Well, last night I had the privilege of attending a Champions League match at Stamford Bridge: the home of Chelsea FC. I have already been to an international match for England as well as a Premier League match at Fulham but I haven’t had the opportunity to see a Champions League match, so I was pretty excited to go! I didn’t end up working during the day because of the London Tube strike. Unfortunately the tube workers and the city have had a labour dispute going on for over a year now. Since the workers can’t really strike for an extended period of time because it would completely shut the city down, they instead choose one day every month and go on strike with limited service on one of two lines throughout the day. The city responds by increasing bus services through the city centre as well as increasing boat and tram services as well. It affects me because schools normally do not call in for a supply if they can help it because they know that a lot of teachers coming through agencies require the use of the transit system to get to the school. In order to avoid any supply being late they usually opt to use their own teachers or in house supplies to cover off the classes. It was therefore quite a quiet day at Protocol and I didn’t receive any work because of it…but I digress.
After schlepping through my day (and actually being quite productive!) I met with Neale at around 5pm. For those of you who may not remember Neale was the amazing driver who picked me up at the airport when I first arrived in England. A fantastic chap who offered me the ability to go to these matches with him. He picked me up with his son, Stephan, and his mate, Lee. Both of these guys were just a riot and a lot of fun to talk to, they were also both at least 10 years older than me but it didn’t matter because we were having a great time. We ended up picking up Neale’s wife, Helen, and we continued on towards Chelsea for the evening. Helen was so full of energy and life and we were laughing our way through our walk towards the grounds. We were going to be hitting up a restaurant called “Bodean’s” before the match for dinner. This restaurant is a straight up American style steak and rib house right in the heart of Chelsea. We couldn’t get in right away unfortunately because there were a bunch of Spartak Moscow fans taking up tables and saving tables for extended periods of time for friends who hadn’t shown up. We went over to a pub across the way for “Home Fans Only” for a pint and then headed back to convince our way into the restaurant. We did eventually get in and head to squeeze into a table meant for four but it was no problem. We all ended up ordering the “Chelsea Special” which is only available on during Chelsea home matches. My….god. Unbelievable food!!! The special was a FULL rack of ribs, 4 chicken wings, an order of fries, a mountain of coleslaw, and a pint of beer for ₤15!! I was sooooo stuffed afterwards but we had a match to go to! After saying goodbye to Helen the boys headed over to Stamford for the game.
The match itself was really awesome. The stadium is not too big (holds about 40 000) but it’s a lot more modernized than Fulham’s stadium, Craven Cottage. The fans were in a fever and there was a giant section for the Moscow fans. I ended up taking a ton of pictures throughout the match which can be seen on my Facebook profile page. The first half of the match was actually a bit boring. There was no score and Chelsea seemed to play a little worse than I expected with the line-up they threw onto the pitch. Neale was telling me however that their trademark style is to slowly wear teams down and then strike late in the match…boy did they ever. The second half started off quite fast and before I knew it Chelsea was up 3-0. They were also playing towards our end of the pitch so all of the goals were right in front of us. They ended up with a 4-1 victory and the match turned out to be a lot more exciting than originally thought! On the way out I grabbed a match scarf for £5 (I’m going to collect them for all of the matches I attend) and then we were back on our way to Neale’s van to head back.
The ride back took a little while because of the heavy traffic leaving the stadium but we made it back no problem and I was tired as hell having been up since 6:30am that morning. I confirmed with Neale that I’d be going to the next Champions League match at Chelsea on November 23rd with him and Stephan and I definitely look forward to it!
All in all, a crazy awesome night, both in terms of the match and pre-game festivities. That family is awesome to hang out with, they were so funny, and took me under their wing asking me tons of questions and having a great laugh. Neale told me to give him a ring near Christmas as well so we could go out for a couple pints. I’m really glad to have a great hook up of people from the area and Neale’s a great resource if I have any questions :).
I ended up getting work today but I’ll include that in a week end post tomorrow on the teaching side of things. Until then…
Cheers, Love, and Rock The World!!!
Erik
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
The Arts' Place In Education
“Arts education aids students in skills needed in the workplace: flexibility, the ability to solve problems and communicate, the ability to learn new skills, to be creative and innovative, and to strive for excellence.”
– Joseph M. Calahan, Director of Cooperate Communications, Xerox Corporation
Beginning as a student in high school I have been a constant participant in the performing arts. My fondest memories from those days include performing in a number of different plays, school assemblies, and in the Sears Drama Fest of Ontario. I made some of my best friends through being a drama student. I have gone on to study drama at the university level and have enjoyed it so much that I have dedicated my life to teaching this subject by making it my primary teachable subject at the secondary level. I continue to participate in community theatre and my dream is to become a full time drama teacher and help my students realize their potentials in this subject as I had. I attribute my public speaking ability, out-going personality, and so many more extrovert qualities to my success in the subject. I owe a lot to the performing arts. It’s this passion for the subject that has me wondering all of the time exactly why this and other arts subjects are always on the chopping block when it comes to spending reviews.
I have been reading the news for over a year now about the impending doom that arts education is facing in many countries. As a result of the constant threat of a continuing global recession governments have been cutting back on their public funding to ease pressure on their national debts and try to bring their economies in line. It started in Canada last year and in England as recently as two weeks ago when Lord Browne’s budget cut report was made public. It seems that the arts always get the short end of the stick. Why is this? Governments like to say that it is an elitist activity that the general public can’t relate to or can’t connect to. Others might think that the arts are good as a distraction but when the going gets tough and cuts need to be made it’s just a fun and fancy free activity that isn’t needed in society. I’m here to tell you that it is.
Let’s turn our focus away from the professional side of the arts and look deeper into the arts in education. Most schools these days provide facilities and elective courses in three main streams of the arts: drama, music, and visual art. They are generally seen as “bird” courses that can be used to fill in a school schedule and to get an easy credit by getting up and moving around or drawing some weird shapes on a canvas. I’ve seen these stigmas take place as a student and as a teacher in a drama classroom. Some students come in thinking it’s going to be fun and games and realize just how much a challenge these courses present to them. They are asked to bare their souls for others, to express themselves creatively in a presentational format, to work intimately with others in creating a performance, and to accept criticism from not only their teacher but their peers as well to improve and refine their abilities. What other subjects in schools can boast these facts? The arts promote public performance and speaking ability, problem-solving, teamwork, creativity, and self-expression. I believe all of these are intrinsic to producing someone who can be successful in whatever path they choose after graduation.
I realize that the focus of education in both Canada and the UK is English, Science, and Math. These subjects are very important to promote skills in basic everyday life as well as in many of the occupations that are out there. They are essential components to the arts themselves and I am not condemning or belittling their importance in education. I am only saying that I believe that to create a truly rounded student we need to arts and what they provide to compliment those basic skills learned in the bigger subjects. Even considering a student entering a post-secondary education, never mind what career they’ll eventually choose, intellectual traits will only get you halfway. A person needs to have those essential social traits as well to interact effectively with colleagues, peers, and administrators. Making the arts just as important (in my opinion) to the government mandated English, Science, and Math courses.
The arts are doomed to face this sort of discrimination as long as they around. The abstractness of their composition makes it difficult for some to understand the true importance that lies beneath the surface: skills and abilities that will complement those developed through other courses. So, the next time a student, friend, or colleague approaches you about a course they’re thinking of taking or asking for advice; point them towards the arts. They may just discover something they’ve been looking for or find something they never knew was inside them. They just might thank you one day.
– Joseph M. Calahan, Director of Cooperate Communications, Xerox Corporation
Beginning as a student in high school I have been a constant participant in the performing arts. My fondest memories from those days include performing in a number of different plays, school assemblies, and in the Sears Drama Fest of Ontario. I made some of my best friends through being a drama student. I have gone on to study drama at the university level and have enjoyed it so much that I have dedicated my life to teaching this subject by making it my primary teachable subject at the secondary level. I continue to participate in community theatre and my dream is to become a full time drama teacher and help my students realize their potentials in this subject as I had. I attribute my public speaking ability, out-going personality, and so many more extrovert qualities to my success in the subject. I owe a lot to the performing arts. It’s this passion for the subject that has me wondering all of the time exactly why this and other arts subjects are always on the chopping block when it comes to spending reviews.
I have been reading the news for over a year now about the impending doom that arts education is facing in many countries. As a result of the constant threat of a continuing global recession governments have been cutting back on their public funding to ease pressure on their national debts and try to bring their economies in line. It started in Canada last year and in England as recently as two weeks ago when Lord Browne’s budget cut report was made public. It seems that the arts always get the short end of the stick. Why is this? Governments like to say that it is an elitist activity that the general public can’t relate to or can’t connect to. Others might think that the arts are good as a distraction but when the going gets tough and cuts need to be made it’s just a fun and fancy free activity that isn’t needed in society. I’m here to tell you that it is.
Let’s turn our focus away from the professional side of the arts and look deeper into the arts in education. Most schools these days provide facilities and elective courses in three main streams of the arts: drama, music, and visual art. They are generally seen as “bird” courses that can be used to fill in a school schedule and to get an easy credit by getting up and moving around or drawing some weird shapes on a canvas. I’ve seen these stigmas take place as a student and as a teacher in a drama classroom. Some students come in thinking it’s going to be fun and games and realize just how much a challenge these courses present to them. They are asked to bare their souls for others, to express themselves creatively in a presentational format, to work intimately with others in creating a performance, and to accept criticism from not only their teacher but their peers as well to improve and refine their abilities. What other subjects in schools can boast these facts? The arts promote public performance and speaking ability, problem-solving, teamwork, creativity, and self-expression. I believe all of these are intrinsic to producing someone who can be successful in whatever path they choose after graduation.
I realize that the focus of education in both Canada and the UK is English, Science, and Math. These subjects are very important to promote skills in basic everyday life as well as in many of the occupations that are out there. They are essential components to the arts themselves and I am not condemning or belittling their importance in education. I am only saying that I believe that to create a truly rounded student we need to arts and what they provide to compliment those basic skills learned in the bigger subjects. Even considering a student entering a post-secondary education, never mind what career they’ll eventually choose, intellectual traits will only get you halfway. A person needs to have those essential social traits as well to interact effectively with colleagues, peers, and administrators. Making the arts just as important (in my opinion) to the government mandated English, Science, and Math courses.
