dubai_phil

The one difference is that Tiger's Dad mainly stayed off the course and popped out surrounded by security. Rory's Dad walks around and talks to anyone who asks him a question. Anyone who has read the "story" will actually realise he was the "encouraging" father rather than the go back and try again you idiot father

Wow, you have ANY idea how good this can of Guinness is tasting right now. (Sorry I'm late feckin trafiic) Good spot on changing to Narwich taters

A good day today, probably getting on for about 12,000 people watching the golf. It's an unusual tournament, as you have two different battles going on, the tournament itself, and the battle between McIlroy & Westwood. My tip, Harrington had a really great round until he came to Oh FFS (the 18th) where he hit two perfect shots that both landed back in the water, but he is still in there fighting. McIlroy did what all amateur golfers have done in their time and flubbed a chip, ending up taking a bogey, carried the temper tantrum onto the next, drive into a bush and 3 putted for another bogey. Earlier he had an amazing Eagle 3 at the 6th with a tap in. That leaves Westwood in the lead, and in the words of his Caddy, he is REALLY focused at the moment, really wants and believes he can do it this weekend. As the day went on the atmosphere grew, you could hear roars coming in from around the course as Westwood, Harrington and McIlroy made birdies or saved par. Ernie had another day to forget and is now running dead last. Rory's Dad, what a nice guy. How many of us have driven the kids to their "chosen" sports practice week in week out. How many "nutters" have you seen at kiddie sports forcing their lad (who clearly has no talent) so that they can bask in the glory of their son's achievements.Rory's Dad, well loads of stories about how he did the driving around, and yet he walks around the course chatting happily with anyone who recognises him and all through that he has this simple joy. He really cannot believe what he has "created". He is truly amazed at the little 8 year old kids who all shout out how they have taken up golf becasue of Rory. He is a really nice and humble bloke who walks around amazed by but also proud of his kid. Magic moment of the day, sitting with some of the Getty photographers, Howard Clarke (Sky Commentator) was chatting to him and they were discussing the way the tension was building up.... Photographer says - You know what, I reckon we've seen more entertainment out there in one day than they'd see in a whole season at Fratton Park..... Priceless

Interesting how in page one the issue was MLT and his integrity. Then as the thread developed it became an issue about the substance of the English Legal system. I do believe on the cps web page there is a link that says contact us. Seeing as the seat number hasn't been forthcoming so MLT can apologise in person, I wonder if an email complaint has been sent instead to CPS.

Shame you've never seen how the real world works and suffers. Maybe you should spend a day in one of the Palestinian refugee camps in Syria or Lebanon to see that you knowing some suffering souls in the UK have it lucky. Or you could have worked at a charity restaurant in Karachi for Heroin addicts for an evening. Perhaps rather than tell us about the disadvantaged that you hang around with you could have used your typing skills to have shown these people how to fill in a Social Security application. And of course, you will never have taken a pay cut to do work that you love, it's referred to as a calling, not as an attitude, but the L word is probably one four letter word that has never been directed at you.

Here's an interesting snippet, that may explain "what the ladies see in him". According to the "scuttlebut" (ie a highly placed source in the media). Sergio Garcia plays Commando. Now, I don't know which is more disconcerting, the fact that next time he's on tv you will know that fact, OR the fact that somehow, people in the Media got to KNOW about it. Anyway, luckily he is a long way down the leaderboard so I won't be spending much effort around him in the next few days

