Andy Murray

[boboisared]

A girl I went to school with, couple years younger.....she was shot in the foot at Dunblane, obviously survived, but she walked with a limp.

 

She would get it!

You have mail

[Tyrant]

Last summer I was at a boozy BBQ just after Wimbledon and were talking about Murray. My friends boss was there and being English has a dislike for him as he said he wanted England to lose at the football in the past. He waited until it was just me and another random guy there before really letting rip and his argument ended in "I wish Thomas Hamilton had shot that cunt". At that point anger descended over me and I just had to leave the party as I was going to smack him.

 

 

I'm so sick of that comment he made (which was clearly fucking tongue-in-cheek getting used against him time and time again. 95% of Scots want England to lose at football. For many of us nothing is more pleasing. The English are the fucking same. Fuck them if they slag off Murray for saying that.

 

He did talk briefly about the shooting in his book. He says he cant really remember it. He hid under a desk. He didn't see anything. He didn't know what had happened until quite sometime later. He also reveals that his Mum once gave Thomas Hamilton a lift although he didn't know him much beyond that.

 

[Sweetchuck]

Last summer I was at a boozy BBQ just after Wimbledon and were talking about Murray. My friends boss was there and being English has a dislike for him as he said he wanted England to lose at the football in the past. He waited until it was just me and another random guy there before really letting rip and his argument ended in "I wish Thomas Hamilton had shot that cunt". At that point anger descended over me and I just had to leave the party as I was going to smack him.

 

I find it hilarious that so many of the English get so bitter about people in Scotland not supporting them. When they come out with shite like that, it just makes me want to keep heckling them a bit more.

 

What they fail to understand is firstly that what Andy Murray said, he said jokingly; and secondly, that by getting so riled and descending to that kind of level, they make themselves look just as stupid - if not more so - as someone who genuinely does want England to lose at everything.

 

For that reason and that reason only, I would love to see Murray win Wimbledon, just to shove it right up those bitter, narrow-minded bastards who whine about him not supporting England in the World Cup. To see the look on their faces would be a thing of beauty.

[glasgow sheep]

 

I'm so sick of that comment he made (which was clearly fucking tongue-in-cheek getting used against him time and time again. 95% of Scots want England to lose at football. For many of us nothing is more pleasing. The English are the fucking same. Fuck them if they slag off Murray for saying that.

 

They were still banging on about it on 5live this morning.  Of course they start off by saying he is moody, arrogant, monotone etc etc but they always come back to "and he said he wouldn't support England".

 

Perhaps he succeeds because he is arrogant, some people would call it confident, instead of the usual negative, "it's the taking part" attitude that many British sportsman have.  Strangely I don't remember many folk complaining that Bradley Wiggins was an arrogant bastard who didn't deserve our support when he said that if he didn't win 3 golds it would be a failure.  

[Tyrant]

Andy, like Tim Henman suffers at the hands of the media from the misconception that he's a dour faced cunt. Having read parts of Murray's book it's not the case. But Tim didn't go out of his way to try and "prove" that he wasn't boring because he didn't care and Andy's the same. It's ridiculous to label him "moody". He's just competitive.

 

There's a difference between being arrogant and confident. To be honest he doesn't strike me as either of those. He knows his limitations. He knows who he should be beating and who he's maybe not capable of beating yet.

 

Rafa Nadal was the only player in the top 10 that Murray hadn't beaten. Now there's not a top player who he hasn't beaten. There's no reason why he can't win tonight.

 

[Sweetchuck]

Taken from 606 on the BBC, written without any hint of irony whatsoever:

 

I'll support Murray because he is British but not as passionately as I would support him if he was English especially after his anti-English comments. But then that is very normal. I view Murray as merely a person to give Britain pride and to allow me to wind up my foreign freinds on other tennis messageboards, especially the American ones.

 

So Murray is merely a means to an end for me. If he loses, I can always just say that he is Scottish anyway.

 

So apparently it's okay for them to wind up other nationalities, but not for Murray to do it to them: the classic Little England paranoia. That's without even discussing the 'Scottish if he loses' nonsense.

 

And although I loathe his paper with every ounce of my being, here's an explanatory article from the Daily Mail's Des Kelly, the (English) journalist to whom Murray originally made the infamous "anyone but England" remark:

 

Why Joke is Wearing Thin for Andy

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-1033143/Des-Kelly-Federer-8217-s-winner-taking-defeat-like-man-son.html

 

Let me return to the topic of Andy Murray and this whole anti-English argument for what I truly hope is the last time - although I doubt it.

 

Some of the nonsensical criticism Britain's No 1 has received is laced with such misplaced venom and outrage that it makes me despair.

 

So, for the hard of thinking, let me state here that: I did the interview with Andy Murray and Tim Henman a couple of years back where Murray talked about 'supporting whoever England were playing against'.

