Olympic Tickets
What has happened here is that the organisers got their sums wrong.
They based the number of tickets on what had been sold for previous games in places like Athens, Sydney and Barcelona.
But they forgot some things in their calculations. How about these?
London has lots of residents, who have families who live abroad. So what better time to have a family reunion?
Lots of those who work in the City are highly paid EU citizens. So what better time to buy a lot of tickets so all your friends and family from Ireland, Germany or Spain can see the Olympics?
London has lots of attractions, so many ordinary people in nearby EU countries, who probably won’t get another chance to see an Olympics, are making the London their big holiday this year. Rio will be a bit expensive next time round. The Irish certainly will be coming in droves, as we all know they love a party.
So if anything, the shortage of Olympic tickets is more of a success thing than anything else. Although you could blame London’s unique place in the world and being a member of the EU as important too.
Richard Pitman’s Good Deed
Richard Pitman was a good jump jockey, but more famous for losing the Grand National on Crisp in the last few strides to Red Rum. He was also a reliable BBC commentator and presenter.
He was reported yesterday as having donated a kidney to a complete stranger, after seeing his friend deteriorate whilst waiting for a transplant. He was on BBC Breakfast and the story is also related here.
On a day when Baroness Warsi was complaining that we are turning from religion, isn’t what Pitman did a much more altruistic act, than most of the worthless words we get from those with so-called religion. Name a religious leader, who did what Pitman did for a start!
Incidentally, a kidney transplant expert, told me that one in a hundred of us only have one kidney.
I do think that Pitman upset a few people in what he did, as it wasn’t covered very deeply in the media.
Chelsea in a Pickle
Chelsea’s pickle is not financial, but the sort of problem you get when everybody tries to pull in different ways. It’s described here on the BBC.
I would think that working for Roman Abramovitch must be difficult in any capacity., from a gateman and a tea lady upwards.
I certainly think that unless something remarkable happens, Andre Villas-Boas doesn’t have long left at Stamford Bridge.
Rangers in a Pickle
Glasgow Rangers went into administration yesterday and it looks more than your average mess, if you read this article on the BBC.
If you read the comments in the BBC article, they are blaming everybody.
I suppose that as it’s the HMRC that has caused the club to go into aministration, then the UK government will get the blame.
Is the Glasgow Premier League Going to Get Smaller?
It has been reported this afternoon that Glasgow Rangers may be going into Administration, so if they did, it would affectively leave Glasgow Celtic as the only major club in Glasgow.
So does this mean the end for Rangers?
The major creditor is reported to be HMRC, who lately have demanded their money.
But whatever happens they’ll get a ten-point deduction, just as Portsmouth will in England, who’ve also gone into administration.
It is also been reported that Celtic’s Chief Executive is not worried if Rangers folds. That in my view is not a very charitable altitude.
The French Prove They Shouldn’t Have Had the Olympics
The French were peeved that we got the Olympics for 2012, especially as they said they had all the stadia ready.
But when they built the Stade de France, they forgot one important thing; undersoil heating. In fact because of the design of the roof, they may have actually made things worse in cold weather. This is from Wikipedia.
The tinted glass in the center reduces the contrast and distributes natural light. It filters out red and infrared radiation, however, it allows blue and green lights, due to their necessity involving the health of the turf.
So perhaps their design actually made matters worse by stopping red and infrared radiation.
I suspect there will be small arguments going on all over Paris tonight. How many Irishmen for instance have come over for a long weekend with their wifes to give them a Valentine’s Day treat on Tuesday? And how many French are wanting to get back the South-West, where most of their rugby is placed?
It’s just been said on BBC Radio 5, that the reason the Stade de France has no undersoil heating , is that it was built on an old rubbish dump and methane rises out of the soil.
The BBC’s North-Western Bias
I listened to all of the BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast Show this morning. Only one of the Premier League matches was mentioned; Manchester United v Liverpool.
You’d have thought no other matches were being played!
The only other match mentioned was Crystal Palace v Doncaster because it had been called off.
So let’s hope no north-western team wins anything this year!
This Awful Cold Weather
Yesterday and Wednesday as well, I hardly left the house, as it was so cold. Today, it’s no better with -1 at 06:00 and -3 at 09:00 forecast for tomorrow. And that -3 comes with fog. At least it gets sunny in the afternoonafternoon, but temperatures are just hovering above freezing. Ipswich isn’t any better with temperatures a couple of degrees colder. So I suspect that I’ll stay in bed as long as I can.
I remember a similar day some years ago, when C had plenty of work to do and wanted to get rid of me for the afternoon, so she found two pairs of thick tights and I wore those under my trousers.
I just about survived.
It’s funny how attitudes to practical transvestism have changed. A man would have never done this in the sixties, but now if needs must, men do.
In fact in the 1960s, Bobby Moore tried to sell Man-Tights and I can remember the adverts for them on trains on the London Underground.
I also remember a story from a friend, who was a very keen caver, who told me to keep warm, they generally wear several layers of tights. Once in the 1970s, a friend broke a leg badly. whilst caving in France and they had to carry him out all the way. But the worst bit, was removing his tights, as he didn’t want to go to a French hospital wearing them.
I have no choice today, as I live alone.
So it’s either go and freeze or stay at home and keep warm.
I think I’ll do the latter!
You really do miss your late partner for the smallest and silliest reasons!
Everything Comes To Him Who Waits
In all this fuss about the new England manager, nothing has been heard from Stuart Pearce. Although, Harry Redknapp has almost ruled himself out. As have a few other candidates like Alan Pardew.
So does this leave the field clear for Stuart Pearce to be caretaker manager for the match against the Netherlands. We might find out in a few minutes. I suspect we will hear he’s got the job, as who else knows their way around the FA offices, boardroom and politics? If they pick somone for one match, even if he was of the status of say Arsene Wenger, he would be unable to do anything in a couple of weeks.
So could the reason, Pearce has been quiet, is that he knows more than anybody else and doesn’t want to overturn the pile of unstable bricks? Remember as assistant coach to the England team, he will have detailed dossiers on all the England players and because of his job as Under-21 coach, he’ll know the players coming through.
The pundits all say we won’t win Euro-2012 or the football at the Olympics, so if he performs well in the Netherlands game, his coaching team could be given the responsibility for Euro-2012 in addition to the Olympics. In fact, as the Olympics tournament is not many games, handling two teams might not be much more difficult, especially as he’ll probably have Beckham in the Olympic team, to help and act as a conduit for the media.
The permutations are endless.
They have just announced Stuart Pearce will be manager for the match against the Netherlands.
Do I think they’ll take it away from him for Euro-2012? No! Unless we get beaten seriously by The Netherlands. After all he’d be some elephant to have in the room next door.
The Wisdom of Stuart Pearce
Ask a tabloid journalist and they’ll tell you that Stuart Pearce’s philosophy is summed up by his nickname; Psycho.
But look him up on Brainy Quote and you get a totally different view.
Here’s a couple of examples of quotes from Stuart Pearce.
But to me the bottom line is the more education you can give yourself, and the more preparation you can do, the less chance of failing.
I am one of those people who quite enjoys responsibility.
If my results are not good I will lose my job.
There are no quotes of any sort for Harry Redknapp.
The Anonymous Widower 