The arts are doomed to face this sort of discrimination as long as they around. The abstractness of their composition makes it difficult for some to understand the true importance that lies beneath the surface: skills and abilities that will complement those developed through other courses. So, the next time a student, friend, or colleague approaches you about a course they’re thinking of taking or asking for advice; point them towards the arts. They may just discover something they’ve been looking for or find something they never knew was inside them. They just might thank you one day.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
My Thoughts On The Troubles
Well, I just wanted to take this moment to discuss something that’s been on my mind since I’ve been to Belfast and done a lot of the sightseeing and tours. This has been especially prevalent in my mind since meeting Jeremy’s friends from Queen’s who are actually from Northern Ireland and Belfast itself. That topic (if you haven’t already guessed it) would be The Troubles. It’s hard not to think about this violent aspect of Northern Ireland’s past because it consumes so much of the stigma surrounding international views towards it. I’ll admit, even I was a little hesitant when thinking about going to Belfast to visit Jeremy. As soon as one hears that city name immediately one’s head is filled with images of violence, bombings, the IRA, and so many more negative stereotypes. Even my European guidebook has only a tiny section dedicated to Northern Ireland inside the section on the Republic of Ireland. The section has very small elements about things to do in and around the city and really only talks about Londonderry and Belfast…nothing else. Estonia has a larger section with things to do so there’s something to think about (no offense to anyone from Estonia.) I really want to set the record straight that Belfast is an absolutely beautiful city with amazing people. It’s vibrant, fun, energetic, and trying so hard to shed this view that the country is full of budding terrorists ready to strike at any time. They’ve moved on in so many ways and it really shows.
Mind you, there are still a lot of negative feelings buried beneath the surface within the city but like any extremist movement it is only a very small portion of the population that still actively engages in these sorts of activities. Since the Good Friday Accord in 1998 there has been a lasting (so far) time of peace between the two sides and nobody wants to ruin it for anybody else. Since arriving in England I have met no finer or nicer people than the Irish. They are a beautiful, kind, and fun-loving people who take life as it comes at them every day and live it to the fullest. The pubs were packed for football and music, the kindness of our taxi driver showing us around West Belfast and his own point of view of The Troubles, and even a lovely bus driver up near Giant’s Causeway who pretty much chauffeured us all the way to Coleraine telling us the fairy tale stories about the Coves and the supposed giants who live there (not the New York variety either…or the now world champion San Francisco variety.) The first reason this city is so great definitely has to go to the people who live in it…they makes the trip worthwhile right there.
Next, the architecture and look of the city itself is amazing. There’s a legacy of English colonial rule in Belfast and the buildings truly reflect this. The architecture, look, and feel of the many structures reflect those of some of the grandest and oldest buildings in London itself. The city hall is the crown jewel of them all. A wonderful building that you could admire from all 360 angles with statues galore in the front lawns including a grand one of Queen Victoria right in the centre of them all. This is the perfect place to start any trek into and around the city and being placed right in the centre of the city itself it’s an area that would be hard for one to miss. Buildings…another reason why Belfast was a wonderful and amazing city to visit.
I am seriously digressing in terms of what I want to talk about but I figured it would be good to shed these stereotypes not only in myself but in my reader as well before moving on to what I really want to talk about.
The highlight for this entire trip for me definitely had to be the Black Cab Tour of West Belfast. As most of you know I am a huge history buff. I studied history in university and it is also one of my teachable subjects. I was looking forward to this tour and it was a must on the list during this trip. As I have said in a previous post we really lucked out on the cab driver himself. Jerry really knew his stuff and he approached the subject from an unbiased and fact-based standpoint. He did say at the beginning of the tour that he was Catholic and so he knew more about the events from a Catholic perspective but I thought he did a phenomenal job at delivering the information in a comprehensive way.
It was so surreal to actually be standing in some of the places that events throughout the course of The Troubles took place. I’ve had this feeling so many times since my arrival in England. It’s so easy to see some of the biggest tourist attractions in London in pictures on the Internet, in other people’s pictures on the Internet, and in many books and magazines. When you are actually standing in the same place looking directly at whatever building, bridge, palace, or work of art you came there to see…it feels almost like you are staring at a picture of it. I mean, it looks exactly like you would expect it to. I didn’t have to actually be standing beside Big Ben to know what it looked like, I could picture it perfectly in my head. To actually be there…staring at it and realizing you are where you are…it’s a bit mind-blowing for a moment. In terms of the spots we hit during our tour in West Belfast this feeling was heightened to unfelt proportions. I didn’t know too much about The Troubles prior to my trip to Northern Ireland and I definitely didn’t know that much about the areas in which the most violent outbreaks took place. So to be standing in Bombay Street where the first bombing that started the Troubles took place, to see the Peace Wall stretching all the way to the mountains to separate the two communities…it was a shock to the system. You begin to realize how many people lost their lives as a result of something so trivial, and true to most conflicts of this nature the majority of people who did die were innocent bystanders not actively involved in either movement…just trying to live out their lives. This became even more prevalent in my head as Jeremy and I were hitting a pub for the football matches that afternoon. Across the bar from us there was a group of elderly men enjoying a pint and watching the television. Now, The Troubles lasted from 1969 until as recently as 1998 and there have still been sporadic attacks since the Accord was signed. These men, assuming they’ve lived in Belfast their entire lives, were old enough to remember the years of hatred building like a powder keg below the surface of daily life. They were old enough to remember that first bombing in the summer of 1969 igniting that powder throughout Northern Ireland. They were old enough to live through decades of violence with indiscriminate bombings, shooting in the streets, and having to wake up every morning to leave their houses not knowing if they would be coming back…reading in the papers every day those that didn’t. I looked at these men and could not comprehend the things they’ve seen, heard, and read about. It was a truly humbling moment in not only my visit but in my life.
When I first met Will and Leslie at the Speakeasy I was amazed at how easily we got along. Like I said before, the Irish seem to just have that air around them and we hit it off right away. Once we arrived Wetherspoons that evening (and after being a few pints in) the conversation inevitably turned to our tour and about the Troubles. Now, Will was born in England and moved to Ireland as a young lad but didn’t really experience any of these events. Leslie was one of those lucky few to have grown up in a Belfast that didn’t have those violent episodes occurring on a daily basis and hers is the generation that’s supposed to work to create a new Belfast and a new Northern Ireland free from those stereotypes. It was a bizarre conversation because they both approached it with relative ease and didn’t seem to mind talking about it at all. For them The Troubles has become more of a history lesson than anything else. Even more than that they openly discussed just how much these divisions didn’t matter in their lives. People who lived through the tragedy and hatred may still have underlying feelings of negativity, but for people like Leslie; they never grew up in a world where they were defined by their political or religious beliefs. She didn’t care what religion people followed and admitted that conversations would turn that way occasionally but when people told her they were Catholic (as she was Protestant) there would be nothing more than a shrug of the shoulders and getting on with being friends. Now that is an unbelievable turn from the direction Belfast was moving in as recently as a decade ago.
Sometimes it’s hard to remember just how similar these events are to those happening in our world today. When one thinks about violence such as consistent car bombings, shooting in the streets, foreign armies occupying for peace purposes, and thousands of innocent people dying it’s hard not to think of those conflicts occurring in the Middle East right now. As one who grew up in western society I can’t even imagine what it must be like to walk through the streets knowing at any point these sorts of things could happen in my own city. I think as westerners, especially with the violence subsided in Belfast, we almost feel that these sorts of things only happen in other parts of the world…more unstable parts…they could never happen here. We cannot forget that we are in no way above these sorts of conflicts. We have been plagued with racial differences, religious differences, and so many more in our past and even in our present. Maybe if more people took a page out of Leslie’s book and those of so many other people trying to build a better life in areas like Belfast we could all learn to try to see through our differences took…to try and build a better world for future generations to enjoy.
Mind you, there are still a lot of negative feelings buried beneath the surface within the city but like any extremist movement it is only a very small portion of the population that still actively engages in these sorts of activities. Since the Good Friday Accord in 1998 there has been a lasting (so far) time of peace between the two sides and nobody wants to ruin it for anybody else. Since arriving in England I have met no finer or nicer people than the Irish. They are a beautiful, kind, and fun-loving people who take life as it comes at them every day and live it to the fullest. The pubs were packed for football and music, the kindness of our taxi driver showing us around West Belfast and his own point of view of The Troubles, and even a lovely bus driver up near Giant’s Causeway who pretty much chauffeured us all the way to Coleraine telling us the fairy tale stories about the Coves and the supposed giants who live there (not the New York variety either…or the now world champion San Francisco variety.) The first reason this city is so great definitely has to go to the people who live in it…they makes the trip worthwhile right there.
Next, the architecture and look of the city itself is amazing. There’s a legacy of English colonial rule in Belfast and the buildings truly reflect this. The architecture, look, and feel of the many structures reflect those of some of the grandest and oldest buildings in London itself. The city hall is the crown jewel of them all. A wonderful building that you could admire from all 360 angles with statues galore in the front lawns including a grand one of Queen Victoria right in the centre of them all. This is the perfect place to start any trek into and around the city and being placed right in the centre of the city itself it’s an area that would be hard for one to miss. Buildings…another reason why Belfast was a wonderful and amazing city to visit.
I am seriously digressing in terms of what I want to talk about but I figured it would be good to shed these stereotypes not only in myself but in my reader as well before moving on to what I really want to talk about.
The highlight for this entire trip for me definitely had to be the Black Cab Tour of West Belfast. As most of you know I am a huge history buff. I studied history in university and it is also one of my teachable subjects. I was looking forward to this tour and it was a must on the list during this trip. As I have said in a previous post we really lucked out on the cab driver himself. Jerry really knew his stuff and he approached the subject from an unbiased and fact-based standpoint. He did say at the beginning of the tour that he was Catholic and so he knew more about the events from a Catholic perspective but I thought he did a phenomenal job at delivering the information in a comprehensive way.
