Can anyone do this?

According to John Inverdale, commentator for the BBC, paid for (and no doubt overpaid) by the licence-payers (that is, you and me), Wimbledon women's tennis champion Marion Bartoli is not possessed of model girl looks. Funny that. I thought she was a tennis player, not a model. A good one too. Having heard her describe her approach to life, I think she's more interested in tennis than in modelling.

Yesterday, I read an article that tried to explain what Inverdale meant to say. Digression: if you're an overpaid BBC commentator, you shouldn't really need somebody explaining what you meant to say. Anyway, it seems her dad took one look at her when she was wee and starting out in tennis and decided she was no Sharapova so she'd better be good. She's now 28 and at the peak of her powers.

Take a wee minute to digest that.

Then we have Andy Murray. He's dour apparently. And some people watching him on TV don't like him because of that. In fact, according to the Herald today, in Central Scotland where he comes from he would be described as not dour but 'dangerously flamboyant, talkative and over-emotional.' He's a great tennis player and fits no stereotype that I can see. But some people want him to have a sunnier disposition, smile more and be less intense, despite the fact that concentration and being intense are what got him to where he is: Olympic champion, US grand slam champion, Wimbledon champion - and all at the age of 26 and half.

I think it's time the rest of us stopped confusing truly talented people with reality show entertainers. They may entertain us, but the dedication and hard work talented people put in are light years ahead of what any entertainers may do. Especially the ones on TV talent shows who seem to start out from the premise that anyone can do this.

Can you be a Wimbledon champion? No, you can't. Not unless you dedicate 15-20 years of your life to it and think of little else during that time. Can you be the new Rory McIlroy or Tiger Woods? Not overnight you can't. Can you be Chris Hoy? Not unless you have talent. Nor can you win the Cardiff Singer of the Year competition, or gain entry to the Julliard School of Music or get a scholarship to MIT to study engineering or be the frontman of the Killers.

If you have the talent and willingness to work, maybe, but sometimes even that is not enough. Good luck anyway. If Andy can do it, maybe you can.