Josh Kerr has been nominated as World athlete of the year. The link below is a fan vote.
His self belief was something else. World Mile record, Commonwealth Games mile and then the Ultimate Champion at 1500.
Excellent analysis of the year that made Oscar De La Hoya, with a really good breakdown of Jesus Rivero, an eccentric and philosophical coach often referred to as "The Professor" who was the trainer responsible for evolving De La Hoya's technical skills to a different level.
I'm not expecting this to get much traction, as most on this sub only really know the North Highlands for the beautiful locations and photos that pop up fairly regularly.
However, if you live in either an island or remote rural setting, this might resonate with you as the expectations on communities to deliver social and health care grow ever more burdensome. All the while, statutory bodies, like crabs, scuttle into their centralised shells and retarget funding into larger populations, leaving the old and vulnerable to get on with dying quietly and not make too much of a fuss.
For those that missed it because cooncil telly didn't cover the Commonwealth Games, here's last night's epic mile.
I’m riding a one-of-a-kind three-person tandem from Land’s End to John o’ Groats for Mind. Rather than having a fixed team, I’m inviting different people to fill the spare seats along the way, share part of the journey and have an honest conversation about life and mental health.
A big part of the project is showing that reaching out, accepting support and doing something alongside someone else can make things feel a little less difficult.
With that said, I’m looking for someone who would be up for joining me on the Conversation Bike tomorrow, Sunday 2 August, for the ride from the Speybridge area to Inverness.
You don’t have to ride the whole way, be a serious cyclist or have a big story to tell. Just come as you are, join me for all or part of the journey and be open to doing something a little different with your day.
There’s also a spare seat the following day, Monday 3 August, from Inverness to Lairg.
I know this is incredibly last minute, so I’d genuinely appreciate anyone willing to step in—or anyone who could share this with people around Speybridge, Inverness, Lairg or the surrounding areas.
Please drop me a comment or message if you’d like to join the ride and support Mind with me. 🚲💙
In case you missed it, last week we wrote about the stranglehold Scotland’s largest gig promoter, DF Concerts, has over the music industry. Its CEO, Geoff Ellis, looks rather shook, having responded to us in a fit of pique. “Pathetic, poorly researched piece of utter pish … You should rename this bollox The Glasgow Bellend!”, he wrote on Instagram. We pointed out to Ellis that we asked him for an interview, which his PR team declined on his behalf. “I’m too busy helping to build artist careers than waste my breath on you,” he replied humbly.
We can now confirm DF Concerts have reached out to us via the form of a threatening email, acting in a fashion to be expected for a company that belongs to a multinational conglomerate with $25bn annual revenue. They even gave a deadline to remove the piece, which has now passed. As you can see from clicking the link above, we have not done this.
Despite this apparent surfeit of cash, DF’s flagship venue, King Tut’s, pays Glasgow support acts just £30 if they fail to sell enough tickets. DF Concerts said these are widespread policies across the industry.
On the flip side, the person “build[ing] artist careers” can be very well remunerated these days. DF’s highest-paid director was paid £801,440 as per the company’s 2024 accounts. We asked DF Concerts if this was the rather ranty Ellis, who’s one of five directors. This figure has been trending sharply upward since the 2020 accounts, when it was less than half of 2024’s sum. Not bad considering King Tut’s support acts haven’t had a pay rise on their base fee in several decades.
Ahh, summer that glorious time of the year, when we gather to frolic in the surf, worry about SPF suncream, waft cool air on our faces, and drink ice cold beverages.
Willie Ormond was manager. We weren't feart and we played them with everything. Lorimer shot rockets at Leao, regarded as Brazil's best ever keeper. Bremner missed an open goal by an inch, Jordan was a continual aerial threat and Rivellino already with a yellow card put the heid into wee Bremner and the ref did nothing as he game was about finished, he still gave the free kick to the World champions.