(Creative Commons)
Saturday
Last week I commented on how Lloyd Saltman’s first hole catastrophe at Muirfield would have made every club golfer or hacker feel a damn sight better.
Miguel Angel Jimenez
(Creative Commons)
If Saltman’s first-hole eight wasn’t enough, we find the middle aged, slightly portly, cigar-puffing, Rioja swilling, Aviator-wearing, arthritic elbow-suffering Miguel Angel Jimenez leading The Open. Diet, fitness, gym work. Who needs it was the cry in many a clubhouse …
Sunday
Now who was it who was saying just the other day after his first round at The Open that “about a third of every green started to die and became brown,” and that “the pins were very edgy?” None other than Phil Mickelson. And those conditions must have suited the left-handed American as he took his first Open championship with a storming final round. Not a bad week’s work for Mickelson. Between Castle Stuart and his four days around East Lothian, Mickelson banked £1.5m. No wonder he mentioned how much he loved Scotland.
Talking of money, the winner of the 1981 Open, Bill Rogers, won just five grand more than Steve Davis collected for winning the world snooker championship. In 2013 Mickelson pocketed £945,000 compared to the £250,000 collected by Ronnie O’Sullivan. I think you can tell who has got their business plan right …
Monday
Chris Froome
Winner of the Tour de France
(Creative Commons)
You wait 99 races for British winner, and along come two in a row. Vying for equal billing in the morning newspapers with Mickelson, if not edging him out entirely, is Tour de France winner Chris Froome. Following Sir Bradley Wiggins win last year, Team Sky’s Froome wears his yellow jersey right to the finish in Paris to make it back-to-back Tour victories for us Brits by taking the 100th running of the great face. What next? A British-born winner …
Tuesday
It’s a story we’ve sadly heard before. Today, AC Milan midfielder Kevin Constant walks off the pitch during a pre-season tournament match against fellow Serie A side Sassuolo, his response to alleged racist abuse. It was only in May that FIFA announced new measures to tackle racism, claiming teams could be relegated or expelled from competitions for serious incidents of racism. We wait to see what punishment is levelled at Sassuolo – or probably Constant, knowing how those things work.
Wednesday
James Alexander Gordon
Sights and sounds are what make memories, and no-one who ever heard the great voice of James Alexander Gordon reading the classified football results on BBC radio will ever forget it. Sadly, the Edinburgh-born broadcaster will never again read Forfar 5 East Fife 4 having given up broadcasting following surgery to remove his larynx after being diagnosed with cancer.
As a boy I wondered just what places like Plymouth, Sheffield and Bolton were like, probably because James Alexander Gordon made them sound interesting, almost mysterious with the way he added Argyle, Wednesday or Wanderers. Years later, I listened to ‘Jag’ (as he is known to his colleagues) from far-flung places around the globe, at weird and wonderful hours. So another part of childhood goes. Sports Report won’t ever be the same again.
Perhaps the biggest tribute for James Alexander Gordon, a man whose voice first echoed around the land when most people didn’t have colour TV’s, was that his name trended on Twitter, leading many to believe those were the names of the new Royal baby. Now, George Alexander Louis’ King’s speech really would be worth listening to if he sounded like ‘Jag’ …
Thursday
No, I’ve slept on it, and I still cannot get my head around the SPFL’s decision to basically steal, plagiarise or blatantly copy England’s naming convention for their senior leagues. The new top-flight will be called the Scottish Premiership, the old First Division renamed the Scottish Championship, and Divisions Two and Three will become Scottish League One and Scottish League Two.
Neil Doncaster
Pressed on the matter, SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster said; “People are certainly familiar with what it represents and when the names changed in England we saw the Championship being elevated in terms of stature within the game. To have clarity on the names of each division and to have a logo that demonstrates the passion, the excitement and the drama of Scottish football, I’m thrilled.”
Okay then Mr Spin, talk us through the passion, the excitement and the drama of Hibs 0 Malmo 7. Still thrilled?
Friday
I didn’t have time to mention this a week ago. but once again, someone mentions Glasgow 2014 and the word ‘legacy’ jumps out the radio at me. Just when is this ‘legacy’ going to begin. Or has it already started? Because if it has, maybe someone would like to respond to an ongoing daily failure.
Smoking was banned in Scotland ages ago in public places, unless, its within a few feet of the entrance to major hospitals, where you are confronted with a plume of filthy smoke generated by day patients, visitors, pregnant women, amputees and the likes. Or does ‘legacy’ not involve health, well-being and implementing existing Laws?