11th November

I was going to write a post today about how silly my life is working for both UK and USA based people, how I have no body clock and how I fell asleep at my desk only to wake up at 4am with a bit of a headache last night. I was going to write an article saying about how I hate blogs who don't update on time, as I didn't yesterday. When I woke up at 4am I still had a few other articles to finish off and just finished them off and went to bed.

Then I realised what today was. 11th November. If you're an American reading this, it's Veterans Day. If you're a fellow Brit, it's Armistice Day. Suddenly, I felt deeply ashamed about complaining how doing a job I love with all my soul means I keep odd waking hours . At least my day to day occupational hazards are things like carpal tunnel, stubbing my toe on the desk and staring at blank white pages long enough to send me a bit mad. I don't have to worry about RPGs, snipers, gun locks and road side bombs. I don't have to worry about mortar fire, suicide bombs and death.

I'm a big supporter of troops. I don't like the politics behind the current wars our troops are in, but I've always held the point of view that at the end of the day they are there and you have to support them. What they do day in day out is incredible, and I know in my heart of hearts I couldn't do it. I'm also a firm believer of the 'The lowest paid soldier should be given more than the highest paid footballer' theory. If people ask me about my views on it, I just say 'Pro-Troop-Anti-War'.

I've had two thoughts about today. About what it means and all that. I'll voice them now. And I promise I'll make some cock jokes tomorrow when we return to our regularly scheduled sort of update.

I read this post by one of the Kissing Suzy Kolber bloggers, Matt Ufford, earlier, and it shook me up. I didn't actually know that the guy had been to war as a tank commander for the Marines in the initial invasion of Iraq a few years ago. But his piece is just such a human response to the whole thing. As much as soldiering is about bravado and brawn and strength and courage, soldiers are human too. I know to me soldiers are super heroes, so its odd to hear them say they are scared. And I think it is becoming increasingly apparent that that is what makes them the amazing people they are. More and more, soldiers are speaking about not only the times when they won the day, but also what happens when they come off second best. They are scared, and endure. Read it, as it is an amazing piece of writing. It gives a slant on soldiering that most people don't consider.

The other thought is more a rhetorical one.

Tonight, there will be two types of people. One will be sat at home pounding Red Bull's and playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The biggest game of the year was released this week, and no doubt Xbox Live will full of people playing it. Full of people shooting and killing, complaining about re-spawns and snipers. Full of pawnage and 1337 and everything. Full of celebrating the big kills.

One will be sat at home pounding a bottle of whiskey and trying to keep out the memories of their time at war. Trying not to think of lives they have taken, trying not to think of any of their friends who didn't make it and trying to keep out of a dark place. I know not every soldier who comes home is broken, but war affects people in many different ways. For every person who took today to pay respects to their fallen comrades and feel the sense of pride that only a veteran is entitled to, there will be someone who hasn't handled combat as well.

In WW1, Sigfried Sassoon wrote the following.

'Pray that you will never know the hell where youth and laughter go.'

On a day where we remember veterans, remember the fallen and give our eternal thanks, millions of the youth will be playing a war game recreating the horrors that defined a generation.

I just think that is fucked up.

How about some Chelsea and Manchester United feedback?

For those of you who have been living with their head firmly buried in the sand this weekend, let me enlighten you to something quite important.

Manchester United paid a little visit to Chelsea.

Yeah. Bet you feel silly for having your head firmly hidden now, huh?

I thought I should pipe in with some feedback. I do supposedly offer some sporting opinion in the tag line round here. It's only polite. You want to know how I would sum up that match?

The officiating was just plain and simple inept.

I'm a Manchester United fan. We lost, and I hate loosing to Chelsea more than anything I can think of. But, I can be a man about it. Although I think we were possibly the better team, overall Chelsea have been better this year. So long as we can be a comfortable second and don't get dragged into the dog fight for 4th I'm happy.

