Hadden Must Go!

I’m back at work today after being away for a long weekend to Edinburgh. The RBS 6 Nations kicked off again this weekend, with a surprising victory for the Irish over the French, and not so surprising victories for England and Wales. It was the latter game I was at, to see my Scotland beat by the Welsh. The game itself was pretty disappointing, Scotland never looked up to competing with the Welsh. We were devoid of ideas, and seemed to lack basic rugby skills. Too many times they ran it straight at the Welsh, only to be snuffed out by the big Welsh pack. Plan A doesn’t work, and they have no plan B or plan C! Frank Hadden, the Scotland coach, survived the fall out of the Rugby World Cup, he survived a less than impressive Six Nations 2008, he didn’t meet the targets in the Summer against Argentina, and we couldn’t beat a South Africa team in the Autumn who were all but begging to be beaten. Time is up Frank, Hadden must go!

Edinburgh as ever was a fun trip, with the Welsh making for a great atmosphere both in the city and in the stadium. Most amusing sight has to be seeing two Welsh boys trying to throw snow up my mates kilt!! Yes, it snowed! It fell for hours and hours after the game Sunday. I wasn’t brave enough to go with the kilt this year, partly due to the weather, and partly due to last years experience with the Welsh!

Second most amusing sight was seeing pubs packed with people at midday on Sunday, all sober, all drinking coffee or soft drinks. Due to some rather archaic licensing laws in Scotland, alcohol could not be sold until 1230. Which results in lots of people in full rugby battle dress sitting around quietly in a pub waiting for a drink. Good times!

Paris next weekend, things can only get better. I’ll be the one holding the ‘Hadden Must Go’ sign!!

Vanilla Ice

This past Sunday I went ice skating. Now I know from past experience that I can’t skate, be in on ice or on wheels. Rollerblading in particular brings back painful memories for me. I was a beginner, and trying to skate along the beautiful Charles River in Boston. Being unsure on my feet, I wobbled quite a bit. Well, I came in for all kinds of abuse and nastiness just because I was a beginner. So, heading into the ice skating, I knew that I’d be all over the place

I went because I have spent many Sunday afternoons alone in my apartment, and it can get depressing. The outing to the rink had been organized as a group activity amongst people I work with. Some of the nicest people I know were to be going, so I knew I’d have great company. I didn’t do very well at the skating, but it was fun to hang out with everyone, and see the guys learn how to find their feet on the ice.

We had a great meal in Utrecht afterwords, at a place called ‘Broadway’. This involved a plate overloaded with many, many types of meet. It was so good!! The only downside to the day was the trains. Ongoing track maintenance had seen me take an hour and a half to get to Utrecht, and it transpired that I would take the same amount of time to return home again.

Home to bed for a few hours before, then up at midnight to watch the Superbowl. Those damn Steelers stole it………

Patriots And Puccini

This past Friday was a good day. I successfully purchased two tickets to see the New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play at Wembley, London, in October this year. I went to the NFL UK match this past year, and had a fantastic day out at what was my first official NFL game. I had been to Foxboro back in 1996 to see a preseason game of New England and my Redskins, but this real deal game was superb. So when I’d learnt that the Patriots were coming to London, I was delighted. Then I was anxious. I had missed out on the ticket lottery the first year, and then got lucky in the second year. And I really wanted to go. So the club seats went on sale for London, and I was lucky enough to get myself one! Being a Boston sports fan, and seeing the Rays triumph over the Red Sox in 08, I am hopeful to see the Patriots give the Buc’s a good old-fashioned thumping!

Saturday night was about as far removed from football as you could imagine. I went to a movie theater in Amsterdam to watch Opera. The Opera was La Rondine by Puccini, and was performed by the Metropolitan Opera in New York. They were having a Saturday matinee performance in New York, and this was being broadcast around the world. So some friends and I sat there on Saturday evening, and watched our very first opera. I really had no idea what to expect. I had no idea whether I would like it or not, I just saw it as a good opportunity to soak up some culture. As it happened, I really enjoyed it. The music was beautiful, the singing was amazing, and it was a really good show. What I think made it was the English subtitles at the bottom of the screen, which meant that if you weren’t an Italian speaker, you could still follow what was going on. It was a really nice story, and made for a thoroughly enjoyable evening. I might even go back and see opera again! So, if like me you are sitting out there being skeptical about opera, I really recommend that you give it a try, you might well be pleasantly surprised!

