Monday 28 April 2008

Player of the........


So, Cristaino Ronaldo has won Player of the year for the second year on the tot and fair play to him. He is very worthy of it.
I remember when every England fan wanted to stamp the living shit out of him, how he has come of age. It is an honour for those who hate him suddenly stand up and applaud him.
When he first joined the league he was called many names, many I will repeat: greasy twat, driving c*nt, Portuguese tosser, gay, manc, cry baby, and that was just the first 5 minutes of the game Reading playing Manchester United at the Madejski.
How he defined all those people? He still receives a torrid amount of abuse and he has every reason to suffer from that.
I remember him going pass Graeme Murty as if he was not there, with such ease; it was like watching a grandma walking into a supermarket. This was just after World Cup 2006 as well.
Now, you see a grown man using his talents properly. Not to take the piss of his opposition but to carve out the tightest of openings, that killer pass, to get his team mates involved, he is a magician.
Ronaldo has done, about as many stopovers in one match, than David Beckham has had Posh on her back. That is saying something.
He is still at such a young age that his talents have not stopped developing yet, it is frightening how good he might turn up to be.
Cesc Fabergas has had a great season and he deserves his young player of the year award but I thought Fernando Torres would have run him close. He has had the best debut season from a foreigner that the Premiership has ever seen. He will only improve.
However, for now, Ronaldo we all applaud you and your remarkable achievement and let it continue, as you are about one of the only people to make Man U interesting to watch.

Sunday 27 April 2008

The Great Escape in On


The great escape comes in many forms.
There is the Steve McQueen type, a spine thrilling, edge of seat, exciting twist escape with he had to define many attempts to stop his brave efforts from the hands of the happy shooting Germans.
There is the George Bush escape, despite doing everything wrong; he still ends up, remarkably, on top.
There is the Lance Armstrong escape; battling back from Cancer and managed to win the Tour de France took so much strength as it looked unlikely.
There is my escape, where I also set the kitchen alight by almost throwing a pan with cooking oil into a bowl of water. Not clever.
And there is the lucky escape, such as freeing your pork sword easily from a difficult zipper situation. Breathe.
Watching Bournemouth beating Crewe was incredible and it really is a great escape. Perhaps in the Steve McQueen form. A 1-0 win, definitely edge of seat stuff, many loyal and committed fans was loud in voice.
Ironically, the great escape theme tune was pretty much played all the way through. It is what fairytales are made from.
Been deducted ten points and somehow putting themselves into a situation to stay up. What an achievement.
If they beat Carlisle next week, and a few results go their way, they will be safe and face League 1 football next season.
What an achievement it would be for Kevin Bond and all those players, which have played so well, to stay in this league. It is not fair that these players and fans are punished for the board not doing their job.
It reminds me of the Northern Rock chief executive getting a one million pound pay off for doing a shite job. How does that work?
Surely, he should have been the one sentenced to be hung, strung and quarter. How can anyone justify that? It is depressing to see teams like Luton, Leeds, etc all suffering because of idiotic management. They should be the one who gets it in the neck.
That is how football has become a business rather than a sport. As in every walk of life, the fans always suffer.
Seeing young Cherries like Sam Vokes and Marvin Bartley making a difference to such a young side was remarkable. It may not even be there next year, simply to pay off their debt.
Believe I would love them to stay up and keep the dream alive. This is what football is all about; this is why it is the best competition in the world.

