SO, the Ryder Cup's here again already!

Doesn't seem so long since the last event. The competition seems to get the competitive juices flowing! Must rile UKIP something rotten that the USA now compete against Europe, not GB & Ireland?

I read this morning that Cristiano Ronaldo might return to engage his undoubted skills back in the Premier League. The poor thing is allegedly only on £315,384 a week, my 'paper divulges. That's £16.4m per annum. Take home. His current employers pay his 52% tax bill, we're told.

But, I digress. As a primary school lad, my first football card I got was of William Laurence "Billy" Bingham MBE. He was a winger for Everton & Northern Ireland at the time. He's now in his 80s. He was my first sporting hero, purely because of my acquisition of the card, black & white photo with a facsimile autograph.

My next schoolboy sporting hero was Derek Prior "Budge" Rogers OBE. He was an England rugby player, a flank forward. He wore a scrum cap, from memory. So, when I played, I wanted to play in the same position & with the same head gear.

All totally random events leading to seeking to emulate unknown people for irrational reasons. It matters not.

But we have the Ryder Cup & other great sporting occasions, multi channels of sport on TV. Sport is big, big business now, with it's stars paid lavishly & awarded super star status.

My thoughts led me to ponder about other people's sporting heroes, as kids or now. And why are/were they?

Would you like to play with or against them? Where?