In Which I Watch Football, Buy A Football Figure and Stickers And Of Course Try To Like Poetry Through The Medium Of Motoring

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well the European Championship is being held soon and although looking forward to it I already know that I'm going to miss a fair bit of it because of work commitments (boo hiss). Still it's now summer and to find football other than continental championships requires investigative searches. You suddenly become grateful for those countries with a March-November season.

Last year I'd stumbled on an Internet stream in the Norwegian Tippelgaen and found myself rooting for the home team Viking FK. They became the Norwegian team I follow online when work permits it. So to reiterate, I probably am the only Englishman living in Wales to follow a Norwegian League team. Footballing fame at last.

Now even though the commentary was (surprise,surprise) in Norwegian which I don't speak (my ignorance) that didn't matter. As long as I knew which team was which I was involved. Background could always be looked at half time.

I'd wanted to see whether Viking FK were playing yesterday but in the event that proved irrelevant because a cousin of the wife's came for Sunday Lunch so there was no opportunity to watch a game online even if it had come on. The afternoon was spent between watching a cricket game that was so dull until the end that I could have died of rigidity. Tennis where Andy Murray fooled us all by winning the first set before collapsing into swift defeat and darts.

Must admit I'm in two minds towards darts. On the one hand there is a skill involved and it is a sport. On the other what possesses people to see these players in these massive arenas where depending on where they're seated they could hardly see the darting gladiators let alone the darts?

When I put it to our guest who has gone to these things he responded as follows. "Well there are big screens". Was silent at this. Though did think couldn't people just stay and watch their big screen in the comfort of home?

Anyway wasn't able to watch a match until 10pm that night when online I saw a match in the Copa America. Jamaica were playing Venezuela in Chicago. Two teams I've really seen play. It was about 10pm here in Wales and it felt rather humid (and for those of you who know about Welsh weather you probably do believe in climate change after reading that sentence).

Venezuela started well with an impressive goal. Cue the camera to focus on a pretty blonde I'd remembered seeing before the match started. I'd wondered whether the cameraman was going to ask her out for a date. The commentator stated that the team's performance was "high energy". I'd wondered whether he was being deliberate in his choice of words given their economic problems.

But the game really turned on the sending off of a Jamaican player soon after the first goal. To my eye it looked harsh. After half time (during which I did the very British thing and made myself a cup of tea) the manager was sent to the stands by the referee for arguing with him. One player off,one manager off and one goal down. You got the feeling that it wasn't going to be Jamaica's day. Still although they lost it was only by that goal. Given what they faced it was an impressive performance by the team in yellow.

Monday evening I watched the friendly between Italy and Finland. If you're wondering what my allegiance is here then.....

Blue is the colour

So Blue is the colour, apart that is from the Italian goalkeeper whose strip was of a colour best described as motorway maintenance. The Azzuri won 2-0. Really it should have been more. Italy is at it's best when they play with a swagger which was missing here.

Italy was captained by Chiellini. Or as Luis Suarez would call him...a snack.

By the way you can learn a lot about a country by watching their TV commercials. Italians like mineral water. They are also led to believe that teeth whitening toothpaste will attract women in the way aftershave/deodorant was once meant to do (note for the next shopping list I think).

After that I watched a bit of the second half of Iceland Liechtenstein which was won 4-0 by the home team. Unfortunately it was 3-0 by the time my eyes I'd joined them.

You may remember a challenge I set myself a long time to buy a football sticker pack a day to fill a Panini Euro sticker album with. Well it's gone surprisingly slowly. At the beginning I saw more packs for trading cards than for stickers. Don't ask me why. Anyway in Porthcawl on Monday all of the packs so far have been bought. Will spend a bit of Tuesday on a football sticker special post....I know you can't wait.

Here is incidentally the Porthcawl picture of the week.

A warm day

You will note the fence at the bottom of the photo, Because if you turn a bit to your left this is the view you'd see.

Preparing for the summer crowds 

Today I bought Neil Taylor of Swansea and Wales.....this is the proof.

Told you

Kudos to the local Coop supermarket in Porthcawl for selling something Welsh that Tesco Bridgend at time of writing only sells the English version of.