The Calcutta Cup

Finally! Scotland won a rugby match at the weekend! We beat the English! No tries were scored again, but a confident team performance saw the English well beaten by a score of 15-9. It was a cold damp day in Edinburgh, conditions which always seem to suit the Scottish team. I’ve now been at Murrayfield for three matches against the English, and I’ve seen three victories. In 2000, 2006, and now 2008. And on all three occassions the weather was damp, cold and generally inclement.

Standing for the players to come out, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and suddenly I felt we could win for the first time all week. Flower Of Scotland was sung loudly and proudly, with more passion than I can recall from any other match recently.

The game started in the pouring rain, and I could tell we were looking better than the previous three weeks. This game was won with a strong confident performance. The victory never looked in doubt, and it was so nice to get a win. The English were all depressed, very glum and sad. I think they thought they would just have to turn up to beat us. Great to see them so depressed about the result

And why do I hate the English so? On the morning of the game my friend and I were walking down a street in Edinburgh, all dressed up in kilt and rugby gear. This middle aged guy walks towards us, and snarls in a heavy English accent ‘You guys have absolutely NO chance this afternoon’. ‘Thanks pal’, I responded. Not a hint of banter or humour in his comment, it was all malice. I wish I could have met him again that night

But one Swallow does not make the summer, so whilst it was great to win, Scottish Rugby as been under performing this season. So I think it will be more telling to see what happens next weekend in Rome. Another performance like this next week, and indeed we may have turned the corner. If the team under performs next week, then I think the SRU will be looking for a new coach.

Oh, and on the way back to Amsterdam, I finally bought the headphones at the airport!

Scottish Rugby

This past weekend I was in Dublin to watch Scotland take on Ireland at Croke Park. For the first time, I think I have lost faith in the Scottish Rugby set up. I attended all Scotlands games in the Rugby World Cup, with the excpetion of the Tuesday night match in Edinburgh. I thought that we played reasonably well in the RWC. Having watched Scotland regularly home and away for eight years now, I was impressed with the direction we were going in. Caught up in the excitement of the RWC, I booked myself up to attend all the matches of the 2008 Six Nations Championship.

Three matches in, I’m wishing that I had not. The performances have been getting worse, and the one against the Irish was the worst one I’ve seen recently. The side seem to hold onto poseession well enough, but they are completely devoid of ideas. They seem quite adept at going across the pitch from one side to the other, without the ability to make progress and make strides in a forward direction. Eventually, someone will get bored with this sideways routine, and either drop the ball, or kick posession away. And we are on the defensive again

The defense, something that had been very resolute, has went from creaking in the French game, to being completely broken against the Irish. Time and time again, they got through our line. Every time the broke, you thought they would score. I think inexperience on the behalf of some of their players meant that a couple of try scoring opportunities were missed

Scotland finally scored a try in the second half, their only try now in six halves of rugby this season. Sadly, no more came. Then the moment of the reason for my despair happened. Loosing badly, with no way seemingly back into the game, Frank Hadden, the coach, replaced Hugo Southwell with Dan Parks. Chris Paterson moved to full back, with Parks taking over at ten. What flair that Paterson brings was gone. Parks, whilst a solid player, is not going to inspire a side back to victory. For me, this was a damage limitation replacement. Try not to let the Irish score any more Dan, kick the ball away

This was the moment I lost faith in Frank Hadden. I think he is devoid of ideas, and has no idea of his best team anymore, or how to win matches. I believe that he should step aside after the current Six Nations tournament. We need new ideas at the top. Jake White, I saw you say you were looking for a challenge. Well, welcome to Scotland Mr White, we have one for you

As for me, two games to go. Rome will be nice. I was there in 2006, and had a great weekend. Looking forward to going back there again. As for Edinburgh, and the England game, if we loose by less than 20 points we will be doing well.

I’m off shopping for wooden spoons