I’ll have that boy

No face in this race

From the moment I saw the byline in an email message, I had a feeling something was not quite right with the proposal. In fact, everything seemed wrong about it, but at the very least, I needed to humour them by sincerely reading the story before commenting.

The teen founder turning male fertility into a sport

The Hustle - Jay Fuchs

At the questionable border of sports entertainment and male fertility is Sperm Racing, a startup that recently closed a $10m seed round.

As the propinquity of perspicacity and perspective grants permission, the author of the piece in The Hustle, which is the sales blog of Hubspot, not to be confused with Hustler Magazine, could not have had a more unfortunate name, if pronounced in a certain way, in his role as the managing editor, Jay Fuchs.

Moving on, Eric Zhu is the 18-year-old entrepreneur and founder of Sperm Racing, an outfit set up to address the issue of seemingly declining male fertility in a rather novel way, while promoting a dialogue on the matter too, and everything you think it is, is probably all it is and more, from the name of the company.

The straight-faced debate

To determine the best swimmers on a microscopic racetrack with high-resolution cameras capturing the event, think of the desert camel races of the UAE with robot jockeys, but the sperm will run under their own steam.

Apparently, the viewership of these race events is in the high six-figure range, and the venture has closed a $10m seed round.

This almost Onanist leap from mobility to motility suggests many questions difficult to articulate, but I can see an end in sight, with a visit to a sperm bank or considering a competition between these depositories of human propagation for an open race to all comers.

Equipment set up for the race to save manhood and humanity, Guinness World Records adjudicators ensuring no underhand tactics, spectators jockeying for position, urging their colours forward, until one breasts the tape and she says, “I’ll have that boy.”

One artificial insemination later, if the winner has not been stripped of all dignity to learn of their secret of triumph, a stud farm, humans, horses, bulls, and chickens, and the business of reproduction becomes the survival of the fittest sperm, with happy endings following even more happy endings.

In the ideas market, let’s just agree, more is to come.

See Also

ABC 7 News: Bay Area student organises 1st-of-its-kind sperm race to raise men's health awareness

Octogenarians fearing a future dominance of F1 by black drivers?

At the crossroads of equity

For much of my writing, whilst I have written about identity and the relative circumstances that confer privilege and opportunity towards my circumstances, I cannot say I have been an activist.

The surge in global protests and activism after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in May, has agitated people, institutions, companies, organisations, and personalities with sometimes soul-searching introspection instructing positive responses with the promise for change and confounded others with indifference and the absence of awareness as they suggest there is nothing amiss.

Memorials and symbols have been revisited for context and significance, highlighting the plight of minorities around the world with the clamour for equality, equity, justice and fairness.

In certain recent events, I have found a spectrum of representation that had me thinking of how minorities fit in and thrive in host communities, especially at work.

Choosing between activism and presence

In an interview with The Guardian, Michael Emenalo, 55, once the Technical Director for Chelsea Football Club, was the lone black senior executive in the English Premier League. Early in the interview, he surmised about his status and his projection of it. “I had to choose whether I would let my activism be a distraction or allow my presence to be an inspiration.”

[The Guardian: Michael Emenalo: ‘The narrative that white is good has to change’]

This is a concept I fully recognise and can relate to. I cannot say I was a flagbearer in certain positions that I have occupied in my career, but it was significant that other ethnic minorities seeing me in those roles found that their aspirations were not limited. More to the point, we cannot all be activists, sometimes just being at the top table is activism enough.

My primary function was not a human resource component of diversity and inclusion, but I represented it and gave light to opportunities those who saw me could pursue. My professional work spoke for itself even if there were times between being patronised and being belittled, you kept at what you do, and the end result proved how and why you were there.

When silence no more works

Then we have Lewis Hamilton, 35, of a much younger generation and a highly accomplished lone black man in Formula 1 who recently has been championing the need for Formula 1 to be more embracing and inclusive by opening up opportunities to those who might not see a pathway to a career in Formula 1.

His advocacy and activism are prominent whilst not distracting from his professional expertise where he currently leads the driver standings having been 6-time world champion. It goes without saying that few sportsmen have achieved his feat and dominance, not only in the UK but in the world. Yet, it is instructive that many others of lesser achievement and in other sports have been knighted whilst he remains an MBE.

This is not to conflate the global sport with British honours, but you wonder how much further his presence being an inspiration as in the case of Michael Emenalo needs to go for his activism to really attract more ethnic minorities to the sport.

Afflicting the comfortable

This is where two Caucasian veterans of Formula 1 appear to have been ruffled, but starting with Bernie Ecclestone, 89, who used to run Formula 1 when he said in June, "In lots of cases, black people are more racist than what white people are."

[BBC Sport: Lewis Hamilton says Bernie Ecclestone comments on race 'ignorant']

Even if Mr Ecclestone’s viewpoint was anecdotal, it was very unhelpful in addressing the issue of opening up Formula 1 to opportunities for ethnic minorities building up from gathering and scouting raw talent to nurturing them through apprenticeships, internships, and expertise acquisition schemes that would culminate in being able to compete on merit alone for openings in Formula 1.

Next came Mario Andretti, 80, in whose words you could see that Lewis Hamilton had begun to afflict the comfortable. They would rather he was silent than activist, with the hope that either organically or by happenstance the opportunities will just show, but Lewis Hamilton has been a Formula 1 driver since the 2007 season, that’s thirteen years and he remains alone.

“I have a lot of respect for Lewis, but why become a militant? He's always been accepted and he's earned everyone's respect.” Mario Andretti

The big problem they refuse to see

Sir Jackie Stewart, 81, then says he doesn’t think there is a problem. Well, I say, if after 13 years and 6 world championships, the figurehead ethnic minority symbol simply needs to double down on the accelerator of his car without highlighting issues within his sport, that would be unfortunate.

