New Season

August 22, 2011 Support
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It felt like a long wait this summer for the football season to begin. Luckily for me I am not that often without football as there are normally summer tournaments and the like to keep me occupied such as the World Cup or European Championships. There was none of that this year so perhaps that’s why it felt a little longer than usual.

Anyway my routine started bright and early as usual for the first game of the season though not quite as early as it does for Paul Whitehouse the Plymouth Argyle fan we see setting off at the crack of dawn in that tv ad for insurance, at least I think its for insurance (if I cant remember then I guess that company has failed in whatever they were trying to sell). I had to use a car hire service this year as my own car was in the shop. Its a little inconvenient but it can be exciting to get behind the wheel of a different car now and then.

I set off at 9am with my brother as usual in tow. We had all our usual arguments about players and managers and our usual unrealistic hopes for the season ahead. Well, you gotta have hope dontcha? or what else will keep you going? So here it is..another long season of ups and downs no doubt on the way but I’m delighted that football is back for the next 9 months or so.

Support

August 22, 2011 Support
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Supporting a sports team is hard work. Sometimes you get lumbered with supporting your local team while at other times you inexplicably lumber yourself with some other rubbish team which you have for some strange reason taken a shine to. What is it about sport that brings out the masochist in us? do we need the pain? the weekly disappointment?

Why not just have a plan to support all the likely to be best teams so I will take Brazil in world football, Manchester United in England, Real Madrid in Spain, I will follow the all blacks in Rugby, India in cricket etc. It would save a lot of hassle in the long run you would imagine but is there more to it than that?

What I mean is – Is it all the more sweeter when your team wins against the odds? Would one fantastic win against the odds be equivalent to say five run of the mill wins from a top team. That delight you feel when your team gets a result against all the odds is really a special feeling and I think that it can make it worthwhile when dealing with all the inevitable losses.

Maybe I’m grasping at straws as I have felt like throwing in the towel with my team a few times but I have always stuck with them. The next question is do I inflict this “condition” upon my sons and daughters. Would that be fair? maybe it will teach them some important lessons in life….just maybe.

Join

August 22, 2011 Members
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It seems that everyone I know is having babies lately. I guess I must just be getting to a certain age. Lots of people point to the current recession as a reason which I guess I can see why but I still in other ways think that seems a little off as well, I mean isn’t money a big factor when it comes to raising a child. I know, i know I can see how it works and it doesn’t.

baby clothesAnyway I seem to be constantly looking for new presents to buy for new born babies of friends and I’m wondering whats best.  Some of the items I hear mentioned a lot are baby walkers as well as designer baby clothes and baby changing bags. I sometimes think of what the most useful presents my own children got were but that seems like an unimaginative choice. The problem is I am quite unimaginative when it comes to this kind of stuff. The first place I usually think of is Amazon.

So I will head over there, go to the baby/children’s toy section and sort by bestsellers. You can usually get some decent ideas there and It has helped me out many times. My wife prefers to go for more traditional toys rather than the all out fancy talking dancing items I normally pick up. She likes to get something more educational with a bit more lasting power.

GAA

August 22, 2011 News
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The GAA or the Gaelic Athletic Association in Ireland are the body in charge of Gaelic games including Gaelic football and hurling. I have always had a soft spot for the Cork team as my father hails originally from Cork. I’m a London boy and always will be but I cant help feeling at least a little bit Irish as well.

Hurling is my favourite of the games and the most popular of the two in Cork. This year proved to be a fairly dismal one for the Cork hurlers going out easily to Galway in the end after losing previously to Tipp. I was over in Cork at the time and decided to treat the old man by taking him to Limerick to see the hurlers in action. I picked up my car hire Cork Airport booking, collected him and just about made it in time for the match.

Galway won easily which was a shame as Cork gave us precious little to cheer about but it was good to spend some time with the old man again. I have seen a few hurling games with him over the years that were far more memorable than this one and hopefully there will be more to come. Gotta stop leaving it so long to catch up.

League Cup

August 22, 2011 News
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The League Cup is or was considered to be the 3rd most important domestic competition in England after the league title and FA Cup however its status has been seriously diminished in recent years. You see the premier league has become such big business financially that no one wants to risk any of their first team squad in the competition. In fact even Championship clubs don’t want to risk any injuries in case they jeopardize their chance of getting promoted to the premier league which is considered to be the promised land.

I went to a game last night and really should know better at this stage. It was sunny where I was and I spent most of the day relaxing in the garden enjoying the new garden furniture the wife bought (garden benches and garden dining sets). So what possessed me to drive 200 miles into a rainstorm for a meaningless fixture watched by a few thousand hardy souls? I really couldn’t answer but I think I have had it with this competition until it is restructured in some way.

The game last night was like a preseason kick-about with nothing making it worth the admission fee yet alone the travel involved. This competition used to be really great and I still think it could be again. It just needs people to sit down and really start thinking about improving the situation.