Better Than Yesterday, Worse Than Tomorrow

Sorry to keep going on about my knee, but its all I'm talking about i-r-l so I'm afraid you're going to have a helping of it here too.

Quick refresher - I did a big walk in the Scottish Highlands the other week and twisted my knee something rotten. Understandably, whenever anyone sees me they've been asking how my knee is.

I started telling people that it was 'better than yesterday, worse than tomorrow', a phrase I thought I had made up. When it got some good feedback in the form of appreciative nods and thoughtful pauses, I decided it was going to become my go-to response. I've probably used it 20 times in the last three days and each time its a joy to watch the brief moment where the listener works out what I'm on about.

Better than yesterday, worse than tomorrow.

So its getting better, they say, sometimes a bit miffed at my obtuseness. Why couldn't you just say that, they think. Its just not as fun, is it, I think back, and the thought conversation ends there.

Anyway, I've been very pleased with myself for coming up with this phrase to the extent I've been considering trademarking it, putting out a line of t-shirts and protective knee braces - the full works. But of course, when you google it you find this emo song with the same title, and hundreds of tweets from the last few months alone.

My dreams of being a professional phrase-coiner are over, for the moment. First my knee and now this - its like I'm walking down a boulevard of broken dr-. Hang on, I think I might have another one here...

Anyway, tonight's match is between Loughborough and Sheffield.

You can watch the episode here before reading the rest of the review.

Last Appearance

Loughborough - Play-Off Round (2014)

Sheffield - Play-Off Round (2023)

Best Appearance

Loughborough - 2R (2010)

Sheffield - F (2008)

Making their first appearance since 2014, Loughborough (the only University to follow the Sean Bean rule of pronouncing identical syllables differently over the course of its name) are taking on Sheffield tonight.

The Yorkshire side reached the final in 2008, but haven't made it past the first round since a semi final appearance in 2011.

Loughborough got to the second round on their only other showing, when they were knocked out despite a score of 190, which ranks among the highest losing scores in second round history.

Here's your first starter for ten.

I cannot believe my bloody luck.

Two of the Sheffield team have names featuring 'oughs'. I swear I had already written the above bit about Sean Bean before seeing the teams. I don't know what I'm going to do with it yet, but rarely am I provided with such tasty raw materials.

Nail fails to nail the opening starter, recognising The Giants Causeway in a clue, but buzzing with Cause rather than Giant - a minor hiccough.

His teammate Rujak digs him out of the hole with the breakthrough on the next starter, and a neg from Simmons allowed McGough to extend the lead with Cavalier. Tough to take for Loughborough.

Nail makes up for his error and hits the next starter on the head, knowing that Pacman was released in 1980. Campion knows the rough location of The Wash on the first picture starter, and this is enough to bring them back within 35 points of their rivals.

Colclough knows that vanilla comes from an orchid, then Campion wins Loughborough a bonus set on football terms. They take a hat-trick with Panenka, Gegenpress and Crough Turn, but don't look very chuffed about it. By the time the music starter comes around, Sheffield are nearly 100 points clear.

Rujak is first to recognise Girl in Red, who has 13 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and whose most listened to track has 750 million plays, just in case (like me) you were about to make a comment along the lines of 'surely the most obscure artist to ever appear as a UC music starter'.

Not that obscure, it turns out. They get Elliot Smith, The Streets and Calvin Harris on the bonuses, which impresses Rajan greatly. To be fair, The Streets only have 1.5 million monthly listeners.

Desperate to end Loughborough's drought, Campion buzzes early on a physics starter, but he's wrong, and they drop further back, all his efforts for nought.

The expansion of the UC knowedge canon continues with a starter on the electronic musician SOPHIE, which goes to Rujak, and Sheffield are going to be hard to catch at the point.

Impossible, actually. I've just noticed that they have ploughed into a 200 point lead.

Brutal.

The second picture starter, on the post-horror film A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, goes to Rujak, who is bossing the pop-culture questions tonight.

Loughborough return from furlough with a quartet of starters to close the game, which spares their blushes and brings their hundred up, although it doesn't change the fact they'll soon be packing up their stough to go home.

Sheffield 290 - 115 Loughborough

Another entertaining, high-scoring match. Sheffield look very strong, while Loughborough made a good showing of themselves at the very end there. Wellfought, but outthought.

I couldn't really come up with anything for the oughs other than to put in as many ough words as I could (though not all of them, because there are apparently 617), so if you were waiting for something really wellthoughtout then I'm afraid I'm going to have to disappoint you.

I shouldn't have displayed such thoughtlessness (lots of the words have thought in them, what can I say).

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Let me know in the comments which oughs I missed...