My month started with a trip back to The Valley, the ground where it all began for me on BBC Final Score two seasons ago. My last visit was a memorable one, after I parted with my hard-earned cash (albeit very little) to have a small wager on the game (it’s difficult not to as there’s a bookie’s stand just inside the Millennium Suite). I found myself a few quid up after predicting the first goal would be scored between the 35th-45th minute. Up pops Southampton’s Adam Lallana and my first cocktail of the evening (I like mojitos and cosmopolitans in case you wondered) is paid for. After being forced to stifle my celebrations as the press box was surrounded by irate home fans, I resolved this time round that all bets were off, plus I’d not got any cocktail supping evenings planned this time.
But, this visit to The Valley was to prove just as memorable. In all the games I’ve reported from, I’ve never before seen the referee stretchered off and replaced, but that’s exactly what happened in this tie. In fact the stretcher made two appearances, nearly three. As well as the ref tearing his achilles (although I can vouch for the fact he still managed to hobble in to the bar for a post-match drink), loan-defender Federico Bassone was also stretchered off.
Incidents like this, although not so favourable for the ref, or for Bassone, are reporting gold. The stretcher became a running theme in my reports – if only I had planned another night out necking a few cocktails and the stretcher might have made one more appearance that day!
Overall, it was an entertaining League One game. Five goals, the referee and a player stretchered off, plus a new page created in Charlton’s history books. Manager Chris Powell unbeaten in his opening four games in charge; he is the first to achieve that feat in the club’s history. I used that stat in my ‘summing up’ report and yes you guessed it, reporters curse struck, poor Chris went on to lose the next four games!
Next up was a visit to my old stomping ground Leicester. I’m an ex-Loughborough student, back in those days I spent a fair few nights at music venues such as The Charlotte and visiting friends at De Montfort Uni. I also returned to the area in 2008/9 when I was working for BBC East Midlands Today. So, with a few friendly faces guaranteed I was looking forward to going back to The Walkers Stadium, but there was another reason why I was looking forward to the journey too – my new car Smurf!
For the past few years, driving up and down motorways, to and from football grounds has been i) uncomfortable and ii) a tad embarrassing. Let me explain the discomfort factor first. Philip my old silver KA (names after silver fox Philip Schofield!) had become a bit temperamental – no heating, rickety noises as soon as I went over 50mph all made for interesting match-day travel, especially during winter. Then there was the onset of feeling down right ashamed of poor old Phil. I can’t say it did much for me driving in to grounds behind a string of Audi’s and BMW’s. First I’d got to get ticked off the list by one of the stewards (they all looked a little surprised when they realised I was a reporter, explaining I’d got heavy kit in the back of my tiny boot) and then I had to park up next to some flash cars. I needed an upgrade and quick. So Smurf (a medium sized, bright blue mean machine) would suffice and now with heating and air con working, I could drive to Filbert Way in true comfort and hold my head high as I scampered in to the press area.
Were I to write a reporters handbook, first thing in it would be get a reliable car with a big boot and fully functioning heating. It really is THAT important and makes such a big difference.
Talking of reporters handbooks, if there is one out there (although I’ve never seen or heard about it) I hope it also explains the colour coding for the club pies. At Leicester I found myself with a familiar pie dilemma. With lunch hunger pains growing I had another game of what feels like an unhealthy, savoury version of Revels. Presuming that the brown foil is for steak & kidney and yellow is for chicken balti - I was left stumped by the silver bottom. I grabbed it, more out of curiosity than anything, and still to this day I have no idea what flavour it was meant to be. If anyone knows please put me out of my misery!
As for the game, play-off chasing Leicester were held to a 1-1 draw by Coventry - those dropped points might prove critical come the end of the season.
My final trip of the month was to St Andrews for the Premier League clash between near neighbours Birmingham and West Brom. I was fortunate to be at the first game for The Blues following their Carling Cup win over Arsenal at Wembley. Having not won a trophy since 1963, as you can imagine ‘lively’ doesn’t even sum it up when it came to the reception the players got as they entered the pitch to warm up. It was so loud that the sound engineers couldn’t hear me when I dialled up to do my usual check for mic levels prior to kick-off.
There was a video montage of highlights from the Wembley final set to some dramatic music and it really whipped the crowd in to a frenzy. It was therefore a shame that what followed was the dullest first 45 minutes of football I have seen in a very long time.
I had hardly scribbled on my pad, which with my doodling ability was a rare thing! Cameron Jerome with two efforts on target, but on any other day they would not have been worthy of a mention.
Thankfully something happened in both team talks at half-time that made the second half barely resemble the first. It’s amazing how many times that can happen. The impact of the half-time team talk, given by the right manager is a powerful thing. In this case, Roy Hodgson had done more rousing than Alex McLeish, who in fairness may have still been nursing a Carling Cup hangover. Four second half goals meant I had more to talk about, but with three going to the visitors it was a result set to spoil the Birmingham trophy party. Reality was starting to set in that The Blues are likely to be in a relegation dog fight between now and May 22nd, especially if they fail to capitalise with their games in hand.
