So there's this school in Northampton that has decided to ban parents from attending its annual sports day on the grounds that some children would find the competitive nature of the event "embarrassing". Instead they want to introduce something more "activity-based" and enjoyable to all, while mostly removing the edge of competition.

I'm very sorry, but in the all too predictable words of at least one parent, "This is political correctness gone mad".

Why? Well, I'm pretty certain that the largely ineffective nature of the UK's national sports teams can be at least partly attributed to the move away from competitive activities that emerged about 20 years ago. It had started to look like the trend had been reversed, but now the backlash against the backlash appears to have begun.

This is not a good thing.

Every child should be put through the ritual humiliation of sporting failure in front of their peer group and parents - it's character building... erm, probably. I speak as someone who endured plenty during my school career. Otherwise how will we distinguish those with athletic aptitude from those with none? The earlier you catch 'em, the sooner you can start their proper training - look to tennis for the examples of the Williams sisters and Jelena Dokic. Sure they've got raw talent, but they started concentrating on their sport while still young. The later you leave it, the less nurture will have an effect on nature.

Anyway, it's what you do after the race or match that counts as much as anything. I desperately wanted to win my sports day races at primary school. I came last every time. And even though the passion to compete and the frustration at my ineptitude never totally faded, it did mean I was able to realise where my strengths really lay.

So if we want top sportsmen and women, we have to be prepared to let our youngsters fail. It's those who bounce back from defeat or build on victory who will really make the difference.

In the day's other big story, the balding, bespectacled face of the Bush administration, Ari Fleischer, announced that he is stepping aside later this year.

"I informed President Bush last week that after 21 years of doing nothing but government and politics ... that I have decided that my time has come to leave the White House. And I will leave later this summer, most likely in July," Fleischer said.

Although I've never had any truck with the message he's been required to feed the world, I've come to grudgingly admire him as Bush's medium. In this profession there are certain people one becomes familiar with or fond of, based on prolonged exposure, and I must admit Ari's one of them. Like Dunc said, he's undoubtedly a bright guy who's come out to bat for Little Bush for on one unpalatable or awkward issue after another. Although he said his belief in the current president was "deep" let's hope he's leaving cos he just can't take any more of the crap that he's having to feed the American people.

Rarely can the office of Press Secretary have so vitally needed an articulate, intelligent incumbent as it does now. When it appears that Dubya can't even answer an unexpected question on issues of significance without a script, a strong frontman does the Bush administration the power of good. Unfortunately.

If it wasn't for the fact that she'd be working for such a rotten man, the campaign to appoint Alison Janney as Ari's successor would start here. But maybe we should save her for someone more deserving...