Raining at Old Trafford (etc.)

So, what else is new? I think it was John Arlott I once heard saying about Old Trafford that, if you can see the Pennines, it's going to rain, and if you can't, it's already raining.

Anyway, I had thought about going today, to watch the second day of the third Test between England and the Windies, but then other things got in the way. Good that I changed my mind. As the Beeb is reporting:

Both teams were met by heavy rain as they arrived at the ground for the second day, and there is no sign yet when an inspection will take place.

Now, if only one of the teams had been met by heavy rain... no, move on. (Update at 3.30 PM: It's now become 'Players were met by heavy rain...')

To something completely different (though in the loosely related items department) - some good news for sports people:

"Being with a woman all night never hurt no professional baseball player," [Casey] Stengel, a former manager of both the New York Yankees and New York Mets, once said. "It's staying up all night looking for a woman that does him in."
.....
"The night before has no effect on strength or endurance or any of the physical abilities of the athletes," says physiology expert Dr Ian Shrirer, a former president of the Canadian Academy of Sport Medicine.
.....
And then there's Israeli physician Alexander Olshanietzky, who's all in favour of sex - for female athletes, at least.

"We believe that a woman gets better results in sports competition after orgasm," he said in 1996, before the Atlanta games. "Generally, it's true of high jumpers and runners. The more orgasms, the more chances of winning a medal.

"Coaches generally tell their athletes to abstain before competition. In the case of women, that's the wrong advice."
.....
George Best, who once said, "I used to go missing a lot - Miss Canada, Miss United Kingdom, Miss Germany"... would draw the line at having sex minutes before a match, but the night before? No problem.

"I certainly never found it had any effect on my performance," Best told the Observer. "Maybe best not the hour before, but the night before makes no odds."