You'd be surprised, it would be alot closer than you think even though JB has done a Triathlon, think they'd be close in a Marathon though. I was listening to Harrington on Tuesday at the Pro Am, he spends an average of 4 hours in the gym 5 days a week, and when in a sensible climate aims to do around 5 miles road work a day. He believes that his poorer performances this year were because he had eased up on the routine to spend time working on his technical game. Tiger set the benchmark for that some years ago. JB would undoubtedly win the swimming side as the only time golfers get the chance to get into water is on the occassions their colleagues throw them into lakes. What you never see in the UK are the 80 or so normal guys like Scott Corckett who runs the Press office who earn journeyman salaries, get crap from egotistical media from obscure countries and yet only gets home about 4 weeks a year when the Tour is outside England. There is a backbone of ordinary people who spend their lives working in hot and stuffy tents 5 days a week and living in 3 star hotels, simply because they love "The Game". Most of them never actually get to see ANY of the golf. There are also some amazing professionals who have made their mark, one is David Cannon who works for Getty Images. His income depends on the quality of what shots he takes on the golf course. Apart from being one of the nicest people you could hope to meet, he copes with "local" idiots from local papers at every venue who have never seen a golf ball before and makes the effort to help and coach them. Partly to keep them from getting in the way but also because of professional pride. Look him up on Getty Images or Google. Sure he'd probably struglle to beat MLT in a game of tiddlywinks let alone a triathlon, yet he walks an average of 16kms a day carrying around 40lbs of camera equipment, and in 31C and 87% humidity today he was still as nsprightly as Bambi. The pros are the money making and taking machine, but he is one of the legends of golf behind the scenes that very few people would have ever heard of. Sure many won't care, but I'm sure the likes of the photographers at SMS would love to get to be half as good as he has made himself in their chosen sport.

Glad you had a good trip and hopefully it will be successful business wise as well.

Considering that WWE is considered a sport rather than formation dancing, and that Golf & Cricket are games, perhaps we should have a new section so that games can be discussed

Good golf out there today. Ernie Els played like a plank, those of you who took my tip of each way on Harrington look like you'll get a run for your money. McIlroy didn't do anything spectactular and looked well out of it at one point but a nice run of birdies sets him up for the head to head with Westwood. Some quirky bits, We had one spectator with our group feint in the heat, they were taken off to Med centre and admitted to hospital, as was one of the Marshalls. It was punishingly hot and humid, and in their infinite wisdom the organisers decided to focus on an on course "Chill Out Lounge" and one "integrated serving centre, which meant that it was next to impossible for the public to get any water or Isotonic drinks. Of course, the European Tour regs state "no cameras allowed on the course" but to save cost, the organisers here decided not to put up any warning notices, assuming that the muppets who live down here would miraculously understand the rules, so flash bulbs and clicks all around the course. If it wasn't for the fact that so much money is at stake it would be funny.

+1 Blatant cheating, I agree it is a disgrace, and Thiery Henry has just wacthed the rest of his life affected by that, but the rules say "look in the book" what was the score? Perhaps the rules are wrong as well. Moral outrage - yeah, right, the only outraged are always the vanquished. I haven't read any stories this morning about the French FA apologising and giving the Irish their spot. We can all show sympathy to our Green comrades and make more snide racist comments about the "feckin French" But, I've taken enough cr*p over the years from Irish people with regard to football both England and Saints. This morning, it's just clear that the perennial gallant losers just simply found another way to achieve their normal status, and I can now reply to the Paddy's - yes it HURTS doesn't it, Ha bloody ha, what goes around comes around. And as we discussed elsewhere, if Lambo handballs a goal to win the playoff final will we be buring our ST's or shirts? Oh we'll feel bad, but like the French in SA, we'll enjoy playing in the CCC....

Yep, very well put, thankyou

lol all the Journos are down here giving me grief this weekend, won't be any left back there but maybe I could start the seeds of that rumour I see you found your way out the mighty beast then, a VIP tour of a Test Bed A380 with nothing inside you ole schmoozer. Can you really play football inside it? and is it true that the only reason it's here in Dubai is because it's the only thing capable of carrying Matty back after all the food he's been eating down here

