There was an almost tangible sense of disappointment when the Valentine’s Day date of choice, Gavin Vaughan, was forced to pull out as guest speaker due to a priority demand for his presence on international team duty. Many of the 100+ GROGs in attendance had relished the opportunity of hearing an expert’s view on the infamous “grounding” controversy from the recent Scotland v France match. However, all was not lost as the Chairman, Hugh Dan McLennan, had a super sub ready on the bench. Paul Mitchell, a well known BBC sports commentator, accepted Hugh Dan’s invitation, to come and save the day with less than 24 hours notice. What a save it was! Here was the consummate professional who entertained his audience with humour, tales of personal experiences, facts, figures and sporting observations. He is a former scrum half and now an experienced rugby commentator. It doesn’t stop there either as he’s also a skilled commentator on a number of other sports including football, ice hockey, horse racing, rowing, golf and American football inter alia and is about to add basketball to his impressive list.. As he inferred himself, is there nothing this man won’t do for money? He even confessed to being a complete banker having passed his banking exams when he had a proper job! In talking about his life, career and interests, Paul was interesting, educational, thought provoking and humorous in equal measures. He might be the only person who played rugby, then took up commentating before becoming a qualified referee because he felt he needed to understand rugby better. It was a novel concept - a referee who understands the game! Paul explained he doesn’t get much chance to apply his skills nowadays and claimed to be the worst referee in Scotland challenged, perhaps, by one in a (very) recent International at Murrayfield! His audience growled in agreement. He posed a question about where the game of rugby is going with all the technology in place now. If there is a problem, might it not lie with the technicians rather than the technology? Paul ended on a light note, having a go at Whitecraigs RFC which even some of the Whitecraigs stalwarts laughed at. If there was ever a speaker who deserved a bottle of Special GROGS Whisky, it is Paul Mitchell. A more generous club would have given him 2 bottles!