It was so surreal to actually be standing in some of the places that events throughout the course of The Troubles took place. I’ve had this feeling so many times since my arrival in England. It’s so easy to see some of the biggest tourist attractions in London in pictures on the Internet, in other people’s pictures on the Internet, and in many books and magazines. When you are actually standing in the same place looking directly at whatever building, bridge, palace, or work of art you came there to see…it feels almost like you are staring at a picture of it. I mean, it looks exactly like you would expect it to. I didn’t have to actually be standing beside Big Ben to know what it looked like, I could picture it perfectly in my head. To actually be there…staring at it and realizing you are where you are…it’s a bit mind-blowing for a moment. In terms of the spots we hit during our tour in West Belfast this feeling was heightened to unfelt proportions. I didn’t know too much about The Troubles prior to my trip to Northern Ireland and I definitely didn’t know that much about the areas in which the most violent outbreaks took place. So to be standing in Bombay Street where the first bombing that started the Troubles took place, to see the Peace Wall stretching all the way to the mountains to separate the two communities…it was a shock to the system. You begin to realize how many people lost their lives as a result of something so trivial, and true to most conflicts of this nature the majority of people who did die were innocent bystanders not actively involved in either movement…just trying to live out their lives. This became even more prevalent in my head as Jeremy and I were hitting a pub for the football matches that afternoon. Across the bar from us there was a group of elderly men enjoying a pint and watching the television. Now, The Troubles lasted from 1969 until as recently as 1998 and there have still been sporadic attacks since the Accord was signed. These men, assuming they’ve lived in Belfast their entire lives, were old enough to remember the years of hatred building like a powder keg below the surface of daily life. They were old enough to remember that first bombing in the summer of 1969 igniting that powder throughout Northern Ireland. They were old enough to live through decades of violence with indiscriminate bombings, shooting in the streets, and having to wake up every morning to leave their houses not knowing if they would be coming back…reading in the papers every day those that didn’t. I looked at these men and could not comprehend the things they’ve seen, heard, and read about. It was a truly humbling moment in not only my visit but in my life.
When I first met Will and Leslie at the Speakeasy I was amazed at how easily we got along. Like I said before, the Irish seem to just have that air around them and we hit it off right away. Once we arrived Wetherspoons that evening (and after being a few pints in) the conversation inevitably turned to our tour and about the Troubles. Now, Will was born in England and moved to Ireland as a young lad but didn’t really experience any of these events. Leslie was one of those lucky few to have grown up in a Belfast that didn’t have those violent episodes occurring on a daily basis and hers is the generation that’s supposed to work to create a new Belfast and a new Northern Ireland free from those stereotypes. It was a bizarre conversation because they both approached it with relative ease and didn’t seem to mind talking about it at all. For them The Troubles has become more of a history lesson than anything else. Even more than that they openly discussed just how much these divisions didn’t matter in their lives. People who lived through the tragedy and hatred may still have underlying feelings of negativity, but for people like Leslie; they never grew up in a world where they were defined by their political or religious beliefs. She didn’t care what religion people followed and admitted that conversations would turn that way occasionally but when people told her they were Catholic (as she was Protestant) there would be nothing more than a shrug of the shoulders and getting on with being friends. Now that is an unbelievable turn from the direction Belfast was moving in as recently as a decade ago.
Sometimes it’s hard to remember just how similar these events are to those happening in our world today. When one thinks about violence such as consistent car bombings, shooting in the streets, foreign armies occupying for peace purposes, and thousands of innocent people dying it’s hard not to think of those conflicts occurring in the Middle East right now. As one who grew up in western society I can’t even imagine what it must be like to walk through the streets knowing at any point these sorts of things could happen in my own city. I think as westerners, especially with the violence subsided in Belfast, we almost feel that these sorts of things only happen in other parts of the world…more unstable parts…they could never happen here. We cannot forget that we are in no way above these sorts of conflicts. We have been plagued with racial differences, religious differences, and so many more in our past and even in our present. Maybe if more people took a page out of Leslie’s book and those of so many other people trying to build a better life in areas like Belfast we could all learn to try to see through our differences took…to try and build a better world for future generations to enjoy.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Good Evening And Welcome To November!
Well, it’s been one hectic ride this past week. The last couple of days in Belfast were a ton of fun. Jeremy and I were just taking it a lot easier since the first couple of days were intensely intense. Seeing as how we were going through pretty much every tourist attraction in Belfast and beyond in two days it made a lot more sense to kick back and relax. Jeremy also had class to worry about so I took the opportunity to just walk around Belfast a little bit and do some window shopping, as well as seeing other areas that I hadn’t gotten to yet. All of the while taking my time to hit Starbucks and do a bit of writing/reading of the paper containing news.
On Tuesday evening we managed to head over to Madden’s Bar (No, not John’s) for an Irish music session. This pub was insanely tiny….I mean…like small. Though this was in fact a good thing in terms of the music that would be occurring. For those of you who know the good old sounds of Irish traditional music it very much fosters a close sense of community. There’s a reason why the Céilidh is sometimes referred to as a Kitchen Céilidh…it is meant to be heard and played it a small group of people enjoying the music, tapping or singing along, and of course downing a few pints of Guinness while they’re at it. The bar itself was interesting just to get into. There are no windows or anything, however the bar is clearly marked with signage. You have to ring a bell and the door gets unlocked for you by the bartender who glances into a security camera first to ensure the visitor is not somebody they would rather not have in the pub. Once you walk inside you get immediately struck by the coziness of everything. The people are extremely friendly and give a welcoming hello and as we took our seats Jeremy introduced me to some of the people playing whom he had met in previous sessions. I strode up to the bar and ordered us a couple pints of Guinness. The bartender asked me where I was sitting and told me just to take a seat and he’d bring out the pints for us…a sign of a true bartender with knowledge on how to properly pour a Guinness. It should always take a long time to allow all of the beer to settle appropriately without layering the flavours too quickly….it’s science. In all there were about 10 or so musicians playing at any given time. Instruments included: Uilleann Pipes Tin Whistle, Harp, Fiddle, various other whistles and flutes. I tried to convince the bartender to let me borrow some spoons to rock out on but they don’t serve food in the pub so utensils were a no-go. It was a wonderful night full of great music and much craic. I took a video of some of the music and will hopefully catch Facebook on a non-douche day so it will upload properly.
The next day we were planning on hitting the Speakeasy (Student Union Pub) for trivia in the afternoon and some pints. The trivia was actually surprisingly difficult and including a lot of Halloween themes. I absolutely destroyed the visual round though…we received a sheet of paper with the pictures of 10 different horror movie villains and we had to name them. Everybody else was either at the bar or in the toilet so I just blazed through it on my own….please, please hold the applause…I know I’m awesome. We ended up in third place out of 8 or so teams so that’s not too too bad. We didn’t end up getting any prizes however because those only go to first, second, and third last place. Seriously….I have no idea why…finiky Irish. Oh…and by “we” I am referring to myself, Jeremy, and his two friends whom I had met just prior to trivia: Will and Leslie. Will is an English to Irish transfer (meaning he moved from England at a very young age) and Leslie is a 100% true blue Belfast…ian? Belfast-ite?......Irish.
Post-trivia we decided to head our separate ways and meet up again to head to a pub downtown. Jeremy and I headed back to his place to whip up some dinner and then it was back to the Speakeasy. We weren’t actually sticking around there however, we headed from there (in the pouring rain I might add) to a franchised pub known as “Wetherspoons.” There’s a lot of these pubs all over the UK and they have fantastic food and really good beers on tap. They also have wine on tap…yeah…it’s cheap dirty wine but it’s on tap so that’s just bizarre. Also, they had a ridiculously awesome festival going on in the pubs called the “Great Ale and Cider Festival”. Disapointingly this festival did not involve any cotton candy, clowns, or ferris wheels…however it did have a giant selection of specially brewed cask ales on tap or £1.45 each. So…I didn’t complain. Needless to say we tried ALL of the guest ales and then stumbled our way back to Jer’s to hit the sack.
I got up the next morning and already had everything packed up the day before (smart move) and slickered and slunkered and slithered my way to the bus depot. From this point I rode in a bus, flew in an airplane, rode a train, rode a subway, and walked my way back to my house. I got home and slept for a bit…then I slept some more…got up and ate…and went back to bed. That was pretty much my Thursday.
Friday was a bit more interesting. I managed to make my way into the city in order to purchase a winter coat for…winter. It’s actually a pretty decent peacoat style jacket that’s got a military look and is black. I got it from H&M, a pretty decent pick-up if I do say so myself. Which I do. I grabbed a coffee from my FAVOURITE café in Trafalgar Square…I literally take the added effort whenever I’m in the city to hit this particular coffee shop. No reason in particular other than Trafalgar Square offers some very interesting people watching opportunities and if I’m going to be working a lot more on my writing while I’m here I need that inspiration right? Plus sometimes it’s just hella funny. Friday night I headed with my flatmates to a friend’s house. We just enjoyed some beers and they were heading to Southbank to go to Rollar Disco (yeah..London has pretty much everything) and I just headed home and went to bed.
Now, Saturday was a big day. I managed to get up early and make some breakfast, shower, and head out to grab a paper (I got dressed in between the shower and paper parts). Once the rest of the crew awoke we headed over to Fulham to attend the match against Wigan Athletic. It was actually a pretty cool experience…waaaaaaay different than the England match. First of all, they served beer at this one (mind you they only do at halftime and you can’t bring it back to your seat with you), there’s a lot more of a fever in the air for the team too. Not everyone in England really follows the national team but almost everybody follows a club team so there’s a lot more support happening. Fulham ended up taking the match 2-0 with both goals being scored by Clint Dempsey (American player). It was really cool and I definitely am excited for the Champions League matches at Chelsea later in the week. From Craven Cottage we went to a local pub to kill some time before heading over to Stratford for a Halloween party. Now, I didn’t really have prior knowledge of said Halloween party before getting back from Belfast…plus I don’t usually do Halloween anyways so I didn’t have a costume. People didn’t seem to care too much though. Plus I borrowed a pair of funky glasses and just called myself Kanye West….it kinda worked…don’t judge me. It was a fun night even though I didn’t know too many people but still a fun party.
