Tuesday, August 24, 2004

The highs and the lows, after poor Paul's efforts it was great to see Kelly Holmes take Gold in the 800m and stay on course for double....she has suffered from her fair share of injury and nearly races at the big occasions. I was screaming c'mon at the TV and not for the first time these Olympics it nearly brought me to tears.....but then I feel very emotional at the moment.

And after a string of disappointing performances (fancy training all those hours, days, months and years and stuffing it up like BBC SPORT %7C Olympics 2004 %7C Athletics %7C Rawlinson who eased off in his heats and got beaten into fourth consequently getting a tough semi in a poor lane choice!) well done Dean Macey who after injury has only compelted two Decathlons (surely one of the ahrdest events ever) in the past 4 years performed amazingly to take fourth - he deserved a medal, but then don't they all......

And I was also chuffed for El Guerrouj someone who has been such a wonderful athlete to never triumph at the Olympics - this was his last shot at it and he came good.

There have been many other wonderful, and not so wonderful, stories at the Olympics which is why in my book it remains the greatest sporting event ever (well at least in any 4 year cycle. They talked once of making it every two years - but that must have been a commercial, marketing, bic corporation type talk and would sersiously have detracted from the whole greatness of the event.

In other news we won the quiz tonight....cool!

And a welcomedistraction from a sense of foreboding I've been feeling for a couple of weeks now as its coming close to the anniversary of my mum's death and I'm trying not to think about it - at least let it get me down......but fuck it how can you not - I've noticed Dad is showing a melancholy, manifested by not really having much enthusiasm for much and being somewhat distracted and meandering in his onversation. He's been so brave this last year, so strong at living, at not stopping living, the strain must be so hard to take soemtimes - we don't really talk about this kind of stuff, my sister does and that's ok, but we both know (I hope he knows) that its there, unsaid.....the love and the sadness and the admiration and the gratitude in me that he's my dad.

In wriiting this I am aware that I haven't really shared this with D. and I must (and not coz she'll read this) - one of the things I most love about her is her selflessness - except its more than that, she actively, yet quietly and unassumingly does so much in so many ways - I don't think she realises just how perfect she is for me - and its hard to express because its not about saying 'when I am hard to be with you still love me and I love you for that'.....by its very nature that's admitting I am not as thoughtful, that I cannot change who I am, that I cannot always make the adjustments, that when I say this and it sounds like that I cannot take it back and say it a different way - D. can, d. adjusts the way she communicates to compensate for me - I cannot do that......and its not a case of can't living on won't street - I am too reactive in my behaviour, too reactionary - sometimes its a good thing, but its also a double edged sword.......I'm not making sense - its funny I haven't used here to mull over my thoughts for ages and now I do it makes perfect sense to me but am not sure in reading it would to anyone else - but I know and it will affect my thoguhts and feelings and attitudes in some way......

.....I'm going to bed!
posted by Listener at 11:42 PM

Sunday, August 22, 2004

Poor poor Paula, how upsetting - another reason why sport is so moving - the highs and the lows :o(
posted by Listener at 6:48 PM

Saturday, August 21, 2004

Another gold but in bizarre circumstances!!! This Olympics has had its fair share of drama over rules and mishaps (see post on diving a couple of days ago). This is one of the more bizarre.

So in three day eventing the last day is a show jumping round. The way it works at the Olympics is its a team event and your competing for the team medals. But individual positions are recorded during the competition and after the show jumping team round there's another round for the top 25 finishers which then determines the individual medals.

You start the show jumping within 45 seconds of a bell sounding and the time starts when you cross the 'start line'.. The golden rule is you never cross the start line until after the bell and once you cross the line you must start the round else you'll get penalised. In the team part, Germany's Bettina Hoy crossed the line and then cantered round in a loop again and recrossed the start line and then did her round. Her excuse was that she looked at the clock the first time she crossed and it had been reset (by an over zealous official), but there's a back up clock and the rules say she must start jumping.

Anyhow she had an excellent round and Germany 'won' the team medal.

Then the officials penalised her for her error putting Germany and her individually completely out of the running for medals.

Germany objected and they reinstated her (because of her claim that the clock had been reset).

