Miami has been missing something in its sports scene despite being a city full of international flavor, diverse culture and party-filled fun. Much of the buzz is in the past, and South Florida fans are spending a lot of time (too much time?) reminiscing about the glory days.

Granddad leans back in his chair telling stories of how Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino ran the NFL in the 1980s and 1990s with his lightning-quick release and pocket presence. Grandma jumps in by discussing how Jimmy Johnson and Michael Irvin made the Miami Hurricanes the "Bad Boys of College Football" must-watch programming every Saturday.

Groups of college friends play 21 on the blistering hot Miami hardcourt yelling out "Flash" in honor of former Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade. Some of the tables at Domino Park in Little Havana go back-and-forth about how everything went downhill with the Miami Marlins when they traded Miguel Cabrera.

Those stars, and many of the ones who followed them, are all gone from Miami. And while there are several young players on the rise among Miami's Big Four pro sports teams and Hurricanes football -- including Xavien Howard, Bam Adebayo, Aleksander Barkov, Sandy Alcantara, Brian Anderson and Shaquille Quarterman -- there is a dearth of big-name talent.

We enlisted a diverse group of ESPN personalities, writers, reporters and analysts with knowledge of the Miami sports scene to remind us of the past, catch us up on the present and project the future.

Which departure has had the biggest impact on Miami's sports scene?

Andrea Adelson: The Dolphins still haven't recovered from losing Dan Marino. A few years after he retired, when Jay Fielder was the quarterback, I had a group of friends over for dinner. They all knew how much my dad loves the Dolphins. Someone decided to bring up what was happening at quarterback. My dad, a man of very few words, looked up from his dinner and used a word that cannot be repeated in this family-friendly roundtable. He resumed eating. I can only imagine that's how all Dolphins fans feel -- even to this day.

Kelly Cohen: When Dwyane Wade left Miami, in what was clearly a breakdown of trust, the whole city felt defeated. It felt personal. My non-cliché answer? The departure of the Orange Bowl. Games at that stadium were legendary, and Miami's college football scene hasn't been the same since.

Alden Gonzalez: For the Heat, it was LeBron James, because it ended one of the greatest dynasties in the city's history. For the Dolphins, it was the retirement -- albeit brief -- of Ricky Williams, who announced weeks before the start of the 2004 season that he was stepping aside. For the Marlins, it was, sadly, the death of Jose Fernandez -- a star in the making with a magnetic personality who, as a Cuban American, perfectly identified with that fan base.

Cameron Wolfe: I see fans walking around Hard Rock Stadium with Marino jerseys, sometimes younger folks who aren't old enough to have seen him play. There's an acute nostalgia that stirs over the fan base like maybe one day they'll get to experience that Marino feeling again.

Jeff Darlington: Ryan Tannehill, because it is symbolic of the Dolphins' ongoing challenge to find "the guy" at quarterback. Wade, because it's the end of an era. Giancarlo Stanton, because it validated the Marlins as a stepping stone -- not a destination. And don't you dare make me try to name a Panthers player.

Who is the most prominent big-name South Florida star?

Gonzalez: Josh Rosen. He isn't the most accomplished and he isn't the most recognizable, but he has the attention of South Florida more so than anybody at the moment because he is the Dolphins' potential franchise quarterback. Rosen eventually will take over for Ryan Fitzpatrick, and when he does, the entire city will cross its collective fingers. Rosen could still be great. Or, at least, good. The city will take it.

Wolfe: Jimmy G. Buckets (Jimmy Butler). Miami loves its stars to have some grit. It makes perfect sense that as Wade retires, another Marquette kid with a rough, adverse upbringing is here to take over his crown. Butler is a clutch baller who is never afraid to speak his mind. That will play here.

Jorge Sedano: Butler. He is a top-15 player in his sport, and he plays in a league that pushes individuality.

Dan Le Batard: Butler? [Miami Heat team president] Pat Riley?

Darlington: Riley. The Williams sisters. Tiger Woods. And behind them, Derek Jeter and Don Mattingly. The problem with all of that? Three of them are in management -- and three don't play in front of a Miami audience very often.

Who will be the next star athlete in Miami?

Le Batard: It will be Rosen if he plays well and the Dolphins win. Two giant ifs.

Adelson: [Alabama quarterback] Tua Tagovailoa. That is, if #TankforTua can be believed.

