Women ski jumpers brought down to earth

Unnoticed by the vast majority of those watching these winter games is that not one woman will have descended down either of the ski jump hills in competition.

As Gregor Schlierenzauer of Austria completed the team ski jump competition today, one of the rare sour tastes of this Winter Olympics was left in the mouth

His soaring 146.5m jump (the longest of the competition which yielded 145.2 pts) was enough to earn Austria the gold medal.

But why should men be the only ones permitted to celebrate their great achievements in this event (and the nordic combined, of which ski jumping forms one half)?

Especially when considering the fact that it is a woman (Lindsay Van) who holds the record jump off the normal hill at Whistler ski park.

USA's Johnny Spillane won silver in the nordic combined competition.

And perhaps more importantly, should a body such as the International Olympic Committee be able to ride roughshod over the host nation's entire legal system?

Because that is exactly what was allowed to happen.

Illegal

The Vancouver Olympics were supposed to be games of equality, in a nation that possesses a specific clause about gender discrimination in its charter of rights and freedoms, and when a British Colombia judge ruled that the action to exclude women from the ski jump competition was indeed illegal under Canadian law, there appeared to be a glimmer of hope.

But that hope was quickly extinguished when the court added that the law didn't apply to an international body such as the IOC.

All that belief and integrity might as well have been thrown to the four winds from the summit of the large hill at Whistler.

There is not a lack of interest, or an absence of willing competitors.

It is down to the stubbornness and commercial minded cynicism of the Vancouver Organising Committee and IOC, and a lack of strength in the Canadian court system to hold both these bodies to account to its national laws.

Excuses

These organisations, it appears, would rather include newer events that have fewer participants but a greater marketing potential, than address a very simple question.

Excuses ranging from the short-sighted (limited space in the athletes' village) to the downright bizarre (female bodies not being suitable for ski jumping) have been used but none satisfy the argument.

The female ski jumpers have been trying to achieve this goal since 1998, and now have their own tour and World Championship, but with the next Olympics in the very un-feminist Russia, they maybe forced to wait until 2018 for their first Olympic contest.

That would be a real leap of faith.

Williams win brings British respect and pride back to Olympics

Fifty-four seconds after leaving the Whistler sliding centre’s summit for her fourth and final skeleton run, Amy Williams had re-written more than just record books.


Becoming the first individual British athlete in 30 years to claim a Winter Olympic gold medal was impressive enough – she also added the track record along the way - but silencing the national press was an even greater achievement.

And compatriate Shelly Rudman’s rapidly improving times meant that had the competition continued for another slide or two, the country could have celebrated a pair of athletes atop the podium.

However, the silver medalist from four years ago was forced to settle for sixth after producing the fastest descent down the 1km long course in the final round.

It’s noticeable that the events of that Friday night in western Canada marked something of a sea-change in the coverage from the vast majority of the UK press towards these Vancouver Games.

Prior to that, and indeed as long ago as the days leading up to the opening ceremony, much of the reporting had been negative and belittling, with backhanded criticisms ranging from the organizing committee, the (unfortunately) unseasonably warm weather, to even the sports on show.

This last one is perhaps the most concerning, as by showing a flagrant disregard for the merits of ski-jumping, luge, or cross-country skiing, the press are illustrating an equal contempt for the athletes, coaches and significant others who dedicate their time to the training and hard-work that winning a gold medal takes.

DISTASTEFUL

This is unfortunately a distasteful trend for the media which must be un-learnt before the Olympics come-a-calling to London in 2012.

Significant criticism has come towards the host nation’s “Own the podium” aim, but there has been little outcry at the calls from various prominent politicians and athletes for a similar strategy to provide a record haul of British medals two years hence.

Indeed, contrarily this is often supported by the press as something that is needed to make the games a success.

There is no doubt that aspects of every major event, including this present one in British Columbia, require scrutiny and criticism, but just to do so because your country has limited success in the disciplines involved is simply not a good enough excuse.