 

It was a clearly a sarcastic remark. He was responding to teasing from your columnist about Scotland's absence from the 2006 World Cup and derisive laughter from the mischievous Henman.

 

It was reported in that context in this newspaper at the time and the exchange was run as a transcript.

 

A couple of days later a red-top got excited about the comments, lifted a couple of them into a 'story' that took on a life of its own and from there the truth was lost.

 

It is astonishing how this has run and run.

 

An extremely talented columnist pal of mine declared unequivocally the other day that: 'I don't think his remarks about England were a joke. There are some people who just don't like the English and I believe in my marrow that Murray is one of them.'

 

Based on what?

 

I did the interview - and it was a joke, as I have said before. And what marrows have to do with it I don't know, but it is certainly time to call a halt when vegetables like David Mellor pop up on the Today programme to lecture Murray about how to wave a Union Flag.

 

Murray has been variously decried as 'disgusting' and 'yobbish' for doing nothing more than show a bit of Celtic fire during a fabulous comeback by people who clearly have no understanding of the excitement sport generates.

 

They are the same Phillipa Space types who used to accuse Henman of lacking passion.

 

The critics also ignore the fact that Murray has improved greatly at Wimbledon this year and is Britain's best and only hope of success for years to come.

 

He doesn't drink, behaves himself off court, has a steady girlfriend, a fine family and has just moved back into the world's top 10. Something to be proud of, I'd say.

 

As for this England v Scotland thing, personally, after some of the twaddle I've read this past fortnight from 'patriotic' Brits, I wouldn't hold it against him if he decided to become German.

[glasgow sheep]

If he wins I'll look forward to Little England's froth if he wraps himself in a Saltire rather than a Union Jack, although sadly I suspect that his "advisors" will be keen he does the latter

[Tyrant]

If he wins I'll look forward to Little England's froth if he wraps himself in a Saltire rather than a Union Jack, although sadly I suspect that his "advisors" will be keen he does the latter

 

 

I think you may be right but I know after the anti-England saga he'll be dying to wave the Saltire.

[Sweetchuck]

If he wins I'll look forward to Little England's froth if he wraps himself in a Saltire rather than a Union Jack, although sadly I suspect that his "advisors" will be keen he does the latter

 

Sadly, I think you're right, in that he'll probably bottle it and either wave a Union Jack or nothing at all (assuming he doesn't bottle it during the match itself).

 

However, why should he or his advisors be worried about what people in England think? They're the ones who have blown an entirely innocent comment out of context, so fuck 'em. It's not like he depends on them for funding any more. If he was a 13 year-old dependent on LTA funding then fine, but the guy's already a millionaire and about to be named as one of the world's top 4 players.

 

If I was in his position, I would be keen to antagonise them as much as possible, because it clearly grinds their gears really badly to see some snotty-nosed, uppity Jock winning anything where their toffee-nosed, inglorious-failure, personality-vacuum Henman failed so regularly; and nothing he ever does will win them round, given the rampant ignorance which currently accompanies their frenzied condemnations of him as a person.

[glasgow sheep]

Sadly, I think you're right, in that he'll probably bottle it and either wave a Union Jack or nothing at all (assuming he doesn't bottle it during the match itself).

 

However, why should he or his advisors be worried about what people in England think? They're the ones who have blown an entirely innocent comment out of context, so fuck 'em. It's not like he depends on them for funding any more. If he was a 13 year-old dependent on LTA funding then fine, but the guy's already a millionaire and about to be named as one of the world's top 4 players.

 

If I was in his position, I would be keen to antagonise them as much as possible, because it clearly grinds their gears really badly to see some snotty-nosed, uppity Jock winning anything where their toffee-nosed, inglorious-failure, personality-vacuum Henman failed so regularly; and nothing he ever does will win them round, given the rampant ignorance which currently accompanies their frenzied condemnations of him as a person.

quite, and I'd love him to do that, however if he did the english press would harass him constantly to a quite ridiculous degree, proving a point I suppose, but also being an almighty pain the ass when he is busy trying to win major tournaments

[mizer]

Is this game only on Sky or also on Eurosport? I see some of vids on youtube come from Eurosport.

[Tyrant]

He'll also take into account the fact that he lives in London. He'd get hounded out his own home if he took the antagonising too far.

[glasgow sheep]

Is this game only on Sky or also on Eurosport? I see some of vids on youtube come from Eurosport.

Sky Sports 1

[Tyrant]

Does anyone know of an interwebsite that will stream the final tonight?

[Andrew]

Not sure if I am allowed to post this on the site but I was using http://www.justin.tv last night to watch the semi-final. Quality is ok but commentary was in Spanish.

[Sweetchuck]

He'll also take into account the fact that he lives in London. He'd get hounded out his own home if he took the antagonising too far.