Friday 25 April 2008

Envious by all accounts

May is coming up and we are deep in a relegation battle. Tensions are sky scraping, but who would have preferred a trip to Wembley, I certainly would have.
I cannot believe the sheep shaggers (Cardiff), the Dickie Bird fan club (Barnsley); Adrian Child’s lost fatherland (West Brom) got a day out at Wembley.
Hey, I am even green with envy of bloody Franchise FC or Martin Butler’s Grimsby.
Torquay and bloody Ebbsfleet United are going to get a day out.
Come on even Tottenham got a final. How atrocious is that?
However, heading down Wembley Walk with you colours spread, all integrated. Seeing all those crooked scarf, flag, etc sellers again would be great, although I would demand my back. The t-shirt, i wasted ten pound, was drivel, the sticker fell off. The flags did not even have the precise badge on it, I was taken advantage of, and at least I put their feed there inbreeds.
I was too young to remember when we were ruthlessly deprived of a place in the Premiership in 1995. Typical Reading huh?
I was there for the gigantic head of Tony Rougier spoiling a day out at Millennium Stadium. Going all the way to Cardiff to observe us getting beat by Walsall and that big afro of Don Goodman, we should have won. That was a mockery. That was not the greatest day by any means. Typical Reading?
The best thing to come out of that day was when a certain Rolls Royce pulled up parallel to our coach and six of us mooned the driver and the man seating in the back. John Madejski will salute you.
I still get excited for the cup, perhaps I am still young and naive. I love the chase, seeing the thing you want in sight.
I suppose it is like when you finally shag a bird like Britney Spears, you wanted to do it for years but when you do it, you find out she’s psycho and has no hair, it’s not everything you imagined it to be.
However, it is always nice to say you done it; the chase is more exciting than the actual goal.
I found that out in the first season of the Premiership, I was so glad we are here but what is there to look forward too.
Don’t doubt me in saying that the wins against Liverpool, Middlesbrough, Tottenham, draws with Chelsea and Manchester United were not amazing and I lost my voice on many occasions but imagine knocking them out of the cup. That FA Cup tie against Man U, which was by far the greatest game of the season for me.
I came out disappointed, looked where they ended up in the final, we matched them.
Relegation is all nerves; I will always support my team throughout thick and thin, and whatever division we are in. Unlike some of these ‘new fashion’ Reading fans, I am seeing.
Dave Kitson claiming he did not give two shits about the FA Cup and that went over my head like a John Oster cross.
He is a fantastic and deserves all the recognition he gets and I want him to win something with Reading. He deserves to be a FA Cup winner not your run of the mill Premiership player.
The first Reading team to win the FA Cup believe me that would mean a lot more to the real fans of the club than four seasons of lower mid table finishes.
Come on there is so much you can take in this league; Cristaino Ronaldo scoring another spectacular goal passed us, Arsene Wenger claiming he did not see anything or another pathetic 1-0 defeat to Chelsea.
I loved when we beat Darlington on Penalties. What a game that was? Moreover, we knew we did not have next week to say that we can catch up on three points next week either.
Funnily enough I still have dreams about watching Phil Parkinson walking out at the old Wembley Stadium with the Reading faithful in full force, tears in my eye, heart pounding. We know what it means.
However, it may just be our very own cup final against Tottenham.

Wednesday 23 April 2008

Admire?? Maybe not


I have just read that the Tennis player, which is dubbed the worst in the world, just won his first game at the 55th attempt.
You have to say to yourself, is it bloody worth it.
Not everyone can get to the dizzy heights of Greg Rudeski or Tim Henmann. Gag! Gag!
Robert Dee congratulations. Without doubt you have been mocked, the butt of all jokes but you cannot blame them can you.
His career best rank is 1,466, not bad for someone who had just won.
I cannot understand why he goes through it, still aiming to be a professional. There must be a few screws lose.
Remarkably, this was not a record he equalled it. Diego Beltranena of Guatemala was just as bad. Perhaps these two should play many exhibition games against each other to see who comes out on top.
Perhaps he is someone to admire, keeping at something. He must have suffered a lot and has so much will power and strength to carry on. Maybe a lesser man may have given up and he is keeping to his gun.
I may even fancy giving him a game.

