Was Andy Murray Victimised Over Lockerbie?
I’ve just watched Andy Murray crash out of the tennis in Cincinnati. It was to be expected as it was his seventh successive start in the heat of the day. He did ask for a later start, but this was refused. Here’s what the BBC said.
The Scot was treated court-side for the heat in the second set, which Fish took with ease as Murray’s strength waned.
Murray showed immense reserve to force the final set to a tie-break but Fish proved just too strong for the Scot.
The players took to the court at 12pm local time (1700 BST) in temperatures reaching 33 degrees in the shade, after Murray’s request for a later start on Friday was rejected by tournament officials.
I wonder why they rejected his request?
Could it be that Murray was a Scot and the Americans wanted to vent their fury over the release of Al Megrahi on someone Scottish?
What’s the odds that he gets a terrible draw in the US Open?
Real Tennis as a Recovery Index
I played my first competitive game of real tennis since the last stroke yesterday. I didn’t do too well, but I think I was getting better as the hour progressed.
As real tennis has a computerised handicap system, it will be interesting if my handicap gets better or worse over the coming months.
SO if you’re recovering from a stroke or any other illness for that matter and you can play tennis, why not consider learning real tennis. It can be played at a gentle level if you wish, but as it depends very much on your thinking, as your physical prowess, you will at least know, if you are improving.
Real Tennis at Cambridge
I went into Cambridge today to have a game of real tennis at the Cambridge University Real Tennis Club in Grange Road. I was also introducing an old Metier friend and colleague, Spencer Hamill, to the game.
I fared better than last time and still miss balls that are low at the left with a backhand. But then I was always crap in that area. But I did find that I could volley reasonably well and also I was serving overhead, which I haven’t done since the stroke. Here’s a clip.
Next time I play it’ll be off handicap and it will be interesting to see what happens.
A Suffolk Punch at the Football
I’m not sure whether it’s ever been done before, but Easton Farm Park paraded a Suffolk Punch before the match at Ipswich against Burnley on Saturday.
A Suffolk Punch at Portman Road
He was extremely well-behaved. If Ipswich had beaten Burnley rather than drawn, he’d have had to be there every week.
Send For The Dutch
Blackpool has a problem in that they’ve now run out of orange paint. Apparently, it got worse when Blackpool beat Wigan in their first match in the Premier League
I think the Dutch ought to send some of their emergency supplies.
It strikes me though that it could be an opportunity for a great deal of fun and partying on both sides.
Do Blackpool have a Dutch branch of their Supporters Club? I suspect that they will soon!
What is addiction to orange called?
Temenos
Temenos is impressive and towers over everything in the dock area of Middlesbrough, except for the transporter bridge.
Temenos and the Transporter Bridge
I like Temenos and feel that it is beautifully sited and paired with the nearly hundred years old bridge, that is still in full working order, despite what you saw in Auf Weidersehn Pet.
We need more structures like Temenos and the transporter bridge, as I think they make people and especially children think about engineering and how to build things. In recent years London has gained the Millennium bridge and the Hungerford footbridges, Newcastle has the winking bridge, but poor old Ipswich has gained nothing at all. Properly built these types of structures last generations, as so many of our Victorian bridges have shown.
Perhaps after the match, we should have all gone had paid homage at Temenos, which in ancient Greece was a place to worship gods., as the structure is very close to the Riverside Stadium. But I suspect if we’d tried, the Middlesbrough Police wouldn’t have understood the joke. These Middlesbrough fans don’t look too happy as they trudge home in the shadow of Temenos.
Temenos, the Transporter Bridge and Middlesbrough Fans After The Game
I said that Tenemos was impressive, but so was the quality of the water in the dock below. Terry pointed out a salmon, which are nhow comon in the Tees. How many were there, when the bridge was built?
A Weekend in Middlesbrough
As I said in Travels with My Stroke, the first trip outside London would be one to Middlesbrough. Some of my friends thought I was slightly unhinged to be going there, but then you don’t have to be mad or stupid to be an Ipswich supporter, but it does help.
