Can the sport you love really shape your behaviour in your day to day life ?

The reason I ask this question is mainly because of the recent coverage of the Rugby World Cup. How refreshing to hear brutish looking rugby players address the referee as Sir during the heat of battle. How nice it is to watch the match unfolding rather than concentrating on crowd trouble. How polite to be able to watch the half time commentators deliver their verdict in peace, rather than looking at gormless fans sticking up two fingers in the corner of the shot.

Why are rugby people so polite and respectful ?

Cricket fans also seem to conduct their lives in an orderly and polite fashion. We have all come from mainly football backgrounds so our journey to politeness begins.

Who would have thought that Kevin Mully could complete a sporting contest without swearing or belching. When have you ever shaken the hand of an opponent goalscorer immediately after they have scored against you, which can be compared to Shell shaking the hand of an opponent who had just bowled him on 49. We applauded players who had just completed a 100 runs against us and meant it. We even talk to opponents over a drink after the game. Gosh, I feel proud just thinking about it.

But this does bring me to my real point. Football may not have the social graces of cricket and rugby, but it does have passion. Just ask the characters from the Council’s IT department who I joined for lunch on Friday.

It was billed as a celebrity lunch, which was basically attending the opening of a new betting shop and then having a bite to eat in Nando’s. The first part of the never to be forgotten lunch break involved free bets and the chance to meet Tottenham and Arsenal legends Graham Roberts and Paul Merson.

As we waited with anticipation in the newly appointed betting shop with fellow punters dressed in work suits, it became obvious that some punters were not just taking their lunch break. Some of our fellow punters were true football fans dressed in their club attire.

One such punter who particularly caught our attention was The Captain.

The Captain was in his 60’s and dressed in Tottenham shell suit bottoms, a mid 80’s home shirt that was now grey it had been to so many matches, a silk scarf with “Come on Spurs” written on it, and a Captains armband on each arm, hence why we dubbed him The Captain.

The Captain was ready to greet his hero, but the star turns were running late. We decided to go and enjoy some chicken and join the party after our Peri Peri interlude.

Perched high on the first floor we had the perfect window seat to keep an eye out for the legends to arrive. After no more than a couple of sips of Coca Cola, Nath exclaims, “What is this”, as an ambulance pulls up outside the betting shop.

10 minutes passed and still no sign of why the ambulance had been called.

But then as the speculation was reaching a crescendo to what was occurring, the celebrities turn up and enter the shop. Then two or three minutes later the doors burst open and The Captain was wheeled out on a stretcher.

The Captain had taken ill with the build up proving too much for him, but even though he was ill enough for an ambulance to be called, he was not ill enough to miss his chance to meet Tottenham’s UEFA Cup winning hero Graham Roberts. He asked for the medics to hold on until he had shaken hands with a man who had sweated for the club he loves.

That is football passion.

Cricket and Rugby may be polite, but they cannot match the passion of football. But then again, it is probably best that we leave the passion to The Captain, and focus on being polite and continue enjoying our newly acquired sporting values.