Uruguay should hold its head low,very low in fact, because like its its neighbour, Argentina, it has had its Hand of God (or more aptly, arm of the Anti-Christ) moment, not in this case to make a cheating goal, but to stop an honest goal.

Rather than be beaten by Ghana in an honest game, they cheated. And then had the lack of integrity to win on penalties. Shame on them!

Go on Uruguay, do the right thing, and withdraw from the competition. Be spectacular! Instead of losing against the Dutch ignominiously, go down in history forever as the team that put integrity before success and pulled out of the World Cup on a point of principle.

Post Match Analysis

Okay, Uruguay is not full of cheats, there was just one cheating action when Suarez used to arm to prevent a certain goal. Justice was not served in the quarter-final however it was in the semi-final. However Uruguay played fairly in that game, gave a good account of themselves with their tenacity, hard work and skill, and only narrowly went down to the Netherlands 3-2.

Given the professional nature of the sport, it is too much to expect Uruguay, or any other team in fact, not to take unfair advantage of a bad refereeing decision or weak rules. In cricket, a batsman used to walk before the empire gave him out, less so now. In golf, higher standards are still required on the course as Brian Davis proved a couple of months back. It is possible for a sportsman to have integrity but maybe it is easier to take difficult decisions as an individual than it is as a member of a team.

Penalty Goals And Television Replays

So back to football… how do we address this issue and get a better outcome? One suggestion I favour is to borrow the idea of the “penalty try” from rugby, and have the “penalty goal”. In the case where a definite goal has been prevented illegally then referee simply awards the goal and sends off the culprit. To make this work we would need the 4th official to be able to review the television footage to make sure the decision is a correct one. Justice is then served and the incentive to cheat is reduced. If the decision is incorrect then a drop ball on the penalty spot would be an exciting an equitable way to restart the game. Maybe the next World Cup in Brazil will bring us better rules and a better refereeing system.

It’s been a while since I have written on this blog. I have been focused on work and not had time or inclination to make some personal commentary.

Right now it is 1:48 a.m., I am listening to Earth Wind and Fire (on Grooveshark) blast out ‘Reasons’ as I write.

I didn’t run this morning as my running partner called off. I was not put out too much as it was below zero and the weather forecast was for hailstones. Instead, I watched Andy Murray ultimately disappoint in the Tennis Australian Open Men’s Final due to his poor first serve. Five set points missed in the third set: close but no cigar. Actually not really that close at all. Maybe, when Roger Federer retires, we can have a British Tennis Champion.

The afternoon and evening was spent writing my first WordPress plugin. I should finish it tomorrow morning. With good promotion it should be excellent linkbait for my wordpress site

Why the title of this post? Last night, the movie version of the Hitchhikers Guide To The Universe was on TV. Martin Freeman, Stephen Fry and Bill Nighy murdered an excellent script with gratuitous lack of irony and humour. It was completely flat, flatter than the whale. Zero out of five. All of it should have stayed on cutting room floor or somebody should have hit the delete button (followed by “Yes” to the “Are You Sure You want to cast this movie into the abyss?” prompt) . The movie is dingoes kidneys. If only an outsized dog from another universe would go back in time to 2005, appear for an instant, and swallow the entire movie set. Hitchhikers is a great series but my strong recommendation is to stick to the cassette tapes of the radio series or the TV series, it’s a thousand times better.

Now heading off to a bed, but first, a nightcap. Perhaps a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster?

• Take the juice from one bottle of that Ol’ Janx Spirit
• Add 1 measure of water from the seas of Santraginus V
• Melt 3 cubes of Arcturan Mega-gin into the mixture (it must be properly iced or the benzene is lost)
• Bubble 4 litres of Fallian marsh gas through it (in memory of all those happy Hikers who have died of pleasure in the Marshes of Fallia)
• Over the back of a silver spoon float a measure of Qualactin Hypermint extract, redolent of all the heady odours of the dark Qualactin Zones.
• Drop in the tooth of an Algolian Suntiger. Watch it dissolve, spreading the fires of the Algolian suns deep into the heart of the drink.
• Sprinkle Zamphour
• Add an olive
• Drink…but very carefully.

Golf Lession Two: The Stance (again)

At the lesson today, Matt quickly identified the cause of my inconsistent chipping. He started by asking me to use a pitching wedge to chip onto a green about 75 yards away. I hit the green a few times but there was the odd pull to the left or a few thinned shots to the right. Only about 20% of shots were actually on target.

He then got me to try the sand wedge, each time I hit the green. Strange, I never use a sand wedge except when in a bunker so it was news to me that I could actually hit it reasonably well.

However I was playing the shot with my arms – not my legs. Once again I had little hip rotation. Also I had elevation but not much distance as the face of the club was too open an angle to the ball.

Matt helped me make some adjustments: put 60% of my weight on the front foot, closed the club face so it has less elevation and ensured the ball was slightly behind the middle of my stance. The result? Highly consistent, longer, straighter chips.

