Paper Monitor
11:49 UK time, Monday, 22 October 2007
A service highlighting the riches of the daily press.
Indulge Paper Monitor if you will, by briefly entering a parallel universe where the embattled English sporting psyche is in a hitherto unknown state of ecstasy.
Not only did our boys scrape a narrow victory against South Africa in the World Cup final, becoming the first team to retain the title, but the men whose job it is to rewrite history books have been working overtime after Lewis Hamilton became the first rookie driver to win the Formula One drivers' championship in his debut racing season.
How do the papers reflect this tidal wave of sheer jubilation? The tabloids have all plumped for wraparound covers, with Hamilton on the front (his victory has the edge in newsworthiness), Wilkinson, Vickery and the boys on the back. The Sun is demanding a knighthood for Jonny, the Daily Mail is promising a free DVD of England's rugby highlights from the past 50 years for every reader tomorrow. Only the Financial Times fails to offer a souvenir pull-out section. The Independent sounds a blast of caution, however, with an examination in the inside pages of the environmental impact of F1.
Of course, it wasn't to be. There are signs everywhere of the best-laid plans turning into a mopping up job.
The Guardian's man in a pub in Hamilton's hometown of Stevenage is cut down to a piece about how locals think their boy can "learn from defeat". Jonny Wilkinson's contract with the Times climaxes with a picture of the England player recovering from a hangover. The Daily Telegraph had one of its finest colour writers, Neil Tweedie, on hand in Paris. Ultimately, he has to make do with raking over the coals of disappointment.
Even some adverts look a little misjudged, such as one from EDF showing England's rugby team with the headline "World class team, world class energy". The subtext - we're the UK's second best energy supplier?
The 
