Monday

And in the space of 24 hours, Sutton United’s reserve goalkeeper Wayne Shaw would go from ‘a character’ and ‘the heartbeat of the club’ to a ridiculed, joke figure and unemployed after he was forced to quit his job.

His 15 seconds of famine led to 15 minutes of fame and probably 15 years of infamy after his involvement in ‘piegate.’

There is a part of me that feels sorry for Shaw. If bookies didn’t offer up stupid betting opportunities – like 8/1 on the 23-stone eating a pie, on camera, during the game – then stupid people, like Wayne, wouldn’t be tempted into pulling daft stunts.

Again, Shaw could claim to have been unlucky. I mean, what were the chances of three sets of TV cameras being trained on him in the last 10 minutes of the Arsenal tie, unless they knew he was up to something. Sorry for the scepticism, but, having been there, seen it and done it, I reckon I know the tell-tails.

For me, if bookies didn’t offer up odds on just about anything, no-one would have been interested in Shaw’s dietary requirements. It’s the same as spot fixing. If betting companies didn’t open books on no-balls being bowled in cricket, few, if any, would be tempted in to fixing.

In Shaw’s case, his record-breaking attempt on making a pie evaporate landed him on a breakfast TV couch alongside Piers Morgan. So forget FA sanctions. That should be punishment enough.

Tuesday

And, without a pie in sight, the Sirens make their debut in the Vitality Netball Superleague against Wasps, watched by a 4000 sell-out crowd at The Emirates Arena.

That full-house owed much to the spin and hype generated by Claire Nelson, CEO of Scottish Netball and who runs the Sirens franchise. She is the kind of lady who could have my last Rolo; not because I was trying to be charming, but, I’d just be frightened to refuse her.

The opening night was a success, the result apart. The real test however is maintaining those levels of interest. So good luck.

But here’s one. That 4000 crowd was better than the 3972 who watched Kilmarnock play Aberdeen, or the 3187 who viewed Ross County versus St Johnstone, and the 3057 who suffered Partick Thistle against Hamilton Accies.

Maybe it isn’t down to luck …

Wednesday

The Scottish Cup replay between Hibs and Hearts was one of the ‘must see’ games of the season, the holders facing their arch-rivals in a fight to the finish. Unfortunately, you had to be at Easter Road to see the game live.

Despite being fed football almost every evening of the week, and double, triple or quadruple helpings on Saturdays and Sundays, the Edinburgh derby couldn’t be shown because Champions League fitba was being broadcast elsewhere.

And there you have football in 2017; games you want to see, you can’t, while games that probably mean nothing to you are force fed down our collective satellite and digital throats. Still, it will all be different after Brexit. Won’t it?

Thursday

Tottenham once again fall short of the mark in Europe, in no small part to playing against Gent with just 10-men for a huge part of the tie at Wembley after Dele Alli was sent off for a horror challenge on Brecht Dejaegere.

If you haven’t seen it, look away now …

That, on another day, is a leg-breaker. Both Alli and Dejaegere were lucky boys, for different reasons. But who would ever condone such a thing?

Just wait until Sunday when Graeme Souness’ newspaper column appears …

Friday

I’m glad Scott Brown is still of a mind to play for Scotland. After all, since making his debut in 2005, he has been key to our qualification for major tournaments. Or not.

I’ll be honest, I find the interest levels in whether Brown stay and plays, or vanishes in to retirement, utterly baffling.

When Gary McAllister made his Scotland return, having missed France 98 as the result of a serious knee injury, he ended up being booed off the pitch as the Scots lost to the Czech Republic at Celtic Park. It was the last of his international caps for Scotland.

McAllister had been at Italia 90, and the Euro finals of 1992 and 1996 in Sweden and England (how could we ever forget) respectively, and had helped us qualify for France. An impressive record, indeed. He left with jeers in his ears.

Yet, we are supposed to celebrate Scott Brown, who didn’t want to play, changing his mind on a game-by-game basis?

Give me peace …

Saturday

A great day for Scotland, beating Wales in the Six Nations for the first time in ten years. It was also great to welcome north the Welsh rugby fans, many of whom don’t have tickets for the game but head for the rugby heartlands of Scotland to enjoy a weekend of hospitality.

You know, hotbeds like Oban, Motherwell and Lenzie, where they can soak up the atmosphere – and loads of cheap drink. Have their wives, girlfriends and partners ever looked at a map?

Sunday 

Still on the rugby beat, and England defeated Italy, eventually. In some respects however, the Italians were the real winners.

On the pitch – in the first-half at least – the Italians outsmarted England with their ruck and maul tactics, completely throwing the English team who had to wait until half-time before they were reprogrammed by coach Eddie Jones.

And after the game, Italy maintained a dignified silence as many within the England set-up – especially Jones - whinged about how the Italian coach Conor O’Shea had played to the letter of the law and ruined the spectacle.

No, I actually enjoyed watching the English juggernaut coming off the rails in that first 40 minutes, just as I would have done had any underdog been more streetwise against bigger and better opposition.

In sport, over the years, people have always taken exception to being outwitted; think about Williams in F1 back in the 80’s, when they introduced ground-effect skirts on their cars; or when what was seen by some as ball-tampering in cricket, actually produced the reverse swing effect that everyone now subscribes to.

Innovation has always been part of sport. It’s just some are smarter at it than others …