Gonzalez: Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo. I have been so impressed with his athleticism and desire. It had been clear for a while that he was better than Hassan Whiteside, and now, with starter's minutes and as a third-year player at 22 years old, he's going to have a big season. He'll form a nice pairing with Butler. And if he can develop an outside shot, he'll be a monster.

Darlington: The quarterback who starts the 2019 Dolphins season under center. I'm not saying who it will be. For one, we have no way to know for sure how this all plays out. But I also refuse to tempt and tease the South Florida fan base with any possibilities after so much disappointment over the years.

Cohen: Adebayo has proved himself to be what Heat culture is all about. Every Miami fan is ready for someone as talented, dedicated and fun as Bam.

Adding a generational talent to which team would alter Miami's sports scene the most?

Le Batard: This town wants to be a football town. Only LeBron has ever wrestled it away. You get a generational NFL quarterback, you take the town back for a decade.

Emily Kaplan: The Panthers sure could use a star. They have had big-name players over the years: Jaromir Jagr, Roberto Luongo, Pavel Bure -- but most of them came in their twilight or for a short period of time. This offseason, the Panthers added two-time Vezina-winning goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, which is a coup, but the 30-year-old might already have played his best hockey. Plus, his 10-year term to his contract is worrisome. For the past five-plus years, the Panthers have had one of the most underrated players in the league, Aleksander Barkov, but he has not transcended into a household name.

Gonzalez: The Dolphins have the richest history, but the Heat now hold the greatest gravitas. Their arena is a 10-minute drive to South Beach, and their sport caters far more to the stars than football, baseball or hockey ever could. Acquiring LeBron and Shaquille O'Neal were two of the biggest moments in South Florida history; the career arcs of Alonzo Mourning and Wade made them area legends. Miami used to be a football city, and it is supposed to be a baseball city, but it is now, without a doubt, a basketball city.

Cohen: Miami longs to be a football city again. Whether it is bringing a generational talent to the Dolphins or Canes football, it would rejuvenate a wounded fan base.

Sedano: You clearly saw what LeBron did for Miami. The NBA is a glamour league. Miami is a glamour town. However, because the Dolphins have been so bad for so long, if they somehow got the second coming of Marino, it would be fascinating to see how the scales would tip.

The Hurricanes won five national titles in college football from 1983 to 2001. What will determine when The U is truly back?

Adelson: I thought for three hours on a November night in 2017, when Miami absolutely walloped Notre Dame, the Hurricanes were closer to being back than at any point over the past 15 years. But since then, the Hurricanes are 8-9, so ... not exactly "back." The appetite among the fans for titles is insatiable, so in their minds, The U won't truly be back until it wins a sixth national championship. Miami has to prove it can compete for titles on a yearly basis.

Le Batard: They can't win the ACC. And you want me to put them where Alabama and Clemson are? A competent offense would be a start.

Cohen: The easy answer is to say win a championship, but that is hard to do in this era of powerhouse teams such as Alabama and Clemson. The U has to continually be ranked in the top 10, win bowl games, send players to the NFL and have successful recruiting periods in which the star players from Florida pick Miami over not just other state programs, but other national programs. The U needs to be feared again.

Sedano: What the Canes need is to have three seasons in a row of about 10 wins. That will get recruiting to a point where they can build real depth. Then they can put themselves in position to truly compete with Clemson. College football is just better when the Hurricanes matter.

When was Miami's sports peak over the past 30 years?

Gonzalez: The Heat's Big Three era, from 2010 to 2014. I was there the day the Heat staged that pompous pep rally in July 2010. My friend and I printed tickets at the last minute, drove 20 miles east to Biscayne Boulevard through rush-hour traffic and arrived just before LeBron, Wade and Chris Bosh were vaulted onto the stage. I never felt an energy like that. It was mocked throughout the nation, but in that moment and in that place, it was celebrated with unbridled enthusiasm. It spanned four seasons and included two championships, and somehow that feels like a disappointment. The expectations were boundless when it first became a reality.

Darlington: We're all going to be inclined to suggest that Miami's sports peak must include a time dominated by Marino or Wade or Don Shula or LeBron. But somewhat ironically, the time when team success reached its peak really didn't include any of them. I'm talking about the late 1990s. The Dolphins were consistently making the playoffs. The Heat were a championship contender anchored by Mourning and Tim Hardaway. The Marlins won a World Series. And the Panthers made it to the Stanley Cup Final. Yes, Miami has had better eras for individual sports, of course. But the late 1990s -- across the board -- created the closest thing to potential title runs over the entire landscape.

