Isle of Man TT

I was channel hopping tonight and on my travels came across the Isle of Man TT on ITV4. I'd heard of it before but didn't really know anything about it, except for the fact that they race motorbikes on public roads at high speeds. Although I like watching motor sports I've never really got into watching bikes. This had me hooked though. Turns out the race I saw was for 600cc machines and there are a number of races across the week for different types/size of bike.

These guys raced through towns and villages, past houses and between stone walls at very high speeds. On parts of the circuit where they reach the highest speeds the helicopter filming the action was left behind. The circuit is 37 and three quarter miles long and the racers complete a lap in under 18 minutes. That's pretty damn quick!

At the end of the first lap it started to rain. Coming into a village called Union Mills one rider had a bit of a slide and following on just behind a Scottish chap called Keith Amor fell. He was lucky. The layout of the road meant he slid to a stop safely, his bike however was moving faster and slid along the floor into the crash barrier outside the Spar shop before spinning back into the road. The conditions meant that the race was stopped.

The TV only showed highlights so I don't know how long they waited, but the race re-started and the riders (including Keith Amor) gave it their all once again. The winner, Gary Johnson, covered the four lap (150 mile) race at an average speed of 123.8mph. That's average speed, through towns and round hairpins on normal roads. In fact all of the top six finishers averaged over 120mph for the race distance. With no run off areas and no room for error, that takes some serious bravery and skill.

Wembley Snatched Away Again!

For the second time this season a trip to Wembley was snatched away from West Ham at the final hurdle, this time in the FA Cup quarter final.

I've been looking forward to this one for a while, what with many other committments away games have been few and far between. This was my first for a long, long time and Henry's first ever. Match tickets obtained and train tickets booked we set off from Milton Keynes and arrived in Stoke late morning. From this point onwards our plans fell apart. We had intended to get to the stadium and eat at the Harvester close by before the match, but us and the hundreds of others on the "West Ham express" were herded (in the nicest possible sense) to the nearby Staffordshire University bar which had been set aside for our exclusive use.

Having drained a pint of Guinness (or Coke in Henry's case) we jumped on one of the double decker buses provided by the police to get us to the ground. It turns out that Stoke's supporters are pretty low on the human scale according to the Old Bill. With two motorbikes out front and a van behind we were taken non stop to the Britannia with all other traffic held up for us. We felt like VIPs. We grabbed some food (at the usual expensive captive audience rates) and took our seats amongst the other 4,500 travelling Irons.

As the game got underway we were immediately put under pressure and Green made a top quality save from Etherington after just a couple of minutes. It wasn't all that long before the first goal arrived. Predictably a Rory Delap long throw wasn't cleared and Stoke went ahead, athough the TV showed that it shouldn't have stood. As is ever the case we got behind our team and they did improve, although still managed to make Jermaine Pennant actually look like a footballer.

Half an hour into the game finally we managed an equaliser. A great ball through from Hitzlsperger found Piquionne, who controlled with his arm before lobbing the keeper and bundling the ball in. Fabulously the ref gave the goal and we taunted the Stokies with "We only score from handballs!" before shouting "handball" every time one of our players touched the ball. The goal brought us a bit more into the match and at half time it was still all square.

The second half started dramatically. After just 15 seconds the ex-West Ham winger Etherington ran into the box and took a dive. Ironic really as the Stoke CEO had written in the programme that their players have been intructed by the manager NOT to do such a thing. Presumably Etherington will be fined heavily for disobeying orders. Anyway, the ref predictably bought it and Etherington himself took the spot kick. Green, however, leapt to his left to save magnificently and keep the scores level. If there is a better 'keeping plying his trade in England I have yet to see him.

Not yet finished, later in the half the referee awarded Stoke a free kick about 30 yards out. It was driven straight at the wall, and despite (as TV evidence showed) Carlton Cole pulling his arm away as the ball approached he wasn't quite quick enough and it caught his elbow. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred play would continue but not with this ref. Oh no, he awards another free kick for handball. This time, right on the edge of the box a shot is again driven in. Unspotted by referee or his assistants Thomas Hitzlsperger is grabbed around the waist and dragged out of the wall and to the floor. The ball flies through the gap created and Green can't stop it, although he almost does. 2-1 Stoke.

This prompts West Ham into action and they dominate the remainder of the game, hitting the bar and having a penalty claim denied. A claim that TV analysis can see no reason for being not given. Ultimately though the efforts are futile as the final whislt blows with no further score. The game has been decided by a referee who allowed three goals that should all have been disallowed, given one penalty that shouldn't have been and not given another that should.

