The late great, Bill McLaren was simply the world’s best rugby commentator ever. He was known as ‘The Voice Of Rugby’. You’ll see why. Bill believed passionately in sportsmanship. So in celebration of the 6 Nations Rugby Championship which starts this weekend we’ll publish 6o of the best quotes from the master himself, plus a piece by, Bill’s daughter, Linda, who wrote something special for us (see end).

Bill believed in sportsmanship – shaking hands, thanking the ref, respect, fun and, of course, competition. He loved the characters in the game. His unique descriptions and authoritive voice added so much excitement, intrigue and enthral. So here’s part 1 of 4: the first 15 from 60.

Celebrations

“They will be dancing in the street’s tonight.” When a good try was scored

Fisticuffs

"A little bit of argy-bargy there."

"Those props are as cunning as a bag o’ weasels."

"He’s like a raging bull with a bad head."

Tough Guys

"You wouldn`t want to meet him in a dark alleyway!"

"Wade Dooley the big Blackpool policeman standing like a lighthouse at the back of the lineout"

"I look at Colin Meads and see a great big sheep farmer who carried the ball in his hands as though it was an orange pip."

As Scott and Craig waited to join the fray on the touchline: "There’s the Quinnell brothers, two well nourished individuals"

Referring to one of the French front row as "having a face like a carpenters bag o’chisels”

Big Boys

“Big Vleis Visagie – born when meat was cheap!”

On Andre Venter “He’s no oil painting, but look at him working the blind side like a pop-up toaster!”

On Os du Randt “There he goes – South Africa’s rhino!”

On Finlay Calder – “hands like dinner plates!”

"John Jeffrey – the big Kelso farmer – gathers the ball…"

On Scott Gibbs “When he hits you, you think the roof has just fallen in.”

To be continued next week……

Linda McLaren

In the 2 years since Dad died we have become aware of how highly he was respected and loved, not only in rugby circles but also in the wider world community. Two of the main reasons for that were the warm human touch he had with people from all backgrounds as well as the values he held dear throughout his life and career.

He was well known for his honesty, fairness, integrity, self-discipline, loyalty, humour and kindness and these, among many other fine characteristics, are the qualities we aim to promote, especially in youngsters, through the Foundation which has been created in his name. We plan to achieve this by encouraging children to become involved in the game of rugby and in doing so to develop the many vital skills which are so important in everyday life.

I hope Dad would be proud to know that he is still remembered so fondly and that his legacy will continue to make a difference in the future.

The Bill McLaren Foundation

60 Of The Best – Great Quotes from the late great Bill McLaren

Running x 11; Passing x 1; Kicking x 10; Jumping x 4; Celebrations x 1; Fisticuffs x 3 Tough Guys x 5; Big Boys x14; Weather x 2; Absolute Classic McLaren x 5; Looking Back x 2; Encouraging students x 1; Sportsmanship x 1        To be continued next week.

Bill’s Last Interview

It’s 2012 and here comes the London Oympics, but what about Olympism – the reason  the Olympics exist? Olympism was founded by the ancient Greeks. They actively encouraged citizens to develop all of their physical, moral, intellectual, cultural and artistic qualities.

The Olympic Games celebrated this with the Olympic Games festival involving athletes, artists and scholars from different cultural fields. Sport, art, educational and cultural activities were blended.

Modern Olympism
The modern Olympic Movement was started in 1894 by Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin.  He resurrected the ancient Greek ideals and gave them to the rest of the world when he staged the first ‘modern’ Olympic Games  in 1896 in Greece’s  newly reconstructed Panathenean Stadium (originally created in 330BC).

		London 2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Olympism blends sport with culture and education, and most importantly, Olympism promotes a peaceful way of life which uses ‘sport to promote the balanced development of people as an essential step in building a peaceful society that places a high value on human dignity’.  In fact the Olympic Movement believes ‘sport is an invaluable means of

• educating people,
• cultivating aesthetic and
• moral values,
• fostering friendships
• among young people, and
• bringing people from different nations closer together.’

[See ‘What is the role of Sport in The Olympics? for more.] This is what sportsmanship is all about – morale values (respect, fair play, honesty) and fostering friendship  whilst competing.