A mixed day all in all. It was great to be at St Andrews for the pre-match hysteria, but watching the fans mood turn over the course of 90 minutes served as a reminder that in football you really are only as good as your last result.
And as for me, the gridlocked car park served as a reminder that it doesn’t matter what car you’ve got, getting away from football grounds is a pain staking process. At least I had heating, and at least I could add another team to the list entitled ‘Premier League strugglers’, being a Wolves fan that provided some comfort.
Thursday 10 March 2011
Tuesday 22 February 2011
Charlton 3 – 2 Peterborough, League One.
It was my third time back at The Valley, the ground where it all began for me on BBC Final Score two seasons ago. My last visit was a memorable one, after I parted with my hard-earned cash (albeit very little) to have a small wager on the game (it’s difficult not to as there’s a bookie’s stand just inside the Millennium Suite), I found myself a few quid up after predicting the first goal would be scored between the 35th-45th minute. Up pops Adam Lallana for the visitors to slot in on the 42nd minute to put Southampton in front and I’m forced to stifle my celebrations as the press box is surrounded by irate home fans, thankfully Deon Burton equalised in that game to stop me feeling so guilty for placing a bet that clearly had doomed the homes side!
Well, this next visit to The Valley was to prove just as memorable. In all the games I’ve been reporting from, I had never before seen the referee stretchered off and replaced, but that’s exactly what happened. In fact the stretcher made two appearances, nearly three. As well as the ref tearing his achilles (although I can vouch for the fact he still managed to hobble in to the bar for a post-match drink), loan-defender Federico Bassone was also stretchered off. I suspect he had not fully recovered from his hamstring injury that had been plaguing him prior to kick off.
The stretcher was starting to have a starring role all of its own, but the rivalry between the two sides in their pursuit of promotion via the play-offs sparked a thrilling encounter which saw the man-of-the-match award going elsewhere – Phew! Posh dominated the first 45 minutes. Lee Tomlin was impressive all match and opened the scoring. Had I been dishing out MOTM he would have been recipient. But as it was Charlton fought back from a goal down to win 3-2. Johnnie Jackson’s header set them on their way, Bradley Wright-Phillips made it three goals in three and Pawel Abbott’s deflected volley gave The Addicks the distance they needed. Craig Mackail-Smith’s late strike made it a gripping finale, but a consolation is all it ended up being.
So, an entertaining watch. Five goals, the referee stretchered off and a new page created in Charlton’s history books. New manager Chris Powell unbeaten in his opening four games; he is the first to achieve that feat in the club’s history. Powell’s opposite number Darren Ferguson had also been appointed in the last month, returning to Peterborough after being sacked by Preston in December. He has promised to improve his side’s away form. There were glimmers of hope, but it still remains that when Posh score two, they let three in. They have conceded the most goals in the league and I imagine there will be a lot of time spent defending set-pieces on the training ground. The aerial threat from Charlton always looked to provide the killer punch in this tie.
Well, this next visit to The Valley was to prove just as memorable. In all the games I’ve been reporting from, I had never before seen the referee stretchered off and replaced, but that’s exactly what happened. In fact the stretcher made two appearances, nearly three. As well as the ref tearing his achilles (although I can vouch for the fact he still managed to hobble in to the bar for a post-match drink), loan-defender Federico Bassone was also stretchered off. I suspect he had not fully recovered from his hamstring injury that had been plaguing him prior to kick off.
The stretcher was starting to have a starring role all of its own, but the rivalry between the two sides in their pursuit of promotion via the play-offs sparked a thrilling encounter which saw the man-of-the-match award going elsewhere – Phew! Posh dominated the first 45 minutes. Lee Tomlin was impressive all match and opened the scoring. Had I been dishing out MOTM he would have been recipient. But as it was Charlton fought back from a goal down to win 3-2. Johnnie Jackson’s header set them on their way, Bradley Wright-Phillips made it three goals in three and Pawel Abbott’s deflected volley gave The Addicks the distance they needed. Craig Mackail-Smith’s late strike made it a gripping finale, but a consolation is all it ended up being.
So, an entertaining watch. Five goals, the referee stretchered off and a new page created in Charlton’s history books. New manager Chris Powell unbeaten in his opening four games; he is the first to achieve that feat in the club’s history. Powell’s opposite number Darren Ferguson had also been appointed in the last month, returning to Peterborough after being sacked by Preston in December. He has promised to improve his side’s away form. There were glimmers of hope, but it still remains that when Posh score two, they let three in. They have conceded the most goals in the league and I imagine there will be a lot of time spent defending set-pieces on the training ground. The aerial threat from Charlton always looked to provide the killer punch in this tie.
Tuesday 29 September 2009
Kiss/ another Final Score/ Lottery
I spent most of the last week in a sleep coma (this has also led to memory lapses so apologies if this blog is not as lively as usual). The reason for all the snoozing was that I spent a week filling in presenting the 3-6am show on Kiss radio. I confess I'm not that great with early starts so the getting up at 1.30am and going back to bed at 7am proved to be quite a challenge. All the night workers, insomniacs and partygoers were getting in touch (the last group are my least favourite as they a) don't make much sense when they ring /text in and b) they remind me that I too used to love partying) and I had a blast doing the show as I always do. Something to make this week more memorable was the Sugababes break-up - it armed me with plenty of material when talking off the back of 'Get Sexy', not to mention the double whammy of introducing Jade Ewen (new Sugababe if you didn't know!).
