f'n grate

i just typed a post full of detail on last sunday's action and repercussions on league and cup standings, and then it all got deleted.. I'm not bitter.

Bullet Points
* call at 8h30 am - are games still on? Yes I said
* call at 10h35 am - where is the ref? He's prob late but he will be there I said
* call at 10h40 am - where is the ref? (another game) He's... Oh hang on, I can see him now, thanks
* main result is a draw Celtic 2 Loko 2 which means League is still no longer a foregone conclusion but has a little spice left in it (there was a whole lot more stuff about this but can't be bothered to get into it again..)
* rain.. f off.

Until the next posting.. is that sunshine i see..?...... oh.. no..

Balls Churning Elephantitis 'n all that

This rain sure ain't playing ball.. why on Saturday through the night into Sunday morning..? WHY !?

I rang the Groundsman at 8h45am : conversation was very simple..

- "pitches are playable..?" (ok, so this was wishful thinking)

- "waterlogged pitches"

- "no way games can be played?"

- "no way"

- "sure?"

- "sure"

Result as all of you know is that our games were cancelled.. again. Putting pressure on the fixture list.. and so Double Headers are required. Rather than have to graft some more comments, thought i would copy email sent to all managers..

Extract from my email to managers

==================================

So, more waterlogged pitches and more cancelled games.. which is a bummer to put it mildly.

I have looked at the fixtures and the following will explain.

Groovers v Barnes

this is now to be played as a DH on 25th March / League and Cup game

Cosmopolitan v Madras

this is now to be played as a DH on 15th April / League and Cup game

Hendrix v WKK

this is now to be played on SUNDAY 6th May/ League - no DH possible

Celtic v Loko

this is now to be played as a DH on 4th March/ League and Cup game

Uncle Bob v Auckland Rangers

this is now to be played on SATURDAY 5th May/ League - no DH possible

Barn Elms is no longer available after end April, so need to play games at Barnes Common - can only play 2 games a day - already have 2 programmed hence to play this one on Saturday. Obviously, depending on Cup results and who goes through to semi's /finals, these can be amended.

We can discuss all the above at Managers Meeting which I will re-schedule for 11th March (next League games). F'n rain..

Reminder : DOUBLE HEADERS = full 90 mns = 2 resultsI know these are not ideal, but they are a necessary evil for catching up on cancelled games.

So, next week, we have 2 DH's:

Cosmo v WKK

Celtic v Loko

=======================================

With last weekends results (18th Feb), Celtic are clear at the top of the League, with Uncle Bob 3 points behind.. and they have 1 game in hand (worth more if it was in a bush..) mmm.... (....) ... ermm.. ok. WKK are 4 points behind Bob, but have also 1 game in hand (....) (...) (ok..) erm.... Loko are close behind WKK.. look, check out the website for the league standings, I am sure you can make up your own dialogue.. f'n rain.. I'm not bitter.

Here's a lovely pic.

Don't you think..?

Weekend Games Cancellation 11th Feb

Balls... or as one of you said... big fat hairy gorilla balls.. OUR games were all cancelled for the weekend just gone by. Gonna be fun clawing the 4 games postponed to a later date.. though, the silver lining (HI HOH) is that Barnes Common will be left open for the summer which means we have extra dates available. It does mean however that the season is extended.. or could be.. depending on how we pursue the catching up.. aaaaaaaaaaanyways, enough waffling.

Thought i'd add the email cancelling the games...

"Dear All
I am sorry to inform you that football is off this weekend, this is due to the fact that the pitches are frozen and are therefore a health and safety issue, also we have been unable to mark them, the forecast for the weekend is also very bad so we have made our decision... "

May as well add a pic or 2..

I'm back..

Taken me a little while to get this thing going again.. it wouldn't accept my login details, and on my nth try, it has worked.. whatever.

Much has happened since the last blog. For one, we are in a new year - 2007 .... Happys News Years to u's... I spent 3 weeks in Mexico, seeing Mexico City and its surroundings, and the Chiapas area which is extremely beautiful... extremely... Mayan and Aztec temples, waterfalls, jungles, tequila, tacos, and the mexicans themselves who are some of the most welcoming people i've met on this planet earth.

