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peterbirksI had a lie-in this morning.
Well, I didn't really, in that I still got out of bed at 5.30. But I went to be last night at half-past-eight. That meant that I woke up at around 1am (I tend to sleep in no more than four-hour bursts), went back to sleep, and then woke again at 4am, ready for the day.
At this point it's a choice between getting up, firing up Pokerstars and working off a few bonus dollars, or, well, not.
This morning it was quite distinctly not. Which was why I had a lie-in.
About a dozen years ago the South London Mafia lines would have been buzzin' these past couple of days. Crystal Palace beat Liverpool, then Charlton beat Chelsea. Perhaps we are, happily, somewhat less worried about 22 men kicking a ball about than we used to be. The American blogs seem to indicate that yer average American Joe maintains a healthy or unhealthy fanaticisim for basketball, American football and, to a lesser extent, baseball. And the avatars used on pokerstars, when they aren't devoted to dogs or babies, are often pennants of some unheard of football team from the back-end of nowhere.
My guess is that, as even the hinterlands of America succumb to globalisation, this tribalism (for it is little more than that) will fade somewhat.
Cut to, a bar in shithole, northern New York State:
"Hey man, the Bills really gave it to the Cardinals last night, eh?"
"So what?"
And so it is here. No gloatings from Mr Tringham in Hong Kong, and only a minor gloat from Mr Woodhouse of Sidcup. And no whinging from Lord Oakes of Mersey. However, the latter may be because he can't get online, or his TV has broken, or hurricane Wilma has moved east apace, flooding the Mersey Channel and cutting him off. Perhaps we will never know.
Well, I didn't really, in that I still got out of bed at 5.30. But I went to be last night at half-past-eight. That meant that I woke up at around 1am (I tend to sleep in no more than four-hour bursts), went back to sleep, and then woke again at 4am, ready for the day.
At this point it's a choice between getting up, firing up Pokerstars and working off a few bonus dollars, or, well, not.
This morning it was quite distinctly not. Which was why I had a lie-in.
About a dozen years ago the South London Mafia lines would have been buzzin' these past couple of days. Crystal Palace beat Liverpool, then Charlton beat Chelsea. Perhaps we are, happily, somewhat less worried about 22 men kicking a ball about than we used to be. The American blogs seem to indicate that yer average American Joe maintains a healthy or unhealthy fanaticisim for basketball, American football and, to a lesser extent, baseball. And the avatars used on pokerstars, when they aren't devoted to dogs or babies, are often pennants of some unheard of football team from the back-end of nowhere.
My guess is that, as even the hinterlands of America succumb to globalisation, this tribalism (for it is little more than that) will fade somewhat.
Cut to, a bar in shithole, northern New York State:
"Hey man, the Bills really gave it to the Cardinals last night, eh?"
"So what?"
And so it is here. No gloatings from Mr Tringham in Hong Kong, and only a minor gloat from Mr Woodhouse of Sidcup. And no whinging from Lord Oakes of Mersey. However, the latter may be because he can't get online, or his TV has broken, or hurricane Wilma has moved east apace, flooding the Mersey Channel and cutting him off. Perhaps we will never know.
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no subject
Date: 2005-10-27 07:33 am (UTC)Besides - there's not a lot to say about it. Tringers might have chosen to wind you up but you're a fairly rubbish target as Chelsea goes, since you're unlikely to be too phased by that sort of thing, since you don't really care that much. Besides which, the game did only finish 9 hours ago. And I believe that Paul is once again off-line for technical reasons, although I don't recall who told me this.
There may also be a dawning realisation that the interests we might individually have in our own teams are not of general interest to others. I could ramble on about the huge promise to be shown from the Man City midfield which is now three-quarters Academy product and how Lee Croft will be a more than adequate replacement for SWP. But nobody's interested and I guess one realises this after a while.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-27 10:37 am (UTC)I felt a bit detached, to be honest, mentally because our Cup record (any cup, but League Cup in particular) has been so dismal for so many years, leading me to switch off, and physically because I wasn't there, preferring to listen to it on the BBC digital radio channel (God bless the internet).
I think the passion fades somewhat with advancing years, though. While I wouldn't contemplate surrendering my season ticket (nearly 30 years of unbroken service now) neither am I as excited by the current run - without parallel in my lifetime - as I might once have been. Life stuff keeps coming to the fore, where 20 years back there was little to get in the way of footy (and beer and games, I suppose).
Wouldn't dream of gloating
Date: 2005-10-29 01:21 pm (UTC)As I recall, this time last year we beat Charlton in this competition, but I'd happily have swapped that for 3 points in the league against Charlton (either home or away).
Plus I worry that if I say anything, a certain West Ham supporter might want to remind us that his team aren't in the bottom three (still time, though).