For those that maybe interested and for those I know it will annoy, I'll try and do a bit of a report on what goes on behind the scenes for the European Tour's big $15million weekend. 59 players due to compete, Casey is out injured and Darren Clarke lest at home as he missed one putt. The Earth course is brand new - it will look sensational on the telly. What you won't see is the army of little chappies still swarming over the place fixing big holes in things, banging nails and putting paint on. 10 days ago it didn't even have an access road it was a dirt track. There is no clubhouse, they have probably one of the world's poshest Portacabins. You approach the course through a mixture of desert, holes in the ground that will probably never be built upon and just a mess. No matter which road you take for the drive from downtown Dubai you have Road Works, lots of them. (Salisbury is closer to Southampton than the course is to Dubai). Depending on the hole, it is just some post apocalypse wasteland or, around the signature holes, villas being rapidly painted to look good on TV. Having said that the course is astonishing. Standing by some of the Tee Boxes you just cannot imagine where you can hit the ball without getting into trouble. It is long, VERY long, it has a par 3, 245yards into the wind. Watching the pro-am today one of the hackers just walked up and said - your 'avin' a larf, couldn't get close with his Driver! The 18th is just evil - a longish Par 5 but with a river zig-zagging right down the middle of the fairway - which of course is sloped so even the perfect drive just rolls straight in. That will be dramatic! The course is very wide and the rough is very short - Lee Westwood was moaning - should be tougher, more like the US Open. If you sneeze on a green over your ball it will run for about 20 yards... The desert scrub areas along each fairway have been covered in Red Wood chips, making it visually attractive but the ball will fly all over the place if you get into trouble. 185 journalists, 50 Press photographers, 300 volunteer crowd Marshalls, 150 volunteer schoolkid scorers, it is a massive logistics operation. 50,000 people registered online for the tickets, and it is a very spectator friendly course with some good viewing areas, unlike the Desert Classic, The 18th green will have a great atmosphere on Sunday. Facilities for spectators have been well planned, picnic areas and they even have sofas and bean bags dotted around the course, as well as buggy lifts for many of the elder spectators. Any down sides? Not yet, BUT like many other big events over here, everything gets done at the last moment in a rush. So we expect to see advertising boards falling down in the middle of important putts, the TV screens will probably only start working after play finishes, the beer drinkers will never find their cars in the car parks and the taxi queues will be awful (although there are shuttle buses to many city pubs), oh and the woodchips are the perfect breeding ground for nasty little biting insects Not only do they bite but the darned thing bleeds straight after. Couple of the older lady marshalls were taken to first aid looking like they'd been dragged through barbed wire The biggest problem is going to be the fact that it is a BIG course. The spectators will walk 8km to watch a round, with a lot of up and down hills and uneven terrain. What's more, it is FECKING hot, the humidity is high today and forecast to stay that way. I'm used to the heat but even I found it hard going out there today. Any tips? obviously the top 4 battling for the big bucks will be the focus, but I was with Harrington today. Every drive, dead centre of the fairway, every approach about 4 feet from the flag. he was relaxed, giving golf lessons, telling tales and posing for photos and autographs with the few spectators that make it during a work day. He plays as well as he did today and stays relaxed, good each way bet for the top five. I'll pop back and bore many over the next few days, there is so much that we don't normally see on the telly (like the commentary box is actually about 1km from the course, they sit in a little "portacabin" and apart from the roving guys or the interviews they only ever see the course when they walk it during the practice rounds). 50 weeks of the year in hotels and never actually seeing a shot played live.

Oh, but don't worry 19C I can get Matt's mob number, so the offer still stands

Was never taken as a pop my friend :-) To just close the "follow-on" part off, the sad news is that Matt obviously doesn't have enough pull down here, he was on the reserve list for the Pro-Am today but they never got as far as him as only a couple of people pulled out. He was probably lucky, he could have ended up playing alongside the CEO (or President) of LG Electronics. His poor Caddy had to walk around all day in some fearsome heat wearing the Gentleman's name on his bib - Wan Kim Maybe I'll try and find out how to get into imageshack to post it when I do the DWC story on General Sports, IF I can find a way around our Proxy down here!

