The weekend in many ways focussed on England's inept performance on Friday night. Saturday's news was dominated by a fan who got into the changing area and had an "apparent" polite conversation with David Beckham and explained just how let down the fans felt, to say nothing of the £4000 the fan had spent getting to Cape town to witness such a shambles.
However with England laments, France implodes. Nicholas Anelka, who can sulk like a real professional has been sent home after calling the French manager, "the bastard son of a whore". I'm sure it sounds better in french. Actually he could have just said that the french manager was barking mad, because that seems beyond doubt.
Sunday belongs to Shane Smeltz, Shane once of AFC Wimbledon scored the opening goal in New Zealand's remarkable 1-1 draw against World Champions Italy. Smeltz who now plays in the A League for Gold Coast United, becomes the first player to have donned the shirt of AFC Wimbledon to have scored at the World Cup finals, quite an achievement.
While Shane was making headlines, we were at the Oval watching Surrey v Sussex. A household of divided loyalties. The Sharks reached a respectable 158 and Surrey never looked like getting close once Ramprakash and Symonds fell in quick succession. Younis Khan may be an accomplished test cricketer but T20 player he is not, the tail put up little resistance, and in the end the visitors won quite easily. At least the beer and pastie was good, and in buying the new England ODI cricket shirt, I was given two complementary tickets for further T20 games.
To quote The Independent cheer up there's a budget on Tuesday. For a couple of days, sport will have to share the nation's thoughts with talk of economic crisis and cuts in public spending. Frankly the country is being softened up to take the hit. It should be plain to all that we are not all in this together, however much the coalition tells us. The focus will be on hitting those least able to bear the brunt. The only fightback has once again come from the Green Party, where Caroline Lucas is spelling out that the attacks on public spending are being launched through ideological choice rather than necessity.
http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2010-06-19-callous-cuts-report.html
Key Quotes
"Anyone who believes that exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist."
(Kenneth Boulding)
"Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. "
(Raymond Chandler)
"Live simply so that others can simply live." (unknown)
"I cannot live without books" (Thomas Jefferson)
"Sport is war without the shooting" (George Orwell)
"New York is a great city to live in if you can afford to get out of it" (William Rossa Cole)
The secret of a happy ending is knowing when to roll the credits (Patterson Hood)
(Kenneth Boulding)
"Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. "
(Raymond Chandler)
"Live simply so that others can simply live." (unknown)
"I cannot live without books" (Thomas Jefferson)
"Sport is war without the shooting" (George Orwell)
"New York is a great city to live in if you can afford to get out of it" (William Rossa Cole)
The secret of a happy ending is knowing when to roll the credits (Patterson Hood)
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