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

The MC then said – said: “Thank you Rafa Nadal – who leaves here a winner.”

The champion, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic then spoke: “Rafa you are one of the best players ever and on tour. We made history tonight. Unfortunately there couldn’t be two winners tonight but I wish you all the best for this season and I hope that we have many more matches like this, many more finals.”
Then both ushered each other to go first when stepping down off the podium.

“Two charming speeches” said the BBC.

“Two truly Great Sportsmanship Ambassadors”  says The Great Sportsmanship Programme.

http://www.greatmomentsofsportsmanship.com/about-2/

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.

1. Romanian captain, Cristian Petre, who after suffering a 67-3 loss to England,  was asked by a reporter about the game and replied “I play rugby for happiness.”  More.
2. The French rugby team won the toss to choose who wears their own home jerseys in the Rugby World Cup Final and declined to wear their treasured ‘bleu’. Instead they felt it was right for Kiwis, as RWC hosts, should  wear their own colours.   More
3. Young Kerry Gaelic football Tomás Ó’Sé after the final whistle carried the ball as a souvenir to the Dublin goal keeper who kicked the winning point in 2011 All Ireland Gaelic Final. Caught on camera! More.
4. Former Somali refugee, Mohamed Farah, won gold for Britain in the 5,000 metres World Athletic Championships – making his new nation very proud while arch rival, Kenyan, Paul Lagat (representing USA) was the first to embrace him and congratulate him. More.
5. Indian captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni showed honour when he allowed England’s batsman to be reinstated after being ‘run out’ because of a misunderstanding that the game had stopped for tea. More.
6. Vancouver’s Langley Elementary School children displayed true sportsmanship after Ice Hockey riots when they wrote to Boston school children to congratulate the winners, Boston. More.
7. Ex American basket ball pro, ex junkie and now coach, Chris Herren, is a true sportsman as he coaches children and encourages them to always have fun & enjoy their games. More.
8. The Indian & Pakistan cricket fans – arch enemies became friends for life as they shared the excitement & enjoyment of fierce competition as over one billion people watched the match on television.  One man offered to sell his liver … More.
9. 19 year old Japanese golfer, Ryo Ishikawa, donated all this year’s earnings to victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.  More.
10. Irish rugby coach, Declan Kidney when asked about the illegal Welsh try that won the game said, that ‘while he felt extremely frustrated, he was not going to make an issue of it at a time when so many in the world were suffering. More.

I will tweet later our all time favourite single moment for 2011. Happy New Year  To One and All.  Say ‘Yes’ to Great Sportsmanship in 2012.

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!

Ryder Cup 1969: Then came that magical moment in 1969. On the very last hole, after three days of intense battle, The Open champion, England’s Tony Jacklin, had to make a nerve racking two foot putt to save Britain and Ireland from defeat. Up stepped the world’s greatest golfer, American, Jack Nicklaus, putted his own four and a half foot putt and then astonished the world by picking up Tony Jacklin’s ball marker (which effectively meant that Jacklin didn’t have to take the putt since Nicklaus ‘gave it to him’ or conceded the putt) and said “I know you would not have missed that.” Nicklaus later revealed: “I didn’t want to take the chance that he might miss the putt and have his stature diminished. “

Ryder Cup 2006: It’s 6.30am before the 2006 at the US PGA Golf Championship, when America’s Ryder Cup captain, Tom Lehman, invites fellow professional golfers to a private prayer for his golf friend and Ryder Cup opposition Darren Clarke whose wife, Heather had passed away a short time earlier. Many months later, when the still grieving Clarke walked onto the first tee of the Ryder Cup at Ireland’s K Club, his opposite number, America’s Phil Mickleson, walked towards Clarke, held out his hands and embraced him in a warm bear hug. Clarke hit a great tee shot and went on to play great golf. Then in the final hole of the final match between Paul McGinley and the American rookie JJ Henry, another magical moment occurred. The young American needed to putt a 25 foot putt to halve the hole, draw the overall match and, although the US had lost the Cup, avoid the USA suffering its worst ever defeat. McGinley conceded the putt.

Earlier in the year, the same Darren Clarke was winning by 2 shots with 10 holes to play when he hit his ball into thick rough in the Carton Club. The hooter went off and play was abandoned due to bad weather. When Clarke returned on the Monday he found his ball had magically emerged into a perfect position as all the thick grass was now flattened around his previously ‘almost buried’ ball. All the fans had trampled around the area or perhaps the Leprachauns had helped him. But Clarke refused to aim his next shot at the green, instead he chose to chip out sideways as that was what he would have done originally when the ball was deep in the thick grass. ‘Honesty’ he said ‘is part and parcel of the game and I could not have acted in any other way.’

Ryder Cup 2010: even before a ball has been hit, the European captain, Colin Montgomerie, announced that he had chosen not to use his “home captain’s prerogative” (which is setting the course up to suit the European players). He preferred instead to create an “honest course that would reward the best team”.  Game on! And what a great game it was. It went right to the wire – the very last match. And Europe prevailed.  The Americans displayed honest sportsmanship as they hugged their European victors – even in the early games. Both speeches were laden with honour and nobility as befits a sport that depends on its code of etiquette.  The magic of the Ryder Cup continues.

Note: For the full story of each of these and to explain how a rampaging streaker influenced McGinley’s sporting gesture see Great Moments Of Sportsmanship – a collection of true 2 minute stories about sportsmanship with the foreword written by Paul McGinley.