Why not try fostering an atmosphere of support and pride helping the athletes to succeed, rather than making it appear against the odds or as a silly novelty that will be forgotten about for the next three-and-a-half years.

Maybe that way, in four years time we will actually be able to talk up our athletes chances of bringing medal success.

Ajax boost title hopes with vital victory

Ajax 3 – 0 FC Twente:

From Owain Thomas at the Amsterdam ArenA

Goals from three different players reinvigorated Ajax’s Eredivisie title challenge as they eventually eased to a comfortable win over FC Twente.

Demy De Zeeuw, Marko Pantelic and Dennis Rommedahl found the net, but it could have been so different had Twente taken any one of several glorious early chances.

Instead, De Zeeuw’s low skidding drive opened the scoring on 22 minutes, squeezing in at the far post, past a slow to react Sander Boschker in the visitor’s goal.

And Pantelic bundled in a second shortly before halftime after a beautiful swerving effort from captain Luis Suarez crashed against a post.

That gave Martin Jol’s team a commanding but scarcely deserved lead at the break, to which they added as Dennis Rommedahl lashed home to finish off a sustained spell of pressure fifteen minutes from time.

By now Ajax were in full cruise control and the influential Suarez should have already been on the scoresheet, but his effort was incorrectly ruled offside.

Wasted Chances

Steve McClaren’s side deserved that slice of luck, which otherwise appeared to desert them for much of the match as both goalkeeping and finishing let them down.

The former England manager was visibly frustrated throughout the contest, prowling around the coach's technical area and occassionally growling at his team, particularly after his side conceded the first goal at which point he felt they lost "control and belief."

"The first goal was crucial," McClaren said.

"We had some glorious chances. The way we played in the first 20 minutes until they scored the first goal was very very good, but they improved and we went down, which was disappointing.

"The game hinged on Ajax scoring goals fom nothing, which they did and we didn't, so we don't deserve to win the game," he added.

Indeed it was the visitors who had looked the more likely to score in the early going.
After Pantelic’s flick-on brought a sharp low save from Boschker just two minutes in, they dominated as Ajax’s defensive nerves were exposed.

However, both Blaise Nkufo and his strike partner Kenneth Perez twice failed to capitalize on defensive lapses, having been set free by incisive midfield passing.

Bryan Ruiz and Chelsea-loanee Miroslav Stoch looked particularly dangerous on the flanks, and their darting runs and nimble footwork continuted to trouble the Ajax backline throughout, but unfortunately for McClaren's men, the strike duo just couldn't find the target from those openings.

As so often happens though, Twente were left to rue those missed opportunities, although they did almost sneak a consolation at the death, but Perez’s curling free-kick smacked against a post and was cleared.

The victory pulled Ajax within six points of their second placed rivals and also avenged a 1-0 defeat in November, however they remain nine points behind leaders PSV Eindhoven.

Going for Gold

The hopes of a nation are riding on the shoulders of 23 athletes as the 2010 Winter Olympics start today in Vancouver.

That’s not the total number of competitors Great Britain is sending to western Canada but the host nation’s men’s ice hockey squad.

For Canadian ice hockey, read English football, only colder, more physical and more dedicated.
Many young Canadians grow up playing hockey on homemade backyard rinks in temperatures well below freezing.

And that’s just the start.

If they work hard enough, are determined enough, and more importantly lucky enough to be blessed with some talent on skates, they will soon be playing their way through the junior ranks.
And at just 16-years-old those kids can be playing in front of National Hockey League sized crowds.

It’s a telling statement that, as Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, performed a good luck Vancouver ceremony with James Wright, Canadian high commissioner to the United Kingdom, the pair crossed hockey sticks in Trafalgar Square.

Not crossed ski poles, or sitting in a bobsleigh, but hockey sticks.

Canada will undoubtedly be near the summit of the final medal table, but for many who reside north of the 49th parallel, the nation’s success will be based solely on the performance of one team.

There are plenty of other medal hopes.

