Category: Sport

There’s not a team like the Glasgow Rangers

“Let the others come after us. We welcome the chase.” – Bill Struth, legendary Rangers manager.

Congratulations to Glasgow Rangers on winning the Scottish Championship and being promoted to the top tier of Scottish football. Well played, Rangers.

If you’re not from the west of Scotland it’s hard to explain the passion of being a supporter of the world’s most successful football club. Quintessentially British, Rangers are more than a club, they are an institution. My grandfather supported Rangers, my old man supported Rangers, I support Rangers and my sons support Rangers. You don’t need to ask who the unborn grandweans will support. It’s a Rangers family thing. And there’s hundreds of thousands of Rangers families like that. Now we’re back where we belong, next season we’re going for title 55.

History. We’re Rangers, we’ve got plenty of that.

I was there

Well, akshully I was in a pub in Bootham, York, when our boys beat Germany 50 years ago. And believe it or not there was a telly, very small, b & w but a telly nevertheless. A group of maybe 20 enthusiasts huddled round it and cheered for England.

Tonite, they meet again. In colour. Without Kenneth Wolstenholme (sp?). Not really a friendly. See you there.

Spring equinox quiz (not for sport haters)

The clues refer to the beginnings of current or recent Premiership managers/coaches’ names (first or second, e.g. ‘beer’ might tempt you to think Ale(x Ferguson), innit?

So here goes:

  1. Bottom
  2. Decent golf
  3. Everybody
  4. Hinder
  5. Hastened
  6. Danish boy conqueror
  7. Clippety
  8. French egg
  9. Per ardua ad astra
  10. Skin for no. 6
Now that didn’t hurt, did it? Answers please on Cadbury’s chocolate eggs asap!

Better than Bradders?

Statistics don’t lie, do they? The higher the batting average the better the player. Top of the list of Test cricket’s batting averages is  Andy Ganteaume. The Trinidadian played one test for the West Indies v England in 1948 and scored 112. The politics at the time prevented him playing any more tests so his average remains the best.

Andy joked he was a “one cap wonder” and kept his feelings to himself until 59 years later he complained bitterly about “the establishment” in his autobiography, My Story, The Other Side of the Coin. He died on February 17, 2016 aged 95.

Not better than Bradman, of course, but it’s better to be a one cap wonder or a one hit wonder or a one day wonder than being no wonder at all. Well played, Andy.

Get ova yourself

It’s women’s tennis – a feminist force mustered by Navratilova. There’s now an ova in every final and (the younger) Maria* is their diva. Easy on the eye, persistently histrionic on court, equally successful off the court, she announces her own doping indiscretions, seizing the high pr ground before the authorities have drawn breath. Be sorry for me, I made a mistake (for 10 years!), don’t be harsh.

Serena is closing ranks. Another diva with a unique agenda. Why is she so quick to speak up? Just remember: Big girls don’t cry – they pack a punch.

I don’t expect any comments from the men.

  • to avoid confusion

A Month of 20/20

It’s fair to assume that the cricket lovers in this house prefer Test match cricket over the other formats and rightly so. Still, T20 is the only game in town at the moment. The T20 World Cup starts tomorrow in India with a few juicy ties.

Hong Kong v Zimbabwe

Afghanistan v Scotland

These are, what the organisers have called, group stage matches. The big boys don’t come into play until later, in the Super 10 phase. Understandably, the winner usually comes from one of the bigger teams. This time round I’m going to stick my neck out and pick an outsider. For me, England can go all the way. And if not them I hope it’s The Netherlands.