Beckham Recalled? WHY?

I still don't understand why David Beckham is back in the England squad. Ive tried to figure it out, but no matter how i look at it it makes NO sense whatsoever.

He has hardly played all season in the MLS, and now hes in the squad for a potentially very important game. If Israel do us a favour, we have to beat Croatia to qualify for Euro 2008, and were now going to rely on a player, who is hardly fit, and hasn't played top class football since June?

I don't get it. Does that make sense to anyone else?

Beckham is hugely overrated anyway, OK, so he can sell stuff with his good looks. But he hasn't been a decent player since 2001. All he could ever do well is cross the ball, and pass accurately. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't any player playing at the top level be able to pass the ball accurately! Isn't it quite important for any player to be able to move the ball on?

Its likely that hell play in England's next two games, winning his 98th and 99th caps, but that should be it. Beckham is done, as far as the national team is concerned. The only problem is, the coach cant see it!

I attended my companies quiz night last night, and I must admit, I do like a good quiz. There were 19 teams, and the quiz was 10 rounds long, each round on a different subject. Each team had a Joker card to play at the beginning of any one round, that would double the points score in that round. Simple right.

So, being a guy who knows a lot about sports (if I do say so myself) I convinced our team to play the Joker card in the sports round. Now, can I just say, a round in a quiz is 10 DIFFERENT questions. The sports round last night was "Name the last 10 different winners of the ladies singles at Wimbledon"*. That was the WHOLE round!!!

No Football Questions
No Cricket questions
No Rugby Questions

1 Whole round on tennis, why wasn't it called the tennis round!

We manged to get 8/10 so I wasn't too annoyed, but still, I wasn't happy. We finished joint 3rd overall, so as my colleague Long Hair put it, we are among the 20 cleverest people at the company!

Also there was a picture round, and my highlight of the evening, was when the team whose questions we were marking had confused Alistair Darling (Chancellor of the Exchequer) with Slobodan Milosevic (Yugoslav war criminal). Easy mistake to make i know.


*For those interested, the answer was Serena William, Venus William, Steffi Graf, Conchita Martinez, Martina Navratilova, Maria Sharapova, Amelie Mauresmo, Lindsay Davenport, Jana Novotna and Martina Hingis

6 Months On

So, its been over 6 months since I last updated this blog, now I've had the proverbial rod up my backside from my fiancee, its time to update again.

A lot has changed since i last wrote on here, for a start i moved back down south, got engaged, and am eagerly anticipating moving away from England. Ive never been happier, and this is just the beginning!

Since I last wrote we've had the Rugby World Cup, the Twenty20 Cricket World Cup, a whole summer of Cricket and one of the most exciting seasons in Formula 1 for a long time, all of which I have enjoyed immensely. Its pretty much coming towards the end of the sporting year now, and once the World Series is done and dusted, save for an England Cricket tour to Sri Lanka, there isn't much happening at the end of 2007.

So I promise ill update my blog more often from now on, but to finish this update, lets all laugh at how ridiculous Tottenham are at the moment!

Crunch Time For England

Tomorrow, the world cup starts properly for England. The game against Sri Lanka will provide a litmus test as to how deep this team can go in the tournament. So far, they have flattered to deceive, wins over Kenya, Canada and Ireland (average sides at best) have been less than encouraging. Now the daunting prospect of an in form Sri Lankan side looms.

If we win, its game on, and a place in the Semi-Final will look very attainable.

Lose, and although it wont be all over, the outlook will be bleak.

I'm pretty sure that the players don't read my blog (why would they?), but I've decided to post a little advice for each player.

Michael Vaughan - You may be a brilliant captain, but you need a big score, play your natural game.

Ed Joyce - Do you even want to play for England? Prove it then!

Ian Bell - Its a ODI! Don't bat like its a test match. Quick runs are the order of the day.

Kevin Pietersen - You know you have the talent, don't throw your wicket away. Play sensibly and the runs will come.

Paul Collingwood - Just continue what you've been doing.

Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff - See advice for Pietersen.

Paul Nixon - Take your catches, and although it may be hard keeping to such erratic bowlers, try not to give away any byes.

Ravi Bopara - If you play at all, show us you deserve your place in the side.

Sajid Mahmood - Bowl AT the stumps, not 2 feet wide of them

James Anderson - Line and length is the key, and try not to let Jayasuria get on top of you. (hes a big guy)

Monty Panesar - God, I love you!

Don't be too despondent if you get beaten, you'll just have to beat the Aussies on Sunday (Eeek!)

OK, maybe its not good advice, maybe its the worst advice ever, I don't care. At least my heart is in the right place.

Rain Delays Play But West Ham Win

The worst thing for a cricket fan is rain delays. I despise them so much. Of course theres not much you can do about it but still, its frustrating. I was looking forward to spending today watching the latest installment of the Cricket World Cup from the Caribbean. Only to find that overnight rain had delayed the start of the match. Now, that's even worse, the sun was out, and the players were warming up, yet no play because the grass was sodden. The response to all this standing water? Typically Caribbean, six men and a few sponges! Surely there is a better way to mop up water in this day and age!
In the end a shortened match was played, 22 overs a side. With the Australians continuing their domination of this tournament.


At least there was the football to cure my Saturday afternoon boredom. Although being a West Ham fan has meant Ive taken little joy from recent results. Today, they bucked the trend, winning for the first time in a while. they are still a long way from safety, and relegation looms. A win always fuels optimism, but i fear closing a 5 point gap with 7 games left is a bit to much for them.

Also excitement abounds at the imminent start of the Baseball season. I'm not a massive fan of baseball, but it aways seems to catch my attention around April time, and i try to keep up with how the Boston Red Sox are doing. Although this season is different, i have a spy in the camp, well a fellow Red Sox fan, who should be keeping me updated (if she knows whats best for her anyway)!

An Explanation Of The Title

Finally, after thinking about it for weeks, I've decided its time to start my own blog. Now i have somewhere to rant about things that annoy me, and to sing the praises of things that make me happy. Id be the first to admit that I'm no literary genius, but ill do my best.

As for the title, its a cricket term. Long Off is a fielding position, and getting caught at long off usually implies that you've tried to hit the ball out of the ground for 6 runs and mis-judged, or just not hit it hard enough. When i played cricket at school, it was usually how I got out. Trying to score quick runs, and smacking the ball straight to the fielder. I guess its a sign of my impatience.

Anyway, look out for more sports related opinions, and general musings on anything that takes my fancy.