And while I'm on BBC Sport... "Progress"?

How can it be considered 'progress' that the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish FAs have so little interest in the profile of the sport at an Olympic level that they would so readily withdraw their involvement and consent to 11 English players taking the field under the auspices of Team GB?

It's a sad indictment of our national game that petty differences and paranoia about independence can get in the way of what would almost certainly be a temporary arrangement for London 2012.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympic_games/8072981.stm

A loaded choice of words...?

Janko Tipsaravic: "a naturally offensive player" (according to BBC Sport).

Is it the floppy hair or the silly specs that make him so objectionable?

Slow News Day...?

Granted, it's a Bank Holiday Monday - but surely this doesn't merit a front-page link on the BBC News website.

Versace denies boardroom dispute

I don't read Vogue or anything, but seriously...who gives a shit?

Hollyoaks 1 - 2 Celebs XI

The XI isn't the number of players on the team in Roman numerals, rather the 'list' that they constitute in the grand scheme of Celebdom.

Yesterday afternoon I took in this sporting spectacle at Chester City's Deva Stadium and shortly after the final whistle had to be treated for two burst eardrums, such was the volume of high-pitched shrieking to be heard every time "Jason-out-of-Coronation Street" got anywhere near the ball.

The revelation of the day was one Ralf Little who, in addition to being the only person present who could justafiably be referred to as 'famous', was easily the best player on the park.

His place in my estimation went up even further when he turned out to be a thoroughly good bloke as he chatted away to my missus and her friends, as naturally as you like, as he and his fellow players did the rounds signing autographs and posing for photos after the match.

"It's a fucking disgrace!"

Allow me to stir the pot a little bit.

I'm normally among the first to bemoan the lack of respect footballers show towards officials and often sympathise with the frequently-voiced view that these outrageously-shekeled primadonnas should just keep it shut and concentrate on what they do with the ball.

In a game I love so much, it's the one aspect I think the governing bodies should address with utmost urgency and have often looked to the example of rugby players or supported the proposed idea that captains should be the only players allowed to address the match officials

I didn't actually see the coverage of the Chelsea-Barcelona match but after watching a replay and witnessing the subsequent reaction, I found myself feeling a new-found respect for Didier Drogba.

So often found lacking under Avram Grant and Phil Scolari, the Ivorian powerhouse seemed a shadow of his former imposing self from Mourinho's reign (that dodgy first season, when it appeared £24m couldn't even buy you a decent first touch, notwithstanding).

If anyone was left in any doubt whether he had been fully revitalised under caretaker coach Guus Hiddink, they need look no further than his full-blooded reaction the conclusion of last night's semi-final. There he was in all his fist-pumping, badge-kissing glory and I found myself in (I admit, somewhat surprising) admiration.

Were his actions so reprehensible? After all, it's hardly the first time a player has vented his spleen at a ref after the final whistle and, in light of what occurred in the preceding 90 minutes, I cannot recall circumstances more deserving of such protestations. The words he gave to the nation were born of a sense of injustice and were not directly accusing the referee of being complicit in anything untoward.

Moreover, the incident was broadcast after the watershed (such as we understand it in our post-Sachsgate world) and at the error of the show's production team, for whom the time-delay safety net of live telly is supposed to be a crucial tool.

Somewhat at odds with my instincts, I have often found it ridiculous that managers can be censured for comments made after a game about a referee's performance. As a trainee journalist the principle of free speech (and all the many complications and caveats that accompany it) has been drummed into me from day one. Are football managers not afforded the same privilege? And, indeed, are their charges, especially under such controversial circumstances?

See the big man in action for yourself:

Arsenal 1 - 3 Manchester United (1-4 on aggregate)

So many column inches and minutes of airtime are devoted to speculating about the outcome of football matches across the gamut of the sporting media each week - and then every so often a game comes along that, within the opening 11 minutes, absolutely blows all of that out of the water. Tonight's Champion's League semi-final between Manchester United and Arsenal was just such an affair.

Delicately poised at 1-0 following John O'Shea's goal at Old Trafford, football fans and pundits alike will have spent most of today ruminating on team selection, formations, tactics and all manner of other variables which could have swung the tie one way or the other. On the night, it was an unfortunate error from an inexperienced youngster and a moment of audacious brilliance from arguably the finest player in world football which put matters to bed. We should all give up trying to predict these things and just enjoy them from the sofa with a beer or two, shouldn't we?

A final thought: this season Darren Fletcher has all but dispelled ideas that he is somehow a weak link in the Manchester United team and has consistently performed in domestic and European competition. How sad then that a poor refereeing decision should cost him his dream of playing his first Champion League final. Chin up, son.

Flora London Marathon 2009. I feel tired just looking at the pictures

Earlier this month, an uncharacteristically sunny day greeted the many thousands of crazy people who each yeah trot their way to all kinds of blisters and nipple burns in the London Marathon. For the first time in living memory I actually knew some of the participants, but this was not enough to ensure I actually made visual contact with any of them, such is the vast gargantuan scale of the whole thing.But being there in the flesh for the first time was actually quite an emotional experience and I was made to realise, like never before, that each and everyone of the people who participate in this world-famous event are absolutely fantastic.

My warmest congratulations to you all.