Brilliancy in Sport, Your favourite moments

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My proudest moment was when my team Somerset beat Oz in 1977:

Somerset v Australians at Bath, 18-20 May 1977

Unbelievable against such a good Ozzie side,

Your mistake was in resting Dennis Lillee. A fabulous bowler. I did not miss a ball.

Greg Chappell was impressed enough to play for Somerset in subsequent seasons.

Interestingly, the Somerset Captain, Brian Close, contributed very little to the match. We suspected he had left a fag burning in the Pavilion when he came out to very briefly bat. And finished it off on his return. 😀
 
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If I may politely point this out to Aged and doubtless senile Sky Blues fans, the exact chant was there's only one David

Lol well I'm aged...what a joke - I was just a child (and not a football fan) so that explains my poor recollection.

What I'm dying to know is, why is a Pompy lad so fixated on Coventry? I thought, the teams were at a similar level, back then...27 years ago.As a Pompy lad moved to Coventry, I dont follow Pompy lol even if I can recall their chant more correctly!
 
I suppose this was back in 1986. The year when we folks on the Swan Lane End in Coventry realised we could beat the overpayed Oafs of Tottenham Hotspur on Boxing Day.

It was 3-3 into the final minute, Suddenly Cyrille (Cyrille, Cyrille!) got a header onto his head. He hit the bar. But he got a rebound and he then hit it into the net. 4-3 to the Sky Blues. After that we had nothing to fear from Tottenham Hotspur.

Why we beat them in 1987. 🙂
 
My dad, a fine judge of soccer, always thought Cyrille Regis was musclebound and slow and overweight.

With all due respect but your dad was clearly a crap judge of football given that Cyrille scored 3 goals in his first two matches for West Brom and 81 in 240 appearances.
Johan Cruyff wanted to sign Cyrille to replace Marco van Basten who had left for AC Milan at Ajax but was scuppered because Cyrille played well enough to become too expensive. I suspect that Cruyff knew a bit more about football than your clueless progenitor.
 
My dad, "Pickle" Ponsford was the best soccer centre-half Topsham in Devon ever had...

Offered professional terms by Bolton Wanderers due to recommendation by the Topsham manager, goalkeeper Dick Pym.

The money was rubbish in those days. £5 a week. This was pre-Jimmy Hill. He pursued his career in Quantity Surveying and the British Army. A dull-sounding career that led him to coaching a Sikh army football side in Northern India in WW2, whilst incidentally defeating a Japan team who had lost then their way into stupid Politics.

Don't get me wrong. Cyrille Regis was a better centre-forward than a team like the Sky Blues ever deserved. He always took out the opposition's best centre-half. Leaving the guy alongside him to shine. Keith Houchen re lives his FA Cup Final Wonder Goal!! - YouTube.

Actually my dad, as a centre-half with a Bobby Moore footballing brain, most admired Nigel Clough. Thought his first touch was exquisite. 🙂
 
It sad to relate, but as a Man who was denied the silky defensive footballing skills of my Dad, I nevertheless inherited his Footballing Brain.

Give me three competent defensive Men on a Brighouse football Table, and we might not win. But we'll give you the Fright of your lives.

BTW, I have no idea why these people are covering their faces. Nothing to be ashamed of there.
 

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Tour De France 1989 final stage time trial battle between Greg Lemond and Laurent Fignon! I almost fell off my chair with excitement as Lemond, with his triathlon bars and aero helmet inexorably pulled back all of Fignon's advantage to win the closest Tour ever.
 
I admit to not being hugely interested in any sport, and find many abhorrent.

But I do find it a huge pity the Olympics isn't happening this year. Whether, I enjoy the sport of not, the variety of sports and the global participation the event enjoys makes it something I follow, more than sport in general.

Cycle racing can be exciting, and I admit to liking the velodrome stuff, rather than Tour de France. Mostly I prefer 2 wheels to also include an engine.

I get called Wiggins at work haha
 
Mostly I prefer 2 wheels to also include an engine.

MotoGP, WSBK, BSB, Manx TT and the Irish Road Racing series are required viewing in my house.

That said I feel deeply sorry for Joey Dunlop's Sister in Law having lost her BiL, husband and one son to road racing!

As for Football according to Pele and Jack Charlton the greatest British football player was John Charles. Had he been fit for the Brazil-Wales quarter final in 1958 Pele said there would have been a very good chance of Wales beating the eventual champions.
Charles is the only non-Italian to have his portrait hung in Juve's Hall of Fame. When he visited Turin over 40 years after he played for Juve 50000 thronged the streets to catch a glimpse of him!
John Charles scored 108 goals for Juve in only 155 appearances being their star striker and central defender.
 
You either like taking your life in your hands, or you settle for Accountancy, IMO.

I do love the old Sporting motorbikes. My brother Chris used to run the old 1970's Kawasaki KH-750 Green Meanie.

The most beautiful or handsome bike ever built IMO. But TBH, terrible engineering. It did a tank-slapper at 100 mph on the A4 due to a weak frame. Whole thing became uncontrollable. 😱

Way he described it was he had two choices. Slow down or speed up. He elected to speed up to 120 mph. Got through it, but sold it the next day. 😀

Me, I hardly trust myself on a 400 cc. 😱
 

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So you do play on grass
No, over here we call that grass hockey. I believe it's the original 'hockey' and what we play here is actually called 'ice hockey'.
'Ball hockey', if played indoors would be a wood gymnasium floor or sometimes the concrete of an ice arena. If played outdoors, it would usually be on pavement like a lacrosse box, and is often called 'street hockey'.
 
It was a sad day of collective mourning at my local club West Brom when Cyrille passed away.

A bronze statue was finally erected last year in West Bromwich centre of the 'Three Degrees': Cyrille Regis, Laurie Cuningham and Brandon Batson.

A lovely gesture. Especially since I discover Brandon Batson is still alive. He must especially enjoy that one. You usually have to be dead to get recognition. 😕

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But, TBH, cruel but true, my dad probably got it right in saying Centre-forward Cyrille Regis was musclebound, overweight and slow. If he'd shed a couple of stones and stopped taking relaxing baths before matches, he have been sharper and lived longer. And got more than 5 England caps.

IMO, Jeff Astle was a better centre-forward for the Baggies. But respect to Cyrille for scoring the goal that let the Sky Blues finally beat the Scum in 1989.

Anyhow, let's lighten up:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/53792731

The "Rocket", Ronnie O'Sullivan, is 10-7 up going into the final Snooker day at The Crucible. It's a bit weird he is struggling with his cueing action after 25 years in the game. I suppose this is a bit like when your putting gets the "Yips" in golf. 🙄
 
TBH, mate, I think sport is strictly in the present moment. It's a question of having a go, whatever the odds. 🙂

Ben Stokes is unquestionably a better cricketer than Jack Leach.

But Jack Leach got free glasses for life. The only other myopically indisposed cricketer I can think of was Geoff Boycott. After that it is probably ME.

I was playing one of the best No.11 innings of my life for the second 11. 4 not out with a flukey thickish edge to the boundary. I was just relishing unleashing my cover drive. Then the skipper let me down by getting out at the other end.

Anyway we made 100 against the Toffish Schoolboys of Monkton Combe.

IIRC, we lost. How it goes. The third 11 were all out for 11. Can't believe it. I could have opening batted for the third 11.