Twice upon a time in the valley of the tears, the auctioneer is bidding for a box of fading years

So, Young Ben and I were down at Queens Park yesterday practising our drop shots and backhand cross-court volleys. We couldn't get near an actual court with all these part-timers who come out of the woodwork for the two Wimbledon weeks. I tried to explain to him that in a couple of weeks they would all be gone again but by that time he was bored listening to me anyway and had gone off chasing a squirrel

I started playing tennis when I lived in Ayr in the 60s. Most of the summer would either be spent playing tennis at The Oval in Prestwick or down at the old open air swimming pool on the sea front

My first Wimbledon memory was Manuel Santana winning in 1966 when the tournament was still for amateurs. By the 70s I was an avid fan. I remember the 1973 tournament when most of the top players did not attend and UK hopes were high for Roger Taylor but he was beaten in the semis by the eventual winner Jan Kodes.

In the 38 years since then we have had only 7 one time winners of the men's singles. See how many you can remember and I will list them at the end

For me the 70s and early 80s was the Heyday for Wimbledon with Borg, Connors and McEnroe.Between 1976-84 six of the eight finals involved two of these three players. My mum was a great tennis fan and I can recall us both watching many of the tussles between these three giants of the game. She was a big McEnroe fan but I was always a Borg man. With this in mind the 1980 final victory for Borg over McEnroe was my own particular favourite and the reversal of fortunes the following year was the favourite of my mum. Notwithstanding the racket I still play with years later is a Dunlop McEnroe Classic which has aged far better than I have.

When we moved to England in the 70s the tennis courts in Crook, County Durham were where my friends and I spent our summers. It was a great place for socialising (and by socialising I mean meeting girls) and games of mixed-doubles were often on the agenda. I remember going out with a girl from school called Liz and suggesting we had a game of tennis. She absolutely murdered me although to be fair I later found out she played at County level. I did get my own back though, I thrashed her at Subbuteo

As far as the Ladies at Wimbledon are concerned I recall having a severe adolescent crush on Evonne Goolagong. She was a sight to behold in the 1971 Final when she beat fellow Aussie Margaret Court. After that she married and had a child and came back and won Wimbledon again in 1980. No woman has won Wimbledon since as a mother. As with the men's tournament the ladies champions are made up of a handful of players. Indeed between 1970 and 1994 there was only a single one time winner. That was Virginia Wade who famously beat Betty 'Oven' in 1977 giving a home victory in the 100th year of Wimbledon and also the Queen's Silver Jubilee Year

My brother says he was a fan of Chris Evert but I always thought that she looked like one of The Stepford Wives and played her tennis in the same manner. At that time the Ladies' game was dominated by Evert, Navratilova and then Graf much as recent years have been by the Williams sisters. Since 2000 either Serena or Venus have won the final nine of the eleven played
and have competed against each other in four of those finals. Even though neither one has played much in the last year I would not bet against this trend being repeated next week

Andy Murray once again carries the hopes of a nation into the second week as he looks to become the first British winner of the Men's Singles since Fred Perry in 1936. If this does not happen he will once again become Scottish and a failure. I do not understand the mentality that has a person who is the fourth best tennis player in the world (behind Federer and Nadal who are both quoted as being best ever and Djokovik who started the season with a 41 game winning streak) and yet is considered a disappointment if he does not win a Grand Slam event. Good luck Andy, I for one am proud of you no matter what

By the way when Young Ben wins Wimbledon he will definitely be Scottish

.....and those one time Men's Singles winners at Wimbledon

1975 Arthur Ashe
1987 Pat Cash
1991 Michael Stich
1992 Andre Agassi
1996 Richard Krajicek
2001 Goran Ivanisevic
2002 Lleyton Hewitt

How many of those did you get without cheating?

Every generation blames the one before, and all of their frustrations come beating on your door

So Young Ben was asking me earlier this week what he should get his dad for Father's Day. I told him that with a son like him every day was Father's Day but he could buy him a Springsteen album to try and improve his musical taste

I have mentioned my own dad in previous posts and the influence he had on my life. He came from a humble background (they don't come much more humble than The Calton in Glasgow) and he worked all his days to provide a better life for his three sons. He was in many ways self educated and would read anything he could lay his hands on, so the education of his sons was very important to him. When he passed away in 2007 he would have been happy in the knowledge that he helped produce three well educated sons who loved and respected him all his life

Most of his working life was spent in the carpet making industry and he was a tuner by trade. Over the years this took him away from Glasgow to spots like Kendal, Bonnyrigg, Isipingo Beach in South Africa, Ayr and lastly Willington in County Durham

By the time we lived in County Durham my brothers had left home and there was only my mum, dad and I. He was manager of the carpet factory down there and I recall when I was learning to drive he used to take me down to the factory and whilst he was inside working for a while he would leave me to drive around the car park on my own, practicing my manoeuvres.

