"Where have all the real men gone?"

...as Bonnie Tyler famously sang.

I was just having lunch in our office kitchen when some guy comes in and so, to break the silence, I asked, 'did you see the cup final?', hoping for someone else with whom I could enthuse about Gerrard's 'goal of the century' - I wish I hadn't bothered:

'Was it this weekend' he asked. Before I knew which way to spit, he was off, ranting about people with their England flags on their cars, about media sensationalism, and how he hoped England went out in the first round of the world cup so that the furore would die down.

My mind went back to the 'England' sticker I'd stuck in the back of the dream machine last night, as I wondered how our fine country could ever have produced a geek like this. Come on Wayne Rooney, Uri Gellar and David Beckham. Come on Theo Walcott, Sven Goran Erikkson and Ulrika Johnson. Come on the Sun. Come on Mojo. Come on England.