Congratulations Andy!

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A stunning tennis final.  A famous Scottish sporting victory.  A delighted First Minister waving a Saltire in David Cameron’s ugly face.  What’s not to celebrate?

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  1. Easy enough to read their unofficial positions on history!

  2. Barontorc says:

    One thing you can rely on – Alex is totally for Scotland first.

  3. To claim this as a “Scottish” victory strikes me as blatantly jumping on somebody else’s coat tails. It was Andy Murray playing on Centre Court, not Scotland. At best, we can take some pride in there being some level of investment in his training in Scotland which helped Andy Murray to reach the pinnacle of his chosen sport, but let’s not do the same as the British media and make such presumptious and fatuous claims. Also, is Bella Caledonia really low enough to make cheap insults concerning the Prime Minister’s face. (Let’s face it, the First Minister’s no oil painting either.)

    1. LASmith says:

      Surely you are not trying to say this is an ‘English’ victory? But really, you betray yourself with such mean spirited semantics.

    2. Reads of bitterness somewhere,I always like to see a fellow Scot win,makes for a sweet day.

    3. Taranaich says:

      To say this isn’t a Scottish sporting victory on acccount of Andy Murray being an individual strikes me as somewhat perplexing. Would you then say that any invention, discovery, artwork or achievement made by a single Scot shouldn’t be counted as a “Scottish victory”? Because at that point it’s a bit silly.

    4. Ray Bell says:

      Andy Murray is most definitely a proud Scot! What he thinks of independence is another matter.

      His coach is a Czech, he has had support staff who are American, he trained in Spain and Florida as well as Scotland and England.

      One thing is for sure – he is not a product of the British, or indeed Scottish tennis establishment. Even Henman didn’t come thru such a route.

    5. jdmankj says:

      wind yer neck in pal

  4. bellacaledonia says:

    The ugliness in Cameron’s face comes from within.

    KW

    1. Aye for a man with the name Cameron he did not look so pleased at Andy Murray winning,enjoy a fellow Scotsman winning its so sweet.

  5. Kat Frac says:

    Well Done, Andy You showed the way for the rest of us Scots that WINNING is always possible if you try hard enough.

  6. douglas clark says:

    Paul F Cockburn,

    What a pathetic comment. There is not a nation on earth that does not recognise it’s own sporting hero’s.

    I was, personally gutted when Laura Robson was knocked out.

    You are absolutely right to compare the ‘looks’ of politicians. That ought to be how we decide a referendum.

    Not.

  7. Albalha says:

    Wimbledon 2013. The Auld Alliance lives on at the All English Club.
    Well done Andy and Marion.

  8. Sad isn’t it when you are told not to be so parochial when you have a sporting hero! The cringe is alive and thriving. Only by voting Yes will this ever change!

  9. douglas clark says:

    What is interesting is that Andy Murray had to leave these shores in order to learn the game he loved. He went to Spain. It is that interconnectedness with places other than England that show a degree of internationalism that those against us will never understand.

    Just saying.

  10. vronsky says:

    Well done Andy.

    I wish people wouldn’t put ‘just saying’ at the end of posts – we know you’re just saying.

    Just saying.

  11. douglas clark says:

    Vronsky,

    Is ‘just saying’ better at the start of a post?

    Cheers

  12. Alasdair Frew-Bell says:

    All England Club victory for British tennis…..sorry but that IS the reality. expect Murray to be recruited by BT….do get real guys !

  13. LisaRob says:

    I think we should all be very proud of fellow Scot Andy but for many Scots before Andy,they weren’t probably tennis fans but got behind him which is great but I’ve been a tennis fan for over 40 years from a little girl, supporting any British player except Agassi when I was a young lass. I am very much Yes for Independence but I don’t take away from it that Wimbledon is most definitely a British game supported by tennis fans across the country and abroad. The fact it was won by a Scot should make us be very proud on that and off him for that but I have cringed on many occasions today as it seems loads of Scots are trying to make a divide on this wonderful win for Andy. You don’t see masses of St George flags at the home of golf when English players are winning so I don’t think Scots should hi-jack what has been an English tennis club event for global players with the hope British ones will do well. I know theres a lot of nast comments regards the Saltire but this is Andy’s day and he has a lot of fans up and down the country and just because he is Scottish he is not “ours” to own. I think we just look bad to many folk up here with their unsure votes who today will feel emmense pride of Andy’s achievement as a British player. The last thing we want to do is alienate those voters and folk should just accept he was playing for Britain, not Scotland though no one could ever say he isn’t a proud Scot.

  14. Barontorc says:

    There is a unique harmony of support for Andy. Some would see this as attempted ownership by association. If taken in the context of ‘winners are Brits and losers are Scots’ and there is enough anecdotal proof this happens, let’s just accept it as the norm and be happy to be in pole position for one more time.

    As for the saltire – union flag issue; the English have predominately used the union flag to represent England, wrong as this may be and only recently have there been preferences to promote the red cross of England, whereas, the Scots have always recognised the saltire as our own. To confirm this did you see that the trophy of the ‘All England Club’ stood atop the Union Flag?