I fill in on Kiss quite a bit, especially the 3-6am slot, but in the past I've made the mistake of still going out the night before and trying to get by on v little sleep, in fact the stand-out horror story involved me going to the Brit Awards last year and then at 2am going straight in to do the show - I was slightly dilerious after a half hour snooze in the back of a cab. It was then I ruled I'd never do that again. And surprisingly this time I managed to get to bed by 8pm most nights which made for better radio and better all round health. On Wednesday afternoon I met up with my friend Kelly who I'm going to LA, San Francisco and Vegas with next month. We were planning our trip whilst feasting on potato wedges with bacon and cheese topping - yum yum, but not very LA! Must do better!
We've decided to hire a car and drive (well Kelly is) from LA to San Francisco - it'll be our very own Thelma and Louise style road trip hopefully without the dying but at the end! I'm so looking forward to getting out there - I've never been to LA/San Fran or Vegas, a part of me is hoping I fall in love with the place and get a job out there, but that's just pipe dreams at the mo.
So a week full of early mornings and holiday planning left little room for many nights out, but I did manage to show my face at a friends 30th birthday party on Friday. Now by the time I got to the party (around 8pm) I'd been awake for 18 hours or so - as you can imagine I was pretty knackered. At one point I thought I might actually conquer the art of falling asleep whilst standing up and smiling, but a quick prod in the back made me realise I wasn't going to get away with it. I got to catch up with some old work friends but the lack of sleep finally caught up with me at 10pm and I headed home to bed, ahhhh bed, ahhhhhh my bed. Nothing like a week or earlies to make you appreciate the little things in life.
Saturday was my second stint reporting for Final Score. This time from Coventry v Middlesbrough. The game was a cracker - a late goal for Coventry scuppered Middlesbrough's hopes for all three points. There were lots of technical issues though, they made me a little stressy, especially with 5 minutes to go until I was due on air and the phone line disconnected for a third time....ggggrrrrrrr. Managed to get reconnected just in time and I have had a look at back at my reports (thanks to Mum and Dad recording them for me) and thankfully I didn't sound too panicky. Fingers crossed there'll be plenty more for me this season....
I had an amusing conversation with my Dad this week. My Dad religiously plays the lottery and Euro Millions - he thinks he might win one day - I, however, know my Dad's lottery record - he's won maybe 3-4 £10's and that's it. I'm not convinced I can give up the day job just yet.
But I had a lottery related call from Dad this week that initially got me excited.
Dad: "My syndicate at work has matched some numbers in the Euro Millions"
Me: "How many numbers?"
Dad: "2 and a star"
Me: "Oh"
See this is classic Dad, he's getting excited over winning a tenner or something similar and spending his mobile phone credit telling me about it, I reckon we're down to £8.50 by now...
Anyway, he tells me he's going to go and claim the work's winnings tomorrow and even if it means they just get a free go for a few weeks it's still something. I say "yes it's something Dad" whilst also thinking I make the right choice by not entering the work syndicate.
Next day my Dad calls to tell me that he couldn't claim his winnings.
Me: "Why not??"
Dad: "Apparently somebody else has already claimed the money"
This got my Dad rather wound up as he was the only one with the ticket. He questioned the man in the newsagents who advised my Dad to ring the National Lottery and tell them. My Dad did just that, telling the man on the other end that he'd been robbed and that he now suspected there was a Lottery/ Euro Millions con going on where people were being fleeced of their winnings through fraudulent tickets. My Dad also rings me back to say the same thing and as I work in 'the media' he believes I may hold some sway and be able to help bring the Lottery criminals down...BUT alas my Dad found out the next day that another man from his work syndicate had cashed in the ticket with a photocopy.
Me: "Well at least you weren't robbed?"
Dad: "Yes it's all worked out ok"
Me: "So how much did you win then?"
Dad: "A FIVER!"
I fill in on Kiss quite a bit, especially the 3-6am slot, but in the past I've made the mistake of still going out the night before and trying to get by on v little sleep, in fact the stand-out horror story involved me going to the Brit Awards last year and then at 2am going straight in to do the show - I was slightly dilerious after a half hour snooze in the back of a cab. It was then I ruled I'd never do that again. And surprisingly this time I managed to get to bed by 8pm most nights which made for better radio and better all round health. On Wednesday afternoon I met up with my friend Kelly who I'm going to LA, San Francisco and Vegas with next month. We were planning our trip whilst feasting on potato wedges with bacon and cheese topping - yum yum, but not very LA! Must do better!
We've decided to hire a car and drive (well Kelly is) from LA to San Francisco - it'll be our very own Thelma and Louise style road trip hopefully without the dying but at the end! I'm so looking forward to getting out there - I've never been to LA/San Fran or Vegas, a part of me is hoping I fall in love with the place and get a job out there, but that's just pipe dreams at the mo.