And.... I discovered that they (Mayans) used to play a ball game within proper ball courts... and that this game could be a precursor to our game of football as we know it now.. rules were different obviously, and method of play was also different... and reasons were slightly more worthy.. The players were revered, were stars, and high up in the echelon of society - which is sadly how it is now but for NO reason.! Here's some lit I found on the net just to explain a little more...

"Originating more than 3,500 years ago, the ball game was a political/religious activity widely played throughout Mesoamerica facing captured nobles against their conquerors. In this ritual game, considered a cosmic metaphor, the ball simulated the trajectory of the stars, and the players determined their path

through the firmament. During the conquest, the Spanish forbade the game and nearly succeeded in eradicating it. However, it survived in some regions of Mexico under the name of Ulama.Today, Xcaret presents a demonstration of this ancient game. The ball court new recreates the architectural style of Monte Alban (in Oaxaca) and Copan (in Honduras). The heavy rubber ball (weighing some 8.5 pounds) rolls and bounces against the sloped side walls. The objective is to pass the ball through the stone rings embedded high up on these walls, using only the hips".

In terms of Barnesalona, there have been some interesting games in the last few weeks, with some VERY close scorelines, and some surprising results. And the league standings are still all to be played for. And all that blabla stuff.

Thank you to everyone for paying their respect in holding the minute silence for James whose passing away was on the 4th Feb, 4 years ago. On a personal note, seeing all of you there emphasises the reasons why I keep his club alive. I was reading his diary only last night which he wrote only 1 month before he left us, and its incredible how much he wanted this club to succeed. I can only keep it alive, but cannot take it to where he wanted to take it - I have my own other interests to deal with ! But, its nice to see you guys taking part and enjoying (most of the time!). There was one thing I would like to add... it is a comment he makes in I believe it was an old email to all managers - that is that should a team want to win so badly as to look to hurt / abuse other players, then he would gladly hand over the cup to that team, and that other teams would probably be happy with that - as most are there to play in a friendly manner, and not in an abusive way. I think we all think that way, but that we sometimes lose site of that.

I think I've said enough for now. There are another 10 weeks left in the season. Lets enjoy these !

And THANKS DOZZZZZZZZZZZZZER for looking after things whilst I was away.. I must remember to bring that KEG of beer in for ya...

Oh.... and the corner flags ;-)

17th December 2006 - Cup Games

The last weekend before the xmas break - lovely sunny weather on our beloved Sunday football Barnesalona day.

Barnes and Bob had to play away from our beloved hallowed ground Barn Elms Pitch 1 for more northern climes over the river at Dukes Meadows - the council are to plug the holes/valleys/troughs on that pitch, re-sprinkle seeds and grow a little more grass.. look forward to seeing it in the New Year 2007.

Results were interesting.. in parts.

WKK 4 Cosmopolitan 2
Madras 2 Hendrix 0
Loko 3 Celtic 2
Barnes 4 Uncle Bob 4

Comments?.. well.. WKK have found goalscoring touch scoring 9 goals in the last 2 weeks which almost equals the total amount scored prior to the last 2 weeks.. Loko had a great win over last years finalists Celtic, Madras had a good win over Hendrix, and Barnes a good draw against Bob.

Check out the website for standings..

And its the end of the 1st half of the season.. what is there to tell of the 06-07 season so far.. well, I think the major major plus is how open the league competition has been so far. Its all very close.

Celtic and Uncle Bob are both on the same points 19 points (Bob have the GD advantage)
Madras, Loko, Hendrix are all in close contention 13-14 points
Auckland and WKK then follow close behind 10 points
Barnes not far behind either 8 points
Groovers and Cosmopolitan fighting for last spot 4 points

Nice to see teams improvements from previous seasons - notably for Madras and Loko. Well done. Interesting to see WKK who are the usual suspects for league winners down in bottom half of the table - consistency of a regular team rosta showing its importance. A nice healthy competition for Celtic and Uncle Bob to stay at the top - a clash between the 2 will be a good match to watch. Auckland are in their usual mid-table area. Barnes need to win a few games to get back up the league standing. And of course, history dictates that new teams always find it hard to do well which is the case with both Groovers and Cosmopolitan - another season or two under their belt, wiht consistent teams I am sure will change things.