You may remember that in my last post I quibbled with Andy Miller with regard to him wondering how you could call yourself a sportsfan but not particularly liking every sport. Well I've realised that you could call yourself a reader (which I am) but missing a notable subject out.In my case, as you've realised from the title, it's poetry.

I wish I could say that the reasoning was amongst the classic ones thrown out.

"It rhymes? How poncey is that" or

"It doesn't rhyme?  How pathetic. Anyone can be a poet." or

"I wander lonely as a cloud? You cannot be cirrus? When do you see cloud by itself? They hunt in packs. Especially when it's about to rain".

No it came down to finance. I've no idea about the price of poetry books now but when I was a teenager you'd pick up a slim volume of poetry and you'd be shocked to discover that it was about the same price as a novel (autobiography etc). So poetry gave you less bang for your buck, less pull for your pound.

Of course there were the poets I read at school. I liked T S Eliot when he was depressed only to lose me when he discovered God and cats. John Donne the womaniser who discovered religion (how convenient.Covering your bases I'd say) wrote poetry I shrugged at. And there was another that so influenced me that I've forgotten his name.

There was one exception which was John Betjeman who was the Poet Laureate when I was younger. He was a man of varied interests but was capable of writing poetry that made you laugh or feel sadness. He was the one who would go on TV chat shows. He made poetry accessible to everyone without the feeling he was dumbing down. I don't know how good Betjeman was in comparison to others because I've read so little poetry. But I liked him.

So then me and poetry. Not against just apathetic. Not in denial just indifferent.

However my collection of classic Penguin paperbacks has a few poetry books in it. John Donne (been there Donne that) and this.

Robin Skelton (editor) - Poetry of the Thirties

The point is that I've finished the last "car book" I've used to dip into from time to time. (The Henry Cooper post sporting career biography which read more like the finish from one of those "An Evening With.." events) so this seems like the perfect book to dip into.

We shall see.

Until the next time.

In Which I Go To A Rugby Game (But Football Is Not Missed)

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I was on Twitter a few days back when I noticed a tweet announcing that the Mid District Cup Final was going to be today (Wednesday) at Pontypridd RFC's ground at 7:15pm. Wasn't working that day so I thought "Why Not"? It was only going to be five pounds entrance fee after all.

An early evening kick-off. A town I'd been to before so I knew the route and it would be a change from spending the evening sitting in front of the TV or the laptop (though that would happen later). I wasn't going to ignore football though oh no. The big match of the evening was the final of the Europa League between Liverpool and Sevilla but the plan was to ignore all chances of knowing the result and watch a recording on my return.

It was something I'd been looking forward to, if only because it had been a long while since I had the opportunity to see some live sport. Even though, as in this case, was going to be very much the neutral.

At a club level the top professional tier of Welsh rugby is far removed from the old cliches. Unfortunately for them that is no good thing. About the turn of the Millennium it was decided that there would be a "Celtic" league (incorporating Ireland,Scotland as well as later on Italy when it would be constantly renamed according to the sponsor)  limiting the number of Welsh teams without any prospect of promotion/relegation. So although there would be "Welsh" leagues underneath the big league a glass ceiling would remain firmly in place.

These professional clubs were meant to be powerhouses of the game in Wales. This however has not happened. The lack of promotion/relegation has caused a stagnation of the Welsh club game at the top level. Results taken as a whole have been awful in the now "Guinness" league  (best Welsh team was 5th, then 7th,8th and 10th this season - this is from a league of 12) and on the verge of pathetic at a European club level.

Furthermore fans in those areas that were disenfranchised from top flight rugby were, I suspect, expected to go to the closest of the four professional teams following the NFL template. This hasn't happened. If you look at matches on the TV you'll regularly see empty spaces. Purely off the top of my head, without any degree of research (ie going on Google) I could make the case that at a club level rugby is no longer the biggest sport in Wales. It's football.

However the match I was going to yesterday was never going to be stagnant. As it was between local rivals fighting for a cup and in whatever sport that means passion.Was looking forward to it.

The match was between Bargoed RFC and Beddau (pronounced Bather) RFC. I've never been to either place and I was ignorant of both teams and their chances.

