Consumer Affairs
Sussex v Somerset
Sussex’s first home game v Somerset had been long in the diary. We had made a more than creditable start with a draw at Warwickshire – a Test ground side – and accordingly more affluent than Sussex. Edgbaston is as much a conference venue as a cricket ground, hosting numerous [...]
Personal attendance versus watching on TV: the debate continues …
Having spent my normal weekend sports-watching on TV I am going to add two critical logs to this fiery debate, namely adverts and pundits. Like many, I suspect the ad break in sports coverage is an opportunity to visit the loo, fetch a beer or a cuppa and do chores. Yet if you stay by the TV you [...]
The Tanner Report : Fulham 2 Spurs 0
The back stories to a dull game – the type you tend to get on an early Sunday kick off at 1-30 – were more interesting than the game itself. Fulham and Spurs’ best option for European competition is the Cup. Fulham might qualify if there are 8 European places in the Premiership but [...]
Towards Zero and White Lotus
These TV dramatisations on BBC and Sky Atlantic reflect the great divide between the two broadcasters. Time was when the BBC drama department produced such cutting edge plays as Cathy Come Home and TV playwrights like Dennis Potter, but Towards Zero was sterile. Having read every Agatha Christie [...]
Eubank v McKenna
Last night was something of a rarity: live boxing on free-to -air television. The Noble Art has suffered from satellite coverage and pay-to-view and I cannot be the only disillusioned fan. There was not much sport to watch so I switched on at 9.00pm for the undercard of Belfast Boy Michael Conlon v [...]
You could not make this up!
We should have a new topic category on THE RUST called “YOU COULD NOT MAKE THIS UP“. I spoke to a colleague who mistakenly believed that organising the redirection of mail from his partner’s old address to her new one might be a simple matter. It was so badly mishandled by Royal Mail [...]
The Boys Book of Soccer (1957)
At a garden fête last year I bought the above slightly fixed volume and interesting reading it made too. Of most interest were the league tables for 1955/56. In those days you had a Third Division – north and south – from which only one team was promoted. Brighton, Ipswich Town, [...]
Ala Colthard/Signor Sassi & Jones Family Kitchen
Signor Sassi is one of those once fashionable Knightsbridge restaurants – you know, the sort where they have pictures of film stars and footballers on the wall? Situated in an alleyway off Knightsbridge it’s not the most accessible location but its signature dish of spaghetti all’ [...]
Super Bowl 2025
The Super Bowl poses many challenges. To the viewer, he/she must – if he/she wants to see it live – stay awake between the hours of 11.30pm and 3-30am. As it’s mainly an event, rather than a sporting spectacle of competitiveness, the commentary must cater for the casual as well as the [...]