So I was wondering exactly why it is that I love the Hoss so much

and I've sussed it.

We've had some quality here down the years, and generally they've been players with a gift, like Hucks with his pace and Chippy with his eye for a pass. A gift is seldom enough, and all of these fondly-remembered players have added other, gained, qualities to their gifts.

My all-time favourite two, though, and I think they're actually equal-faves now that Hoss has proved himself AGAIN, are Holty and Duncan Forbes. I think it's because they're great, not because of their gifts but despite their weaknesses.

Once, while trying to interest a mate in football, I tried to illustrate how all of life is acted out weekly on the football field. Forbes and Holt, in making long and (at least relatively) successful careers, are for me physical manifestations of our club. They didn't buy it, they weren't given it, but they worked at it, much harder than many people could have, and, like the club, should be revered for that.

You and I could never have been Martin Peters - but Hoss and Big Dunc could've been us.

Sigh.

Posted By: Sugbad The Bad, Dec 11, 12:41:47