Farewell To Jessops

So the great monolith of photographic retail is no more and sadly thousands of peoples jobs have gone with it as well , many will not shed a tear because if you cant compete in the market place then you have to go under,I however will be sad that Jessops is no more.

Firstly however I will not be sad that Jessops as it is now has gone , the overblown retailer who had long forgotten where there core market was who employed many staff who wouldn't know a camera if it hit them and who had a pricing structure ,even on the internet, that was bound to drive  customers into the arms of the competition.
No the Jessops I will mourn is the one that I knew 20-30 years ago as my love of photography grew,the Jessops that had a thriving second hand section,where you could go in and talk to knowledgeable staff about the most obscure bit of photographic equipment and where if you wanted a new camera or lens they would have one in stock for you to try out.
Now maybe that's looking at the past through rose tinted specs but there are Camera shops that  that still thrive with that model, Mifsuds in Brixham, Walters across the North West and the excellent Walters in the Welsh Valleys.Could Jessops have survived had they not tried to be all things to all men I don't know,I am no economist all I do know is that they changed from a retailer I loved to one I wouldn't touch with a barge pole and if that was replicated across thousands of other loyal customers of the past then they have only themselves to blame

I'm Saddened For Young Fans Today

Today is FA Cup third round day a day that should be the most magical in the football calender,a day that when I was growing up sent a tingle down the spine as we watched the mighty take on the minnows and prepared for another cup upset. Those of us of a certain age remember Ronnie Radford (Hereford v Newcastle) ,Tim Buzaglio (West Brom v Woking) Matthew Hanlan (Sutton v Coventry) and many more who had their days of glory in quite unbelievable results

Well today there may well be some upsets, Luton v Wolves, Macclesfield v Cardiff or even Hastings at Middlesbrough but will they quite have the same feel as they did in years gone by,we all know that not just the big boys but many clubs lower down the EPL and Championship treat the cup with contempt as they chase the almighty Sky dollar and that saddens me not just for the fans but also for the players of the giant killing clubs.
Yes they will have their win but you can pretty well guarantee it will be tinged with "Weakened Opposition" syndrome as I doubt that Wolves,Cardiff or Middlesbrough will have anything like full strength sides out.

So to all fans following their teams this weekend  and the neutrals hoping for a giant killing good luck and enjoy your day if you pull it off  but sadly it wont mean quite as much as it did in the past

Why Cant Our Footballers Be More Like Lionel

As we sat through the fabulous summer of sport and gloried in the performances of Mo,Jess,Wiggo & Froomy,Andy and the Paralympians, Cricketers and Golfers how often did we say "If only our footballers could perform and behave in such a manner" and we hoped against hope that the stars of the Premier League would look at the response to other sportsmen and women and maybe change their ways.

Well it was a vain hope as we have seen from abuse of referees,cheating and only today a manager and player getting involved in a brawl, the apologists say "Well football is a different game with different pressures to other sports",now that may be correct, but football does have a player who can be held up alongside all the sportsmen and women of the glorious summer.

He's not a journeyman player from a small club of someone looked on fondly as their career comes to an end he is of course the greatest player on the planet Lionel Messi.
To watch Messi show off his range of skills is a joy but even more impressive is everything else he does
No diving
No manufactured goal celebrations just a smile and the congratulations of team mates
No rolling around as if shot when fouled he just gets up and gets on with the game
Loyalty ,now you may say that being loyal to possibly  the best club side in the history of the game but I can think of many who if offered the sort of salary that the petro dollars of clubs like PSG,Anzi and Manchester City,a salary that would make his current income seem like income support would d have grabbed the mighty dollar and run like hell.

So to all those who dive and snarl and bring ugliness to the beautiful game you have a role model to emulate because not only is he better behaved than you he is by a country mile a better player than you.

New Years day At Halesowen Town

Not a resolution but a plan to widen my knowledge of other non league clubs in the locality by getting along to their matches when my beloved AFC Wulfrunians are either not playing or a bit to far away to travel.

So today and to resurrect a tradition from my youth it was off to a match at Evo Stick Division 1 South side Halesowen Town for their match with Chasetown

Now I am not going to be a groundhopper with loads of statistics all I would say that it was a very enjoyable day,Halesowen play the type of football I enjoy the ground is compact and the stand on the left of the photo shelters you nicely from a rather brisk prevailing wind,in addition the coffee is excellent and I am assured by a friend that the Burgers are the same.

The match ended in a highly entertaining 1-1 draw and I will most certainly pay another visit to The Grove when I get the chance, that's if they'l have me .

Favourite photos of the year

I've no idea how many photos I have taken this year but it must run into the many thousands,well the other day i decided to sort out my favourites and I came yup with around 70 that can be found here on my Flickr page

http://www.flickr.com/photos/captainpenguin/sets/72157632325488417/

Decided though to narrow those down to my top 3 for the year and they are

Drum Roll and excruciatingly long pause

In 3rd place

I have been lucky enough to travel to Shetland on business a few times this year and i got this on July 12th at Sumborough Head

In 2nd place

14th October saw me at the North York Moors Railway war weekend in Pickering and these 2 ladies so perfectly in character

And the winner and my favourite of the year and don't moan because it's football but this one of Nathan Rose-Laing's goal for AFC Wulfrunians against Bustlehome on August 4th was one of those sports shots you just dream about

In 2nd place

Must get blogging again

For whatever reason I have not blogged a great deal this year so as my photo a day project is just one day from completion the plan for 2013 is to blog a bit more,well maybe a lot more,wish me luck

Goodbye Paralympics And Thanks For Everything

To say that the last 10 days have been inspiring is putting it mildly,my views towards disabled athletes  has changed and I think I can say without fear of contradiction that the same can be said of huge numbers of fellow Britons.
So what has changed what has been different well I have gone from thinking aren't they doing well for disabled people to appreciating that these are amazing sportsmen and women, the appreciation that Johnny Peacock and Jason Smyth are words class sprinters in their own right,that I will never forget the way Hannah Cockcroft annihilated the rest of the world in a sprint double and no matter how many times I watch David Whitehead I still don't believe he can turn 20 metre deficit into a 20 metre win within the home straight and as I may have said in a Facebook post just drooled at the site of Oscar in full flow down the final straight of the 400 metres
My highlight of a wonderful inspiring life changing few days was not a gold for GB but a silver,the quite amazing women's 34 point medley relay as 4 nations came into the final few yards neck and neck.with Australia just pipping GB for the gold but the result didn't matter it was a quite pulsating swimming race.

Secondly the attitude of the competitors has if possible been even more inspirational than the performances,congratulations and hugs from losers to winners words of praise straight after the races from defeated athletes (and I will forgive Oscar) to the victors and a total resurrection of sportsmanship that will have Baron De Coubertin grinning from ear to ear wherever he is,and yes i will say to footballers cricketers F1 drivers etc they have set a standard that you have got to follow or be forever dammed.

And finally Channel 4,well I was not looking forward to their coverage believing that the BBC would be so much better and after the first morning I thought I was going to be proved correct,but then came the evening and Claire and Ade anchoring the show superbly a standard they kept up the whole games as the daytime presenters started to get their act together.But the jewel in the crown has to be The Last Leg with amputee's Adam Hills and Alex Brooker and Josh Widdecombe as the token able bodied person bringing a humour that epitomised how in these games disabled athletes are finally  looked on as athletes per se ,for those who have not seen it ask your mates about some of the "Is it OK's"

So to the athletes,broadcasters and everybody involved with these fabulous games thank you from the bottom of my heart,it has certainly changed me hopefully for the better