Larry King Live

Larry is a favourite of mine for many years. Whenever I have access to a channel that shows his programme I will make the effort to organise my day to view his outstanding programme material.

Most occasions these days you will find me on the Taxc trainer or rowing machine with the volume turned up so that a can hear what is being said. Rarely does his show content disappoint and even today his producers were able to reorganise the programme content so as to catch up with the sad news of the death of Elizabeth Edwards whom I have enjoyed watching with him in past years. This remarkable lady has been let down badly but got on with her life and became an inspiration to other big C victims. When Lance tweeted about Elizabeth earlier in the week it did not take much effort to realise to whom his tweet was referring. Big C has become the scourge of modern society and organisations such as Livestrong are playing catch up as they seek to assist sufferers.

Larry , as you finish up your series of LKL, I hope you will make the effort to remind your viewers of an inspirational segment of the population, these are the Paralympians. This segment is growing due to the need to fight “The War on Terror”. Organisations such as “Wounded Warrior Project “ in the USA and “Help 4 Heroes” in the UK need the exposure only you are able to provide.

Chris Reeves was a guest in past years, as was the Scientist (Stephen) and Stevie Wonder recently but there are others out there who are as yet undiscovered but are victims of Iraq, Afghanistan and earlier conflicts, that are working hard to represent their country once again but this time as participants in international sports events (Paralympics being the ultimate).

Alex Zennardi returned to car racing after his life changing event but there are many who are unaware of his desire to represent Italy with the Handbike at London 2012 Paralympics. Michael Milton in the early part of the century was the International Sportsman as a result of his efforts at Salt Lake 2002 Winter Paralympics, he has continued since as a Para Cyclist at the Summer Paralympics also.

Looking for an international flavour, then there are many : Pierangelo Vignati (Italian Paracyclist), Fabrizio Macchi( Italian Paracyclist), Laurent Thirionet ( French Paracyclist) and Zavier Ochoa (Spanish Paracyclist), Oscar Pistorious (Blade runner (South African Para Athlete), Laurie Stephens (USA Para skier), Dame Tanni Grey-Thomson (British Para Athlete) and Louise Sauvage (Aussie Para Athlete). Teams also deserve recognition and an outstanding example are the “Voralberg Para Team that raced the “Race Across America” in recent years.

Mike Tyson who was recently on your show would agree that there are many of his ilk that support Paralympian Athletes in their endeavours. I had the pleasure to meet up with Alberto Tomba at the 2008 Bormio Ski Finals Week, that weekend he organised some of the Italian Paralympian Ski Team to be hosted at the event. Bode Miller often talks of events to which he has invited a para friend.

Qatar in winning the Football World Cup plans to build Prefabricated Stadiums for those events and some of these could be easily converted to contain other sports events. In trying to find out whether Qatar has a Velodrome I discovered they have a track team and that they have both Men’s and Women’s UCI Road Race events in the early part of the year. One wonders if there will be a bid for the Summer Olympics to be in the Middle East in 2020 or 2024 with Qatar being the focus of a combination of countries providing the facilities.

Qatar Airlines would enjoy increased exposure through this initiative, but since so much Hotel Accommodation will be required in 2022 it seems likely that many more World Events will be sought to justify an expansion of the existing hotel facilities. With a combined bid the hotel accomodation of nearby City/States would help absorb the massive influx of visitors to the region.

Qatar should give some thought to becoming a centre of excellence for "Paralympic Sport"since all the stadia they will build will require "Wheelchair Access" and the Adaptive Community is the fastest growth area in Tourism. Any Qatar Airline tickets they have to spare i am sure i can put to good use as i get around to visit the various Pro Tour Events each year.

PS Please check my profile as there are other websites worth visiting and of course i would appreciate comments since there is so much going on out there that i am as yet unaware !