Bad boys, flying the flag for the girls, and the dangers of London turning into Gretna Green this summer. A compilation of the week’s sports and media quotes
“I don’t trust Mario… I don’t think anyone can trust Mario. Probably the moment will arrive when he understands what he should do when he has two days off. But I can’t take him and put him in his house for two days” Roberto Mancini admits he cannot control the striker, after the Italian flew home to Milan and gate-crashed a press conference at Inter to snatch yet more headlines.
“Players feigning injuries or players that go down & act like they have been hit by a lorry etc do my head in massively. Punish them too??” Rio Ferdinand Tweets on Sunday night, presumably having just watched Newcastle’s James Perch make a banquet of an aggressive gesture from Pepe Reina which resulted in the Liverpool keeper’s red card.
“€90 per ticket = one euro per minute? Football is not phone sex!” Schalke fans angry at the prices charged by Athletic Bilbao for the Europa League quarter-final first leg.
“Stade Velodrome is a great stadium and it’s always full, home or away” Franck Ribery, formerly of Marseille, does nothing to blow a hole in the stereotypical image of a footballer.
“…so begins a new BBC documentary, fronted by Gabby Logan, titled Sexism in Football? It need not have bothered with the question mark” Anna Kessel in The Guardian.
“I can see that drinking and behaving inappropriately on that flight as a professional sportsman at 7am has caused offence to members of the public, the Flybe Airline staff and passengers” Gavin Henson, fallen rugby idol, who discovered that not even a grovelling apology for throwing ice cubes at passengers could save him from being kicked out by Cardiff Blues.
“As it is, he is a free agent but brand Henson is toxic. The loss is his but it is also rugby’s because he was poetry in an era of prose” Paul Rees, The Guardian.
“So now, naturally, English rugby union agonises over whether Stuart Lancaster should have been thanked, patted on his head and sent on his way with his pail of water and cleaning utensils” James Lawton, The Independent, on the doubters who are already questioning the appointment of Lancaster as England coach.
“I realised what I had done – put my hand to my mouth. I knew I was responsible, and played the rest of game in a fog” Calum Clark, of Northampton and England, who was suspended for 32 weeks after breaking Leicester rival Rob Hawkins’s elbow.
“I accept that he did not intend to harm Hawkins or cause him injury. I come to that… by the way he presented and expressed himself at the hearing. He is not a thug and presented as a genuine young man” Judge Jeff Blackett, RFU disciplinary chief.
“A batting collapse is perhaps the only moment in a team sport in which you can clearly see despair. A batting collapse is about the death of hope, the inevitability of failure. You can witness the black worm of despair wriggle from one batsman to the next” Simon Barnes, chief sports writer of The Times, after England’s defeat to Sri Lanka in the first Test.
“It’s a little naïve to say that they are the only two with a chance to win around here” Luke Donald as the Masters is tagged a two-horse race between Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. Donald is the world No1.
“While you are in the UK, you will not be allowed to undertake a course of study; or marry or form a civil partnership, or give notice of marriage or civil partnership” UK Borders Agency takes steps to stop foreign Olympic athletes staying on illegally in London after the Games.
“As attention continues to be paid to past events at News International, I am determined that the interests of BSkyB should not be undermined by matters outside the scope of this company” James Murdoch resigns as chairman of the satellite broadcaster.
“Somewhere around two weeks ago, James Murdoch concluded that the risk of an adverse committee report – or a poor showing at Leveson – was too great” Dan Sabbagh, the Guardian‘s media editor, on James Murdoch’s resignation at BSkyB.
“I am quite happy looking forward to the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games rather than going to the Olympics as a black sheep. If I was to go, I don’t know if it would be a joyful experience” David Millar, who could be eligible for London if the World Anti-Doping Agency win their case against the BOA’s lifetime Olympic ban for drug cheats this month.
“Laurie had his car there and at around 2am he thought it would be fun to drive the wrong way around the Arc de Triomphe, as if we were in Britain” Ann Jones, the 1969 Wimbledon champion, on the former Daily Mail tennis correspondent Laurie Pignon, who died this week.
UPCOMING SJA EVENTS
Mon Apr 16: SJA Spring Golf Day, Surbiton GC. Click here for booking details.
Thu Apr 19: SJA Annual General Meeting, Fleet Street, 12.30pm. Click here for details.
Thu May 10: SJA Ladbrokes Lunch with former England cricket captain Alec Stewart. Booking details to be announced.
Mon Sep 24: SJA Autumn Golf Day, Muswell Hill GC. Booking details from Paul Trow at ptrow76780@aol.com