Tuesday September 11th 2001, a day none of us will ever forget. I was at home at my flat in my home town of Troon with a friend who had ironically only just returned from spending the summer working in the States, we had chatted for a while and decided to put the movie "Deep Blue Sea" on which i had recorded the previous night. The end credits rolled and i switched off the video recorder, and the tv went straight to the last channel i had been watching, Sky News and the image that awaited us was nothing less than shocking, they were reporting that a passenger plane had crashed into one of the twin towers in New York, a tragic accident, or so we thought, untill about 10 minutes later we saw what millions around the world saw, a 2nd plane crashing into the other tower, and it went from tragic accident to obvious act of terrorism. At this point my friend understandably wanted to be with her family and went home. I stayed in front of the tv watching the tragic events unfold as the 2 buildings burned my thought with those poor souls inside. Perhaps one of the most heartbreaking images of that day was the sight of people jumping from the towers to their death rather than being burned alive, i could never even go close to imagining what they must have been thinking. Then came the real tragedy, while no doubt countless numbers of people would have been attempting to evacuate and members of the New York Fire Department were attempting rescues, the first tower collapsed, i remember feeling numb with shock at what i had just seen, i could only imagine how anybody with family and friends in those buildings felt. Then not long after, the 2nd tower came down and with it the chance of survivors reduced dramatically. News had also came in about a 3rd plane crashing into The Pentagon building in Washington, and a 4th coming down in a field in Pennsylvania, this was later revealed to be a failed attempt by the terrorists after they were overcome by heroic passengers who gave their lives to save those on the ground. I remained glued to my tv screen for the rest of the day and into the early hours, wondering why this had happened. Of course we now know who was responsible and what became of him, however the threat of further attacks around the world remains and no doubt will do for a long time yet.
This post is dedicated to the memory of those lost in the attacks 10 years ago today and to the brave members of the New York Fire Department, lets never forget them!!!
This Friday sees the 7th quadrennial (every 4 years) Rugby World cup begin in New Zealand. Now it may not have the glamour and popularity as it's football counterpart, however it can be just as, if not more exciting to watch, you just have to watch the 2003 final where a Johnny Wilkinson drop goal in the dying seconds won the cup for England in a hard fought match against Australia to see evidence of this. I also experienced the thrill of a world cup match first hand when i attended Scotland v Zimbabwe at Murrayfield in 1991, what an an amazing atmosphere it was inside the ground. Whereas in football, the likes of Brazil Germany and Spain are dominant forces, in rugby, the big guns are New Zealand,Australia and current champions South Africa, and with the event taking place in New Zealand one would have to place them as odds on favourites to win on home soil, but the other countries wont just lie down and hand them the cup. There are some great matches to look forward to in the group stages, the main one for me will be my country Scotland take on our bitter rivals England in pool B,with both teams expected to make the knockout stages, this should be a battle for top spot, however with the ever improving Argentina in the group and potential shock troops Georgia and Romania also there, anything could happen. Whatever happens during the tournament, and whoever is playing in the final on October 23rd, one thing is for sure, you will not regret tuning in to watch.
With all the transfer deadline day activities yesterday, one story passed me by untill i read it in todays newspapers, Hearts fan John Wilson was CLEARED of assaulting Celtic manager, Neil Lennon during a match at tynecastle on 11th May this year, despite millions of tv viewers seeing the action unfold live on tv. Wilson was also cleared of sectarian crimes despite a match steward hearing him call Lennon a "Fenian Bastard". Despite being a Rangers fan i found the actions of this moron disgusting when i saw it unfold on tv, but my thoughts at the time were that it had been caught on tv cameras so convicting him would be a no brainer, that was untill yesterday when the jury at his trial came to a verdict of not proven, i mean seriously, the proof was there to be seen, i saw it, the guy down the street saw it, hell Stevie Wonder even saw it, so what the hell were the jury thinking?. It makes a mockery of the Scottish justice system considering he even at one point admitted he lunged at Lennon. At a time when sectarionism is rife in Scottish football, this has to be one of the worst things that could have happened, it will make every moronic bigot think they can get away with the same thing, my only hope is that the justice system takes a long hard look at itself and learns from this.
It only happens twice in a football season, it has been known to make grown men cry tears of joy or heartbreak, Sky Sports presenter Jim White has on more than one occasion done a sex wee live on air during it, yes football fans, it's transfer deadline day, the last day your club can make any new signings before the transfer window closes untill the /January sales. So what can we expect to see today then? well apart from the usual rumours like Ronaldo to Stoke or Messi to MK Dons, We can expect a few premiership players to jump from one club to another causing a riot between rival fans, The Old Firm to fight over a player and the team who loses out by not offering enough money, regrets their decision later in the season when said player scores against them, and of course Mr White to need medical attention at 1 minute past midnight as the window closes. Whatever happens it will pave the way for another exciting season North and South of the border, and i for one can't wait!.
I chose not to report any signings or actuall rumours as no doubt as soon as i posted the blog they would be proved wrong lol.
