Sunday 1st April 2007 - League weekend

Some important games were played today under a nice warm sunny day though rather windy.. again..

Results

Auckland Rangers 1-7 Celtic
Lokomotiv 6-0 Cosmopolitan FC
Groovers FC 4-1 Madras
Hendrix FC 2-3 Uncle Bob FC
WKK 6-2 Barnes FC

So Celtic just need to ensure they win their last League game v Barnes on 6th May to secure the coveted Barnesalona League. If they draw and Uncle Bob beat Auckland by a lot of goals - won't state the number cos it may depress the Bobs :-) , then the League winners from last season, the Bobs could take the title.. Wkk 1 point behind them could secure 2nd position should the Bobs lose and the Wkk win.. etc...

On a separate note, we had yet another incident where a fight broke out, and even more saddening for me were some of the comments from certain players "who cares what happened, just want to ensure we have the points and goals still count..." - seems some people just don't get it.. I'd rather not elaborate on my thoughts, but they don't paint a pretty picture. I was pleased the ref decided to abandon the game - lucky for the teams the incident took place close to the full 90mns, or their morning of football would have been ruined completely - and justly deserved.

I went and helped out Cosmo in their loss.. always nice to have the chance to run and kick a ball. Though this time, I had to walk off.. hamstring went.. if its not the bloody knee, then its somink else.. that wasn't before I tried to score a goal from a corner (i used to score quite a few back in the days!), and got a penalty from a handball off the line.. hey ho.

We have Easter weekend off - I'm taking the opportunity to get out of London, off for a spot of sightseeing in Istanbul - no doubt, some pics will appear in this blog at a later date..

Enjoy ur chocs, and long weekend and see you for the final round of the Cup in 2 weeks.

he's cool.

Fresh winds

Mmmmmmmmm - how lovely the breeze was this Sunday ! And that 5 mn shower of hail, snow, and rain, and what a lovely horizontal angle it took. Anyway, enough about the weather, lets concentrate on the football.

Results
Celtic 5 Auckland 2
Bob 1 WKK 1
Hendrix 2 Groovers 0
Loko 1 Barnes 1
Cosmo 1 Madras 4

Few commentary points..
Bob's equaliser from a 35 yard freekick in last 10 mns and WKK missed penalty in the last 5 mns ending in a 1-1 draw means that Celtic are now 3 points clear at the top.. with 2 league games remaining..

No change in league standings for the 1st five teams.

Hendrix with their "revenge" win over Ladbrooke Groovers takes them up to 6th spot overtaking Auckland who take 7th spot.

Madras move up 1 place to 8th with their win over Cosmo. Barnes go down 1 place to 9th with their draw with Loko. And Cosmo remain bottom.

I have played my second consecutive game in 2 weeks (for Cosmo) - thats a first in 4 years ! And by god, my legs were there to prove it, stiffening up in the 1st 5 minutes.. but I had one shot on goal, and it was only about 15 feet from the goalpost - not bad ! And moved back to central midfield behind the back 3 where.. ahhh .. enough. Except would like to say that there was one good crunching tackle I went into and my knee was completely fine with it.. boy, that brings a smile to my face ! And I was able to take free kicks without the knee feeling bulldozed. May sound trivial but believe you me, its a big thing for me ! Thanks to Tris for the loan of his shinpads. I am thinking of acquiring my own seeing my knee is looking promising.

We also had our managers meeting - here are the minutes..

Guess what - corner flags were mentioned again - i keep hearing yes we want to use them.. but, still they remain static...

Referees - i have asked that each team start giving me feedback on the referees - score out of 10 + any comments. I am looking to get reports from the referees as well. I also asked that any comments to be made to the ref should be made by the captain - only he should go and discuss the issue - I am tired of seeing the ref abused - i'd hate to think how many times he'd have words with you guys for every mistake u made on the pitch - it works both ways.

Barnesalona Ethos
Another gentle reminder that there is no promotion, no relegation, no money, just a simple old cup with your teams name on it for winning. People have careers, have families, are human beings - lets tolerate each-other, and make for happy sunday - know what i mean. There is a good spirit happening this season - lets keep it up and improve - the managers meetings seems to be a good forum for this spirit.

Cup Fixture List
Barnesalona Cup SEMI's
Saturday 21st April
Group 1 3rd place v Group 2 4th place 10h30 KO
Group 1 4th place v Group 2 2rd place 02h00 KO

James Rettie Cup SEMI's
Sunday 22nd April
Group 1 1st place v Group 2 2nd place 10h30 KO
Group 1 2nd place v Group 2 1st place 02h00 KO

FINALS
- Bank of EnglandTo be advised - as cannot confirm pitch and times.Will look to Dukes Meadows as well Or Westway Pitches - artificial as discussed.

League Fixture List
Managers agreed to postpone the matches due weekend of 5th and 6th May to week after due to weekend being Bank Holiday weekend.

So:
Saturday 12th May BARNES COMMON
Uncle Bob v Auckland - 10h30 AM

Sunday 13th May BARNES COMMON
Celtic v Barnes - 10h30 KO
Hendrix v WKK - 02h00 KO

And it was nice to see the jugs of beer being finished in time.

Laters.

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 ;-)