On Yer, Todd
‘AROUND five days ago, even Todd Hamiltons daughter would have been excused for asking Who? when his name was mentioned.
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Now, four-year-old Kaylee Hamilton, who appears on the back page of the Mirror pulling a series of funny faces, can read about her dad in the papers.
And so can we, as the paper tells us that Hamilton is golfs new Open champion, having beaten Ernie Els in a play-off at Royal Troon.
Well done, Hamilton – and well done, God. It seems that Hamilton was always in with a prayer of victory thanks to a chance meeting on the familys flight over from the United States.
The new champs wife, Jaque, tells the paper that on the jet over to Scotland, her husband found himself seated next to a priest.
His name was Jason, says she, and he wished us all the best and said: Now I know who to pray for. Ill pray for him when I see him on the leaderboard.
That truly was a stroke of luck.
(Perhaps Americas greatest athletes gearing up for this summers Olympics with shots of this and that should find Jason and beseech him to do for them what he did for their countryman Hamilton.)
Without a doubt, the outsider, with God and Jason on his side, is the sports story of the day. And we have the Mail and Star hailing Hot Toddy! and the Sun saying Against all Todds.
The next story of importance, at least to the Sun, is the one about the movements of Patrick Vieira, the Arsenal captain.
With no deal done to take the Frenchman to Real Madrid, and, in truth, no offer from the Spaniards on the table, its left to Dennis Bergkamp to breathe life into the story.
The Dutchman says that Vieira is irreplaceable and that it would be a pity if he left Highbury.
A pity! Not a tragedy. Not a disaster. Not the end of all life on Earth. But a pity.
The other pity is that this story is given such prominence by the Sun.
The Vieira to Madrid story has become one of those mainstays of the football press, holding its own alongside the one about English footballs search for a player with a left foot and Sven Goran Erikssons love life.
And the Swedish managers commitment to the England cause is being once more questioned by his chief critics at the Mail.
In Two-Timer Sven, the paper spots Sven step aboard one of the fleet of motorised islands owned by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.
Football Association bosses were fielding embarrassing questions about Sven Goran Eriksson last night – over his relationship with the Chelsea owner, says the paper.
Hold the phone! That mystery brunette (see Tabs)… No, it cant be. What Sven gets up to with the Russian is his own business.
The Swede will be in the employ of the FA until 2008, as his lucrative contract stipulates, and thats an end to the matter.
England fans just have to grin and bear it…’
Posted: 19th, July 2004 | In: Back pages Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