So a week full of early mornings and holiday planning left little room for many nights out, but I did manage to show my face at a friends 30th birthday party on Friday. Now by the time I got to the party (around 8pm) I'd been awake for 18 hours or so - as you can imagine I was pretty knackered. At one point I thought I might actually conquer the art of falling asleep whilst standing up and smiling, but a quick prod in the back made me realise I wasn't going to get away with it. I got to catch up with some old work friends but the lack of sleep finally caught up with me at 10pm and I headed home to bed, ahhhh bed, ahhhhhh my bed. Nothing like a week or earlies to make you appreciate the little things in life.
Saturday was my second stint reporting for Final Score. This time from Coventry v Middlesbrough. The game was a cracker - a late goal for Coventry scuppered Middlesbrough's hopes for all three points. There were lots of technical issues though, they made me a little stressy, especially with 5 minutes to go until I was due on air and the phone line disconnected for a third time....ggggrrrrrrr. Managed to get reconnected just in time and I have had a look at back at my reports (thanks to Mum and Dad recording them for me) and thankfully I didn't sound too panicky. Fingers crossed there'll be plenty more for me this season....
I had an amusing conversation with my Dad this week. My Dad religiously plays the lottery and Euro Millions - he thinks he might win one day - I, however, know my Dad's lottery record - he's won maybe 3-4 £10's and that's it. I'm not convinced I can give up the day job just yet.
But I had a lottery related call from Dad this week that initially got me excited.
Dad: "My syndicate at work has matched some numbers in the Euro Millions"
Me: "How many numbers?"
Dad: "2 and a star"
Me: "Oh"
See this is classic Dad, he's getting excited over winning a tenner or something similar and spending his mobile phone credit telling me about it, I reckon we're down to £8.50 by now...
Anyway, he tells me he's going to go and claim the work's winnings tomorrow and even if it means they just get a free go for a few weeks it's still something. I say "yes it's something Dad" whilst also thinking I make the right choice by not entering the work syndicate.
Next day my Dad calls to tell me that he couldn't claim his winnings.
Me: "Why not??"
Dad: "Apparently somebody else has already claimed the money"
This got my Dad rather wound up as he was the only one with the ticket. He questioned the man in the newsagents who advised my Dad to ring the National Lottery and tell them. My Dad did just that, telling the man on the other end that he'd been robbed and that he now suspected there was a Lottery/ Euro Millions con going on where people were being fleeced of their winnings through fraudulent tickets. My Dad also rings me back to say the same thing and as I work in 'the media' he believes I may hold some sway and be able to help bring the Lottery criminals down...BUT alas my Dad found out the next day that another man from his work syndicate had cashed in the ticket with a photocopy.
Me: "Well at least you weren't robbed?"
Dad: "Yes it's all worked out ok"
Me: "So how much did you win then?"
Dad: "A FIVER!"
Monday 21 September 2009
ODI @ Trent Bridge/ Strictly/ Tapas
Everyone loves a freebie, so imagine my delight when I was offered a ticket to the 5th ODI at Trent Bridge for England v Australia - ahh ok ok, maybe delight is a bit strong considering at this point England were already 4-0 down in the series, but still I refer to my previous post 'Never look a gift horse in the mouth'!
Plus, it turned out to be a good move (not for the result - we lost, Aussies up 5-0 and on the verge of a 7-0 whitewash unless we seriously up the anti), no I was more referring to the weather. It poured in London and my little trip to Nottingham meant despite being cold I stayed dry as the weather was considerably better up North for once!
The guys I sat next to made every effort to get on TV (synchronised dancing and waving of hands - all the usuals to attract the TV cameras attention) but alas their 5 seconds of fame never came - I was somewhat grateful considering I was sat dithering, wrapped in my pashmina and holding on to my pint of Strongbow as if my life depended on it. Not a pretty sight for the TV viewers.
Despite the defeat it was a good day and one I topped off by reading trashy celebrity/fashion magazines all the way home - I'm now well versed on Amy Winehouse's bad gums and Kerry Katona's drug past.
Friday night had a little star next to it in my diary, for a while I couldn't work out why I'd done this. It's usually what I do if I'm saving a night for a special occasion, but there was no such thing, not on the friday anyway...or so I thought. With a little help from a TV ad I worked out it was a star to mark the start of the new series of Strictly Come Dancing! This is one of my favourite TV shows...glitter, lycra, good dancers (ala Alesha Dixon/ Tom Chambers), bad dancers (ala John Sargeant/John Barnes), Bruce Forsyth... and the dresses - what's not to like?
This years curtain raiser got me excited all over again...ok so Bruce was stumbling a little but he is like 110! New judge Alesha wasn't as bad as the papers were making out, but she does give Melanie from Neighbours (remember her from the Charlene/Scott era?) a run for her money for most annoying laugh! So to the dancers and Ali Bastian looked about the best, but I'll be cheering on fellow sport presenter Chris Hollins and entertainment value will come from Ricky Groves and Lynda Bellingham...but that's just the first half of course!
