunes which come out of those mechanical music boxes kids used to play with.
The surprising thought I mentioned at the start was about football. I hadn’t been thinking about football all day – yet suddenly I had an idea for how to make the premier league more fan-friendly. Eh?
For what’s it's worth, here’s my idea: how about a round of matches between fans of clubs, in which the results count towards the premier league standings? All club members could go into a lottery, and squads of 15 would be picked in a range of categories (age/gender/disability/etc.). Then each club would get drawn against another club and, once a year, players from the first team squad would coach teams in each of the categories, with all the matches played on one amazing ‘fanday’.
Maybe there could also be another lottery, to decide which category’s match would get screened on TV. I for one, would love to watch, say, West Brom and Man City’s veterans slugging it out in front of an audience of millions, knowing that the result might make the difference to who wins the league.
Imagine the excitement when the ‘fanday’ matches were coming up: will you be one of the lucky fans who get picked in the lottery? And imagine how much this would help to reconnect clubs and players with their communities. I'm sure the same could be said for fans and clubs in the lower leagues too.
Anyway, that was just one of the wacky ideas I’ve had while cycling. Have you had any wackier ones? Do you find your brain buzzes with schemes when you’re on a bike?
