Oh Snap. My blog is shit. Mr Hansen said so.

So here it is, Summer 2010 is on our doorstep. And what comes with it?

South Africa 2010. The football World Cup is here, four years is surely too long to wait for these tournaments to come around.

We get to watch the best players in the world in one place for a month playing against each other. It’s a spectacle which is great to see. The passion that is on show from the players is what makes it such a spectacle, most of them are willing to lay their bodies on the line for their nation.

Hopefully, we will see camaraderie between the fans of all nations. Hopefully we will see fans mixing, enjoying each others company, and having fun amongst the culture in south africa.

Hopefully the camaraderie can be assured through the players playing in the spirit of the game, and playing honestly. Because if the players play honestly and win/lose honourably, then the fans have no reason to not be friendly with eachother.

I wish the fans in south africa to adopt camaraderie, to make the atmosphere outside of the stadiums as spectacular as that inside. To make it a summer worth remembering.

But, what also dawns with this summer. Is yet another period of time, where me and friends, have to put up with abuse and “banter” directed towards us because we are English. Now being English and living in Scotland provides some difficulties when you encounter a narrow minded individual, but these narrow minded individual’s seem to multiply when it comes to World Cup or European football competitions. I can cope with the light-hearted banter over a result, or a performance, but tbh, when things get serious and insults start to fly for no reason at all, it goes a bit far.

So yeah, I have to deal with the anti-englishness that explodes around with these competitions.

“I don’t care who wins, aslong as England lose”

Try to question why they say this, and why they are using it directly at me, as a tool to wind me up, and you get something along the lines of “it’s just banter” so why adopt that tone of voice? Why say it so menacingly and straight at me?

but try to question their morals about ABE and it’s a step too far, I mean, is it just me or does it seem racist [I know English isn’t a race…] to publicly humiliate and verbally [occasionally physically] abuse someone because of their nationality.

Like if i just change the name of the country, “I don’t care who wins, aslong as India loses” people would be more reluctant to wear a t-shirt that says that, because of how it would look. They wouldn’t wear it for fear of people thinking they were racist.

Well, I’m afraid thats what you are.

Saying this, I can see some humour about A.B.E, I can accept there is some light-hearted banter in it, but it’s used too often as a tool to beat, and more often than not, it’s adopted as a tool to beat by exactly the people who I’d describe as bigots anyway.

Euro 2004, I remember when England crashed out, I remember that I had tears in my eyes. My parents assumed that it was because I had so much hope in the English players, and to see it fall away was too much. But to be honest, I think I had tears there, because I knew what was to come the next day. I knew that I’d be jeered at, and made fun of, for being english, even if I stayed quiet and didn’t rise to it.

It’s quite sad to think that, as a Primary 6/7 pupil, I was like that then. Worried about the consequences of being English and having the national side crash out.

Anyways, Suppose I’ve moaned and whinged enough. And it’s not like I’ll be able to stop the Bigots from jeering at me and ridiculing me because I’m english.

I’ve got to accept it’s going to happen. I’ve got to rise above the tide of the bigots/racists. I’m proud to be English, yes the team may crash out, yes they may fail to win, that doesn’t give you a right to do what you do.

So, holding my head up high :)

In conclusion; I hope that the world cup is one to be remembered. I hope that the fans can come together and make it a spectacle to be remembered. I hope that the bigots realise how immature they are, and how devoid of logic they are.

Also I hope that the English Players do well. I don’t mean winning the world cup,I mean playing attractive football, attractive, expressive football and in an honest way, a way that’d make any country proud. I don’t care about the cup “coming home” I just care about the way we play the game, if we crash out, but having played with pride,passion and beauty, then I’m happy. If we can win doing that, i’ll be ecstatic.

Saying that, if we win ugly, I’ll still be happy, but definately less so than if it was done beautifully.

Well, I’ve been meaning to write to this for a week or so now. I’ve just struggled to get my thoughts into any sort of legible form which can be transferred to this. To be honest, I doubt I’ve been successful.

So what’s been happening these past few weeks in my life?

