Thursday 18 September 2014

From now on, this tennis fan will be supporting Andy Murray’s opponents, whoever they might be


So, Andy Murray, who divides his time between his Surrey mansion and his Florida apartment, and whose girlfriend is the embodiment of a Home Counties English Rose, and who was cheered to the rafters by millions of English supporters when he won Wimbledon and the Olympics, and who was subsequently voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year mainly by English viewers has declared his support for the Yes campaign, blaming the “relentless negativity” of the No campaign in recent days.

Of course, we’d long suspected that this chippy, charmless, ungrateful, glum moaner was a secret “yes” supporter – he is, after all, the kind of resentful, grudging Scot you’d expect to find in the Yes camp – but I would have thought that even someone as relentlessly adolescent as this sulking drama queen would have realised that pissing off much of the other 90% of the United Kingdom might not be a great career move. Whatever happens in today’s vote, I think Murray can be assured of a distinctly frosty reception from the home crowd at Wimbledon next year, and, should he manage to qualify, at the ATP Tour Finals at the O2 in November.

All he needed to do was keep his mouth shut for another 24 hours. One can only assume that his evidently visceral dislike of the English – who have battled so hard to overcome their lack of natural fondness for him – won out over any consideration for his future reception south of the border. This, of course, is all of a piece with his self-destructive tendency to let his opponents know just how bad he’s feeling during a match - a trait which, had he been able to eliminate it, would probably have brought him at least two more grand slam titles by now: after all, he possesses more natural talent than anyone in the game besides Roger Federer.

I remain a huge admirer of Murray’s tennis-playing abilities. His capture of the US Open title in 2012 was the highlight of my sports-watching career: it was thrilling to see a naturally gifted British player overcome his proclivity for self-pity, self-doubt and negativity, throw off his mental frailties and potentially crippling sciatica to win one of the sport’s major prizes at the fifth time of asking. And I’ll always feel grateful to him for Wimbledon and the Olympics. But now that he’s chosen to wave two fingers at the country that has in effect been his home during the major part of his career, and in the faces of his many English fans, he can do without my support from now on – and, I suspect, the support of millions of others.

When it comes to tennis, I’ve never been a nationalist: the game means too much to me to bother with those sorts of petty considerations. My support of Murray has always been as much to do with the fact that he deserves to win majors as with his Britishness. But now that he’s brought nationalism into the equation, he belongs to that group of distinguished players (e.g. McEnroe, Connors and Nastase) who, despite their genius, always saw me rooting for their opponents, no matter how unexciting and untalented those opponents might have been.

Of course the loss of one old fan in Chiswick won’t matter a damn to Murray. But when he discovers that even as forgiving a race as the English have their limits, he might come to regret last night’s little outburst. Silly, silly boy.

12 comments:

  1. you can add the loss of a clapped-out old git from Gloucestershire to your list of disenchanted Murray fans. There is nothing to add to your comments, absolutely on the nail.
    Just to add to the debate in general: I tried frequently over the last three days to send a slight donation to the Better Together campaign but the web-site was never working - potty.

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    1. Let's face it, the Better Together campaign was pretty much doomed from the moment David Cameron decided to place it entirely in the hands of the Labour Party. As wel all know, if this turns out to be the end of the United Kingdom, it'll be because Labour voters have refused to follow their own party's lead - the decision by that weird little metropolitan twit Ed Miliband decided to go campaigning in Scotland may well have sealed the Union's fate. When you have to call on Gordon Brown to dig you out of a hole, you know you've got things badly wrong!

      Mind you, I'm still betting on a victory for No. But if it's Yes, at least it means the rest of Britain will never have to suffer another Labour government!

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  2. No dire consequence of Scotland flouncing off in a huff could outweigh that one benefit.

    Not only would it mean the end of Labour, it would also mean the end of the leftward drag on Tory policy that gave us idiots like Heath and Cameron.

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    1. Ah, well. At least it'll be fun watching Ed Miliband squirming as he tries to dodge the West Lothian issue between now and May.

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  3. Right now...CNN has the poll at 52% no - 58% yes.

    Make of that what you will.


    :)

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    1. Well, there we are. A splendid result but quite how is a bloody mystery. Read Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth in the current Spectator as an appraisal of how not to run a piss up in a brewery. Interestingly, Paddy Power and William Hill had a NO vote at 5/1 ON on Thursday morning - just follow the money.....
      Salmond is on his way out and Cameron needs to look into his wing mirrors; if I were thinking of Tory Treason now would be the time to sharpen my dagger and recruit my cabal. Chaos will ensue.

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    2. One lady commented that I guess they just have more people in their polls in Scotland. Ha.

      Oh man....any opinions I have, I have kept to myself, not because I don't care but, because it's none of my business.
      You don't have to be there though..to know that the real nonsense is only just getting started.

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    3. I think the CNN poll can be accounted for by the fact that certain sections of the Labour party regularly engage in electoral fraud - an importation from distinctly more vibrant foreign cultures - especially when it comes to postal votes. I can only assume the party has broadened the scope of its anti-democratic activties to cover opinion polls.

      And, yes, you're absolutely right about the nonsense starting now. I'm extremely relaxed about devolving more power to the Scots - as long as I'm non paying for it, and as long as the English are given the same powers. I'm sure the Scots and the Labour Party won't object, because they're so incredibly keen on justice and fairness and equality.

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    4. Harry Mount today makes the same point about the betting odds in a Telegraph blog - albeit a day later than you, Reilly: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/harrymount/100076231/for-reliable-political-polls-go-to-an-online-bookie/

      Not a hope of Cameron being replaced now, I'm afraid, especially with Miliband cutting such a pathetic, marginal figure. If Cameron can't use the point about English laws, English voters and English MPs to duff up his silly little pipsqueak of an opponent, he deserves to lose the next election.

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  4. With the baker's dozen that makes-up 'Team Murray' you would think that one bright spark (his lawyer, perhaps?) might have seen 'Let's do this' coming, and taken the laddie to one side and said 'Andy - let's not'.

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    1. I'm sure Lendly would have smacked him around a bit, had he still been around. Anyway, Andy has now said he's "disappointed" by the timing of his tweet and the langauge he used - as if neither had anything to do with him. And he thinks it's time we all "moved on" - seemingly under the impression that that is his decision to make.

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    2. Andy Murray should stick to tennis and not trouble his very slight mind with matters of constitutional consequence.
      And his squawking mother shouldn't be seduced by the floodlights of celebrity and make a twat of herself, so I'm told, in her dancing pumps.
      Have we lost the essence of dignity?

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