Sunday was literally spent recovering from the entire day before…it was a long one and there were a few beers consumed. I slept in seriously and then spent the whole of the day catching up on the t.v. I had missed over the week. After another great Skype convo with my family it was back off to dreamland to prepare myself for getting back into the swing of things on Monday.
Today (Monday) was actually a very trying day…not exactly how I wanted to spend my first day back after such a great week off. I was back at Bishopsford (one of the very difficult schools) and every class I had seemed to just be totally out of control. I don’t know if it was a combination of them being just back from half-term and me being a supply but it was a big pain to try and get everything in order. I knew I wasn’t going to get 100% cooperation from the class but there were those students that did their work and did a great job of it…it’s those students that I really try to focus my efforts on because I know they are going to be leaving the classroom having learned something. If the rest of the class forces me have to become a glorified babysitter there’s nothing I can do about that at the moment. It’s worth it for those kids that are taking something away from the class in a positive way.
So, that’s been about my last week in a nutshell. I’m hoping that I’ll be getting a better placement tomorrow but at the end of the day a job’s a job and I gotta make that money ha ha ha. I’ve got the Chelsea match on Wednesday so I’ll be sure to report in on that soon. Also, I have an audition coming up for a show at the South London Theatre. It’s a community theatre that operates just east of where I live. The show is called “Entertaining Mr. Sloane” and was written in the Sixties. If you feel so inclined to Wikipedia it there’s a plot synopsis amongst other information there. I’m auditioning for the role of Mr. Sloane, a pretty boy charmer who’s also a murderer on the run taken in my a bizarre family who he has to play off of one another to keep his identity secret. It looks quite quirky and I’m looking forward to potentially being a part of it. I’ll make sure to keep everyone in the loop in that regard and definitely to make some blog updates on a more consistent basis!!
Cheers, Tons of Love, and Rock that World!!!
Erik
On Tuesday evening we managed to head over to Madden’s Bar (No, not John’s) for an Irish music session. This pub was insanely tiny….I mean…like small. Though this was in fact a good thing in terms of the music that would be occurring. For those of you who know the good old sounds of Irish traditional music it very much fosters a close sense of community. There’s a reason why the Céilidh is sometimes referred to as a Kitchen Céilidh…it is meant to be heard and played it a small group of people enjoying the music, tapping or singing along, and of course downing a few pints of Guinness while they’re at it. The bar itself was interesting just to get into. There are no windows or anything, however the bar is clearly marked with signage. You have to ring a bell and the door gets unlocked for you by the bartender who glances into a security camera first to ensure the visitor is not somebody they would rather not have in the pub. Once you walk inside you get immediately struck by the coziness of everything. The people are extremely friendly and give a welcoming hello and as we took our seats Jeremy introduced me to some of the people playing whom he had met in previous sessions. I strode up to the bar and ordered us a couple pints of Guinness. The bartender asked me where I was sitting and told me just to take a seat and he’d bring out the pints for us…a sign of a true bartender with knowledge on how to properly pour a Guinness. It should always take a long time to allow all of the beer to settle appropriately without layering the flavours too quickly….it’s science. In all there were about 10 or so musicians playing at any given time. Instruments included: Uilleann Pipes Tin Whistle, Harp, Fiddle, various other whistles and flutes. I tried to convince the bartender to let me borrow some spoons to rock out on but they don’t serve food in the pub so utensils were a no-go. It was a wonderful night full of great music and much craic. I took a video of some of the music and will hopefully catch Facebook on a non-douche day so it will upload properly.
The next day we were planning on hitting the Speakeasy (Student Union Pub) for trivia in the afternoon and some pints. The trivia was actually surprisingly difficult and including a lot of Halloween themes. I absolutely destroyed the visual round though…we received a sheet of paper with the pictures of 10 different horror movie villains and we had to name them. Everybody else was either at the bar or in the toilet so I just blazed through it on my own….please, please hold the applause…I know I’m awesome. We ended up in third place out of 8 or so teams so that’s not too too bad. We didn’t end up getting any prizes however because those only go to first, second, and third last place. Seriously….I have no idea why…finiky Irish. Oh…and by “we” I am referring to myself, Jeremy, and his two friends whom I had met just prior to trivia: Will and Leslie. Will is an English to Irish transfer (meaning he moved from England at a very young age) and Leslie is a 100% true blue Belfast…ian? Belfast-ite?......Irish.
Post-trivia we decided to head our separate ways and meet up again to head to a pub downtown. Jeremy and I headed back to his place to whip up some dinner and then it was back to the Speakeasy. We weren’t actually sticking around there however, we headed from there (in the pouring rain I might add) to a franchised pub known as “Wetherspoons.” There’s a lot of these pubs all over the UK and they have fantastic food and really good beers on tap. They also have wine on tap…yeah…it’s cheap dirty wine but it’s on tap so that’s just bizarre. Also, they had a ridiculously awesome festival going on in the pubs called the “Great Ale and Cider Festival”. Disapointingly this festival did not involve any cotton candy, clowns, or ferris wheels…however it did have a giant selection of specially brewed cask ales on tap or £1.45 each. So…I didn’t complain. Needless to say we tried ALL of the guest ales and then stumbled our way back to Jer’s to hit the sack.
I got up the next morning and already had everything packed up the day before (smart move) and slickered and slunkered and slithered my way to the bus depot. From this point I rode in a bus, flew in an airplane, rode a train, rode a subway, and walked my way back to my house. I got home and slept for a bit…then I slept some more…got up and ate…and went back to bed. That was pretty much my Thursday.
Friday was a bit more interesting. I managed to make my way into the city in order to purchase a winter coat for…winter. It’s actually a pretty decent peacoat style jacket that’s got a military look and is black. I got it from H&M, a pretty decent pick-up if I do say so myself. Which I do. I grabbed a coffee from my FAVOURITE café in Trafalgar Square…I literally take the added effort whenever I’m in the city to hit this particular coffee shop. No reason in particular other than Trafalgar Square offers some very interesting people watching opportunities and if I’m going to be working a lot more on my writing while I’m here I need that inspiration right? Plus sometimes it’s just hella funny. Friday night I headed with my flatmates to a friend’s house. We just enjoyed some beers and they were heading to Southbank to go to Rollar Disco (yeah..London has pretty much everything) and I just headed home and went to bed.
Now, Saturday was a big day. I managed to get up early and make some breakfast, shower, and head out to grab a paper (I got dressed in between the shower and paper parts). Once the rest of the crew awoke we headed over to Fulham to attend the match against Wigan Athletic. It was actually a pretty cool experience…waaaaaaay different than the England match. First of all, they served beer at this one (mind you they only do at halftime and you can’t bring it back to your seat with you), there’s a lot more of a fever in the air for the team too. Not everyone in England really follows the national team but almost everybody follows a club team so there’s a lot more support happening. Fulham ended up taking the match 2-0 with both goals being scored by Clint Dempsey (American player). It was really cool and I definitely am excited for the Champions League matches at Chelsea later in the week. From Craven Cottage we went to a local pub to kill some time before heading over to Stratford for a Halloween party. Now, I didn’t really have prior knowledge of said Halloween party before getting back from Belfast…plus I don’t usually do Halloween anyways so I didn’t have a costume. People didn’t seem to care too much though. Plus I borrowed a pair of funky glasses and just called myself Kanye West….it kinda worked…don’t judge me. It was a fun night even though I didn’t know too many people but still a fun party.
Sunday was literally spent recovering from the entire day before…it was a long one and there were a few beers consumed. I slept in seriously and then spent the whole of the day catching up on the t.v. I had missed over the week. After another great Skype convo with my family it was back off to dreamland to prepare myself for getting back into the swing of things on Monday.
Today (Monday) was actually a very trying day…not exactly how I wanted to spend my first day back after such a great week off. I was back at Bishopsford (one of the very difficult schools) and every class I had seemed to just be totally out of control. I don’t know if it was a combination of them being just back from half-term and me being a supply but it was a big pain to try and get everything in order. I knew I wasn’t going to get 100% cooperation from the class but there were those students that did their work and did a great job of it…it’s those students that I really try to focus my efforts on because I know they are going to be leaving the classroom having learned something. If the rest of the class forces me have to become a glorified babysitter there’s nothing I can do about that at the moment. It’s worth it for those kids that are taking something away from the class in a positive way.
So, that’s been about my last week in a nutshell. I’m hoping that I’ll be getting a better placement tomorrow but at the end of the day a job’s a job and I gotta make that money ha ha ha. I’ve got the Chelsea match on Wednesday so I’ll be sure to report in on that soon. Also, I have an audition coming up for a show at the South London Theatre. It’s a community theatre that operates just east of where I live. The show is called “Entertaining Mr. Sloane” and was written in the Sixties. If you feel so inclined to Wikipedia it there’s a plot synopsis amongst other information there. I’m auditioning for the role of Mr. Sloane, a pretty boy charmer who’s also a murderer on the run taken in my a bizarre family who he has to play off of one another to keep his identity secret. It looks quite quirky and I’m looking forward to potentially being a part of it. I’ll make sure to keep everyone in the loop in that regard and definitely to make some blog updates on a more consistent basis!!
Cheers, Tons of Love, and Rock that World!!!
Erik
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Belfast Day Three: Bushmills and Giant's Causeway
Well, after a really long yet amazingly informative and fun day yesterday Jer and I decided to hit the road north to visit Bushmills and Giant's Causeway. For those of you who do not know either, Bushmills is a little village near the north coast that is home to the Bushmills whiskey distillery of which we were planning on taking a tour. Giant's Causeway is a UNESCO World Heritage site on the north coast that has really cool "staircase" rock formations believed to have been formed by volcanic activity many millions of years ago. This is a huge tourist stop for people visiting Northern Ireland so away we go!