Monday 21 April 2008

It must have been Lust

As a Reading fan, this is probably my first active memory of being in a relegation battle. Even though we were relegated in 1997 after Craig Bellamy scored in a 1-0 win for Norwich at the last game at Elm Park, I cannot remember feeling huge hurt, especially at the Madejski Stadium.
There was the defeat to Wolves in the play off semi-final when Alan Pardew took us from promotion for the old division two straight into the play offs in his first season.
Losing to Walsall on penalties was difficult to take and the 3-0 defeat to Wimbledon on Boxing Day was just embarrassing. Losing to Bristol Rovers and Crystal Palace 6-0 was not easy.
However, no real hurt, mainly good memories I have circulating in my mind. When Leroy Lita hit the winner against Middlesbrough, I almost ejaculated. It was that good. I can understand why I needed glasses.
Watching a five-goal performance in 25 second half minutes against Derby to clinch the Championship title was memorizing. Fuck we were good, just got thunderous goose bumps thinking of that.
Now I am not too bothered about the Premiership, in my case it is case of, been there done that have the t-shirt.
I, recently, spoke to the head of the supporters club (which I will always refuse to be a part of but that is another story) and when I said Premiership is not all that it’s cracked up to be. He went mad.
The look he gave me. Gosh. It was as I just told him I just got his lovely daughter pregnant. Although, it would be worth it.
He explained that he has paid his dues, Grimsby on a Friday night, Carlisle for an early kick off and defeats by Bournemouth, etc, etc.
Then he yelled calling me a twat for thinking such things, it is a good job we like each other, especially if his daughter is about.
He said he felt the pain of the 1994/95 season, when we finished second and lost the play off final. They choose that year to shorten the bloody Premiership.
He said he felt the pain when some idiots tried to merge Oxford and Reading and become Thames Valley.
I did apologise by saying all I want is a day out of Wembley. A FA Cup final, play off final, FA Trophy, anything. I just want to town of Reading to unite and invade Wembley.
When we had the parade in the town centre in 2006 it was like nothing else, I cried so much that day. I was not even drunk. I was so proud, standing amongst the Reading faithful, singing every song under the roof, pushing the fat children in front out of the way so I can get closer.
Best day of my life, without any doubt. There was no match that day; it was a festival and a celebration. Nevertheless, it was like having sex with a beauty woman, it was over, unfortunately, pretty quickly.

We are Scientists compared to Liverpool v Chelsea


Trust my luck when I discovered the Liverpool against Chelsea is on the same night as We Are Scientists. There with be no Great Escape, nor they will be performing After Hours. It will be a case of Nobody move, Nobody gets hurt. Even though I am a Liverpool fan, the Scene will be Dead. It will be a Textbook game, no of these teams Can’t Lose. Chelsea does have a Lousy Reputation against Liverpool, What’s the Word they hate Garcia. It’s a Hit, it may not have gone over but it was Liverpool who went on to win the Cash Cow.No doubt I’ll have to wait until the second leg but it will be Worth the Wait. Lethal Enforcer’s Gerrard and Lampard are back for their clubs, and That’s what Counts. No time for Callbacks, there will be a lot of Inaction on the touchlines between Benetiz and Grant. Let’s see It.The Champions League trophy is Spoken For by Liverpool 5 times and Chelsea are becoming more and more Impatience to win it. Will it be the Ghouls of a second leg at Stamford Bridge which will takes its toll. Tonight may be the night for the Dinosaurs of Liverpool to establish a good first leg lead. The Chelsea’s Chick Lit will be in full flow as they tend to only come out at night, we don’t want any Altered Beast coming to spoil it.
See what I done there!

Sunday 20 April 2008

I must have been Arsed

I tell you something the Emirates Stadium is breathe taking, it is a proper football stadium.
Clap! Clap! Clap! And it is just a big disappointment that they have nothing to show for it.
With the stadium more or less paid for Arsene Wenger will surely make a handful of quality purchases in the summer to make a great team even better.
I was in with the Reading lot witnessing a textbook performance by the Gunners as they spanked the life out of a poor Reading side, 2-0 flattered Reading. It was embarrassing.
Our away support even got bored as they split into two and the left side of the away end started singing, yeah you guessed it, ‘We’re the left side, we’re the left side, we’re the left side of the stand’ and it got the response they were looking for, ‘We’re the right side.....’.
This went on for five minute.
On entering the stadium, I was told the price for a beer was £3.50 by a Polish worker, and like a John Oster cross, it flew over my head. I could not believe it, I tried to explain to her that I’m a nice drunk, looking for a discount, but I didn’t get one and by protest I was thinking about buying a soft drink.
Of course I brought a beer (and a further two), but I needed it. Needed some courage, I was excited for the game against one of the top four. Then I heard the line up. I rushed back, barged through to the bar I needed a top up. I did need some change though.
No Shorey, No Hunt, No Doyle, No Little, No Long, No Matejovsky, this were not going to be a good day. But hey, we were only going to be playing the best footballing side in the country, a team we have never beaten.
I breathed and in my drunken state, I decided to give the new boys a chance. Convey is a good player and could attack Toure. Cisse could keep Hleb in his pocket. We need to play it down the wings and let us hope Kitson can get on the end of one.
Give Kebe a chance instead of Oster, good shout. However, before I got carried away I remembered Kebe could not pass, shot, control, tackle, or create space. He is fast though and he has, er, nice hair.
We started 5 4 1, two man markers with Ingamarsson the spare man at the back. Coppell felt we could have done the same we did against Manchester United on the first game of the season. It failed badly.
Arsenal are a lot better side than we are but seeing us in the position we were, I was disappointed. I would have loved to attack Arsenal.
Not a long time ago, we were playing football like them, maybe in the division below but we were still doing that. Please let us visit those times and remember.