On Saturday my mum and I hot footed it round to Grace's mum's house for a Tapas night, well, I say hot footed but hobbled would be more appropriate as mum's been suffering from bad knees and I bullied her in to wearing heels and I wore a pair of heels about 4 inches taller.
Back to ladies Tapas night, all in aid of Grace's impending nuptials, and what felt like six jugs of sangria later and we were all sharing stories and having a giggle. One in particular stood out about a lady who went to New York but was absolutely petrified from the moment she landed. She was on edge every time she went to one of the tourist attractions for fear of being mugged, shot or even worse serenaded with good customer service! Anyway, one day on the way back to her hotel she felt the presence of two very tall, burly men stood behind her. She realised they were walking in to the hotel, they were following her to the lift, they were getting in the lift...convinced she was about to get mugged when one of the men said "to the floor" (well he actually said "2 floors" but she misheard) the lady jumped to the deck spread her legs and put her hands on her head. Pretty mortifying when all they were asking was to go up 2 floors, even more so when it turns out one of the men in question has settled your hotel bill the next day and was none other than Will Smith!! I LOVE this story, how hilarious. Will Smith had been so horrified by the lady's reaction that he wanted to put her mind at rest that not everybody in New York is a thug. Bless him :)
Plus, it turned out to be a good move (not for the result - we lost, Aussies up 5-0 and on the verge of a 7-0 whitewash unless we seriously up the anti), no I was more referring to the weather. It poured in London and my little trip to Nottingham meant despite being cold I stayed dry as the weather was considerably better up North for once!
The guys I sat next to made every effort to get on TV (synchronised dancing and waving of hands - all the usuals to attract the TV cameras attention) but alas their 5 seconds of fame never came - I was somewhat grateful considering I was sat dithering, wrapped in my pashmina and holding on to my pint of Strongbow as if my life depended on it. Not a pretty sight for the TV viewers.
Despite the defeat it was a good day and one I topped off by reading trashy celebrity/fashion magazines all the way home - I'm now well versed on Amy Winehouse's bad gums and Kerry Katona's drug past.
Friday night had a little star next to it in my diary, for a while I couldn't work out why I'd done this. It's usually what I do if I'm saving a night for a special occasion, but there was no such thing, not on the friday anyway...or so I thought. With a little help from a TV ad I worked out it was a star to mark the start of the new series of Strictly Come Dancing! This is one of my favourite TV shows...glitter, lycra, good dancers (ala Alesha Dixon/ Tom Chambers), bad dancers (ala John Sargeant/John Barnes), Bruce Forsyth... and the dresses - what's not to like?
This years curtain raiser got me excited all over again...ok so Bruce was stumbling a little but he is like 110! New judge Alesha wasn't as bad as the papers were making out, but she does give Melanie from Neighbours (remember her from the Charlene/Scott era?) a run for her money for most annoying laugh! So to the dancers and Ali Bastian looked about the best, but I'll be cheering on fellow sport presenter Chris Hollins and entertainment value will come from Ricky Groves and Lynda Bellingham...but that's just the first half of course!
On Saturday my mum and I hot footed it round to Grace's mum's house for a Tapas night, well, I say hot footed but hobbled would be more appropriate as mum's been suffering from bad knees and I bullied her in to wearing heels and I wore a pair of heels about 4 inches taller.
Back to ladies Tapas night, all in aid of Grace's impending nuptials, and what felt like six jugs of sangria later and we were all sharing stories and having a giggle. One in particular stood out about a lady who went to New York but was absolutely petrified from the moment she landed. She was on edge every time she went to one of the tourist attractions for fear of being mugged, shot or even worse serenaded with good customer service! Anyway, one day on the way back to her hotel she felt the presence of two very tall, burly men stood behind her. She realised they were walking in to the hotel, they were following her to the lift, they were getting in the lift...convinced she was about to get mugged when one of the men said "to the floor" (well he actually said "2 floors" but she misheard) the lady jumped to the deck spread her legs and put her hands on her head. Pretty mortifying when all they were asking was to go up 2 floors, even more so when it turns out one of the men in question has settled your hotel bill the next day and was none other than Will Smith!! I LOVE this story, how hilarious. Will Smith had been so horrified by the lady's reaction that he wanted to put her mind at rest that not everybody in New York is a thug. Bless him :)
Monday 14 September 2009
Editors/ Netball/ Final Score
Sometimes you have those weeks when your feet just don't touch the floor, well that's how my last week has been.
On Monday night I headed off to interview The Editors for Q Radio at the Hard Rock Cafe, Mayfair. These gigs are so much fun, mainly because of the intimacy you get (you can get up close to the stage and there's no big burly security guards dragging you off to boot you out the back door), but there's also a matter of free drink and food. Now I've never been one to look a gift horse in the mouth so safe to say I get quite merry at these gigs (have you seen London prices recently?!), I also manage to scoff my way through approx 4 mini cheeseburger, 2 spring rolls, 2 chicken dippers and a chocolate fudge brownie (if I'm really lucky and hover around by the kitchen door for a while!).
Editors were on form, they played their 3rd album in full, plus a couple of oldies (aka crowd pleasers) - Munich and Blood - and I managed to get a couple of pictures too. My interview with them should be running on Q Radio this week, not heard it yet, but even if it isn't - hey I got free drink and cheesburgers, no complaints here.