Season 2011/12 has only just begun, and no mater what happens on the domestic front in Scotland, it will be remembered for one thing only, the fact that before either the Champions or Europa leagues had even begun properly, all Scotlands representatives had been knocked out in the qualifying rounds (In my team, Rangers case, knocked out both competitions). Now we could blame dodgy ref decisions all day but the simple fact is Scottish football is a joke, Our national team hasn't been at a major tournament since the World Cup in France 1998, and as for our domestic clubs, well where do i start. Last night saw Rangers, Celtic and Hearts all crash out of the Europa League at the qualifying stage, now Hearts had it tough, they were up against Premiership big buns Tottenhanm Hotspur (the English team i support) and despite a 5-0 thrashing at home, they put up a brave fight against albeit an under strengthed spurs squad and came away from White Heart Lane with a little pride intact after a 0-0 draw. The Old Firm teams on the other hand were a disgrace, Celtic going down 3-1 away to FC Sion after drawing 0-0 at home last week and Rangers drawing 1-1 at home to NK Maribor after a 2-1 away defeat last week. Now no disrespect to Sion or Maribor, but who the fuck are they??, nobodies, that's who, and for the so called might of the SPL to be humbled by them is nothing more than embarrassing, a fact made even worse when you hear that Stoke City and Shamrock rovers also managed to qualify. Things need to change in Scottish football, and fast, because the current set up just isn't working, though one thing is for certain, despite what people have been saying for years now, Rangers and Celtic should never be allowed into the English league, mainly because they are Scottish teams, but also because they would end up getting beat by teams like Acrington Stanley (who are they? exactly!).What we need is a 16 team top tier league with the focus on Scottish players, you just have to look at how well the scotland under 21 squad do to see that there is young talent out there itching to do the job for any clubs willing to give them that chance to shine, also limit the number of foreigners coming in to 4 in a squad, most if not all only come here to put themselves in the shop window so other big clubs notice them (why is beyond me, its like putting caviar in Aldi's window). The Scottish government needs to get more involved with the SFA to see that more money is invested at grass roots, encourage more schools to have an active football team, offer more training camps during school holidays, and get popular footballers to offer coaching. Of course non of this will fix the immediate problem, that is up to the managers themselves to sort out the teams, find the players willing to play for the shirt, and those who are only interested in the pay cheque should be shown the door. With time and effort we can get Scottish Football back on the map, and make us a proud nation again.
This November see's the much anticipated release of the 8th game in the "Call Of Duty" video game series. For those who have been living under a rock, Call Of Duty is a first and third person shooter game created by Ben Chichoski and published by Activision, and either developed by Infinity Ward or Treyarch. The earlier games were set during WW2, with later games (Modern Warfare 1, and soon to be released 3) set as name suggests, in modern day, while last years Black Ops set during the Cold War. This genre of game was one i had normally not played untill the release of MW2, when i decided to jump on the bandwagon and buy it due to the publicity surrounding its release and fact all my friends were buying it, and i will admit, in video game terms, it was the best move i ever made, The single player campaign blew my mind, especially the "No Russian" chapter where you walk through an airport, shooting civilians, pretty sick but a good way of getting rid of pent up anger lol. However the best part is the online multiplayer, where you get the chance to play people from around the world, which sometimes can be a lot of fun, but at times it can get frustrating due to idiots using cheat hacks, something i hate, i mean what is the point of buying a game if you are just going to cheat. A lot of people also hate grenade launchers or Thumpers (known as noob tubes) but i myself always use them, partly because of the multikills you can get but also because the evil part of me knows it will piss people off. So after a year of playing MW2 you could imagine my excitement at the November 2010 release of Black Ops, however my excitement was short lived, the game was horrible, the campaign was good i admit but multiplayer was dire, the graphics and sound effects were poor compared to that of MW2, to be honest just thinking of the game pisses me off so i will move on. So what of MW3 then, well it seems it will be set in various locations including London,and it promises new killstreak features, a revamped ranking system and the removal of certain power advantage perks that some find annoying. The campaign will continue where MW2 left off, and will feature some of the same characters. All in all the game seems certain to be a hit, despite ging head to head with rival game Battlefield 3, released around the same time. My money will be spent on MW3, and once it is released, me and my xbox will be spending a lot of time together!
David Cameron is hardly Mr popular at the best of times, however recently he has angered the voting public more than normal. Just a couple of weeks ago parts of England saw the worst rioting and looting ever seen on these shores, causing millions if not billions of pounds worth of damage, and livelihoods ruined. The scenes from cities such as London, Birmingham and Manchester were awfull, kids barely in their teens squaring up to, and throwing missiles at police and other emergency service officers, shops being looted and burned down, and even innocent families being forced out of their own homes. the one thing this country needed at that time was a leader to stand up and say enough is enough, yet it took our Prime Minister 3 DAYS before he decided to cut short his holiday in Italy and come back to the UK. However after last nights events in Libya where it seems Colonel Gadaffis regime is falling, Mr Cameron rushed home from yet another holiday (albeit only in Cornwall) in just a matter of hours to pretty much take the credit for what the people of Libya achieved, and his party members were all getting right behind him, Louise Mensch for example tweeting that "it was a genuine triumph for our PM David Cameron". Now i am in no way suggesting that he or any other member of parliament doesn't deserve a holiday, however Camerons latest jaunt was his FIFTH holiday of the summer. Sorry Dave but just because Parliament shuts down for the summer, doesn't mean problems in your country do, we are in the grip of a financial crisis, and your country needed your leadership during those rots, you can not pick and choose when you want to be Prime Minister i'm afraid, its a 24/7 job, and should you be on holiday, the first sign your country needs you, you get back here, i mean its not like your deputy Nick Clegg is capable of the job even for a few days.