Howard Martin and Cheryl Bernard will be favourites to lead their teams to curling gold, Manuel Osbourne-Paradis and Erik Guay are medal hopes in downhill skiing, with the freestyle skiing and figure skating teams expecting to make the podium as well.

But it will all come back to the “good old hockey game.”

It may seem unfair to place such huge pressure on only one team for one medal, but it is just a fact of life for Canadians.

HMRC v Football Clubs - postponed

A brief update from those court cases earlier today.

Portsmouth now appear to be treading on very thin ice, although there is still a glimmer of hope that they may survive.

Pompey were granted just seven days to prove they will be able to make a payment schedule for the HMRC to prove the ability to pay their debts.

According to the BBC: Court registrar Christine Derrett said she feared the company would continue to trade and build up more debts that would not be paid.

"I am very concerned about the financial status of this company," she said. "It seems to me there's a very real risk that this company is undoubtedly trading while it is insolvent.

"I'm obviously conscious that, by making a winding-up order, it would have very severe consequences not only for the company as a business but for the supporters themselves, but that's not a consideration that I strictly take into account."

It also seems the situation is even worse than many feared, with the club not only owing the estimated £7m in VAT, but a further £4.7m in PAYE and National Insurance, which was not included in this process.

However, both Cardiff City and Southend United are able to breath a bit easier, having earned a 28-day reprieve to get their financial affairs in order, or at least get in a place to pay their tax bills.

It seems the payments these clubs have either made or are set ot make in the near future has at least kept the wolf from the door for the time being.

I guess we'll have to wait another seven or 28 days to get the final decisions in this long running saga.

Cup finalists face fight for their lives

Just 21 months ago Portsmouth and Cardiff City faced each other in front of a packed Wembley Stadium and worldwide television audience in the FA Cup Final.

Today, in a cruel twist of fate they will both appear before the same court just minutes apart in a battle far more important to their thousands of fans than victory on that Saturday in May 2008.
Defeat on this occasion could lead to one or even both clubs to fall into administration, and in a worst case scenario, to be wound up altogether.

The opponent this time is none other than Her Majesty, or rather Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, who are trying to recoup millions of pounds in unpaid taxes from the two clubs.

It’s estimated that more than 100 million people around the world watched Portsmouth lift the famous trophy after a 1-0 win, but since that highlight, fortunes have turned for the worse.

The south coast club faces estimated debts of £60m, is already on their fourth owner of a season that has barely passed its mid-point, and lies bottom of the Premier League staring at the near certainty of relegation to the Championship.

Meanwhile Cardiff, who currently lie a very respectable fourth place in that Championship, are thought to owe around £30m, with HMRC targeting £2.7m of that total debt today.

While both clubs can put much of their ills down to poor ownership decisions that some may call downright financial mismanagement at boardroom level, this is a trend that is fast becoming alarming in its frequency.

Already this season, Crystal Palace, one of the Welsh club’s Championship rivals, have been placed into administration, while League One Southend United will also face a winding-up petition.

There have been 53 professional club administrations since 1992, and that date is more than a coincidence.

It marks the year football entered its new era with the breakaway of the country’s top division and subsequent formation of the Premier League.

With this new league came new money from massive television and sponsorship contracts that brought more matches into more homes, and even to a global audience.

However, this new found wealth has meant that many clubs are living off vast amounts of borrowed cash, paying vastly inflated transfer fees and wages for players in a bid to reach the Premier League promised land where the sport is paved with gold.

Unfortunately, as Dick Whittington discovered on his arrival in London, this is often not the case.

Few teams manage to reach the giddy heights, and even one season of failure can lead to the club’s financial ruin.

So common has this occurrence now become, the sports’ powers have had to introduce football related penalties in an attempt to ensure clubs live within their means.

Crystal Palace have already suffered a ten-point penalty alongside the uncertainty of finding new owners, while previous Premier League regulars Southampton began this campaign in League One with a similar deduction following their troubles last term.

HMRC has begun taking a harder line with football clubs that fall into debt after losing vast sums in overdue tax revenue thanks to this rapid increase in administrations.

