'I had saved up my dinner money all week to back this horse' HAPPY DAYS Who needs maths when you have a sure thing to back! GET IT READY!Byline: Richard Birch's unmissable weekend punting guide MY maths teacher BOF - boring old fart old fart - Tribal elder. A title self-assumed with remarkable frequency by (especially) Usenetters who have been programming for more than about 25 years; often appears in sig blocks attached to Jargon File contributions of great archaeological significance. - had finally lost the plot. He couldn't control us any more. "Hands on your head" had failed. "Face the wall" had failed. "Get out" was greeted with glee. One morning we decided to break the world record for numbers sent out of class. Every 60 seconds, one individual would do something silly, which prompted the inevitable "get out". We called it 'synchronised getting out'. By the end of that lesson we'd won the gold - 24 out of 26 pupils were wandering around the corridors doing high-fives. Afternoon lessons started at 2pm. Unfortunately, on this particular afternoon in January 1985, Saunders, a staying chaser ridden by Gary Moore, was running in the 2.00 at Lingfield. Fortunately, it was maths. I had saved up my dinner money all week to back this horse after seeing him in the five-day declarations. No Mars bars. No bags of chips. No sponge and custard. A whole fiver. On entering the William Hill The name William Hill may refer to the following: People
odorous gases and other volatile materials; inhalation of irritating fumes causes coughing and, if sufficiently severe, irreversible pulmonary edema. of cigarette smoke that hung like a San Francisco fog For the indoor soccer team see: San Francisco Fog (MISL). The San Francisco Fog R.F.C. is the first rugby union club in the Western United States established to invite members from traditionally under-represented groups, particularly men of color and gay men, to over this tiniest of shops. Never mind. Saunders was 11-10. Five pounds and pay the tax - total of pounds 5.50. You never really knew what was going on at the end of the Extel blower. Of course, there were no pictures in those days. However, my excitement rose as the commentator claimed, "Saunders hits the front at the top of the hill with four to jump". I recall a mild panic attack when told that "Drops O'Brandy was coming to challenge at the last", and it did seem a close-run thing on the flat. Incredibly, next day's Sporting Life revealed Saunders had won by 12 lengths, "unchallenged"! You had to wait for the 'weighed-in' to get paid out. Fifteen minutes later, with my eyes streaming from the smoke, I picked up pounds 10.50 and sprinted back to school. Of course, I was late for BOF. Eight classmates Classmates can refer to either:
"Sorry I'm late, sir, so sorry," I said as I walked in. "You're not sorry at all," BOF replied, his nose in the air. "You've been smoking. Get out!" |
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