I reckon with that one lesson I can improve by six shots next time I play.

Golf Lesson One: The Stance

Don’t Stand With Your Legs Too Far Apart!

No, this is not from Debrett`s Book Of Etiquette it was the sound advice from Matt, my golf instructor, at Bovey Castle.

My tendency to slice drives, with the odd pulled shot left and infrequent shank was down to my addressing the ball with my legs too far apart. The wide stance prevents hips rotation so I unconsciously resorted to compensatory techniques with the arms to try and hit the ball further which resulted in my erratic swing with its erratic results.

With a narrower stance, the club does more of the work and the result was longer and straighter shots from driver through nine iron.

Although there still seems to a problem with the pitching and sand wedges – I am still hitting these all over the place. Something for Matt to work on next week.

Finally, I get back to blogging. 3 weeks ago I endured the weekend of death. Saturday 7th June was my six hour, ever so difficult, CFA exam in London, and  Sunday 8th June., on the hottest day of year so far in Devon, was the Ruby Run. I marginally underachieved in both. The CFA results are in the lap of the Gods and my time of 2 hours 3 minutes for the half marathon was 200 seconds slower than planned. Check out my pain as I mount Hatherleigh high street. Still it was 2 minutes faster than last time so maybe some time next decade I will beat 2 hours.

Today I ran again for the first time since the “race” (I use the term very loosely). Six miles along the Tarka Trail in a cool breeze  (well it is the first week on Wimbledon so for a dry day I should be grateful). This evening I will watch the Spain versus Germany Euro Championship Final. Given my two flatmates in London are German and Spanish, I am glad to be able to take a position and support Spain. My prediction is Spain 3-1 Germany.

Last Tuesday night in SF, managed to win a pairs Pool tournament. First prize way an Apple IPOD shuffle, one of greatest achievements of the human race to date, 2cm by 3 cm and so much pleasure! I have downloaded a heavily restricted subset of my music, but hey, every track is a winner! A mere 300 songs occupy the 3 cubic centimetres of acoustic joy that are transferred to my ears. Apple rocks! I knew this but had forgotten. Iphone to follow once they get real and honest about licensing.
But back to the pool. Despite there being no incentive under American rules to hit any ball in particular, my partner Peter and I managed to defeat stronger opposition and pot the black (sorry 8 ball) in 3 consecutive matches and triumph. Just wait for the snooker rematch in England!

Even after 40 years of playing football, it took me until now to appreciate playing a ‘system’. We were playing a 6-a-side match using a zonal approach. One at the back, one in the middle, one of the  right, one of the left , one up front and one in goal. And woe betide anyone that strayed out of their zone! Amazingly (to me) it works!

Last week we drew a friendly  1-1 against last season’s league champions and today we won the first league match 4-1 against weaker opposition.  

It is simple, do not follow the man or the ball, stay in your zone. 

 Number one, you last the full game and two, the opposition never has space, and hence time.

I will report back in a month on our progress. 

Our manager, Tim, deserves all the credit for our victory: we have evolved from a kick-and-run rabble into an organised outfit in two weeks. Amazing!

Another Christmas has come and gone. Relaxing. Ate and drank too much. Need the reinvigoration of a new exercise regime. Fortunately, M has supplied the remedy, a NSD Powerball. This is a device, the size of a tennis ball, that contains a gyroscope. Once kick started by string or finger in can rotate at up to 15000rpm and generate up to 40lbs force on the body. So far I am having some trouble. I can operate with my right hand and hence my right arm biceps and triceps are toning up nicely. However I can’t seem to get the timing with my left hand so my left arm remains obstinately skinny. 

Since my return from the USA at the beginning of the month I ran for the first time, about 5 miles this morning, Meeth to Petrockstowe and back. Felt much better for it.  

Not a great weekend, Lewis Hamilton got out-smarted by the two Ferraris at the start, lost ground to Alonso, and in a rush of blood, pushed a little too hard and ended up off the track and eighth after two corners. That and subsequent mechanical problems with the gearbox put paid to a historic rookie win. Add to that the England loss against South Africa in the Rugby World Cup, and losses by England in Russia and Scotland in Georgia in was not a great sporting week for the UK.  

Work has been full on for the last couple of weeks so it was only after a dinner party on Friday night that finished in the small hours that I decided to chill out this weekend. M did us proud with a fantastic meal; Poppadoms wth Yogurt and Mango Chutney, Shish Kebab and Potato and Lamb Koftas, then for main course Lamb Rogan Josh, Prawn Bhuna, Okra Curry, Potato and Pea Curry,  Muttir Panner,  Royal Pilau Rice, then Kulfi for dessert. I have enjoyed left-overs on Saturday and today.

Today was an admin day, writing letters and filing, and more pleasurably walking the dogs around the ponds.

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