The question wasn't asked Mickey, probably because it has been covered before in loads of interviews etc where he had indicated that he didn't see himself in that role. He's happy with the media stuff. He did elaborate on how he "nearly" had a new career, think he mentions in his book that he has a friend Richard Bland who's a professional golfer, so he "could" have become a Caddy. But that's one of his jokes so won't spoil the all of the punchline other than it was probably the only time at a tournament where the Caddy signed more autographs than the player.

Is it better to have tried and failed, or is it better to hide behind a monitor and moan? What did you do in the War Daddy? Oh I sat at home and moaned, but it's OK, I have a far greater intellect because I asked important questions. Meanwhile Gents, please, you are all just adding to the problem. The thread was a review of an evening with MLT, not a discussion about the rights of a poster to free speech. 19C is perfectly capable of making his own points and showing the world his thinking process. I'm more concerned that Dubai will be losing a favourite son at the end of the season, Showtime have lost the rights to PL football to Abu Dhabi and we face losing Rob McAffrey who is a true professional running a very good show for us down here, as well as a fine columnist in the local paper. His son is also a promising up and coming Leg Spinner.

Great actor, Callan was superb and The Wickerman one of the movies that most "disturbs you" RIP

Having had that strange moment in The De Vere when he lurched past, as a Saints fan I was overjoyed that somebody wanted to take him off our hands AND pay us money to do it. As an Englishman I thought it was hysterical that the Jocks took him. As others have said, the only thing that could possibly make all this better is if he gets to take over from Paul Hart. Something in GB's life went wrong, that is a shame for any person, whether it was "politics" at Saints or whether it was his own nature we'll have to wait for the autobiography to be summarised on here. Saw Sounness on Sky News - he put it quite simply - I interpret - who would want to go and manage the pile of sh*t they have up there at the moment, It's not like you can go and spend 12mil and bring a footballer in... Poor old Jocks

Tim, you're a very good man and a good friend to Big Ron, give him a hug from all of us down here

Dear other forum readers My apologies for typing an answer in full and taking up valuable data storage space and wasting a few precious minutes of your lives. I apologise that it was not relevant to this thread, however that is what happens with respect for freedom of speech and relaxed moderation

