Cod Almighty | Diary

One's for sorrow, two's for joy

21 September 2023

Twenty years ago, when your Guest Diarist first took over the Friday diary slot, the diary was filled with links to the Grimsby Telewag, now the first place I look for news is the #GTFC hashtag on that Twitter. Nothing else much has changed and Thursday morning is still a quiet haven of calm most weeks Town news-wise so I get to indulge in some cod-philosophy hokum. But before I do here is something for you #tractorwatch fans with a link to tractors playing football.

And, gentle reader, the Cod Almighty twitter account has done a couple of good'uns lately. First, that extract from Sir Alan Buckley's autobiography where he simultaneously proves that Neil Warnock's heart is in the right place and that the Peter Furneaux gang were a bunch of untrustworthy snakes. Second was a re-run of the fantastic story of the Brexit bus and Grimsby Town. The old ones are always the best and I know a few readers shy away from the cesspit of social media so these two are for you. No, we are not a cesspit, we are a slightly elderly fanzine growing old disgracefully. So there.

Yesterday found me gorming at a field of sheep like the proper joskin that I am. It was then that I saw the magpie perched on the sheep. Following, say the dumbed-down BBC's modern penchant to tell you every time they mention them what inflation is or what an interest rate rise does, I'd better mention that a magpie is a black and white bird. Now then, a magpie on a sheep is not that unusual. Sheep quite like the company and the bird helps the sheep out by pecking out ticks and other creatures that live in their wool and must itch like mad. Phone camera fumbling ensued so here is a stock picture for those with less imagination. In educational mode this is known as a symbiotic relationship, an example of commensalism where two creatures basically commune happily.

My mind drifted - if the magpie is black and white then are Town fans the magpie or the sheep? The magpie is feeding, the sheep allows it and remains contented, so the magpie is the club and the fans are the sheep? And if the magpie forgets where it is and shits on the sheep is that when the club is run by a bunch of bad people (insert your own favourite board baddies here)?

I will leave that one with you. See yer.