Easy Like Sunday Morning
Oct 14th, 2007 by 'holic
Sunday morning generally brings one of two feelings. Sometimes it is ‘the sun’s out let me walk to the newspaper vendor acknowledging everybody in sight with a cheery wave as Lionel Richie coos quietly in the background’. Others are like this morning. Dry mouth, banging temple, a strange buzzing between the ears. Obviously it was a good day to be a.) English, and b) the proud owner of a well stocked drinks cabinet!
On reflection I feel the England footballers may be living in the reflected admiration of their oval ball counterparts. At Wembley the hosts enjoyed massive slices of good fortune as they effectively saw off a poor side by half-time. The second-half was a painful watch, not least because so called experts kept on telling me how ‘difficult’ it is to carry on playing when you are three up. What?
Watching the rugby World Cup semi-final was like watching a George Graham side in a European tie. Superior opposition were ground down by a quite magnificent, and largely disciplined, defensive performance before the almost cynical counter attacks in the closing stages yielded match winning thumps of the boot. OK, if you are not English it must have been dire viewing. Now you know how those poor old Tottenham fans felt all those years ago!
If I were you I would also give the papers a wide berth this morning. There is precious little good news, although I am heartened by Eduardo’s match-winning strike for Croatia.
There is though some unhealthy posturing taking place ahead of this weeks Arsenal AGM. The Mail speculates on Dein’s possible appearance and the tone of the piece is something of a surprise. My understanding of soundbites from his ‘boss’ is that Dein is under strict instructions not to antagonise the board.
However, award for the most vomit-inducing pile of nonsense is reserved for an article I will not link to. Mark Franchetti, in the Times online, produces the most horrendous piece of propaganda for his sponsor. Try this for size.
‘Craig Murray, the outspoken former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, has accused Usmanov of links with organised crime but has offered no proof. Usmanov rejected the charges and threatened to sue Murray “if he can first prove that he is completely sane”.
Eh? When was the law on libel changed to include that little gem then?
The writer also gushes about Usmanov’s ability to survive six years in an Uzbek penal colony. In the words of the fat one, ‘When they realised that my dad was Uzbekistan’s deputy prosecutor-general they wanted to rip me to shreds. I had to survive day by day. But in time the inmates learnt to respect me.’
Anybody care to hazard a guess how he ‘earned’ that respect?
You’ll forgive me if I don’t rush out to buy Mark Franchetti’s book, rumoured to be publishing shortly, and provisionally titled ‘Sadam, Not Such A Bad Guy After All!’
2 Responses to “Easy Like Sunday Morning”
The Franchetti piece was truly awful, and any credibility he had has gone down the drain. Craig Murray has responded to this article – a well measured, critical response exposing the loop holes in the article, just like yours does. Interesting point you raised:
“Anybody care to hazard a guess how he ‘earned’ that respect?” 🙂
Goonerholic said, “If you are not English it [the Rugby World Cup Semi-final] must have been dire viewing.”
The French didn’t deserve to win – they couldn’t finish. They should have capitalized on some of their good play and scored a try. As a France supporter, I was terribly disappointed, but fair play to England, and good luck in the final.