The Sands of Time

 Has my life got so mundane or routine that I struggle to post on here? Do people really want to hear about me winning golf tournaments, supporting Wayne Rooney, landscaping the garden or getting merry at beer festivals, because, to be honest, they seem to be the major acivities dominating my life during the Summer. with no posts throughout July and August and only a couple in May or June, there has been less to bring to the attention of my regular readers.

So what has happened that's different and news worthy about me, or the World in general? Me first.

Well number 1 son is now a qualified fitness instructor, earning a crust in a gym in Geneva. Its a tough school with the need to build up the client base the big challenge. So far so good though. He tied in his qualification by taking Tay to a Taylor Swift concert where he did the one knee thing and got engaged. We are down to Bristol in October to meet Tay's family which should be good.

SWMBO continues to try to recover from a very unique hamstring injury which occurred during a Park Run in March. Rather than the hammy snapping, the tendon to bone attachment tore and the bone splintered. It's tricky to treat so the recovery process will take some while yet.

I have been trucking along during the activities listed earlier, although I had a scare when I got into difficulties trying to climb the Worcestershire Beacon near Malvern. Just me thinking I was still 40 and could do serious climbing with nil preparation. Lesson learnt. 

Number 1 grandaughter has jibbed off  her football chum and hooked up with a guitarist, so she is now a groupie. She has GCSE exams next May so all focus on those.

Number 1 grandson has moved to senior school and seems to be finding time to fit lessons in between rugby, golf, swimming and football.

Talking of rugby ( you see what I did there), the S-Club have finally knocked Twickenham weekends away on the head. There have been several reasons for that. Twickenham ( or the Allianz as it is called now) is full of corporate or non-rugby types, who are up and down to the bar all match. The ticket prices are around £120 pounds and until recently the product on the pitch was not worth that price. The kick-off times are also less conducive to a good post match run ashore somewhere. Factor in one or two nights hotel at £150 and rail tickets prices and it becomes an uncomfortably expensive trip.

So all good teams have a plan B and ours is to embrace the Champions Cup in 2024 and the U20 fixtures in 2025. First up is Bristol v Leinster where hotel, travel and match tickets are less than the cost of a ticket to Twickenham. who can't love Bristol. It has an Ivy restaurant and a Fullers pub although it takes three trains to get there these days.

SO probably more changes ahead as SWMBO and I are setting up a few visits to see houses with a view to considering whether we should be downsizing. No reason to at the moment but better to do it when fit and able than when one is infirm and it becomes a struggle. Watch this space. 

Jesus saves....

....and Chivers heads in the rebound was the first iteration of this well worked slogan that I saw. It was in the garden of a church in Streatham. Football and footballers now seem to be having their moment in our lockdown life, as debate rages about whether they are doing the right thing, or indeed, anything.

The debate got started when some high profile Premier League clubs started putting their non-playing staff on furlough leave during the Corvid-19 crisis which allows the government to pay 80% of their salary. People considered this the wrong use of the furlough programme when their players were earning thousands, if not millions,  a week, and a small paycut for them could enable the Clubs to keep their non-playing staff on full pay. Even the Minister of State for Health waded in and fuelled the fire by indicating that players should do more to help.

Enter the pantomime villain who is Gordon Taylor, secretary of the Professional Footballers Association, and in all but name, the footballers shop steward. Taylor has been subject to all sorts of allegations and investigations regarding his ethical approach to his working practises and amid the latest scrutiny he agreed he would step down. That was nearly twelve months ago!

So here he is now with the bit between his teeth and an opportunity to kick the Government right where it hurts. 'If my players take a 30% pay cut that equates to over £500m' he said, 'that's 300m in taxes for the NHS'. Great rhetoric, Gordon, but where are the figures to back that up? While off shore Company and Switz bank accounts may be something HMLR have been trying to close down for years, there is a feeling in the wider community that footballers are overpaid and lack that intellectual quality which makes them valued members of society.

Wayne Rooney, not usually famed for his journalistic talents, now writes a column in The Times which he is using to try to proliferate  the average footballers case for greater regard at the same time as Kyle Walker, the England right back, decides that social isolation might be more tolerable if he shares it with a couple of hookers. Which part of isolation don't you understand Kyle?

This financial challenge for the Premier League will run and run. Will there be breach of contract recriminations? Will players leave on free transfers? Will some clubs make huge losses and go to the wall? Will Manchester City win their financial fair play appeal as they are now able to balance their books in a more favourable manner? Do I care, does anybody care? Probably not.

That said, I and others are missing watching sport on the television, and after the success of the virtual Grand National on Saturday I have to think that EA-Sports, the makers of FIFA, and the Premier League statistical partner could produce virtual matches to  allow the outstanding fixtures to be played out, final tables to be produced and cups and medals to be awarded. This could even cascade down the football pyramid such that promotion and relegation can be decided at all football league levels.

Somebody somewhere should be able to introduce a high tech solution but sometimes I just think football organisations are too insular and in the case of Gordon Taylor need to justify their own existence and look after number 1.  It's a great idea, but it  won't happen

Oink, Oink

So a new strain of flu is spreading its way around the world as a result of the initial outbreak in Mexico. We are all checking ourselves here to ensure we have not developed small curly tails, pointy ears or large square looking noses. I guess that anybody who looks like Shrek is being viewed with suspicion, so I wonder if Manchester United have put Wayne Rooney into quarantine?

It is not surprising that cases are starting to be identified across the globe given the number of people in the air at any one time. On Sunday morning I drove past the runway at Heathrow, past Hatton Cross, and the aircraft takeoff route was right above us to the East. In the six or seven minutes it took me to pass the three sets of lights on the A30, five jumbo's took off. Thats about 2000 people, or 20,000 per hour, just from one airport.

I remember when the flu virus mutated into Asian flu some years ago and there were a number of fatalities particularly amongst the older population. It did hit Britain during the Winter, however, and I suspect the fact we are entering our warmest period now may contribute to the reduced effects the virus seems to be having here. Mexico is one of the most polluted countries in the world, and the air quality in Mexico City in particular is very poor. I am confident that sensible precautions in the UK will contain this strain as just another 'bad cold'.

Anyway, its early so I must go and stick my snout in the trough.