1) The Open is here and as play begins, relive some of the best of St Andrews: Costantino Rocca’s extraordinary 70-foot putt from out of the Valley of Sin in 1995; “the happiest moment of my whole sporting life” – Seve Ballesteros’s birdie on 18 in 1984; Australia’s Kel Nagle sees off Arnold Palmer in 1960; still painful to watch: Doug Sanders’s miss that cost him the Open in 1970 and the putt Jack Nicklaus made to win it in the play-off; Nick Faldo won the title three times, including making this eagle on the 18th in 1990, but this will be his final appearance at the tournament, expect an emotional send-off, as there was for Palmer in 1995 and Nicklaus in 2005.
2) Fantastic compilation of the goals that took Red Star Belgrade and Marseille to the European Cup Final in 1991 – pleasingly set to the KLF’s Last Train To Transcentral. But what could possibly follow that? Well, how about the Britpop class of 1996 in a match at Wembley, including Supergrass, Massive Attack and Blur’s Damon Albarn slotting a cracker, or Roberto Martínez proving he’s still got it on the pitch? No, it has to be this: bow down to the solid steel cojones this kid displays as he nips on to the pitch to take a cheeky corner in the middle of an Altrincham v Wigan friendly.
3) Some classic cricket, including a mix of moments from 1992 to the tune of Betty Boo’s Let Me Take You There; then, Beefy reacts in the wake of his “I don’t ask my wife to face Michael Holding, so there’s no reason why I should be changing nappies” comment to an impressively aggressive, 1986, children’s TV Q & A: “I think you’re missing the whole context, love ...”; finally VHS nostalgia (wobbly tracking disappears after a bit) of Ireland v West Indies in 1991 – including fans becoming the boundary.
4) Awwwwwww: 108-year-old Evelyn Jones, born in 1907 when Theodore Roosevelt was president, becomes the oldest person to throw out a ceremonial first pitch. Compares very, very favourably with Fiddy Cent’s effort.
5) BOOM! Paderborn’s Marcel Ndjeng bangs in a huge volley, almost wasted really in a friendly against Bolton.
6) Is this the ultimate off-load? If so it is still only one part of this fantastic NRL try.
Our favourites from last week’s blog
1) Absolute nostalgia gold here with the intros to LWT’s The Big Match from 1968-1977.
2) ESPN Live’s bewildered take on Aussie Rules Football: “It’s like a blend of rugby ... and mugging someone.”
3) A superb mixture of am-dram theatrics and mountain-biking from Aurélien Fontenoy – including men wielding fiery swords and axes.
4) Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova go head-to-head at tennis-golf, tennis-bowling and tennis-William Tell. Djokovic comes off worst.
5) After last week’s penalty rocket from Chile’s Matías Fernández. some further spot-kick artillery: Chelsea’s potential new boy Charles Aránguiz making a keeper physically flinch and having another blast against Brazil at the World Cup; Kevin Pressman for Sheffield Wednesday against Wolves in 1995; Julian Dicks repeatedly at it for West Ham and finally, Graeme Souness in the 1984 European Cup Final making sure while apparently naked from the waist down.
6) Cheer up Aussies! Two classic hat-tricks courtesy of Glenn McGrath against West Indies and Shane Warne against England.
Spotters’ badges: evilboy14, BlackCaeser, globalgame, TheReducer, TheCedarRoom, RedLegends, DrGreggles, Ruinart.
