BraveHib makes his long awaited web debut, and reflects on the sad events of this week.

DELIGHTED to finally join the online version of Mass Hibsteria, and every now and again I hope to indulge in some light-hearted Hibbie chat on the net. This week, however, in common with every Hibbie, one topic dominates my thoughts – the tragic death of Easter Road legend Joe Baker, at the age of 63. I never had the pleasure of watching the original Super Joe in action, but enjoyed the many stories of his incredible goalscoring that were passed down the generations by those lucky enough to have watched him in his hey-day. Like many other talented players we’ve had on our books, he was foolishly and prematurely shown the door when he had the audacity to ask for a couple of bob more, and Hibs’ loss was to prove Torino, Arsenal and Nottingham Forest’s gain.
 
His highs and lows of his coulourful career was beautifully documented by contributor Ted Brack in Hibs Monthly/Mass Hibsteria – a real coup for the fanzine at the time – and you should be able to read it all soon on this website. Hibs remained Baker’s first love and he was rightly given a a hero’s welcome when he returned to the club for a second spell. And when his playing days were over, he remained right up there with Reilly and the Famous Five, and Stanton, as one of the truly gret players in our history. While I’ve only seen grainy black-and-white footage of Baker the player, I was lucky enough to meet Baker the man on a couple of occasions. A warm and engaging individual, it was always great to see him at Easter Road – the most memorable occasion being when, in a show of genuine emotion, he knelt down to kiss the hallowed turf during the Hands Off Hibs Rally in 1990. What a guy. His funeral will be held in his home town of Wishaw this Friday, and hundreds of Hibbies can be expected to swell the crowd who will pay their respects to a legendary figure, who will be sorely missed.

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ATTENDED the recent game against Motherwell, and as if the Hibs performance wasn’t bad enough, I was a bit disturbed to see the club come within a ba’-hair of more SFA punishment thanks to the actions of two wee tubes in the East Enclosure who decided it would be good fun to pelt the linesman with a couple of missiles. Throwing anything on to the pitch is moronic at any time, and I’ll never forget the commotion caused by the fan who chucked his bovril at Niemi at Tynie, prompting Franck Sauzee to intervene. This though, was two wee laddies who could not have been over ten. Having witnessed the incident myself, I was worried we’d pay the price after the pitch invasions at the derby, so credit to the Hibs fans who rooted out the little b******* and put an end to a potentially damaging situation.

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NINE goals. Doesn’t happen often, eh? But you would think it was an everday occurence judging by the column inches the victory over Montrose generated in the west of Scotland-based press. While the Edinburgh-based titles gave the result the coverage it merited, most of the “national” newspapers deemed it worthy of only a fleeting mention. The Daily “Hang Em Flog Em” Mail gave it just one sentence, along the lines of “.... meanwhile, Hibs beat Montrose 9-0.” Admittedly Montrose aren’t Real Madrid, but if you consider the totally OTT reaction to Celtic’s eight goals against Stirling Albion a couple of seasons earlier, and you see where I’m coming from.

Anwyay, until next time,
GLORY GLORY TO THE HIBEEES
RIP JOE BAKER
BraveHib