Tim Worstall

And it’s not in NASCAR.

[Read more →]

Davies left London Welsh in 1972 to join Swansea, giving up teaching to work as a sales manager for WA Blyth of Swansea, suppliers of industrial safety clothing to the mining and steel industries. I too would think of turning a school teacher into a sales manager. Well, I would if the school teacher were [...]

[Read more →]

Because this is the way that capitalism deals with screw ups. We’ll have all sorts coming out of the woodwork claiming that this shows what is wrong with contemporary society etc. And they may well be right. But what they’ll be missing in their calls for changes in the law, for community owned football clubs, [...]

[Read more →]

Or rather, Observer reader economics. Grossly overpaid footballers are a constant topic among sports lovers. They are resented for the impact their excessive salaries have had on admission charges; You’ve got the cause and effect arse over tip there. It’s the ability to charge high admission prices (plus all the other cash, TV, replica shirts [...]

[Read more →]

While spectators are being urged to abandon their cars and embrace public transport, 4,000 brand new BMWs have been ordered to escort dignitaries and officials to events. The fleet of the German cars will include more than 3,000 BMW 3 and 5 Series saloons, which will be permitted to beat the traffic by using specially [...]

[Read more →]

So, Oz out for 47. Their worst innings in a century. But, umm, they’ve still a decent chance of winning the match. Odd game, cricket.

[Read more →]

“Playing in the World Cup was a dream and playing in New Zealand was special. What other time are you going to play in New Zealand? The five planes it took us to get there was worth the trip,” he said. “The local people embraced us completely and made us feel at home. In Blenheim, [...]

[Read more →]

8-7

[Read more →]

The Olympic stadium fiasco laid bare How did the saga begin, how has it gone wrong and how will it end? It began with politicians spending other peoples’ money it went wrong as politicians spent other peoples’ money and it will end badly and expensively. Because, y’know, politicians have been spending other peoples’ money.

[Read more →]

So, err, decent enough second half then I suppose? But I think that Wales today would have walked through France today. So, Wales in the final and I sorta assume NZ will be there too (although, come on you Pumas!). Actually, I wouldn’t want to bet against Wales today beating NZ sans Dan Carter.

[Read more →]

* Wisden looks at it all rather differently from many others.

[Read more →]

Is he out then? For the rest of the Cup?   Update: So it appears he is. Which is a bit of a blow. Yes, I know, it’s a team game, nothing to do with the individual. But, but, there is a part of what we’ve all been waiting for gone. Is he really as [...]

[Read more →]

Just phew, eh?

[Read more →]

And maybe the sad decline of Fiji and, to a lesser extent, Tonga as rugby powerhouses is not surprising. The sides these countries put out in this World Cup are third or fourth teams at best, the top players having long ago relocated to countries who can offer attractive wage packets. There are eight Islanders [...]

[Read more →]

This scoring tries using the wingers. When did that come about? All very strange, the aim of the game is that the big blokes in the white shirts grumble up and down the field, isn’t it?

[Read more →]

Hey, go for it folks. But those who wanted football to carry on here acted admirably quickly, and launched the new Chester FC as a “phoenix club”. Crucially, it’s a mutual: owned by its supporters, who can pay a minimum of £5 a season to become active shareholders. And it is not alone: the night [...]

[Read more →]

Anyone really know what this is all about? Francis Baron, the former chief executive of the Rugby Football Union, has called for the governing body’s acting chief executive, Martyn Thomas, and the five elected board members criticised in the Blackett report to be charged with bringing the game into disrepute. I’ve seen occasional pieces but [...]

[Read more →]

No, don’t laugh, this is the opportunity for some really great social science research. Telecom Corp., a team sponsor, planned to launch an advertising campaign calling on fans to “Abstain for the All Blacks” next week to generate publicity ahead of the September-October tournament, the New Zealand Herald reported. It said fans would be given [...]

[Read more →]

Haven’t we been here before? Startlingly good centre, playing for England against Wales? Made a fool of? Anyone remember Matthew Tait against Gavin Henson? Ah, yes, The Guardian does: It is six years since England named a young, trembling debutant called Mathew Tait to face Wales, an experiment that ended in conspicuous failure. Now they [...]

[Read more →]

The mood was defiant, but a stirring musical expression of that defiance hadn’t yet appeared – until the fateful night at the Drury Lane theatre, when “God Save our King” was sung on stage by the company. The audience was electrified. As the Daily Advertiser reported: “The universal applause it met with, being encored with [...]

[Read more →]