As the third goal went in on Saturday, the texts from various SNP supporting friends started to clog up the in-box of my mobile – pointing out (again) that the national football team haven’t lost under an SNP “government”. Whilst this is all very pleasant and delightful for them, may I respectfully point out the difference between sporting success and a successful political administration – although I made a point of reminding them they didn’t have a monopoly on celebration as I was ecstatic at the result.  However, let’s not forget the considerable resource and chemical ingenuity that the former communist regimes used to deploy to ensure sporting success against the running dogs of capitalism. Also, my New Zealand relatives are utterly devastated and reflecting a nation’s distress after their unexpected exit from the rugby world cup and this may have a political backlash  – New Zealand’s loss to France in the semifinals of the 1999 World Cup was said to have had an effect on the general election, at which the ruling National government, under Prime Minister Jenny Shipley, was defeated by the Labour party of current Prime Minister Helen Clark.
Jeux sans frontiers, war without tears - of course sporting success magnifies and defines national identity and pride and if Glasgow wins the Commonwealth Games next month then the city’s sense of self will be boosted. I don’t deny the importance of sport and fostering ambition and pride, but just caution against making it too central to political success or failure – apart from the unfair pressure it puts on the individual players and teams, let’s not lose sight of art, music, architecture, literature, and films in defining a nation’s cultural achievements..