He had a Volkswagen Beetle at that time and although I passed my test in that car it was a truly awful beast. My dad bought it because they had a reputation for reliability. This particular car was obviously off sick the day the reliability component was being installed. The engine had a nasty habit of just 'dying' on you and this always seemed to happen at the most inopportune of times like driving up Silver Street in Durham on a Saturday afternoon. This street had lights so that traffic only went one way at a time so you can imagine the patience and understanding of other drivers in the area and my mates cowering in their seats in case anyone they knew saw them.
Another time it happened driving up Newton Cap Bank into Bishop Auckland and I swear we were then moving so slowly that a 'scrappy' passed us on his horse and cart. It was impossible to be cool in that car

Fortunately my dad agreed and traded it in for a new Renault 5. That was a brilliant car and my mates and I travelled all over the country watching Sunderland in that little flying machine. It ended up being the first car I owned when my dad traded up again after a few years. I remember getting my first speeding ticket racing a 'suit' in a flash car away from a set of traffic lights in Liverpool. It was totally worth it although I am not sure he felt the same way about being booked for speeding chasing a Renault 5 full of jeering Sunderland supporters. We did end up losing 2-0 to Everton though and being relegated which put a bit of a 'dampener' on the trip

I recall another motoring incident with my dad when my oldest brother abandoned two caravanettes outside our door on a visit when we lived in England. He had some great scheme to make one fully working model out of two piles of junk. After they had sat there dormant for some time my dad decided it was time to get rid of them. My brother had moved on to a new great scheme by this time anyway. So my mate Colin French and I drove the better of the two vehicles towing my dad behind in the other less reliable one. It was during this trip my dad discovered that the brakes did not work worth a jot. Colin and I were chatting away merrily about football or girls or whatever when suddenly on our inside appeared my dad in the other contraption. He was careering along the grass verge and the whole machine and my dad were bouncing and shaking in unison. Fortunately there was nothing for him to hit and eventually he came to a standstill and looked out to see my mate and I in tears of laughter.
I believe the next time my brother visited he asked my dad if he got any money for the caravanettes from the scrapyard. I cannot print my dad's reply

My dad was never a lover of cartoons or talking animals but I did manage to win him over to The Muppet Show and I think that even after I left home he would secretly tune in but never admit to it. He even saw The Muppet 3D show the time he came to Forida with us on holiday

As my dad grew older he became somewhat eccentric and when he lived in a flat on Alexandra Parade in Glasgow he used to throw food out for the birds. Nothing strange in that I hear you say, but tell that to the pedestrians who had to take cover from eggs and slices of bacon being thrown from the third floor balcony

One of my favourite recollections which I have shared many times with my friends was when a telephone conversation began with him saying "You are lucky to catch me in" , an interesting comment to make when he had called me

I still miss him every day

I leave you this week with my Father's Day Playlist

1. My Father's House................Bruce Springsteen
2. Father And Son.....................Cat Stevens
3. Papa Was A Rolling Stone...The Temptations
4. Don't Cry Daddy...................Elvis Presley
5. The Living Years..................Mike and the Mechanics
6. The Cat's In The Cradle......Harry Chapin
7. Dance With My Father.......Luther Vandross
8. Leader Of The Band............Dan Fogelberg
9. My Old Man.........................Ian Dury
10.My Father's Eyes...............Eric Clapton
11. A Boy Named Sue...............Johnny Cash
12.Papa Don't Preach..............Madonna
13. Daddy Cool..........................Darts
14.Son Of My Father...............Chicory Tip
15. Walk Like A Man...............Bruce Springsteen

No Springsteen in last week's list so you get two this week. Enjoy!


ps It was with great sadness that I learned this morning about the death of Clarence 'The Big Man' Clemens who for many years blessed us with his saxophone playing for The E Street Band and whose iconic solos enhanced classics such as Born To Run, Jungleland and Bobby Jean. He died aged 69 and will be sorely missed. It is hard to think of Springsteen performing without Clarence by his side. I know Springsteen did not write Bobby Jean about Clarence but at this time the lyrics seem appropriate.."Now there aint nobody, nowhere, nohow, gonna ever understand me the way you did". Rest In Peace Big Man.

