Here we are then, over two years after starting these little (and sometimes not so little) witterings, we have reached the end of this particular road
It is common for these "adieu's" to be a little retrospective and very definitely introspective, but I can't be bothered with that
Looking at the sporting world at the moment, and it feels like the rest of the planet has turned upside down, rather than just me. The England Football team are confident, calm, and convincing in their progression through their latest two matches at the World Cup; and the Test Cricket Team are apparently trying to break every record going and winning a match on one of the flatest tracks ever seen in Pakistan, and in the second innings, the former Captain, Joe Root, tried to play one delivery left handed (he nearly got himself out, so that wee experiment didn't last long). Even the rugby team, despite having a pretty poor year overall, still managed to give the AB's a scare.
All of this outbreak of positivity is frankly, very un-English, and as a result, very refreshing.
We Brits tend to be a dour, morose, glass half empty (and full of brackish water) kind of lot, probably something to do with the thousands of years of having the wotsit kicked out of us by hosts of invaders from all over Europe. We have a long and proud history of being beaten - we claim never to be bowed, but that's not true, we were under Roman domination for nearly 400 years, the Normans not only invaded but conquered and took over, and the Vikings eventually decided that while a bit of the old pillaging was good for a giggle, I can imagine it gets tiresome as you get a bit older and they settled down and their ancestors still live in Britain today (& here, as a result, too)..
Sporting success has the ability to bring out a sense of national pride that we Brits are not used to, and thus when they happen, we cling onto them like a drowning man grasping at his piece of straw (I've often wondered where the piece of straw came from?), so you will hear English commentators at the World Cup reference that win in 1966. The 2005 Ashes, the 2003 Rugby World Cup, Super Saturday at the London Olympics - all live long (tiresomely so, it could be said) in the memories of sporting-success-starved Sassenachs.
There is the feeling though, that this is a new era in the sporting world, and despite the political, economic and isolationist woes that effect all of us, that feeling of joy, of being part of a team that works together, plays together and wins together, is what sport is all about.
Still, as a Pom, thank goodness the weather is doing it's very best to redress the balance
That's it from me for the time being, your new Secretary will, quite rightly, want to do things their way, but for now I will take this opportunity to say thank you for continuing to put up with this nonsense, and thank you to those of you who have passed on kind comments
Thank you also for all of the support I have had (& needed) in this position, from the members of the Committee to the members of the club, I wish my successor well, and look forward to seeing you alll out there soon
In the meantime, stay safe, play well, and have fun
Steve
|