So hopefully, we’ll see some true Olympism (sportsmanship) in London Olympics 2012 just like we did in 1908 (Queen Alexander), 1932 (Judy Guinness, fencing), 1936 (Karl Lutz Long, long jump), 1952 (Zatopek, 5k & 10k runner), 1956 (Takhti, wrestler), 1960 (Rudolph, sprinter), 1968 (Akhwari, marathon), 1976 (Fujimoto, gymnast), 1988 (Lemieux, sailing) 1992 (Derek Redmond, 400m), 1994 (Jensen & Koss, speed skaters), 2004 (Cordeiro de Lima, marathon), 2006 (Hakensmoen, Ski-ing), 2008 (Junquan, swimmer). Full stories in the Great Moments Of Sportsmanship eBook (& printed book). Free Sportsmanship Workbook & Tutor’s Guide available for schools also.

In Chris’s words: “My message to kids today is to have fun. Because unfortunately in my experience parents don’t see the end – that it’s a marathon.   For 90% of kids in this country it’s gonna end at 18. If you’re lucky you get a scholarship and go to college. If you hit the lottery and make it to the pro’s and not many do. You know when basketball stopped being fun for me and more being like a job I looked for other avenues to go down to relieve stress and escape from it.”

Find out what words hurt him so much but eventually became the best words of his life. Thanks to Jeff Fuller for sharing this powerful story.

He’s written a book called Basketball Junkie: A Memoire

A respectful London Irish audience waits in silence and, a moment later, applaud his success. They later gave Wilkinson a standing ovation when he left the field just before full time.

But he is human. As demonstrated by the video clip below when he surprisingly spills the ball on the line to forfeit a seemingly certain try.

He is a very ‘human’ decent character. Many years ago Johnny Wilkinson visited Galway when playing for Newcastle and was inevitably surrounded by a mass of kids seeking his autograph after the game. After ten minutes of signing, there were still a mass of kids desperate for his autograph. However, Wilkinson was asked to get on the team bus. He refused and insisted on staying behind to sign the all the autographs required. The bus left without him. He was later driven to the airport by local fans, just in time for his flight. A true gentleman and a wonderful player.

Finally something surreal happened during the game – a large leprechaun cast a musical spell. Everybody’s got a story!

One wonders what historic moments in rugby and football (soccer) will emerge over the next 50 years (although difficult to imagine, if you’re over 50!). What magical moments of wizardry and wonderful moments of sportsmanship will emerge?

Leinster v Ulster was the first (16 Dec 1876) and last (31 Dec 2006) game of rugby played at the old Lansdowne Road stadium. The first international match was played way back in Victorian times in 1878 (when Ireland was under British rule). When the Republic of Ireland was eventually established, both the Republic and the North Of Ireland still united, every year, to wear the green shirt and take on the world’s best rugby teams. Football does not do this, except once, in 1973 a United Ireland team* took on the World champions, Brazil. The venue? Lansdowne Road. For 128 years Lansdowne Road was an international venue, much loved by anyone who visited. It then closed its doors for a moment (three and a half years in the greater scheme of things) and moved its rugby and football events to the hidden jewel in Ireland’s crown, the 82,500 Croke Park, HQ of the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association)*.

What historic events and wonderful sportsmanship moments will emerge in this, the newest stadium in the oldest venue? Perhaps it is the oldest international sports venue in the world – can someone enlighten me?

* See the full stories of the 1973 moment when Ireland united in football in Lansdowne Road and also the 2007 moment when ‘God saved Croke Park’ in the Great Moments Of Sportsmanship collection of published short stories.

He had come runner up four times, and after years of dedication his moment seemed to arrive. The dream was crystal clear as he stepped up to play the18th hole again in a ‘Sudden Death’ play-off against the 49 times PGA tournament winner and Ryder Cup golfer, Furyk.

With the light fading over the beautiful harbour and the greens, both players safely reached the fairway from their tee shots. Davis’s second shot ran across the green, over the edge, bounced off some rocks below and finally settled on nicely packed sand with some reeds behind it. However, he successfully chipped up onto the green with his third shot. Now here’s the magic.