A clause of the administration process determines that players must be paid first and in full from any monies available, often meaning that other creditors are left high and dry, receiving only a few pennies from each pound owed.

This has resulted in a big hole often being left in the tax purse, and so the agency has decided to start taking preemptive action in an attempt to recoup all it is owed, rather than wait for the remaining crumbs.

It seems Southend and Cardiff may have some chance of meeting Her Majesty’s demands as eleventh hour bids for cash are pulled together, but for Portsmouth the signs are bleaker, and the club’s survival may come down to the court granting a stay of execution.

Murdoch's Microsoft Madness

Following on from my last post, this news comes hot on the heels of that.

While I understand, and almost commend Rupert Murdoch for his continued attempts to make money from online content, I think he's missing the point a bit.

Firstly, Bing is quite possibly the most horrible search engine to ever grace the world wide web. Bing sprang up from the ruins of msn's search, which itself was hideous and irritating to use. There are few, if any people who use it as a search engine of preference, and so his target market is far smaller than could otherwise be reached.

This would then, of course, react on the advertising rates News International could charge (lose about a quarter of your readers - online or in print) and your advertisers will notice, and not be so keen to part with large volumes of cash.

Therefore, any agreement Murdoch were to strike with Bing would need to be big enough to cover these losses BEFORE making a profit. However, he then procceds to shoot himself in the foot by saying: "If they (Microsoft) were to pay everybody for everything they took, from every newspaper in the world and every magazine they wouldn't have any profits left."

Nothing like identifying your market and knowing how to extract as much from tham as possible is there?

Microsoft obviously hopes that by simply sticking a few bits of "exclusive" news content on their site, people will flock there in their droves.
The problem being that if Bing is to promote the stories at the top of their pages (rather like sponsored current links) how many people really pay attention to those, or trust that the content being provided there if trustworthy and impartial.

This point maybe the only potential victory for Murdoch in this plan. It's far more likely that people would simply go direct to the newspaper website - or even miss it altogether.

Like it or not, we are addicted to Google. Not because of it's huge marketing budget, or it's recognisable brand, but because it actually works. When you search for something, it pretty well gets you it straight away.

This is something Bing can't compete with and, sooner or later, Murdoch will have to admit he can't either.

Will paying for online articles be the saviour of newspapers?

Without doubt the biggest challenge facing the publishing world at the moment is the continued boom of free online access to content. While audiences my feel they have the right to view anything and everything online without charge, this is a model that is quite simply unsustainable and does not reward the journalists who produce it.

Yes, with the arrival of the global network there will always be someone somewhere to describe the events happening on their doorstep and disseminate it through whichever medium they choose. But where do the audience find the authority that the mass-media provide to trust this source?

Since the penny dropped over a decade ago that the world wide web was hear to stay, and every organisation - media or not - was going to have a presence on this new space, there has been a continued growth in the volume, variety and quality of content being made freely available.
However, this has caused the longstanding and usually trusted mass-media organisations one heck of a problem, which they were rather slow to catch on to.

In the rush to become the biggest - and therefore the best - online newspaper, publishers threw caution to the wind and made all their published content freely available on their websites. They even started adding extra features and elements to their sites that could only be found online.
The information age had truely arrived, and the public took advantage.

It`s hardly surprising that instead of buying daily newspapers and periodical magazines, people started logging on to find out today's breaking news for free, rather than reaching into their pockets every morning to purchase yesterday's news. As a result, newspapers shed readers like sheep do fleeces in summer.

To compound this, newspapers suffered a double hit. Not only were they facing falling sales income, but as the circulations dropped, so too did the revenues from advertising that depend on audience figures. This was hard enough to tackle in calm economic seas, but as the recession wind and waves began to blow, advertising took a back seat as companies battened down the hatches to ride out the full force of the storm.

It has become obvious this cannot continue, and newspapers will need to raise serious revenue sums from their websites. The Financial Times and Wall Street Journal already charge subscriptions for access to their content, but these are specific publications, targetting an audience that can afford to pay. Suggestions for subscriptions to websites of mainstream titles have largely been received icily.