Cohen: When the Heat won back-to-back titles -- 2012 and 2013 were truly something special. The beauty of Miami is that it's a cultural melting pot -- but there are always differences. Sports bridge those differences. The whole city united behind something that was new -- basketball as the top sport.

Adelson: It has to be in the 1980s, when both the Dolphins and Hurricanes were the toast of the town and of the collective football universe. I will never forget sitting on the couch with my dad on Saturdays to watch the Canes destroy their opponents with a swagger and confidence that made them easy to cheer for, and then Sundays to watch Marino, Mark Duper and Mark Clayton transform what it meant to play offense. I remember asking my dad when I was around 8 or 9 whether it was possible to combine my two loves -- writing and football -- and do that for a job. He said yes. Those two teams, in that era, and the imprint they left on me, are the reason I am a sportswriter today.

Sedano: I worked in media in Miami from 1999 to 2013. There's nothing that compares to the Heat's Big Three of LeBron, Wade and Bosh. The first two seasons (before winning their first title) was like covering Game 7 of the NBA Finals every night.

Has the allure of South Beach dissipated?

Le Batard: The allure of living in Miami has not been diluted. You can spend your offseason here, or as Le'Veon Bell did (your holdout season) and enjoy it without having to practice in our August heat, which I wouldn't wish on anyone.

Sedano: The legend of South Beach gets more play than the practicality of actually going there regularly. It's mostly a tourist destination. Road teams love South Beach because there's nothing like it. However, when you live in Miami, you realize it's always there whenever you want it. There are plenty of other places that are just as interesting to see and be seen.

Wolfe: It's still another day in paradise for everyone who lives in Miami. But the culture around NFL and MLB free agency is chasing the most dollars, and NBA free-agency culture has centered on teaming up with other superstars. City appeal -- even when it's Miami -- often plays second fiddle to other factors.

Darlington: Three of South Florida's best assets -- the weather, social scene and lack of a state income tax -- will never go out of style. It will forever attract big stars. Hard Rock Stadium has never been better. AmericanAirlines Arena has proved to be a social mecca when the Heat are thriving. The Marlins have a beautiful new stadium. Super Bowls. The Miami Open. So on and so on. This area has it all ... except for the one thing top-tier free agents desire other than money: wins.

How has the ghost of Marino affected the Dolphins' failed pursuit to find their next QB star?

Darlington: Don't you dare blame Marino -- or his shadow -- for anything bad about South Florida. He is a Golden God who continues to be a gem for the region where he still lives. Kidding aside, I refuse to blame the "ghost of Marino" when the Dolphins have had their chances to snag a quarterback -- whether in free agency with Drew Brees or in the draft with Matt Ryan -- but failed to do so for a number of excuses that are simply nothing more than excuses. Yeah, I get it, the Dolphins' medical team believed Daunte Culpepper (knee) was a safer choice than Brees (shoulder). Yeah, I get it, Bill Parcells believed a left tackle (Jake Long) was a safer pick at No. 1 than a QB (Ryan). They might have been right about it being "safe." But that doesn't mean it was "right."

Adelson: You could blame his ghost in the early years, especially since it has been reported he was hesitant to allow the Dolphins to draft a quarterback so he could groom a replacement. But now? It's not so much the ghost of Marino as the ineptitude exhibited by many of the general managers and coaches whose No. 1 job was to find the next quarterback. Quarterback has been a consistent need for this team since 1999, yet only once since Marino retired have they drafted one in the first round.

Le Batard: This franchise has been a sinkhole at every position for two decades. The coaching job has swallowed Nick Saban, Bill Parcells and Jimmy Johnson.

How do you see the ____ getting their next star?

Panthers

Kaplan: Free agency. Winning the draft lottery in the year of a generational talent is always possible, but the odds are slim, and Florida is poised to be competitive for the next few years. Florida -- especially now with Joel Quenneville as coach -- is a desirable team. Also, players truly value Florida's tax advantage. As long as the Panthers have the cap space, they should be big-game hunters. The Panthers could be a potential landing spot for Alex Ovechkin as he winds down his career -- in the chance he doesn't retire with Washington. The Panthers should go after stars closer to their prime windows. Maybe that means going after 2018 MVP Taylor Hall next offseason or targeting Auston Matthews when his Maple Leafs contract expires in 2024.

Le Batard: They already have him in Barkov.

Hurricanes

Le Batard: They need to become a destination again because they haven't been for two decades. You have to be a football factory that gets people to the pros.

