In a total reversal of last year – I led the Earl of Sussex hockey pool from day one until the beginning of March – by a wide margin with my six forwards including Vancouver’s Sedin twins among the top 10 in our scoring categories – until my entire team went cold and choked down the stretch and faded to third.

Lately Walter the Farting Dog has been great bedtime reading. How can you go wrong with a dog that has gas . . .