Before hitting the road we decided to check out a cafe in the north side of the city called "Tojo's". It was listed in my Europe guidebook as being a great, cheap place to eat so we decided to hit there first. We got to the cafe in Smithfields Market not too long after it opened and had the place completely to ourselves. It's a really small cafe with two levels, a short and sweet menu (lots of sandwiches) and very friendly staff who cook all of the food right there in their open kitchen. Jer and I ordered a coffee and the Ulster Fry each and sat down to start the caffeine wake-up injection. Now, an Ulster Fry is very similar to the Full English breakfast, it's just the Northern Irish version. While we were drinking our coffees the delicious smell of our soon to arrive breakfast was wafting through the air and making us that much more anticipatory for the dish to come. When it arrived our plates were packed to the max of various foods including: eggs, soda bread, wheten bread (a really doughy but delicious pita shaped bread), sausage, fried tomato, friend mushrooms, and bacon. It went down almost as quickly as it arrived and we were feeling pretty solid to go for the day. Before leaving the cafe we grabbed a sandwich each to bring along with us, paid, and headed back south towards the train station.
After grabbing a ticket heading north to Coleraine, we waited for the train to arrive and hopped on. Now, this trip was both a blessing and a curse in a sense. On the good side we managed to snag a bunch of really good photos of the Irish countryside (beautiful!!) but on the bad side we hit about half a dozen electrical failures on the tracks and were delayed approximately an hour longer than the already hour and half long trip. Needless to say, we got into Coleraine an hour later than expected...meaning we missed the bus up to Bushmills (about 20 min north of Coleraine). The buses as well only run every couple of hours! Since we had this new found two hour layover to kill Jeremy and I decided to head into Coleraine to find a cafe to sit at and do this waiting after eating our delicious sandwiches from earlier.
We managed to find a local cafe called "Homemade Cafe", which is quite picturesque. It was just a small place with very friendly local service and a decent menu of local favourites. Considering we just ate, Jer and I split a pt of tea and read a bit of the local newspapers. Afterwards we walked around the town and then back to the Bus Station. Also, if you were told to picture what you think a "quaint Irish town would look like"....Coleraine is it.
After FINALLY getting on a bus we headed up to Bushmills. From the bus stop we had to walk another 20 minutes or so to get to the distillery...of which we finally made it! After all of that travel time we were worried we wouldn't make it to the last tour at 4pm...but we did! After spending a little time in the gift shop we started onto the tour. Honestly...it wasn't really as good as I had built it up to be in my head. The distillery itself is actually quite small and old. Our tour guide was a bit quiet and didn't seem to be enjoying himself (it was his sixth tour of the day) and the tour itself was really short. Maybe it was the intense amount of travel and time it took to get there that I was ready for some really mind-blowing experience, who knows. On a funny note, when we entered the bottling plant they weren't even bottling Bushmills! It was Jameson!! Which was extremely confusing but apparently they bottle Jameson on site they just do not produce it. The Bushmills bottling line was shut down for the day so we missed that, really disappointing. However, after the bottling portion of the tour came the tasting portion! I tried a sample of Bushmill's Anniversary Blend and Jeremy tried their 12 year old single malt which is exclusively sold at the distillery. After enjoying those (feeling like we earned them after how long it took to get there) we left the distillery and grabbed a bus to travel the 5 min to the causeway.
The causeway itself was absolutely beautiful! We unfortunately didn't arrive in time for any of the tours happening so we just wandered into it by ourselves. The coves that you walk through make you feel so small (in a literal as well as existential sense), however it's the amazing rock formations that make it worth it. These rocks are all in shapes like stairs so you can literally walk all over them and there's some amazing picture opportunities. Photos can be seen on my Facebook page and you can get a glimpse of just how awe inspiring some of these views actually were. At a point we found a little nook in the rocks to just sit and enjoy the fresh sea air and calm serenity of the Irish Sea. I brought along a couple cans of beer as well which we cracked open and enjoyed. I never thought for a moment in my life up to this point that I'd ever find myself in a gigantic expansive cove overlooking the Irish Sea with a cold beer in hand and a best friend to enjoy it with. It was truly one of those moments that happen in life that get etched into the tapestry of your memory. Something I will always treasure as an experience during my time here.
Once we were finished at the causeway (and yes, I collected the two cans and disposed of them appropriately....no harm to the environment!) we walked back up and caught the last bus heading back towards Coleraine. Funny enough, we had missed all of the tours that happen for Giant's Causeway but our bus driver also works for the bus service that goes through the cove! Since she knew all of the stories about the causeway, and we were literally the only ones on the bus for the entire trip, we shared all of the information and different aspects of the cove with us! A great supplement to our already amazing experience. Combining this with the generosity of Jerry the day before, we've been having a great experience with the local Irish population who have all been helpful and friendly and full of amazing stories and information. Kudos Irish!!
After getting back to Coleraine we caught the train back to Belfast (with no electrical problems) and returned at approximately 9pm. Seeing as how we set out originally at 8am....we were quite tired. We stopped for some fish and chips to bring back to Jer's and settled in to watch a bit of t.v. and then crash for the night.
So far, two amazing days full of experiences and amazing sites! Tomorrow and Wednesday are going to be a lot more calm. Tomorrow Jer plays at an Irish music night at a local legend bar know as Madden's so we'll be hitting that in the evening. Wednesday there's a pub quiz thing at The Speakeasy but other than that nothing planned. We didn't manage to get tickets to the theatre for Wednesday but we'll figure out something to do!
Cheers and love to all!!!
Erik (and Jer)
Before hitting the road we decided to check out a cafe in the north side of the city called "Tojo's". It was listed in my Europe guidebook as being a great, cheap place to eat so we decided to hit there first. We got to the cafe in Smithfields Market not too long after it opened and had the place completely to ourselves. It's a really small cafe with two levels, a short and sweet menu (lots of sandwiches) and very friendly staff who cook all of the food right there in their open kitchen. Jer and I ordered a coffee and the Ulster Fry each and sat down to start the caffeine wake-up injection. Now, an Ulster Fry is very similar to the Full English breakfast, it's just the Northern Irish version. While we were drinking our coffees the delicious smell of our soon to arrive breakfast was wafting through the air and making us that much more anticipatory for the dish to come. When it arrived our plates were packed to the max of various foods including: eggs, soda bread, wheten bread (a really doughy but delicious pita shaped bread), sausage, fried tomato, friend mushrooms, and bacon. It went down almost as quickly as it arrived and we were feeling pretty solid to go for the day. Before leaving the cafe we grabbed a sandwich each to bring along with us, paid, and headed back south towards the train station.
After grabbing a ticket heading north to Coleraine, we waited for the train to arrive and hopped on. Now, this trip was both a blessing and a curse in a sense. On the good side we managed to snag a bunch of really good photos of the Irish countryside (beautiful!!) but on the bad side we hit about half a dozen electrical failures on the tracks and were delayed approximately an hour longer than the already hour and half long trip. Needless to say, we got into Coleraine an hour later than expected...meaning we missed the bus up to Bushmills (about 20 min north of Coleraine). The buses as well only run every couple of hours! Since we had this new found two hour layover to kill Jeremy and I decided to head into Coleraine to find a cafe to sit at and do this waiting after eating our delicious sandwiches from earlier.
We managed to find a local cafe called "Homemade Cafe", which is quite picturesque. It was just a small place with very friendly local service and a decent menu of local favourites. Considering we just ate, Jer and I split a pt of tea and read a bit of the local newspapers. Afterwards we walked around the town and then back to the Bus Station. Also, if you were told to picture what you think a "quaint Irish town would look like"....Coleraine is it.
After FINALLY getting on a bus we headed up to Bushmills. From the bus stop we had to walk another 20 minutes or so to get to the distillery...of which we finally made it! After all of that travel time we were worried we wouldn't make it to the last tour at 4pm...but we did! After spending a little time in the gift shop we started onto the tour. Honestly...it wasn't really as good as I had built it up to be in my head. The distillery itself is actually quite small and old. Our tour guide was a bit quiet and didn't seem to be enjoying himself (it was his sixth tour of the day) and the tour itself was really short. Maybe it was the intense amount of travel and time it took to get there that I was ready for some really mind-blowing experience, who knows. On a funny note, when we entered the bottling plant they weren't even bottling Bushmills! It was Jameson!! Which was extremely confusing but apparently they bottle Jameson on site they just do not produce it. The Bushmills bottling line was shut down for the day so we missed that, really disappointing. However, after the bottling portion of the tour came the tasting portion! I tried a sample of Bushmill's Anniversary Blend and Jeremy tried their 12 year old single malt which is exclusively sold at the distillery. After enjoying those (feeling like we earned them after how long it took to get there) we left the distillery and grabbed a bus to travel the 5 min to the causeway.
The causeway itself was absolutely beautiful! We unfortunately didn't arrive in time for any of the tours happening so we just wandered into it by ourselves. The coves that you walk through make you feel so small (in a literal as well as existential sense), however it's the amazing rock formations that make it worth it. These rocks are all in shapes like stairs so you can literally walk all over them and there's some amazing picture opportunities. Photos can be seen on my Facebook page and you can get a glimpse of just how awe inspiring some of these views actually were. At a point we found a little nook in the rocks to just sit and enjoy the fresh sea air and calm serenity of the Irish Sea. I brought along a couple cans of beer as well which we cracked open and enjoyed. I never thought for a moment in my life up to this point that I'd ever find myself in a gigantic expansive cove overlooking the Irish Sea with a cold beer in hand and a best friend to enjoy it with. It was truly one of those moments that happen in life that get etched into the tapestry of your memory. Something I will always treasure as an experience during my time here.
Once we were finished at the causeway (and yes, I collected the two cans and disposed of them appropriately....no harm to the environment!) we walked back up and caught the last bus heading back towards Coleraine. Funny enough, we had missed all of the tours that happen for Giant's Causeway but our bus driver also works for the bus service that goes through the cove! Since she knew all of the stories about the causeway, and we were literally the only ones on the bus for the entire trip, we shared all of the information and different aspects of the cove with us! A great supplement to our already amazing experience. Combining this with the generosity of Jerry the day before, we've been having a great experience with the local Irish population who have all been helpful and friendly and full of amazing stories and information. Kudos Irish!!
