Winning and Losing.

Bigger men than Giles Coren will ever be.

Morning all, today I am basking in the glory that is an ashes retention. Once again I wasn't awake to listen to TMS, I went to bed for a quick nap after dinner so I could stay up during the last of the play and woke up at 3am after it had all finished. Doh!
Congrats to England and commiserations to the Aussies. I'm one for rubbing it in in a good natured way like most people after all it's natural, and it's borne out of the fact that the Australians are so good at doing the same thing. Until five years ago they had the best cricket team in the world for 20 years and they let everyone know about it. Now they're going to have to get used to the fact that they are a team in transition.
But should we be unsporting and rude about it? Of course not, it's not British, we are a nation that takes defeat graciously and winning with dignity, so I find this article from Giles Coren on The Daily Fail online particularly offensive.
Do you think Andrew Flintoff would say anything like that? Of course not, he's a sportsman, even Ricky Ponting at his irritating worst would not say anything as unsporting or frankly racist as that.
This sort lazy writing has no place online or in print and it proves that Giles Coren knows nothing about sporting behaviour and has to write this sort of garbage to get noticed. How very Daily Hate.

Dons Through to Round 2

The 3rd game I've been to this season, I've got the bug again! Yesterday saw Braintree Town come to Kingsmeadow for the 1st round of the FA Carlsberg Trophy.
The game was a wee bit dire to be fair and the 3-0 result was flattering considering that Braintree Town were a man down for most of the game after Michael Alaile was judged to have committed a professional foul on Danny Kedwell. Dons boss Terry Brown also admitted that the midfield needs more bite, you can see his post match interview here. There wasn't anywhere near enough closing down from them yesterday, Wellard and Gregory seemed to let the game pass them by and Luke Moore looked well below his best, when he was replaced by Mark Nwokeji in the 2nd half The Dons finally looked like they had some spark about them. I think Nwokeji deserves a chance start more games than he currently is, think back to how well John Fashanu and Terry Gibson used to play together in the late eighties-early nineties, think Keds and Nokkers up front. The game on Tuesday night against Dulwich Hamlet might be the perfect opportunity to try it out!
Back to yesterday though, the stand out players for the dons were Danny Kedwell who seems to have lost a bit of weight in the last couple of weeks and looks more lively for it and Sam Hatton who just seems to play well every week and when Ryan Jackson came on late in the 2nd half he looked very dangerous although his crossing needs a wee bit of work, if he can get the final ball right the Dons will have a very potent right hand side.
The goals were well taken and well worked, Christian Jolley his chance very well after some great build-up play, Mark Nwokeji rounded the keeper after Sam Hatton put him through from a quick free kick and Danny Kedwell finished well from the edge of the box. Three highlights in an otherwise ordinary game. Still through to the next round, lets hope they perform like we know they can from now!
You can see the highlights here.

And Breathe....

MK Scum Franchise are out of the FA CUP, beaten 4-6 on penalties by Stevenage.

Well done Stevenage, god willing, I will be watching you play AFC Wimbledon at Kingsmeadow on the 27th. You have done us proud.

On the same day that the nation found out about Wills and Kate too! So much good news in one day! I'll drink to that.

Womble 'til I Die

Yes, this is my 14th Tattoo.

I seem to be getting a wee bit 'Womble Militant' with the prospect of the franchise game.

Too far? I don't think so.

My sister did this, she's the tattooist and business owner behind Transfix Body Studio

in Merton Abbey Mills.

I'm sure if you ask her nicely.....

Possibilities

Life's full of them. After the draw for the second round of the 2009/10 FA Cup the world now knows that if AFC Wimbledon beat Ebbsfleet and Milton Keynes Scum beat Stevenage they will be meeting each other in the second round proper of the FA Cup.
Well if you listen to the lazy Journo's at the Guardian, they would have you believe that this is the match that AFC fans have been craving.

I think not. This is possibly the biggest grudge match ever played. This game is about right and wrong, light and dark, Yin and Yang, Morcambe and wis.....wait, not that. Anyway, getting back to the point, when the Football Association agreed that the old Wimbledon could find a permanent home in Buckinghamshire it started a reaction that was nothing short of vehement hate and I'm afraid to say I am one of those people that still feels just as strongly today as I did then.

