ANYONE remember the lucky white heather story of the year last season? Killie fan Craig Bryden decided that he would take his nine year old daughter Laura to her first ever Killie game when Partick Thistle were due a visit to Rugby Park on 15 February…the only problem being that the Bryden family now stay in Southend-on-Sea, 465 miles away!

They set out on their arduous journey at 5 am and met up with a few busloads of Arsenal fans in an M6 motorway service station. The gooners were on their way to a cup semi at Old Trafford and they thought that Craig, who was proudly sporting the stripes, must be mental to travel so far to see Killie against the Jags in a league match. Each to their own we suppose.

The real kick in the proverbials came around 1 pm in the afternoon as the Brydens passed Loudoun Hill with over 440 miles already on the clock…you guessed it, the game was called off. Now there was a man with a real axe to grind about the flawed under soil heating! He laughs about it now but it would be fair to say that he was a wee bit peeved.

The point of reminding you of this hard luck tale? Craig has been in contact with B&H this week to tell us that he has planned his latest trip back North this Saturday to see Killie thump Livingston (hopefully). We spoke to Davie Mackinnon last week and brought up the subject of the sub-air system and luckily for Craig the news is looking favourable.

Torrential rain threatened the Motherwell game the other week but the system sucked so much water out of the pitch that the public drains were struggling to cope and the referee didn't give a second thought to calling the game off when he witnessed how well it worked. The problem of course is the same as before, the system does not work so well in temperatures below -4.

Prevention rather than cure is the real way around the problem and if the club get the valid certificate that allows them to operate the sub-air system whenever they want then that could spell an end to any more called of games. What happens is that when there is a drop in temperature below freezing the club can switch on the system and blow warm air into the pitch which heats up the various layers of stones and soil thereby preventing it from ever freezing over in the first place.

The sticking point so far of course is that for the club to get full certification they need to reduce the noise produced by the system to a level that is within the limits allowed. Extensive research by the club into the problem has revealed that they can get additional 'baffles' for the system which will hopefully reduce the noise below the requirement level and allow them to take the preventative measures detailed above.

The club were running some tests last Wednesday and we are not sure yet how they got on. Davie Mackinnon and Jamie Moffat seemed pretty hopeful however that at long last our 'state of the art' sub air system will be able to tackle the Scottish frost as well as the rain. Here's hoping for Craig and Laura's sake and here's hoping also that we've not jinxed them!

Last Minute Xmas Shopping

WE were talking to the Killie shop's very own Xmas cracker, Josie Corrie this week and she's delighted to report that business is booming. There's a whole load of Killie goodies selling fast and the calendar signing last week was very popular. The Killie slippers (obviously a lot of you don't read the Sunday Post and had no idea what baffies were!) are doing a roaring trade and are affordable to everyone at £10/£12. You may remember we told you a few weeks back that the red away tops were reduced well all the kids tops have now sold out. The good news is that there are still adult tops ranging from medium sized-XXL (specially made for us) and incredibly they have been reduced to £10. If that's not the perfect last minute Xmas present we'll never eat another peppered steak slice!

Hippo 30 Is Here

IT'S been a longer than normal gap between issues but Hippo 30 will be on sale at the Theatre of Pies plus all the usual outlets from this Saturday. This issue includes lots of festive humour, a healthy sprinkling of fan's articles and the winner of the £250 issue 29 competition is announced.

Tales From The Loudoun

OUR Friday night beer-fest took us to one of the town's best run and popular boozers, The Loudon in Cheapside Street. Main man Jimmy Lundie is the father of James who was released by Killie last season. Young James is doing very well in the USA where he's continuing his promising career. Meanwhile back in the pub we soon got to talking Killie and Loudon legend "big Bobby" assured us that in the 60's Killie had the first modern attacking full back. We failed to identify Bobby's hero was none other than Jim Richmond who played with us during a very successful period between 1959-1964.

Next talking point was when fellow Killie fan Brian asked us to help him out about the first Killie game he ever attended. He remembered we played Vale of Leithen in the 50's sometime but couldn't recall the match details. Killie hosted Vale of Leithen on 15 February 1958 in a Scottish Cup-tie in front of 9795 fans. Killie ran out 7-0 winners with a hat-trick from McBride and a brace each for Harvey and Wentzel. Get all your footie trivia here, Bob Crampsey eat your heart out!

Merry Christmas

WE thought we better take this opportunity to wish all Killie fans a cracking Christmas and we hope the boy Claus delivers the goods on all fronts, starting with three points on Saturday. It was also good news on the 'peace on earth' front with the coalition forces capturing Saddam Hussain, watching the live footage we couldn't help but wonder what he was doing hiding in the ayr trophy room. He should have been safe enough; no one has been in there for years!

Speaking of our friendly neighbourhood yahoos, doesn't it just warm the cockles of your heart to see them floundering at the bottom of their division with relegation staring them straight in the face? We've clocked that one of their papers now have a fans column as well, second to everything as usual. Second bottom of the league and heading for the second division, quite apt for the second team in Ayrshire, if they even qualify as that! So from tiny Baz & Hippo it's a "God Bless them one and all...apart from the yahoos!"