Well done MUTV

I know it's so easy in these days of big money, big corporations and big ego's to be cynical about everything but I think MUTV should be congratulated for the way they handled the 50th anniversary of the Munich air crash. I'm not a Man.Utd fan and wouldn't want to pay for the subscription only channel and I suspect a lot of people who are fans can't afford to pay for it as an add-on to their Sky/Virgin/Telewest etc subscription. So well done for allowing the whole days programmes to be shown free to air. I watched about an hour of the programmes during the evening which I wouldn't normally have been able to do.

Most of the coverage of the past week leading up to the 50th anniversary as been very tasteful, respectful, and for those of us born after the event, the black and white film combined with the vivid memories of those who were on the aircraft and survived or those who should have been on the aircraft have made for gripping television. I did find the article in our local evening newspaper that compared the outpouring of public grief similar to that felt when JFK was assasinated and Diana, the people's princess, died a little OTT - but what do I know, I was -2 when Munich occurred.

Janis bought me the first volume of Bobby Charlton's autobiography for Christmas, I'm not partisan (no pun intended) when it comes to sports books, and the prologue, which deals with the events of 6 February 1958, is probably the most moving chapter I have ever read in a sporting book. It certainly puts the likes of Ashley Cole and his '£60,000 a week, I thought they were taking the piss' into perspective. Bobby Charlton has lived all his life from the day of that disaster suffering from what is commonly referred to as survivors guilt and his re-telling of the aftermath is superb.