New Statesman Scotland
Rugby is a game for ruffians played by gentlemen, runs the old saw. Except that sometimes the ruffians get a game. No surprise, then, that Colin Pender was recently fined £500 for an assault committed on Jamie Parker during a Hawick Trades v Hawick YM rugby match in the Borders District League. His lawyer explained how passions had run high during the derby game.
Totally different from the game of bowls, you would reasonably have thought - a non-contact sport for those of placid disposition. Think again. The image of the game may never recover from the news that 70-year-old Jack Parker has been suspended by his bowling association after head-butting an opponent. It's enough to make Dougie Donnelly's hair stand on end.
Golf can be addictive and sometimes maddening. Simple enough in theory, but much more difficult in practice. People normally considered rational have undergone personality changes on the golf course. Even the very best players are not immune from spells of great anguish - John Daly, for example. They persist in the hope that one day it will all come right. Continued cause for optimism has now arrived in the shape of Jack Cannon. At a ripe 83 years of age, Jack completed his par 73 course at Irvine in Ayrshire in a splendid 75, a score golfers half his age would give their eye-teeth for. And this in a week when another 83 year old was arrested for forging a prescription for Viagra.
The Scotland football manager, Craig Brown, has been very low-key in his build-up to the England games. His praise of Kevin Keegan must put Scotland at least 1-0 up in the psychological stakes. Another goal for Scotland has to be the appointment of Scot Adam Crozier to head up the FA. If we don't win the tie, perhaps Jimmy Hill should take over from Craig Brown.
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