As everyone knows England only win the World Cup with three West Ham players in the team. Our dream of ending 44 years since winning it took a turn for the better today when Robert Green, Matthew Upson and Scott Parker were all named in the 30 man squad.
Congratulations to them all, especially Parker whose performances this season have warranted it. His call up is long overdue. Lets hope they all make the final 23 when the last 7 are culled.
Tuesday 11 May 2010
Zola Sacked
So West Ham have finally done what was on the cards since the takeover and sacked Gianfranco Zola. I for one am not very happy about it.
Yes Zola was inexperienced and yes he sometimes shows tactical deficiencies, but from day 1 you could see what he was trying to do. Every player on the pitch needed to be comfortable receiving the ball wherever he was and most have become so. Even when we were losing there were often good signs.
No-one will ever know if given another season it would be more like last season or the one just finished, but I think Zola will be one who got away. I can see him becoming a very good manager and even leading Italy to the World Cup Finals someday. On top of that he is a true gentleman, unfortunately for him at least one of his employers isn't and he paid the price.
I hope he has success in his career (unless of course he ends up at Chelsea, Spurs or Arsenal) and I hope that West Ham can pick a suitable replacement. Sadly most of the names mentioned so far would be a backward step from where we were this morning. Lets hope the new incumbent quickly wins the support of the players that Zola clearly had.
Yes Zola was inexperienced and yes he sometimes shows tactical deficiencies, but from day 1 you could see what he was trying to do. Every player on the pitch needed to be comfortable receiving the ball wherever he was and most have become so. Even when we were losing there were often good signs.
No-one will ever know if given another season it would be more like last season or the one just finished, but I think Zola will be one who got away. I can see him becoming a very good manager and even leading Italy to the World Cup Finals someday. On top of that he is a true gentleman, unfortunately for him at least one of his employers isn't and he paid the price.
I hope he has success in his career (unless of course he ends up at Chelsea, Spurs or Arsenal) and I hope that West Ham can pick a suitable replacement. Sadly most of the names mentioned so far would be a backward step from where we were this morning. Lets hope the new incumbent quickly wins the support of the players that Zola clearly had.
Sunday 2 May 2010
Proof That I Am An Idiot!
A strange title perhaps? I didn't even realise what an idiot I was until after I'd got home some time later.
Anyway, lets start at the beginning. This morning at archery we had a novelty American shoot. The weather was not good and only 6 turned up to shoot, five of whom shot this round. The American bit is easy enough - 2½ dozen arrows at each of 60, 50 and 40 yards - the novelty bit was that the winner was the nearest person to scoring 627 rather than the highest score. Also misses count as 10 not 0, otherwise scoring is as normal 9, 7, 5, 3 & 1. The best way to get it is apparently 88x7, 1x1 and a miss. 7s were the tie break if needed.
So at 60 yards I shot as normal. Shooting in a rainjacket isn't helpful and the weather was a factor in me scoring just 166 at that distance with only two 9s. At 50 yards it all became much more fun as we were trying to get our scores 'on par' by having a few misses. With two bosses set up, after one particular end one of them had every arrow in it (except one in the green) whilst the other was completely empty.
40 yards was strange, I was cursing myself after the first end which were all in the gold bar one 7. Perhaps I should aim for the 7 in future? I'd got my score into odd values by having an odd number of misses, so I just had to keep an eye on my scoring now to get as close as possible to 627. With a dozen to go I needed 84, so all 7s would do it for me. Two golds didn't help, but I did equalise that by putting two in the blue as well as actually hitting two 7s so in the final end I still needed 7s all the way.
My first two arrows of the final end were gold. Damn! But, the third I scored just a 1 (although aiming at 3). As the second detail shot their first three arrows I worked out that I was going to try and finish with 9,7,7 to hit the target score. With 23 needed the first of my final three arrows went low into the 3. I was really annoyed. Even two golds now would leave me two short. Pleasingly though I did hit those two golds, so finished on 625. Roy and Fliss both finished on 627 and took the spoils. It was something different and despite the poor weather was great fun.
So have you spotted why I am an idiot? I didn't till I was telling my Henry and Fran about it when I got home. For those who haven't, the three I scored with my fourth arrow of the final end left me needing 20. Two misses with the final two arrows would have seen me reach the target score exactly. D'oh! For the record I would still not have won as Roy hit 38 7s to my 28, but still very annoying.
Anyway, lets start at the beginning. This morning at archery we had a novelty American shoot. The weather was not good and only 6 turned up to shoot, five of whom shot this round. The American bit is easy enough - 2½ dozen arrows at each of 60, 50 and 40 yards - the novelty bit was that the winner was the nearest person to scoring 627 rather than the highest score. Also misses count as 10 not 0, otherwise scoring is as normal 9, 7, 5, 3 & 1. The best way to get it is apparently 88x7, 1x1 and a miss. 7s were the tie break if needed.
So at 60 yards I shot as normal. Shooting in a rainjacket isn't helpful and the weather was a factor in me scoring just 166 at that distance with only two 9s. At 50 yards it all became much more fun as we were trying to get our scores 'on par' by having a few misses. With two bosses set up, after one particular end one of them had every arrow in it (except one in the green) whilst the other was completely empty.