Wednesday evening was the low point in my week (it should have been a high - England thrashed Croatia at Wembley!), but in my own little sporting world I was about to experience my first relegation.
Our netball team (Mavericks) newly promoted to the Premier League last season had been struggling to keep up with the pace from Match 1 - relelgation back to Division One was a near on certainty, but it didn't make the taste any less bitter. We lost (can't even remember by how many goals, enough to make me want to forget) and with it came confirmation we were relegated - bummer! Better luck next time girls!!
Being nice does pay! I found this out on Thursday morning - I was in the Sky canteen and partook in some polite chit chat with a member of staff. He felt a bit sorry for me (I must have still looked down from the 'relegation' the night before) and he made me laugh as I stood in line for my weekly fry-up breakfast (I had a feeling I'd be needing it Thursday morning after netball). Anyway, as I'm standing in line to pay for my bacon, egg, has brown and baked beans (yum!) he swept by and paid for it on his card - bless him! One breakfast later and netball the night before was all forgotten - thank you Mr Canteen Man :)
To finish off my week I had the scary task of doing a report for the BBC's Final Score programme. I'd be making my debut from the Charlton v Southampton game in League One. It's something I'd been thinking on and off about all week - my dream job and I can't stop pinching myself about it. I get down to The Valley in plenty of time (despite roadworks) and set up my ISDN kit ready to speak to Gabby Logan on the red button show - thing is they didn't come to me before the game - my script I'd hand written had been poetic artwork (ok slight exaggeration) but it never got to be aired, instead I was thrown to a good 20 minutes later than expected and managed to make my first slur - in the heat of the moment I said Alan Pardew had received some beers instead of jeers - whoopsie! I did correct myself and if held to account was prepared to buy 6-cans of Carling and ship them down to the dug out to make amends!
But the rest of the afternoon felt great, the more I did the more comfortable I felt - two disallowed goals and 5 yellow cards later I was packing up to go home. It finished Charlton 1 - Southampton 1 and the Addicks sit top of League One on goal difference.
I rushed downstairs to interview Alan Pardew for the Football League Show before heading to my car which I'd parked in a nearby street. On arrival back to my faithful Ford KA I was greeted by a man who told me it had nearly got broken in to. I was very relieved it was still in tact and couldn't quite understand why anyone would want to break in to my little KA when there was a VW Golf parked right opposite with a Bagpuss in the back window...surely that's worth stealing!
So that was a few tit bits from my week and with a One Day International at Trent Bridge and my friend Grace's Tapas evening on the agenda this week, I'll return with a couple of stories or two I'm sure....
On Monday night I headed off to interview The Editors for Q Radio at the Hard Rock Cafe, Mayfair. These gigs are so much fun, mainly because of the intimacy you get (you can get up close to the stage and there's no big burly security guards dragging you off to boot you out the back door), but there's also a matter of free drink and food. Now I've never been one to look a gift horse in the mouth so safe to say I get quite merry at these gigs (have you seen London prices recently?!), I also manage to scoff my way through approx 4 mini cheeseburger, 2 spring rolls, 2 chicken dippers and a chocolate fudge brownie (if I'm really lucky and hover around by the kitchen door for a while!).
Editors were on form, they played their 3rd album in full, plus a couple of oldies (aka crowd pleasers) - Munich and Blood - and I managed to get a couple of pictures too. My interview with them should be running on Q Radio this week, not heard it yet, but even if it isn't - hey I got free drink and cheesburgers, no complaints here.
Wednesday evening was the low point in my week (it should have been a high - England thrashed Croatia at Wembley!), but in my own little sporting world I was about to experience my first relegation.
Our netball team (Mavericks) newly promoted to the Premier League last season had been struggling to keep up with the pace from Match 1 - relelgation back to Division One was a near on certainty, but it didn't make the taste any less bitter. We lost (can't even remember by how many goals, enough to make me want to forget) and with it came confirmation we were relegated - bummer! Better luck next time girls!!
Being nice does pay! I found this out on Thursday morning - I was in the Sky canteen and partook in some polite chit chat with a member of staff. He felt a bit sorry for me (I must have still looked down from the 'relegation' the night before) and he made me laugh as I stood in line for my weekly fry-up breakfast (I had a feeling I'd be needing it Thursday morning after netball). Anyway, as I'm standing in line to pay for my bacon, egg, has brown and baked beans (yum!) he swept by and paid for it on his card - bless him! One breakfast later and netball the night before was all forgotten - thank you Mr Canteen Man :)
To finish off my week I had the scary task of doing a report for the BBC's Final Score programme. I'd be making my debut from the Charlton v Southampton game in League One. It's something I'd been thinking on and off about all week - my dream job and I can't stop pinching myself about it. I get down to The Valley in plenty of time (despite roadworks) and set up my ISDN kit ready to speak to Gabby Logan on the red button show - thing is they didn't come to me before the game - my script I'd hand written had been poetic artwork (ok slight exaggeration) but it never got to be aired, instead I was thrown to a good 20 minutes later than expected and managed to make my first slur - in the heat of the moment I said Alan Pardew had received some beers instead of jeers - whoopsie! I did correct myself and if held to account was prepared to buy 6-cans of Carling and ship them down to the dug out to make amends!
