Category Archives: Sport

Football Review: England vs Tunisia 18th June 2018

Posted on June 19, 2018 by

The bookmaker Paddy Power is offering odds of 250-1 on England winning the World Cup: 250-1 for new customers.1 The form-book is the FIFA world rankings: England at 12th with Tunisia lagging at 21st. Sure enough the form came through … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Vince Hilaire (and Tom Maslona) ~ Vince: The autobiography of Vince Hilaire

Posted on April 3, 2018 by

He was an outstanding athlete excelling in cricket where he played at Essex Schoolboy level, which was dominated by those that were being privately educated (it still is). A black working-class boy from east London was as rare as hens … Continue reading →

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Film Review ~ I, Tonya (Margot Robbie and Allison Janney)

Posted on March 13, 2018 by

Allison Janney (LaVonna Fay Golden) rightly won the 2018 best supporting actor Oscar for a stunning performance throughout I, Tonya. She’s the horror show mother of Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) who’s been cultivated since early childhood to be a champion … Continue reading →

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Games Lessons in the 1950s at Sir Philip Magnus school, London

Posted on February 16, 2018 by

I have never liked sporting events, especially team games. Every Wednesday afternoon my class, of around 28 pupils from Sir Philip Magnus school in North London had to muster outside the school gates for the obligatory torture session. All or … Continue reading →

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Competitive Advantage and Drugs in Sport

Posted on January 26, 2018 by

Sporting bodies uniformally prohibit non-medical drug use. Why? Drugs are prohibited because they enhance performance. Drugs, in brief, hold a unique place amongst all the other competitive advantages. Elite athletes have many advantages apart from drug use. Drug use however … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Walter Tevis~ The Hustler

Posted on October 17, 2017 by

It’s a disappointing thing to have to say in a book review that Tevis is unknown but the film with Paul Newman is a classic. He also wrote ‘The Color of Money’ and he’s unknown for that as well. So! … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Paul McGrath~ Back from the brink: The Autobiography

Posted on August 22, 2017 by

Paul McGrath’s autobiography is a must read. It’s honest, brutally honest and oh-my-god honest. McGrath was brought up in a children’s home where discipline was ‘robust’. As a black boy, in racist Catholic Ireland, McGrath suffered tremendously. His natural athleticism … Continue reading →

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