But audiences are warming to another idea. Micro-payments.
The reader pays a few pennies for every article read, with the value depending on the type of article, author etc.
This system, if operated correctly, could even save Britain's printed press.

At say, 5p per article, if a person reads ten a day, that equals 50p. Depending on your chosen title, that is anywhere from half to the full cover price of most daily newspapers.
Using this method almost all readers can be satisfied.

Those who want to read just one or two stories that take their interest, whether through searches or news aggregator sites, can do so for a very minor charge; while people who want a fuller look at upto a dozen articles, will pay for about half the cover price.
But the most exciting element comes for those heavy readers, who want to digest the whole paper over breakfast, on the train to work, and then finish off at lunch. They can either buy an online "copy", or even pick up a regular print version for the same price.

Of course there are issues around it to consider, such as updating stories throughout the day on websites. But the theory could see people who would heavily access content only on particular days buying the paper instead to receive all the extra articles in addition to their preferred online stories.

If enacted properly and sensibly, with cross-industry co-operation, it could see the resurgence and re-vitalisation of a once vibrant and dynamic national press.

Nice weather for cricket!

I'm actually quite surprised that is was only April when I last added something to this.
So I've now basically finished my course and am in the wonderful job hunting market. Sadly journalism jobs are not that widely available, so it could be a fairly long search, but I'm hopeful.

The course has gone fantastically well, I've got very good marks, and so it's just a matter of time I hope.
If anyone out there reading this (which makes the rather bold presumption that people actually DO read this) has a reporter position they need filling by a keen, hard working, excellent writing and very cheap, newly qualified journalist.... I am available for work ANYWHERE!

Also, I am now on Twitter, and you can follow me HERE.
For those of you who don't know about Twitter, think of it almost as text messaging online... although there are obviously less messages about asking your other half to buy a pint of milk on the way home or to remember to walk the dog.

And following along the twitter line, THIS is a really fascinating site. Apparently the people who run it do so for little or no profit, and just one glance down the postings shows that people do find it unburdening.

And THIS is something else that may help you all realise (if you ahven't already) what is truely valuable in life to you. I defy anybody not to be moved by today's letter.

More of me!

Mansfield Town v Torquay match report.
This was actually a pretty good game, and surprisingly good football despite the near gale blowing down the pitch.
Here

And here's my updates from the Mansfield v Forest Green Rovers game.
Here

I've even managed to get my name in the official club programme for one of the fans interviewing sections I do in there. Not a huge credit.... but it all counts, and they are all gratefully received. Just call me Mr Stag!!!

And last but not least, another version of my Varsity Ice Hockey report. This one was done for Nottingham Trent Students Uni, so I couldn't really go ahead and write "Trent Uni were hammered by their local rivals", it needed a but more *ahem* "spin." Haha!
Here

This week has been another hectic one, as I'm at the Western Mail and South Wales Echo (all one organisation now) on a week's work placement. It started off slow, but has got better and better, and now I'm actually getting a few by-lines as my articles get printed.
I'll try to put as many up here as possible... those that MediaWales decide to put online that is!

Busy, busy, busy!

Its been rather busy in "owains-world", and here's just a little of what I've been upto:

Covering the Varsity Ice Hockey match here in Nottingham between Trent University and the University of Nottingham.
I'm really pleased about this as my article made it into the Nottingham Evening Post.
http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/panthers/Fifth-time-lucky-University-Nottingham/article-759188-detail/article.html

I've also done some filming work while covering the event as part of my coursework. So you may find me infront of the camera in the future too, not just behind a keyboard!


I'm also continuing my match-day work with Mansfield Town. So if you check their website mansfieldtown.net on a home match day, the chances are you'll be reading me!
http://www.mansfieldtown.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10325~1582270,00.html
http://www.mansfieldtown.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10325~1582661,00.html

http://www.mansfieldtown.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10325~1549003,00.html

http://www.mansfieldtown.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10325~1535345,00.html

Half a world away

Once again its been a long time since my last post, and once again a lot has been happening.
Some of it very good, and some of it very sad. I will come to all that soon enough, but to cut a very long story short, Amanda and I now find ourselves across the Atlantic and in Nottingham.