Thursday 10 April 2008

Liverpool Improving???? Questionable

What a horrible seven years it has been for Liverpool Football Club?
They have won the Champions League, got to another final, and managed to win the FA Cup. However, they are even further away from winning the Premiership than ever.
But that is not my point.
Since the 2001 Treble season, the club have been in steady decline. Gerard Houllier managed to make a good Liverpool team out of scraps and some very average players and produced results.
Emile Heskey was phenomenal, Gary McCallister was a masterstroke, Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler were firing on all cylinders, Sami Hyypia and Stephen Henchoz was the best partnership since Alan Hanson and Mark Lawrenson, a young Steven Gerrard was learning his trade, Paul Ince ruled the midfield and Jamie Carragher could not even get into the team.
Players like Nick Barmby and Vdalier Smicer were decent ones to have and after the Manchester derby Dieter Hamann could have came in handy this season.
So what do they offer now? Only two money grabbing Americans with some patronising phrases and the lack of acknowledgement of football. Tom Hicks and George Gillet just do not understand, Rafa Benitez does not even understand.
Why is there the need to rotate? Houllier could rotate without damaging the team, he had three quality English strikers to choose from, Owen, Fowler and Heskey. He even managed to get Nicolas Anelka on loan and gained the services of a talented Jari Literman playing elegantly when the other three were unavailable.
He always kept the same defensive backline, with the same goalkeeper for every competition.
So now, you have Dirk Kuyt who would run his heart out for the cause. So what? He should be scoring goals. Peter Crouch, Yossi Benyuon and Andre Voronin are not prolific. They are not good enough.
Houllier began the rot with the silly buys of El Hadje Diouf, making a sort of living at Bolton, Salif Diao who is now at Championship club Stoke City and Bruno Cheyrou who’s playing a bit part for some French club.
That was the start of it all.
The club has been playing poor players since then, Djiebal Cisse had potential but never lived up to it, Mark Gonzalez wasn’t even a one hit wonder, Craig Bellamy wanted to play golf, Fernando Morientes did nothing apart from moan, Scott Carson, who has been performing well for Aston Villa, is out on loan, there has been far too many.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson went though the same thing with Eric Djemba-Djemba and Kleberson. But unlike Liverpool so far, he managed to get through it.
Ferguson learned you will not win the title with average players. Manchester United has so much strength in depth now who won the title last season and like Chelsea who have won back-to-back titles before that.
Houllier managed to finish second the year after the treble and the club have been free falling ever since. Apart their lucky escapes in 2005 Champions League Final and 2006 FA cup final, they have never remotely looked like winning anything else.
They need a new man at the helm.
A Kevin Keegan style return of Bill Shankly would be over ambitious, as we cannot raise the dead, we then turn to Bob Paisley, and nope he cannot be a saviour either. Joe Fagan, where are you?
Who is around now to live up to the people of Liverpool demand? Jose Mourinho, the fans won’t like that. Sam Allardyce being successful after his flop at Newcastle, fat chance.
Is no one good enough out there. Mark Hughes? He played for Man United he will not come. Sven Goran Eriksson would not even leave Man City now.
Fabio Capello, they are too late. Sergio Ramos, what would be the point, Tottenham are just as good now. Frank Rijkaard, they do not have enough money to waste.
Jurgen Klinsmann, only if the Americans had their way he would be running the club from his summer house in California.
So if there is someone out there who wants to manage an average side with two special talents’? Work with two Americans who do not have a clue and don’t particularly care. To work under great demand and expectation. You know where to call.

