FloridaMarlin

It's not until you look at the above picture that you realise how big The Dell pitch actually was. A good benchmark of a pitch size is the distance between touchline and 18-yard box and unless it's an optical illusion, the Dell pitch is quite wide. It was certainly a lot bigger than the pitch at Highbury, which was reknowned as being the smallest playing area in the top flight. Yet it always looked quite big.

"Hello, my name is Dolly, and I'm a genetically modified sheep."

Of course, if Harry does leave, it will be dressed up as being on health grounds. You can almost see the quotes now: "My doctors have advised me the problem is worse than I first thought, and they have said the stress of managing could seriously damage my health and I have decided to take their advice to retire." The most convenient heart condition in the history of sport.

Wayne Gretzky's restaurant also has a cracking sports bar. Although it's close season for baseball, there will still events at the Rogers Centre (aka Skydome) and you can still do a stadium tour. The Spaghetti Factory is another good place to eat. I didn't think I was going to enjoy it, but The Bata Shoe Museum is very quirky and interesting. The Yorkville district is also good for bars and restaurants. You'll probably also recognise many of the streets. Lots of films set in New York are shot here, including As Good As It Gets. The Canadian government shoves lots of money into the Canadian Film Board to entice big production companies to locate their shoots in Toronto, where a lot of the buildings look like New York, but it's a lot cheaper to use the local film crew talent.

Had a very interesting email overnight from a highly-respected journo. I can't give his name, but he is a big name on TV in the UK who moves in exalted circles. I'll make no comment as to the veracity or otherwise of what he said, and likewise, he was merely passing on what he had heard. He said that he was given to understand that Storrie had got off his charges, in exchange for giving up Harry and Mandaric (isn't is called turning Queen's Evidence?) Obviously the reprting restrictions in place mean there is no way of confirming if this is the case. Don't shoot the messenger, I am merely passing this on, and it may turn out to be a load of old cock.

Surely not? Poor Harry is in hospital, following his open wallet..sorry, open heart surgery. What an unfortunate coincidence that he has had to go into hospital to have stents put in his arteries at the same time he is due to appear in court.

"However, on 9 September 2011 he admitted that he was interested to become the next manager of Iceland." Which branch would that be? Perhaps he's looking for a chance to chat up all the mums that go there.

That Jolly Sailor looks suspiciously like what was The Roll Call in Butlocks Heath, if that's still open. There was a pub called The Seaweed or the Seaweed Hut in Weston, wasn't there? I remember The Sportsman's in West End. It had one of those Witch's Hat swings/roundabout. I remember being taken there by my parents, and some kid climbing the frame to the top, trying to grab the pole and then wondering where the tips of his fingers went when the hat swung round and crushed them. I recall the 'old' Basset, years before it became a Beefeater, or whatever chain it was. At the back, they had an amazing sunken garden, with all sorts of stuff for kids. There were the old type of funfair swingboats, where you pulled on a rope to propel yourself, a menagerie, and a pony and trap that gave rides to kids. You might also have been allowed just inside the bar to have a look at the full-sized stuffed bear in the glass case. If my memory serves, it escaped from a circus on the Common and was shot.

"in media circles O'Driscoll is considered to be the dullest man in Europe." And, indeed, known as Sean O'Dismal

Is it true that accidents involving ice cream vans cause the loss of hundreds and thousands every year?

Not forgetting Liverpool, of course, which was registered as the Titanic's home port. Although she never actually went anywhere near the place. Isn't the flagpole outside the entrance to The Kop at Anfield that from the Olympic, or one of the Titanic's sister ships?

To my recollection, there was a national dock strike in the 1980s. Southampton was solid, and it gave the ferry companies the excuse they needed to go east to the non-unionsed p********h where the scab workers welcomed them with open arms. My old man was a docker and I remember how livid he was. Rather at odds with the SCUM legend. So that's two urban myths nailed. The SCUM legend, and that of the Greatest Fans, yadda, yadda, yadda.

I've been saying this for some time. I can't be bothered to look back through my posts, but if somebody can be, please feel free. American owners, especially, cannot understand the concept of promotion and relegation. They own franchises in sports that are effectively a closed shop - NFL, NBA, MLB. What keeps these competitions interesting is a wage cap which means that one club cannot (theoretically) dominate. You can just see some of the PL chairman agreeing to a wage cap, can't you. The next step after this is to form a TV-backed world league, a bit like Kerry Packer did with cricket back in the 70s.

I don't think Jews abandoned their land out of choice. Have you never heard of the Diaspora? They were basically kicked off it by a succession of empires, from the Romans to the Ottomans. But they never entirely abandoned it. All trogh out the Diaspora, there were always Jews living in Eretz Israel, mostly at the behest of whoever was occupying it at the time. It's that determination never to be kicked off their land, or kicked around by other people that has made Israelis what they are. It wasn't WWII that solely brought about the foundation of the secular State of Israel. Don't forget the Balfour Declaration of 1917 which outlined the desirability of founding a Jewish Homeland. Between 1917 and 1948 enough land was acquired by Jews to form a state when statehood was declared. Where did that land come from? Most of it was bought (legally) from the land-owning Arab Effendi families, who were quite happy to sell it to Jews. They are probably the same people who are now claiming that the land is now illegally occupied, and the State of Israel should never have been established. Yes, I have Israeli relatives. And if you have ever been there, you would understand their attitude. But whatever ills you ascribe to Israel - and they are not entirely innocent - it is still the only true democracy in the Middle East where everybody has a vote. Even the Arab residents.