After getting back to Coleraine we caught the train back to Belfast (with no electrical problems) and returned at approximately 9pm. Seeing as how we set out originally at 8am....we were quite tired. We stopped for some fish and chips to bring back to Jer's and settled in to watch a bit of t.v. and then crash for the night.
So far, two amazing days full of experiences and amazing sites! Tomorrow and Wednesday are going to be a lot more calm. Tomorrow Jer plays at an Irish music night at a local legend bar know as Madden's so we'll be hitting that in the evening. Wednesday there's a pub quiz thing at The Speakeasy but other than that nothing planned. We didn't manage to get tickets to the theatre for Wednesday but we'll figure out something to do!
Cheers and love to all!!!
Erik (and Jer)
Belfast Day One and Two
Well, I finally made it into Belfast on Saturday and boy what a trip that was! Not that there were any issues mind you. I just made sure to arrive fairly early to the airport because I don't like to cut things too close. Needless to say, I got into the city and had some time to kill. I wandered around the Baker Street area and managed to stop into the London Beatles Store as well as the Sherlock Holmes Museum. A quick pint and an order of chips and I was on the bus headed to London Stansted Airport. This airport is smaller and is about an hour outside of London. It caters specifically to the budget airlines so I didn't really have much choice in the manner. After getting through security I wandered through the airport a bit and then settled down at a table for a few pints, some football on the telly, and I ended up scarfing down a delicious burger (6 oz steak burger on a fresh bun with lettuce, tomato, onion, bacon, onion rings, and melted Shropshire blue cheese....mmmmmmm.) When the gate finally came up on the board for my flight I headed over there and prepared to board.
The flight itself took almost no time at all. I barely had a moment to settle myself in and it felt like we were landing. I managed to drink a cup of coffee and read a bit of the paper and that was the duration of the flight. We actually arrive 20 min ahead of schedule! After touching down I grabbed my backpack and headed out into the terminal. Jeremy was already there waiting so we headed out to grab a bus for the 30 minute ride into Belfast itself. It was so great to see another familiar face after being over here for a month! Jeremy and I both had our stories to swap and our thoughts on living in the British Isles. We started planning what we would be doing this week as well until we got to his place.
Jer lives in a really nice flat that is actually a bunch of dorm rooms owned and operated by the university. It's almost like being in rez again!.....oh the memories. Needless to say, I dropped my stuff off pretty fast and we were out the door to the pub for a couple pints. We ended up going to a smaller pub called "Auntie Annie's" on Botanic Avenue. It was a nice little place, very typically British pub. I had a Guiness and a Magners cider (that's pretty much all there is really) and then we packed it up and headed to the dorms (he he he) to catch some shut eye.
Now, day two is really where the trip begins. We got up fairly early (8am) to make some breakfast and shower before heading out. The weather was absolutely BEAUTIFUL so we wanted to make sure we got the most out of the day. The first place we hit was Starbucks for a cuppa and then headed out south to walk around the university. The campus itself is not extremely big but the buildings inside are quite beautiful. We got some good photo ops walking around as well; especially through the Botanic Gardens. On the other side of the gardens is the Ulster Museum, which Jer had not been to yet, so we headed in there to check out some of the exhibits. There's a large chunk of the museum called the "History Zone" as well as some nature areas and an art gallery. Considering we wanted to make sure that we hit a lot of other things, the history zone was our only stop. This area detailed a lot of the history and development of Northern Ireland all the way from Viking and Roman times through to the present. There was also a well done exhibit on the Troubles. Jer was able to fill in a lot of information on this aspect (he's quite informed on the Troubles) to clarify some things for me. This pre-information would also come in handy later.
After leaving the museum we ran into a gentlemen doing a bit of cleaning for his vehicle and he clearly heard us talking to each other and recognized we weren't from around here. He gave us a great rundown on the best areas to hit and asked how long we were staying and whether Jer had been here or there. He was just a really great help in getting us set for some important sights to see. From here we headed north towards the City Centre and City Hall. As it was Sunday City Hall wasn't open but I got some great pictures of the outside of it. The architecture is quite beautiful all around this area of Belfast and it was really neat to see the hills and mountains in the distance as you're looking around. We made a quick stop into the Belfast Welcome Centre and ended up booking a Black Cab tour of West Belfast and all of the murals and sights in that area pertaining to the Troubles. Having a bit of time to kill we walked around some other areas (it was still early so a lot was not open...plus it was Sunday) and then headed back to Donegall Square (city hall) to wait for the cab. Unfortunately, finding exactly where the cab was going to pick us up was a wee bit of a problem. We wandered around for a little bit until we came across that guy we met up near the museum. It turns out he runs a cab tour and was willing to give us the same rate that the other cabbie as going to but with extra time uncharged as well! That worked out perfectly and we into the cab and on our way west.
First off let me say...this tour was definitely worth it and I highly recommend it to anyone who visits this city, regardless of what cab company you might go with. You can read a lot about the Troubles in books and online, but nothing really hits home more than standing in the areas where a lot of the violence took place. It's hard to fathom bombings, gun shots, and random attacks happening almost on a daily basis all over the West Belfast area...it seems like it's not something you would experience in a society looking so similar to our own. But, the hatred ran deep for many years (and still festers to a certain point) and it's quite eye-opening to see how far people take divisions in belief, both political and religious, and to defend their own. Jerry (the cab driver) was VERY knowledgeable on the Troubles and he was also old enough to remember a lot, if not all, of the major attacks and events throughout the forty or so years they occurred. He also told us that he was a Catholic himself so he knows what happened more from that perspective and you'd get the same thing from a Protestant driver as well. A memorable quotation from him "So I know about 50% of the story and a Protestant driver would know about 50% of the story and somewhere in the middle of all of that lies the truth."
Jerry took us to all of the major sites and these photos plus explanations can be found on my Facebook page. It's just too long to try and explain every little detail...you can always ask me too.
Once Jerry dropped us off back at Jeremy's place we saddled up and headed over the Lavery's Pub to have a couple pints of Guiness, some food, and to watch the matches on during the day. We managed to catch the end of the Man U match, and the first half of both the Liverpool and Arsenal matches. We headed over to a grocer to pick up some food for later days and then wandered over to the Student Union pub to finish off the matches. Oh...and during matches the Student Union pub (called The Speakeasy) serves ALL pints at 2 pounds apiece. Yes, that includes Guiness....ah-mazing.
After we were finished at the pub we headed back to Jer's so I could have a hilarious Skype with my family (who all happened to be in the same place at once for a change) and then went off to bed. We were making sure to get up early because we're making a trip up north to see Bushmills and the Giant's Causeway. More on that soon!
Cheers, Love, and Rock That World!!!
Erik (and Jer)
The flight itself took almost no time at all. I barely had a moment to settle myself in and it felt like we were landing. I managed to drink a cup of coffee and read a bit of the paper and that was the duration of the flight. We actually arrive 20 min ahead of schedule! After touching down I grabbed my backpack and headed out into the terminal. Jeremy was already there waiting so we headed out to grab a bus for the 30 minute ride into Belfast itself. It was so great to see another familiar face after being over here for a month! Jeremy and I both had our stories to swap and our thoughts on living in the British Isles. We started planning what we would be doing this week as well until we got to his place.
Jer lives in a really nice flat that is actually a bunch of dorm rooms owned and operated by the university. It's almost like being in rez again!.....oh the memories. Needless to say, I dropped my stuff off pretty fast and we were out the door to the pub for a couple pints. We ended up going to a smaller pub called "Auntie Annie's" on Botanic Avenue. It was a nice little place, very typically British pub. I had a Guiness and a Magners cider (that's pretty much all there is really) and then we packed it up and headed to the dorms (he he he) to catch some shut eye.
Now, day two is really where the trip begins. We got up fairly early (8am) to make some breakfast and shower before heading out. The weather was absolutely BEAUTIFUL so we wanted to make sure we got the most out of the day. The first place we hit was Starbucks for a cuppa and then headed out south to walk around the university. The campus itself is not extremely big but the buildings inside are quite beautiful. We got some good photo ops walking around as well; especially through the Botanic Gardens. On the other side of the gardens is the Ulster Museum, which Jer had not been to yet, so we headed in there to check out some of the exhibits. There's a large chunk of the museum called the "History Zone" as well as some nature areas and an art gallery. Considering we wanted to make sure that we hit a lot of other things, the history zone was our only stop. This area detailed a lot of the history and development of Northern Ireland all the way from Viking and Roman times through to the present. There was also a well done exhibit on the Troubles. Jer was able to fill in a lot of information on this aspect (he's quite informed on the Troubles) to clarify some things for me. This pre-information would also come in handy later.
After leaving the museum we ran into a gentlemen doing a bit of cleaning for his vehicle and he clearly heard us talking to each other and recognized we weren't from around here. He gave us a great rundown on the best areas to hit and asked how long we were staying and whether Jer had been here or there. He was just a really great help in getting us set for some important sights to see. From here we headed north towards the City Centre and City Hall. As it was Sunday City Hall wasn't open but I got some great pictures of the outside of it. The architecture is quite beautiful all around this area of Belfast and it was really neat to see the hills and mountains in the distance as you're looking around. We made a quick stop into the Belfast Welcome Centre and ended up booking a Black Cab tour of West Belfast and all of the murals and sights in that area pertaining to the Troubles. Having a bit of time to kill we walked around some other areas (it was still early so a lot was not open...plus it was Sunday) and then headed back to Donegall Square (city hall) to wait for the cab. Unfortunately, finding exactly where the cab was going to pick us up was a wee bit of a problem. We wandered around for a little bit until we came across that guy we met up near the museum. It turns out he runs a cab tour and was willing to give us the same rate that the other cabbie as going to but with extra time uncharged as well! That worked out perfectly and we into the cab and on our way west.
