To The BBC For Fighting Talk
I had got tickets to go to the BBC Radio Theatre to see the broadcast of Fighting Talk.
I took these pictures as I walked up to the BBC in Portland Place.
It does appear to me, that the architect has made a good job putting a modern building behind the iconic All Souls church and beside the well-recognised BBC Broadcasting House.
ITV And The BBC Disagree Over Fred’s Penalty
ITV’s commentators and experts thought that the penalty awarded to Brazil last night was correct. The BBC’s pundits were adamant Fred dived.
The Times this morning is saying that Fred was guilty. Type “Fred penalty” into Google News and most newspapers the world-over think it was a dive!
Brazil were lucky, as other decisions of the referee didn’t stand up to video scrutiny.
Let’s hope that the rest of the referees have been to Specsavers!
A Little Alone Time For Roy
This headline accompanied a picture of Roy Hodgson walking by the waterfront by the team’s hotel in Rio.
Managing footballers and especially those as well-paid as today’s England team, is probably not an easy job. I got to wondering, how the players were reacting to Roy’s apparent calmness.
So I looked up Sir Alf Ramsey’s obituary in the Guardian. Talking about his playing career, they said this of Sir Alf.
He was a calming and reassuring influence on the whole team.
So one could probably assume that he managed his teams in a similar way. We do know from the likes of Ian Callaghan, that Sir Alf fought to get the best for his players, and it was probably partly from Sir Alf’s pushing that the whole England squad from 1966 got winner’s medals. Even if he got his posthumously.
I don’t think that for the England team to get worked up will do them any good.
So is Roy doing his best to keep total calm in the camp? After all he has been to World Cup Finals before with Switzerland in 1994. So he probably knows more about motivating a side in the World Cup than any of the public! Or the pundits!
My Earliest World Cup Memories
The earliest World Cup I can remember is in a book I was given about football, which included a report of the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland. Looking at the pictures I remember I was puzzled as to why some players had numbers greater than eleven on their shirts.
But the first World Cup Finals I remember is Sweden in 1958. All four home nations qualified for the finals and it was the first World Cup to be properly televised. I think there was high sales figures for large nineteen inch black and white televisions. This fragment on Wikipedia says this about the coverage.
The 1958 tournament in Sweden saw a greater range of matches thanks to the new Eurovision Network; the BBC and ITV both screened matches, although the networks had to overcome opposition to the coverage from the Scottish FA, who were worried that attendances at Junior football matches might be hit.
Just imagine the uproar now, if the Scottish FA tried the same thing.
1962 in Chile wasn’t shown live, but I can remember the iconic pictures of Ken Aston, who refereed the infamous Battle of Santiago.
Reading his Wikipedia entry, there is this section, which describes how he invented the red and yellow cards, which referees in football and some other sports use today.
I’m Disappointed With My City
London is one of the most multi-cultural cities in the world, if not the most multi-cultural city.
And I live in one of the most multi-cultural boroughs in London; Hackney.
So you’d think that there would be a big screen somewhere to watch the World Cup.
But I can’t find a public one anywhere in London.
For the last World Cup in 2010, Hackney had a festival with a big screen close to me in Gillette Square. It’s reported here on the Hackney web site.
I’m very disappointed with my city.
Is John Lewis A Lucky Company?
English cricket was in a bad way after the disastrous Australian tour last winter and it does seem that a change of sponsor to Waitrose has brought a change of luck!
You could argue the team would have improved anyway, but even if that is the case then John Lewis have shown superb timing to decide to sponsor the team.
It is said that you have to make your own luck.
John Lewis certainly do!
Especially this morning, with pictures of happy cricketers with Waitrose on their chests, all over the media.
Did Arsenal Shilt Themselves?
On of my long-standing friends, who just happens to be both Jewish and a Hull City supporter uses the word shilt to mean bringing bad luck on yourself.
So did announcing the Victory Parade cause Arsenal to go behind so early.
If a
Did Arsenal Shilt Themselves?
nybody knows the real spelling of shilt please tell me.
Has Wayne Rooney Grown Up?
I heard this from Roy Hodgson in the England Press Conference today.
If it’s anything to do with desire and ambition then we’ve got nothing to fear. I’ve told the players to go away for a week and get mentally prepared. Wayne has decided to take a physio with him because he is so determined to come back firing on all cylinders. His attitude – spot on, desire – couldn’t be better, ability – yes he has. Now it is all about bringing that to the match on the day.
The Rooney of old wouldn’t have been so professional!
Watching The World Cup
Obviously, Brazil is out for most fans and although I’d like to go to Manaus to see England play Italy on the 14th June, it is probably prudent not to go.
But why not go and watch the match in Italy. I could fly out on the Friday, watch the match in a bar on Saturday night and then take the train back on the Sunday or the Monday.
Cities that come to mind are Venice, Naples, Salina and of course Taranto.
You may ask why Taranto! Just don’t go near a Royal Navy ship or establishment on the twelth of November, as often they are celebrating the battle that marked the start of the end of the battleship and was then imitated by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor.
I Missed The Final Match Of The Season
I have been away all week and at no time did I check the time of the last Ipswich match of the season. After all Saturday matches start at 15:00 don’t they?
I knew that all matches were starting at the same time, but thinking about it, I don’t think I’ve been to a last match of the season in recent years.
Then last night I got in about ten to a house empty of food and went straight to bed and slept all night.
This morning, I watched the television spasmodically, whilst I did my holiday washing and had a bath. About nine, I went to the Angel to do my shopping and then had breakfast in Carluccio’s. I didn’t even buy a paper until I left to go to the match. I suppose it didn’t help that no London club, was involved in promotion or relegation from the Championship.
I had intended to do a couple of things before I took my usual 13:00 train, but because the Overground was closed, I got to Liverpool Street station early enough to get the 11:30 train, which would have meant only missing a bit of the match. So I went and had a cup of tea and came back for the 13:00 train.
Only when I was sitting in the train, did I switch my phone on and then I got a couple of texts with the teams.
As I walked back through the barriers at Liverpool Street, there was another fan, who hadn’t heard about the match time either.
I know it is all my fault, but I suspect, I’m not the only fan who lived away from his team, who missed this last match of the season.
The Anonymous Widower 