January 2011 Archives

WELL Richard Keys got one thing right. The game - nay, the world - has gone mad.

For the second successive day the BBC was leading their topical news phone-in on 'Linogate' as politicians, social commentators and pundits scramble to hop on this latest bandwagon.

Austere broadsheets and red tops alike have felled forests to cover the number of pages devoted to Keys and Andy Gray and their frankly ridiculous views on the merits of the fairer sex in football.

CAN you have a point but still be in the wrong?

I ask because thats how I read the sad saga of Darren Bent's move to Aston Villa, which leaves me feeling thoroughly conflicted.

Over the past 24 hours Bent has been pilloried by supporters and - privately at least - by his club. They have a point - and a right - to feel deeply wounded by a development that caught them completely unawares.

THE iconic Castrol Honda name will be back in the World Superbike Championship this season after the global lubricants brand announced title sponsorship of the Honda team's effort.

Jonathan Rea and Ruben Xaus will pilot CBR 1000RR Fireblades run by the famous Ten Kate Racing outfit in a two-pronged attack on the hard-fought series.

And for Superbike fans it will a hark back to the good old days as the team today unveiled its 2011 take on the famous white, red and green livery which took the team to three world titles - with John Kocinski in 1997 and again in 2000 and 2002 with Texas Tornado Colin Edwards.

OF all the people I spoke to in the run up to Sunday's derby, it is Steve Howey's words that stick in the mind this morning.

Not his verdict on the game or the key on-the-field battles, more his reflections on playing in the soulless 1996/7 Roker Park derby. In case you'd forgotten, that contest was put on with no Newcastle fans because of safety concerns from Northumbria Police.

GEORDIE favourite Denise Welsh dons her skates for the first time in Sunday's Dancing on Ice.

She stars in the second of two preliminary rounds where the public chose the line-up for the contest.

Got to say I'm looking forward to it.

WAS watching Dancing on Ice while using a stepper at the local gym so, admittedly, I was paying more attention to watching the calories burn than watching celebrities totter on the ice.

I find myself agreeing, for the first time, with Daybreak presenter Adrian Chiles.

A student from Newcsatle College has turned waste onto art.
In the summer of 2010 Premier Waste Management initiated a photo assignment with Newcastle College photography students.