But honestly, the entire officiating crew needs to be looked at after that mess. From inconsistent calls  to phantom fouls, make believe timing rules to making decisions that just go completely against the rule book... it was a mess. In the first half, Terry takes down Valencia with a fist full of shirt in the penalty box. No penalty. A few times the ball crossed the line for corner kicks, and all the officials missed it. People kicked the ball away after play was brought back with no reprimand. Drogba gets kicked in the chest and gets a yellow card for it. Players were left on the sideline after being treated for injuries. There was no compulsory 30 seconds added on to extra time for the substitution. This is just stuff off the top of my head, if I actually did my job and put in some research, I'm sure I could find more.

Oh, how could I forget. The goal.

From the free kick that wasn't that set it up, to the awfully suspicious shoulder that knocked it on to Drogba standing a country mile offside waving a boot in Van Der Sar's face.... just pick some reasons as to why the goal was a summation of the refereeing performance.

I'm not bitter that United lost. I can accept that. I'm incredibly annoyed that we lost, but putting in a strong performance doesn't mean that you get what you deserve. What is the most galling of all is that once again officiating has defined a top game.

I know that all the referees are very highly trained and all that, but they need to stop being the be all and end all of the match. Instead of writing about how Valencia did a better job than Ronaldo ever did against Ashley Cole, or how Brown and Evans were as solid as Ferdinand and Vidic at their best, or how Ancelotti has guided Chelsea to a 5 point lead after just 12 games, I'm writing about refs.

The Premier League needs to do something, as more often than not the top of the table is decided by the handful of games the big clubs play against each other. Maybe give a special title to the top refereeing crews, and say flat out at the beginning of the season “These same guys will handle all the times that the four Champions League teams play each other.” Then stand behind them absolutely. Tell the managers that it is an automatic ban for questioning them, tell the refs to yellow card immediately for dissent and put in the strong officiating that is needed to control and better these matches.

Once again, it is ridiculous that the emphasis of these matches is not on the players after the final whistle is blown.

Oh poker....

Oh poker, thou art one heartless bitch.

I'm a strong believer in karma. I don't exactly go throughout the day while helping small birds fly and nursing injured butterflies back to full health, but I try not be a complete and utter bastard. I would like to think that the arsehole in the BMW who cut me up will at some point suffer some calamity in order to right the scales.

I think in a much, much smaller way karma applies to poker. You get some bad luck and some good luck. If you get a massive, massive stroke of good luck then at some point you are likely to come a cropper. I think this is what I'm experiencing.

I'm not usually one to bitch, moan and complain if I loose at poker. So long as I'm happy with the decision I made, I'm don't mind if I've been outplayed. I'm not one of these sorts who troll around the internet going “Derp Derp DONK Derp Derp” every time they loose a hand. I'm angry at times, sure, but try to at least fake some decorum.

On Tuesday I managed to sneak a win in a little “friendly” pub game I play in possibly the cheekiest manner possible. After getting heads up, I did a pure bluff all in to try to steal a small raise. Except they of course called, as they had an Ace and a King. And I only sort of had a seven and a two... and I sort of hit a seven and won. Yikes. That is sort of like an F1 car being beaten by a Smart Car.

Since then, I've been paying. I've sat down for two little online poker sessions since then and have suffered from some sort of poker karma. Honestly, it is just ridiculous. As I type this, my King Queen suited was beaten by nine seven off because they flopped a full house. This no longer worries me and I perceive it as normal.

So I am using this posting to formally regret the poker gods to cut me some slack. Please. I mean, I didn't mean to get cheeky. Honest. I would have done the dummy all in shove with any two cards. Please, I'm sorry I won. I even said that at the time. At least give me a fighting chance!

My Big MLS Rant

I wrote this little rant about Major League Soccer for one of my London Chronicles pieces over at Elevation Radio. Except it is horrendously off topic so did a little bit of self editing. I can post it here though.... enjoy!


Now, last week I got a wrapping of the knuckles for making fun of David Beckham's beard. To quote Mr. Elevation - “He is all (MLS) has”. Well, once again, you don't have him. It is all but a done deal now that will see Sir David of Beckham return to Milan in order to ensure he gets his ticket to South Africa for the World Cup. Let's look at this two ways (as The Premiership isn't that full of scandal this week, I have some column space).

