Saturday
So, after all the hype and the cheesy TV advertising campaigns, the British & Irish Lions finally kick off their Australian Tour with a game in Hong Kong, with a convincing performance in an ill-conceived match against a mish-mash Barbarians side.
I recall the good old days when it was just the British Lions, which I always assumed, came from the fact the players were selected from the British Isles, the name they are still regularly known as in some parts of the world, especially New Zealand. But somewhere along the line, for some reason or another, they were rebranded the British and Irish Lions.
Watching the training run-out in Hong Kong, I couldn’t help wondering that should the outcome of a forthcoming Independence vote go a certain way, will they become the British, Scottish and Irish Lions ahead of the next tour. Seems only fit and proper, don’t you think?
Sunday
Gregg Wylde
I can’t help notice that Bolton Wanderers have ridded themselves of former Rangers winger Gregg Wylde. Wylde, you may recall, departed Ibrox when the financial roof caved in on Rangers. He said he headed out and South so that others might keep their jobs. A noble gesture indeed, although there were many who said it more as an act of self-preservation than self-sacrifice.
Anyway, the local journal saw it their own way, stating; “As failed experiments go, Gregg Wylde’s disastrous 15 months at Bolton Wanderers takes some beating.” Praise indeed. At the weekend, Bolton intimated they had torn up his contract, although the player says he negotiated his release. Either way, he’s looking for a club. Motherwell and Aberdeen are supposedly interested, although as a free agent, I’d have thought he’d be back, beating the door down at Rangers, desperate to come back given he never wanted to leave in the first place. Yes?
Monday
I have always had my own thoughts about golf and the myriad of rules and regulations that surround the game. Last week it was all about banning belly putters, even though you can still use a driver that will happily knock a ball further than some people travel on holiday. This week, Lee Janzen was disqualified from U.S. Open sectional qualifying for wearing metal spikes.
Woodmont Country Golf Club
“I have never not worn metal spikes,” said Janzen. “I’ve played in U.S. Open qualifiers every year since 2009.
“I had just finished lunch after the first 18 holes when an official asked if I was wearing metal spikes.
“He said, ‘You can’t wear metal spikes,’ and I was disqualified.”
Apparently Janzen had fallen foul of a local rule that had been included in a letter emailed to competitors. Unfortunately, he had overlooked the warning.
So, in a sport where high-ranking officials can bend and manipulate the rules in the biggest of events, depending on who has fallen foul of them, and racists’ comments are frowned upon rather than punished, just don’t arrive at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville wearing metal spikes. After all, they have high standards in golf …
Tuesday
So, according to a leaked report by the Advertising Standards Authority, Rangers are Scotland’s most successful club. Having received 78 complaints after the Ibrox club’s advertising campaign in March claiming that accolade, the ASA judged that consumers would realise the claim “related to the club rather than to its owner and operator.”
Rangers FC
And that on the back of Lord Nimmo Smith’s decision that Rangers would not be stripped of titles, while The European Club Association – the sole independent body recognised by UEFA and FIFA as representing clubs at European level – considered the club’s history to be continuous regardless of the change of company. So the ASA, LNS and ECA all believe that historically, Rangers are still Rangers.
That just leaves some people waiting, and hoping, that MFI, NASA, HTV, ELO, TVAM, UAE, GLC, J2O, UNICEF, HMRC, BSA, KKK, XTC, YTS, FINA, QED, RAF, BMI, IBM, GAA, LWT, BMW, ZIP, SAS, WBA, DMC, LDV, MTV, OPEC, PVC, VHS or some other meaningful-sounding acronymic body will find differently.
And in the meantime, like countless others, I’ll LMAO at their antics …
Wednesday
Congratulations to Lynsey Sharp, now officially a European champion after the 800m silver medal she won in Helsinki last year was upgraded to a gold, always believe in your soul, you’ve got the power to … sorry, always wanted to do that. Blame Spandau Ballet. It was Russia’s Yelena Arzhakova who won the race, but who was then banned for two years for a doping offence.
So the Scot is now a certified winner, although I can’t help feeling she’s a triple loser, having first had to suffer defeat in the race, probably in the knowledge that Arzhakova was taking something more than Cremola Foam, and subsequently, denied her chance to take the acclaim and adulation of a full athletics stadium, and the media interest that goes with it. Arzhakova cheated Lynsey out of that honour, and that moment, which she will never get the chance to relive.
And that’s why drug cheats should never get another chance, once convicted …
Thursday
James Morrison
Scotland Captain
James Morrison is all over the printed press and interweb having been named the new Scotland captain for the game against Croatia, or, was it winner of the SFA’s ‘Last Man Standing’ competition. Either way, good luck to him. We are also told that he is the first ‘English-born’ player to captain Scotland since Bruce Rioch some 35 years ago. Interesting fact that. But does it matter? I can’t recall any other captain being so geographically pigeonholed by the media.
What was it one former Scotland manager said? Something about if you are a lion, born in a stable, you’re still a lion. Except, obviously, when you are an English-born lion …
Friday
Up early and into the local shop where, standing in the queue, I can listen to the 8.00am headlines on Capital Radio. Their lead sports story is along the lines that “Scotland aim to move off the bottom of World Cup Qualifying Group A tonight with a win over Croatia.”
We’ll call this one a draw, will we? I’ll be as out-of-touch (apparently) with my taste in music as you are with reality …