Adelson: It's going to come one of two ways -- recruiting or the transfer portal. Coach Manny Diaz did a great job using the portal to bring in former ESPN 300 recruits to help shore up his first recruiting class. Linebacker Shaquille Quarterman should have a big season. There is no doubt Diaz and his staff are going to want to sign a top-tier class and develop that talent -- specifically at quarterback -- to get this program competing for championships again.

Dolphins

Darlington: Free agency. 2020. That's all I'm saying -- for now.

Wolfe: Let's project a Dolphins general manager Chris Grier double-dip in 2020. He finds his star quarterback in the NFL draft's first round -- Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert or Jake Fromm -- and uses his projected $100 million-plus in cap space to add another star in free agency. Perhaps Jadeveon Clowney?

Le Batard: The league legislates equality, so the Dolphins are bound to land a star. But it is a true testament to the franchise's incompetence that it uses all of its draft picks on offensive linemen and still can't block anyone.

Cohen: This team needs to tank and get Tagovailoa. It's time.

Heat

Le Batard: Riley tends to figure it out. I don't know how the hell he got Butler when he had three better offers with better teams. I don't know how he got a star while entering free agency with no tradable assets or salary-cap room, while the Knicks got nobody with all the money in the world. It'll be easier to get a star bigger than Butler than it was to get Butler. He will have cap room soon, and he'll convince someone to play here before he retires.

Gonzalez: Riley needs to work his magic one last time. Butler is a good start, and if Adebayo develops the way I think he might, that's two legit stars -- or something close to that, at least. They need to clear cap space, and they need to put themselves in position to attract another star to join them during the summer of 2021, which is setting up for a star-studded free-agent class headlined by Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Marlins

Gonzalez: The Marlins have done a nice job of developing star players through their minor league system (Cabrera, Stanton and Christian Yelich among them). Their problem has been keeping them. They don't have the sustainable revenue streams. The don't draw well, and their TV contract is relatively unfavorable. Until that changes, their core issues will persist.

Le Batard: The league rewards tanking. Look at the Astros. The Marlins already have a top-five minor league system just from trading two MVPs and their entire outfield. They'll hit on some draft luck, get better and then be able to trade for a young star once they've rebuilt it.

Miami linebacker Shaquille Quarterman walked into his local supermarket on a Tuesday over the summer to pick up some taco seasoning. As he glanced through the shelves, a lifelong Hurricanes fan walked up to him.

He told Quarterman he was a season-ticket holder, with instant recall about every game he had attended, listing off Santana Moss, Devin Hester and other players he had watched make memorable plays. Then the conversation turned to the season opener against the No. 8 Gators (7 p.m. ET Saturday, ESPN), and the renewal of the first in-state rivalry in Florida.

Though the teams play only rarely now, Hurricanes fans are clear in their dislike for the Gators, who ended the annual series in 1987 for scheduling reasons. The fan looked at Quarterman and told him point-blank: You have to win this game.

"He didn't give me an option," Quarterman said with a big smile.

You can bet the feeling is mutual on the other side in the teams' first meeting since 2013. But more than picking up in-state bragging rights -- until they both play Florida State later in the season -- there are much bigger stakes on the line when they kick off in Orlando on Saturday night to open the 150th season of college football.

For Florida, the game is about proving preseason expectations are very much for real. For Miami, the game is about proving Manny Diaz has his program headed in the right direction. For both, championship implications cannot be ignored, even if we are talking about Week 0.

"This makes guys want to prepare a little bit harder," Florida receiver Josh Hammond said. "We've been through Coach [Dan] Mullen's system. We know what to expect. We're coming off a top-10 season, a New Year's Six bowl win. All offseason, all camp, we've grinded and had that mentality that we can be one of the better teams in the country to go compete for a playoff spot if we want it."

Teams have proved they can survive a loss and still play for and win championships. But what happens in the opener against a major nonconference opponent can also have a large impact on a team from a momentum, confidence and emotional standpoint.

Let's rewind a year. Miami was in the same spot as Florida is now: coming off a surprising 10-3 season, ranked in the preseason top 10, opening against LSU in Arlington, Texas. Miami was the favorite, but the Hurricanes were never in the game and lost 33-17. The flaws we all saw on offense continued to show themselves throughout the season, and the Hurricanes simply could not recover, going 7-6. Head coach Mark Richt resigned after the season.

Let's rewind two years. Florida went into its opener against Michigan in Arlington with a preseason top-25 ranking, coming off an appearance in the SEC championship game and what appeared to be a momentum-turning bowl victory over Iowa. But the Gators were also noncompetitive and lost 33-17.