Back in the Little Time

I was in for a treat; I became slightly envious of my surroundings.
Strangely enough, I was observing Swindon Town play Leeds United as a spectator and I really enjoyed it.
As a committed Reading fan and a loyal royal, it was particularly uplifting seeing the supposedly closest playing.
The result ended 1 0 Leeds, it was not the best of games infact it was quite a poor game.
However, I was happy to be with a surreal football family again.
For too long now, the Madejski Stadium have become a host to the rich and famous.
Dawn French, Lenny Henry, Cilla Black, shall I go on.
On the end of their Championship winning season, I attended a banquet where it was a night with Steve Coppell. It was primarily aim was to raise money for ex-professionals of the club to be able to afford to watch Reading, for the first time in their history, in the top division.
Moreover, what a disrespect for those ex professional players when they were refused tickets to watch the team they gave their life for.
Therefore, Reading has made the big time, look at them they have already got too big for their boots.
So first season they finished eighth, what a season they had? You can’t doubt the influence of the playing staff nor the management of Steve Coppell.
Stephen Hunt knocking Petr Cech out, slow ambulances allegations, Sonko knocking their other keeper out, and that was only the Chelsea game. It was an eventful season to say the least.
Chief Executive Nigel Howe even idiotically came out claiming that Reading could be as big as Arsenal. Do us a favour mate?
If they do end up going down, they are going to lose many friends as well. It will be disappointing as they showed us last season that the gap between the Championship and Premiership is closing. Again, it was only false hope.

