It’s two days late I know, but a belated Happy St Patrick’s Day to you. In Ireland you still have a few hours to commemorate the national saint on this Bank Holiday Monday but the rest of us are done for another year. The next time that St Patrick’s Day falls on a Saturday will… Continue reading Grand Slam
In the late 1990s the former footballer Ian Wright hosted a chat-show called “Friday Night’s All Wright”, on ITV. (It was on Friday nights, understandably.) He was a great player, and back then he was Arsenal’s top goal-scorer of all time (Thierry Henry overtook him in 2005). I have positive memories of the show. Wright… Continue reading “Get the Nike [Adidas, Reebok] out my face, man”
Two weeks ago, in this Word of the Week piece, I was looking forward to cheering Elise Christie to her first medals at a Winter Olympics, from several thousand miles away. We were able to see her semi-final and final in the 500m speed skating event the following day, during the children’s half-term, but her… Continue reading Word of the week: gutted
After last week’s featured word (Superbowl) here’s another with a sporting theme, prompted by the start of the Winter Olympics from Pyeongchang in South Korea. “Luge” is defined by the Oxford Dictionaries website as a noun (“A light toboggan for one or two people, ridden in a sitting or supine position”), a mass noun (“A… Continue reading Word of the week: Luge
I didn’t get enough sleep last night. Like many other sports fans here in the UK I stayed up late to watch the Superbowl, Philadelphia Eagles winning their first title against defending champions the New England Patriots. Unlike most other sports fans I hadn’t planned to spend the early hours of Monday morning this way,… Continue reading Word of the week: Superbowl
The FA Cup 4th Round takes place this weekend. For the first time in all the years that my wife and I have been together neither of us is interested. Her team (Arsenal) and mine (Leeds United) were both knocked out three weekends ago in the 3rd Round, by teams from lower leagues (Nottingham Forest… Continue reading When your team is knocked out of the FA Cup
Well, that didn’t last long, did it? In November I wrote this piece in anticipation of this winter’s Ashes series, planning my sleep patterns and my mornings to keep up with sporting events in Australia. Less than a week ago, as we approached the halfway point of the five Test Matches, I wrote this piece… Continue reading Final Ashes update
Following on from last month’s musings about The Ashes (which you can read here) we are now around the halfway point in this sporting series. If you have no interest in sport in general, or cricket in particular, you can stop reading now. Otherwise you will find a further 1200 words in the paragraphs that… Continue reading Ashes update: the halfway point
When drafting “1000 Memories” I wrote two pieces about the high jump. The first, about how my father made a pair of high jump stands one summer, when I was nine years old, made it into the Kindle edition. The second, about my Uncle Paddy’s visit that same summer, didn’t make it. Both pieces are… Continue reading Two memories from the 1970s about the high jump
The Ashes begin tonight. If those words mean nothing to you, let me try to explain. The England cricket team begin their series of five Test Matches against Australia, in Australia, at midnight tonight. The trophy that they are contesting is called The Ashes, also known as the urn. The first game is in Brisbane.… Continue reading The Ashes Conundrum
The Compartments 