We've had some ups and downs, with occasional handbags at twelve paces, sometimes at 2 paces, some good refs, some not so good, some teams happy to lend other teams players in order to have proper games, some good turnouts at the Club House, our first managers meeting, some new blogs, new players, some old coming back, and so it goes on. But I think what pleases me the most, and what I feel is my important goal, or my mission, is for all of you to play healthy competitive football in a friendly manner. That is all that I want. The day that happens is the day I feel I will have achieved. And it seems to me, that albeit, occasional bouts occur, the dialogue between teams is improving, is happening, and is helping reach that point where we all understand what we all want - to play and enjoy our football, and to respect eachother for who and what we are.

Kna wat eye meen. ;-)

10th December '06 Cup Weekend

I had a hangover.. and hence, haven't much to report on this Sunday's football activities, as I couldn't get off my bed except to get to my sofa... and then getting up to return back to my bed.. birthday's hey..

Good news was the games took place. I did take a walkabout the day before to check the pitches both at Barn Elms and Barnes Common, and providing it did not rain, I thought them fit to play on the next day. Thank God the weather report was correct in stipulating no rains due until late on on Sunday. Anyway, enough about that.

Results

Groovers 1 Loko 2
Auckland 3 Madras 1
Celtic 5 Barnes 2
Hendrix 1 Wkk 4

Comments..? humm.. well... uuhhh... Auckland took revenge from their defeat to Madras in the League few weeks prior... and ... erm... Wkk seemed to have found the goal touch finally... although is that just a one off...? ... erm... Celtic beat Barnes ... and Groovers didn't beat Loko..

Goodnight.

More rain but still they played..

Weather was ok throughout the week - things were looking good. And then.. an ever so slight deterioration on the Saturday night through to the morning, where ridiculous rains and heavy heavy winds took it upon themselves to appear.. which prompted my first call of the day at 8h30 am (lets not mention the text received the day before..). And then, they stopped.. blue skies appeared.. the wind dissapeared... maybe the games will go on..

I managed to get there for 10am - pitches looked ok considering, and more importantly, all teams seemed to be ready to play.. relief on my part.. no need to extend the season ! Go go go.

And then, I was invited to play for Loko who only had 10 men.. should I? shouldn't I? The call of the muddy pastures beckoned, the round circular ball lured me in, the dream of playing with 10 others, the... sod the knee.. lets play. And so I did. Without getting too detailed, there were times when I stopped in my tracks after an accomplished pass here and there.. thinking christ I can still do things ! Thank you for the opportunity. Making me more determined to sort my knee out.. maybe I'll be ready for tail end of the season.. enough about me. Sorry, just got excited at the idea of playing footy again !

Results this week were:

Loko 3 Bob 2

Barnes 8 Hendrix 2

WKK 2 Groovers 1

Celtic 3 Madras 0

Auckland 6 Cosmopolitan** 2

** reminder these were Nellie's.

Uncle Bob lost their first game of the season.. wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that I played... mmmm... naahh. Meaning both Celtic and Bob have the same number of points (Celtic, you can thank me later), with Bob just ahead on goal difference. Then, we have Madras, 5 points behind, followed by a possy of teams looking to secure at least 3rd place (Loko, Hendrix, WKK, Auckland), with Barnes just behind the possy, and finally Cosmopolitan, and the Groovers at the bottom end of the table.

We also had our first Managers Meeting which went very well, lots of positives, decisions taken, points discussed, etc.. and am glad to hear that all are happy to make these a regular monthly occurence. I can only see positives on all domains with these meetings taking place. Lets look to keep it up.

Right, I think I've waffled way too much, too long, too etc.. so I'll shut up now. Have a good week.