Category: sport

Tables

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After this weekend, the two tables that matter the most to me are both looking very pleasant.

This Championship one:

Yep. That’s my team at the top.

And then the Fantasy Football one:

Yep. That’s my team at the top.

Lots of talk of goal difference etc. on the fantasy football group, but I’ve been doing some rudimentary calculations, and apparently it’s points that matter when calculating whoever is higher than whoever else.

And right now, I’ve got the most of those.

I’m not sure how much longer either of these situations will last, but I’m going to enjoy the moment while I can. As Konkan told us back in ’88:

Come along and share the good times while we can.

Because after last season in the Premier League, and my perennial underachieving in our long-standing Fantasy Football league, those two tables make a very welcome change from the norm.

So right now, it’s party time (until Saturday, at least).

What a night

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After having spent much of the evenings this week watching late night footy or being out and about with the Molton Brown boys, I was actually quite knackered and I wasn’t really looking forward to last night’s match at Beautiful Downtown Bramall Lane.

By the way, I do recognise that despite being about football – the number one sport globally – this is still a bit of niche post for most readers, but MMIRIM, so I’m putting it here anyway.

But I watched, and thank [Deity] I did.

Grit, courage, effort, attitude, belief, damn hard work.

What a night.

There’s a thing that I have seen from watching almost several hours of football over the last n years, and that’s that the best teams somehow manage to grind a positive result out of games that they really shouldn’t be able to. And when you don’t play at your best, but you still manage to get a win: that’s the sign of a team that’s going places.

Me though, not so much. The adrenaline coursing through my veins meant that I didn’t get to sleep until about1:30, and amazingly – if anything – I’m more broken this morning than I was going into last night.

EDIT: Look, not everyone enjoyed it.
Here’s an excerpt from a Sunderland fans internet comment about the game:

“Shellshocked doesn’t go far enough to describe how I feel.
I feel utterly numb and inconsolable right now.
I feel like I ought to flog the cheap tat that is Sheffield hallmarked silver that’s in my collection to make a point. That place has always made vastly inferior crap anyway. I hate that village in Yorkshire. I hate everything about it.”

Mate. It was a 1-0 defeat.
Calm your tits, hold onto your silver collection, take a deep breath and try to enjoy your weekend.
Good luck with real life.

We’ve seen this before

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I tried my hardest to watch the Big Match between Liverpool and Real Madrid last night. Sadly, given the Bigger Match between Sheffield United and Oxford United the previous evening, and the Reasonably Sized Match between Newcastle United and West Ham United on Monday evening, in conjunction with the Frankly Ridiculous 2 hour time difference between the UK and SA, I fell somewhat short.

Finding time for adequate sleep is always hard in a European football week.

I did officially make it to 70 minutes when Mo Salah missed his spot kick, but I fear that there may have been a few moments when I may have drifted off, as there are several (or more) bits that I don’t remember. Like these ones, for example:

Kylian Mbappé didn’t have a good night last night. Apart from being kicked all over the field by Liverpool, his team lost and he also missed a penalty.

But it was on spotting the images above that I suddenly had a recollection of seeing all of these moves earlier in the year…

Ah yes. It seems that B-girl Raygun and B-Boy Mbappé are one and the same.

Although her Olympic performance might have been improved with Virgil van Dijk’s boot up her arse.

Maybe an idea for next time?

A good night out – unless you are South Sudan*

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* or you needed more than 4½ hours sleep.

We went down to the DHL Stadium in Cape Town last night for the AFCON qualifier between South Africa and South Sudan. As I mentioned yesterday, this match didn’t matter too much, with SA already qualified, and SS already… not. And so it was a bit of a free hit, and an opportunity to celebrate both the qualification and the first Bafana Bafana game in Cape Town in 9 (nine) years.

And although the early kick off made it tough for a lot of people to get there on time, the stadium did fill up and there was a really joyous and jubilant atmosphere. A properly fun occasion.

Cape Town didn’t miss out on the chance to show off, as well.

It finished in a (more than) comfortable 3-0 win for the hosts in front of a passionate crowd; South Sudan almost being too bad to play well against. And – once the traffic had cleared – we made a quick trip to the Dark Horse for post-match drinks and bar snacks (OMG, the Prego Bruschetta!).

I’m not saying what time I got home (or in what sort of state), but you’ve seen the footnote beneath the title, and you know that I’ll be in bed by 8:30 tonight in an effort to make up for any lost time in Sleepsville, Western Cape last night.

Football this evening

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Not playing, like we do most Tuesday evenings in Green Point.

No. Watching, like we are doing this Tuesday evening in Green Point.

When we bought tickets, South Africa v South Sudan could have been an all-important, must-win game for Bafana Bafana. But because of results in the intervening period (a win for each of them, as it happens), it doesn’t matter quite as much.

Still, a nice home win in front of a sold out (2 tiers) crowd would be very welcome. And it’s been too long since I’ve watched live footy. So we’re going to go down there and enjoy it.

And then eat some tentacles at the home of tentacles a little later.