As the United Kingdom battles their worst heatwave in recorded history, desperate times call for desperate measures

According to the July 17 Edition of the great tabloid that is the Sunday Sport…

Of course the doctors don’t recommend it, because it’ll give your poo a brain freeze.

Noted astrophysicist and part-time guitarist for Queen Brian May turns 75 today

To celebrate May’s birthday, I’ll note that the first Queen song to feature May as the primary lead vocalist instead of Freddie Mercury was Some Day One Day from Queen II in 1974, with the song featuring at least three different guitar solos from May:

The second was She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettoes) from 1974’s Sheer Heart Attack, the album that featured Killer Queen, and also featured May on lead vocals alongside Mercury for the lead track Brighton Rock:

And the third was ’39 from 1975’s smash hit A Night At The Opera, which May described as a ‘Sci-fi skiffle’, although when Queen performed the song live Mercury resumed his role as lead vocalist, and even the late George Michael described May’s composition as his favourite Queen song during his pre-Wham busking days, performing it alongside the band at Freddie’s tribute concert in 1992.

People are mentioning Sam Kerr’s great achievement of being the first female player on the international cover of a FIFA game, but can we also note she is the first Australian to crack the international cover of a FIFA game

And ironically Kerr is going to be be the only Australian to ever appear on the global cover of a FIFA game, because EA’s license with FIFA expires after FIFA 23.

I’ll be off to the Premier League friendly between Leeds United and Crystal Palace on Friday night

I’ll bet the organisers were crapping themselves when Leeds were on track to get relegated before the final day of the season, because then it would’ve been a Championship side vs a mid-table Premier League side…

But alas, Leeds got the job done at Brentford, and ironically both goalscorers Raphinha and Jack Harrison are about as likely to feature in White this season as I am of playing Premier League bowls for Manning.

To be honest, if the match against Aston Villa at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday was any guide (A crowd of 40,918), I reckon they’ll do very well to get a crowd of 50,000 at Optus on Friday night, which is very possible given Leeds do have a pretty solid fanbase in Australia, despite looking like relegation bait this season, and Palace have a strong connection to Australia with the 11 Aussies to play for the club, most notably former captains Mile Jedinak & Tony Popovic.

On another note, it’s nice to be able to enjoy some international club friendlies in Australia again after the last couple of years, with the 75,000+ crowds at the MCG on Friday and Tuesday involving Manchester United, Melbourne Victory & Palace, plus the friendlies in Queensland involving Leeds, Aston Villa & Brisbane Roar.

There is still a very healthy following for English football in this country, despite the best efforts of Optus and Paramount Plus and their constant buffering.

Proof that Peter Thomson’s spirit infused itself into Cameron Smith’s putter

This also explains why Rory McIlroy couldn’t sink anything beyond 3 feet:

If you’re looking for context, Andrew’s father is legendary (And I use that phrase with great emphasis) Australian golfer Peter Thomson, who won the Open Championship a joint-record 5 times, including the 1955 Open at the Old Course, he’s the last male golfer to win the same major in 3 consecutive years (The Open from 1954-56), and of course, Peter sadly died aged 88 in 2018, in between visits of The Open to St Andrews.

So yes, if you needed proof that the spirits at the Home of Golf were on Cam’s side, that evidence from the Thomson family is enough.

The one shot that should sum up Cameron Smith’s putting was the Eagle on the 14th in the 2nd Round

Records acquired by Cameron Smith this year

Tied the record for the best 72-hole score in a Major Championship (alongside -20 by Henrik Stenson at the 2016 Open)

Best 72-hole score in an Open Championship at St Andrews (-20, besting Tiger Woods’ -19 from 2000)

Lowest final round score by an Open Champion at St Andrews (8-under 64, the old record was 6-under 66 set by Zach Johnson in 2015)

First player since ‘The Golden Bear’ Jack Nicklaus in 1978 to win the Players’ Championship and the Open Championship in the same season.

And earlier this year….

PGA Tour record for the best 72-hole score to par (34 under at 2022 Sentry Tournament of Champions)

And let’s not even mention him being the only player to ever score all 4 rounds in the 60s at a Masters tournament… And he still didn’t win the title.

And just for balance’s sake, here’s McIlroy’s Eagle from the bunker on the 10th in the 3rd Round

The French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard will mark Lewis Hamilton’s 300th Grand Prix appearance

Kimi Raikkonen on 349 starts (From 353 appearances)

Fernando Alonso on 344 starts (From 347 appearances)

Rubens Barrichello on 322 starts (From 326 appearances)

Jenson Button on 306 (From 309 appearances)

Michael Schumacher on 306 (From 308 appearances)

And Hamilton is currently on 299 starts from 299 appearances, all of which have been powered by Mercedes… The only race he’s ever missed since debuting in Australia in 2007 is the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix due to being positive for the spicy cough.