An hours wait after the final whislte and our buses are given the same police escort back to the station, with the warning about the Stoke fans in the first pub we will pass probably attempting to stone the buses. According to the officer sat next to me, Stoke fans are, and I quote, "scum bags". Laughably the match ticket claims that they are officially the loudest fans in England. Today they weren't even the loudest fans in the Britannia as they were easily outsung by the Hammers faithful, despite a numbers advantage of 4:1. In fact we heard them on only four occasions - each of the two goals, a quick song after the second goal and at the final whislte. Mind you, if I had to watch a second rate team in a second rate stadium playing second rate football then I'd probably be a second rate fan too!

All in all, apart from the result (which in fairness should have been a draw), we had a great day out. I'm already looking forward to the next one - Wigan in May if I can get a couple of tickets. Come on you Irons!

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.

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.

OK, Now I'm Worried

Yesterday afternoon at Upton Park started well and then went downhill....fast. The first two home matches both ended in defeat (to Tottenham and Liverpool) but the performances were good and I felt we deserved at least a point against both.

Yesterday Fulham were the visitors. A side, like us, in the bottom 3 and on paper one that we ought to have beaten comfortably. We looked bright enough at the start, although I felt Hines didn't give the same level of performance that he had done against Liverpool. We did take the lead after 16 minutes after a Diamanti free kick from the right was header powerfully into the top corner at the near post by Carlton Cole.

While Andrew Johnson did show brief flashes of perhaps being able to get Fulham back into the game they offered little else. Then with 5 minutes to go before half time an off the ball incident resulted in a red card for Fulham's debutante midfielder Dikgacoi. Half time came and we looked at the table and tried to work out how high we'd move up with the win that was inevitable now.

As the players re-emerged for the second half Fulham replaced Johnson and it seemed any hope for them getting anything from the match was gone. Hmmmmmmm. Within a minute of the re-start Fulham got a penalty and were level. To me the challenge was a 50:50. Upson and Kamara tussled for the ball and both went down. Neither was at fault, but these things usually go in favour of the defender and when the ref whilstled I assumed that was what was happening. When he pointed to the spot I was gobsmacked. Seeing it on TV later I still can't see how it was a penalty.

OK, so back at parity but we still have the extra man against a side we were better than in a first half when they had 11. It'd be alright. No it bloody wouldn't! 10 minutes later Green came for a corner and didn't get there leaving Gera a fairly simple tap in. Disaster.

We then looked a bit devoid of ideas and urgency. There was little creativity and the spectre of relegation (yes, even in October) was very real, and hovvering over us. This just wasn't good enough. The players we have are capable of so much more, but they must start showing it. And soon.

In injury time we got lucky. Finally when we got a shot away we got something. Stanislas's drive was deflected past the helpless Schwarzer saving us a point with a 2-2 draw that we really didn't deserve. Even so, 1 point from 9 at home is nowhere near good enough and leaves us in the relegation zone (albeit with a big pack within a win from us).

The fixtures coming up look daunting. The next 6 visitors to Upton Park are Arsenal, Aston Villa, Everton, Burnley, Man Utd then Chelsea. It wouldn't be a surprise of we only picked up another 4 or 5 points from that lot. We are gonna need one hell of a run in at home to repair the damage that could get done in the next couple of months.

The one thing might be that we do tend to raise our game against the bigger teams when they come calling. We need to!

Competition Time

Yesterday was our archery club's final outdoor shoot of the season. To finish the season off it was a barebow (no sight allowed) competition shooting a Portsmouth round (5 dozen arrows over 20 yards with a 60cm target face).

Yet more firsts for me - first Portsmouth, first barebow attempt and first club competition. Also a first for Henry who joined in and shot his first 'proper' round.

I was advised beforehand that instead of pulling the bowstring back to a point under the chin I should draw it to my cheek so that I could look along the arrow to aim. A couple of misses with my sighters showed me how different, and hard, this was going to be.

Then we got underway and every one of the first dozen scored, which was pleasing, and there was even a nine in amongst my score 54. My second dozen was slightly better (55) and included a 10, but also a couple of misses. The final three dozen were better still (64, 73 & 68) and included three more 10s and only the one more miss. My final score then was 314 (with 57 hits out of 60). This placed me second of 4 on my target, but I have no idea how the scores were on the others - much better I suspect.

Henry didn't fare so well. He struggled a lot with drawing to his cheek and after the first two dozen (with no hits) reverted to his usual draw and was rewarded with two scoring arrows in the next set of 3. The smaller target face and no sight made it much harder than he was used to, but he enjoyed himself which is the main thing.