First off let me say...this tour was definitely worth it and I highly recommend it to anyone who visits this city, regardless of what cab company you might go with. You can read a lot about the Troubles in books and online, but nothing really hits home more than standing in the areas where a lot of the violence took place. It's hard to fathom bombings, gun shots, and random attacks happening almost on a daily basis all over the West Belfast area...it seems like it's not something you would experience in a society looking so similar to our own. But, the hatred ran deep for many years (and still festers to a certain point) and it's quite eye-opening to see how far people take divisions in belief, both political and religious, and to defend their own. Jerry (the cab driver) was VERY knowledgeable on the Troubles and he was also old enough to remember a lot, if not all, of the major attacks and events throughout the forty or so years they occurred. He also told us that he was a Catholic himself so he knows what happened more from that perspective and you'd get the same thing from a Protestant driver as well. A memorable quotation from him "So I know about 50% of the story and a Protestant driver would know about 50% of the story and somewhere in the middle of all of that lies the truth."
Jerry took us to all of the major sites and these photos plus explanations can be found on my Facebook page. It's just too long to try and explain every little detail...you can always ask me too.
Once Jerry dropped us off back at Jeremy's place we saddled up and headed over the Lavery's Pub to have a couple pints of Guiness, some food, and to watch the matches on during the day. We managed to catch the end of the Man U match, and the first half of both the Liverpool and Arsenal matches. We headed over to a grocer to pick up some food for later days and then wandered over to the Student Union pub to finish off the matches. Oh...and during matches the Student Union pub (called The Speakeasy) serves ALL pints at 2 pounds apiece. Yes, that includes Guiness....ah-mazing.
After we were finished at the pub we headed back to Jer's so I could have a hilarious Skype with my family (who all happened to be in the same place at once for a change) and then went off to bed. We were making sure to get up early because we're making a trip up north to see Bushmills and the Giant's Causeway. More on that soon!
Cheers, Love, and Rock That World!!!
Erik (and Jer)
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
The State of English Football Address
Well, I’m going to start off this blog post by saying that if you are not at all interested in sports in any way or could care less about football (soccer) than any other sport, please feel free to stop reading this post now. This post is going to be discussing my opinions on football as of late in the UK as well as my recent experience at an England UEFA EURO qualifying match at Wembley. I’m going to be airing some grievances so it’s up to you to continue on. If you are interested than I hope this post will be of some help in understanding what the hell’s going on over here in the sport.
If you know me…you know I LOVE SPORTS. I live and breathe sports and more than a handful of people will tell you my stupidly encyclopedic knowledge of my favourite sports. At around the 2006 World Cup I started to develop an interest mainly in soccer. Although I am a huge fan of baseball, hockey, and North American football…I’ve developed my love for soccer more than the rest. I don’t know what it is about the sport…maybe its worldwide appeal, the strategy involved, or the tense moments throughout the match and pure joy when your team breaks through and scores that vital goal. For a lot of people soccer is slow, boring, and full of actors faking their way through injuries in order to get free kicks from the referees. I’m not here to tell you this doesn’t happen in soccer (I’m looking at you Italians) and if that’s your opinion of the sport it can be warranted and you’re entitled to it. I however love soccer and will continue to by being in such a lively atmosphere for it every day. The amount of media coverage that soccer gets in England is ridiculous (a big reason why a lot of players don’t like to play here) and every move made by clubs both from a professional as well as personal perspective is picked apart and analyzed to the last letter. Therefore, I manage to learn so much more about the goings on in the Premier League than I ever have before and I love it. Even more I actually have the opportunity to attend soccer matches on a frequent basis and was able to do so for the first time last Tuesday at Wembley Stadium.
I’ve watched countless soccer matches on television over the last few years and even caught some streamed on the web. However, I have never had the opportunity to attend a match itself. With the only professional soccer being played in the GTA being Toronto FC, whose tickets are damn near impossible to get; the closest I’ve gotten is watching Real Madrid practice for 30 minutes when they were in town for a friendly. Needless to say I was pretty pumped to finally have this opportunity. The commute up to Wembley was pretty good and it was cool to pick up more and more England supporters all decked out in their red and white as we got closer to the stadium. When I exited Wembley Park Stadium and saw the majesty of the grounds ahead of me I was in complete awe. Because soccer was invented in England Wembley is known as “The Home of Football” and boy does it look like that. It’s a 90 000 seat masterpiece that glows like a star in the night sky ahead of you. The Empire Walk is the 10 minute walkway that stretches from the station to the stadium. As you get closer and closer you can really feel the fever in the fans voices, the stadium grows larger in your view, the singing becomes louder, and the lid seems to almost burst with the anticipation for the match ahead.
Inside the concourse is very basic and modern looking with straightforward signage denoting the locations of aisles and seats. Food is basic from hot dogs, chips, and soda to more local flavours such as pies, chicken strips, and even fish and chips. UEFA has strict rules that there are no alcohol sales during their events so there are no beer kiosks in Wembley. As I walked out through my aisle I stood and just took in the air of the grounds. Literally, because it’s completely open air for the grass to grow you get the cool night air blowing in but the lights illuminating the pitch combined with your recently purchased match scarf has no problem keeping you warmed up. After the anthems and introductions of the line-ups the ball is placed, the whistle blows, and away we go.
Now, this is all right and good…the match itself left something to be desired. England have been having a lot of problems as of late and a lot of that falls on manager Fabio Capello. He consistently chooses squads that are higher in the age category instead of giving the younger players an opportunity to prove themselves on the senior team. As a result, a lot of players usually end up backing out with injuries or to focus on their club careers. Capello is then forced to choose a weaker side and it showed. England was consistently on the attack the entire match but extremely poor passing, simple mental mistakes, and misplaced deliveries left the offence to sputter every time they threatened in Montenegro’s end. Rooney’s been having some serious issues as of late (to be discussed later) and the midfield was having some big issues as well. Ferdinand played well given he hadn’t played for England since pre-World Cup and Gerrard seemed to be a little out of his element himself (strange given how well he’s played for Liverpool this year.) Some of that might be attributed to him losing the captainship to Ferdinand but I think these are stupid rumours. A player of Gerrard’s ability does not just give up his talent at the loss of an armband, the leadership is always there and I think it had more to do with the shambles Liverpool is in right now more than anything else (more on that later as well.) In the end, the 0-0 draw was extremely disappointing and it could have been worse as Montenegro rattled a shot off of Joe Hart’s goal post late in the second half to almost steal an unfathomable victory. The atmosphere, singing, and physical presence of the stadium made the trip well worth it…the match itself did not.
I’m still excited to watch a lot more football within the coming months. I’m going to be attending a Fulham-Wigan match on October 30th, two Chelsea Champions League matches in November, as well as the England-France friendly on November 17th.
On top of the amount of media attention the English National Team has been receiving, the clubs here in England receive just as much if not more. Recently there have been two main storylines in English soccer. The first is Wayne Rooney and the second is the state of Liverpool FC. Let’s take a small moment to discuss Rooney.
If you don’t know soccer, you might still know Wayne Rooney. As famous as Christiano Ronaldo, David Beckham, and Lionel Messi; this English player is the face of not only the English National Team but Manchester United as well, a highly established and feared club in international football. He’s the reigning footballer of the year and has been racking goals and sponsorships so quickly it’s amazing he’s only 24 years old. The biggest problem with Rooney is his new lack of form. He hasn’t scored a goal in competition for Manchester since the Champions League knockout stages in March, played extremely poorly for England in the World Cup, and has been battling with his manager since the start of this season only starting two matches so far. He’s been under consistent media speculation and abuse about an apparent affair with a prostitute, drinking and smoking, as well as urinating in public. The rift with his manager has opened up his debate on whether he’ll resign with United after his contract is up in 20 months time or if he’ll move. Today’s paper has even been speculating he’ll make a blasphemous move (by United supporter’s standards) to the in city rivals Manchester City. Needless to say, this entire saga has been dominating the sports sections of newspapers for months here and there’s a lot of talk going on.
Now, this is an extremely fine line to walk. I understand that he’s supposed to be a role-model in his community and for England and that he’s clearly had some personal issues and a bit too much fun with the mates. Come on though, you pay a 24 year old 150 000 pounds a week and what do you think is going to happen? That’s right, 150 000 pounds a WEEK. Footballers make some serious coin and problems are bound to erupt when that money is in the hands of somebody so young. On top of that the media abuse has gotten pretty out of hand. England is known for its paparazzi and the famous footballers they stalk. If Perez Hilton blogged in England it would be about footballers only. They are the Hollywood stars over here and every step they take is closely watched and scrutinized by the public. It’s a lot of pressure and I think some of that intrusion has to be blamed for Rooney’s form as of late. The man is going through a lot of problems right now (some self-inflicted and deserved) but it’s amazing how much is written about it every day.
Speaking of headlines Liverpool has been all over them recently as well. If you haven’t been following the stories the team was just purchased by John W. Henry and the New England Sports Venture group (they own the Boston Red Sox and Fenway Park). After a heated legal battle with the previous owners they won the right to buy the team. However, Liverpool is also going through a lot of on field issues as well. As a big time Liverpool fan it upsets me that they’ve been going through all of this legal crap but on top of that playing poorly on the pitch that has them in the relegation zone eight games into the season. However, it seems that every sports writer in every media outlet in this country has been jumping on this in order to make a point about the Premiership. It’s rich, it’s unfair, and it’s not real football. I have read countless articles about how we shouldn’t feel sorry for Liverpool and that it just goes to show how dumb of a business soccer has become in England. The league is basically battled out by four teams every year: Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, and Arsenal (known as the “Big Four”). They are all owned by big players in the world’s wealth and they pour money into new player acquisitions constantly. Then there’s the middle of the table teams that year in and year out hope to make second tier European football but don’t have the financial resources to compete in the domestic league. And then there are the little teams that battle to stay in the Premier League for more than a season before inevitably free-falling their way back down to the Championship to try all over again. Recently some teams have become big players in the Premier League: Manchester City being the main one, while others such as Liverpool and Manchester United are slowly fading due to debt and off the pitch issues. The big problem therefore is the Premier League is not a fair league. People are arguing that English football needs this kick in the head to understand that it needs to stop worrying about pouring as much money as possible into teams from Middle Eastern billionaires and start worrying about promoting the game at home, working in the communities, and having a higher percentage of English players on their teams. These were all pillars back just a couple decades ago and now you’ll struggle to find even one English player on the pitch for a team at the top of the table. It’s a shame but they’re right.
