John Helm: ‘Terrygate’ is over the top

Feb 3 2010 by Mel Booth, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

I WAS just getting used to the idea of trying to like Andy Murray until he blubbed on centre court in Melbourne.

Let’s be honest the ginger Jock is not one you warm to readily.

He’s about as charismatic as our political leader, who just happens to come from the same part of the universe, and he’s said some pretty stupid things in his adolescent years.

However, you cannot help but admire his talent with a racket in his hand.

During on-court interviews with Jim Courier he also seemed to have matured and found a semblance of a sense of humour, but once Roger Federer had him hung, drawn and quartered in the full glare of the Rod Laver Arena, he looked like a little boy lost.

He tried to say the right things, and that is to his credit, his grandmother wished she could go and give him a cuddle, but I’m afraid I just can’t bear to see grown men cry.

Yes, I know I’m old fashioned, but footballers never used to cry at Wembley, hopefully rugby league players still don’t, and I couldn’t imagine Ricky Hatton or David Haye turning on the waterworks after getting a good thrashing in the boxing ring – the one place I might be truly tempted!

Gazza has a lot to answer for. Once he’d shed the tears of a clown at Italia 90 it became acceptable for sportsmen to show their true emotions in public.

Well I’m sorry a stiff upper lip is much more acceptable in my book.

THERE cannot have been a worse decision in sport recently than the one to ban Togo’s football team from the African Cup of Nations for the next two tournaments.

If ever there was an excuse for tears, it’s those shed by Togo’s players while they thought their lives were coming to a premature end in the shooting atrocity in Angola.

Three of their number were shot dead and it was inhuman to expect the survivors to go out and play football. What state of mind must they have been in?

For the notoriously bumbling African federation to then compound Togo’s misery by inflicting a ban is intolerable.

As the world governing body FIFA should demand the decision be overturned immediately and Togo re-instated.