The cricket season has started once more! Which is great. I open the bowling for Dalgety Bay and I love being back in the atmosphere of cricket. The mutual friendliness between the two opposing sides. The competitive natures can shine through, but are kept in touch by the spirit of the game. I love it. At the end of the game, you’re not likely to get abuse from the opposition players, you will get a handshake, a smile, and various compliments on your performance. And if I was 18, they’d be taking me off down the pub with them, where they go on to socialise over a few pints. Lovely atmosphere.

My bowlings been productive, 5 wickets [I think] so far. Very few runs concede against my 8 overs in each game. So yeah, my game’s improving :)

There was a weekend, with 3 parties in two days. A two night bender of sorts.

I’ve got to get ready for uni somehow eh?

Well, two parties the friday, and one the saturday night. Well I certainly had a good weekend, what with the copious amounts of alcohol consumed. And no hangovers suffered. I think otherwise, had I not been heavily intoxicated, I may not have enjoyed myself.But I did, even though I’m a depressing bastard every now and again at parties.

So yeah, I’m dwelling on things I shouldn’t be dwelling on. I’m dwelling.

partly thanks to a poor “talk”, which was all done on my account. Like talking to a wall. Didn’t get anywhere, only got my mindset out. Suppose it’s all for the greater good though.

and my mind. everywhere, anywhere. all over the shop.

Anyways. Onwards and upwards.

LONG summer is almost here, plenty of time, plenty of time to have fun, plenty of time to have get out and do everything, plenty of time  to find myself…

Plenty of time to spend with my friends. I know I’ll make it a sentimental one, I know I’ll try my upmost to make it the best summer I’ve had. The best I’ve had with them :) They know who they are.

It is going to be best summer I’ve had with them. it’s the only fitting way to end what is in some cases 11 years worth of seeing them every day :)

And then uni afterwards, a new path to walk.

Thanks for reading, doubt those thoughts made sense, doubt they were connected. Thought I’d get them down. :)

And bugger me, going through your parents cd collection whilst revising unearths all these albums that you love, because they were played whilst you were growing up. So you subconcsiously remember them. Love it.

Whilst waiting for the ps3 update to finish I read the newspaper, 3 hours worth of reading and waiting too, I read it cover to cover, and in the final pages I reached the Obituary section.
However morbid it is, I enjoy reading these obituaries, through these I’m able to learn about an individual I otherwise would have had know knowledge of. I can learn about what they’ve done and what they’ve stood for.

The obituary that was in tuesday’s Guardian newspaper, was that of Sir Alec Bedser. What immediately drew my interest was the blown up image of him bowling a ball in cricket whites. What intrigued me, was that Sir Bedser appeared to be a cricket great, a legend of the game, and I had no knowledge of who he was, or what he’d done to bring him to this stature in the sport. So I read on.

I found that Sir Bedser had emerged into the sport right after World War Two, where he was part of the RAF and saw action in Dunkirk, North Africa, Italy and Austria. Him and his twin brother emerged from the campaigns of the war and then immersed themselves back into the game of their childhood. Sir Bedser played for Surrey where they won the county championship 8 times whilst he was playing for the club.
In 1946 he made his test debut for England against India, and celebrated this achievement by taking 22 wickets in his first two tests. Wow, thats what I call an introduction to the international stage.

Through his career,  he continued his wicket-tacking  rate, ending with 236 wickets to his name at 24 runs to each wicket taken. And overall, including county wickets he took a massive total of 1924 wickets at 20 runs for each wicket.
And the wicket which stands out, is that of the legendary Sir Don Bradman, Sir Bedser took his wicket in an ashes match with a fantastic leg-break. A dismissal which Sir Bradman still says was the best delivery to ever get him out.
This admiration and recognisation from a cricket great is the pinnacle of the glittering career of Sir Bedser.

After this, Bedser got involved in the ECB, he became a selector for the national side, and was deeply involved behind the scenes.  Sir Bedser played his cricket with determination, and he gave it his whole concentration, when he played cricket he made it his life, he’d put his whole heart into it. He believed that to be  great bowler you had to bowl as often as possible to achieve a perfect bowling action. And in his role within the ECB he became dismayed at what modern proffesionalism was doing to the players he was to choose for the national side. Rather than bowling over and over, they would go to the gym, he was confused at this poor sense of direction.
This attitude to his sport, in my mind, was laid out plain and clear when i read a little story about him in a hotel lobby. At this point in time he was in his role at the ECB, and as he waited in a hotel lobby a fan walked by with a replica england cap on his head, with the badge emblazened on it’s front;

“If those comments did not mark him as a man from another age, his reactionto an England supporter entering the lobby wearing an England cap most certainly did.”You earn that?” he barked. The man stopped dead in his tracks, looking embarrassed.”You have to earn that cap,” the great bowler went on. “It’s supposed to be a privilege.”

