1) Christmas Cheer courtesy of: tree throwing in Germany; FC Santa Claus beaten by elves; the really rather well-observed Grimsby Town Christmas Message from 2014; the BBC cast Phil Tufnell and Matt Dawson as Santa and elf – on ice; bikers take a festive ride; fans in Berlin perform a carol concert and finally what says Christmas more than another chance to see Ian Holloway having a massive pop at Fifa for shifting the World Cup to winter: “ I’ll tell my turkeys, don’t worry, it ain’t Christmas. We’re moving it”.
2) STAR WARS. But not quite as expected. A lovely touch here as a Ken Loach-inspired version pits Empire United against Rebel Alliance. Spoiler: Darth scores.
3) The PDC World Darts Championship begins on Thursday and here’s why Michael van Gerwen is top of the order of merit and strong favourite; The Power is no stranger to the nine-dart finish either with poor old James Wade again on the receiving end. Second in the rankings and currently ahead of Phil Taylor is Scotland’s Gary Anderson who is the current champion and also has form. The trophy is named in memory of the great Sid Wadell, here’s a reminder of why he was so loved – on the mic with Stephen Fry.
4) Sticking with the stars, now Major Tim is safely in orbit here are a few things he might like to try in his downtime: Zero-G football; hockey; softball; more football and should he venture further, Alan Shepherd made a decent fist of golf on the moon and here’s the story behind it. Of course wasn’t the first Briton in space Helen Sharman? But perhaps she is better known for this terribly unlucky mishap at the World Student Games in 1991.
5) Lionel Messi, it seems, even in training simply can’t help but put it in the net.
6) Arsenal “Footpool” of all things – an ad but pleasingly foolish and fun. Francis Coquelin, Per Mertesacker and Gabriel play Pie Face with some kids, while Gunnersaurus lurks in the background.
Our favourites from last week’s blog
1) The Canadian George Chuvalo was never knocked down throughout his career and went the distance with Muhammad Ali twice. Here’s a great documentary on his first, classic title fight with Ali in 1966 – The Last Round.
2) TV Gold: Willie Thorne takes the record for biggest score in the “pocket money” section of Big Break, but be warned – contains Jim Davidson, being Jim Davidson.
3) Silky skills as this Under-14s keeper in Uruguay decides he wants to be on the score sheet.
4) Not for anyone with vertigo but beautiful and breathtaking: Danny MacAskil rides the rooftops of Gran Canaria.
5) Expecting a short ball, Sril Lanka’s Angelo Mathews is made to look very, very average by New Zealand’s Neil Wagner.
6) “If you blokes think I’m stirred up, you’re bloody right!” Think José Mourinho was cross after losing to Leicester? Enjoy this half-time pep talk (at 2:15) from the North Melbourne coach in a lovely piece of Aussie Rules football from the 70s, when men were men and everyone had a moustache.
Spotters’ badges: StuartRG , LeeWall, TheCedarRoom, BlackCaeser, GrahamClayton.
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