Grassmarket

Marking the traditional beginning of the British Summer Sports season, the Hallaton & Medbourne bottle*-kicking competition. There’s also a pie comes into it at some point. No gouging allowed. *In fact, it’s an old word meaning a barrel. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11960069/Villages-war-annual-bottle-kicking-battle-hundreds-turn-Easter-Monday-tradition.html

“How can I tell these bald old geezers they’re too old to play at this level anymore?”

That’s it - 9 3 after 8 & the Canadians offer the handshakes. Not much went right today. Aww, Hammy McMillan gets a big hug from his Dad , World Champ in 1999.

Mojos are definitely not working - 6 1 after five. Another Gushue overthrow. Much better skip stones for Gushue 6-3.

Early mistake from Gushue with an over-heavy draw gives a 4-0 advantage! Scots 2 & 3 continue to keep the pressure on, Gushue forced into a single and to give up the hammer 4-1.

Will be out for a few weeks under the new concussion protocols, I think.

Oooof. vdP millimetres from a close encounter with a big yellow lump of concrete.

Degenkolb appealing to the refs, I’m sure.

Just looked it up - 400m Final, World Champs 1993.

Derek Gee in one of the most spectacular equipment failures since 400m hurdler Quincy Watts’ shoes fell apart mid-race.

103km to go - that means get in position!

Sagan crashes, not looking good for a remount today at least.

Off we go with the Départ Fictif in the Paris Compiègne-Roubaix, 100km to go to the first pavé. Would you believe, there are more than riders in the race today? Big teams keeping control, nobody’s been allowed anything over 15secs yet. 15km to the Pavé 1/29.

Alison Jackson wins the keirin sprint from the all-day breakaway!

Kopecky now back chasing! 46 secs behind, 14km to go! Coming down to a velodrome sprint, I think!

The crash took her out of her own break, so is now stuck on her own heading back to the beetroot diggers.

Oi! Crash in the mud takes down every single one of the favourites group! Not looking good for Samir Kant.

Lotte Kopecky attacks, if they don’t get on her wheel they are riding for beetroot.

Ladies on their way to the Roubaix pithead showers, which in over a century of existence will never have seen such exotic hair-care products. Conditions are moderately muddy. We have a large breakaway group with a lead of over five minutes.

Yeah, but teams of four? Only going to be one result.

Oh great. First six places Kenya, Ethiopia & Uganda I & II.

Yeah, but there are many more countries capable of fielding a marathon team than a walking one.

Just discovered this - British Kabaddi League opening week! https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/65192223

Very good quality Sprint meet from Florida this evening. Think the YT timing is wrong, main programme starts at 13:00 Florida/18:00 UK.

“So what you are saying, Professor <puffs pipe> is that, ultimately, we are all French?” Humans are the ultimate apex predators on planet Earth. No matter how large-sized, sharp-toothed, razor-clawed, pointy-horned or venomous a creature may be, humans have hunted it for food. Moreover, according to a study led by the University of the Witwatersrand, they have also done so no matter how slow, small and slimy. Giant African land snails (Achatinidae) were systematically brought to the Border Cave site in eastern South Africa, roasted and consumed, starting from 170,000 years ago, in a practice that continued for 100,000 years. https://phys.org/news/2023-04-humans-giant-snails-apex-predator.html