Popped down to Wigan at lunchtime for what I thought would be the grand opening of Latics’ new town centre shop with Martinez, Graeme Jones and Brenda Spencer, who’d be on hand to cut the ribbon. Over the weekend, I received an email via the club’s mailing list that our very own Titus Bramble would also be joining in the fun, taking on all comers at Nintendo Wii! I thought I would have a piece of that and give him a good whipping at FIFA 10… as Tottenham.
Well, Sky Sports News and North West Tonight were there, but not for the planned opening of WN1. Actually, they were at The Galleries for a certain other story. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the grand ceremony had been postponed as I’m sure poor Roberto and co. would have been crushed under the sheer weight of media presence after the event which must not be mentioned ever again.
The defeat was bad enough, but imagine the damage that could have been done had the Daily Mail and Beano Comic decided to park their vans in the market square – the Wigan public would have eaten them alive.
There goes my chance of putting to the back of my mind the debacle that was Sunday afternoon. Still, at least Stripey was there… for a short while. He must have gone for his dinner or something when the blokes with television cameras cleared off, no doubt to stalk some rugby fans and get their thoughts on what was truly a momentous weekend for Wigan Warriors. And they never even played.
To top it all off, I got a good soaking in the pouring rain. The whole exercise will do nothing to stop my nightmares, which already feature Jermain Defoe slotting the ball past Chris Kirkland (poor guy had a brilliant first half) for the fifteenth time.
I don’t blame the club for postponing the event – in fact I wondered whether they’d be able to get back from London in time for the planned 12PM appearance of Bob and company before you know what. Bramble’s Wii whipping will have to wait, but mark my words, this is in no way over. Meantime, I’m gonna put on my DVD of the 2004/2005 season review to ease the pain.
Image from Official Latics website. Yeah, I ought to have got my own picture, I know.