Category: Sport

Taking the Pish.

How can Rangers sell shares in the club when the administrators have the reins?
They claim to be debt free yet the latest release is that ‘Gers owes the tax man alone, as near as makes few odds 100 million. I smell corporate dodgy dealing.

On a similar note I see with utter disgust that Newcastle United, my local bunch of overpaid, over-bouffanted narcissists have signed a deal with scumbag predatory loansharks Wonga. The ‘fans’ don’t give much of a hoot because part of the deal means the stadium will revert to St James Park. It seems the cash could come from a rich paedophile or a Coloumbian Cartel and no-one would bat an eye as long as the name was changed from Sports Direct Arena.

Honestly I despair.

Windies win

England’s defeat by 15 runs looks respectable by comparison with the bashing Australia have taken today. 74 runs deficit is alot! And Chris Gale makes it all look so easy

Give England back KP (joke) and there’ll be no stopping ’em next time.

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Fair ways and foul

Victory for Europe in the Ryder Cup yesterday afternoon was sweeter for its achievement in the face of the unsporting behaviour of the Chicago mob, egged on by some of the USA golfers themselves. And the resilience of the European players faced with a mountain to climb (from 6 – 10 down) was inspiring. They had to take eight of the 12 singles to retain the Cup and went a half better to win it outright. Tiger Woods’ bogey at the 18th typified the American collapse from their pomp of the first two days.

Well done, lads! Great entertainment!

Gossip makes the best history

I’m reminded of this fact by Christina’s frequent anecdotes which round up all sorts of facts of every imaginable kind. Christina, you’re the Herodotus of the modern age! A strange comparison you may think, but akshully (thanks, Furry) the father of European history displayed an encyclopedic memory for both the valuable and the trivial, be it politics, geography, family life, war or mythology. He called it his ‘enquiry’, a record of his travels around the known world in the middle of the 5th century BC. “Ἡροδότου Ἁλικαρνησσέος ἱστορίης ἀπόδεξις ἥδε” – “This is a presentation of the enquiry of Herodotus of Halicarnassos”.

ICC T20

They’ve started, (handy link to the official schedule here) there can only be one winner, so, what are you going to say if your team isn’t victorious?

Don’t worry, Alex Bowden over on ESPN’s Crickinfo has a list of ready made excuses for us.

Here they are…

Australia
They just weren’t tough enough. It’s not like the old days. This team just isn’t hard-nosed, aggressive or Australian enough. They don’t need to be any more talented. They just need to be angrier. Bring back Lillee and Thommo.

England
It was almost certainly the IPL. Not enough players are appearing in it and too many players want to appear in it. Secondly, Continue reading “ICC T20”

Paterno

Our American based authors will be familiar with the Pennsylvania State University child sex abuse scandal of last year. A former assistant coach of the Penn State football team, Jerry Sandusky aged 68, was found guilty of sexual crimes against children. He is expected to receive a sentence of sixty years in jail.

Joe Paterno was the legendary head coach of the team from 1966-2011. He was fired amid accusations that he knew about Sandusky’s crimes and concealed them. This biographical book was in the process of being written by Joe Posnanski before the scandal erupted. Inevitably, the author has to include details of the heinous crimes of Sandusky though the book is not primarily about that. Tragically, three months after receiving the sack Paterno died of lung cancer. Posnanski completed the book a few months later. Continue reading “Paterno”

Lob shots keep falling on my head

For the first time in about twenty years I was on a bike today. It is a short trip to the local tennis court that we usually walk. My son said why we don’t we take the bikes for a change. After getting permission from my other son for a loan of his cycle, off we went.

It is said that you never forget how to ride a bike. In seconds I was on the saddle and pedalling through the revolutions. The wind was in my hair cutting a dashing figure. Continue reading “Lob shots keep falling on my head”

Another British triumph or two

Andy Murray

Never one to make viewing easy, our cherished North Briton dragged us through his highs and lows with the skills of a Proms conductor. It was descant and bass in quick succession and we were poised to disown him again, as his friend Novak seemed to be taking charge. But no, his Caledonian courage saw him through.

Meanwhile, our other provincial hero, young Rory, gave another masterclass to his rivals and must soon decide where his allegiancies lie for Rio 2016. Will the green be his colour as well as his arena?