And she not only won the team event but went on to win the individual Gold as well!!

Now with the penalities Great Britain would have had Silver in the team and following the individual rounds Gold for Leslie Law and Bronze for Pippa Funnell. With the reinstatement it was bronze ofr the team silver for Leslie. Also this affected France (who were second and USA who were fourth).

But the rules are the rules and they were broken so the three effected countries raised an objection (to the objection) and the courts of arbitration upheld this.

So we get a Gold, a Silver and a Bronze instead of the Bronze and Silver we had immediately after the event.

Poor old Bettina I bet she's gutted. I do however feel this is the 'correct' decision, sport must be played under the strict interpretation of the rules (not referring of course to instantaneous referree decisions later shown on telly to be incorrect!).

posted by Listener at 9:08 PM


To put things in perspective Mathieu Pinsent (one of our rowers who one gold) first competed in an Olympic Games in 1992 winning gold with the legend who is Steve Redgrave. He then one Gold with Steve Redgrave at the next two Olympics (once in a pair and in 2000 as part of a four), not only has he just one his fourth Olympic medal in his fourth Olympics but he has never lost an Olympic rowing race - that includes qualifying rounds!!!

That's pretty awesome. In 2000 at Sydney when their win gave Steve Redgrave his fourth medal he famously said immediately after the race 'That's it for me, if anyone ever sees me in a boat again they can willingly shoot me'. Of course he later changed his mind and competed in a fifth Olympics at the age of 42 (despite being diagnosed with diabetes half way through his preparation) something he is constantly reminded of.

Mat Pinsent is 33, he'll only be 37 if he decides to go for the next Olympics (his fifth) and 41 if he hangs on in for a 6th - if he did make those decisions I don't think anyone would doubt he'd win.
posted by Listener at 8:52 PM


What a completely awesome day at the Olympics - in fact I have been hugely enjoying the last few days - today we won a shed load of medals - I was particularly chuffed for the coxless fours featuring Matthew Pinsent as he is just awesome - I sat there willing them forward with every stroke - what a race!!!! We won two other rowing medals, a swimming bronze, gold and silver at the sailing and a gold in the cycling to go with yesterday's sailing and cycling golds. And the badminton silver was awesome I have my fingers crossed for Kelly Southerton in the Heptathlon tonight and Paula Radcliffe tomorrow for the Marathon.

Oh and BBC's online Olympic coverage like its TV and Radio counterparts completely rock.

How exciting also that we are doing so well at Cricket - clean sweeping the Windies - I remember studying for my finals listening to a tour of the West Indies when we were annihilated every innings so its kind of sweet revenge really.

obviously all this sport is taking up a fair chunk of my time - the new job is cool very friendly and I really like the way the company works and the things established for employees. Yes indeed I think it was a very good move to move there :)
posted by Listener at 7:29 PM

Tuesday, August 17, 2004

I find that sport moves me hugely, not just in a wanting your team to win or shouting at the TV as an event unfolds.....but the triumphs and tragedies of sporting events as they unfold genuinely move me....like coming home tonight and listening to Steve Parry Taking bronze in the car - I had to pull over and listen to the last 100m - well done Steve nuff respect to you :o)
posted by Listener at 7:12 PM

Monday, August 16, 2004

I love the sport - especially the Olympics - tonight in the 3m Synchronised divingGreece won gold in bizarre cirumstances. The favourites were the Chinese pair but they had the worst penultimate jump you could have with one diver landing on his back and getting 0 for the dive making them last - it was like something from that advert. The Greeks jumped next nad quite frankly got a better score than the dive really deserved though maybe the judges were comparing it to the Chinese's effort!!! Anyhow that made the Greeks first with 5 teams still to jump. Of these the second favourites (the Russians) took their last dive and one of the pair hit his feet on the board and one of the Americans mistimed his jump and didn't get enough height to do a really good dive. Sadly the British pair could only manage 5th but well done to the greeks - that's Top Bombing and that's why I love sport :o)
posted by Listener at 10:16 PM

Saturday, August 14, 2004

I left work for the last time on Thursday - I had a fun leaving do and was given a DVD Karaoke system as a leaving present which is ace :)