Afterwards we decided to stick around for a bit to practice. Another club member offered me his flatbow to try (45lb to pull compared to the 28lb I'm currently using on the recurve). Obviously there were a good number of misses in the dozen arrows I shot, but also a 10 amongst them!

Adding the sight back to the recurve to practice in preparation for the indoor season took a bit of getting used to. The mornings habit of drawing to the cheek was hard to shake, but after half a dozen completely useless arrows I managed to shoot a dozen that were reasonably well grouped, leaving me looking forward to the indoor season. It had been a glorious morning weatherwise, and a great finish to the outdoor season, even though for us it only started a couple of months ago.

Going for Gold

Back in the summer, at the local carnival, Henry and I had a go at Archery. It was a stand that Henry kept wanting to go back to, and the members of the club running it were quite impressed with him, for a 7 year old.

As he had enjoyed himself so much I thought I'd look for a club that we could go to. Due to the nature of the sport, and it's potential for danger if you don't know safety procedures, etc. you have to do a 'beginner's course' before you can join a club. To cut a long story short this is an 8 hour course (usually over a period of weeks) where you are taught the basics of both safety and technique.

It is quite difficult to find a club that will start anyone under 9 years old, so although there are clubs nearer to home we ended up having to travel about 40 minutes to find one that would allow Henry to take part. Anyone wishing to take up the sport in the UK should look at the GNAS website to find an affiliated club.

We did our beginners course throughout August and joined our chosen club 3 weeks ago on completing the course. We have been to club shoots on each of the three weekends since we joined, although only practicing at shorter distances to those shooting recognised rounds. We are both using club equipment and will continue to do so for a while yet, although I have to say I'm itching to get my own!

Anyway, on Sunday morning there was a good turnout of around 20 or so. Whilst I asked for a boss (a target for the uninitiated) to be set out at 20 yards for Henry to shoot at, I felt that with so many there I should join in and shoot my first proper round rather than ask for another boss to be set out for me to practice on.

As I said I'm using a club bow, which comprises of a wooden Samick handle and Samick Polaris limbs which are 28lb to pull the bowstring back. Also I'd never shot more than 40 yards before (and only then for a couple of hours). Oh, well. "In for a penny...." I thought and decided to shoot a Short National round (4 dozen arrows at 50 yards followed by 2 dozen at 40 yards). I was pleased to be hitting the boss with my sighters and when one of them landed in the gold (the centre of the target face), I thought perhaps it wouldn't be as hard as I thought to hit a reasonable (yes I know that's relative) score at 50 yards.

Being my first 'proper' club shoot and my first time (other than the beginners course) sharing a boss I didn't think to keep my own score for reference, but wish now I had. I do know, though, that my final score was 356 and was the highest on my boss, which I shared with two other newcomers and someone shooting longbow after not shooting for some time. At 50 yards I hit a handful of golds (about 4 I think, worth 9 points each), although also as many whites (1 point)! I hit more 5s (the blue ring) than anything and the fact that my average score per arrow was 5 suggests that I hit as many blacks (3 points) as reds (7 points), but I don't remember it that way! I guess it's the same as cricket in that you remember the good shots.

I was disappointed when the distance dropped to 40 yards not to hit any more golds, but I did have quite a lot of near misses which landed in the red at 12 o'clock. My grouping was also much better at the shorter distance, but then again I suppose it should be! I was pleased that I only missed with 2 arrows (both at 50 yards). Those came when a more experienced archer gave me some tips about my release which, when I tried to put into practice in the next end (set of 6 arrows), resulted in the misses. But still I'd rather be doing it right early and getting better from there.

Archery is similar to golf in that it is essentially an individual sport where you try to improve your own ability. Competition against others can be 'levelled' by a handicap system (like golf again). I suppose most club members would regard 356 (equating to a handicap of 62) as a poor score, but we all have to start somewhere, and it gives me a benchmark from which to measure myself in the future.

As the outdoor season draws to a close I'll probably run out of time to get a handicap for this year (you have to shoot three recognised rounds), but I hope that having the whole indoor season ahead I can attain a half decent handicap by the end of that. I aim to build up my poundage (the weight of bowstring I can pull back comfortably) on club kit over the next month or two before getting some of my own. By then I hope to have a reasonable idea of what will/might suit me, as well as giving me time to learn what some of the things I've seen in catalogues actually do!

