British journalist Mike Dickson came, as I did, from the Wirral. He was born in 1964, I in ’66. His career began as a reporter for the local Chester Chronicle while I was still an undergraduate. In 1990, he joined the Daily Mail and, after decades of first-rate sports journalism, became widely known as ‘Mr Wimbledon’, the doyen of tennis reporters. For decades, in his spare time, he travelled to his beloved Prenton Park, home of Wirral’s only football league club, Tranmere Rovers, where my sons and I spend Saturday afternoons, whenever we can find the time, making plenty of noise in the Bebington Paddock. Mike was also a cricket nut, as I am, and wrote about the game with great knowledge, articulacy and enthusiasm.
In 2022, Mike attracted additional attention after criticizing tennis champion Novak Djokovic for the latter’s refusal to be injected with the ‘COVID vaccine’. He wrote:
‘Novak Djokovic could ruin his chances of becoming the GOAT [greatest of all time] by refusing to take the vaccine. It is a strange hill to die on for a player who is so desperate to be loved.’
In further articles, he asked:
‘Why is the world No 1 so adamant about not getting the vaccine? How much is he giving up in the process?’
‘Novak Djokovic will remain a hero to some, but to many others he has trashed his reputation beyond repair.’
Yesterday, the incomparable Djokovic, 36 years of age, blasted his way into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, for which he is, yet again, top seed, beating his opponent 6-0, 6-0, 6-3. Three days previously, Mike Dickson, who was in Australia reporting on the tournament, died, suddenly and unexpectedly, at the age of 59 (Figure 244.1).
Figure 244.1: RIP Mike Dickson (1964-2024)
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Despite his differences with Mike, not to mention a few years of torrential abuse from less measured journalistic sources, Djokovic showed his class, as a human being, by offering sympathy to the Dickson family (Figure 244.2).
Figure 244.2: A touch of class from champion Djokovic
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Tranmere Rovers Football Club offered similar condolences:
‘The thoughts of everyone at Tranmere Rovers Football Club are with Mike’s wife and family at this extremely sad time. RIP Mike.’
The UK has just lost one of its finest sports writers and I shall miss Mike’s contributions. While I am not absolutely certain of the cause of his untimely death, I can state that Novak Djokovic remains alive, ‘unvaccinated’, a picture of good health and a hero to the entire world (Figure 244.3).
Figure 244.3: Novak Djokovic lifting the Australian Open trophy, which he is currently aiming to win for a record eleventh time.
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A strange hill to die on? These words might well prove to have been ominous.
Copyright © 2024 Paul Spradbery
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