Perhaps Mr. O’Brien would have us believe that When Saturday Comes’ Cameron Carter is offended by John Motson’s baseball background?

John Motson (above) again felt the need to build up the FA Cup final, just in case anyone felt it isn’t as eminent a competition as it once was. Scanning the ranks of painted faces and raised mobile phones, Motson bubbled; “There’s a real cup final, FA Cup feel about the whole occasion.” Yes, John, there was, and there’s a real lavatorial, toilety feel about my craphouse. Perhaps we could all sign a petition to say we still believe in the FA Cup and send it to the BBC. Then they might ask their boys to stop banging on about it.

ITV demonstrated its grasp of contemporary culture in its Champions League final coverage. For no reason, other than the fact “The Da Vinci Code” is on general release, Gabby Logan asked if Arsenal could break the Barcelona Code. There followed doomy shots of religious buildings accompanied by sinister plainsong and Arsene Wenger and Frank Rijkaard looming up like warrior-monks. I may be old fashioned, but I’m only glad “Brokeback Mountain” hadn’t just come out.