“He's quite vocal about these elements, I don't think there's as big a problem as there might seem.” Sir Jackie Stewart.

[Sky Sports: Lewis Hamilton responds to Mario Andretti, Sir Jackie Stewart comments: 'Just disappointing']

I am glad that Lewis Hamilton is not backing down to this trio of octogenarian symbols of white privilege laying out unforgivable tropes, because essentially, they are saying he should be grateful even though he is in his position by dint of hard work and great ability, and that he is being difficult as he is compelling his sport to radically review how it brings talent to the fore.

Then you have this niggling feeling that there is a foreboding and premonition haunting old white men, perish the thought that Formula 1 might become dominated by black drivers, they had better lament it now before a distant future invades the sanctity of their figurative Tutankhamun pyramids making them turn in their mummified graves.

I leave the last word to Lewis Hamilton from the BBC Sport article referenced earlier on this blog.

“It makes complete sense to me now that nothing was said or done to make our sport more diverse or to address the racial abuse I received throughout my career.

If someone who has run the sport for decades has such a lack of understanding of the deep-rooted issues we as black people deal with every day, how can we expect all the people who work under him to understand? It starts at the top.

Now the time has come for change. I will not stop pushing to create an inclusive future for our sport with equal opportunity for all. To create a world that provides equal opportunity for minorities.”

Thought Picnic: F1 needs serious cleaning up

Drivers to the ransom

The travails of Renault with the sanctions and the loss of sponsorship hardly begins to deal with an underlying deficit of integrity in Formula 1.

If one would recall, the Ferrari spy row where McLaren was said to have obtained documents from its rival under suspicious circumstances did not come to light until Fernando Alonso threatened to tell after he found out that he was not being treated as the lead driver for McLaren in relation to Lewis Hamilton.

Likewise, the race fixing scandal in Singapore where Nelson Piquet was advised to crash his car to give his teammate Fernando Alonso advantage in the race also did not come to light until he was sacked from the team.

That Fernando Alonso appears in these two very serious cases is almost too coincidental to entertain more review, or maybe not.

Bad deeds coming to light

What appears to be happening is that a lot of sinister and underhand activity is going on in these teams where the drivers seem to have the ability to blackmail or hold their teams to ransom if things are not going their way.

Earlier in this season, it was the case of Lewis Hamilton being told to lie to the race stewards, if this issue had not come to light, there is the likelihood that it could have been used as leverage or some bargaining poly sometime in the future.

The trend that seems to be showing up is that the drivers can be persuaded to commit unsportsmanlike acts without question, pointing to the possibility that they have no principles; they are dishonest and may not be trusted.

And none of these offences come to light until the driver either gets caught out or the driver feels hard done by.

Tell and be excused

This might just be a generalisation but it is worrisome that there are other secrets lurking in the background from other drivers or disgruntled staff who might just find the opportunity to get even and in the process get themselves exonerated when as participants, conspirators or collaborators they should be sanctioned under standard legal redress processes.

In the end, one is left with a feeling that F1 does not represent the pinnacle of sportsmanship and honest competition, but a series of underhand activities done in secret which many pray would not be revealed.

There is no doubt that there is a need for a root and branch analysis of driver-team relationships and the need for drivers to be able to have enough backbone not to allow their names to be smeared with unseemly activity.

It is unlikely that the ruling bodies would like to deal with this head-on because the pain of the loss of trust and the work involved in rebuilding that trust would be insurmountable.

With all the penalties and sanctions, the real problem has hardly had any scrutiny and that is incredibly sad.

Fine headlines and rotten information

The News Junkie gets a fix

Nothing annoys me more than to read the news and find that it adds the suspense of some detail that never gets revealed. The reporters might be very seasoned journalists but if any topic is introduced, it should be properly covered.

When on holiday, I have to check news sources mainly from the BBC and the expatriate English news of the Netherlands. Sometimes I venture further afield with the World News and CNN, usually if what I have read has not provided much stimulation.

My best friend once called me a news junkie, maybe I am.

I am not planning to change the world, but I like to know what is happening because all sorts of information, news, events and detail have ways of impacting on you and not necessarily for profit.

I have also once commented that I do not really want to be the 'first to know', but then I want to know what could be relevant to my situation.

Nowadays, a situation halfway across the globe can have far reaching effects locally, like war, disaster, unsettled markets, imports and exports along with political issues.

If one cannot prevent at least one knows and can prepare for eventualities.

So, on BBC News, I surf the general location based stories, look at business, entertainment and then sport.

Sometimes there is a big caption that one can click on from the main page.

I usually follow, tennis, football generally, snooker and then events that are newsworthy.

Following the headline

So, I read on the homepage Racing: Dettori wins richest race, Yippee! I click on the link and I am given the title Electrocutionist takes Dubai Win - So, now we know the man, the name of the horse and it is in Dubai. Aha! I have seen adverts about the Dubai World Cup - Click!

I read through the whole copy, it is Dettori's second win, it was trained by Godophin, some other races had winners and all that trivia about six-legged races. Fine, the page has to contain something, reporting from Dubai does not come cheap.

Nowhere in all that copy do I find the prize. Come on! We've been told it is the richest race, that will excite anybody's curiosity - How much?

Then I clicked on the Dubai World Cup link on that page, and I tell you if it were in a horse race, it would have come home the next day - I did not get the information we were sold in the byline of the news we were presented with in the first place.

For now, I cannot be bothered to find out what the prize was, but you can understand, I am quite noticeably irked.