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September 21, 2008

Bonkers

While at mum's I picked up a book she was reading: "We don't know what we're doing" by TV sports presenter Adrian Chiles. He, like me, my mum and dad, brothers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, hamster, and goldfish is a Baggies follower.

We suffer much pain and ridicule for our commitment to the Baggies. But personally, I think it is profoundly Christian - standing with the weak, suffering, and lowly. In fact, one of the anthems of the Albion's supporters is "The Lord's my Shepherd" - though I wouldn't read too much into that. I don't imagine that in 20 years they'll be singing "Shine Jesus Shine".

Next to Chiles and some of the people he meets, I am however, relatively normal. Chiles himself is completely bonkers, his whole life centred around the despair of knowing that, however good we are, we are going to lose (2-1 today to Villa). And some of the people he meets take creative fanship to hilarious extremes.

New Tricks
If any of you have seen the TV show New Tricks, Roy Mitchell, the writer is a Baggies fan, and apparently always names his characters with reference to the Baggies. The three central characters, played by James Bolam, Alun Armstrong, and Dennis Waterman, are named after the Halfords Lane Stand at the Albion ground (Jack Halford, Brian Lane, and Gerry Standing).

In one episode, the entire cast was named after the 1968 FACup winning side - Osborne, Fraser, Williams, Brown, Talbut , Kaye, Lovett, Collard, Hope, and Clark. "I couldn't get Astle in," he says apologetically, "because it would have been too obvious."

Brilliant. My Dad would have loved it.

Posted by Keith at September 21, 2008 06:28 PM