WHAT’S HOT WHAT’S NOT
HOT CHRIS ASHTON
HIS preparation for the Barbarians clash with England was a fancy-dress party in which he rocked up as a hippie with a moustache drawn on in permanent marker. After the Toulon star scored a hat-trick at Twickenham, the only hope is the rule stopping overseas players representing England is easier to rub out.
REECE PRESCOD
THE sprinter followed a Diamond League 100m win in Shanghai with a wind-assisted 9.88sec — the second-fastest time by a Briton. It looks as though CJ Ujah has been overtaken by this 22-year-old blur and, if this proves to be more than a false dawn, he could go on to contend for Olympic and world medals.
JORDAN SPIETH
THE Texan made a good point during his first round at the Memorial Tournament in Ohio. He was preparing to take a recovery shot at the eighth when he was surrounded by encroaching fans with phones. Riled, he asked that they be put away, saying: ‘Sometimes it’s cool to actually watch.’ It’s baffling how folk pay fortunes for tickets only to view most of the action later via shaky recordings on a small screen.
NOT REAL MADRID
EVEN by football’s standards Real’s grubbiness is unique. It is as though they have cultivated this Machiavellian state where if you aren’t burying an axe in a colleague or obsessing about your own needs, then you’re doing it all wrong. Look at Cristiano Ronaldo and his latest cliff-hanger, or the suits who drove out Zinedine Zidane with their scheming and undermining of his role. Only Real could follow a Champions League triumph with such rotten narratives.
JR SMITH
IN the first NBA finals clash, Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors were tied at 107-107. Smith could have won it with the last shot of the match but instead, believing his Cavs were winning, ran down the clock. The look on team-mate LeBron James’s face was magnificent. Cavs went on to lose.
MAURICIO POCHETTINO
‘WHEN Madrid call, you have to listen.’ Nobody would dispute that. Not that it is difficult to answer questions sensitively about a job that would appeal to any manager. But it sticks in the craw that Pochettino would flirt in plain sight just a week after signing a five-year deal at Spurs.