Sport

At Least I Didn’t End Up Supporting Crystal Palace

I was thinking of ‘Blogging Marcel Berlins’ explanation of why he supports Aston Villa Football Club before Norm tagged me about it. It contains possibly the ultimate middle-class football fan anecdote. 10 years old and fresh off the boat from France in South Africa, the lawyer-to-be chose to support Aston Villa because: “I knew what […]

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Senior Moment

In a way, I’m glad I don’t have proper Internet access. The BBC radio news yesterday evening was apocalyptically depressing. How much global death, disaster, and destruction is it possible to fit into one broadcast? Pakistan, Mexico, South-East Asia. The latest Economist—a journal not normally known for “quagmire” rhetoric—welcomes the Iraqi people’s recent vote on […]

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Sven Speaks

“Yes-erh, well-erh, I’m erhfraid we in Englanddd feerhl that-erh Austrierh arerh not yet-erh ready to be admitteddd to full-erh memberrrship of therh Worlddd Cup-erh Finalss. I’ddd alsso like to take thisss opp-erh-tunity to say ‘Heh‘. “By therh way, I very much lik-erh what you herhf done with yerh hair, young lady. Woulddd you be ffree […]

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Trainspotting. Really.

During the 80s, despite my father’s tribal loyalties lying further north, the Counsells had family membership of Leicestershire County Cricket Club. We would take a picnic and sit next to the sight screens. My mum fell in love with David Gower because he batted like a young god and his hair, curly and flashed with […]

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Off His Back

You don’t have to be an Aston Villa supporter—or even a football fan (not that the two things are necessarily related)—to appreciate the miserable poetry of this eBay item description. It’s of a Villa away shirt dating from about a year after I could last reliably name all the members of the first team. [via […]

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Wandering The Web

I spent the final three days of last week in a grant-writing binge: tapping at my keyboards in the early hours, making phone calls to Brighton, wading through artspeak, eating dodgy fast-food. Over the weekend I had a chance to perambulate properly in cyberspace. By following the ‘Blog aggregator of a friend I found an […]

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Choice Quotes

Glenn McGrath: “I think I was saying 3-0 or 4-0 about 12 months ago, thinking there might be a bit of rain around. But with the weather as it is at the moment, I have to say 5-0.” Jeff Thomson: “England will lose the five-Test series 3-0 and the margin will be worse for them […]

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And So It Ends

A coloured guy, a lesbian, and a Jew settle down to enjoy a game of cricket… Before the great battle begins today I must remind you of what is at stake, not merely a century-old sporting trophy, but the pride of the English-speaking ‘Blogging world. …And the coloured guy says to the lesbian: This is […]

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Lucky, Lucky Bastards

That’s the trouble with Test Match Special: evocative commentary, unintentional innuendo, amusing anecdotes about furry-costumed Test Match attendees, bizarre guests (Bobby Charlton—what was that about?), occasionally slightly bonkers contributions from actual cricketers, but never searing analysis like that offered by Aussie Tony T at After Grog Blog: “Well, that’s it then, The Ashes are gone. Time […]

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Two Blogs On Cricket

normblog quoting C L R James: “[T]he bowler v batsman confrontation “reproduces the central action which characterises all good drama from the days of the Greeks to our own: two individuals pitted against each other in a conflict that is strictly personal but no less representative of a social group.” wongaBlog watching the game being […]

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The Tebbit Test

Cambridge Sony Shop. Saturday. Your host, Damian “Ebony’n’Ivory” Counsell, and a Sony employee of south Asian descent who’s darker than a sideboard are wincing at the fall of cheap England wickets in their second innings. Mr Sony even goes off on one about a particularly shoddy piece of umpiring in the Aussies’ favour. Meanwhile, all […]

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Clarifications

My last post was provoked by the continuing gloatiness of Australia’s cricket fans and it linked to a normblog post that looked suspiciously like an example of such behaviour. Truth was he was just being sarky so I’ve changed the link. My apologies to Norm, who isn’t a bad loser—though I very much hope that […]

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Yeah, But

One of the many reasons why it would have been satisfying to beat Australia in the first cricket Test at Lord’s is that they and their supporters are not just bad losers, but worse winners. Anyway, though we may field like astigmatics, Aussies are still crap at comedy.

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Hard Day At The Office, Dear?

Lance Armstrong has lost one testicle and parts of his brain to cancer. Despite this he seems likely to win his seventh consecutive Tour de France, a competition widely considered to be the greatest test of endurance in modern sport. Meanwhile his girlfriend has been in the studio complaining to Chrissie Hynde about how difficult […]

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A Great Escape

The Web is full of ordinary people from all over the planet whittering on about whatever they want to. Other people all over the planet can read their whitterings for next to nothing. Add a bit of peer review and you have a wonderful meritocracy of whittering. This account of West Bromwich Albion escaping relegation, […]

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Northern People Are So Cute

From BBC Sport: Cuban legend Kindelan had beaten Khan in the lightweight final in Athens, but he had no answer to the Briton in front of a passionate Bolton crowd. After a cagey opening, Khan exploded on to the offensive and showed brilliant hand speed to prevail 19-13 on points. … “I managed alright,” said […]

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One For My Dad

Via the redoubtable Tim Worstall (who graduated to the ‘Blogroll here yesterday—like he needs the hits), I discover that there’s a British cricket ‘Blog called The Corridor Of Uncertainty. I like that it has a “Cricket” subject category, presumably to mark out the posts about cricket.

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Class War: Two Things

Hot Wheels Helena did mention that my account of the boxing tournament between Cambridge students and residents might have given the impression that I didn’t have a good night out. I did, in fact, have an excellent time. She also mentioned that—further to my amusement at one of the university’s champions being called “Hugh”—she and […]

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Class War

Last Friday I went to the Cambridge Union Society to watch the Town versus Gown boxing. I should explain to non-Brits that the Cambridge Union is Cambridge University students’ debating chamber and cross-college social focus. Several members of the various Thatcher cabinets were elected officers at the Union when they were undergraduates. Friday night’s event […]

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In Installation Hell

I am quiet because I am busy fixing a computer. Sorry everyone. I did take a brief break on Friday evening. During that interval I watched two young women hit each other very hard in front of a baying mob—not on screen; in the flesh. Naturally I’ll ‘Blog that. In the meantime, please feel free […]

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