Part 6 of my sporting diary, as this week I look back at the Tottenham school of diving, briefly touch on the Six Nations, and get a bit over excited about Jossy's Giants.
I really hope the players of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club all recover from their ear infections in time for the North London derby on Saturday. It really wasn't nice to see healthy young men afflicted with balancing problems at Anfield due to their illnesses. Their manager seems to think it's acceptable to trick referees, though. I don't like to play the role models card, but what a fine example that sets for any young football fans watching the game.
It was good to see Dele Alli booked for yet another dive. Strange though that if the referee had not spotted it, then Alli could have received a retrospective ban, but because he did catch the cheat, then Alli simply received a yellow card. So you can deceive a ref, win a penalty, and then get a three match ban, or try your luck, and if you're caught you will be booked. Seems to me, if you dive you should get a ban, irrelevant of whether the officials spot the incident.
I always enjoy the Six Nations. For one I love the many battles and rivalries that make the tournament so special, and I secretly revel in the fact that everyone seems to hate the English. But it also signifies to me the progression of winter to spring. I do like a bracing morning, and cold winter days, but there comes a point when I've had enough of having no feeling in my toes.
I'm hoping to actually watch some rugby this weekend, as family commitments meant I was only able to catch ten minutes of England's win in Italy. I was gutted to have missed Ireland's last kick triumph in Paris, the kind of dramatic conclusion to a sporting contest that highlights why us sports fans get so excited about things like this in the first place. Try telling Irish rugby fans just seconds after Johnny Sexton's drop goal that sport doesn't matter.
It saddens me to watch the continuing demise of the FA Cup. Swansea's narrow win against Notts County was played in front of such a small crowd that you could hear players shouting at each other. It has increased the volume of those arguing that replays should be scrapped in the competition. I think it's inevitable that this will happen in the next few years. Time for dinosaurs like to me to just let it go now. The FA Cup is never going to get back to how it used to be.
One result on Tuesday that did please me was Lincoln City's win over Chelsea's U21 side in the Checkatrade Trophy. Nothing against Chelsea - actually, that's not true - but the competition was surely set up so that fans of clubs in the bottom two levels of the Football League could dream of watching their team at Wembley. Lincoln City have made it to Wembley for the first time in their 134-year history. And that's the kind of football story I want to hear about.
In other news: Arsenal must wish they could play Everton every week; Boreham Wood have re-signed Morgan Ferrier (believe me, that is exciting stuff); Billy Joel scored his first goal for Manchester United; and I'm looking forward to becoming a winter sports expert in the next few weeks, something that seems to happen once every four years. And my thoughts are with Riyad Mahrez, at what must be a stressful time for him.
But the best news, personally, was that I opened an email on Thursday asking me if I wanted to receive a review copy of the soon to be released Jossy's Giants DVD. I hesitated for all of two seconds before replying yes, yes, yes, and yes. Maybe I need to grow up a bit, but I can't wait to show my son this classic TV series. The countdown begins....
Previous entries:
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5
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