But the rest of the afternoon felt great, the more I did the more comfortable I felt - two disallowed goals and 5 yellow cards later I was packing up to go home. It finished Charlton 1 - Southampton 1 and the Addicks sit top of League One on goal difference.
I rushed downstairs to interview Alan Pardew for the Football League Show before heading to my car which I'd parked in a nearby street. On arrival back to my faithful Ford KA I was greeted by a man who told me it had nearly got broken in to. I was very relieved it was still in tact and couldn't quite understand why anyone would want to break in to my little KA when there was a VW Golf parked right opposite with a Bagpuss in the back window...surely that's worth stealing!
So that was a few tit bits from my week and with a One Day International at Trent Bridge and my friend Grace's Tapas evening on the agenda this week, I'll return with a couple of stories or two I'm sure....
Friday 11 September 2009
Whoah! We're Going to Ibiza...Whoah! Back to the Island...
The title isn't quite accurate - I'm not going to Ibiza, I've actually just got back (last friday actually) but the bit that says 'Back to the Island' is true - I went for my friend Hen's do three years ago so it was in fact a return trip!
And this one was for a hen-do too - for one of my best friend's Grace who I've been blessed to know since the tender age of 3 (so basically as long as I can remember). She's someone I never fail to have a good time with and she has this great knack of laughing at my jokes/stories which makes me truly love her...(it's a change from those awkward silences or even worse me laughing at my own jokes. I do that a lot!).
So 6 of us arrived in San Antonio - Grace, Grace's sister Hannah, Susan (who I've also known since I was 3), Rach (who I've known since secondary school) and Justine (Grace's friend from uni).....and me of course if you were thinking that's only 5.
The first good move we made was book an all-inclusive hotel (well done Hannah!) cos if you haven't been to Ibiza it's got expensive, very expensive - I'm talking 50 euros to get in to a club and 30 euros for a round of 4 drinks...I'm not looking forward to getting next month's credit card bill :(
But extortionate prices aside this is one of the best places in the world and even better if you've got your bessie pals with you.
We went to see Fatboy Slim and Pete Tong at Eden on our first night - now I'll be honest with you I'm not usually a fan of music that has just one beat that repeats over and over and over and is impossible to dance to, nor am I fan usually of music with no lyrics - it spoils my attempts at pretending to singalong and know the words when I obviously don't (I recall getting confused with the Tina Turner song Steamy Windows which I thought was Stevie Windows for a while - not sure he is!). Anyway I digress, back to Eden and Fatboy Slim managed to keep me entertained, as did the scantily dressed lady hanging from the ceiling at one point - made me think I need to do some yoga!
Something I forgot to mention earlier about the holiday is that we also had another person with us - he made an appearance on the second day. His name's Mustafa (split the word up and add an imaginary 'shag' at the end and you'll understand). He's a blow up inflatable man and every bit of him sticks out if you get where I'm going with this....well, the girls and Mustafa go way back - he came with us on holiday to Malia in Greece some years back and so we wanted to surprise Grace by bringing him along to Ibiza. Thing is not everyone's a fan of Mustafa - parents especially (something to do with the blow up sticky out thing he has) so imagine our dismay when he goes missing....yes someone stole Mustafa and we think it was one of the parents from around the pool who had been looking over disapprovingly...I fear he may be a little deflated nowadays...
Mustafa aside we had a blast in Ibiza. We watched the sunset near Cafe Mambo with champagne on tap for Bridey-to-be and shared some valuable memories from over the years.
We of course played a few drinking games too - you know the one where you say a celeb's name and then the next person has to say a celeb beginning with the first letter of the last name.....well this was highly amusing. I didn't realise so many of my friends watched so little tv - Susan, Hannah & Justine struggled to come up with names on numerous occasions - it saw us resort to unconventional famous things including FOXY BINGO and FLIPPER THE WHALE (yes whale that's not a typo - Susan thought Flipper was a whale not a dolphin).
Our final meal included a giant portion of paella and some dancing like MC Hammer (that was down to Grace) - all in all it was a hen-do to remember and I'm hoping we return to Ibiza again ...we may have to anyway when we get the call to go and identify a deflated blow up man with a moustache and an erection!
Grace, Susan, Rachel and Hannah departed Ibiza on Sunday evening, Justine & I had decided to stay on for a few more nights and moved over to an apartment in Playa deb Bossa joined by Justine's friend Sally and sister Kayleigh.
Highlights included going to KM5 restaurant (it was second time for me as I went there with Lou for her hen-do), Ibiza Rocks with Soulwax and 2 Many Djs and The Zoo Project.
The latter being a club night held in an old abandoned Zoo - moshing in a seal pit was never something I saw myself doing. I may have to take out a second mortgage to pay off my credit card from Ibiza but it was worth it...and I plan to go back (and next time Justine I promise not to steal all of your P20 sunscreen).
