1) Hold on to your hats, etc and so on: it’s deadline-day week again. Sky’s biannual show has definitely lost something since the gurning youths, wrestling youths, bantzing youths and dancing youths were screened out after 2014’s sex-toy-gate – and Harry Redknapp’s car window losing its news value was a setback too. These days it’s all a bit more sanitised, a bit less edgy, a bit more like this. But it still deserves respect: it was pioneering broadcasting in its heyday – and it’s where fake news first took root. Here’s pretend footballer Jason Bent signing for QPR – and Sky’s Gary Cotterill rumbling it: “There’s a false thing just happened here ...”
2) The mannequin challenge is still a thing in Korea, if these antics at the country’s basketball league’s All-Star Game are anything to go by, halting proceedings in the middle of the game.
3) It’s 20 years since Trevor Sinclair did this. True, goalkeepers can do it too these days – but it was special, it won the BBC’s goal of the season ahead of David Beckham’s halfway line blooter, and it’s still widely regarded by online Best Ever experts as the FA Cup’s greatest strike. Better than Ricky Villa? Ryan Giggs? Ronnie Radford? You decide.
4) In an era big on incoherent set-piece speeches, this still stands out: owner Perry Martin celebrating California Chrome winning Horse of the Year at the Eclipse Awards. Starts awkward, gets worse. Just look at those faces in the background.
5) This week saw the sad demise of London Welsh, who were kicked out of professional rugby by the RFU over their financial problems – a terrible blow to a rugby institution with a rich heritage. Here they are on a grander stage, back in 1985, when they were runners-up to Bath in the John Player Cup final at Twickenham, in parts one and two. And here’s one of their most recent great moments, the narrow win at Bristol that sealed their promotion to the Premiership in 2014.
6) This is England actor Andrew Shim, who played Milky in the TV series, has gone behind the camera (mostly) to celebrate his passion for motorcycling. The result is Inside The Passion, his self-made documentary series in which he goes behind the scenes and up close with riders, their friends and family – “everything the fans and viewers never get to see”, he says. Episode one spotlights Isle of Man TT legend John McGuinness – and you can see it all in parts one and two.
Highlights from last week’s blog
1) Pre-season training, Aussie Rules style. 1992’s Adelaide Crows skipped the usual gym work and went straight for fire walking: taking ten steps across hot coals after a “three-and-a-half hour motivation session”. First up was a totally motivated Nigel Smart. It didn’t go so well. It led to a good nickname, though.
2) What not to do when you’re an NBA star a few months into a new $85m three-year contract. Number one: try not to forget the rules.
3) More love for Allen ‘The Answer’ Iverson after his appearance on The art of the ego-bruising crossover. Here’s his best dunk ever, and a career top ten.
4) Perth Scorchers’ Mitchell Johnson put on a one-man show against the Melbourne Stars in their Big Bash semi-final at the Waca Ground: taking two wickets in the first over, and finishing with figures of 3-3 from four overs.
5) More football answers on TV quiz shows. Following that Pointless jackpot win, here’s a less successful effort from The Chase as a contestant weighs up the question: “In 2009, Sunderland scored against Liverpool when the football deflected in off what object?” Meanwhile, some vintage Question of Sport – a 1982 episode with guests including Keke Rosberg, Kathy Smallwood-Cook and Gary Bailey.
6) And finally, culture. It’s the Olivier Award-nominated An Evening With Gary Lineker – the 1991 stage play, adapted for television in 1994, by Arthur Smith and Chris England. Watch out for an expert cameo from Mr Lineker himself.
Spotters’ badges: GrahamClayton, TheCedarRoom, BostonLager, YorkerBouncer, BlackCaeser, kisbie.
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