Marathon Man
And a round-up of other sporting shortings
Marathon Man
London Marathon favourite Haile Gebrselassie is in no doubt that he will face a stiff challenge in Sunday's race from at least one of his competitors.
Robert R. Rhubarb, who will be running the 26.2 miles around the capital in a novelty rhubarb costume to promote awareness of rhubarb and rhubarb products, has warned the Ethiopian contender that he intends to battle 'all the way to the finish line'
Rhubarb aka retired greengrocer Ken Plinth, 63, has a personal best marathon time of 7 hours 23 minutes, more than three times slower than Gebrselassie's world record, but is confident that he can 'make a race of it'.
Wenger remains calm
Arsenal fans today reacted furiously, not only at the referee who awarded a highly dubious penalty to arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur, but also at manager Arsene Wenger.
When questioned on the incident in a post-match interview, Wenger merely shrugged, saying 'Oh well, these things happen I suppose, there is no point crying about it, it's only a game after all.'
Dave Digler, editor of the acerbic fans' fanzine Arsenal FC - the fanzine reacted angrily: 'We expect our manager to whinge, moan and generally complain about every little detail of the game. What will the kids think when they see their heroes letting the club down like this?'
Keegan: We'll be back
Manchester City boss Kevin Keegan has promised the club's supporters that they will not be languishing in the Premiership for long.
The newly-crowned Division One Champions have enjoyed a rollercoaster ride over the last five seasons, including two relegations and three promotions. 'The club is very much in a position to progress now, and I have no doubt that with 32,000 fans behind us, we'll bounce straight back down' said Keegan.
Bodies on Ice
I hear that the Great Britain women's gold-medal-winning Curling team aren't exactly happy with plans eminating from the Royal household for future state funerals to be organised to an 'It's a Royal Knockout' format.
A controversial proposal from Prince Harry included the coffin being carried by soldiers dressed in big foam rubber costumes while opposing contestants endeavoured to soak the pallbearers with buckets of water. It is thought that the Royal Family are so grateful for the outpouring of grief over the Queen Mother that they wish to give something back to the people and this is one of the ideas being mooted.
However the reaction of the Curling team have put a dent into these plans as Prince Phillip is reported to be a fan of curling and quite fancies Rhona Martin.
