HUMBLE PIE!
05/03/2008
Excuse me for a moment as I wipe the large piece of egg (foo yung) from my face and accept crushing defeat as a pundit.
I'd like to say I know how Fab feels but then the poor bloke was forced to taste the most bitter of losses on the back of a bout of gastric flu. My greatest pre-match problem was locating the last iron in the Copthorne in time to press my favourite Playoff shirt.
It used to be my lucky shirt. Just like I have lucky hair, a lucky beard and a lucky laptop. Perhaps it's time to go bald, clean-shaven and back to the good old days of a pen, pad and clueless copy-taker with no grasp whatsoever of the clichéd hoops terms I love to trot out at every opportunity.
So far my big Birmingham weekend has meant suffering one painful blow after the next. Straining my shoulder on the 11.53 from Crewe was the start and it rapidly went from bad to worse. Where was the new Whitesnake CD promised by my pal from Newcastle's Journal (you've all seen him - the lad who never gets the media table teas at half-time)? And where was the iron? Where were housekeeping and where were the plug sockets to charge my phone?
A cheery smile from 'BBL Bev' raised my spirits (it always does) as I entered the familiar corridors of the NIA but any optimism was short-lived. Newcastle never looked like a franchise capable of claiming a four-peat and my favourite table official accused me of possessing the IT skills of a six-year-old. Apparently typing with two fingers is so old hat and I really shouldn't keep correcting my work. No, really, I should. Imagine if you were reading the rough version.
And talking of rough, poor old Fab really did look like a dog's dinner as he trooped off court in the wake of a woeful 72-63 reverse. Milton Keynes weren't even that good, the refs were no better but Newcastle were worst of all. Ten missed free throws? A feeble 36% from the floor? Only three players in double figures and a combined tally of seven points from off-colour quartet Bridge, Babalola, Hyatt and Defoe. Maybe Birmingham Panthers did turn up for the Playoffs after all.
Which brings me nicely on to my old mate Dougie. The guy must be at least 70 and yet he doesn't look a day over 69 with his uber-cool wardrobe, silver-flecked goatee and a physique that has stood the test of time. He may be on his way out of the Panthers but this bloke belongs in British basketball. As a coach, a role model or even a pin-up….
The same could be said of Scants. It's a shame Sheffield have parted company with one of the finest role models in UK sport but even sadder for Sharks fans is the fact that their franchise has missed out on Tony G. As a former tipster I understand that this prediction means nothing but look out for Everton this time next year. No silverware for the Scousers then……
Check out Simon's horribly incorrect BBL blog posted earlier this week
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