This loyalty to his sport, and it’s credibility was a nice notion. He certainly won the right to wear that cap, and through hard-work and supreme efforts he became a legend. Through sheer determination he mastered his trade, and achieved greatness in his field of work. And if only there was no need for him to have gone to war he may have reached even greater heights through using those 5 years at his physical peak to blow the world away with his bowling.

Sir Alec Bedser, cricket has lost a legend, a true hero, and I am sorry to know that I knew nothing of you until you have passed away. Your story has inspired me, has provided a sense of momentum to what i can achieve and in a lovely way I will take your lessons into account for this coming cricket season.
and just to finished this off, I’ll leave a little quote from Sir Bedser, remarking on his disbelief that modern cricketers needed toilet breaks during test days to counter the affect of drinking so much to rehydrate, enjoy;

“I once bowled 30 overs in Adelaide in 100-degree heat and afterwards I drank 30 tins of Fosters and never had a pee”

And after those 30 tins, I bet he went back out to bowl and take more wickets too.


[EDIT:  Here is the obituary in the Guardian which I have referenced;
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/apr/05/sir-alec-bedser-obituary]

This Tuesday Scunthorpe United drew  2-2 with Reading at Glanford Park. Now, this wasn’t just any old draw for Scunthorpe, this draw assured another year of Championship football for the small club from North Lincolnshire.
I may have only seen a handful of Scunthorpe games, but I feel a huge sense of pride in this fact. I feel a huge sense of pride about the club.
Here’s a few facts; Scunthorpe United was one of only four Championship clubs to be operating outside of any debt whatsoever. [Source for this fact? Football Focus, BBC], This means that the club doesn’t spend big sums on players, and doesn’t offer big wages for players. Scunthorpe Isn’t an attractive option for a player wanting to make their fortune. So scunthorpe employs a very effective scouting  system, they find the good players, who have been shunned by the teams who took them through the youth stages, and they develop them even further. A great example of this would be Billy Sharp, who after being kicked out of Sheffield United, came to Scunthorpe, and was the top scorer for 2 seasons. Sharp was then sold back to Sheffield United for a tasty profit! Martin Pattinson [Patterson?] came to Glanford Park three seasons ago, he helped fire scunthorpe into the Championship, and fronted their attack for a season in the Championship, after this he was sold onto Burnley.
In his second season at Scunthorpe, Martyn Woolford, who had previously been playing conference football, has risen into a star performer for the club, netting 5 goals from left midfield this season, including two against Newcastle United.
Also the striking pair of Paul Hayes and Gary Hooper this season has been impressive. Paul Hayes, now in his second spell at the club after leaving Scunthorpe for Barnsley, he came back after falling out of favour with the manager at Oaklands. He has netted 8 goals for the Iron this season thus far. Gary Hooper moved to Scunthorpe from Southend United for £125,000 and has, this season netted 18 goals overall. Last season he scored 30 goals overall,  24 in the league and 6 in various cups. Including one goal on the hallowed Wembley turf.
This method of buying, the looking out for talent, developing it, and then selling it on for a tidy wee profit allows for the club to create a nice persona for itself. The players that leave respect the club, the players that stay love the club.

This tuesday, the attendance was in the 5000’s, this is a marked improvement on last season. And these sort of attendance provide that little bit of extra cash for the club to manouvere with. The extra cash could go towards ensuring top goalscoarers stay at the club, or it could even go towards improving the stadium + training facilites so the talent comes to Scunthorpe.
The club operates within it’s means and has made a success of itself.

I’m unbelieveably happy that they have stayed up for another season. In October I saw the highlight of their season, a 2-1 win over Newcastle United at Glanford Park. I was standing in the terraces for this match, and the raw passion of the crowd was intoxicating. And the pride they had in their team come the final whistle was for me, rounded off when I overheard the kid infront of me telling his friend he was going to put his ticket inside an envelope and keep it so he could tell his grandkids he was there when Scunthorpe beat newcastle.

And y’know, people may read this and think why on earth is he ranting and raving about this club, when he barely gets a chance to see them, when there’s a decent local club [Dunfermline Athletic] right on his doorstep.
You’re right, I should be doing that about Dunfermline. I’d count myself as a Dunfermline fan, even though my support has wavered over the past few years, I just find it hard to be passionate about a club where the fans are as depressing as the football, and the players don’t look like they enjoy playing/want to be wearing the pars shirt.
When I see a scunthorpe match, I am buoyed to my feet by the roaring chants from all corners of the home stands, even my Great Aunt is singing away next to me at games. I’m bouyed by the humourous chants from the fans “Who needs Mourinho? We’ve got our physio”, I am even more buoyed and inspired by the fact that every player which takes to the field wearing a Scunthorpe United  shirt runs until they can’t do it anymore. They play with passion and heart. And I walk away from the ground with a smile on my face regardless of the outcome of the match.

What I see in Scunthorpe is a family orientated club, that puts financial survival over league success. It ensures that it will be there next year for it’s fans. It builds from the bottom up, and now the plans seem to be working. Success, while only minor,  is slowly coming to the club and the town. The Club provides hope to a community that is struggling with unemployment and social issues. The Steel/Iron works are slowly being shut down, and don’t provide the amount of jobs that were once available to the people.
Slowly, this club is proving itself to the town, proving that it is worth their money, worth their support. the club is becoming the beacon of hope in the town. And the town are rallying behind it, the club is a constant in their lives, and in return they are slowly becoming the constant in the club’s world.


I love this club, because of how it’s run, because of the attitudes which the manager and the players hold, because of how passionate the fans are, and because it operates outside of debt. This club isn’t any old Iron.

Hi Ho Silver Lining, Hi Ho Scun United.

And aren’t you lot brimming with excitement?

haha.

I wouldn’t expect you to be.

So, yeah, I stopped using tumblr a while back, after realising that I wasn’t using it as a blog, more like a tool to republish other people’s photography and whatnot. It wasn’t anything personal. I like to think now, that I am able to make it just that.

During the easter holidays there was a sudden resurgance in the blogging scene amongst people who I follow on twitter. So I decided to give it a shot once more, and what can I say, I rather enjoyed myself.

So here I am, and I’m back.

I’m just weighing up as to whether I should copy + paste my blog entrances from blogspot onto here? Would that be a bad move?

I’m shit close to closing the Tumblr tab in my browser.

The only thing that keeps me keen on tumblr is the “movies in frames” updates. They don’t come around nearly enough for my liking.

fuck off with christmas. I dont feel like it.

I’m going round in circles. And I cant break the fucking pattern in my thoughts.

And this all sucks.

And I guess it’s lost it’s hype. I wouldnt say i dont like christmas, but it just hasn’t got the magic it used to have. But hey, it’s winter, and that’s the reason christmas is good. It’s the pinnacle of winter, all the feelings that winter brings build up to christmas, and then I get the family coming to visit, and it’s the best time of the year. Not christmas, Winter. I love winter. A frosty morning makes me smile, splashing in puddles makes me smile. Winter’s a big pick-me-up. It’s romantic, enchanting, lovely.

Things haven’t gone to plan in the last few weeks, and despite it being winter, my favourite time of the year, I’ve been left feeling slightly hollow, and inbetween the smiles and the laughs, I can’t say that I’m brimming with happiness. University offers have come in, 2 unconditional’s so far. Well thats grand. But the future is rushing full pelt at me, do I want to move on? Do I want to leave the comfort of school? Do I want to leave the comfort of friends and family? I dont know. I feel like I’ve not gone out and achieved or done anything of recent. I haven’t the made the most of my feelings, my emotions. And when the oppurtunity has arisen, other factors have gotten in the way.

As in was referenced in Flashforward, I believe in the many worlds theory. Basically the theory states that for every decision that you have ever made in your life, there are an infinite amount of parallel universes which path out your life if decisions had been made differently, for example, if you hadnt got on that bus last week. And I like to think, that somewhere in one of those numerous worlds I am happy, and that things have been written differently.

ahhwell, my gush of feelings is over.

ciao.