I got my place on a Post Graduate Journalism course here in Nottingham, and having successfully negotiated the employment department, Amanda is now job-hunting.
All is going reasonably well, and though busy, the course is totally absorbing.
As a point of getting used to writing as much as possible, I'm going to attempt to write as often as possible here, and upload as many of my articles that I can.
I've got an area of the city to cover (my patch) which very conveniently is Forest Fields, the area we're living in, so I'm regularly out and about chatting to locals and finding out just what is going on of interest here.

And the answer is quite encouraging. So far I've found plenty to write about, and if I had more time and energy, I'd have probably written far more and spoken to far more people than I have already.

So as it approaches midnight here I will write soon.

Buffalo's Decline

As a very nice follow up to the post about my visit to Buffalo, Forbes magazine in the US has just published a list of the top ten declining cities in the US over the past decade. And one of those cities in the list... yes, Buffalo. It appears the new millenium has been treating Buffalo even worse than I had first thought, and at the moment, it appears there is nothing the city can, or is willing to, do about it.
The picture on the report below, is the cross-roads at the heart of Buffalo's "Entertainment District", and I'm afraid that is about as lively as it gets there. A sad case of a once important and powerful city, now very much declining and showing no sign of slowing.

See the Buffalo report here.

Read the whole report here.

Saturday is a long time in Buffalo

One of the joys of living in Southern Ontario, is the fact you can be so near, and yet so far away from the US at the same time. Its kind of like having an ill-disciplined crazy relative, who gets ignored by the family most of the year, but every so often, has something that you just can’t do without, and so you pull down the shutters, don the hard hat, and brace yourself for impact as you knock on the front door.

Yes its nice to have that arms-length distance, where you can ignore and dismiss their inane near-madness ramblings when you like, but then take advantage of the few good things they offer. For me in June, one of the advantages that Buffalo (and Western New York State in general) offered, was a border with Canada. As the end of my working-holiday visa neared, I realised that to avoid staying in Canada illegally (and potentially cause any number of problems for future plans), I would need to exit the country and re-enter as a tourist.

From Toronto, the quickest, cheapest and easiest way to do this is to catch a greyhound around the “Golden Horseshoe” of Lake Ontario, past Niagara Falls, and down into the city of Buffalo. This was a journey I should have taken about 18 months before to fly south, but due to other, far more powerful forces at work, I never made it. So this was to be the first leg of the trip that never happened.

*As a brief aside here, I still actually have copies of the tickets for the flights I was supposed to take heading south from Buffalo to Nashville and New Orleans, and even the long out-dated bus ticket from Niagara Falls to Buffalo.

So, arriving on a very warm and bright Friday evening, I gave myself the chance to see the city in its lively happening Friday night party outfit, and then in its chilled-out relaxing summer dress on Saturday, before heading home in the late afternoon. Buffalo may not have the vast blocks of mile-high skyscrapers that Toronto and New York boast, but the few it does have were shining in their grand, regal and elegant best in the evening sunlight.

A steady stream of people greeted me on their way to the ballpark for an evening baseball game, as I left the bus station and headed for my hostel. All boded well for a fun 24 hours. How wrong could I be?

After checking-in, I headed, full of anticipation, straight for the bustling entertainment district to grab something to eat, and experience Buffalo’s party side. That entertainment district came as a bit of a shock to find just two sparsely populated street blocks with a handful of bars and restaurants. It would be fair to say the atmosphere was less than buzzing. Still, it was safe, friendly enough, and I was able to get a nice meal and enjoy the evening. Tomorrow was sure to be a bright sunny day full of promise for a bustling Saturday in the heart of the city.

