Stop the Press

Hello again, as usual I need to apologise for not blogging in a while, however for once I cannot blame my laziness. This time I have started work so rather than being sat aimlessly at my computer I am doing hours, also our Internet has been less than reliable recently.

However to my point, with the topical subject of those dirty journos, as a (loosely termed) trained journalist (I have my certificates, honest) why have I chosen not to pursue the career in Fleet Street that I trained for?

So as some of you who read my ramblings or know me within the ‘real world’ may know, I spent three of my tender and developmental years training to become a journalist. I enjoyed writing and I had interests in sport and music (in case you hadn’t noticed) so I thought I would give it a pop. I worked hard, and wrote constantly, in pursuit of becoming a journalist. I gained those qualifications, however along the way I lost some of the passion that I had when I walked in three years earlier.

The Writer's Craft

The other day I was thinking about writing and how much I do, and whether I could call myself a 'writer'? So I thought what better way to discuss this than actually writing it.

Starring at the Hockey

I got my first taste of it last weekend (not the one just gone, the one before, so much for my contemporaneous writing!) My first exposure to Ice Hockey for the season.

NFL Wembley!

I was a very lucky boy this weekend. I was in attendance at Wembley stadium as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took on the Chicago Bears in the NFL's 5th annual International Series (sponsored by Pepsi Max)

Round the Houses

I had an experience last week that involved highs, lows and lots of travelling in between. All in pursuit of that crucial ingredient that myself and, many like me, want and need to survive; a job.

Hockey is Back!

Ah ha! Back to some high quality (or not so) sports blogging! What better way than to celebrate the return of the NHL! (I know I am a week or so late, but I have had stuff on, a blog about that soon to follow) I was all excited to watch my beloved Penguins. However, it seems I might not be able to watch any at all!

Why just Students?

I am taking a risk. I am most probably about to alienate myself from the very few loyal readers that I have (and I do like you all very much).
However I have been bothered in the last week because there are barriers that are preventing me from taking steps forward, all because of a tag I lost just over a year ago; the student tag.

The Drunk Duke

Now it has come to my attention recently, well not really recently, that alcohol is awesome! Also that I, very occasionally, can be awesome with alcohol.

The Eternal Struggle of the Multi-Sports Fan

Hello there, I am Sam and I am a sportsaholic (and possibly very borderline alcoholic), I freely admit this. I give up a lot of time to watch sport live and on TV. (As I write this I have an eye on St. Johnstone v Hearts game.) There is nothing that annoys me more than when sports clash, and in this case I have a very major (for me) clash in my schedule.

Polite Flights

Hello England, I have just returned to your grey and misty shores after spending a wonderful few months in the USA. I am happy to be back, however I was not so happy to be making my way back. Now I have made enough flights in my time to comfortably talk about a few don'ts thats you should follow, just to make your fellow passengers ordeal a little less painful.

My Lord's Prayer

So I came up with this while a tad bored on a bus to New York! Hope you enjoy!

Flipping Football

The NFL is back!! After all the scary will they, wont they that we all endured this offseason, its back and back with a bang! However I have been on both sides of the coin in this opening week of football.

Smashed in a Sorority Situation!

OK so I am not really one to blog about nights out. Frankly the less said about them the better normally. However last night I received a request from somebody I met on my trek to being pissed who said I should write something about the whole situation of sororities. So I am trying to oblige.

Deadline Day from a Desperate Distance Away!

So the deadline day came and went, and rather than my usual routine, I was stuck in Orlando, Florida ( I know, nightmare) trying to figure out who was going where and what some teams were really thinking. So this is my, as usual, half arsed attempt at summing up the transfer deadline.

Back in the Real World...Sort of!

Hello again. I'm back. Not back in the sense of blogger status (I have tried my best to get stuff over the course of my time in the States) but more in the sense that I have left the weird and kooky bubble of camp counselling behind. However, I am still not at home, I am in Orlando, Florida with some great friends. To set my scene, I am currently in a scene from The Hangover, bottles lying everywhere and wounded and sleeping bodies scattered all over the house.
Now I realise that my blogs have been somewhat emotional recently (and when I post some more stuff I have on the go it will get worse still), so now that I am back in the metropolitan world, I am going to go back to where I started to cut my teeth with this here blog, a bit of sport.