A Day at Lord's

I spent the day at Lord's yesterday for what was my first taste of an Ashes test match, and a pleasant day it was too. Play was restricted by a couple of showers in the afternoon session but it was still a more than enjoyable day.

It didn't start so well with England resuming on 364-6 with Strauss 161 not out. It took the Australians just two balls to remove the skipper without further score. This was followed by wickets in each of the next two overs leaving the home team on 378-9. A great last wicket stand between Anderson and Onions though took England to a respectable 425.

In the field England's start was almost as good as Australia's as Anderson followed up his work with the bat to have Hughes caught behind in the 3rd over. When he also had Ponting contraversially given out shortly afterwards the Aussies were 10-2.

Katich and Hussey stabalised the innings. Katich fell for 48 and was followed soon afterwards by Hussey who had completed his half century. Breaking this partnership was key and England then got a flurry of wickets to leave Australia on 156-8 at the close, still needing 70 to avoid the follow-on with just two wickets standing.

Our seats were in the main Grandstand, but despite being built 7 years later, I didn't find it as good as being in the Mound stand which was completed in 1987. The Mound stand offers more leg room so you don't leave feeling you've been cramped up all day, and is also angled so you don't get a stiff neck from sitting wih your head turned. If you were sat in the middle of the Grandstand you might be OK, but at the ends (seat 192 out of 194) it is less than ideal.

Despite that and because of the cricket we had a good day, which is more than can be said of the Aussie Kevin who sat with his mate a couple of rows behind us. In amongst a sea of England supporters he was fiercly partisan but good natured and the banter, particularly later in the day, was excellent.

Sportsmanship

I wonder sometimes if it's just my age making me look back at distant events and bemoan their modern day equivalents in comparison. It wouldn't happen in my day.

This week the pleasing way that England managed to negotiate a draw against the Aussies was tempered by the accusations of cheating (or gamesmanship at least) levelled at them. It's certainly a far cry from the image of Flintoff and Lee 4 years ago, although there is a parallel with the Aussie captain whinging when things don't go his way. Maybe the phrase 'It's just not cricket' should be struck from the language.

Perhaps, with a certain Potuguese leaving these shores for Madrid, football may have taken a turn for the better in this country, but then again.....we will still see players apparantly mortally wounded by a stray little finger. I don't think football will ever recover to be the contact sport it was. And it isn't only the foreigner players, is it Mr Gerrard?

There are still some bright spots, of course. Andy Roddick was clearly distraught at his loss to Roger Federer at SW19, but maintained his composure, was gracious in defeat and even managed a touch of humour. More please.

I'll finish with the inspiration for this post. 32 Years ago Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson went head to head at Turnberry in the 1977 Open Championship (not the British Open). For two rounds they battled for the title, and finally ended as the only two players in the tournament under par. As they walked off the final green the vanquished Nicklaus put his arm around Watson's shoulder and said "I gave it my best shot, but it wasn't good enough. Congratulations. I'm proud of you".

As the Open returns to Turnberry on Thursday lets hope it can provide the backdrop for more sporting drama.

Congratulations

I wanted to say "Well done" to Jake for today's post. Having started playing basketball back in September he has progressed well through his school and club and recently went to a couple of training/trials sessions for the MK Lions.

These were for the Lions to select their squad at U14 level for the National League which will take place next season. It was an achievement after such a short space of time to even be chosen to go and trial at this level.

Anyway, we received an email from MK Lions at the weekend asking if we had checked out the website recently. When we did we found that the squad had been announced and that Jake had been selected.

Great news, and we hope he continues to practice hard and play as much as possible.

Almost Time

Just over 5 minutes to go until the long awaited Ashes series gets underway in Cardiff. I think it's going to be a close run thing and I can't wait for next Friday when I have a ticket for the Lord's test.

The Aussies are in the latter stages of a transitional period and are still a strong team, but England have been blending a very useful team together too. My heart says England will win, but my head really doesn't know what will happen.

Let's hope that winning the toss is a good omen and that England can get some good runs on the board this morning. Their bowlers are inexperienced of English conditions and if they struggle first thing it could set the tone for the series.

For me it's hard to see beyond Pietersen as the top English run scorer and for them I think Ponting will be up for it as he is unlikely to be back again in 2013. I do expect Mike Hussey to score a lot of runs though, as he did in the years he spent over here with Northants.

As for bowlers, I'm pleased to see England going into this one with two spinners and Swann could get quite a few wickets in the series. I do think overall though that Anderson and Mitchell Johnson will be the top wicket takers for their countries.

11 o'clock - c,mon England!