Anyone For Tennis?

As the Football World Cup grinds on in South Africa, a more regular feature of the English summer starts in South West London tomorrow.

Will anyone notice?

So it's good luck to the braying middle aged women who come up to 'town' to indulge in some silly hat wearing in support of Tim Greg Andy.

Murray Mount will still have it's fair share of Laura Ashley and well pressed chinos but until the England team finally come home, in general the media will be focused on events much, much further away.

It's a shame really.
Tennis gives me a fantastic opportunity to post pictures such as this one of the undeniably female player, Simona Halep.

Enjoy.

Welcome To My World

I received an SMS text message last night after the England v Algeria game.

I imagine the networks were going into meltdown all over England, as people came around to the fact they had wasted a large proportion of their Friday evening.

The message read:
"Well.... Not that I'm an expert but I've never seen football like that before."

My reply, naturally, was:
"Unfortunately, I've seen lots and lots of football just like that!"


The rest of the country are enjoying their Saturday morning, knowing how it feels to be an Addick.

The unfulfilled expectations, coupled with the knowledge that we could see it coming with bells, whistles and lights flashing all seem rather familiar.

There will be a few days of hand wringing, then, just like Charlton fans do after a setback, we'll all be joining together in hope and belief, telling each other that we are at our best when the chips are down, backs against the wall... etc. etc.

Just like at Charlton, we've also become embroiled in the 'booing' debate again.

I can't imagine Wayne Rooney has had much experience of his own supporters showing such vocal displeasure.
He plays for Manchester United who are one of the most successful teams around.
Manchester United fans don't have much reason to boo.

England supporters who have spent ridiculous amounts of time and money following the team to the other side of the world, surely have just as much, (if not more), permission to voice their unhappiness as those of us sitting on our sofas or in pubs back at home.
We were all shaking our heads and asking each other unanswerable questions.

How could X be so good while playing for X but totally invisible, playing for England against the mighty ......Algeria?

Rooney was visibly upset to hear the red and white hordes giving the team the bird but I fear his real issue was with himself.
As someone who was expected to light up the World Cup, possibly being our 2010 version of 1990 Gazza, Wayne Rooney knows he has been a let down.

Unfortunately, my 'highlight' of England's campaign so far has been the bird, (feathered), sitting on the Algeria goal, knowing it was probably one of the safest places in the stadium.

Even the bird has Charlton parallels.
Who else remembers the stubborn pigeon on the pitch at the Valley when Scott Parker returned with Newcastle United?

I imagine by Wednesday afternoon the streets will be empty, except for those members of our community with more interest in shoe shopping or seeing the new Sex and the City movie.
The flags will be on the cars, the shirts will be worn with pride, the flags will be hanging off houses, flats and factories, the population will be together again, arm in arm and getting behind the boys.

Who knows? We might give the international football powerhouse of Slovenia a bit of a stuffing?

Just like Charlton though, we know that for every England high, there'll be a comparable low and it's probably hiding just around the corner, ready to punch us in the teeth.

We wouldn't want to miss it though, would we?

Put a Sock In It.

At the risk of copying the 'Odd One Out' round from Have I got News For You, which one of these scenes has been missing from the South Africa World Cup Finals?

 Answer.

We have had the incessant sound of the Vuvuzela, the bumble bee and the electric tooth brush but absolutely no crowds chanting and cheering.

One of the joys of watching live sport is the sound of the crowd.

The same drone has been the soundtrack, regardless of there being a goal kick, throw in, screamer of a goal, tap in, own goal or improbable free kick.

When the strange new 'volatile' ball is added into the mix, which seems to make it extremely difficult for the world's best players to control their passes and shots, South Africa 2010 is shaping up to be my least favourite World Cup finals ever.

As far as this viewer is concerned, something I've been really looking forward to has gone a little flat.

Here We Go.....!

I've been really busy over the last 2 weeks.
Work has taken up nearly all of my 'free' time leaving me with only a few windows to rattle off some words on here and quite frankly, I've not really fancied it.

Last weekend I did sneak off to the wilds of Oxfordshire to celebrate my sister's 40th birthday in a beautiful place she had hired.
It was good to meet up with many 'old' faces, some I hadn't seen since my sister was either at Uni or even doing her 'A' levels, over 20 years ago.

 I particularly enjoyed letting off Chinese style sky lanterns late at night / early in the morning and watching them float off, still visible in the air nearly 10 minutes later.
We also had a good boogie to tunes from our youth. The Wedding Present, Primal Scream and Bob Marley were particularly good to hear through a huge sound system, with around 30 people bouncing around nearby.

 I drove back to Greenwich through London which I always enjoy on a Sunday.
Passing through the richer areas of Kensington and Chelsea, then crossing the river and watching the money evaporate as the Elephant, Old Kent Road and Deptford whizz past, before hitting the centre of the world, (Greenwich!) is always something that brings home what a diverse city we live in.

This week saw the announcement of the iPhone 4.
I've been hanging on to get this since Christmas when I could have upgraded but really knew what I wanted was the new Apple blower.

As expected, it has the HD video recording I was after and justifies my decision not to climb onboard with the masses and purchase a 'Flip'.
I can spend hours in the Apple stores, just playing so it was never in doubt that I was going to want the new iPhone.
I already have the iPhone 4 on pre- order and yes, there may be other companies who have products with better spec on certain aspects but as an overall package, it's one hell of a sexy, fantastic 'unbeatable' smartphone, (for now).

Yesterday saw the start of the 2010 World Cup Finals.
I missed the opening ceremony and first game due to work, (natch), but wasted 2 hours of my life that I'll never get back, watching Henry's 'handy' chums fail to produce any entertainment against 10 man Uraguay.
Yawn.

This evening it's the chance for me to get behind all those Premiership boys I don't get to see at the Valley anymore.

The situation with BP and the Gulf Coast has added a little bit of spice to the game but in reality, anything other than a comfortable win will be a bitter disappointment to Fabio's Boys.

Needless to say, my money went on a Desmond Two - Two draw.

Enjoy the game.

C'mon Enger-Land!!