Matt Monro Forum

SEVERIANO BALLESTEROS
(1957-2011)

Some sportsmen transcend their game;
no need to specify the category,
simply go by the name:
Stanley Matthews, Muhammad Ali,
Donald Bradman etc., and, of course, dear Sevvy.
Thanks for illuminating the world of sport, Mr Ballesteros
(even the name hints at consummate ball control),
and when you grace the fairways once more,
do so in the entertaining company
of another superstar who left us
to shine at a celestial level, also aged 54.

Keith Good

That's lovely Keith, and those other mentioned sportsmen were our heros that few since could equate with, and our immediate thoughts too of our singing hero.

Yes Lena & Harry, competitive modern sport tends
to be joyless. Like Matt in his sphere, we shall never
see the likes of Seve again.
On the subject of sport, the team that I captain
won this season's first division of the Barnet Table Tennis League,
thereby gaining promotion to the Premier division,
and the team of which I am a member won promotion
to the premier division of the North Middlesex Table Tennis League.
There's life in the old dog yet.

That's brilliat news Keith. Many Congratulations.
You have to be fit for this game too.
Harry was good at Table Tennis and bravely took on a challenge with Chester Barnes many years ago at one of our Pontins Holidays. He surprised the onlookers, but failed to beat the champion of course.
We have a friend who played for England in the Fifties

Well done Keith .............I hope you stay in the Premier Division longer then my team did

Thanks Lena & Harry and Robert, but without
team reinforcements it will be a tough assignment.

RAPID RESPONSE

Replay the electrifying scene:
a quick pray at kick-off and seconds later
Javier (saviour?) is clean
through a stumbling defence to score,
then erupts an Old Trafford
Premiership-winning roar
as United, players and manager, perform their
exultant victory dance.
God, it scarcely seems fair,
for thereafter poor prayerless Chelsea
do not stand a chance ...

Keith Good

Re the table tennis-John was quite good too.
He has a programme and autograph book signed by all the players at the 21st World Table Tennis Championships at Wembley from 1954!
He was with his Mum and Dad at the hotel in which all the players were staying.They had gone especially to go to the championships.
He was 'Ne'er but a lad'

I trust John acquired the women's doubles winners
autographs, Sandra. That title was claimed for England
by the Rowe sisters, Diane & Rosalind. However, even then
the game was dominated by overseas players,
although to a lesser extent than it is now.
I have written several humorous poems on the subject
of table tennis. Here are two posted previously,
which you may have missed:

THE SEDUCTRESS

Twice a week she lures me
from my missus and the telly.
She pokes fun at my stamina
and undersize ... beer belly.
Sultry nights mean towelling
and perspiration flowing,
but when it's cold our joint exertions
leave me gently glowing ...
Now fast, now slow, we lovers go
revelling in each motion;
she makes me laugh, and cry,
I run the gamut of emotion.
I find her irresistible,
this vamp, this marriage menace,
she'll be my Sybarite till I die,
this drug - league table tennis.

THE TOURNAMENT KILLER
(of the The Barnet Table Tennis League)

On that fateful table tennis night,
darling Clotho decreed I would win;
in the cauldron of skill called the premier division,
I played, as they say, out of my skin.
Deadly, cobra-like backhands,
fizzing spins, electrifying the ball;
backswing-powered bullet forehands,
and no pimples phobia at all.
The final was the proverbial stroll
courtesy each killer stroke -
on hearing the champion's proud drum-roll,
startled creature, I awoke ...

Keith Good

PS I shall tentatively enter the cauldrons of the Barnet
and North Middlesex premier divisions in September -
wish we luck.

Good luck Keith and team

Thanks Robert. Should you know of any high quality
Hullesian table tennis players due to move to London,
please let me know.
Our local football team, Barnet FC, trembled on the trapdoor
of league demise throughout the season, only to do
a Houdini act on the last day. 'In one bound they were free.'

HAIL THE UNDERDOGS

On Saturday when City take the field
bristling with the financial power they wield,
most of The Potters players will be bespoke,
that's why I'll be rooting for homely Stoke.

This post should be elsewhere really, but I'll be supporting Man City. When they won in the fifties, captain Roy Paul brought the FA Cup to our school. He lived near us. I think they have won it since but I'd like to see them win again.

Seve's funeral today.. it looked very moving. R.I.P.

Was Sevy cremated before the service ............I saw someone carrying the urn into the church on the way into the service.

Yes Robert. The urn was carried in and displayed in the church next to a photograph of Seve.