Chief's Take on Things ...

Action Packed Few Days ! - Part 1

I suppose I'll start with Liverpool's win in the Champions League.
I'm a Nottingham Forest fan since the late 1970's, and Liverpool would have been our traditional rivals, I seen Dalglish, McDermott, Souness etc ... strutt their stuff at the City Ground at my second match (first was 2-0 V's Bristol City... remember them !!).
I never really had any strong dislike for Liverpool, but they would annoy me, as they were the rivals.
I think Hillsborough (V's Forest) changed all that, whenever I hear "You'll never walk alone" now, it puts hairs on the back of my neck, it's the greatest football song of all time without a doubt...so I kinda secretly like them now.
Anyways I was delighted they won the other night, because I'm sick of the way football is going, commercially driven corporations, exploiting marketing opportunities and indeed exploiting people in Asia etc... and just using football clubs and their fans as pawns in a Global game of Monopoly.
Football is deeper than that, it was anyway, your club was for life, you were proud of your team, your players were part of the community, you drank bovril at half time with your dad .... football was important.
Now it makes me sick, crappy footballers earning 100K a week, Vodafone etc... with their brands shoved in your face every where you turn, footballers diving, cheating.
Look at all the small provincial clubs.. Forest, Notts County, Bristol City, Sheffield Wednesday, Coventry, Wolves.... gone to the hinterlands of football 'Championship' ..... There's another thing, the fucking Premiership, the Championship, and then the Football League 1 and 2 ..... what a load of commercial marketing codswallop .... exactly the sort of crap that is ruining football .... that and 2 new football kits per club per season to rip off parents even further.
Anyways, most of my friends are Liverpool fans, and in fairness it was the greatest football comeback of all time, so kudos to 'De Pool'

Anyways, moving on, went over to Tuscany for a long weekend to a wedding of close friends, Hetty & Eamonn who weren't prepared to get ripped off here by greedy hoteliers....fair play to them, had a mighy weekend and had some craic. 30/31 Celcius every day .... happy days. Stayed on a Wine Estate with swimming pool etc ... great trip away. Wedding was in a courtyard of this old Castle Hotel, seven course meal, took about 5 hours to serve ....it's the Italian way, but it was really cool.
Sherwin went on the piss with the other girls Nuala, Rachel and Amy on the plane back and was very funny.
Italian bar we were drinking in ran out of beer (bottles, draught you name it) 3 nights in a row, the owner never seen 50 Irish people away for the weekend drink :-)
Cops even came into bar to see what was happening with the bar being so busy, but they just had a drink themselves and left .... all good natured fun.
Couple of the single Irish girls scored as well, so that kept a grin on their face.

P.S

Do not drive on motorways at night in Italy , the truckers are mental ... not funny mental, fatally mental !

posted by Chief_OHara @ 5:28 AM