Fourth Round of the Vase eh, well who would have thought it? Not many this time last year, that's for sure, when we were sitting not so proudly at the bottom of the heap. A few club knockers were out and about. True we were playing a bit better by then, but it still looked a long way to safety, and we certainly weren’t worrying about any cup ties, I do know. But this season? A different kettle of fish indeed. Slow start admittedly, but since September solid, very solid I reckon. And this Vase run is fairy tale stuff. Most exciting thing to happen in Ryhope since the chip shop caught fire. So bring it on. Don’t know much about Sleaford except they must be very decent, but hopefully we can do the trick. If and when the rain stops that is.
Enough of the serious stuff, what else is happening in the sporting world? Couple of interesting sporting names in the new years honours lists, alongside the self serving politicians that is, and the civil servants getting a gong for going to work. Rather spoils it for the genuine volunteers. The sportsmen though? AP McCoy? Very well deserved. Jump jockeys are heroes in my book, particularly if they win, which AP did more than most. Put their bodies right on the line four or five times a day, and in the worst of the winter. AP seemed to be made from steel. And for those of us whose memory goes back to the sixties and seventies, a couple of names from our footballing past, Denis Law and Franny Lee. Denis was a great player, and Francis was a great workie ticket. Denis probably gets his gong for relegating Man U with that cheeky back heel for City, while Franny’s will be for services to diving. He could hit the deck, could Francis. Probably with an honourable side mention for lamping Norman Hunter. He went into the bog roll business when he retired did Franny, said he got the idea from all those thrown at him from the Falwell End...
Overall though my favourite honour went to Jacqueline Gold, she of the Ann Summers naughty knickers shop. Evidently she gets it for services to Entrepreneurship. Don’t know about you, but when I passed Ann Summers in years gone by, usually quite slowly, entrepreneurship wasn’t what I was thinking about....