The Glass Case of Emotion

So many of you might be picking up on the fact that my last few posts have been reflective, philosophical and, dare I say it, a bit soppy. Well there are a number of reasons for this, the first being that I am going through an emotional time at the moment, which I will go on to explain later. The second reason is that I am working at a camp (that I am contractually obliged not to name) so I am pretty much locked off from any real sports or music news, like I only recently found out that the NFL was out of the lock out (reaction to come later). So I am struggling for things to write about.

I Have Found the Dream! It's in my Pocket!

Once again apologises for being a slow blogger! I am currently working at a place that must not be named in the United States. I am struggling to find the time to get things written. This will be rectified in a matter of months I promise!

During this time I was fortunate to, I feel, discover something that has eluded many writers, including the great Hunter S Thompson; the American Dream!

All the Cool Kids Are the Doing It!

First of all I must start with an apology, I am have been lazy and slack! I haven't blogged for nearly 2 weeks. I must be honest it is not going to get better from here. The reason I have been slack is because I have been fiddling with another blog I just set up (The Travel Tavern) and I am now over the Atlantic Ocean in the wonderful USA! To keep my anonymity and I am contractually obliged not to say where I am. All I can say is that I am working as a sports coach on a camp.
Now this leads me into thinking, peer pressure it gets pretty bad press.

What's It Called Again?

Happy, happy news! Ice Hockey will be back in Teesside next season! As you could read here, I love my Ice Hockey! However, what  they will be called who knows?

Which One Should It Be?

A question crossed my mind, a question thats become a problem. Not a major problem, in fact some wouldn't even call it a problem in my own life, but it bothered me.
It wasn't an issue until last weekend. The problem (as you may be aware if you read this) is I follow 2 Aussie Rules teams. This was never a problem until last week when they played each other, and one of them won.

Its time to vote, but for what?

OK for those of you that don't know, over here in merry old England, we are getting over our excitement from the Royal Wedding (because I was really overjoyed to watch 2 people I don't know, don't care, and borderline don't like, get married, so I went and built a deck instead. Take that you royalists, I chose manual labour over your wedding!) to get to the serious and sobering business of an election.
A very serious election, its a local election (which if the past is anything to go by nobody is that interested), but it is also one of our most important referendums in recent years, possibly ever. To vote to change our entire voting system.
So what way am I going to vote on this monumental and historical day? I haven't a clue.

My Greatest Sporting Achievement!

A lot of people say to me "Ere you, you write about sport 'n' that. What have u ever done in sport yer tool?" (Actually nobody has ever said that, but its a nice way to open) So I feel like I should tell the story of my greatest sporting achievement. This was also because my good friend and team member, a man known only as 'Rooksie', and I were talking about it the other day.

The Search for a Name

I was confronted with a challenge today. A challenge I have tackled a few times before, most of the time ultimately failing. Still, it was a challenge I took up kind heartedly, mostly because I didn't have to live with the consequences. That challenge? Thinking of a band name.

AFL - Give us a job!

I got into a rant the other day. A rant all about how the AFL (Aussie Rules) is such a great game and that people in England weren't going to give it a chance. A game that people would love and the perfect summer sport for the action sport enthusiast for whom cricket simply doesn't cut the mustard. A high tempo, tough sport for the likes who love rugby and football.

The inner workings of the neutral fan!

This came to me the other day. To set the seen I was trying to explain to my Mum why I wanted Richmond to beat Collingwood (the AFL game I was watching at the time, if your bothered Collingwood absolutely battered Richmond) and her not really understanding because I have only followed it for a short time. This got me on to thinking the inner workings of a fans mind, especially one like me who finds either fun or neccessary to want one team or another to win

Ice Hockey - The UK's Perfect Sport?

