1) It’s been a weekend of triumph and disaster across English football as the season reached its final throes in the Football League. There were “scenes” at the Macron Stadium, where Aaron Wilbraham scored twice in the dying minutes to keep Bolton in the Championship. But perhaps the finest moment came at Rochdale, where Joe Thompson – after twice fighting back from cancer – scored the goal to keep Dale in League One.
2) This week in US sports part one: Seattle’s James Paxton becomes the first Canadian to pitch a no-hitter in MLB since 1945 (an improvement on his previous claim to fame when he got uncomfortably familiar with an American eagle during a pre-game ceremony); Filip Forsberg with your NHL goal of the week (he’s got between-the-legs previous); South Dakota student pole vaulter Chris Nilsen clears 5.81m – the third best vault in the world this year; and get your cute on: DUCKLINGS ON THE FIELD!
3) A thirsty Didier Drogba grabs some unorthodox refreshment, then swings in the perfect corner for Phoenix Rising.
4) Cars and bike races don’t mix particularly well these days. The Tour de Yorkshire was a roaring triumph over the weekend but it wasn’t far away from disaster thanks to the Astana team car.
5) Valtteri Bottas doesn’t seem much concerned about what is else on the road as he tears through the streets of Italy in his Mercedes F1 car on the way to the Lorenzo Bandini awards. Only the lane he was in was closed off, and oncoming traffic included tractors among the obstacles.
6) Before the World Snooker Championship Mark Williams had promised to turn up for his press conference naked in the unlikely even of him winning the thing. And he did. It’s been a week for unusual post-victory celebrations: after claiming the Spanish Moto GP, Marc Márquez celebrated in … well, “style” isn’t quite the right word but flossing looks very hard to do on a motorbike.
7) This week in US sports part two: the Orioles give up 10 runs in the first innings against the Royals in MLB; in the NBA, the Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green listens in on the New Orleans team talk; and we admit to not being very familiar with the tactics of lacrosse, but this looks like a serious error in overtime in your pivotal college play-off match.
Our favourites from last week’s blog
1) If you were inspired to pick up a cue after the dramatic World Snooker Championships finale, best get some lessons. Here’s Dennis Taylor and, um, Johnny Ball with some tips.
2) Gary McAliister has joined Rangers as Steven Gerrard’s assistant. Here he is scoring for Leeds at Ibrox to almost total silence.
3) Egg boxing? “I’ve probably only had four or five eggs in my life that’ve gone 12-0.” You do have to wonder.
4) In ice hockey, Great Britain’s men won the IIHF World Championship Division One title last month, a victory secured in dramatic circumstances (saved penalty shot and a tying goal in the last two minutes) in Budapest. They now have the opportunity to play against Canada, Sweden and Russia at next year’s Championships in Slovakia, the first time in 24 years they’ve been at this level.
5) Melbourne Victory won the A-League in fine style but not before Roy O’Donovan took out Jet’s keeper Lawrence Thomas with flying kick that even Graeme Souness might have blinked at.
Spotters’ badges: LeeWall, BlackCaesar, OlePonty
