Middle Eastern endurance: Do not pass Go, do not collect $200

Neil Clarkson
Horsetalk.co.nz

My friends gave up playing Monopoly against me many years ago. Apparently, I’m not much fun to play against.

It wasn’t about cheating. Apparently, I’m too officious and determined, and revel in the fact I’m slowly grinding my opponents into poverty with my hefty rents and expansive property holdings.

It was a case of going directly to the doghouse without passing Go and without collecting $200.

The lesson, learned rather belatedly, is that if you don’t play nice, eventually no-one will want to play with you.

It seems, after several years of controversy around welfare issues, doping infractions, and what would seem to be a pretty loose interpretation of the rules, the nations at the centre of the endurance controversy in the Middle East might have to learn this lesson, too.

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