40 yards was strange, I was cursing myself after the first end which were all in the gold bar one 7. Perhaps I should aim for the 7 in future? I'd got my score into odd values by having an odd number of misses, so I just had to keep an eye on my scoring now to get as close as possible to 627. With a dozen to go I needed 84, so all 7s would do it for me. Two golds didn't help, but I did equalise that by putting two in the blue as well as actually hitting two 7s so in the final end I still needed 7s all the way.
My first two arrows of the final end were gold. Damn! But, the third I scored just a 1 (although aiming at 3). As the second detail shot their first three arrows I worked out that I was going to try and finish with 9,7,7 to hit the target score. With 23 needed the first of my final three arrows went low into the 3. I was really annoyed. Even two golds now would leave me two short. Pleasingly though I did hit those two golds, so finished on 625. Roy and Fliss both finished on 627 and took the spoils. It was something different and despite the poor weather was great fun.
So have you spotted why I am an idiot? I didn't till I was telling my Henry and Fran about it when I got home. For those who haven't, the three I scored with my fourth arrow of the final end left me needing 20. Two misses with the final two arrows would have seen me reach the target score exactly. D'oh! For the record I would still not have won as Roy hit 38 7s to my 28, but still very annoying.
Sunday 11 April 2010
It's Been A Long Time
It's been a very long time since I posted anything to my blog and plently has happened in the meantime. My computer has died, West Ham have continued to struggle, the entire indoor archery season has come and gone and I even got my camera out a few times.
So a good weekend all round, apart from the sunburnt head that I got for my troubles on Sunday. When the sun is out and there is a cool wind you just don't notice it's strength.
The good weather this weekend though seemed to bring good fortune with it, it was a good weekend.
Saturday was the next installment in the West Ham's relegation scrap. Having been dismal in the three home games previously I was hoping for something better. The draw at Everton gave us hope and in the end three welcome and deserved points came our way against a niggly Sunderland team. The referee was poor (for both teams), in fact as poor as I can remember a ref being for quite some time, and Sunderland were very sly with lots of tugs of shirts and arms putting players off balance, and getting away with it. A win against Wigan in our next home match should, I hope, be enough to ensure survival.
Sunday morning I went to our archery club for my first outdoor shoot of the season, a Western. It took a bit longer than I had 
thought it might to shoot 8 dozen arrows. The first four dozen at 60 yards and the remainder at 50 yards. My gear can just about cope with this distance although others were shooting up to 100 yards. The sun was out but there was a chilly breeze. Without really having anything to compare it with I had no great feeling of achievement nor of disappointment at my final score of 577, but I'm told it is a good score for someone in their first year.
thought it might to shoot 8 dozen arrows. The first four dozen at 60 yards and the remainder at 50 yards. My gear can just about cope with this distance although others were shooting up to 100 yards. The sun was out but there was a chilly breeze. Without really having anything to compare it with I had no great feeling of achievement nor of disappointment at my final score of 577, but I'm told it is a good score for someone in their first year.Straight afterwards I had to whizz off to Newport Pagnell, via home, to photograph the MK Dons ladies team in their final match of the season against Norwich City. 
I managed to get there just after kick off, about 10 minutes late. I found myself a spot behind the goal at the edge of the penalty area. Conditions were not ideal as the sunlight and the Dons white shirts can cause metering problems. I decided to shoot with the camera on manual to try and get around that. The Dons took the lead around midway through the first half, and although I did get a shot of the player shooting, it wasn't great and the ball wasn't in shot. Norwich equalised a few minutes later, but at the other end of the pitch, so no shots of that!
I managed to get there just after kick off, about 10 minutes late. I found myself a spot behind the goal at the edge of the penalty area. Conditions were not ideal as the sunlight and the Dons white shirts can cause metering problems. I decided to shoot with the camera on manual to try and get around that. The Dons took the lead around midway through the first half, and although I did get a shot of the player shooting, it wasn't great and the ball wasn't in shot. Norwich equalised a few minutes later, but at the other end of the pitch, so no shots of that!The second half saw three more goals, but all for Norwich who won comfortably in the end. A shame for me that I didn't get
the chance for more goal shots at my end. My Canon 70-200mm f2.8 really isn't quite long enough for football, even with the 1.4x extender, but I just can't afford the 300mm or 400mm f2.8 prime lenses that you really need for those sports with a bigger pitch. Nevertheless, if you can anticipate the action you can still get some decent shots with this kit. You can also get
away with a fair bit of cropping when they are viewed on the web too, making them look better than they really are. I am looking forward to getting my new computer next week though, as my old one died in early November and it's almost impossible to do anything worthwhile with photos on my netbook. Photoshop will be a welcome sight after months making do with the GIMP. A few of the best shots from the match are shown here. I hope to get the chance to shoot more photos for them next season.
the chance for more goal shots at my end. My Canon 70-200mm f2.8 really isn't quite long enough for football, even with the 1.4x extender, but I just can't afford the 300mm or 400mm f2.8 prime lenses that you really need for those sports with a bigger pitch. Nevertheless, if you can anticipate the action you can still get some decent shots with this kit. You can also get
away with a fair bit of cropping when they are viewed on the web too, making them look better than they really are. I am looking forward to getting my new computer next week though, as my old one died in early November and it's almost impossible to do anything worthwhile with photos on my netbook. Photoshop will be a welcome sight after months making do with the GIMP. A few of the best shots from the match are shown here. I hope to get the chance to shoot more photos for them next season.So a good weekend all round, apart from the sunburnt head that I got for my troubles on Sunday. When the sun is out and there is a cool wind you just don't notice it's strength.
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