Strikes me that those in the
camp have got a balanced view of these issues and those in the
team are consumed with jealousy or at least indignation.
Personally I don't believe anybody joins because their sporting hero is in but ... and it is a big but positive
PR is worth its weight in gold and just being in the team portrays the Service as being an organisation that values excellence and hence worth joining. Importantly it also works on the mums and dads who are likely to push their nearest and dearest our way. A bit like corporate sponsorship - the value to the organisation is unquantifiable but if you stop you know it's going to work against you somehow.