It is very, very good for England. Beckham lifts England. Not having Beckham in the England squad is awfully reminiscent of the mismanagement of England from a few years ago. He can still distribute the ball and deal with dead ball situations better than anyone else in that squad. When he was initially dropped, the argument was that he was not a part of England's future. That was true. He is still a massive part of England's present. Being in Milan will see Beckham gearing up for his last World Cup playing in one of the world's top leagues and for one of the world's top teams. Now, let's see if he continues his tradition of breaking his foot just before the tournament starts...
The down side is it shows MLS up for what it sort of is. I watch a fair bit of MLS when it's on ESPN over here. I mean absolutely no offence, but the standard isn't great. Football in the States has a lot of potential – just look at how good the USA National Team are – but MLS by their very nature are choking the game. I'm not even talking about player quality, as that can only get better as more young people choose to play soccer and the collegiate game improves. I'm talking in the nature of it's set up.



The season is out of sync with Europe as MLS team's can't play in the winter due to sharing stadia with NLF teams. The salary cap, draft and player caps that are present in MLS are unique to US soccer, and incompatible with the rest of the world. In terms of soccer, I also have real issues with the two conference system, although with the massive distances teams have to travel it is more than understandable.



I suppose it boils down to this – MLS will never, ever be able to integrate itself into the world game while it insists on it's current model. I know a lot of it is designed to give sustained growth both financially and in terms of player development, but it cannot work. You cannot expect one league to be able to join in when it does absolutely everything differently. This isn't like the designated hitter rule. This is square shape into a round hole stuff. If Chelsea wanted to sign Landon Donavan for about £7m (a fair price, probably) then LA Galaxy would see about £250,000 of that money. They couldn't go out and spend it all to replace him. This is the only league where that happens.



I really, really want soccer to take off in the States. Soccer has been 'on the brink' since the 70's, except nobody has dared to shove their chips onto the table and put the ante up. Look at the short term exposure that Beckham got. Now imagine if that was happening every season, because the MLS was viable option for top players. Top players attract top sponsors, which attracts top TV and fans through the turnstiles. Imagine if the MLS could field competitive sides against top European clubs. Imagine if when a player like Robinho gets unsettled and could move on, he could just as likely play in Houston as he could Barcelona.



MLS needs to take a look at Manchester City and Chelsea. They were pushed that next step by throwing money at it. I know I bemoan the money in football, but if it was used to propel soccer in the States then it would be a glorious thing. It would equal the karma.



Beckham must have repaid most, if not all and then some, of his price tag back in merchandising and marketing rights for LA Galaxy. If the New York Red Bulls threw $100m at Anelka, or if the Chicago Fire threw $200m Tevez, or whatever, it would get a fair bit of interest as well. It would also sustain interest. Players of that calibre also sustain financial interest, which is equal to that of fans.



Also, are you telling me that between any sports' minor league teams, colleges, midweek use of NFL stadiums and the like, MLS can't find a few 20,000 capacity venues to use during the winter? Are you telling me Red Bull or Mark Cuban don't have an extra $500m to invest?



More to the point, MLS appears to think that attracting one or two big players and money is the be all and end all. The absolute number one problem they have, even above the way the league is made up, is that no non-American player really cares about winning the MLS Cup. The reason some players are so desperate to play in The Premiership, Serie A, La Liga and the rest of them is because they are prestigious. To be able to say you won two or three of the biggest leagues in the world in your career is huge. It puts you in another class of athlete. It needs to be something an athlete wants to do. MLS won't take off overnight. Nor will it be able to slowly burble into life, like it is trying to do now. If the MLS puts in serious money and effort into recruiting players like Beckham, and spread the players around the league, the league itself becomes more prestigious. The league becomes a more viable option for players both financially and competitively. The increase in sponsor, TV and fan interest means bigger growth. Only then can the MLS really shine.

How you know if you had a good Halloween...

4am - Somehow make it to bed. Pass Out. 

11am – Wake up in agony. Use bathroom, drink whatever liquid is on bedside table. Go back to sleep.