 

I'm not saying he should come out in an "Anyone but England" t-shirt. I just find it sad to think that him waving the Saltire would be any more offensive to the English than it would be for us to see Henman waving an England flag. I wouldn't let it bother me one bit and I don't see why so many English people are so quick to associate Scottishness with hatred of the English. Yes, there are some wankers up here who take an innocent sporting rivalry too far, but in general, the idea that Scottish=anti-English is nothing more than a paranoid myth spread by red-top shitrags down south in order to shift more copy.

 

I don't know a single Scot who hates England or the English, regardless of how much they all enjoy seeing them get absolutely pumped at fitba.

 

If anyone down south thought that him waving a Saltire was sufficient antagonism to justify driving the guy our of his home, they need to get a serious reality check and have a think a bit more deeply about why they should be so offended by a Scot celebrating his national identity.

[Sweetchuck]

Andy Murray - England's greatest Scotsman?

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7604057.stm

 

Scot Andy Murray's march to the US Open final has left some Americans mistakenly applauding the "Englishman". And they're not the only ones confused by the whole Scotland-England-Britain thing.

 

Few British press reports lauding tennis star Andy Murray's dramatic victory over Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals failed to mention that the 21-year-old is Scottish.

 

And most Brits would know anyway, especially after Murray underlined his nationality with his controversial - although perhaps tongue-in-cheek - comments in 2006 about supporting any football team playing England.

 

The furore that followed that remark did not register in the US of course, where many observers remain confused about who the young man from Dunblane really is.

 

Former tennis player Wendy Turnbull, an Australian now commentating for the BBC, says: "It was funny, I was upstairs in the players' lounge and I heard some Americans go 'Oh, the Englishman won.'

 

"Then someone said 'He's Scottish!' and the others said 'We meant to say British, not English.' So Americans are correcting other Americans and saying he's Scottish."

 

The BBC's tennis commentator, Jonathan Overend, in New York, says: "It's amazing, isn't it? Some people here still can't get their heads around what that's all about, saying 'Well how can he be from Scotland but still from Britain?'"

 

It's a mistake that was made at Wimbledon earlier this year by American John McEnroe who, when commentating on a Murray match, described him as one of "you English guys". He swiftly apologised.

 

'Aussies better'

 

It's not just tennis pros who fall victim to this confusion. Ken Paterson, a photographer who set up the Famous Scots Project to celebrate the Scots diaspora, says that when telling people in the US that he's Scottish, they do sometimes think it is part of England.

 

"You do have to explain that. It's not an uncommon perception, but then Americans are not particularly educated about geography outside their own country," he says. Although many Americans might think the same about British knowledge of their country.

 

"I think Australians are slightly better, but I don't think other countries want to split us [britain] up. We're a small country on the edge of Europe. Why split us up any further?

 

For MSP Stewart Maxwell, "Britain doesn't really mean anything to Americans".

 

"They think of Britain as England and can't differentiate between Wales and Scotland and England," says the communities and sport minister.

 

"I think Europeans are very clear about the different parts of the UK. I've never experienced that problem in Europe."

 

In the US Mr Maxwell has experienced the two extremes - a barmaid in the Deep South standing in front of a gantry full of Scotch whisky who said she had never heard of Scotland and a Native American in California who was so knowledgeable he could isolate where Mr Maxwell was from - Glasgow.

 

'Don't be smug'

 

"I'm never upset by it. It's not the individual's fault. Once you speak to people and explain the difference you realise they are aware of the iconic things about Scotland - whisky, castles, Loch Ness and tartan - and very enthusiastic about it."

 

But Brits shouldn't get too smug - they make the same mistakes too. Although awareness within the UK about national differences has grown, especially since devolution, there are still instances where people publicly fall back into bad habits.

 

And the BBC is one of the main culprits, says Mr Maxwell. This was perfectly illustrated when one interviewer asked sprinter Usain Bolt to give a message to "the whole of England watching" after his Olympic triumphs.

 

"It's a continuation of England and Britain being the same thing," says the MSP. "There's an excuse for people far away to not know their geography but the fact remains that the BBC not knowing it is beyond the pale."

[Ajja]

Does anyone know of an interwebsite that will stream the final tonight?

 

I used the myp2p site and went for the sopcast stream. It was pretty much perfect and commentary was English (US and English guys).

[glasgow sheep]

don king:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7603645.stm

[Kowalski]

C'mon Murray!!!!!!

 

:ultras: :ultras:

[Kowalski]

Sky's build up has started.

 

Annabelle Croft would still get it 

[Ajja]

What time is tee off Kow ? Is it 2200BST ? Need to know when to crank up my sopcast

[Kowalski]

What time is tee off Kow ? Is it 2200BST ? Need to know when to crank up my sopcast

 

10pm "Ajj".

[Ajja]

10pm "Ajj".

K

 

 

[mizer]

Im here

http://www.justin.tv/rizl4