You'll forgive me if I lose focus a little this week, but I was playing a drinking game on Cup Final day, treating myself to a small glass of red wine every time anyone on the BBC made reference to 'this famous old trophy,' and was so out of it by the time the football got underway that I actually thought Alan Pardew's dancing was pretty good.

The BBC decided for the second year running to give the famous old thing what Ron Atkinson liked to call the full gun, hours of build-up just like in the old days.   And while I love the old days as much as the next man - probably more, unless the next man is somebody like Roy Hudd - this quest to recapture the magic is pretty desperate, like a long-time married couple booking a weekend break at a four-star spa hotel in the Lake District in the hope the old days might come rushing back.

But these are new days, and however blessed the memory of Cup Final It's A Knockout might be to older commissioning editors, it has gone forever, for a variety of reasons, some of which have been extensively covered in the press. ....

For the full article, http://www.sportingintelligence.com from Monday May 23rd, 10am