The guilty undertaker sighs, the lonesome organ grinder cries, the silver saxophones say I should refuse you

So Young Ben and I were listening to Smooth radio last week, as we do, and John McCauley was asking listeners to call in with their favourite ever albums. Ben couldn't decide between Adele and The Wiggles. My choice was somewhat more difficult, so I decided to make a list.

There were so many that I divided them by decade and put in the proviso that I was only allowed one album per artist and no Greatest Hits albums. With this restriction Mr Springsteen has been omitted entirely from my list as between the 70s and the 00s I would have at least two of his albums in every decade. I have limited my list to 5 albums per decade apart from the 70s as that was when I bought most of my albums. I have struggled to curtail that decade to 20

60s

1. Blonde on Blonde...Bob Dylan I used to listen to Mr Dylan through the wall in Ayr as my eldest brother played his albums. When he left home he took his albums with him, so I had to start buying them for myself and I have 19 Dylan albums right up to Slow Train Coming in 1979 when Bobby found God and lost me. Springsteen apart this is probably my favourite ever album
2. Songs of Leonard Cohen I owe this choice to my other brother. Whenever you feel down just listen to Lenny, that will cheer you up
3. A Hard Day's Night..The Beatles...not Revolver, not Rubber Soul, not Sgt Pepper but I just love this album
4. Bookends...Simon and Garfunkel...in my opinion a far superior album to the vastly over-rated Bridge Over Troubled Water
5. Tommy...The Who..in its day this was epic

No room for The Beach Boys or The Moody Blues

70s

1. Innervisions...Stevie Wonder...just brilliant
2. What's Going On..Marvin Gaye..the move from Motown pop to global commentary
3. Hunky Dory..David Bowie...just edges Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane as it contains Life On Mars
4. Transformer...Lou Reed...Walk On The Wild Side, Perfect Day, Satellite Of Love..enough said
5. Blue...Joni Mitchell ....teenage angst and Joni..the perfect combination
6. Tea For The Tillerman..Cat Stevens..I have every Cat Stevens album but this one has Father and Son
7. Off The Wall....Michael Jackson...not the biggest Jacko fan but this album was sheer class
8. A Trick Of The Tail...Genesis....always liked their albums and this one has Ripples
9. Parallel Lines..Blondie....Debbie Harry...just Wow!..and their music was good
10. Can't Buy A Thrill...Steely Dan..could just as easy have been Countdown To Ecstasy, Pretzel Logic or Katy Lied but this one has Reelin' In The Years and Do It Again
11. After The Goldrush...Neil Young...see comments for Blue
12. Sweet Baby James..James Taylor...see comments for After The Goldrush
13. The Kick Inside..Kate Bush...she was crazy but she sure could sing
14. Exodus...Bob Marley..not a big Reggae fan but this is a great album and has the wonderful Waiting In Vain
15. Tapestry..Carole King..the master songwriter showed that she could also sing
16. For Your Pleasure...Roxy Music...Roxy albums were worth buying for their covers alone but the music did not disappoint
17. Out Of The Blue...ELO...sorry Kev but I had to find room for one of my ELO albums (Mr Blue Sky et al).
18. Tubular Bells..Mike Oldfield...this is why they made stereo headphones
19. Rumours..Fleetwood Mac...everyone of a certain age who likes music will have this in their collection
20. Dark Side Of The Moon...Pink Floyd..see comments for Rumours

So 20 albums and still no place for Squeeze, 10CC, The Clash, The Jam, The Eagles or Led Zep. I could have done with 30 for the 70s

80s

1. A Walk Across The Rooftops...The Blue Nile...The 80s were not a great time for me music wise but this album was a standout
2. Purple Rain...Prince...One of the few notable talents of the 80s
3. Raintown...Deacon Blue...my town... and despite being played to death Dignity is still one of the great songs
4. Tracy Chapman.....Fast Car is depressingly wonderful and Ronan should listen to Baby Can I Hold You to hear how it should be sung
5. Brothers In Arms..Dire Straits..despite their fall from grace I thought Dire Straits were excellent and this album produced 5 hit singles

Yeah that's about it for the 80s

90s

1. Jagged Little Pill..Alanis Morissette...just an album of great songs including the brilliant Ironic
2. Different Class..Pulp...I always preferred Pulp to Oasis or Blur and I have danced embarrassingly many a time to Disco 2000
3. Automatic For The People...REM...this was REM at their peak
4. Twisted...Del Amitri..only gets the nod over Change Everything and Waking Hours because it contains Driving With The Brakes On..my favourite Del Amitri song
5. The Man Who...Travis....remember when Travis were good?

