In a time when professional athletes are ever more remote, we thank the Lord for Twitter, the micro-blogging fad. Michael Phelps, for instance, has been prepared to share the revelation that his favourite Nintendo game is Legend of Zelda and we have learnt that Andy Murray bumped into band members of The Prodigy after being knocked out of the Australian Open.

For commitment to the cause, Charlie Villanueva, who plays basketball for the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA, has set new standards by tweeting during half-time of a game against the Boston Celtics. Villanueva’s tweet — “In da locker room, snuck to post my twitt. We’re playing the Celtics. Coach wants more toughness. I gotta step up” — does not appear to have gone down well because said coach has banned half-time tweeting, suggesting that his players would do better applying their minds to the game.

Elsewhere, Will Carling reports that he has just made his first batch of blueberry muffins. “Kids love them,” he writes. “But not as much as me!”

Maradona upsets Argentina fans

Some may be surprised that it has taken so long, but the first questions have arisen over Diego Maradona in his position as Argentina coach. The soap opera is being played out at Boca Juniors, his former club, where Juan Román Riquelme, the Boca midfield player, said that he would never play for Maradona again because he did not agree with his principles. Maradona’s tart public warning to Riquelme not “to tarnish my name because I have more wit and cunning” led to the unthinkable at a Boca match: banners calling him a traitor.

Who is bigger name, Eno or Woods?

Is Brian Eno bigger than Tiger Woods? Fears for Woods’s global standing have been raised in Sydney, where Nathan Rees, the Premier of New South Wales, declared that Sydneysiders would be better served by an appearance from the former Roxy Music man than the world’s top golfer.

This is in response to Victoria, a rival state, paying a £2.1 million appearance fee to have Woods take part in the Australian Masters in November. And, yes, Eno is playing Sydney, in June. It is not known whether he plays golf.

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