And this one was for a hen-do too - for one of my best friend's Grace who I've been blessed to know since the tender age of 3 (so basically as long as I can remember). She's someone I never fail to have a good time with and she has this great knack of laughing at my jokes/stories which makes me truly love her...(it's a change from those awkward silences or even worse me laughing at my own jokes. I do that a lot!).
So 6 of us arrived in San Antonio - Grace, Grace's sister Hannah, Susan (who I've also known since I was 3), Rach (who I've known since secondary school) and Justine (Grace's friend from uni).....and me of course if you were thinking that's only 5.
The first good move we made was book an all-inclusive hotel (well done Hannah!) cos if you haven't been to Ibiza it's got expensive, very expensive - I'm talking 50 euros to get in to a club and 30 euros for a round of 4 drinks...I'm not looking forward to getting next month's credit card bill :(
But extortionate prices aside this is one of the best places in the world and even better if you've got your bessie pals with you.
We went to see Fatboy Slim and Pete Tong at Eden on our first night - now I'll be honest with you I'm not usually a fan of music that has just one beat that repeats over and over and over and is impossible to dance to, nor am I fan usually of music with no lyrics - it spoils my attempts at pretending to singalong and know the words when I obviously don't (I recall getting confused with the Tina Turner song Steamy Windows which I thought was Stevie Windows for a while - not sure he is!). Anyway I digress, back to Eden and Fatboy Slim managed to keep me entertained, as did the scantily dressed lady hanging from the ceiling at one point - made me think I need to do some yoga!
Something I forgot to mention earlier about the holiday is that we also had another person with us - he made an appearance on the second day. His name's Mustafa (split the word up and add an imaginary 'shag' at the end and you'll understand). He's a blow up inflatable man and every bit of him sticks out if you get where I'm going with this....well, the girls and Mustafa go way back - he came with us on holiday to Malia in Greece some years back and so we wanted to surprise Grace by bringing him along to Ibiza. Thing is not everyone's a fan of Mustafa - parents especially (something to do with the blow up sticky out thing he has) so imagine our dismay when he goes missing....yes someone stole Mustafa and we think it was one of the parents from around the pool who had been looking over disapprovingly...I fear he may be a little deflated nowadays...
Mustafa aside we had a blast in Ibiza. We watched the sunset near Cafe Mambo with champagne on tap for Bridey-to-be and shared some valuable memories from over the years.
We of course played a few drinking games too - you know the one where you say a celeb's name and then the next person has to say a celeb beginning with the first letter of the last name.....well this was highly amusing. I didn't realise so many of my friends watched so little tv - Susan, Hannah & Justine struggled to come up with names on numerous occasions - it saw us resort to unconventional famous things including FOXY BINGO and FLIPPER THE WHALE (yes whale that's not a typo - Susan thought Flipper was a whale not a dolphin).
Our final meal included a giant portion of paella and some dancing like MC Hammer (that was down to Grace) - all in all it was a hen-do to remember and I'm hoping we return to Ibiza again ...we may have to anyway when we get the call to go and identify a deflated blow up man with a moustache and an erection!
Grace, Susan, Rachel and Hannah departed Ibiza on Sunday evening, Justine & I had decided to stay on for a few more nights and moved over to an apartment in Playa deb Bossa joined by Justine's friend Sally and sister Kayleigh.
Highlights included going to KM5 restaurant (it was second time for me as I went there with Lou for her hen-do), Ibiza Rocks with Soulwax and 2 Many Djs and The Zoo Project.
The latter being a club night held in an old abandoned Zoo - moshing in a seal pit was never something I saw myself doing. I may have to take out a second mortgage to pay off my credit card from Ibiza but it was worth it...and I plan to go back (and next time Justine I promise not to steal all of your P20 sunscreen).
My first blog!
Okay, first of all I am not deluded enough to think anyone else is interested enough in my life to read this every week, and second of all I'm also not deluded enough to think in a few weeks time I'll still be writing it every week (I do tend to have fads on things, like when I did ballroom dancing aged 7 (and gave up), when I took up table tennis aged 13 (and gave up) and most recently when I started pre-season training with QPR ladies and you guessed it gave up!) , however I do think this is a jolly good way (did I really just say 'jolly good way'?...ah well...) of me finally keeping some sort of diary (yes something else I gave up on - every xmas from 1992-1998 I got a diary with a locakble key - you must have had one too! - and every third week in January I'd get bored and throw said diary in to the back of a drawer, the little key never to be seen again!).
So, here goes...my effort to finally keep a record of what happens in my life before I get too old to a) do anything interesting and b) too exhausted to remember.
My intentions are to write something every week - expect it to mention football, other sport, music and some special people in my life (you know who you are!) and on my part I promise to try to make it as interesting as possible...
Happy reading (that is if you can be bothered) xxxxx
So, here goes...my effort to finally keep a record of what happens in my life before I get too old to a) do anything interesting and b) too exhausted to remember.
My intentions are to write something every week - expect it to mention football, other sport, music and some special people in my life (you know who you are!) and on my part I promise to try to make it as interesting as possible...
Happy reading (that is if you can be bothered) xxxxx
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