As you can probably sense from the way this story is progressing, a bustling city centre is not what greeted me on that fine Saturday morning. Infact, there was no-one to greet me on that morning. I walked for almost 20 minutes up and down the main streets of the city to find somewhere for breakfast, before finally resorting to a branch of Tim Horton’s, that appeared to be the only thing open for miles around. I counted the total number of people I saw on that walk on both hands.

Still, sightseeing is better without the masses, so I took a path around the city that meandered past all those elegant and grand buildings, pausing regularly for photographs and long leisurely gazes at the skyline. Fancying I might not be short on time, I even read all the very interesting (if rather dry) information points posted around the city, detailing how each structure was built, and how Buffalo came to be the powerhouse city that it now is. Surely now was time for lunch and then the bus home. Alas no. I could have stopped to chat with all the thirty or so people I saw on that walk, and still had an hour before even needing to think about lunch. Yes, it was turning into one of those days.

This is not to say that Buffalo city centre has nothing to enjoy, it just seems people stopped enjoying it a long time ago. Many of the buildings are very impressive, and include the first ever “skyscraper” built in the USA. Somehow, the city manages to combine architecture types from many different design styles, and far from looking out of place, they actually compliment each other. The baseball stadium is a lovely example of an “old American ballpark”. It’s the concrete boxes built in the last 50 years or so that put the city to a bit of shame.

Like many cities in America, and the way some cities in Britain now appear to be developing, people are no longer drawn into the city. They no longer want to enjoy it, live in it and use it as a social space. They would rather drive around to out-of-town shopping malls, eating, shopping, drinking, and even nightclubbing in carbon-copy boxes. City centres aren’t like that. They’ve grown-up. They’ve evolved. They’ve developed of their own accord, going through all the growing-pains it takes to reach maturity.

But as the people start leaving the urban centres, so to do the businesses and attractions that draw them there, and so it’s a vicious circle. Hopefully soon, people will start tiring of these identikit concrete boxes, and return to enjoy the sights, sounds, people and general environment of cities like Buffalo.

As a final, ironic, twist to this story, when re-entering Canada, I was puzzled why the border guards didn’t stamp my passport. When I asked the guard, he replied “you’re ok for another 4 months with this one they stamped in April”. Yes, that’s right! On returning from the FA Cup semi-final in April, immigration at Pearson Airport stamped my passport. The realisation that the whole trip was effectively pointless hit me as I sat down on the bus, and I could only smile the rest of the way back up the QEW to Toronto.

I’m pleased to have finally got down to see Buffalo, but I left with a real feeling of disappointment that I was too late getting there to see it in its prime. Sadly not 18 months late, probably more like 18 years.







Sadly poor Izzy was left with nothing to do but read the paper for a Saturday in Buffalo.

Updates soon... honest!

Just a quick post to say that I haven't forgotten about you all my loyal readers. This last month has been just a little bit hectic, and so blogging time has been pretty much wiped out. I am however now getting back up to usual operating speed, and have some updates and writings planned for you soon.

I was going to have a picture of the best Hamburger stand in Toronto to keep you amused, but it won't upload, so you'll just have to imagine the real flame-grilled juicy beefy-ness all on your own. (And no BK and the other places DON'T count!)

......

Well, it appears to be working today, so here is Mike's Munchies. Doesn't look much, but as ever, don't judge a burger shack by its rickety building!

Sporting Catch-Up

Just a week after returning from the FA Cup Final, we headed back down to Detroit, this time for game two of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals. The chance to see a Stanley Cup Finals game doesn't come about often, so when Amanda's sister Kim had the chance to get tickets for game two between the Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins, we jumped at it.

The Penguins had won the Eastern Conference play-offs very convincingly, and include some of the fastest, most skillful, and youngest players in ice hockey, with soon-to-be Canadian legend Sidney Crosby their captain. However, they did not have it so easy against a very strong and experienced Red Wings team, some of whom were playing for their fourth Stanley Cup title. This experience and all-round quality proved too much for the Penguins, and though they did find their feet occasionally in the series, it was only the game 5 win in the third period of over-time, that really saw them play near their peak.