So it was with a certain amount of anticipation, that I boarded the train at Peterborough for the journey to York, where I changed for Middlesbrough. It was a pleasant and uneventful journey that was completed by a short taxi ride to a clean and comfortable B&B called Chadwick Guest House, run by a charming young Sardinian, who had come to the UK to learn English a few years ago and had stayed.
Also staying in the same guest house, were some Town fans from Oslo in Norway, who after the match were going to Exeter for the Carling Cup.
I should say that I was going to be shown round Middlesbrough by a lady, Liz, who subscribes to the coeliac group on the Internet that I moderate, and her husband, Terry.
So on the morning of the match, they showed me around Middlesbrough and gave me lunch. One of the reasons, I’d come was north was to see the new Anish Kapoor installation, Temenos, and the various amazing bridges across the Tees. They have the famous Transporter Bridge, an enormous lifting bridge, a modern stylish footbridge and a barrage to prevent flooding of the town. We even saw some salmon leaping up the salmon ladder past the barrage alongside the canoe slalom course.
It was a very interesting couple of hours before the match and the walks along the Tees are very much to be recommended.
I won’t say too much about the match, except to say my fears and those of the other several hundred travelling fans were not fulfilled.
Perhaps, we should have all gone had paid homage at Temenos, which in ancient Greece was a place to worship gods, after the match., as the structure is very close to the Riverside Stadium, but I suspect if we’d tried, the Middlesbrough Police wouldn’t have understood the joke.
Did I have any regrets about going? Only one! Sunday marked the start of the Tall Ships Race, just over the Tees at Hartlepool. If I’d known about it, I’d have gone. But neither the Middlesbrough Council or Football Club web sites had mentioned this was happening. Instead I took the train back to Bury St. Edmunds in a much more optimistic mood in more ways than one, to the one I’d started out on Friday.
I will return to the Tall Ships Race. Surely, in these times of austerity, we should do everything we can to encourage visitors and make their visits as enjoyable as possible. If just a few Town fans had stayed over to see the unique race, at least they would have had a meal and a few beers to help the local economy.
Remember too, that many football fans are interested in other things. I was in Milan, when Town fans showed how to support the team away in style. It was the first time, I actually had managed to get to see Leonardo’s Last Supper, in the city. One of the guides told me, that she’d never seen so many football fans viewing one of the world’s most famous paintings.
But then Town fans are different and long may it stay that way!
Anyone for a weekend in Scunthorpe?
Free As A Lark at Yarmouth Today
She would appear to have a chancen in the 3:50, but she will be at short odds, so just enjoy it. It will be on At The Races, so if you have Sky, you can watch
Ipswich Town’s Dual Fixture List
My father was a printer and liked to find simple solutions for printing problems. He would like this dual fixture list from Ipswich Town.
Dual Fixture List from Ipswich Town
The small wallet sized one on the right has been torn off the larger one on the left.
Simple and very handy.
The Paradox that is Pakistan
There is a long article in The Sunday Times today by Christina Lamb, that should be read by everyone who worries for the future of that part of Asia. I do,as I was born, when two nations; India and Pakistan, were created out of violence.
She details how the ISI, the Pakistan Security Service has pursued its own policies over the country, the Taliban and Afghanistan. She more or less accuses the ISI of being involved in the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and the attacks on Mumbai. One also wonders where the $18billion that the United States has given Pakistan in aid has gone?
After reading Lanb’s article, I feel very much that David Cameron got it about right, when he spoke in India last week!
We also today have the appalling performance of the Pakistan cricket team at Nottingham, where they collapsed badly and were beaten by 354 runs. They had the nucleus of a team, but it self-destructed in Australia and some players endeed up being banned for life. If you can’t organise your national sport, when you have so much history in the game, you are in a bad state.
Added to this is the fact, that I know from some of my friends, that it is still possible to do serious business with Pakistan. So it’s not all bad news!
But what worries me about Pakistan is that if they should support another terrorist attack on India. Would India show the same restraint she did after the Mumbai attacks? I think not this time, as those attacks weren’t the first and they must be losing patience!
Would the various communities from the sub-continent show restraint in the UK? Most probably would, but I doubt that we could keep out of it.
Pakistan must get its act together, reinforce democracy and curb the power of the ISI.
The Anonymous Widower 