So in the end Alan (can't bring myself to call him Lord) Sugar, decides to pick a winner based on 'gut instinct.' In which case, what was the point of the previous 11 weeks of competition and contest?
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Not much more to say about News International that hasn't already been said but an interesting point was made to me by Twitter-obsessed '@suburbman', as my PR pal Hamish Thompson likes to call himself. He pointed out that much of the chronology of events smacks of classic crisis management training.
Now it's debatable as to whether or not NewsInt has handled this well but certainly, they have been quite calculating about how their side of the story has been dripfed to the waiting world.
For instance, it seems likely that Brooks was always going to resign but that she deliberately jumped after the announcement of the closure of the News of the World to deflect attention.
The newspaper's demise is the single event in this that will be most talked about in ordinary circles - ie: not the media bubble and Westminster village but in the pub or the office.
So that takes some of the publicity away from the other events which Rupert may consider more important - ie: the bid to buy Sky, the role of James Murdoch and the other arms of his empire which he wants to keep much more than a Sunday newspaper which may well have been replaced, eventually, by a new Sun on Sunday anyway.
You don't sack the chief executive on day one. You wait a while for all the clamour to build up and then get rid of them, in the hope it blows the top off the pressure cooker and lets everything else die down. That's what BP did after the pollution crisis, it's what the more PR-conscious football clubs do as managers come under pressure. Banks are the same. It doesn't suit the board (and via them, the shareholders) to get rid of an under fire chief immediately. Let the chief soak up the flak for a few days and then let them go. The press chase the exited boss and the company gets on with its business.
Arguably, as a tactic, this failed with NewsInt and the saga rumbles on. Murdoch doesn't get to buy BSkyB, James is still under pressure and the fuss won't go away.
And if it fails, then you have to wonder about all those MBA-qualified geeks employed in Wapping. Will Lewis and Simon Greenberg. with various corporate roles in the company, were both sent to Harvard or Yale or somewhere in America to get the massively expensive business qualification (Spurs-supporting Simon was sent there by Abramovich when he worked at Chelsea).
They will have had tons of lectures on what to do in a crisis. Though, frankly, you could wrap it up in one morning with a five slide Powerpoint presentation in a hotel room in Milton Keynes if you really wanted to.
The MBA club is like Old Etonians. David Yelland, former editor and an old friend of mine, was sent off to Harvard to get one too. Interestingly, many of the MBA club like to feed their stories to BBC's Robert Peston. He hasn't got an MBA (I'm pretty sure) but is one of the few journalists who genuinely has a grasp of economics and business.
That's because he knows his stuff (and his dad was an economist). Not because he was sent to the States for a fancy qualification that gives him entry to a kind of Masonlike organisation.
There's probably a few MBA types in the Met too. There's certainly quite a few in the City who will be involved in the corporate, share price, wheeler-dealer side of things which are more important to Murdoch than the future of 200 or so honest journalists and innocent secretaries and admin staff who lost their job with the decision to close down the NoW.
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In other news. Lovely story in the papers about husband and wife drug dealers on benefits who spent their ill-gotten gains on surgery for the missus. She got new boobs, teeth whitening and various stuff yet, really, should have had a facelift. Sorry love, but it's true. But the best bit was the quote from an unnamed neighbour (yeah, right) who told the papers: "“If she’s used ill-gotten gains to pay for plastic surgery then that’s just disgusting. It shouldn’t be allowed."
Actually, it isn't, technically, 'allowed.' But ignoring that, the neighbour is quite right. Never mind dealing drugs which may find their way into children's playgrounds. What is really disgusting is spending the money on something as obscene as cosmetic surgery, she thinks.
On the North East council estate where this couple are from, the money should be spent on pitbull terriers, white tracksuits and gold pendants in the shape of a dollar sign, perhaps.
Or maybe those chrome rims that keep spinning when the car comes to a halt. What would Stringer Bell have thought about these women who, to vaguely quote the excellent 'Gold Digger' by Kanye West 'got lypo wit yer money.' See, I really am down with the kids!
Where will it all end? Next thing you know, drug dealers will be spending their cash on other disgusting things like folk dancing lessons, a subscription to the British Medical Journal and a holiday trekking to Machu Pichu.
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A fat bloke who likes the occasional cigarette won the greatest golf tournament in the world. I feel strangely heartened by this. Well, maybe it's not so strange.
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And, I promise, my final thoughts about my holiday in Scotland which I loved so much. Loch Gairloch (so good they named it one-and-a-half-times). Go there. It's wonderful.
Deep fried Mars Bars - I tried them for the first time and they are not as bad as you might think. Deep fried pizzas - again, my first time and, frankly, I was disappointed. You couldn't even taste the pizza.
Malt whisky - always have had a soft spot for the hard stuff. If you're looking for a good one, may I recommend either Talisker or Glenkinchie or Dalwhinie.
The Isle of Skye. Didn't see enough of it but the bridge to it is wonderful and the scenery spectacular. And so much better knowing Rupert Murdoch only owns some of it and won't be buying the rest.
Roofboxes - nope, not a fan. It freed up space but one of the bolts (put in by a bloke at Halfords) came out on the journey up there. And the thing whistles so much I thought Roger Whittaker had hidden in it. Appropriate for our journey to Skye I guess. And if you don't understand that one, then ask your dad.
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As I write this, two things are going on. One is a Panorama programme on the hacking scandal featuring Sean Hoare. The other is emails and Facebook postings from friends to tell me that Sean has been found dead in his flat.
It's very sad, although the scandal and Sean's death may not be linked. We'll have to wait and see.
Sorry to end on a morbid note...Solly
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