Bad Timing.

A few months ago I was congratulating myself on my fantastic planning abilities.

The scare stories commenting on how appalling London was going to be during the Olympics had led me to believe we were going to be in permanent lock down, with transport chaos and the world laughing at our silly little island in the North Sea crumbling under the pressure of holding a big event.

To this end, we decided to 'endure' the first week of events and then "get the hell out of Dodge", to enjoy a sunshine break.

This last week has been fantastic. My bum has barely moved from watching the games.
I've either been at events in person, sobbing in front of the television or enjoying one of the fantastic communal viewing areas dotted around the city.

Today we head off to Crete.
I've been looking forward to this trip for ages but somehow, now we are off, I really don't want to be leaving this Greatest City in the World.

We will be enjoying our plastic lasagne, eaten with plastic cutlery, served by women with plastic smiles as the 100 metres semi and final are taking place.

Doh!

It seems wrong.
Greek television had better be pretty good or I'm going to be using up ridiculous amounts of data over the next few days.

Yesterday will go down as one of the greatest days in British sport.
Six gold medals, (plus a couple of other near misses), was beyond the imagination of most of us.

Kids all over the country will be looking up online the details of their local rowing, running or cycling club.
Even as an old fart, I'm feeling inspired to get back to my fighting weight and play more of the sports I lived for only ten years ago.

One final thought.
I'd love it if a new generation of youngsters now looked up to our glorious athletes rather than those muppets from TOWIE and Big Brother.
That would be a success to me.

Has anybody seen ITV over the last week?
Didn't think so.

We were there ....

My own Olympic marathon in front of the television continues but my attendance at events has now ended.
My previous post mentioned our visit to the Gymnastics at nearby North Greenwich Arena.

On Monday, I met my niece Daisy at Victoria train station and then we headed over to the Olympic park at Stratford.
We sat out on the grass, watching the big screen and enjoying the atmosphere.

Daisy was most excited when BoJo strolled by.
Her scream and jump made him smile.
I was more impressed when Dame Kelly Holmes walked near us, waving at the adoring public who broke out into spontaneous applause.

We had tickets for the Women's Basketball and had a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

We saw Canada narrowly beat GB and then USA beat Angola.

On Tuesday, it was my nephew Jack's turn.
 I met him, again at Victoria, and we headed off for a boys day out, involving a ride on the cable car running over the Thames.

In the evening, we went over to Earls Court to see GB play Australia at Volleyball.
Despite the event being held at Earls Court, there seemed to be as many Brazilians as Aussies in attendance. (Brazil were playing in the game afterwards).

Great Britain were quite royally stuffed by Australia but we didn't care, it was just fun to be a part of the event.

The Greatest Show on Earth.

Last night we went to see the Gymnastics at the O2, (AKA North Greenwich Arena as O2 aren't one of the Olympic 'family' of sponsors.)

All I can say is it was a joy from beginning to end.

Living just around the corner, the subject of transport hadn't really been much of an issue.
However, we were most impressed with the free service offered direct to North Greenwich from outside Charlton station.

We had planned to catch the 161 bus from Woolwich Road but once we'd spotted there's a non stop Olympic shuttle to North Greenwich, we jumped on that instead.

My top tip to anyone who lives locally and needs to travel via North Greenwich, even if you aren't going to an Olympic event, is to use the shuttle as it's speedier than the regular buses and you don't have to use up any credit on your Oyster card.

The buses, all decked out in just the right shade of Olympic pink must have cost a fortune. We counted a fleet of at least 8.

Once through the airport style security, we ambled about, dodging the crowds and watched people spend a fortune on Olympic tat that is for sale without queuing, and much cheaper, in all our High Street supermarkets and Sports shops.

Something has happened to London.
People are smiling and wishing each other good cheer.

All the greeters, helpers, security personnel, TFL workers and food outlet staff are currently trying to out do each other over who can be the most amiable.
The crowds are good natured and very, very different to my usual football experiences.
I like it.

I'm not someone who knows much about gymnastics so I really appreciated all the films shown on the big screen, explaining what to look out for and how the scoring works.

I was amazed at the little rubber people and what they can do with their bodies.
I came away a big fan of Romanian Catalina Ponor.
At the age of 24 she's quite 'mature' for a gymnast but her work on the beam was incredible.

London knows how to put on a show and last night was no exception.

It's basketball for us tonight, over on the 'other' side of the river.
I've certainly caught the Olympic bug.

All Hail the Sideburns

Well done to Bradley Wiggins, who made it a British 1 & 2 at the Tour de France, (with Chris Froome coming second), just a few minutes ago.

The icing on the cake was Mark Cavendish winning the sprint on the Champs Élysées.
Team Sky have shown the world the Brits are now kings of the road.
I'd imagine the Wiggins Fred Perry collection will be selling out very quickly.

Name Change

Here's the thing.
The blog title I came up with when I started writing a few years ago was made in haste.

It was a tongue in cheek reference to my eighties sportswear fixation, retro Adidas and Puma trainer collection and most certainly my rather lackadaisical attitude to life in general.
(One of my proudest moments as a pupil at a mid 1980's comprehensive school was being reprimanded, in front of the whole class, by an RE teacher for being "too casual").

