Afternoon:
10°c
Cameron duty bound to back darts at No10
Political historians of tomorrow will have cause for gratitude to Channel 4's When Boris Met Dave for revealing the key formative influence on the Tory leader. During this account of how Messrs Cameron and Johnson launched their rivalry at Oxford, the Dave character treats his mates to a misty-eyed, lyrical account of how Keith Deller's shock victory, as a qualifier, in the 1983 world darts championship. “From nowhere,” he mutters, welling up at the memory, “to the champ!” Of course, this isn't Mr Deller's first surprising cultural crossover, Martin Amis having based the character Keith Talent upon him. But where Mr Amis has no way to lobby the IOC to make darts a demonstration sport in the London Olympics of 2012, Dave may soon have that power. He must use it to repay part of his debt to the lairily insouciant East Anglian arrowsman who fired his ambition and set him on the path to No 10.
You chose the wrong name, Mrs Drogba
Also straddling the politico-sporting interface this week is Didier Drogba, whose mum Clothilde reveals his family nickname. “When I was pregnant with Didier, there was this leader of Yugoslavia, Marshal Tito, that I appreciated a lot for his values and perseverance. I loved him because of his fighting spirit and that's why we called Didier Tito'.” Ah yes, of course. One was the iron man of Europe who miraculously kept Yugoslavia together and non-aligned, and responded to various assassination attempts by warning Stalin that he'd have him taken out if Uncle Joe tried it one more time. The other rolls on the turf clutching his face whenever the breeze changes direction. Finally, it all begins to make sense.
Lady Sovereign's a bit off the gold standard
Barely less startling news, meanwhile, from the world of female football. Orient women's team Leyton Ladies have a new star striker and her name is Lady Sovereign. Well, that's the rapper's stage name anyway (Louise Amanda Hayman hardly cuts it for a protege of Jay-Z) and she tells FourFourTwo magazine that she has recently broken into the side and is “loving it”. It seems she's putting in the off-the-pitch work to be accepted as a football star as well. Last month, her ladyship was arrested for drunk and disorderly behaviour in a Brisbane nightclub after spitting on a nightclub bouncer and spent a night in nick.
Not quite the Bard but it's a nice one, Eto'o
Erudite sporting headline of the week goes to the Sun for this gem, above the tale of how Barcelona's players, Samuel Eto'o among them, were whipped into a frenzy of focused aggression by the movie Gladiator before their Champions League demolition of Manchester United. “Eto'o Brute” isn't wildly original (it appeared in the Daily Mirror during the 2002 World Cup) but nor was the story of Julius Caesar's assassination, and that didn't worry Shakespeare a jot.