I should mention that the journey from Bridgend to Pontypridd had some absolutely stunning views. If I had the time would have stopped and taken some pictures for you. But let me say yet again that given bright weather like yesterday's it's not difficult to pictures in Wales that would make the viewer think it was Italy.

Parked immediately behind the rugby as instructed by the attendant. Initially was worried but then I realised that the closer you are to the posts the less chance you have of getting your car hit (as what thankfully happened)

That close

My first action was to get something to eat and drink so I went to the bar and asked for a pie and coke. The pretty girl behind the bar asked whether I wanted the coke to be diet which was polite though given I'd asked for a pie academic. She also asked whether I wanted the pie to be warmed up. Not wishing to be assumed a wimp, though my natural default option is to be one I said no. This was a mistake, not only because it was disgusting but as I came out there was somebody walking to the game with a pasta salad.

I made my way to a good seat in the main stand. No way to guesstimate the crowd but was very high especially if you consider that it was many tiers below the top level and that it was a Wednesday night with a European football final on the television.It showed to me that rugby in Wales can still pull in the crowds if the people felt emotionally involved to it.

Incidentally I'd forgotten that the other Pontypridd RFC's ground was known as was "The House Of Pain". What a great name for a rugby ground. Says it all really.

Took one of the books to read during half time. I therefore claim to the first person ever to take a Kim Edwards novel to a Welsh Rugby Union game. Fame at last. 

Proof for the history books

And on the subject of that book you may remember that I sent an email to the American person whose New York calling card was used as a bookmark by its previous owner. Well unfortunately an automatic reply has come back saying that the email address "does not correspond" with any currently being used. It was always a long shot.

The Match Programme

And of course I knew that if I was bored during the game I could always lose myself in the view.

The View From The Stand

In the early stages of the first half Beddau dominated and scored a try subsequently converted. But for the rest of the half the possession was mainly dominated by Bargoed. Possession which they could not turn into points and as we all know, points means prizes. This seemed to be born out when Beddau added to the score with a penalty

Scrum Down - No Gloss In This Game

There seemed to be some interesting characters in this game. The man with the ponytail, the Bargoed Andy Carroll. Also there was the player with the hippy hairstyle who ran full speed at an admittidly padded post only to get up shortly afterwards. In Bargoed it appears even the hippies are tough.

In the second half though Bargoed's pressure finally tolled and they scored. The one moment in the game where a gap appeared in the Beddau line so wide it could be seen not just by the player who scored but also by us watching on the stands. However their joy was short lived as in a small space of time two of their men were sin binned for fouls and after the second one Beddau scored a try again but not the subsequent conversion.

The Sun Setting On Sardis Road

So down in points and for a significant amount of time players it appeared a miracle of Leicester proportions would be required. But Beddau would not score in this match again. Bargoed just began a relentless series of attacks that were repelled until about 10 mins or so when they were awarded a penalty try.

14-15 to Beddau, last few minutes and the game going down to the wire.

Not a dull moment

The last minutes seemed an eternity as the Beddau team fought doggedly to withstand further Bargoed onslaughts. And they did. Just mind. Very much just.

By the way if you want my vote for Man Of The Match. It'll be to the Beddau defence coach

So it ended with a one point victory to Beddau. It was the best game of club rugby that I had seen in a long while. It encompassed the best aspects of Welsh rugby. The heart,the excitement, the local support and it also showed what the top tier teams are losing and in some respects lost.

Beddau Celebrating

Thank you Bargoed RFC,Beddau RFC and Sardis Road...it was fun.

Thanks

When I went home I watched the Europa League match without knowing the result beforehand. And if you have not yet seen it. I won't spoil it for you.

I've finished The Fan by Hunter Davies. It was an enjoyable read and it is recommended though not if you're a younger reader as it'll probably have you confused and googling in frustration (Glenn Hoddle as England manager for example).

So there was a need for a new book to keep in the car and I picked this one.

Henry Cooper - H for 'Enry

For those who don't know Henry Cooper was a famous and popular boxer of the sixties and seventies. Who is often recalled nowadays as the man who nearly beat Muhammed Ali. This autobiography, done in snippets is a record of his eventful post boxing life which makes it an unusual read.

Until the next time.