I like Andy Murray. I admire his tenacity and his achievements.

Several years ago I took lessons and had some casual games practicing with his Mum at Next Generation in Edinburgh. I have only ever won a single sporting “prize” in all my life – a Tennis competition arranged by Judy Murray.

So watching his ascendancy and his flourishing career was always of interest. I really enjoyed Tennis.

So when I saw an image of Andy and an online “article” link from a popular newspaper website I thought I would give it a read. It was a regurgitation of old stories designed to add some comment on a quiet day. Nothing new. No interview or revelations. I then made the mistake of reading the comments: He deserves applause for surviving childhood trauma … he is “playing” on his childhood trauma … he loves Britain … he is Scottish and so he must hate England … he is nothing compared to Federer … he is the GOAT from a British perspective…

Utter tedium and utterly predictable and a complete waste of the few minutes I spent perusing them. I suspect that there are many people in claggy jogging bottoms who spend their lives being experts on Formula One, Politics in the UK and the US, Tennis, Football, Gaming, Misogyny, the BBC, Airline safety, the Legal system, History, Sci-fi, cinema-noir, Scandinavian heavy rock music, Coding, Photography …

All this expertise across such a broad spectrum and so often all stored in one, flaky, flabby, prematurely balding, wrinkly, red, spotty skull.

So many of them. All of them socially interacting on their own against other people who are even greater experts. These folks seem to have friends who were in the SAS or they were once “victims” themselves. Many of them even played Tennis at some time.

Social media will evolve – it is improving on some platforms. Twitter is my preferred social drug of choice. I detest Facebook. I do not have the lifestyle to fit into Instagram. I believe there are others, too.

The polarisation of it all will lead to conflict. It will lead to social change. Much less pervasive communications throughout history have and frequently did lead to division, revolution and change.

This revolution just feels particularly bland. The Tedious Revolution.

28 September 2019

On this day in 1994 – a Saturday – my wee brother Craig set off for a football match in Motherwell. He was a Hibs fan.

He did not pass away that day but he never made it to the match. I don’t think he ever knew the outcome of the match. He was a passenger in a car which crashed on the way to the game. He died over a year later never really recovering from the catastrophic brain injuries he suffered.

He was twenty six when the crash happened. One other friend died in the accident that day. Another survived but he was driving. He was left with the crushing weight of losing a friend and a member of his family.

The result was a 0 – 0 draw. I suspect it wasn’t that much of a match. I never knew the score until I looked it up today. I suddenly felt curious.

Rest in peace kiddo.