O Jonny!

February 5, 2007

Right now I am super-busy hung up with work, so posting will be really light for the next week.

Good time to direct you to the inimitable Inky for a full wrap of S14 and 6N weekends' action.

Excerpt:

It was in stark contrast to the mood in round one of the Six Nations. This looked so predictable you'd flick to the end of the DVD just to check, and then probably not bother watching it (unless you're me, and you know you have subscribers in places where there's no coverage... where you'd chew your own arm off and hit yourself with the bloody stump to see a live international... so I make a point of never taking that privilege for granted).

The first two fixtures saw England beat Scotland 42-20 at Twickenham and France thrash Italy 39-3 in Rome, the only event of significance being the long-awaited return of Jonny Wilkinson. He was very good, and made the late hour worthwhile scoring twenty seven of England's points. I'm not going to join the effusive praisegiving of the English press though, who apart from the always reliable BBC are staining their shorts over his Calcutta Cup performance.

It was good but not that good. Where Jonny Wilkinson is concerned, Fleet Street doesn't exactly take its cue from the man who shot Liberty Valance... only when the legend becomes fact, print the legend... they assign him mystical powers and light him burnt offerings.

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more...

That's just a taste. If you aren't a subscriber yet, then what are you waiting for?

And yes ~ yesss! ~ was pleased to hear ex-England srummie and current-BBC analyst Matt Dawson call it the way it was and condemn the Irish TMO video-ref for awarding Wilkinson's try. Just what, exactly, is the purpose of a TMO when he gets it so badly wrong? A travesty and a black eye. I am glad to see Dawson, who is hardly a neutral as far as picking sides here, call it straight down the middle.

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On a completely unrelated matter, the Colts won the Superbowl, good for them, but on a more important matter, Thurman Thomas was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and that makes me a very happy boy this morning. Congrats to him, he and Bruce Smith have always been my two fave football players, and I'm looking forward to Thurman's induction and the day Smith joins him in Canton.