IT has been a week for the bulldog spirit, apart from the footballers, of course. Euro 2004 has crept up on us, ensuring that football never goes away, and the team with a captain boasting a new tattoo can't even beat Japan.

He says they were tired, poor lambs, but if anyone had a right to be tired it was Tim Henman after twice coming back from two sets down before breezing through his quarter-final at Roland Garros. Even if he loses today, reaching a semi-final at the French Open means that Henmania has set in early this year.

If he reaches the Wimbledon final on July 4, the same day as the Euro 2004 climax, the demands on the national grid could spark a blackout.

It has been said that we Brits always look for a cloud in the silver lining, and my own observation is that I've never heard of any of Henman's victims so far in Paris. In the excitement surrounding his progress, it transpires that the third round defeat of Wimbledon champion and No 1 seed Roger Federer by Brazil's Gustavo Kuerten had been overlooked.

Perhaps it was no great shock as Kuerten has won this title three times, but he then lost to David Nalbandian as three Argentinians joined Henman in the semi-finals. Gaston Gaudio will face Nalbandian after beating Lleyton Hewitt, which must be a worry for Henman if he beats Guillermo Coria today as Tim's record against Hewitt is lamentable.

All this again begs the question of how Argentina can enjoy such success at tennis while we rely on Henman and an adopted Canadian to fly an otherwise sadly tattered flag.

THE BBC have long held the rights to the French Open but have rarely shown any live tennis until the final. When they decided to switch from the final round of the Volvo PGA event at Wentworth on Sunday to monitor Henman's progress, the switchboard was jammed by complaints from golfers.

This event brought the inevitable Bulldog headlines as it was won by Scott Drummond, whose hot putter held sway over the explosive hitting of another Argentinian, Angel Cabrera.

The little-known Drummond added a nice photo opportunity to the fairytale when he walked off the 18th green to be greeted by his wife and month-old daughter.

Drummond, ranked 435 in the world, was originally fourth reserve for the event but now has the chance to emulate that other unknown, Ben Curtis, by winning the Open. His problem is that Troon is much less prone than last year's venue, Sandwich, to throwing up fluke winners.

Colin Montgomerie would have a much better chance on his home course, but after falling out of the world's top 50 he has to qualify, and after his marriage break-up his heart clearly isn't in it.

GOLF'S Amateur Championship is being held this week at St Andrews, where 7,000 guests from around the world are expected to celebrate the Royal and Ancient's 250th anniversary celebrations.

The R and A's captain this year is six-handicapper the Duke of York, who was originally coached by Doug McLelland, who hails from South Shields. I mention this only because it reminds me of the story of McLelland's son once taking a phone call from someone asking for his dad. When told that the caller was the Duke of York, the lad yelled: "Dad, it's the pub on the phone."

FOLLOWING my recent observation about people paying good money to labour monotonously on treadmills and exercise bikes in the sweaty confines of health centres, it was good to hear this week that there has been a massive resurgence in proper cycling.

So much so that the Tour of Britain is to return in September after a five-year absence. Known from 1958 to 1993 as the Milk Race, its visit to any town was guaranteed to generate interest, and even in its final year it attracted four million viewers en route.

It is intended that the event will pay its own way with the backing of sporting and government agencies, plus the BBC. And with cycling tipped to be our most successful Olympic event in Athens, interest in the relaunch could be phenomenal.

WHETHER interest in rowing can match the Redgrave levels of intensity might depend on James Cracknell being fit for Athens. He has a history of injury and illness and after his recent stress fracture of a rib, he was again absent from the Olympic coxless four for a World Cup race in Munich at the weekend because of a heavy cold.

The reassembled quartet finished fifth, well adrift of last year's world champions Canada, and Matthew Pinsent's hopes of a fourth Olympic title appear to be fading. But Cracknell belongs to the school for which every cloud has a silver lining, saying: "I've sneezed so much without by rib hurting, it must have healed properly."

Published: 04/06/2004