Aspirations at the Ready for Future Health


You will not know this man but someday he might be the one to change your life. He is not a miracle worker or even a Rambo style saviour.
He will not come and rescue you from that dreaded mother-in-law’s visit, or from your constantly nagging wife. However, he may save you from the dreaded gynaecologist, the easily avoided Dietician, and endless months of physiotherapy and possibly make you live longer.
So please before you pick up your fourth jam doughnut of the day and third Coke of the hour and throw it harmlessly down your clogged up throat think of this man and what he wants to do.
He may have a 1973 fashion sense, a boyish grin, and a funny nose, but do not let put you off. He has the determination and enthusiasm to get you off your lazy arse and go and do some exercise and play some sport.
How? You ask.
Well, firstly, this man's name is Stuart Owen, he wants to be the Head of Sport in the UK, and more importantly, he has a vision.
Not impressed? There is no reason to be yet. There is still more to come.
Owen’s qualities will shine though and he will definitely became much more noticed; he has a dry charm of a young Tony Blair, an uncanny resemblance to Gary Lineker, the looks of Vernon Kay and people skills which are even beyond me.
He will revolutionise the way we think about exercise and sport; he is going to make Britain into sporting and exercise legacy, which will be the envy of the world.
His ambition in life is that when he reaches his pension age, which will probably be 107 when he does, he can ask anyone in this country if he or she exercise regularly and he or she will reply yes, without making anything up. He wants to change these peoples livelihood and to get them feeding on life.
Still not impressed?
In an average month only a mere 20 percent of people in the UK participant in any sport or exercise once a month, a figure that makes Owen cringes.
Therefore, this will be the man to make your children put down that Play station of theirs, leave the comfort of the sofa watching mind washing garbage, and get out into reality to have fun. He is going to change mentalities and produce more merits for those who contribute to sport; he is going to press the government, sport England, schools, and local communities hard to make sure they produce more opportunities to play sport.
We need a next generation of people to look after the sport in this country, it needs to do more to hit government targets, and before we catch up to those overweight Americans as the largest nation.
The 20-year-old is still learning the advanced aspects of sports development and coaching education at the University of Bath. With no doubt, he will finish with top marks, and he will be ready to articulate his significance to the public.
There needs to be the next round of people to be the head of Sport England, UK Athletics, and other similar organisations to improve the attractiveness of playing sport. These people will lead us into a very important era, as technology is becoming a monopoly and domineering parents worried about their children going outside, it will be difficult to get sport and exercise popular and Owen has no doubts that he will be able to do this.
Simply by, changing mentalities, getting more people to think like him. Then influence those individuals so they can influence others for a series of a knock on effect.
He is not particularly worried about the elite athletes; he is more concerned about the average ‘Joes’ out there, you and me.
This is the view that he has and how he wants to help the participation in sport from all sectors of the community. He does not want everyone to be a professional athlete, he wants the whole of Britain to be healthy and enjoying all the sport out there available to him or her, and wants exercise to be more of a pleasure than a chore.
The graduate said, ‘talent is something you’re born with, and I want to reach the average Joes and encourage them to play sport. The bigger sports today are publicised so much that the public prefers to watch a game rather than have the enjoyment of actually playing in one. What these so called ‘big’ clubs need to do is reach out to supporters and encourage them to play and get involved and perhaps they will have fans that are more energetic and vocal instead of wasting money on overpriced pies and sitting and bickering.’
The Conservative Government, from the 1970s, should take the majority of the blame for the decline of the participation in sport as they began to damage the foundations and the negative attitudes.
When Margaret Thatcher was in office, she introduced academic competition between primary and secondary schools; it was then sports interaction declined. Sporting achievement was not recognised in the Tories, Thatcher was more interested in academic fulfilment.
Owen believes this was a dark moment in sport and sees encouraging signs in the New Labour Government. The Sports Mark award scheme has raised the profile of sport in schools as well as Labours backing for the 2012 Olympics to promote participation.
With London, winning the 2012 Olympics, Owen, like Sport England, was pessimistic about the games being held in the capital.
He said, ‘I’m not sure whether the Olympics will leave a lasting legacy amongst the normal public as I don’t believe enough people will be interested in it to have a long term effect.’
‘I’m sure it will help contribute a massive wave of wealth from advertising and exposure but the money being spent on the Olympics should have been used to help Britain’s health and the sports in this country as well as providing more facilities to be available for the everyday child and making these facilities cheap and more accessible.’
The Olympics fund has been spiralling out of control and it is no surprise that Sport England did not fully back the idea. Sport England’s actual funding has dropped significantly due to the Olympics and those two weeks in September in 2012 will take a lot of exertion.
However, Owen said, ‘the impact of the games will be huge for our countries prestige and worldwide fame, if not for our public, and for those athletes initially involved. I really hope the games will have the influence the government were expecting. The idea of having 80 percent of the public doing five amounts of 30 minutes exercise per week maybe far-fetched but it was their guideline for Olympic glory. I believe having everyone exercise or playing sport for 45 minutes stints three times a week would be more worthwhile and realistic.’
The good point is that our government are heading in the correct direction but they do not exceed themselves. Having longer impact times would encourage people to think more openly about the extent of exercise they would do. It is all about changing mentalities.
He feels the current government still do not do enough for sport. ‘There has never been a specific branch for sport within the government.’ He said,’ the existing one includes culture and media. Sport is worth 15 billion to the UK economy; wouldn’t it be beneficial to have one detailed division for this?’
Owen wants a specific board where experienced and well-educated athletes can have their say in sport in the UK.
‘An executive board should be introduced in government as sport is getting progressively bigger and financially expandable. On this board should be people like Lord (Sebastian) Coe, the people who make a divine difference in sport and it should be these people who influence sport from the grassroots level.’
The introduction of the National Lottery put sport on the map again with finances going to Sport England and other sporting societies. Initially before the separate funding of the National Lottery, our government gave more money, surprisingly to Arts and Culture. More recently, there has been more effort from Sport England and leading retail shops to encourage sports activities. Support acts like Tesco’s successful Sports for Schools scheme, which youngsters from every school have every right to take advantage.
Sports have been became more accomplished from the 1990 World Cup finals when Paul Gascoigne’s famous stream of tears gripped the nation’s viewing. Then Sky Sports changed the way we watch football with the introduction of the Premiership, since then football has become a globalised advertising market for all consumers to, literally, feed on.
One of the major problems Owen identified was the lack of exercise school leavers do as they are influenced by all of these fantasy sports.
He said, ‘When you leave compulsory education there is nothing to say you have to do sport or exercise. I want to introduce a compulsory session of sport in colleges and sixth form to make sure their sporting activities flourish.’
‘By the time teenagers reach 16 or 17 they start getting more interested in computers, booze, sex, and drugs. This is something which needs to be slowed down or even stopped.’
With the ever-increasing number of senseless teenagers who get pregnant, the government cannot afford to overlook this view. The introduction of more activities would be essential for future generations.
Owen also believes that compulsory schools should have longer days. He wants an extra 45 minutes of sport being introduced every day at schools, they should start at eight and finish at three with physical education being involved daily.
He said, ‘with more of the younger generation starting school earlier and being involved in actual physical exercise in schools the more tired they will be.’ This will help prevent teenagers getting into unnecessary mischief and provoked delinquency.
The son of an insurance broker feels that sport and exercise could be an attractive proposition for everyone. He calls for a decline of competitive sports and more individual sports and activities being included in the curriculum.
He said, ‘the government needs to get a message to the whole of Britain that sports are fun and it doesn’t mean you have to be good to be involved.’
‘The phrase ‘can’t kick, won’t kick’ is commonly known, and it does emphasis this point. The fact that someone will say you cannot do sport means you will not do it. The physiological barrier needs to have a break-through for people to be involved. ‘
Owen wants to introduce an ‘Alternative Sports Week’ every year, which will become popular for schools, colleges, social and youth groups, universities, and institutions, as they would give a wider spectrum of sports available.
‘More sports are being drafted in and being advertised in Britain. Sports such as Skateboarding, American Football, Yoga, and Archery have become increasingly popular. These sports should be drafted into Physical Education as well. He continued, ‘We need every pupil out there wanting to be involved from a young age. Let us exploit what they want to do, we want all these people to take an interest in their chosen sport and develop that interest and hope it continues when they finish school.’
The Bath University graduate believes that a part of the reason why sport activities have declined is that athletes have became so out of touch of reality. They feel no obligation to help younger people or they are reluctant to help advertise sport to younger children without the attraction of luscious contracts.
Bath University’s Team Bath has many famous sports men and women who have graduated or are still currently studying. Sport stars such as Matt Stevens, Craig Pickering, Dr Stephanie Cook, Colin Jackson, Mark Foster, and Jason Gardener all contribute to Bath University to help younger athletes and regular people who attend the university.
Nevertheless, Owen is keen on a fellow alumni role in society. David Meek was a Bath graduate who became the President of Sport England in the late seventies and he was responsible for attracting a healthy chunk of the National Lottery funding.
Owen wants to aspire to great heights and believes one day he can become the Director of National Sport where he would oversee numerous of projects and activities for England to have influence properly averted.
The main problem he is constantly worried about is the obesity levels as he is determined to make them decrease radically, he wants England to follow fellow commonwealth country Australia. He believes that the Australians become World Olympic champions because of the amount of sport they play and are encouraged to do.
With his forthcoming career in sports, Owen wants at least a 50 percent cut in obesity before he retires. He feels a great sense of responsibility for the state of health in Britain and hopes he will be able to make Britain a ‘fitter and healthier nation’ and a legacy to the world.
Still not impressed?