It’s difficult to operate as a professional in this sport without being in the spotlight somehow. If you don’t deliver you get bashed in the press while the successful teams reap millions upon millions of dollars. The rich get richer and stay the best while the smaller clubs are doomed to remain in obscurity. UEFA has recently announced a new Fair Play ruling that will exclude any European league team from Champions League or Europa League soccer if they are more than 11 million Euros in the red from the season before. The hope is that this will force teams to lower their payrolls by a lot, allow more domestic players the chance the play, and hopefully start to even the playing field a bit. This seems like a damn near impossible venture, but maybe it’ll put us one step closer to enjoying watching more competition and more domestic talent that will lead to player development and ultimately a winning National Team.
I guess I’ll just have to keep reading.
If you know me…you know I LOVE SPORTS. I live and breathe sports and more than a handful of people will tell you my stupidly encyclopedic knowledge of my favourite sports. At around the 2006 World Cup I started to develop an interest mainly in soccer. Although I am a huge fan of baseball, hockey, and North American football…I’ve developed my love for soccer more than the rest. I don’t know what it is about the sport…maybe its worldwide appeal, the strategy involved, or the tense moments throughout the match and pure joy when your team breaks through and scores that vital goal. For a lot of people soccer is slow, boring, and full of actors faking their way through injuries in order to get free kicks from the referees. I’m not here to tell you this doesn’t happen in soccer (I’m looking at you Italians) and if that’s your opinion of the sport it can be warranted and you’re entitled to it. I however love soccer and will continue to by being in such a lively atmosphere for it every day. The amount of media coverage that soccer gets in England is ridiculous (a big reason why a lot of players don’t like to play here) and every move made by clubs both from a professional as well as personal perspective is picked apart and analyzed to the last letter. Therefore, I manage to learn so much more about the goings on in the Premier League than I ever have before and I love it. Even more I actually have the opportunity to attend soccer matches on a frequent basis and was able to do so for the first time last Tuesday at Wembley Stadium.
I’ve watched countless soccer matches on television over the last few years and even caught some streamed on the web. However, I have never had the opportunity to attend a match itself. With the only professional soccer being played in the GTA being Toronto FC, whose tickets are damn near impossible to get; the closest I’ve gotten is watching Real Madrid practice for 30 minutes when they were in town for a friendly. Needless to say I was pretty pumped to finally have this opportunity. The commute up to Wembley was pretty good and it was cool to pick up more and more England supporters all decked out in their red and white as we got closer to the stadium. When I exited Wembley Park Stadium and saw the majesty of the grounds ahead of me I was in complete awe. Because soccer was invented in England Wembley is known as “The Home of Football” and boy does it look like that. It’s a 90 000 seat masterpiece that glows like a star in the night sky ahead of you. The Empire Walk is the 10 minute walkway that stretches from the station to the stadium. As you get closer and closer you can really feel the fever in the fans voices, the stadium grows larger in your view, the singing becomes louder, and the lid seems to almost burst with the anticipation for the match ahead.
Inside the concourse is very basic and modern looking with straightforward signage denoting the locations of aisles and seats. Food is basic from hot dogs, chips, and soda to more local flavours such as pies, chicken strips, and even fish and chips. UEFA has strict rules that there are no alcohol sales during their events so there are no beer kiosks in Wembley. As I walked out through my aisle I stood and just took in the air of the grounds. Literally, because it’s completely open air for the grass to grow you get the cool night air blowing in but the lights illuminating the pitch combined with your recently purchased match scarf has no problem keeping you warmed up. After the anthems and introductions of the line-ups the ball is placed, the whistle blows, and away we go.
Now, this is all right and good…the match itself left something to be desired. England have been having a lot of problems as of late and a lot of that falls on manager Fabio Capello. He consistently chooses squads that are higher in the age category instead of giving the younger players an opportunity to prove themselves on the senior team. As a result, a lot of players usually end up backing out with injuries or to focus on their club careers. Capello is then forced to choose a weaker side and it showed. England was consistently on the attack the entire match but extremely poor passing, simple mental mistakes, and misplaced deliveries left the offence to sputter every time they threatened in Montenegro’s end. Rooney’s been having some serious issues as of late (to be discussed later) and the midfield was having some big issues as well. Ferdinand played well given he hadn’t played for England since pre-World Cup and Gerrard seemed to be a little out of his element himself (strange given how well he’s played for Liverpool this year.) Some of that might be attributed to him losing the captainship to Ferdinand but I think these are stupid rumours. A player of Gerrard’s ability does not just give up his talent at the loss of an armband, the leadership is always there and I think it had more to do with the shambles Liverpool is in right now more than anything else (more on that later as well.) In the end, the 0-0 draw was extremely disappointing and it could have been worse as Montenegro rattled a shot off of Joe Hart’s goal post late in the second half to almost steal an unfathomable victory. The atmosphere, singing, and physical presence of the stadium made the trip well worth it…the match itself did not.
I’m still excited to watch a lot more football within the coming months. I’m going to be attending a Fulham-Wigan match on October 30th, two Chelsea Champions League matches in November, as well as the England-France friendly on November 17th.
On top of the amount of media attention the English National Team has been receiving, the clubs here in England receive just as much if not more. Recently there have been two main storylines in English soccer. The first is Wayne Rooney and the second is the state of Liverpool FC. Let’s take a small moment to discuss Rooney.
If you don’t know soccer, you might still know Wayne Rooney. As famous as Christiano Ronaldo, David Beckham, and Lionel Messi; this English player is the face of not only the English National Team but Manchester United as well, a highly established and feared club in international football. He’s the reigning footballer of the year and has been racking goals and sponsorships so quickly it’s amazing he’s only 24 years old. The biggest problem with Rooney is his new lack of form. He hasn’t scored a goal in competition for Manchester since the Champions League knockout stages in March, played extremely poorly for England in the World Cup, and has been battling with his manager since the start of this season only starting two matches so far. He’s been under consistent media speculation and abuse about an apparent affair with a prostitute, drinking and smoking, as well as urinating in public. The rift with his manager has opened up his debate on whether he’ll resign with United after his contract is up in 20 months time or if he’ll move. Today’s paper has even been speculating he’ll make a blasphemous move (by United supporter’s standards) to the in city rivals Manchester City. Needless to say, this entire saga has been dominating the sports sections of newspapers for months here and there’s a lot of talk going on.
Now, this is an extremely fine line to walk. I understand that he’s supposed to be a role-model in his community and for England and that he’s clearly had some personal issues and a bit too much fun with the mates. Come on though, you pay a 24 year old 150 000 pounds a week and what do you think is going to happen? That’s right, 150 000 pounds a WEEK. Footballers make some serious coin and problems are bound to erupt when that money is in the hands of somebody so young. On top of that the media abuse has gotten pretty out of hand. England is known for its paparazzi and the famous footballers they stalk. If Perez Hilton blogged in England it would be about footballers only. They are the Hollywood stars over here and every step they take is closely watched and scrutinized by the public. It’s a lot of pressure and I think some of that intrusion has to be blamed for Rooney’s form as of late. The man is going through a lot of problems right now (some self-inflicted and deserved) but it’s amazing how much is written about it every day.
Speaking of headlines Liverpool has been all over them recently as well. If you haven’t been following the stories the team was just purchased by John W. Henry and the New England Sports Venture group (they own the Boston Red Sox and Fenway Park). After a heated legal battle with the previous owners they won the right to buy the team. However, Liverpool is also going through a lot of on field issues as well. As a big time Liverpool fan it upsets me that they’ve been going through all of this legal crap but on top of that playing poorly on the pitch that has them in the relegation zone eight games into the season. However, it seems that every sports writer in every media outlet in this country has been jumping on this in order to make a point about the Premiership. It’s rich, it’s unfair, and it’s not real football. I have read countless articles about how we shouldn’t feel sorry for Liverpool and that it just goes to show how dumb of a business soccer has become in England. The league is basically battled out by four teams every year: Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, and Arsenal (known as the “Big Four”). They are all owned by big players in the world’s wealth and they pour money into new player acquisitions constantly. Then there’s the middle of the table teams that year in and year out hope to make second tier European football but don’t have the financial resources to compete in the domestic league. And then there are the little teams that battle to stay in the Premier League for more than a season before inevitably free-falling their way back down to the Championship to try all over again. Recently some teams have become big players in the Premier League: Manchester City being the main one, while others such as Liverpool and Manchester United are slowly fading due to debt and off the pitch issues. The big problem therefore is the Premier League is not a fair league. People are arguing that English football needs this kick in the head to understand that it needs to stop worrying about pouring as much money as possible into teams from Middle Eastern billionaires and start worrying about promoting the game at home, working in the communities, and having a higher percentage of English players on their teams. These were all pillars back just a couple decades ago and now you’ll struggle to find even one English player on the pitch for a team at the top of the table. It’s a shame but they’re right.
It’s difficult to operate as a professional in this sport without being in the spotlight somehow. If you don’t deliver you get bashed in the press while the successful teams reap millions upon millions of dollars. The rich get richer and stay the best while the smaller clubs are doomed to remain in obscurity. UEFA has recently announced a new Fair Play ruling that will exclude any European league team from Champions League or Europa League soccer if they are more than 11 million Euros in the red from the season before. The hope is that this will force teams to lower their payrolls by a lot, allow more domestic players the chance the play, and hopefully start to even the playing field a bit. This seems like a damn near impossible venture, but maybe it’ll put us one step closer to enjoying watching more competition and more domestic talent that will lead to player development and ultimately a winning National Team.
I guess I’ll just have to keep reading.
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