He was about to win his first tournament when he asked a referee to check the TV’s slow motion replay to see if he had moved a reed slightly (thereby incurring a penalty and effectively forfeiting the opportunity to win). Brian Davis is a hero who quietly chose honour and the essence of sportsmanship over big prize money.

Then comes the Ryder Cup when the world’s best professional golfers abandon money (there is no prize money nor any appearance money – just a fat wad of honour and respect). And when the European captain, Colin Montgomerie and the US captain, Corey Pavin, sat side by side yesterday at the media conference at Celtic Manor in Wales they showed such great respect for each other and for the history of this unique competition. It only comes round every two years.

Photo: Dan Perry    www.danperry.com

So here’s a two part post acknowledging some special Ryder Cup moments (plus a few extra) and revealing great golfers who had great hearts – as they simply made the world a better place.

America’s Arnold Palmer won 7 majors and also played in six US Ryder Cup teams (1961,1963, 1965, 1967, 1971, 1973). He captained the team in 1963 and came back 12 years later to captain it once again. He almost single handedly made ‘The Open’ (the British Open) what it is today as prior to Palmer few Americans would travel over for it. He once said: ‘I’ve got a strong feeling that golf is a great vehicle to bring nations closer together. If I could get all the war torn nations of the world and have the war lords play golf together, I could solve the world’s problems and we could all be peace loving people. That may sound far fetched, but it’s what I believe.”

Although South Africa’s Gary Player would never play in the Ryder Cup, he did bring nations closer together, in his own way. He took his famous black caddie, Alfred Dyer, all over the world with him at a time when this was unheard of in apartheid South Africa. He won all four major championships and was the first non-American to win the US Masters. He was also the only 20^th century golfer to win ‘The Open’ in three different decades (1959, 1968 & 1974). He has donated his winnings to charity and funded educational charities in South Africa and in his adopted home, America.

Then came those magical Ryder Cup moments in 1969, 2006, 2010 (Jacklin, Nicklaus, Leyman, Clarke, Mickleson, McGinley and Monty). …….see part 2 (on Thursday).

Note: For the full story of each of these see Great Moments Of Sportsmanship – a collection of true 2 minute stories about sportsmanship with the foreword written by Paul McGinley. Also See

In 1999, Palermo made international headlines when he missed three penalties for Argentina. They lost 3-0 to Columbia in the Copa America.

Next day Palermo gave interviews and promised to get on with his career. Three days later, he scored in the 2-0 win over Uruguay.

He scored from his own half against Independiente something even Pele failed to do in the 1970 World Cup.

His 200^th goal for Boca Juniors was a 40 yard header to win the game 3-2 against Velez Sarsfield.

In the lashing rain, last October, he scored the last minute goal against Peru to propel Argentina into the 2010 World Cup. Listen to the commentator roar ‘goaaaal’.

Although he’s stuck on the bench behind Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez, Gonzalo Higuain, Diego Milito and Sergio Aguero he loves being part of the team. “Diego will decide when I get on the pitch, and it will be when he considers it beneficial for the team. I value greatly being where I am.”

“The problem is that we are talking about a team in which every player is more of a superstar than the one before, in the best way. I am surrounded by monsters!” the Boca Juniors legend joked with Ole on Tuesday morning. Meanwhile Palermo does not rule out a last minute goal in a crucial game like the final! “That would be one hell of a film ending no?! Something incredible. Whatever is coming my way, bring it on. Meanwhile I’ll enjoy this time like nobody else.”

Who remembers Bobby Moore and Pele swapping shirts and embracing each other after their epic battle in the opening rounds in the 1970 World Cup (see front cover of my book)? *

Or France 1998 when USA played Iran (despite having cut off diplomatic relations) – the players exchanged gifts, helped each other up off the ground and secretly arranged to play a 3 game friendly series without either government knowing.*

Or the magical moment in Germany 2006 just before kick off when the Iranian goalkeeper gave a bouquet of flowers to, the still grieving, Mexican goalkeeper, Sanchez, who had just flown back from Guadalajara after burying his father.*

Will players be allowed to swap shirts? Who will demonstrate sportsmanship? So that kids everywhere see how cool sportsmanship can be when opposing players do battle and embrace afterwards? Why do players play? Because they love it. Let’s see who will show their unbridled joy?  Who will fully embrace the magic of the brotherhood of football? Send me your stories, observations and thoughts as it all unfolds and I’ll publish them here.

Quiz Question: Who is England’s best ever goal scorer (goals to games ratio)? Very few English fans know it. Post your answer. I’ll also give full answer in my next post.

Footnote * indicates the full two minute story is in the Great Moments Of Sportsmanship book.

…to be held in hidden jewel in the crown which the rest of the rest of the world never knew about, the GAA’s wonderful Croke Park. And once again, our Welsh friends shone. They came in droves. Thousands of red shirts worn proudly and distant Welsh voices singing beautifully in pubs across Dublin. How come the Welsh are such great singers? If anyone knows, please inform me. Even the biggest ugliest, most savage prop forwards quietly, yet proudly, stand up and sing beautifully when called upon. Ireland won and the Welsh celebrated with us. Irish captain, Brian O’Driscoll won his 100th cap.

Their final game before moving back to the world’s oldest international rugby venue, Lansdowne Road. A really sizzling new stadium, in the same old location, opens in the Autumn. But meanwhile, we’ve got one more trip to ‘Croker’ to see Ireland take on the Scots and maybe win a Triple Crown. A great day of sportsmanship is coming as Irish men, women and children cheer on auld England to beat France on Saturday to give Ireland a chance of winning the 6 Nations Championship outright.