That Winning Feeling
‘FOR a moment, pretend you are not British. Close your eyes and imagine that you are not the champion of the underdog, a fan of the team that never wins. You are backing the favourites.
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In short, imagine you are American or Australian.
You need not begin to whoop like a demented Texan or wave a plastic kangaroo over your head and enthuse about the great life back home – just imagine what its like going into a sporting contest believing you will win.
And now look to the back page of the Mail and learn that Englands cricket team are looking very much like a terrific side in the making.
Yesterday, Michael Vaughans first XI thrashed the West Indies by 256 runs and so retained the Wisden Trophy.
There are two matches still to play in the four-series Test and, given the way England have performed to date, Brian Laras team will be wondering what their game plan should be.
(Although Lara, who was given out in dubious circumstances for the second time this summer, will be excused for thinking that he needs to beat not only England but the umpires as well.)
And its not only cricket where England are playing out of character. As the Sun reports, British boxing is on the up.
Mike Tyson may not be the ferocious fighter he once was, but hes sill a pretty awesome sight climbing into the ring.
So its right that the Sun lavishes praise on Danny Williams, the British fighter who beat him over the weekend.
Not that Williams needs the Sun to tell him how good he now is, – thanks to his victory over the rusting iron man, the Londoner now stands in line for a £10m pay-day against either Evander Holyfield or Vitali Klitschko.
This is all great stuff, but as it comes, so it must pass. We are British, after all, and even when England are playing great cricket and Williams is knocking over the baddest man on the planet, losing still dominates the sports pages.
And the losers in the frame are Sven Goran Eriksson, Mark Palios and the Football Association.
There seems little point in delivering to you the full letter of resignation penned by FA chief executive Palios over the incident that occupies the tabloids front pages.
Lets just say that hes gone, leaving behind Ms Faria Alam and the FA in more disarray than usual.
But rest assured that it will be handled with the FAs customary lack of class, ambition, direction and ability.
If only the fools who preside over English football could just close their eyes for a moment…’
Posted: 2nd, August 2004 | In: Back pages Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