Well today is the start of the much fabled NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, where we shall see the best in the world put their skills to the test to win the ultimate prize in Ice Hockey. I, for one, is hoping that the mighty Pittsburgh Penguins will be triumphant!
This got me onto thinking, why isn't Ice Hockey more popular in Britain?

Procrastination

Procrastination - defined in psychology as 'the act of replacing high-priority actions with low-priority actions, thus putting important tasks off until a later date. (According to the font of all knowledge Wikipedia)
I am a sufferer of procrastination, I have even procrastinated in the writing of this article about procrastination. Why? Why do I put things off until the deadline is very close.

Twit-twoo

I met a social-networking milestone yesterday, my 100th tweet and my 20th blog! What a great day! However, why has it taken me from March 2009 until now to get 100 tweets, and why did it take me until Feburary 2011 to get a blog, when I was doing a journalism course from 2007?

Introducing the new WWE Champion.....me?

OK not really! As those of you who watched Wrestlemania 27 on Sunday you will know that The Miz (with more than a bit of help from The Rock) and Edge are still the champions. As I was watching that fantastic event in the wonderful Southfield pub (as part of my ultimate sports day which you can read here), I thought I could do it. I could be a wrestler.

Ultimate Sports Day!

I set myself a mission. Some would say a mission impossible. A test of human endurance. I was going to have a day immersed in sport. 5am - 4am. Watching it of course not doing it. With a hangover and not returning from a night out until 4 am.

Missing the Music!

Thursday was the day that the news filtered through that one of my all time favourite bands, The Music, broke up. They announced they are doing 5 more gigs, none of which I can go to. I am gutted. This was probably the first time a band I genuinely cared about had a broke up. I wasn't sure quite how to feel.

I am a Hall of Famer!

Your eyes are not playing tricks on you. I am officially a Hall of Fame coach. I have won torunaments and I have a storied history. In what I hear you ask? (or I assume you have a mild interest)  Well it is in the wonderful world of Toccer!

Summer time is here!

One from the vaults again, I wrote this for the Evening Gazette in a run which included this and that. However this one did not prove quite as popular as that. I am still pretty happy with it, but it seemed that the trusty readers of the Gazette were not. As yesterday was the opening day of the Major League Baseball season, I see it somewhat appropriate that this should be dusted off and presented here rather than me re-write something on the same topic. Enjoy!

Don't I feel stupid?

Well yes I do. All brought on by a test. A minor competancy test. Yet it left me drowning in my own stupidity.

Leven make the final!

OK another sort of blast from the past. In 2009, I spent many hungover Sunday morning's watching my friend's kids football team. After I watched the game I used to write up a match report for him for publication in the grassroots football section of the local paper, the Evening Gazette.
Now, last Sunday, Danny invited me over to watch them 2 years on in the semi-final of the TJFA Challenge Cup. A good game of football, so I reverted back to type and wrote him a match report. As it will be cut to shreds by the Gazette I feel I should post it on here in all its glory. However as its kids names in the piece I have decided to change the names to 90's footballers for my own amusement.

Its time to bounce!

Excitement is in the air, I have been waiting for it since September. Yes thats right, this week is the start of the Aussie Rules season!
Now this season is going to be a special one for me, as it will be my first full season following the game. But as it looms over me, will I stick with it? There is a lot more that goes into 'getting into' a new sport especially one that is played in a different time zone, let alone a different country.

Disgrace!

Everyone has a story about sifting their way for beaurocratic boundries and meeting jobs worths at every corner. I have a particular story today which has appalled me.

Something a bit different: Why I hate bands!

OK now this has become a sports blog, I know that, you know that. It didn't intend it to be that way, honest. I am a more well rounded person, I have other interests. One particular interest is music. You may be surprised to learn I play the wonderfully undervalued instrument that is the bass. You may find even more intriguing is that I used to be in bands. 2 to be exact, possibly soon to be 3.
However, you may also learn that I, most of the time, don't enjoy being in bands. So basically, this is why I hate in bands!