So Detroit won the series 4 - 2 to claim their fourth title in less than a decade. An excellent team and organisation, that in all fairness could probably have won a couple more in that span. The game we saw in Detroit never quite sparkled, although the home team looked polished enough and cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory, after taking an early 2-0 lead that Pittsburgh never looked like threatening.

The video above is the very entertaining introduction to the game and welcome to "Rally Al" for the Red Wings fans.

Its also finally summer here, which means baseball season! I can't think of many nicer things to do on a warm summer evening, than sit in the top deck of Sky Dome with the roof open, basking in the setting sun as the CN Tower watches over the Blue Jays.

Sadly, with the weather being so humid and thundery so far this summer, there's been almost as many days with the roof shut, as with it open to the sun. As we approach the mid-point of the season with the All-Star break, the Jays are trying to pick themselves up. The pitching has been incredibly strong, amongst the lowest runs conceded in the whole on baseball, but sadly the hitting just hasn't been productive enough, and too often games have been lost that should have been won. With the management team now replaced one week ago, results seem to be improving, as is the hitting, and there is now hope for a positive second-half of the season.

This video is the very funky graphic introduction that is played on the "Jaysvision" big screen at SkyDome before some home games. Just a taste of the atmosphere. Enjoy.

Last photos of Wembley!

So here we have the last few photos from our trip to Wembley.

The Wembley Arch shining brightly saying goodnight to us after our FA Cup adventure.























So we popped down to say goodbye to the stadium itself and "thank you" for the many happy memories.

















The Final shot of the PONTYPRIDD BLUEBIRDS on our famous and legendary FA CUP run of 2007-2008.
It was a wild ride, and crossed several thousand miles, but was worth every penny and every second.

Wembley Videos

The atmosphere builds outside the turnstiles as City fans queuing to enter warm up the vocal chords and let Wembley know that "With our Little Pick and Shovels, We'll Be There!"





The Welsh National Anthem

One of the things I had most been looking forward to before the game, was the chance to sing "Abide With Me" as one of the great FA Cup Final traditions. Sadly this was taken away from me and the other 90000 fans there, and ruined what should have been a very special moment. Firstly the two "singers" Kathryn Jenkins (who was not as bad) and Lesley Garrett (truly awful) decided to scream the lyrics as loud as they could, and then, despite it happening in practice, the microphone and speaker system failed just three lines into the song, so we were left with vaguely hearing Lesley Garrett screeching out the two verses at the top of her voice.

Fortunately they managed to sort the technical problem out for the anthems, and so we had Kathryn Jenkins to accompany the Cardiff fans for "Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau". This sounded wonderful, as I hope you will agree, though my only gripe about these events, is the professional singers always try to sing far to slowly, rather than keep up with the natural pace of the crowd and the band.

Anyway, I hope you will enjoy our version here.

More Photos More Inside Wembley

Our semi-final goal hero (and local Cardiff boy) Joe Ledley. He scored the winner against Barnsley at Wembley with just 9 mins gone, and meant 80 minutes of glorious torture for the 35000 Cardiff fans on that day in April.















Roger Johnson celebrating after scoring in the quarter-final game up in Middlesbrough to take us to Wembley for the first time.












Sadly all our hopes and dreams were not to be realised, as Portsmouth won 1-0.
Here we see the players taking their fully deserved lap-of-honour after the game. To a man they played their hearts out that day, and I for one will remember and thank them for their efforts as long as I live.

The way football has become now, we may never see Cardiff in the FA Cup Final again (or a final like the one we took part in) and that would be incredibly sad.
So despite the result, I will always look back on that day in may with joy, pleasure, yes disappointment at what could have been, but with a very happy heart.

Photos Inside Wembley

Showing the Maple Leaf in Wembley. It was worth the trip, and great to meet some other fans who'd traveled from Canada and even further afield!



Kevin, Rakes and Arkwright (l to r)


Family shot: John, Jeff & Steven (l to r)



Karen & Steve. Thomas, Michael and Joseph were tucked up at home watching the game on TV and cheering on the Bluebirds!