Midday – Wake up again. Eat rest of chow mein that was somehow obtained the night before. Go back to sleep.

1pm – Finally get up. Stumble downstairs. First flashbacks of inappropriate behaviour. Spend next hour breathing quietly in the corner. Take first aspirin.

2pm – Consider eating something. Think better of it.

2:30pm – Eat something. Regret it quickly. Spend more time breathing quietly in corner.

3pm – Track down phone. Check for drunken calls, texts and emails that may have been sent.

3:30pm – Firm reminders of inappropriate behaviour return. Breathe quietly in the corner while groaning.

4pm – Regain will to live.

4:30pm – Attempt first cigarette of day. Big mistake. Take two drags, dry heave and stub out. Will to live retreats again.

5pm – Check credit card balance. Pray that nothing was bought online.

5:30pm – Check wallet for cash. Find no notes but a small fortune in change.

6pm – Get phone call to check if you're still alive. When the answer is yes, get surprised answer.

8pm – Finally get enough liquid back in body to urinate. Get cocky and try another cigarette.

9pm – Finally the blood alcohol levels drop down to sane levels. Drive to fast food place and buy as much food as change allows.

10pm – Slink in front of sofa and suffer the affects of fast food. Check poker account to make sure no gambling occurred.

11pm – Go back to bed. Check Facebook on laptop. Loose will to live again.

11:30pm – Beer poo.

12:30am – Try to sleep. Body too broken to even achieve that.

1am – Start playing video games. Big mistake. Start feeling much better.

4am – Realise it is 4am. Feel almost back to full health.

6am – Go to sleep.

10am – Alarm clock goes off as you have to start working. Will to live completely goes.

7pm – Return to scene of crime. Be told of full details. Be surprised you were even allowed back in. Start planning fireworks night party to do it all over again.

For my two returning visitors....

....I'm currently away this week. I'm not on a holiday as such, its more like a work camp. I'm staying at my cousin's nursery\orchard type thing while I help him lay some new industrial flower beds. It is all fun and games.

Unforntunately, the end result is no post today. Have an epic picture and make do. See you Thursday!

NFL in the UK

Well, today the NFL is playing at Wembley. As I type this I'm watching that game on the telly while keeping track of the Vikings vs Steelers on Game Pass. I'm a little bit of a huge fan. I do feel guilty not being at Wembley, like as a fan I have some obligation that I have to go, but frankly I have no desire to watch Tampa struggle to get anything going while the Patriots get a nice lead then kill the clock for three quarters. Oh, and having to pay £160 for the pleasure. A probable £250 Sunday late in the month just before Christmas isn't cool.

Oh look, Tampa just threw an interception. That was totally unexpected...

Anyway, even though I'm not there I do love the NFL. But there appears to be a bit of anti-NFL in the UK feeling out there. Chris Chase wrote a pretty scathing piece, and a lot of the commentators in absolutely any US based NFL blog have been very against the whole thing. I'm all for it. I get rather excited when Roger Goodell gets chatting about adding another game or maybe even a Franchise.

But there is a little something that I would like to see before we get all of that stuff. It's a very basic thing. That is some decent TV coverage.

You see, for those who don't know the TV coverage for NFL over here has taken a major nose dive. Coming into last season, we had a full compliment of magazine shows and 6 games a week live on the telly box. This year, we have magazine shows shown so long after the games that they are irrelevant, the same re-runs of NFL documentaries that have been on Sky for the last 2 years and only 3 live games a week. Next year, under the terms of the current contracts, it will drop to 2 as Five is scrapping all late night sports to show a television casino type thing.

I doubt that the NFL will ever do it, but if they truly want to grow the game then they should consider maybe subsidising TV contracts to boost the number of games back up to a realistic full compliment of 6per week. Maybe they could try providing edited versions of their TV magazine shows for international markets, as they are currently so full of advertising they can't be shown until 5 days after the events.

I can see where the NFL is going with their expansion plans. See if the UK market can support 4 games a year, then maybe give them a franchise. But please, please can we sort out the basics first?