I don't see an actual question yet 19C was this it? or are you an ex politician who avoids such clear issue Is this all you are worried about? If so then the answer is simple, but as I have said, I am not a journalist I was reporting on an event that entertained football fans with a Southampton context. Here are my recollections of what he said as it pertains to your concern. You FINALLY asked so I answer. Did he conspire with others to "try and take some bookies for some money"? Is that the question? Yes, he admitted he did. Yes he admitted that at the time when he was earning around 60% of what Lloyd James currently earns, (I'll repeat that, when he earnt about 60% of what Lloyd James currently earns) a number of players conspired. Did he talk about "on-line spread betting organisations" NO, he talked about "some bookies". (It may seem a big world outside for you, but there are a lot of bookies around the world who don't operate on the internet or need Sky TV. I think Hanse Cronje knew a few.) Yes, he admitted his role was to kick the ball out of play, yes he admitted he was nervous about it, yes he admitted he failed because he tried to make it look normal, yes Rob McAffrey made a quip about taking penalties and kicking the ball into touch, yes a Saints player did head the ball and keep it in play. Yes, he felt that in order to be completely truthful about his time in football he would include it in his book. Yes, he did that because he wanted to keep all attention away from his private life and his young family. Yes, he was shocked in hindsight at how stupid and naive he was when he saw the reaction in putting it into the book in the first place, and yes he was shocked and hugely embarrassed when in the cold light of reality he looked back on the whole thing and saw that everything was just wrong. Yes, he admitted he had been wrong, and that it was idiotic, he was a lot younger and it was a "boys thing", but yes, he should have known better, that was no excuse. Yes, he admitted that the 3 weeks work he lost from his job as a result made him even more repentant. Yes, he admitted that the highly lucrative contract that he had lost as a result of the story 'really hurt". Yes, the affair had made a significant impact on the wealfare of his family. Yes, also, again he fairly admitted that "the lads" had done something. No, at NO time did he attempt to justify his actions or hide behind the fact that "others were involved". Yes, of course he knows it was wrong. However, he also felt that including it in his book he was being honest and open, which he had always tried to be. Yes at the end of the day nobody on either side won or lost any money. That does not make it right. Is the public interest best served by the Police pursuing allegations of a conspiracy to commit a crime that did not happen and did not cause any financial loss to anyone other than "The Whistleblower"? Fine example that would make, tell the truth and lose money AND get arrested. Now. My recollection of the wording is not perfect, the Saints lads on our table shared the cost of the beer for the evening. In the time line from 19:45 until 00:40 we consumed 4 pints of beer each, and my Girl Friend had 2.5 glasses of House Red Wine (the 0.5 was because a moth landed in her drink (probably from Matt's wallet) and the staff very kindly replaced it (the wine, not the Moth). Obviously you have never been to a social evening at a Golf Course with people that you respect or are your friends, and also attended by many dedicated people that I have worked with over many years to organise major events down here, or of course with your partner so I fully understand why you would feel that is a is obviously a large consumption, but I'm afraid we do have proof as we have a copy of the receipt. So, in answer to your tedious, repetitive crusade, MLT told the truth about his involvement in an event that happened in his career. I tried to lead this thread in a manner that avoided confrontation, and did ask you what you wished to know. It is a shame you again contaminated two pages before you finally asked a question. Matt stood up in public and explained in far greater detail the whole background, nuance and circumstances. My understanding from what I heard is that he was not the only protagonist, the matter was as much about "Team Spirit" as it was about criminal masterminds. He told the truth, he told us how he came to understand that it was wrong, he told us about the impact on him and on his family and he told us how although he was "ashamed" he still believes that to have included it in his book was the honest thing to do. So, I'm sorry if that doesn't exactly match the question you wanted to ask. He told the truth. He was a sinner and he has repented and confessed. I sincerely apologise that nobody thought to mention the Police, and if I do find him tomorrow I will ask as long as he isn't actually competing in the golf. Now, again, what is your seat number at SMS and I will go out of my way to try and find him tomorrow and ask him to come and tell you to your face. If I cannot find him I will ask one of my contacts to get his mobile number. It would be unfair to ask it to be disclosed publicly on here as some posters do have standards but I am sure it can be passed to you. I'm sure he would take the time to phone you. In the meantime, take your bitter and incorrect opinion of this man and, in the spirit of retaining my internet persona on here, and my politeness, now go away and STFU on the subject.

Guys, for once, we don't need the positive vibes and support. As you can see from the post above by BH, and in my deliberate decision to review as an event "A night out with MLT" rather than to begin to attempt to record or interpret what was said can we leave the troll feeding alone now. At no time have we attempted to ram any opinion down anyone's throat. There have been enough own goals scored by one on here so far. Hi Barry Horne, you'll be pleased to know your "boss" is in good shape, if a little sweaty in his suit during the day, he's in good form and a damned nice guy. Golf starts tomorrow, I'll try and find time for a similar "behind the scenes review" of that somewhere appropriate if anyone actually is interested.

I think that is the decision in the long run when we get Murty back, Wotton or James? Personally from the radio & reports I think that Wotton adds something in that DM role, will James have enough football experience to read the game to cover as well as Wotton does? I think that DM in the 4-5-1 is important and it is in reality our main weakness at the moment. Clearly we don't need Saga and Connolly in the same squad, let us hope Saga can go in January and open a gap for a DM with better distribution skills. I know he is an exceptional player, but we also lack cover for Lambert, should we lose him to injury or suspension, then we will have to adopt the style again, could Patterson cover for him for a few games? Hmm, is Connolly a central target man in a 4-5-1? hmm Nice that the kick up the bum yesterday allows us to think again, hopefully AP & the players are as well