Saint
Jeff Horn – surprise winner of the WBO welterweight title fight against legend Manny Pacquiao
It was supposed to be easy. Eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao was to defend his WBO welterweight title against Aussie rookie Jeff Horn. Pacquiao would pocket at least $10M, Horn, at least $500K and Pacquiao would retain the title. Things didn’t go according to plan however and the young school teacher from Brisbane came out fighting right from the start. In what was a bloody and brutal fight, Pacquiao almost had the better of Horn when the ref threatened to stop the fight in the ninth round, but again the Aussie came out fighting and won the next bout. The decision was unanimous from the judges (117-111, 115-113, 115-113) prompting a massive backlash from the US sports media and social media. Horn and his wife have even been subjected to death threats and other abuse. There will inevitably be a re-match and hopefully Horn will silence the critics and retain his WBO welterweight title.
Scumbag
Passenger Qiu – elderly woman who threw coins into an airplane jet engine to pray for safety
OK – ‘scumbag’ may be a bit strong in this case – she is 80 and believed what she was doing ‘for good luck’ would be OK not realising that metal coins and jet engines should never, ever meet. Fortunately, another passenger saw the good luck gesture and reported it, delaying the flight for several hours whilst the coins were retrieved. Qiu, a Buddhist, was questioned by Police with no further action pending. Bless.
Saint
Eddie Smith – 15 year-old student who took over beleaguered Southern Rail’s Twitter account
Eddie, on work experience at Southern Rail was given the opportunity to handle the company’s social media account often bombarded with complaints and abuse due to their ongoing ‘issues’ with policies and staff. However, Twitter was won over by the young student – “Hi, Eddie here! Here on Work Experience and ready to answer your questions!”, within hours Eddie had over 6,000 likes and the questions were flooding in…@RobYoung asking “Hi Eddie, what is the worst monger? Iron, fish or war?” @SouthernRailUK “Hi, it has to be a war monger. The fish monger at my nearest ASDA is amazing. Eddie” @adam_winstone “Hi Eddie! Would you rather fight 1 horse sized duck or 100 duck sized horse?” @SouthernRailUK 100 duck-sized horses. A horse-sized duck would be pretty scary! You? Eddie” @adam_winstone “I don’t think I’ve got the stamina to fight 100 of anything. I’m taking my chances with the giant duck”
#AskEddie went viral and landed Southern Rail with some good publicity for a change.
Scumbag
Chinese authorities – for banning all reference to Winnie the Pooh!
I KNOW! Posts on social media site Weibo, are automatically censored at even the mention of the cute cuddly bear. The site simply returns the message ‘Content is illegal’. The reason for this madness? Apparently, although there is no official explanation, it’s because of comparisons between Winnie and the President Xi Jinping. The first instance was back in 2013 when then US President Obama visited China and the two leaders were pictured walking and compared to an image of Pooh and Tigger, this was followed the following year by a picture of Xi shaking hands with Shinzo Abe the Japanese Prime Minister – this time the comparison was Pooh and Eyore. It’s believed the ban coincides with the big Communist Party Congress in the autumn during which certain political activities are usually banned but Winnie the Pooh?
Saint
Joey Barge – for reiterating the stupidity of some office dress codes
London has been pretty bloody hot over the last month, with temperatures hitting the mid-thirties a London office is not a great place to be. A London call centre in a suit is not a great place to be. 20 year-old Joey Barge from Aylesbury risked wearing a pair of smart shorts to the office and was promptly sent home as he predicted on Twitter: @jBarge “If women can wear skirts/dresses at work can I wear smart shorts like so?” and just half an hour later…@jBarge “Answer: nope. Just been sent home from work” but Joey wasn’t done. He returned sporting one of his mum’s black and pink numbers showing a flash of leg equal to the shorts. He later tweeted part of an email he had received: “Due to the extremely warm temperatures currently, it has been agreed that… gentlemen in the office are permitted to wear 3/4 length shorts….black, navy or beige only” Message received? Partially…Well played Joey!
Scumbag
R Kelly – Facing allegations of keeping women against their will in a ‘cult-like’ state
R Kelly has been dogged by a variety of allegations for decades. Ranging from under age sex to making child pornography, the star has been in and out of court more times than Rolf. Most cases have been settled out of court but this one looks set to be around for a while. Buzzfeed first broke the story, reporting that Kelly is holding up to six women and is controlling their every move from what and when they eat to their sexual encounters. However, one of the alleged women in question, Jocelyn Savage, has defended Kelly saying she is not being held against her will but would not or could not give any further detail. However, her parents are convinced she has been brainwashed and being held as a sex slave. Kelly has strenuously denied the accusations – well he would wouldn’t he!