They finished 4-7 and Jim McElwain was fired midseason.

Let's also use their mutual rival, Florida State, as an example. Two years ago, the Seminoles went into their opener against Alabama in Atlanta as the favorite to win the ACC and a popular choice to make the College Football Playoff. They lost the game and quarterback Deondre Francois, and needed a rescheduled game against Louisiana-Monroe to keep their bowl streak alive. Jimbo Fisher left for Texas A&M before the season ended.

The trend as it relates to schools in Florida is not a great one. But the experience last season might be instructive for Diaz, who was Miami's defensive coordinator at the time. Diaz knows all the issues that plagued the Hurricanes both on the field and in the locker room, and has used this offseason to try to get his players to be more focused and accountable.

"It's going to be a highly emotional night," Diaz said. "Both teams will be supremely motivated to play against each other. Who can keep their competitive will through adversity? Because it's going to be a night with all kinds of adversity, for both sides. And that's why it's about finding the right mix of guys that don't blink in that setting. We have to find out who are the guys that will fight their way off the ropes. Both teams are going to land some blows. When you get put on the ropes, you have to fight your way out of it."

Miami did not do a good job of that last season, and Florida did not do a good job of that early in 2018, either. Many even wrote off the Gators after a rare loss to Kentucky in September. But Florida slowly learned how to win, even though there were bumps along the way, including a poor performance in a loss to Missouri.

By the time the Gators engineered a comeback to beat South Carolina, the confidence seemed to bloom. Florida scored 40 or more points in its final three games, including big victories over Florida State and Michigan, two teams that had their number in recent seasons.

"We know where we were last season. We know we have guys to possibly win it all," Florida linebacker David Reese II said. "We're as talented as anybody in the country. It's the challenge of, can we work hard day in and day out every day?"

Anyone who tunes in Saturday night will get to see for themselves. They will also get to see a high-stakes game, and a rivalry renewed and reintroduced to a new generation.

Players included.

"I just don't too much like them," Quarterman said. "That's how a rivalry works for me. The alumni come and whenever I get a chance to speak to them, they say, 'What's your record since you've been here?' They're talking about Florida State, and in the off chance you play Florida. Did you win or did you lose? That's where it's at with me."

Kyle Kuzma of the Los Angeles Lakers will not play for Team USA in the upcoming FIBA World Cup after it was determined that his left ankle injury would prevent him from participating, USA Basketball announced Saturday.

With the loss of Kuzma, the USA Basketball roster is now finalized with 12 players.

The official team roster, coached by Gregg Popovich, is Harrison Barnes (Sacramento Kings), Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics), Joe Harris (Brooklyn Nets), Brook Lopez (Milwaukee Bucks), Khris Middleton (Bucks), Donovan Mitchell (Utah Jazz), Mason Plumlee (Denver Nuggets), Marcus Smart (Celtics), Jayson Tatum (Celtics), Myles Turner (Indiana Pacers), Kemba Walker (Celtics) and and Derrick White (San Antonio Spurs).

Kuzma did not play in Saturday's exhibition loss to Australia because of the sore ankle. He had scored 12 points in Team USA's win against Australia on Thursday.

The FIBA World Cup begins Aug. 31 in China.

Freddy Johnson needs an Abba theme tune for his weird walk-on
By GORDON KERR – Squash Mad Correspondent in Vienna

The European Masters has brought a phenomenal array of talent across many generations to the wonderful city of Vienna.

By Friday, only the genuine elite remained in the main draws, battling for the trophies. When reflecting on the matches I witnessed yesterday three themes stand out: extreme athleticism relative to age; strict refereeing by the professional officials; and the fine line between competitiveness and respect for one’s opponent.

All three themes were prevalent during the matches between my Scots countrymate Ian Ross and England’s Larry Grover, and between Howard Cherlin and Barry Featherstone, both also English.

Both matches went to five and all four athletes are a credit to their generation and the sport, both for their fitness and sportsmanship. I was surprised but not shocked by the application of what I would term PSA refereeing standards to men in their 70s.

I have watched Ian play many times, and to see him threatened with the disciplinary procedure for crashing into his opponent when innocently attempting to demonstrate he could have reached a back corner ball at full stretch was so wonderful a tear welled in my eye. Ross will meet Cherlin in the final.

