Albion Fair

The dust has more or less settled, it seems, on Albion's awe-inspiring 3-0 win over Liverpool on Saturday. But as far as the newspapers are concerned, the inquest is still in full swing, focusing entirely on how Liverpool could have "thrown away" this "easy" fixture. And it's not the kind of inquest where the coroner returns a verdict of "death by losing to the better side."

A person who slipped into a coma circa 1970, and re-emerged into consciousness this week, would be amazed that the sporting media devote so many hours and pages to one top-flight football team being beaten by another top-flight football team (of course, they'd also be amazed by things like post-industrialisation, a single European currency, and Jedward, but they would eventually get round to the sports pages too). Still, it's there for all to see: 21st century pundits can't rid themselves of the idea that wealth equals worth. If they're not careful, with attitudes like that, they'll end up as MPs.

So a team that cost 22 million pounds (including subs) beat a team that cost 171 million pounds. The Grand Prix was won by an Austin Allegro. The Grand National was won by some fat geezer on a donkey. The Boat Race was won by Somalia, who finally decided that a bunch of posh Oxbridge twats on a river was too good an opportunity for their pirates to pass up. These are the things that make sport worth watching - without them, it would be a tableau of pathetic predictability.

And of course, it's worth remembering that even the poor things in life have a rich history; from the Austin Allegro, to Somalia, to West Bromwich Albion, there are past glories that deserve to be treasured dearly - not swept away as fashion dictates.