Bu-ut ohhhh, those su-ummer niiiiii-iiiiights…

Ok, I loved Grease, no shame in that. Everybody loves it still. But I really loved it because I was deeply, madly, passionately in love with Olivia Newton-John. Just me and 37 million other teenage boys, and probably as many girls were in love with that gorgeous Aussie bird wot couldn’t sing for shit but who gives a damn when you look like that? I had a big poster of her on my (purple) bedroom wall. The one from her single, Country Roads. Terrible awful quasi-C&W songette limply moaned out by Lovely Liv. My brother (massive Black Sabbath fan) sneered at me. I didn’t care. Love has no barriers. Not even to that song.

But the summer, which is where we began, is such a lovely time. Or so I thought til I downloaded the Times today and, as usual, hit the sports’ pages first and foremost and…

Fucking golf. Who voted golf a ‘sport’. Winston Churchill famously described the game as ‘the perfect way to ruin a good walk’ and I just can’t see it as a ‘sport’. A pastime (like landscape painting), fine. A very skilful game (so is bridge), no problem. But sport? Where’s the sweat? Where’s the exertion? Golf is great, just put in on the ‘pages for people who like wearing smart-casual wear and walking round in silly shoes’, and leave the sports bit for others.

So I flicked through the 18 pages of golf and found… women’s cricket. I’m no sexist, as you know, but women’s cricket? On a Sunday morning? When I’m looking for tales of footballing artistry, stories about wayward All Blacks eating lesser mortals in a new, more sacrificial type Hakka. Then there was cycling news. Hmmmm. And finally, almost an afterthought, a little bit of football. Because its only friendlies being played and we all hate friendlies. So I wouldn’t normally even waste the memory space on my ipad talking about Chelsea playing Arsenal except for 2 reasons. Firstly that it was played in Beijing. Stamford Bridge busy that day, was it? The Emirates not good enough? Oh, of course, by playing it in China each club probably gets to pocket enough cash to fund 3 NHS hospitals for 6 years (that being the new and only currency ever spoken about in the UK).And secondly because Arsenal lost.

Which, in the grand scheme of even exclusively footballing things, is meaningless. But just nice to write anyway. And apparently lost bad. Or good, if you’re that way inclined. Chelsea looked great, no change there then, and Arsenal defended like the National Ballet and were weak in attack. Even with new 65 zillion pound signing.

Which must make you a little bit happy. Even if life here in the heat, the luxury, the peace and ease of holiday-mode, doesn’t make one happy enough already.

My cup runneth over. Never mind, they have people here to wipe it up.

Happy Sunday

A xxxx