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A good week for ...
A great week for Ian Healy, the tubby glovesman getting a dose of kudos after last summer's prolonged farewell love-a-thon for Adam Gilchrist. Shane Warne has ranked Healy in his list of the greatest cricketers he's ever played alongside or against. Gilchrist - whose work with the bat you might have thought would shade Healy - comes in at 16. Of course this would have nothing to do with Gilchrist disapproving of the seedier sides of Warne's life.
The great Haile Gebrselassie was thrilled to put his recent calf injury behind him to break his own world record at the Berlin Marathon for the second consecutive year. The 35-year-old Ethiopian brushed off a calf injury sustained in training two weeks ago to come home in a time of 2hr 3min 59sec.
Never let it be said that American footballers are softies for wearing those helmets and all that padding. Jacksonville Jaguars NFL offensive tackle Richard Collier was shot 14 times at point-blank range and lived to tell the tale, albeit with a bit of a slur and minus his left leg. Kudos.
The EU has put out a cookbook to encourage kids away from fatty foods and on to the healthy grub their soccer playing idols supposedly enjoy. In Eat for Goals! kids can follow Ruud van Nistelrooy's recipe for salmon grilled with cloves and served with vegetables or have a go at Fabio Cannavaro's pasta a siciliana. Thierry Henry whips up rice cubana and Miroslav Klose opts for a "power omelette". Steven Gerrard is in there with aromatic sea bream. Liverpool's captain - who had non-EU healthy guideline recommendation fish and chips served at his wedding - said the recipes would help children learn "how to cook and eat like champions". Androulla Vassiliou, the European Health Commissioner, was more blunt. "We don't want you to be fat when you grow up," she told children at the book's launch in Brussels.
A mere 30 years after his death, a statue is being put up to honour Queensland cricketer Eddie Gilbert. Gilbert was so fast he once knocked the bat out of Sir Donald Bradman's hands before dismissing him for a duck. The Don said Gilbert was the fastest he ever faced. But, being Aboriginal, he was never invited to play for the 'Stralian side. It was hoped that the statue would find a home at the Brisbane Cricket Ground, the scene of Gilbert's famous encounter with Bradman in 1931. But the idea was vetoed, and the life-size bronze statue will instead go up at the Queensland Cricket Academy inviting suggestions that, after more than half a century, Gilbert is still not accepted by 'Stralia's cricketing establishment.
A bad week for ...
Truly, hell hath no fury like a pissed-golfer's wife scorned. John Daly's estranged missus, Sherrie Daly, has denied stealing his cellphone. Her lawyer, the fabulously monikered Randy Fishman, says: "This is a divorce case and people accuse each other of stuff all the time."
Sherrie allegedly nicked the phone from Long John's tour bus in June while the vehicle was parked behind the John Daly Bar & Grill in the Mississippi city of Olive Branch. She's due in court on October 9. SuperShorts wonders: Is it normal for recovering alcoholics to have their own bars?
Even by 'Stralian standards this is low. Aussie wheelchair basketballer Tina McKenzie was having dinner with friends less than 24 hours after getting off the plane from Beijing. Naturally, her Paralympic bronze medal was produced with friends admiring her achievement. And, naturally, someone nicked the medal. "I'd hate to think someone stole it," says McKenzie. "That would be devastating. My hope is that someone has just picked it up and doesn't realise what it is or what it means to me."
North London's second-biggest club has had a tough start to the season - but enough about Watford's 2-1 defeat to Sheffield United. With two points from six games, manager Juande Ramos has guided Spurs to last in the Premier League and the club's worst start in 53 years. This weekend they face top-flight newcomers Hull. A fixture which two months ago would have looked an easy three pointer suddenly has the whiff of the last-chance saloon.
Is Graham Henry to blame? Spurs have started 19 different players so far this season.
Over at Aston Villa - similar club, similar ambitions, third on the table - Martin O'Neill has started the same 11 every game.
... and yet Ramos may not be the next manager to get the axe. Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn has "expressed confidence" in his manager Roy Keane.