AFC Wimbledon put the following dignified statement out on their website. Pure class.

I was watching when Wimbledon were relegated from the top flight, I was devastated, I felt lost. What then? we had already been turfed out of *Plough lane by Merton council and the developers and all I could see ahead for the club was a catastrophic fall through the leagues putting out a team of kids every week, maybe even a club going out of business.

Now I go to Kingsmeadow(not as often as I'd like admittedly) and I see the same sort of family friendly club that Wimbledon FC used to be. I see the hopes and dreams of Junior Dons, hoping that they might someday get as lucky as me and see their team in an FA Cup final. I don't see a 'breakaway' club as ESPN lazily described us, we were never a 'breakaway' club we were a murdered club. A club that was sold out by the Football Association and those in charge at the time who had their own agendas.

So which side of the fence to sit on? On one side there is the dignified, professional manner that teaches us to hold our heads up high and support our club in either muted, well behaved silence or go and vent your anger against 'they who shall no longer be named'.
The other way is to stay away from the game believing that if you do go you will be validating a club that should never have come into existence in the first place.
Now some people have mentioned that if you refuse to turn up you run the risk of dividing the support and therefore success that has built up in the last 8 years since the rebirth in 2002.
Well, I don't want the fixture to happen so I guess I'll be rooting for AFC Wimbledon and Stevenage on the 16th November for the respective replays hoping that they meet each other in the 2nd round proper.
If it does happen, I can honestly say I'm torn as to whether to go or not.

Still, to be in 2nd position in the Conference Premier and 1st round proper of the FA Cup isn't bad for an eight year old club the sports ruling body had deemed 'not in the wider interests of football'.


The When Saturday Comes Website has a great piece by Aled Thomas which inspired this one, another AFC Wimbledon fan that writes better than I do.



*The site is now a housing estate.

Howling at the Moon

Haydon plays to the Crowd with his minder!

So, here I am, sat watching X-Factor with a throat so sore that I can't speak, I squeak!
The reason for this, well, it was the first time in two seasons I've been to Kingsmeadow and I bought the shirt and decided to get all 'tribal'. Rightly so too, the referee was so poor that I had to really rein myself in whilst screaming abuse at him due to the fact that we went with a couple of kids. Still managed to leave the ground with an extremely sore throat though. A comment by one of my twitter followers regarding him made me laugh out loud...well laugh out..er...squeak!

The comment was 'He was dreadful, reckon he won a competition to ref the game'. Liam Daish, the Ebbsfleet Manager even agreed about the refereeing decisions, which he alluded to here.

For the record both sides were a bit blunt in front of goal and a nil nil draw was the right result and it means that both sides are still in the hat for tomorrows 2nd round draw. We should win but it's the cup and you never can tell.

Insomnia

So Mrs Rabidbarfly is away. She seems to have taken my sleep with her.

Here I am, wide awake at 2am, anyone know anything that will help that doesn't involve whisky or warm milk?

So sick of this.,

Sweet FA

The Late Great Laurie Cunningham
in his last appearance

Hello folks, it's about half past one in the morning and I find myself wide awake.
As of the end of my shift tomorrow(Friday night) I will be on annual leave so I've been looking for things to do for the next week.
Realising I haven't seen my two best buddies in ages I texted them and asked them if they wanted to hang out this weekend.
It looks like we're going to see AFC Wimbledon take on the mighty Ebsfleet in the first round proper of the F.A.Cup.
If we do manage to get in, it'll be the first time in ages I've been to Kingsmeadow and it should be a great atmosphere!
'MON THE DONS!

Straight on 'til Morning

Second star to the right and straight on 'til morning, that line always brings a lump to my throat. It's the same feeling you get when you know you're not going to see someone again, your period of mourning begins.
It wasn't quite true in Star Trek XI The Undiscovered Country because we saw Kirk, Chekov and Scotty in the 7th Star Trek film, Generations but you still got that sense that they were being put out to pasture.