Yep, 103 wins, 103 pole positions and 186 podiums through the first triple century of races… Well done to the Knight of the Realm:

Another random Formula 1 stat for France: Max Verstappen will overtake Mark Webber for the most Grand Prix starts for Red Bull

Both drivers are currently on 129 starts for Red Bull, with 129 appearances tied for 10th on the list of most entries for a constructor by a driver, but it’ll be the reigning World Champion Verstappen who moves into the Top 10 at Paul Ricard, and with 10 races to go after France, he’ll most likely jump into 6th on the list, surpassing:

9) Jacques Laffite on 132 appearances for Ligier

8) Mika Hakkinen on 133 appearances for McLaren

7) Nico Rosberg on 136 appearances for Mercedes

And:

6) Jenson Button on 137 appearances for McLaren

Although, if you base the list on starts, if Max starts every Grand Prix for the rest of the season, he’ll finish the season tied for 5th all time, alongside Felipe Massa’s 139 starts for Ferrari.

For the third year in a row, the Sydney Roosters have a game in which two players tear their ACLS

How’s your luck on this:

Round 7, 2020: Victor Radley and Sam Verrills tear their ACLs against St George-Illawarra at Western Sydney Stadium

Round 8, 2021: Lindsay Collins and Brett Morris tear their ACLs against the Newcastle Knights at McDonald Jones Stadium, Morris retires a few weeks later

Round 18, 2022: Sitili Tupouniua and Billy Smith tear their ACLs against St George-Illawarra at Gosford

Coincidentally, the Roosters won all 3 games by double figure margins, and if you include Luke Keary’s ACL tear in Round 3 last year, that’s at least 7 ACL tears in the last 3 years for Easts, and 11 in the last 5 years, which can be attributed to being called the Roosters and subsequently having an entire playing roster with chicken legs.

Quite often premierships come down to luck with player health, and they’re at the Bank of Penrith trying to loan some luck out.

A few family birthday anniversaries this past week

I don’t do these too often, but my Da (Mum’s dad) would’ve turned the ripe old age of 90 last Friday (July 15), but sadly he hasn’t been with us since September of 2020, although I can only think if he’d played cricket instead of rugby as a young man, dying at the cursed number of 87 instead of 88 would’ve been understandable.

And a happy birthday for last Sunday to my Great Uncle Geoff, who probably didn’t get my birthday message, but he’s been one of my longest tenured supporters of this website, liking every single post on Facebook, despite not reading most of the content, so thanks Geoff and hope the day went well.

Staying on the subject of family, all the best to my aunty Therese & uncle Russell, who’s going through a rough trot with throat cancer, hope to see the both of you sometime soon.

After 22 years on the shelf, Fremantle have revived the 3D Anchor guernsey for Retro Round in Round 20

One of the greatest unique guernsey designs ever seen in the Australian Football League, one that truly captures the absurdity the Damian Drum era of Fremantle… The footy was crap, but the combination of purple, green and red was so absurd it was memorable:

True story, when the Long-sleeved version went up on the Fremantle website on Sunday night, it was sold out within 20 minutes.

I’d also like to see Freo go the whole hog and bring back a few great traditions of the late-1990s and early 2000s, and these are….

RUNNING OUT THROUGH THE SHIPPING CONTAINER:

AND THE HAULING OF THE ANCHOR:

Actually, it does seem a bit funny having Jeff Farmer in the shot, considering he joined Fremantle in 2002, which was a good 2 seasons after they retired the 3D Anchor…

But what do I care, he’s The Wizard, he kicked 9 goals in a half once.

The Australia vs England Test was the first rugby international played at the SCG since 1986, and judging by that fan who took a piss on the roof, and the bloke who abused Eddie Jones, it’ll be the last

That truly is amazing to have the worst-behaved set of fans in a crowd featuring thousands of drunk Englishmen.

Chad Warner’s alter ego Corey Warner steals his best afield Coaches’ Votes from Sydney’s win against Fremantle

Anyone who watched the game would know it’s what Corey does away from the footy that makes him a great young player, in fact Corey is so quiet you can barely recognise him on the field when he’s got the ball, but it’s great to see Justin Longmuir and/or John Longmire recognise that.

And finally, here’s a random brilliant goal from the 1979 VFL season that popped up in my YouTube feed

And it comes from a great Hawthorn player by the name of Michael Moncrieff, who filled the era between Peter Hudson and Jason Dunstall, and still sits 4th overall on Hawthorn’s goalkicking leaderboard some 40 seasons after his last game – Well, Moncrieff made a blind overhead snap look easy against Richmond in Round 4: