England v Brazil – What the hell is it about commentators that they lose their minds when the team in yellow is playing? Brazil’s pretty much first team handled England’s 1 1/2 team reasonably comfortably, but they weren’t that amazing in a heat that probably suited them more and with an England team missing several key players. 1-0 was fair enough, but we won’t be seeing Wayne Bridge, Jolean Lescott and Wes Brown in our back four come June – I hope. However, the ITV team were purring over this new incarnation as if Pele et al had never failed to lace up their boots. Throughout the years, with a couple of glorious exceptions, the England v Brazil games are rarely any good. A friendly in Qatar, in blistering heat, with half a team – I’d expect Brazil to beat us. So they did. Move on. Nothing to see here.
Was Steve Rider, Ian Wright and Marcel Desailly the nadir of international punditry?
Iwatched the Pacquaio / Cotto fight yesterday morning and the best man won; I think Mayweather beats him quite comfortably, unless there is some weakness in his chin he hasn’t shown previously. I also saw the Haye v Valuev fight and while the best man won, it is a bit strange how, unless Valuev was docked points for being utterly awful. Haye barely hit him – can you win a points decision like that. I was with Jim Watt on that. However waht I wasn’t with Jim Watt on was his crying out for Cotto’s corner to stop the fight and let his man be quit on his stool. No warrior wants to go out like that, and boxing isn’t for people like that. I don’t want a man dead, but Cotto showed in the round after Watt’s first bleat that he still had something left. There was a chance that IF he caught him flush the fight might change. I am no fan of Sky’s commentator either – Adam Smith. Ian Darke showed how it was done in his commentary on the Haye fight – he didn’t give Jim Watt the run of the ring, rather debating with him that Valuev should get no credit for coming forward and missing by miles. Smith seems to turn Watt’s diatribes into the story line – following him religiously, moving into hyperbole effortlessly. Pacquaio is great. No doubt. But he’s been beaten before, so someone unlocked the door. The longer he goes, the more likely someone will find the key.
Vistaprint had better be good. It was like buying something using Ryanair’s website. Something that started as £5 per item ended up nearer £8.50 by the time I’d finished. It had better be good.
Just finished Ruinair, by Paul Kilduff. Book review to follow.
It has been a weekend where people I met 20 years ago have been in the forefront. First up, excellent to reestablish contact with a member of what I called the C1 group – bloody hell, she only moved to Shepperton and I lost touch. Still, she’s moved to Sunbury now, or as I call it “Thank Hell It Rained That Day” (in relation to the only time I visited Sunbury). The rest of the possee have spread far and wide from my days in Liverpool. One is in Geneva, one is in Dubai, one is in Chester, and I’m not sure what happened to Kath and Ross. Still, I get pleased to reach back to people I got on with so well from the past. It gives me a nice glow.
I have also heard of my close mate who runs a law firm who is going through a terrible time through no fault of his own. I’m not going into it any more, but yet again the criminal fraternity cause the successful man to be brought to his knees, and yet no-one cares. We need more like my friend to make the country a prosperous place to live in. Instead, we seek to do them down. You wonder why my love for this country ebbs away? Why I feel like a change of scenery may be best?
Tonight is my last walk for a couple of weeks. I hope to go a bit further - my companion needs to be home early. Oh dear.
I watched England’s first half against Australia in the Rugby Union on Saturday. Then I decided life really wasn’t worth wasting on that and did something much more enjoyable. We’ve run out of bleach in the toilet.
It is cricket related to some degree, but I thought I’d stick it here. When are we going to stop apologising when occasionally the luck goes our way. Take the Ashes “If you look at the stats, they had 8 centuries to our 2, they had the top three bowlers – England did win crucial sessions”, I say “so effing what”. No-one goes on that we lost the third test the year before against South Africa because Smith had a couple of lives due to umpires; no-one mentions the year before that we’d have won the Lord’s test if Bucknor had given Sreesanth out when he was stone dead LBW. But we are supposed to apologise because we won the crucial sessions. This came up due to the question being asked about our win in the first 20-20 game, aided by Duckworth Lewis. The opposition knew the rain was coming, so they should have been ahead. When it rained, they weren’t. Tough. So why should we apologise for winning, and saying we were lucky. Fuck Off. It isn’t just cricket, it is everything. We can be too triumphal in victory, but we can also be annoyingly patronising and faux apologetic. Be like the Aussies, for heaven’s sake.
I await The Bottom Of The Barrel’s comments on Peter King’s comments with much anticipation. For fans of American sport, I’d say it is the best blog I’ve come across. The authors are far more grumpy than me.
Something my beloved said this morning made me chuckle. I was talking about taking a cheque I had drawn back to the original place I got it from (a building society) as my replacement card had come through having been cloned by some toe rag slag. I was agonising over whether there would be a problem when she said “they work for you, you know.” In one comment she summed up the difference between the US and UK. In the US, they do work for you. If you don’t like them, then you can go where the hell you want and they are desperate to keep you. In the UK, there are so many barriers and impediments to progress and change put up that to move accounts or regular trade, you have to weigh up whether it is really worth the aggro you know it will involve. With my o2 furore earlier this year, the oft quoted phrase was “I am sorry, but I can’t do that.” “I am not authorised to do that.” “You are in the wrong sir, not us” (the last one was a beauty – they cut me off with no warning, then referred me to a text message purporting to say I hadn’t paid my bill, but in which it offered me broadband!). The US customer focus isn’t a myth, it is real. It may be a case of the grass is greener, but if they mess up, they don’t generally blame the customer for their own stupidity. They know they’d lose trade. The beloved was soon told of the error of her ways….
Onwards and upwards.