No one saw this happen except Davis. As he played his third shot he thought he might have barely touched ‘a loose impediment’ (a loose reed/bit of straw) which is a penalty. “It was one of those things I thought I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. And I thought we’d check on TV, and indeed there was movement,” Davis said.

He immediately called for the tournament referee, Slugger White, and told him what had happened. It was so subtle that the crowd didn’t see it and the TV cameras didn’t see it.

He felt honour-bound to tell the referee, who checked with the TV slow motion replays and duly imposed a two shot penalty for ‘making contact with a loose impediment in a greenside hazard’ (rule 13.4: moving a loose impediment during a takeaway). Davis’s dream was over.

However, his actions on the 18th hole at Harbour Town Golf Links course, will be remembered by many for a long time to come. You can see this magical sportsmanship moment. Slugger White later said: “He’s class, first class”. Brian Davis has since received floods of congratulation cards, letters, emails from people all over America and in particular from parents who said they told their children this is how you play sport and this is how you live life.

Davis proves that nice guys are winners. In his own words, here’s how good it actually felt after the high tension game was over. “It’s probably the first time in my career, or in any golfer’s, where [you] lost in a play-off and actually drove home more positive than when you left,” he said. “It has been a good experience for me, and it has been great for the game of golf that we do call rules infractions on ourselves. It’s just part of the game.”

Note: Thanks to Ollie Campbell for alerting me about this story.

Dr. Sharon Kay Stoll on why golfers call their own penalties

Despite his massive disappointment and probable hounding by the media when he gets home, he answered all the questions thrown at him with dignity and honour and he applauded the English team on their victory several times. Even some of Ponting’s critics acknowledge how in post match interviews he always mentions the other team and usually in flattering term.

It was a pity that the interviewer, one of England’s great cricketers and captains, Mike Atherton, had to ask a cheap question about whether his captaincy would be under scrutiny. There’s so much more to ask. There are so many more questions that could engage an audience and extract insights into the mind of a great captain and insights into the wonders of this fantastic sport. Why aren’t they asked? If you’ve thoughts about the kinds of questions you’d like asked by sports interviewers, please send them in. I’ll collate them and eventually start asking interviewers to ask interesting questions, to help to enlighten us all.

Cochran won the event in 10:36, beating Shadle Park’s Andrea Nelson by 3 seconds. Thirty minutes later, race officials disqualified Cochran, ruling that the Harvard-bound runner ran 3 consecutive steps inside the lane adjacent to hers. Bellarmine Prep Coach Matt Ellis appealed the infraction, but his appeal was denied. Everyone knew that Cochrane had not stepped into the next lane and that the officials were wrong.

In a magical sportsmanship moment  when the official 3,200 race winner Andrea Nelson was awarded her first place medal at the podium, she moments later gave her first place medal to Cochran. Redmond’s Sarah Lord followed by giving Nelson her second-place medal, and the other medal winners followed suit. Somewhat reminiscent of the Britain’s  Gold medalist fencer, Judy Guinness at the 1932 LA Olympic when she refused her gold medal because officials had missed her opponent’s scores.

Some days later – the officials, having studied the video tapes rescinded their decision and officially awarded Cochran the gold medal. Congrats to Nelson, Lord and the other young lady who felt honour was more important than metal.

See the Full Story.

score more points than the Springboks over the three test matches – sorry Springbok fans – I can’t resist the stats. Fantastic series and congrats to the Springboks on winning it overall. In fact, it was great to see the Lions applauding the fantastic Springbok captain John Smit as he  lifted the trophy.  The end of a great tour and very fond memories of a great sporting nation, South Africa (I’ve got to come back for the World Cup if  Ireland qualify!).

I caught the Emerging Springboks game in Capetown and witnessed one of the finest conversions ever kicked in the dying moments to give the youngish Springboks a draw. Then I witnessed another killer kick in the Second Test in Pretoria – again the last kick of the game to give the Springboks the series.  The Lions played magnificently but didn’t get the result. However what thrilled me were the Springbok fans who applauded every Lions try, and converted kicks. I am constantly amazed at the generosity of their hospitality – they can’t do enough for us. A great country – I’m coming back (if Ireland qualify for the  World Cup 2010)!