We went for beers after work and stayed over in Slough then I had Friday off and we chilled. We were supposed to go up town with D's family for a meal but she's been suffering with an eye infection poor thing so we decided to postpone. I spent today alrgely doing housework gardening and enjoying the start of the new footie season as well as the Olympics.
posted by Listener at 6:22 PM

Tuesday, August 10, 2004

We just watched a completely fascinating programme about Craig Johnstone whom I remember form the early '80s Liverpool football team, the guys an Australian who wrote at age 16 to several clubs for a chance to trial for them, Middlesborough say yes, his folks sell their house to pay for his airfare and he goes to England to trail.....and bombs, he's told he's the worst footballer the amnger (Jack Charlton no elss) has ever seen.....so instead of packing his bags and going home he spends the next 6 months 'learning how to play football, on his own in the back streets of Middlesborough. 6 months later he gets a second trial and signs for them, then in 1980 Liverpool sign him and he wins 5 league championships, the European Cup and becomes the first Australian to win (scroing the winning goal no less) the FA Cup.

Then at aged 27 he retires to nurse his sister who was in a coma following methane poisoning whilst on holiday in Morocco. At the top of his game he worked so hard to achieve in, he retires for his family........and whilst doing this he starts to coach the local kids team and comes across the idea which would eventually become, after significant personal investment in its development, 'The Predator' football boot which pretty much every player wears now....except his idea originally was that it would help less talented players be better footballers but Adidas who made it marketed it as an exclusive/expensive brand.....that and their use of swaet shops and kangaroo leather caused him to walk away from the comapny....leaving them the ongoing design rights.

Since then he has started a system to 'grade' or 'assess' players, aimed at young children's development and which allows them, through basic key performance measurements to assess their devlopment as footballers against say their faveoutire professional footballer. This is currently being developed as urban/inner city projects in the UK. And since then he's revisited the same idea for a footie boot - called the PIG (because it squeals like one on contact with the ball) - but developed it in a way that it can be brought as a cheap 'strap on' to a conventional boot - making it attainable to young kids.

The guy is obviously hugely talented, persistent, and an altruist who fights for what he believes in. He wants to leave some form of legacy and has so many ideas and the will to make them happen - it was a fascinating programme, about a fascinating person.
posted by Listener at 10:54 PM

Wednesday, August 04, 2004

How exciting, I picked up the car we bought just before we went on holiday today. Its a rather cool Honda Civic 1.6SE Executive (coz that's wot I am see, an executive!!!). Its really weird owning a car after 4 years of company cars, though kind of liberating too, I liked the security of a company car, not having to worry about anything, but its also quite expensive on tax.

I of course took some piccies and me and D. are going to take it for a spin later before tucking it up in the garage for a few days as I don't leave work (and hence lose the company car) until next week.

I realised today I leave work on Friday 13th which is quite a cool date to leave work on I reckon :)

The garage gave me a big bunch of flowers as a present for buying the car which was nice.....I pretended I'd got them for D. to celebrate.....but only for a few seconds ;)







posted by Listener at 6:44 PM

Tuesday, August 03, 2004

This is the view from our balcony. The hotel was lovely, we met loads of ace people and the kids made friends really easily, there was a large dutch crowd who were a good laugh - Dutch people are so ace :)




Kos Town was ok, once you got away from the really touristy bits, we visited the harbourside (above) and the Castle (below) and wandered around the side streets and squares. we also took a boat cruise to three other islands from one of the boats shownb here was a really, really good day.







Me and D wandering around Kos Town.




This is the Asklepion, one of the main tourist attrations and a temple to the Asklepion, the God of Healing and where Hippocrates ideas and theories were practiced and developed.




We found loads of ace restaurants serving lots of really lovely food, near to the hotel where several on the beach fronmt with views like this.

I'll write up some more later.
posted by Listener at 7:20 PM

Sunday, August 01, 2004

Just got back from two glorious weks in Greece, Kos to be exact....am a bit tired from the night flight home but we all had a really cool lovely time :)

More to follow I guess :)

posted by Listener at 8:25 PM