All this shows the perils of using ex-players instead of proper journalists. Sure, ex-players can offer an insight into the game, although the old pals network ensures they never really condemn somebody or ask the tough questions. But even if they do offer an insight, not many are able to get it across in anything resembling English. Most sports channels are guilty of falling into the trap of using ex-players. Result? An unhappy audience (ie, people on here) who are rightly unhappy about the standards. Write to them, threatening to terminate your subscription unless they start using proper journalists who can tell the tale properly.

Steve Cotterill's readiness to play the saxophone solo from 'Born To Run' was hampered by the theft of his instrument.

I don't know. I would think with her muscle definition, she could pick up old sixpences off the floor with her m***e lips.

Steven Gerrard has added a few pounds during his lay-off.

Or Mandaric

Have they replaced that bloody cable car up to the Penken yet? I remember queueing for more than an hour to get up on the slopes. Just as bad, as there was no way to ski back down, you had to queue for an hour to get back down.

He might have a crap voice in this, but I defy anyone to watch this and not be moved by one of the last songs he recorded before he died. As to gravelly, tone-poor voices, Tom Waits anyone?

The days of the cheap hostels in NY are dead. Mayor Michael Bloomberg reacted to pressure from the big hotel chain lobby, who complaind they were being undercut (and their profit margins reduced) by hostels. Hostels are now banned, apart from the YMCA. NY has also introduced a by-law (again, thanks to whingeing hotel chains) which forbids more than three people in a hotel room, unless they are related. So a family of four can book a double room, but you're no longer able to cut costs by going with mates and sharing a room for four. Going up the Empire State building is good, but the problem is that you can't see the Empire State building from the top of the Empire State Building. Go to the Top of the Rock (the Rockefeller Centre) which is smack in the middle of Manhattan. You get a great view of the ESB in one direction and Central Park in the other. If the season is still going (and if you can get a ticket) you should take in a Yankees game at the new Yankee Stadium, even if you don't undertand baseball, it's still a great sporting experience. Walk (yes, I said WALK) over Brooklyn Bridge if you've got a couple of hours to spare. If you're going to Macy's make sure you go to Customer Services to get your overseas visitor discount card. You'll need your passport, but it really is worthwhile.

I've heard all sorts of stories from journo mates with sound contacts in the Bournemouth area about Mitchell, not least of which involves how he kept the club going through loans from 'business associates' instead of the banks. Now they want their money back, and being keen caravanning enthusiasts are not the type to argue with. Hence his desperate attempt to hawk Eddie Howe (Bournemouth's best asset) around last season and the close-season fire sale. I think alarm bells would start ringing somewhere in the back of my head if I knew the chairman of my club, with a ground in a highly desirable suburb of one of the most attractive south coast towns, was a builder.

I think you'll find that rule only applies to other clubs.

I would concur with most of this. Most of my European ski-ing has been in Austria, although France is a good bet at Easter. Time was, when ski-ing at Easter was very hit and miss. Any resort worth its salt will now have snow-making facilities which keep the slopes topped up, although these obviously only work under certain conditions. I once went to the SportWelt Amade, which is Austria's equivalent of the Trois Vallees in France, at Easter, and they closed most of the lifts one day because it was so cold and snowed so hard. On another occasion I went to Kaprun - which has a glacier - at Easter and had to steer between the patches of bare grass and bare rock. Les Deux Alpes in France has good snow conditions right through the season, but I never liked French resorts. They tend to be soulless and purpose-built, whereas Austrian ski-ing is based in actual villages, which means they have a life of their own. For SportWelt Amade, you could base yourself in somewhere like Sankt Johan im Pongau, or Wagrain, or in the next valley, Bad Hofgastein is a fantastic all-round resort. The ski-ing will be good for somebody of a beginner standard, and off the slopes there is plenty to do, including a fantastic public spa. I totally agree with those who advise having lessons on a dry slope before you go. You'll learn basic techniques and turns, so that when you hit the proper slopes, you won't be in with the numpties. If you start from scratch, you'll spend a fair amount of the first weeek on the nursery slopes. If you've got the basic technique before you go, chances are you'll be put in a class where you'll soon be off and away, using the lift system and actually going somewhere, as opposed to spending your time on one slope. If you could push the boat out a little, the best place to ski at Easter is the US. Mammoth Mountain in California had more than 10 feet of snow at Easter, and they were still skiing there in June this year. Elsewhere in the Rockies, Aspen, Breckenridge and best of all, Jackson's Hole in Wyoming are at their best at Easter. It can be just too cold in January and February, but come March, the temperatures start to rise, and the snow is still great. But you are also talking a big dent in your wallet from the UK.