Priceless, Resistance is Futile

This weekend film four are having a Star Trek Special and it's got me glued to my seat this Sunday night each film being introduced by one of the characters, in Generations case it was Jonathan Frakes, someone I had the pleasure of meeting when I was Assistant Manager at The Trafalgar pub in Kings Rd. I got his autograph too! Usually if a celebrity comes into work, I treat them as I would any other customer, after all, they're only out for a good time or a chill out. He was very gracious though and gave me his autograph on the back of one of my payslips, it was the only thing I could find for him to write on!
It's not often I get to 'Trek-Out' nowadays so any excuse is gladly jumped upon and I've found a load of beer friends who are also Star Trek fans or 'Trekkers'  on Twitter which makes me feel slightly less geeky, not that anyone who knows me could describe me thus(apart from my trekker tendencies).
I'm glad the franchise has decided to continue with the movies, the recent movie was excellent and proved that once again the guys and gals in charge know how to hand the baton over, I'm looking forward to the next film with baited, beery breath!
Until next time!

Pot.Kettle.Black.Anyone?

Montgommery Burns?

So, Andrew Marr has been 'gobbing off' about bloggers has he? In case you haven't seen it he said (and I quote)..

A lot of bloggers seem to be socially inadequate, pimpled, single, slightly seedy, bald, cauliflower-nosed, young men sitting in their mothers basements and ranting...
...The so-called citizen journalism is the spewing and rantings of very drunk people late at night'
Yawn! Sorry I was up late...ranting!


As someone who prefers to blog during the day and definately sober I take issue with this. Not only has Mr Marr described himself in half of his own 'rant' but it is currently 1.30pm, I am in my office above The Rake and on one side of my laptop there is a cup of coffee and on the other side a bottle of Coke, I therefore cannot be described as drunk since I haven't had a drink in over 24 hours.

Andrew Marr?

In fact lets turn this around and describe Mr Marr thus....

Bald, Slightly seedy ok, only two of his descriptions fit himself but let's face it, he's no oil painting, he's really rather 'burnsy' in fact!

I doubt Mr Marr is going to ever read this blog but I would like to point out to him that whilst it's not journalism(and really, it's not trying to be either!) it is a valid form of expression in the 21st century and  for me quite a lot of fun,
made more so by 'rantings' of c-list celebs who are up their own arses.

Rabid About Wimbledon

The REAL Wimbledon, remember the crazy gang? I do, I was there! I was part of it! I was stood behind that goal at Wembley where everything happened on the 14th May 1988 as a 14 year old who could only live the dream of those times. Good times where the underdogs sometimes beat the big guns. In the days before Chelski, the Gilletts and Hicks' of the world and long before anyone had heard on Ronaldo; in fact the world's most expensive footballer was only 3 years old when Wimbledon won the F.A. Cup.
I was going to plough lane long before anyone had even heard of Milton bloody Keynes and national hockey stadiums.

I rarely get to go to Kingsmeadow(new home of AFC Wimbledon) because of work but I still follow them keenly and look out for their results.
Another good result against tough opposition yesterday, they beat the mighty Wrexham away from home to go just one point behind Crawley who are currently top of the Conference.

Whilst I'm excited about this season, I'm also aware that they went through a blip last season at a crucial moment and fell out of contention for promotion to the league. It will be a massive achievement, beating that of the original Wimbledon Football Club, if we manage to get into the league at the end of this season it would have only been 8 years from being founded to getting into the Football League! A fantastic achievement.
When the dons were relegated from the premiership I was devastated. I knew that I would have to start expecting a different level of upset. I knew we were never going to survive as tenants at Crystal Palace and that proved to be the case when Bradford beat Liverpool to stay up and Wimbledon slipped into what's now The Championship.
Now I await the day when AFC Dons will meet the MK Dons in battle, I'm hoping that it'll be on Wimbledon's way up and Milton Keynes way down. I have nothing but contempt for the MK Dons franchise, it is a poison that has infected the football league and I hope that it will one day soon it go out of business; it has no place in football.

Welcome

Apparently I have too much to say and I need three blogs.
Anyway, welcome to The Other Stuff, this is the non-sweary(although there may be swearing) non beery(although there may be beer involved) blog where I will write about The Other Stuff that excites me. After all, it's not only about the beer...is it?
Topics on here? Cricket, Married Life, Music, London Transport(although this one may have to be on the sweary blog) and anything else that pops up really. I hope you enjoy it.
It won't be updated daily but rather when I have the time and the inclination.
If you're wondering what the third is, it's where I turn the air blue!

Anyway,  I'm mildly hungover and need to get ready for a CAMRA awards lunch. Laters.