In the 65+ final today I fear my Middlesex team-mate Stuart Hardy will have his work cut out against the age defying Stephen Johnson. Hardy did well to beat 2013 60+ champion Nick Drysdale. But the athleticism on display between Johnson (SJ) – who had survived a gruelling QF against another great athlete, Welshman David Wright the previous day – and Geoff Redfern was on a different plane. Geoff must consider himself unlucky with the seedings to be in the same half of the draw as SJ.

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These four gladiators were succeeded on the two showcourts by the 60+ protagonists. All were English. The victors, Allen Barwise from Wigan and Mark Cowley, also a Middlesex team-mate, both launched seemingly blitzkrieg attacks on Phil Wakefield and Dermot Hurford respectively.

Wakefield adapted quickly after losing the first and went 2-1 up, but could not get across the line as Barwise upped the pace in the fifth. The referee laid down the law at the very start of the Cowley/ Hurford match; four of the first five rallies invited decisions which surely in many other competitions would have been adjudged lets, but each one here was either ‘stroke’ or ‘no let’.

FWIW I approved; the outcome seemed fair to both players and it certainly made them try and play every ball that was not an obvious stroke. Further, if the decision rules are applied in this fashion at pro level then why not with elite amateurs?

In the women’s 60+ (how ungallant do I feel defying my upbringing to cite the ages of these fine ladies), Karen Hume managed to beat Malmo 2015 winner Jill Campion. In the +55 event Mandy Akin, yet another very fit, talented and ageless female athlete, reached another final.

Granted, the standard in these and other ladies’ events is very high but what a shame that there are so few entries that most ladies’ events are in round robin rather than knockout format. But the trade-off is that in round robin a player can survive a defeat, and so I moved to the back courts to watch other matches.

Theresa Krassnigg from Graz in Austria and Germany’s Stefanie Leiber, both tall, strong athletes, fought a tremendous battle despite neither having much chance of the +40 title. Your humble correspondent had the honour of marking this match which would surely make great TV should SKY Sports Germany ever tire of showing endless reruns of football and tennis.

Both ladies sprinted and stretched into all four corners, giving no quarter. I learned a new German adjective to describe their competitive attitudes, ‘verbissen’. (No English translation does this term justice). Krassnigg prevailed.

Geographically and geopolitically, Hungary has of course been historically very close to event host nation Austria. The Dual Monarchy, under the House of Habsburg, ruled the bulk of central and south eastern Europe from 1867 until 1918 when it lost the Great War which it had started by declaring war on Serbia.

Now, some 30 odd years after the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, it is gratifying to see high class squash growing both in Hungary and in much of the former Austro-Hungarian sphere of control.

Impressive squash was played yesterday by Hungarian natives Edina Szombali and Reka Gay. In the men’s 55+ event James Hyatt, a former Middlesex and Surrey champion, who has moved to Budapest where he coaches and inspires the development of squash, put up a magnificent challenge to perhaps the stand-out star of the entire event, Sweden’s Fredrik Johnson.

Again I wondered why no TV cameras were present. Not only was the standard of skill, professionalism and fitness simply ridiculously high, but both players’ personalities bring something extra to the event.

Hyatt’s facial expressions, particularly after making an error, justify a photo montage of its own. Johnson’s quirks are extreme.

At the start of the match he does not enter the court, he runs at it three times. Twice he stops and recoils, on the third occasion he leaps into the arena as if to declare his ownership thereof. It is akin to the New Zealand rugby team’s traditional Maori war dance or Haka, which I think is intended to put his opponent off his stride; it is truly a little dance peculiar to Fredrik Johnson (FJ) the interruption of which would be considered impolite. Maybe Fredy should have his own Abba theme tune as his walk-on music.

Later today FJ will face for the umpteenth time his countrymate Jonas Ulvsback, and many will stake their house on another FJ win. Dare I risk his and their ire by closing with an appeal?

Mr Johnson you are a brilliant squash player but please, when the referee calls ‘play’ at the start of each game, serve promptly. Bouncing the ball for 20 odd seconds before serving blurs the line between owning the proceedings and failing to pay your opponent the respect he deserves.

Such is the cornucopia of great squash that I regret missing too much. More Middlesex Squash League’s rich talent shone through. Mike Gregory made today’s final of the +45 event having beaten Ireland’s Nick Staunton.

In the late afternoon I managed to catch Mick Biggs in the +40s. Mick had ousted Croatia’s Domagog Spoljar in a marathon on Thursday. He could not overcome France’s national number 15 Jerome Serusier, but the match was another treat to behold.  

Here’s to a wonderful finals day.

Pictures courtesy of Gordon Kerr