tiny, the playing field is small and there's no ref.
Before the penalty could be taken, a dispute broke out
between us and Ashley do Rosario over how the penalty
should be taken. Ashley grabbed the ball and insisted
that the spot kick should be taken with the heel and
with the player facing his back to the goal. I don't
know where Ashley found this rule, but we were aware of
Pamela's prowess as football player, and hence,
objected. Those were pre-mobile phone days, so there
was no way of contacting FIFA for their take on the
rule. Finally after much cajoling and arm twisting,
Ashley relented and allowed Pamela to take the kick.
The ball was placed five feet from the goal which was
one-and-half foot wide. Tulsidas, our captain, who was
desperate for a goal gave Pamela a thorough briefing on
how to take the kick. Next he drew a line in the sand
starting from the ball to the center of the goal line
to make it easier for Pamela. Ashley did not object. We
all stood back and waited. Pamela positioned herself
behind the ball, lifted her right foot and kicked with
all her might. The ball missed the goal by three feet.
That was how Pamela missed her chance to enter the
Herald football hall of fame. She went on to be a very
good reporter.

This was also the picnic when Ashley drove from Candolim
to Betim in his Fiat without releasing the handbrakes.

Somewhere during the eight years I lived and worked in
the Herald, a fellow villager named Lirio Vasconsales
found employ as a sub-editor. This wiry chap had a face
full of hair and was a die hard Navhind Times fan. He
used to fold the NT and stuff it into his trouser
pocket, to be retrived for leisure reading on the last
bus to Margao. This habit earned him a sobriquet --
pocket Navhind Times. Lirio also possessed a
matter-of-fact sense of humour. One day Lirio was
feverishly editing copy with a ball pen refill even
though he had an empty ball pen in his pocket. Sports
editor Nelson Dias, who happened to pass by, asked
Lirio: "Arre baba, why don't you put the refill in the
pen and use it?" Lirio looked up at him through his
glasses and said: "No time". This was the one and only
time I saw Nelson hit for a six.

In those days before the lazer printer was perfected by
HP the A4 sized `butter` paper used to get `jammed`
inside the machine very often. During one such occasion
Lirio who had been observing the machine for over
half-an-hour in the composing department turned t