Threesome

No, not that kind of threesome (get your mind(s) out of the gutter) but a trio of heroes for a cold, rainy December day. The first of our group, number 108 on the list, is the dashing fellow above. His name is Geoff Hurst born this day 1941 in Ashton-under-Lyne, England. His claim to hero status rests upon him being the only player in history to score a hat-trick in one game in the World Cup Final. It happened in 1966 against the stinking West Germans, and it happened in the old Wembley stadium. It also propelled the English to their only World Cup triumph, and it happened on home soil. Not bad for a fellow who probably would not have been playing in the match but for an injury to fellow striker Jimmy Greaves. His hat-trick is considered a natural hat trick because he scored one goal with his head, one goal with his left foot, and one goal with his right foot. Both the second and third goal happened in extra time, and were both very controversial. The first one is the most famous one, the did it cross the line or not? Years, and years later and no one is quite sure. Hurst's explanation is probably the best. His teammate, Roger Hunt was the closest English player to the ball, and instead of following up and lashing the ball into the net to make certain, he wheeled away to celebrate. Hurst claims (and is probably right) that a natural goal scorer like Hunt would have never done that unless he was sure it was a goal. His third goal was in the last minute of the game, and happened while supporters were already on the pitch celebrating the English win, in fact, Hurst did not realize that his last goal counted, and perfected his hat trick, until the night after the game. However, the best story about Hurst is about his activity the day after the game. "The media were desperate to speak one-on-one with Hurst and they found him the day after the final, back home in London. As if to prove that life had to go on, Hurst was carrying out the mundane task of mowing his lawn when the journalists turned up." Try that today, and see what some idiot footballer would be doing after winning his country the world cup. I do not support the Englanders in their World Cup endeavours, my heart belongs to another country, but any bastard that can lash in a hat-trick in the biggest game in his life on the world's biggest stage deserves to be a hero. And so, for scoring three to help England lift the Rimet trophy, Sir Geoff Hurst (December 8th, 1941-present), you are my (first) hero of the day.