For Pete's Sake

Well, anyone who is actually still reading this or has it bookmarked may be, especially when the last post was back in August. Anyway, I’m still at my current job, despite the odd misgiving here and there. At times it’s not that bad, others.. well let’s just say I have bad thoughts. Either way it’s employment and I should be grateful for that. So that’s work summed up, short and sweet really.

Life in general is going pretty well despite the odd worry but then they’re nothing more that what everyone else probably worries about. It gets me down and recently it’s got me down more than it usually does. The other thing that keeps bugging me lately is I have this feeling that things are just passing me by. I don’t know if they are or why I have this feeling but even as I sit here now I just thinking I could or should be doing something more. Fact is I probably could, I even started writing my part of a story I’m doing with Legionary, hopefully I’ll write more soon. Cat is doing well in her job though right now she’s worrying and stressing about her dancing exam which is approaching far too quickly! Our holiday to Iceland is booked for next year, just a case now of saving the money and damn it’s expensive but there you go, what in this life isn’t?! Still it’ll be worth it and I really can’t wait to go. On another life note, my birthday is approaching again, I tell you it must be improving its ninja skills as it really did sneak up on me this year.

One cool thing though that happened recently was my attendance, along with my good friend Carl, to the NHL ice hockey game in London. The atmosphere and venue (The O2) were superb and the game wasn’t half-bad either. It’s certainly got me buzzing and really excited now about attending the NFL London game for which the tickets turned up the other week. I also managed to get my hands on the Halo 3 Legendary Edition. It’s a seriously cool special edition and, in my opinion, worth it.

Sports wise it’s an up and down start for my teams. The Steelers are doing well in the NFL with their defence really looking the business this season. United have only just started to get in to gear and as far as the Penguins go; such a stark contrast to last season. I won’t mention anything about the Pirates’ baseball season as, apart from the odd surprise win there’s nothing to talk about.

So there you go, 3 months zipped up.

Well it’s that time again, yes, The Ashes have returned and it’s seemingly business as usual for Australia (I’m going on the first 2 days, I’m currently watching the 3rd days’ play). It is, so far, quite a carbon copy of how The Ashes started last time. At Lords Australia beat us well and truly but the next 3 games, well, we all know what happened there so I’m not starting to get all depressed about it just yet. However I must say that for me, we shouldn’t be playing Harmison or Giles. I can’t think of a replacement for Harmy so I’ll concede that but I would play Monty over Giles any day of the week regardless of the fact that Giles can bat. Monty gets wickets and I’d have 5 for over 30 runs any day of the week.

In other news United managed to lose to Celtic mid-week and if I’m honest, Celtic deserved their win. The free-kick, although shouldn’t have been given, was masterfully put away. I haven’t seen one taken that well in a long time and to lose, well, I’d rather lose to a goal like that than some goal-line scramble. I mean yes, we had a penalty and the keeper did well to save, but where Saha put it, any goalkeeper worth their salt would have saved it as long as they guess the right way. It certainly puts an interesting spin on the game against Chelsea on Sunday. I’m really looking forward to it because if we win, our lead at the top increases to 6 points, lose and we’re even again. If I was being honest I’d settle for a draw.

Going into gaming (a new topic for the blog) I’ve been playing a lot more Football Manager recently, in-particular doing Lower League Management (LLM). I find it a heck of a lot more rewarding staving off relegation or scraping promotion in the bottom leagues than taking Man United to glory. It’s harder and a true test of you abilities as you have to be canny. I also follow guidelines from the LLM forum at Sports Interactive’s website to make it as close to life as possible. So I only buy players I’ve scouted etc, certainly making the game a lot more fun. You can see how I get on in my current game here or, for future games, here.

So another summer and I’m back in the cricket mood. Played in a friendly match in the Bradley Stoke Festival. It was the Festival XI versus Bradley Stoke XI (all from Bradley Stoke Cricket Club). I played for the Festival XI and I’d like to think I did a good showing. I didn’t bowl today which was disappointing but we had some good bowlers so I’m not miffed. I did ok in the field, a little rusty, and had a couple mis-fields on my part. Batting however I had one of my best ever displays. However before I tell you why I should also explain it was also my most injury ridden game.

To begin with I had a huge scab from a friction burn I aquired earlier in the week. On the 6th/7th over I dived for a ball on the boundry (trying to save the beer cart) and landed on said knee. Less to say it was ripped off and bled like a good-un. A quick nip to the Ambulance which was on standby to get it covered and I was back in play. All was well until I got up to the crease to bat. Looked down to sort my line and blood came from my nose, got it to stop briefly, swang and miss at my first ball, only for my nose to bleed again so I retired to get that sorted. After my nose stopped leaking I went back into bat. All was well for an over or two until I hit a nice drive down the ground for a single. As I ran towards the other crease I heard a cry of watch out and before I knew where it was coming from I felt the cricket ball crack me right in the chest. Thankfully it was bang in the centre and as such didn’t hurt or damage me too much; which was nice. Still once that was sorted and I got my breath back I carried on batting.

So that covered I’ll tell you why it was my best batting ever. First of all it is my highest total to date which is 14, nothing special, but for someone who has not been coached properly that’s not bad. What made it my best was some of the shots I played in particular two leg glances that went for four. Not only was I proud of them but getting recognition for the shots from players of BSCC made it for me. In the end I hit three 4’s and two singles and overall I’m proud of each shot. I took my time, blocked where appropriate, dug mysef out a time or two and had my fair share of luck (case in point being when the ball flicked the stumps but the bails stayed on). In the end I went out to a thick edge which went to square leg. At this point I was dehydrated and feeling crap so I that contributed I think but it was also a loose shot so only I am to blame. All in all I enjoyed myself thoroughly and have now put my name down to go play for BSCC as I really do want to play for my local team. I’d like to think I have the raw materials to be a decent/average player and so I’m going to apply myself and try my hardest and see what happens.

BBC SPORT | Cricket | SA shatter record to beat Aussies

South Africa reached the highest target set to win a one-day international to cap an unforgettable day of cricket and to win the five-match series 3-2.After Australia had shattered the record score in 50-over internationals with 434-4 they looked to be in an impregnable position at the Wanderers.

But the hosts, led by Herschelle Gibbs’ remarkable 175 off 111 balls, refused to be cowed and fought back strongly.

The winning hit was secured by Mark Boucher off the penultimate ball.

He hit Brett Lee for four, sending the home crowd delirious after they had seen nearly 900 runs scored in the day.

Only saw the last 11 balls by my word what a game it must have been to watch all the way through! I mean obviously there must be some question about the pitch as a 1-day pitch that offers up nearly 900 runs is, well, umm, very rare! Still, credit to South Africa as they refused to give up and won which must boost their confidence.

On another sporting note, Man Utd won 2-0 against Newcastle today however with the amnount of chances we had and the number of sitters spurned by our front men the gap should have been a lot bigger. Still a win’s a win and that’s what counts and really I’d rather have 3 points that 5 goals (unless we needed it to up our goal difference then I’d take both!).