Not much fighting for places here although Texas, Oasis and Blur deserve a mention

00s

1. O...Damien Rice..one of the few current artists that I would make the effort to go and see live(and have done twice). This album is just brilliant
2. Hot Fuss...The Killers...When I went to see them I think I was the oldest person there but I still gave it laldy to Mr Brightside
3. Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not...Arctic Monkeys...my youngest son told me to listen to this and I was pleasantly surprised
4. A Grand Don't Come For Free...The Streets..the talented Mr Skinner knows how to write a good song...Dry Your Eyes and Could Well Be In are better than good
5. Glasvegas...a powerful collection of songs including Geraldine, Daddy's Gone and It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry..and they are Weegies

Only Keane with Hopes And Fears came close to making it into 00s list

My family bought me a record player for Christmas so my vinyl collection has been dusted down and a lot of the above list are being played once again in their original format. What's with this having to turn the album over half way through though? That will never catch on and I need to convince Ben that they are not Frisbees. After all this is his inheritance, whether he likes it or not

"Good morning miss" "Can I help you son?"

This Wednesday June 8th is Ben's Dad's Birthday and also my brother's grandson Jack's Birthday. Others celebrating birthdays on that day include Kanye West, Mick Hucknall and Kim Clijsters. They must feel honoured to be sharing their big day with such illustrious company as Sean and Jack.

My son Sean was born in 1982, five days before the start of the World Cup. When he was only 10 days old Scotland played Brazil. All was going well and he was resting peacefully in his cot until 18 minutes in David Narey scored one of the most famous goals in Scottish Football history. My dad and I leaped from our seats screaming like Banshees. This upset young Sean (and his mum) almost as much as the goal did Brazil. It was downhill all the way for the rest of the game for all concerned.

It seemed fitting then that 16 years later Sean and his brother Den travelled to Paris to see Scotland take on Brazil once again this time in the opening game of The 1998 World Cup. This one didn't go much better for Scotland, but at least he will still be able to tell Ben in years to come that he was there.

Since that time his brothers and I have been to the likes of Barcelona, Madrid, Amsterdam, Portugal and Sunderland to watch football and hold deep meaningful discussions over a beer or two

So, Sean was introduced to football at an early age. I also taught him how to play tennis, table tennis, badminton, pool and various other sports and by the time he was about 10 he could beat me at all of them. I think the only game I can still beat him at is 'Rock/Paper/Scissors' but even Ben beats him at that and he only knows how to do 'Rock'.

I have many happy memories of Sean from years gone by. I remember catching crabs in Rothesay and fish in Australia, playing shuffleboard in Tenerife and pool in Cyprus, sightseeing on barges in Amsterdam and enjoying 'Jaws', 'Back To The Future' and roller coasters in Florida.

I remember coming home from work on a summer evenings to find him playing 'kerby' in the street with his brother

I was there when we came back from 2-0 down at half-time to beat the 118th 3-2 and when he started playing for Newtown Boys Club, I saw parts of East Kilbride I never knew existed

I was there when he had to have stitches in his head after an altercation with a pavement and wished it was my head they were stitching and not his

I think it is fairly common for parents, as they get older, to live their lives vicariously through their children especially when they see their talent and potential is far greater than their own ever was

I remember some years ago talking about Sean to my mate from Dundee and saying that when I was at school I was just like Sean. I thought for a moment and then corrected myself. "That's a lie" I said "Sean is how I wish I had been like at school". My friend does remind me of this most times we meet. That's what friends are for.

Sean has an enviable talent,in that when you are with him he makes you feel that you are the most important person in the world, and all his attention is focused solely on you. He has always brought joy into my life and he has always been there for me,even when times were bad, when really it was my job to be there for him

But before his head swells too much, I must declare that his position has been usurped by the new kid on the block and if Young Ben turns out to be half the man his dad is he will be a world beater and hopefully I get to see him score the winning goal for Scotland against Brazil at the World Cup

So Happy Birthday Sean and Happy Birthday Jack.
I hope you both have a great day