I'm still the same person now as I was then, though of course as I'm currently working as a teacher, the (Gazelle) is on the other foot.

What I've never professed to be is a 'Football Casual' of the "Have you met my mate Stanley?" variety.

I loved the clothes, the attitude and the one upmanship but the violence and knobheadness left me cold.

I'd argue that everyone has their right to free speech and their own political views.

Unfortunately, the term 'Casual' has recently become connected to the EDL, Casuals United and the kind of Right wing thought I find abhorent.
Those people have their views and I have mine.

I'd defend all day their right to say what they believe, it's just I don't want anyone to mistake their views for mine.

What really nudged me into making a change was Charlton making it back to the Championship.
Suddenly, I was receiving messages in my comments box from keyboard warriors who fancied a ruck. (Luckily I have the option to read them before publication).

I wonder how many of the teenage spottys realised they were offering out a middle aged primary school teacher?
(No doubt they'd be sat at home wearing a badly made copy of a Stone Island jumper, bought off the market).

Those people who thought I'd be bringing a firm to away days up North would have been very disappointed when they met the crowd from the RoD, who might try to buy them a pint and have a laugh rather than a dust up in a car park.

So, it's goodbye Charlton Casual and hello Charlton Casualty, though I'll still be found at the same ChartonCasual.blogspot address, as I'm too, (ahem), 'casual' to change it.

The Olympic Flame

Standing outside, before 7:45am on the first day of my Summer break?

It seemed a very unlikely prospect until I perused the route and timings of the Olympic flame through London.

Today, the flame started its journey in Greenwich.
I had thought briefly about standing near the Cutty Sark but those extra minutes in bed meant it was always going to be the very nearest point to home for me.

I forget the exact numbers but apparently around 90% of the UK population have come within an hour and a half of being inspired by the Olympic flame.

I stood with what seemed like 90% of the people who live around Westcombe Hill, though many were leaving it to the very last minute before popping outside in their PJ's and slippers.

I'd have thought there couldn't possibly be anything more 'pure' than the Olympic flame.
Unfortunately, todays world means even a simple flame has to be surrounded by ridiculous amounts of flannel and sponsorship.

We were treated to floats, filled with wholesome looking young people attempting to whip us into a frenzy of excitement while plastered in the logos of Samsung, Lloyds Bank and Coca Cola. The companies certainly had their Moment to Shine.

One particular 'wholesome' had obviously spent a little too long waiting for the orange to dry on her legs. She seemed fairly carefree though as she scampered to catch up with her friends.

The predicted time of arrival came and went and then suddenly, there was a ripple of applause that quickly turned into cheers and whistles.

A few blinks and it was all over, the flame was now heading further up the hill.

Our innate ability to poke fun at any event, no matter how seriously we all pretend to take it was highlighted when maybe the biggest cheer of the morning was for the 108 to Lewisham, (following just seconds behind the flame).
The driver waved and smiled while everybody clapped him.

I'm glad I stepped out this morning.

Fifty Shades of Grey

Welling 0 - Charlton Athletic 4.
Nope.
I haven't taken to writing 'erotic' fiction.
When I woke up yesterday morning, the tingle I was feeling was all down to the start of a new season.
The weather however was appalling.
The sky was, without any doubt, 'fifty shades of grey'.

All over the South East, there were people eating their breakfast after announcing Noddy Holder style,
"It's FOOTBALL!!!"

This completely meaningless yet traditional fixture is always one to look forward to.
It's a chance to have a look at any new signings & see how hard (or not) the players we already know have hit the pies over the summer. It's also an opportunity to catch up with the faces who have been missing from our lives since the last game of the previous season.

The score, as always in pre season friendlies was not important.
Having said that, it was nice to see 4 goals scored, even if the opener was a howler of a slice making the first goal credited to Charlton in season 2012 -13 is an OG.
The rather tubby Welling 'keeper made a couple of good stops to keep the score fairly respectable when Charlton threatened to run away with it in the second half.

The 40 days and nights of rain we have been experiencing meant there was never any chance I'd be on the terraces.
We chose seats in the older stand and were chuffed to discover they were practically in with the Directors.
After all the discussions surrounding Peter Varney's departure from 'upstairs', it was pleasing to see him sitting next to 'Keefy' Peacock.
He's obviously still a fan, regardless of what's gone on.

Sitting so near to the Directors and players meant we were able to see Ben Hamer showing scant interest in what was happening on the pitch.
He may have looked up from his iPad but not while I was checking!

Hamer clears another level of Donkey Kong.

We were spared the usual game of 'Who He?' due to glancing over the shoulder of the bloke in front who had scored a team sheet.

So, here we all are again then.

What will the new season bring?

No doubt the RoD crowd will tear up the Championship, waving the Pirate flag and making friends wherever there are like minded folk.

It's a blank canvas and at this stage, it's all to play for.

One thing is certain, Chris Powell is still Daddy Cool and we are lucky to have him.

Here's to a successful campaign.

Enjoy the ride everyone.