The Importance of Sport (NEW CONCEPTS)

[Mick Harper]

Elsewhere in the NFL firmament, we have the Seattle Seahawks. They are in the process of being bought by a passing billionaire so are on their best behaviour. The Screaming Sea Eagles won the Super Bowl which never does your selling price any harm but billionaires are not overly concerned with money, they buy football teams for the cachet. Hence the 'best behaviour'.

So one has to ask whether it was wise of the Seahawks to sign up Terrion Arnold after the Detroit Lions had released their 2024 first round pick. Why was he released? It may have something to do with Arnold being charged with kidnapping and armed robbery in Florida last February.

But there may be nothing for Seattle to worry about. Since the Miami heat have a plethora of evidence in the form of phone conversations showing Terrion was the moving spirit in the affair (though not personally involved in the pistol-whipping part), I doubt he will appear on the artificial turf of Lumen Field, Seattle in the next ninety-nine years without the possibility of parole.

Although, one has to say, the NFL is considered so central to American life that more than one player has been allowed to serve his sentence and fulfill his contractual responsibilities to his footballing masters. It's called 'the separation of powers' over there.

[Mick Harper]

The Athletic ranked all the away kits, one to twenty. I can't remember who came top--it's just one person's opinion and who cares about away kits anyway--but it may have been Arsenal.

[Mick Harper]

Arsenal 3 Coventry 0

I can't remember who came top last year but it may have been Arsenal. The best bit in this match was when the camera was trained on Frank Lampard and the Sky commentator said, "The last manager to get Coventry into the top tier was Jimmy Hill."

I came over all warm with a mixture of nostalgia and contempt. On this showing they'll soon be back down. But then again on this showing every other team in the Premier League will be relegated too. It's not very well known but there's a 'mercy rule' -- you are relegated when you fall fifty points behind the leaders.

Yes, we're Arsenal and we don't care so get used to it.

[Mick Harper]

First Test England vs Pakistan

I'm not complaining or anything but from time immemorial test matches always had the same pattern, viz

* Whoever wins the toss bats first
* Both sides put in solid scores for their first innings
* Fast bowlers get the ball to move around a bit for the first ten overs
* Slow bowlers get a bit of turn on Days Four & Five
* The most likely result is a win for whoever won the toss
* The second most likely result is a draw.

'Good show' wasn't descriptive of the entertainment on offer, it was what you said if the other chaps won. Has anyone seen a test match like that recently?

[Mick Harper]

Transfer Records Quiz (by age, midfielders)

[Wile E. Coyote]

[Mick Harper]

And what about the other ten test-playing countries? It's just I'm writing to the MCC so I need to know.

[Wile E. Coyote]

Indians and Pakistanis normally opt to bat first in tests. This normally works well for them as well. A famous counter example is Bengaluru 2024, India were playing New Zealand, the first day was rained off, and the second morning overcast. India won the toss and of course opted to bat, if they had reached lunch, with a specialist batsman left, they would probably have gone on to win, but as it was they opted to hit their way out, and were bowled out for 46. Not even scoring 462 in their second innings, could save them.