The Magic Of The FA Cup Lives On

After watching a truly superb FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round tie last night I have a great deal of sympathy for fans who follow those clubs for who this great competition gets in the way of them trying to finish 4^th in the EPL or avoid relegation,because of the weakened sides they put out they are never likely to know the sheer joy that this wonderful competition still engenders.

I wonder if we will ever again have a Wimbledon,Sunderland or Southampton go all the way to a win at Wembley or will the likes of Sutton,Woking and Hereford ever get the great elation of being real giant killers against a full strength top level side.

Well last nights match between AFC Wulfrunians and Coleshill Town (levels 5 & 6 in the non League Pyramid) may not have attracted any publicity but it was a credit to the old competition as full blooded cup tie and a win for the underdog as well.

So to those fans of the “Elite” if you are not going to your clubs match on the weekend of August 24^th may I suggest you find out which of your local non league sides are playing in the FA Cup Preliminary round get down their and watch matches that still engender the true spirit of the FA Cup,your few pounds will also help in ensuring that this level of football that keeps old traditions alive will have a future as well.

And if you are in Wolverhampton the AFC Wulfrunians v Kidsgrove at the Castlecroft Stadium is where you should be heading,you wont be disappointed

Hope I Die Before I Get Old

When Roger Daltry first sang those words from My Generation the last thing on his mind would have been the fact that he would still be playing to word wide audiences 40 years later and the same would apply to Paul McCartney and Elton John,this summer we have seen them in all their geriatric glory at the jubilee and the Olympics,sadly it has left many of us wondering if it would have been better if they had a t least retired before they got old.

Now dont get me wrong I have and always will be a major Who and Beatles fan and a lover of Elton's music  until the 80's came along but surely only the most blinkered die hard fan could have failed to cringe at some of the performances to world wide audiences this summer,sorry Paul , Roger and Elton but the voices have gone and Pete at your age windmill guitar really does not look cool any more.
Strangely enough the one oldie who can still hack it whose guitar style is mature and has a vocal range to cover his material .I refer you to Mr Eric Clapton,does not appear to have been considered for a major role in the Summers festivities.

So guys and Mick and the boys you might want to consider this as well there comes a time when you can no longer hack it those who have gloried in your magnificent music over the years reach for the ear plugs and to use an Olympic term before your legacy is shot to pieces.
So leave us with the records CD's tracks on the MP3 players etc and ride off with dignity into the sunset proud to be able to say I  could once hold an audience in the palm of my hand

Reflections On Super Saturday

There are days of Great Sport and there are Great Sportsdays but very rarely do the 2 come together,Saturday August 4th 2012 was one such day and one that those of us privileged to witness it will ever forget.I have been watching Olympic games World cups etc etc since 1964 but never have I known a day of sport that made me so proud to be British,but it's not just the winning it was the manner of the winning the people who won that made it extra special.

The manner of winning in a way was greater than the winning itself,it was pure sport with all the hype and commercialism stripped away be it the rowers surpassing even the exploits of Bejing the cyclists continuing to astonish us with their brilliance or the athletes living up to or in the case of Greg Rutherford exceeding expectations.
And the people themselves,well a few days ago Colin Moyhihan complained about the majority of medals coming from public school kids,look at yesterday though Colin  and to quote Billy Brag  on Twitter

"Tonight, our society was wonderfully represented by a ginger bloke, an immigrant named Mohammed and a mixed race woman"

In addition we had  rowers from a Comprehensive school a posh public school and a Grammar School and cyclists from mixed backgrounds,but all of them however many silver spoons or lack of them they had in their mouths had one thing in common  a burning desire to be the best at what they did and to win Olympic gold for their country.

A complete representation of our country from all classes and backgrounds gave us that wonderful day yesterday and for that we should be eternally grateful.

But of course where there are winners there have to be losers and there we had possibly the most inspirational moment of the day with Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase in tears in the post match interview apologising for letting everybody down by ONLY winning Olympic Silver,compare and contrast with the attitude of some footballers in South Africa after abject failure in the last World Cup

So to all those who gave us Super Saturday thank you for the joy of all those medals and thatnk you for all the hours of training away from the limelight that you did so that the rest of us could have that truly SUPER DAY.