Spirit of Steaua!

Every British team in the UEFA Europa league was dumped out last night! Rangers, a team with a storied past and one of the 2 best teams in Scotland, were knocked out by PSV Eindhoven 1-0 on aggregate, by far not the worst one of the night. Multi-billion pound Abu Dhabi juggernaut, with their Carlos Tevez, Edin Dzeko and Mario Balotelli (who struggled to put a bib on) were knocked out 2-1 on aggregate to Dinamo Kiev, and Liverpool, one of this countries most successful teams, complete with £35 million striker Andy Carroll up front, were beat 1-0 on aggregate by Braga!
Now this got me all nostalgic, thinking back to 2006 when my beloved Middlesbrough embarked on their second season in what was then known as the UEFA Cup.

Gravel Cow Match Reports: A tribute!

As some of you my have read in a previous post, that I used to be in the all dominating 7-a-side team, Gravel Cows.
Now as the team strutted its stuff in the Teesside University Intermural 7-a-side football league in their trademark black shirts (or fluorescent bibs). A young wide eyed player/journalist decided to cover the matches, and place the match reports on Facebook.
I felt that these were put to waste on the social network site and felt that it should be tucked away in the safety of my blog.
So take them in and enjoy the real life (and occasionally made up) exploits of everyone's (and by that I mean about 9 people's) favourite 7-a-side dynasty.

London? No, thanks NFL!

Now today, on the day that the NFL's players decide whether they are going to strike because they are not getting paid more millions by their billionnairre employers, like its the worst thing in the world, all the while there is high unemployment, political uprisings in the Middle East and a Tsunami has hit Japan!
So I have decided not to give an opinion on that, given that it is all childish, and I feel I don't know enough to comment. I have decided to get down from my moral high horse and talk about a subject equally frivilous and NFL related. The age old London franchise debate.

Deadline Day!

Now as many of you might know, (and by many I mean predominently anyone American or Canadian reading this) that yesterday was the NHL's trade deadline. Much like the magic and mystery that is the January transfer deadline in football, this is the last chance for the 30 hockey teams to get in those missing pieces to the puzzle that is making the Stanley Cup play-offs!
Now this got me thinking about the differences between transfers and trades, whats the better system? Does everyone get value or not?
But first of all my thoughts on the trades that went down.

Fandemonium!

So I was making my weekly pilgrimage to the Riverside for another 'epic' encounter in the Championship, this week against the league leaders QPR. I say pilgrimage, its 15 minutes in the car and a 10 minute walk, hardly a trek to Mecca or anything! Anyway thats besides the point.

Running track or No Running track, that is the question?

Now you may say I am a tad out of date, but I have only set this up today so please leave you're complaints at the door.
The whole Olympic Stadium episode has wound me up in recent weeks.

Good Morning Sports Fans!

Now something that I feel is going to feature heavily in this blog is sport. Why? I love it. Simple as that. You know that person who knows about Hamilton Ricard having a spell at Shanghai Shenua or that Carmelo Anthony moving to the New York Kincks even thought he doesn't like basketball. Thats me.
I feel as though I should give you some sort of background as to where my, inevitably, biased sports fan comments will come from.

Gravel Cows

Here is another one from the vaults, a little cheeky one I wrote about the finest organisation I was ever part of......our 7aside football team, the Gravel Cows. This one was also in the Gazette at some point. So enjoy again. Come on the Graveliest of Cows!!

It's just a game!

I am not going to lie, this is not new. However, I was chuffed with this when I did it, so I feel it has to be in this here blog! It was published in the Evening Gazette at some point last year. I still think this rings true today. Enjoy!

The world of blogging!

Brilliant! I have delved into the world of blogging! I am only about 5 or 6 years behind everyone else, but better late than never. As for theme, not thought of that yet. This was simply a brain splurge I had today to copy someone who is constantly putting up a blog on my facebook news feed.
I like writing, so sack it, I am having a pop at this. If you like my stuff keep reading.