Well done Andy Murray I didn't think you would do it........the Olympic adrenalin running through the nation seemed to give him that missing component that grand slams have never given him before..........also well done to Laura Robson........she will possibly never reach such heights again. Murray & Robson have no doubles ranking for grand slams.......top players just don't have the energy to play singles & doubles at the same tournament..........I still find it difficult to take tennis or football serious at the Olympic games....which used to be the pinnacle of an amatuers career.....but now won by extremely wealthy pro's.
Apologies for the late post I have been away for a few days - this seriously made my weekend, hell week, month and year. What an acheivement for Andy Murray. In my naivity I thought this would have shut the critics up, having won gold beating both Djokovic and Federer but no, apparently the latest anti Murray comments are that Federer "let him win because he felt sorry for him after Wimbledon" Oh please, Federer even stated after the match on Sunday that we should not feel that sorry for Andy as he has had/is having a terrific career. Quite apart from that, no professional athlete "lets" an oponant win against him or her, it goes against everything they work for and strive to acheive. Another often quoted anti Murray comment is "he isn't proud to be British." What a load of old cobblers. There he was for all to see draped in the union jack. Yes of course he is Scottish first, the same as I am English first before being British but British he most definately is! Put simply this was the win of Andy Murray's career and he got it the hard way. Congratulations to him, Laura Robson (on their joint silver) and to the whole of team GB including our very own Plymouth diver Tom Daley.
Just a little observation I thought I'd share. Having read/heard so many people state they don't like Andy Murray because he doesn't like the English or isn't proud to be British I have to say I found it mildly amusing to browse Andy's facebook wall only to find him being accused by some of being "too English/British" and not "caring about his Scottish roots". Not wishing to upset any Scots here as I really do not have a problem with them (otherwise I wouldn't care about Andy Murray) but I do get the feeling that the Scottish have more of a problem with the English rather than the other way around. I'd be interested in opinions from the Scots here to see if they agree or disagree with this statement and the reasons why.
I think both sides are just as bad, if for different reasons. In Scotland, we do get pissed off at the ignorance and arrogance often on display from our English cousins. For example, I watched the news this morning to be informed that the football was back this weekend. Funny that, as I was sure Celtic played Aberdeen in the SPL two Saturdays ago. If you're Scottish (or Welsh) and want to feel like a foreigner in your own country I suggest watching the so-called UK news. A lot of it also stems from the 1980s when the Thatcher government was in power. It was bad enough seeing almost all our industry disappearing while yuppies in London bought Porsches and supped champagne, but using Scotland as a testing ground for the Poll Tax particularly rankled. To be honest, from a Scottish perspective a lot of it comes down to being the smaller partner in a cojoined partnership. It could be a lot worse. Look at what happened in the Baltic area in the 1990s. And more recently Slovakia separated from the Czech Republic. Maybe Scotland will do the same in 2014? I've lived in Edinburgh on and off for about 20 years and I can honestly say I've only ever seen one piece of anti-English graffiti and that was written on a wall in chalk! My girlfriend is English and she's never had any bother. That's not to say anti-Englishness doesn't exist but I suspect it's worse in the more rural areas. I do remember a friend getting anti-English abuse in Ayrshire, even though he was actually Welsh. Not only bigoted but stupid as well!
Thanks for your input Surreal, I have to say that it does work both ways, when Gordon Brown was PM we often felt orders were given to Rothside (I'm sure that spelling is wrong - opologies) instead of Devonport. Also Scotland have many privillages we don't have in England, if I'm wrong please correct me but I don't think you pay extortionate parking charges to attend hospital whether visiting or attending appointments. Am I right in thinking you don't pay for prescriptions? I think there are other medical as well as other benefits you get which we don't so I guess it works both ways. I'm all for allowing the Scots their independance if it is what the majority wants BUT the rest of the UK should not be expected to bail you out if you get into trouble.
Dunno about parking fees (I don't drive) but we do get free prescriptions. However, the NHS Scotland budget is controlled by Holyrood, not Westminster so it's really about spending priorities. Our Government spends money on prescriptions and free travel. The Westminster government spends £9bn redeveloping the east end for the Olympics plus billions more on building projects like domes and wobbly bridges in the south east. Finally, it's not for you to "allow" us independence. We live in a democracy and it'll be those people living in Scotland in 2014 (including hundreds of thousands of English and other non-indigenous folk) who will decide.
Why would we need England to bail us out? We'd be part of the EU just like you. Given the boom and bust nature of Westminster economic policies over the past 30 years we'll probably end up bailing you out.
It depends if you think your lot can run Scotland as an independant country. How much do you rely on the rest of the UK? What about jobs? There are a large % of Scots in the armed services because you have less employment opportunities. I envy the fact that you are sparsely populated, I would love to live like that but it's not good if you need jobs. You are quite right about Westminster but my guess it that your lot are not much better - they are polititions after all. Being part of Europe hasn't stopped the rot in Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy etc. etc. Incidently, I have never been to Scotland but I fully intend to visit in the not-too-distant future - in summer of course LOL
