Fair game

It was a shame to see that someone ruined the very good and often entertaining In Morris We Trust site last week with a silly, thoughtless comment about a Derbyshire player, a comment without substance and made from the anonymity of a computer keyboard.

People really should realise that such comments, should they lead to legal action, CAN be traced through IP address. If it was made from a library, logs are kept of who was on a machine and when, so any individual basking in the thought of anonymity should perhaps think twice.

There is an unfair assumption that anyone in the public eye is fair game and I disagree. There may be a minority of people for whom such things are fascinating, but I really couldn't care what X does with his/her life, even if stories and allegations are true in some cases.

Those who have read this blog for the past 15 months will know that I don't always agree with John Morris' selections and I'm occasionally critical of a performance, when it is justified. I don't mind getting beaten as long as we don't capitulate, roll over and play dead. We can be and often are competitive and for the record I hope that John Morris stays for at least the next five years. By that stage, we should have an idea of what is happening and players should be emerging from the Academy.

I liked Dave Houghton as a bloke and he was always approachable, but he made some bad decisions, the worst being that to retain Travis Birt and release Michael di Venuto. Morris has not yet made a bad decision. OK, Rikki Clarke failed, but we were all pleased when he signed and the love affair only ended when he failed to justify his high salary and gave the air of someone who didn't care, a fatal error. Credit to Morris, he cut his losses and has again improved the side this season. At the end of it I will give a full analysis of the year - the good, bad and ugly if you will - but John Morris has my support and will have for the forseeable future.

Next Friday, I jet out with my family to the splendours of Tennessee for a fortnight. Plenty of sun, good music and fabulous food. Might get a photo or two taken of Peakfan in his Derbyshire cap by the landmarks for a future blog. During that fortnight I don't think I'll be able to blog but will keep up with e mails and scores via the wonders of the kids Nintendo dsi consoles. I will be back over the weekend though, when there'll be a preview of our next game against Durham - Nantie's debut!