Well, I’m depressed. Good grief, the footy was awful. We (me, Peter, Lucy and Dad) went up to the local pub to watch Ing-ger-land. The sun was shining, the sky was blue etcetera, etcetera, the beer (Black Sheep) was good. There was a big tent in the pub garden with a barbeque and, off to one side, a garden with swings for the children. The place was packed and, despite all that had gone before, the atmosphere was terrific. Oh dear.
It wasn’t that we were fighting the war all over again, which is always the grim possibility when playing Germany, it was that we weren’t fighting at all. The atmosphere in the pub, which had been great at the beginning, got quieter and quieter as the dire display went on. It was an honest relief when the full time whistle went and we could all pack up and go home. So it’s down with all the flags and bunting that have decorated the houses and cars and back to watching other people play.
Arrrgh! I’d really love to win the World Cup, if for no other reason than to stop people on the telly going on and on about 1966. I mean, it’s so long ago, it’s embarrassing to have it constantly served up as the reminder of the last time (the only time) when Ing-ger-land managed to do it. Still, it could (just) be worse; we could be French; or Italian. Or, for that matter, South Africa, who, having invited the world to their party, have to sit and watch it from the sidelines.
This isn’t any sort of excuse, but why on earth was there any doubt about Frank Lampard’s goal? Dammit, goals have been like hen's teeth in our matches so far. We can't allow perfectly good ones to go AWOL like that. And, just to drive the point home, in the Mexico-Argy match later on, the ref allowed the Argies a goal that clearly wasn’t. In every other sport I can think of, there’s something called Technology. Why is it that football, which has millions pumped into it, hasn’t caught up? Wimbledon has Hawkeye, cricket has a magic eye and rugby has the video ref. It stops the ref looking like an idiot and puts the officials in the same boat as the millions watching on TV. However, even if the Ing-ger-land squad had been replaced by a team of cybermen, it wouldn’t have made any difference in the end.
Talking of cybermen, I’m not half enjoying this latest series of Doctor Who. The scripts are great, full of time-trickery and puzzles and the series finale was terrific. Maybe we should get the Doctor on the football team.
I posted this in the wrong place, so I'm sending it again, because I just wanted to inject a note of cheer into all the football gloom. The cricket was good yesterday. England beat the Aussies – about as satisfying as England beating Germany or the Argies at football. And by winning yesterday, England have won the one-day cricket series already (three-nil in a five-match series) and might manage a whitewash. Yippee! Not that I mean to be triumphalist or anything, but that would be absolutely fantastic! Wouldn't it?
ReplyDeleteYes, yes, yes, yes, yes. But the footy team's performance was so utterly dismal it seemed to suck all the joy out of living - for a time at least! It wasn't so much that we didn't win, it was that we didn't turn up. However, there are, as you say, other sports. Thank goodness.
ReplyDeleteWell, Donna, I'd certainly agree that we've got some right old performers!
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen MI 5 but I certainly hunt it out.
Thank you, O kind American friend for trying to make things better. But, whereas the USA team were obviously trying so very hard, the English bunch didn't really bother and that's what made me and the rest of England so hopping mad.
I loved David Tennant but Matt Smith isn't half growing on me, and Rory is a great addition.
Donna Fletcher Crow wrote:
ReplyDeleteI agree about the new Dr. Who season. Isn't Amy just too cute! Although, I do think David Tennant the Ultimate Dr. Who.
And, speaking of great writing--do you watch MI-5? I just sit tense for a whole hour--and then it carries over to the next week.
Don't feel bad about the footy (although I would miss the flags, too) England still has the best writers and actors