    I have absolutely no problem that the FM waved the saltire, but it would have been nice to have heard that he was the first Brit for 37 years and the first Scot ever!

    Still after 18 Sept 2014, Andy and those who follow will not be confuse-able ever again.

    1. Ray Bell says:

      Actually he might not be the first Scot to win Wimbledon. One did in the 19th century.

  15. Jim says:

    Well done Andy.

    A more serious point is that the “All England Tennis and Croquet Club” (AELTC) otherwise called the “All England Club” has never been a bastion of egalitarianism and Equality.

    It is a private members club with under 400 full members, with a few hundred more being temporary playing members, honorary members and former Wimbledon champions.

    It banned black people until 1951 and Jewish people until 1952 and children are still not allowed in in 2013.

    Angela Buxton, a Jewish British player who won the 1956 Wimbledon doubles title was never granted membership despite applying in the 1950’s!

    However, since becoming a professional tournament, the men’s single title has saw six winners from the USA winning a total of 15 times; four winners from Australia winning six times; two winners from Sweden wining six times; one winner from Switzerland winning seven times, two winners from Germany winning four times; and one winner each from the Czech Republic, Spain, Serbia, Croatia and the Netherlands.

    Now we have a Scottish winner.

    Should the “All England Club” change its name?

  16. Doug Daniel says:

    Look at the joy on his chubby wee face as he waves his nation’s flag to celebrate the victory of one of his nation’s greatest living sportsfolk. The way folk are reacting, you’d think he was waving a sign saying “fuck you England”.

    Folk are saying it was “crass”, that it’s not how a First Minister should behave. As far as I’m concerned, that’s all the more reason to do it. If he was in the crowd as an ordinary pleb like the rest of us, he’d be doing the exact same thing. That’s the kind of folk I want leading Scotland, not people thinking “oh no, I mustn’t behave like the hoi palloi, it’s simply not dignified for someone of my stature.”

    If it was the Serbian president celebrating a Djokovic win, we’d all think it was great, and wish our leaders were like that.

  17. Abulhaq says:

    Snobbery, elitism and “one-of-us-ism” is what this genre is all about. Sport as we know it was invented by the so called upper ranks/class in their selective school system, named without any sense of irony, public schools. Sport, that character builder in the Spartan mode required much brawn and little brain so it suited the chinless wonders that the inbred aristos tended to produce. However, golf in the Royal and Ancient, cricket in Lord’s, the Henley Royal Regatta etc are all very snob, exclusive and socially excluding despite their pretensions otherwise. Totalitarian systems use sport for political and nationalistic ends. We should not be surprised that Murray’s success has been “hijacked” for those ends here.

  18. Jim says:

    Yeah. David Cameron is calling for him to receive a knighthood!

  19. Barontorc says:

    Not for me to say but a Scottish recognition would be very apt, if not more, than a discredited GB knighthood. I hope Andy holds off for a year.

    1. bringiton says:

      Totally agree.We Scots are going to have to find a way of recognising great achievement by Scottish citizens in our own way.
      Order of the Saltire maybe ?

  20. Douglas says:

    Read Murray like you would read a book:

    Read him as a great Scottish moment or a great British moment or as a great tennis moment, or all three at the same time. They’re all legitimate readings.

    I read him as a man of outstanding talent and endeavour who refused to abide by the ridiculous class system which governs these isle, who showed the same spirit and fight that Burns showed, when he wrote, the man who would not lie down against the vast forces of the the status quo who stood against him. The man who refused to take no for answer..

    No, I’m not saying that Murray sees himself as that and I’m not trying to claim himself for my own reading – readings are free.

    But for me, he will always be Andy,he will always be a Hibbee, and he will always be the guy who did it for his girlfriend, mother and Scotland.

    He stood against them, and we can never do him sufficinet justice in our praise.

    .

  21. Robert Knight says:

    Nice to see the mainstream media (MSM) up to its usual standards. Imagine the headlines if Cameron had waved a Union Flag. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist’s level of intelligence to conclude that as far as the MSM is concerned…

    British Nationalism = Good
    Scottish Nationalism = Bad

    Simples…

    Well done Murray – thoroughly deserved!

    1. Ray Bell says:

      Herbert Lawford, Harold Mahony – how come I’ve never heard of them?

  22. annie says:

    Catalonia’s press had no difficulty in describing him as specifically Scottish – Mundo Deportivo’s (monday) front page headline: HEROE EL ESCOSE BARRIO A DJOKOVIC DE LA PISTA EN TRES SETS 🙂

    Spent a very anxious Sunday in Ager, Catalonia – well done, son!

  23. Jim says:

    The New Tork Times and press all over the world described him as “Scottish” and from “Scotland” albeit with wider British or UK statistics (77 Years).

    The catalan news agency is a good site to see whats going on there from a Scottish perspective. I read it regularly.

    When Catalonia goes independent, I wonder if they will be kicked out of the EU along with their western mediterranean seaboard lol.

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