The rule of thumb
QUESTION
Why do professional footballers suck their thumb when they score a goal? The original thumb-sucker was Roma and Italy striker Francesco Totti, who began using this goal celebration in 2005 following the birth of his son, Cristian. his actions earned him the nickname er Pupone — ‘the big baby’.
Following his lead, doing so became very popular in Serie A and across europe. The first player to use it in the Premier League was Luis Garcia of Liverpool and Spain.
In 2007, Totti took the gesture a stage further by imitating a childbirth scene. he stuffed the ball up his shirt and lay on his back while his teammates extracted it. This was in tribute to his pregnant wife, Ilary Blasi, who was carrying his daughter, Chanel.
Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez took up the trend in 2008 when he celebrated his goal against Birmingham by sucking an actual dummy belonging to his daughter, Florencia.
An earlier version of this gesture was the baby-rocking mime originated by Brazilian Bebeto at the 1994 World Cup.
Use of the thumb-sucking gesture doesn’t necessarily mean the footballer has had a baby. Some have used it as an insult to the other side, claiming scoring the goal was child’s play.
Thumb-biting was a rude gesture in medieval Italy, exploited in Shakespeare’s Romeo And Juliet: ‘Nay, as they dare. I will bite my thumb at them; which is a disgrace to them, if they bear it.’
Marcus Lester, Pocklington, E. Yorks.
QUESTION
Sheriff Bob Paul was described as ‘one of the toughest lawmen in the Old West’. What is his story? ROBERT ‘Bob’ h. Paul was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, on June 12, 1830. on July 18, 1842, aged 12, he went to sea and, four years later, tried his luck in the California gold fields.
he remained in California for the next 30 years as constable, deputy sheriff, sheriff and Wells Fargo agent and occasional shotgun messenger. he was ideally suited for the role, standing 6ft 6in and possessing a firm sense of justice.
In 1881, Paul ran for the office of Pima County sheriff in Arizona against Charles A. Shibell. When Shibell was re-elected, Paul accused him and his supporters Ike Clanton, Curly Bill Brocius and Frank McLaury of ballot-stuffing and filed suit in the courts.
While the decision was pending, Paul rejoined Wells Fargo as a shotgun messenger. on March 15, 1881, the driver of the stagecoach carrying $26,000 in silver bullion from Tombstone to Benson, Arizona, fell ill and Paul took the reins.
Near Drew’s Station, outside Contention City, outlaws tried to rob the stage. eli ‘Budd’ Philpot who was sitting in the guard’s seat was shot and killed. Paul shot one of the attackers in the groin, and brought the panicking horses under control. he later joined the posse which set out to round up the felons.
Arizona Territorial Supreme Court then ruled in Paul’s favour, and he became Pima sheriff.
In April 1883, in Tucson, he prevented a mob from lynching a Joseph Casey, who had murdered his jailer, singlehanded. Paul served as Pima County sheriff until 1886 and later as a railroad detective.
In 1890, he was appointed by President Benjamin harrison as U.S. Marshal for the entire Arizona Territory and held that post until 1893. he then served as Justice of the Peace in Tucson. Paul died of cancer on March 26, 1901, and was buried in Tucson’s Court Street Cemetery.
For further reading see John Boessenecker’s When Law Was In The holster: The Frontier Life of Bob Paul.
Alan Parker, Sheffield.
QUESTION
Living in Eccles made me think: what other towns are known for one item? FURTHER to earlier answers, Armitage Shanks’s range of bathroom sanitary ware is known worldwide. This year is the 200th anniversary of the firm’s founding.
In 1867, Thomas Bond bought the business, and it traded as edward Johns until 1960 when the name was changed to Armitage Ware. Shanks ‘appeared’ in 1969 when Armitage Ware merged with Scottish company, Shanks holdings.
Not many folk will know that the name Armitage comes from a village in South Staffordshire where the company has existed for 200 years.
Until the early Fifties a journey through the village would have offered views of 20 bottle kilns or more. Today you would hardly know there was a factory there. Sam Woodberry, Armitage, Staffs.
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