Harley Quin Makes Campese Eat His Words

By Glen Leat
June 28 2003

After welcoming Harley Quin back on to these pages last week we can't keep him away and he's just dropped us a line with a few more of his musings about rugby and anything else that takes his fancy.

Hello there fellow rugby fans it's your old mate Harley Quin back again for a bit of a chin wag over all things sport. Hey, that sentence sounds slightly Australian (sport) and given the hammering we gave the Aussies last week I think it is very apt that I tilt my head slightly towards the arch whinger Campese. I've got him on the run! Within 24 hours of me having a go at him he's admitting that he may have got it wrong about England and they are a better side than his darling Wallabies. Blimey mate, what next admitting Neighbours is not as good as Eastenders?

So what else's caught me eye of late?

* I've just had a letter from Bath Rugby thanking me for my season ticket money but telling me I can't have my tickets until August because of the chaos created by the merger talks. What a load of old rubbish, whether we were a merged team or not there was always going to be a new season and the requirement for season tickets so why not have everything ready? Or is there something more sinister lurking behind this? Perhaps the merger was closer to reality than we will ever know! Reminds me of Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis - phew a close shave. Imagine having a Brizzler sat next to you at the Rec and him calling it a home game - it sends a shiver down your spine; but it could have been worse, imagine if that Brizzler was Peter B.

* You can't get through a week these days without someone writing to the Chronicle about kicking Bath off the Rec and demanding its return to "The People". I have to say this has become a tad boring and perhaps the line from all parties should now be "live and let live". The NIMBYs have won quite a victory in terms of reducing the club's aspirations for a super stadium, which is probably right, but as Vic Reeves once said, "They wouldn't let it lie!". There is a determination to deprive a lot of local people the joy of watching their rugby at the most attractive location in the country (if not the world). It's no co-incidence that whenever Bath Rugby games are televised the production companies always start their programmes with sweeping shots of the City and comment on the splendor of the setting; as a City why would we want to lose this?

As a Bathonian born and bred who has only ever lived a mile from the City centre I feel I have the same rights as someone living next to the Rec yet I get the impression these people believe the Rec is an extension to their properties and therefore they have sole licence over its future. The problem is that this whole argument has moved on from rugby being played on the Rec and is more to do with who has the most power. I'm sure if you asked the average Bathonian whether they would be content for Bath Rugby to remain in the City centre in a sympathetically built stadium that does not detract from the beauty of that area they would say "yes". But that is not good enough for these fervent few, they want to expunge Bath Rugby from Bath and leave the Rec to vegetate(sic) slowly through lack of use.

* I see that Real Madrid intend to sell tickets and televise David Beckham's medical. Blimey, the last medical I had consisted of me dropping my trousers, bending over so the quack could shove his (somewhat meaty) hand between my legs while I coughed. I assume this medical will be shown after the 9 o'clock watershed?

* Well Greg what language, and at Wimbledon too! It's quite funny when you see sportsmen in girlie games like tennis and football constantly abusing the officials yet in one of the world's toughest and physically demanding sports, rugby, the players still call the referee sir and apologise if the referee tells them off. Top class sport is all about skill and discipline and our international rugby players have both in spades and are a team of which we can all be very proud. Is it a co-incidence that rugby (both Union and League) is the only sport to broadcast the referee and player conversations live on TV. Can you imagine this happening in football? As Roy Keane strides menacingly towards the man in black with a face like thunder the first thing the TV director would do is push the "mute" button yet we hear everything Martin Johnson and his men discuss with the man in the middle - well done boys, something else we rugby supporters can be proud of our sport.

* Finally, I have to laugh on reading that when the band members of REM stopped off at Bath Spa station on their way to Glastonbury on Friday their luxury limos blocked in the taxis standing on the station rank. The taxi drivers asked the limo drivers to move and they said no so the taxi drivers were stuck and complained furiously. For all of us who have been dangerously under/overtaken by taxis, blocked or abused by thoughtless taxi drivers there is a very pleasant irony surrounding this story. But will they learn a lesson? You bet they won't!

Well that's me for now, see you soon.

If you have any questions you would like HQ to answer why not leave them on the messageboard and he can pick them up for next time.