The main subject of our discussion this month is to be the outrageous west coast bias of the Scottish football reporting media. Before I begin I expect that there are those amongst you who may or may not disagree with my opinions so I will welcome comment from anyone who cares to contribute. As Jim Farry said only a few weeks ago..."You can't please all the people all the time". So come on Leithers let me know you are out there.

Anyway, back to bias. On the Friday night before Hibs played Dunfermline I settled down to watch the BBC sports programme on the telly. Really, what is that studio like? You would think that a show whose sole content is football would at least try and make the studio look reasonably relevant. With it's tacky mix of plastic, chrome and glass it looks not unlike one of those horrendous 1980s wine bars that littered Edinburgh. If you're old enough to remember Refreshers bar in Hanover Street then you will know exactly what I'm talking about. Wee Rob McLean, in all his pompous glory, was looking forward to the weekend's 'Match of the Day' which, said he, was Rangers v Aberdeen. Nonsense (or words to that effect) screamed I at the telly, nearly giving my cat a heart attack. How the **** can a game between third top and second bottom of the league be considered 'Match of the Day' when the first placed team, Hibs, is playing the second placed team, Dunfermline? Even on Radio Scotland on Saturday the commentators all slavered on about Rangers and Aberdeen as though nothing else mattered, but then again, as far as the Weedgie media is concerned, nothing outside Glasgow does matter. True to form STV maintained the myth that we want to see Rangers and Celtic on telly every weekend by having the Celtic v Motherwell game as their featured match. At Easter Road we were enthralled by a seven goal thriller played at a relentless pace on a beautiful day. The only film record of this top of the table clash comes courtesy of the Scotsport camcorder. Thanks for nothing Glasgow. The BBC redeemed themselves the following week when they featured Hibs and Motherwell but I suppose that leaves them free to concentrate on the Old Firm until the next time they decide to patronise the provincials.

Finally, I will finish by wishing Darren Jackson a speedy recovery from his illness. We Hibbies would do well to remember that if it wasn't for Jacko's efforts last season we would be in the First Division now. I have to admit however that I enjoyed, and took part in, the roasting he got in the 2-1 game, yes, football fans have terrible memories don't they?. A friend of mine spotted a newspaper headline which screamed...'FOOTBALL STAR IN BRAIN SCARE' and he, cynical bloke that he is, felt it should have included the appendix 'TRACES FOUND!'. Still,I always felt Darren needed his head examined for leaving Hibs and going to the Tims.

Yours from behind the goals, H.I.
Leither column, OCT 97
H.I.Bees