Sports Thoughts (12.7.21)

I watched highlights of the Big Final on Sunday.
(I’m talking about the Copa America, of course…)
It made me laugh to see Lionel Messi trying to lift a trophy that was the same size as him. 

Thank God the Duke of Kent is retiring from his duties at Wimbledon. He’s looked like a cadaver since 1979 and watching him dodder onto Centre Court is like watching an old woman about to cross the road at a busy junction. They should have brought him out on a mobility scooter. Wimbledon is all about tradition, and the same things happening at the same time every year, and that’s great, but one thing I will not miss is seeing him follow the exact same path and the exact same routine as he has done every year since the 60s.
I’m not exaggerating – put on clips of his entrances when he comes out to present the Men’s Champions with the Gold Cup and he always stops at the exact same spot for some tired small talk with some tired ball kid or other.

The Men’s Final was so good because the crowd made such a great atmosphere. Too often, these showpiece matches are dulled by a group of entitled rich twits acting like they’re attending a sermon in church. But having been starved of their beloved Wimbledon for two years, they were all determined to enjoy it, and it lifted the whole occasion.

And, ok, I’ll mention the England – Italy game. I’m not a huge fan of football so I don’t think my opinion counts for much, and there’ll be dozens of online articles and millions of social media posts about it already without me polluting and diluting things further.
But….
I watched it, I got into it, I thought ‘our boys’ were great. To me, Italy were by far a better team and our lot did a bloody good job just containing them to one goal and holding out for a draw. Penalties strike me as the most ridiculous way of settling a sporting final, by the way. I think, in the future, they’ll be seen as archaic, stupid, and not reflective of the team nature of the sporting events they settle. It’s 11 v 11 for 120 minutes, then 1 v 1 in the shootout??? Daft.
But they were absorbing to watch, up-and-down like a see-saw, had more twists and turns than a Norfolk by-road, and left me feeling drained and, yes I admit it, disappointed.

RC 12-7-21