Wednesday 9 April 2008

Well Done Tottenham, now begin a revolution!

Can I wish a huge congratulation to Tottenham Hotspur, for not only winning the Carling Cup but also breaking the iron grip monopoly of the domestic cup competitions by the top four?
Let it continue.
Tottenham have shown it can be done, now we more teams to break this. Everton and Aston Villa look to threaten fourth spot though Liverpool’s shockingly poor domestic season. This is not enough.
Let us get behind these teams and hope they do this more often.
The gap between the Premiership and Championship is too inadequate; the difference between the top four and the rest of the Premiership is ever increasing.
More fans would love different teams in the mix, we want Newcastle competing, Blackburn filling their stadium and try to win the league again, we want Leeds and Nottingham Forest to relive past glories; this is the problem, the lack of variation is going to ruin our football.
We are the best competition in the world and it looks we may lose that.
I have an idea, what about the Champions are not allowed to improve their squad by signing players, only those on a free transfer or of British heritage.
The second placed are only allowed to sign one, third can buy two and fourth can buy three. The rest are allowed to sign whom they like.
I believe this would help competition, not between the top four but between the whole of the premiership. Aston Villa may be able to snatch a top quality player and get into the champions league. Everton maybe able to steal a quality player under the noses of Liverpool to take fourth spot again.
This may even allow those fringe players of the English national side to improve as well. Imagine more England international playing for the better clubs and playing in the Champions League regularly.
This would effectively balance the premiership out with more clubs benefiting from the television and Champions League money; it would prevent a monopoly by the top four.
Also let us do another relegation spot but that team which finishes in 17th spot has to play the loser of the play-off final to see if they keep their Premiership status or if the losing play-off team can cause an upset. Alternatively, even do six play-off spaces and the winning three have to play 16th, 17th, and 18th spot in the Premiership?
This would mean a possible of five teams could be promoted. We need to make the competition more difficult and less money grabbing.
We need to distribution the income football gets across all division and this problem needs to be sorted.