I always check the statistics on my blog site to see how many visits and hits I achieve. It's usually about 40 visits a day (well it's a start). The interesting thing is I'm drawing up a kind of greatest hits of the most visited blog and way out ahead at the moment is one I wrote in February about the TV quiz show Pointless. I guess that proves my blog isn't pointless. Neither is the show which is excellent and a must watch every day at 5.15 p.m on BBC 1.
Last night I watched the second episode of White Heat and I must say I was disappointed. It seems to be going nowhere fast and has become rather cliched already. The main problem is the drama is interspersed with news clips from the time as though the writer wants to continually remind you of when the action was set. Last week we had the death of Churchill and this week it was the Vietnam War. White Heat can't seem to make up its mind whether it wants to be a bona fide drama or a history lesson, whether it wants to follow the characters or their idealism. It tries to be gritty but becomes rather hackneyed rather than ground-breaking. It seems to want to hammer home all the topics of the day (war, abortion, mental illness, drugs etc) which gives a kind of watcher's overload. Nevertheless I will continue watching for the four remaining episodes.
Yesterday I spent quite some time on Hethersett Athletic Football Club business. It really is becoming almost a full time occupation to keep the club running smoothly and by and large it does run smoothly. At the moment we are putting together a promotional brochure to support our fight for our own ground and facilities and we are asking a number of people to write testimonials about what the club means to them. I have put together one of these testimonials and thought it might be a good idea to reproduce it below - so here goes.
"I can't remember ever making a conscious decision to help with football in the village - it just happened. When I was blessed with two boys there always seemed to be a ball of some kind involved in our lives and I can remember kicking a football about in the road with my two sons from a very early age.
My connection with village football started when the boys were in the Cubs. I volunteered to run their football team - so that must have been about 22 years ago around 1990. There seemed to be a logical progression from Cubs to Under-10s football and that's when my connection with Hethersett Athletic began - probably a couple of years into the history of the club. I began to work alongside the club's founder Mel Perkins and things as they say progressed from there. I think I can say that myself and Mel as chairman and secretary have an excellent relationship both on a football level and as friends. We don't always agree on things but we never let disagreements wreck our aims.
I coached youth teams from Under-10 to Under-17 level and then ran an adult side for three seasons before giving up to concentrate more on the administration side of the club, becoming the club's first and (to date) only chairman somewhere along the line. I am immensely proud of our club and what we have achieved in the past and what we will continue to achieve in the future.
The national recognition we received by gaining charter standard status was a source of immense pleasure and I can honestly say I have thoroughly enjoyed my relationship with the football club and helping to make it grow into one of the most successful in Norfolk.
The figures speak for themselves with over 300 playing members at the present time and the possibility that in the future we could expand with even more teams, giving more competitive sport to many more youngsters.
My sons both played for the club to adult level. One is still a club member and holds the record for number of appearances. My eldest son has played county football in Sussex. I have no doubt that being part of Hethersett Athletic helped them to develop and mature as people and it is this that I am most proud to have been a part of.
Football is a universal language. There is absolutely nothing in life than can bring so many people together at one time. Yes occasional one off events will do this but football does it week after week after week.
The number of young people who have gone through the ranks of Hethersett Athletic over the 20 plus years of its existence runs into thousands. Hopefully most of them remember the club with fondness despite moving away from the area as their lives take shape.
We are still here, still working for the club, still realising that over the years many of us have put in thousands of volunteer hours without any financial reward simple because 1/ we believe in the value of sport 2/ we love the game of football and 3/ we want to help youngsters have a focus in life that keeps them healthy, teaches them discipline and teamwork and perhaps in a small way makes them better people.
Yesterday I also spent a large amount of time in the garden and in particular cleaning all the paintwork (actually most of it is plastic) on the outside of the house. So a few hours spent up a ladder, but the place is looking quite clean now. It's the kind of thing I put off doing but actually enjoy once I get round to it. It's pretty mindless stuff. The garage door got repaired as well. Now the power socket in the garage keeps tripping and throwing the freezer out which is very strange.
Last night I watched the second episode of White Heat and I must say I was disappointed. It seems to be going nowhere fast and has become rather cliched already. The main problem is the drama is interspersed with news clips from the time as though the writer wants to continually remind you of when the action was set. Last week we had the death of Churchill and this week it was the Vietnam War. White Heat can't seem to make up its mind whether it wants to be a bona fide drama or a history lesson, whether it wants to follow the characters or their idealism. It tries to be gritty but becomes rather hackneyed rather than ground-breaking. It seems to want to hammer home all the topics of the day (war, abortion, mental illness, drugs etc) which gives a kind of watcher's overload. Nevertheless I will continue watching for the four remaining episodes.
Yesterday I spent quite some time on Hethersett Athletic Football Club business. It really is becoming almost a full time occupation to keep the club running smoothly and by and large it does run smoothly. At the moment we are putting together a promotional brochure to support our fight for our own ground and facilities and we are asking a number of people to write testimonials about what the club means to them. I have put together one of these testimonials and thought it might be a good idea to reproduce it below - so here goes.
"I can't remember ever making a conscious decision to help with football in the village - it just happened. When I was blessed with two boys there always seemed to be a ball of some kind involved in our lives and I can remember kicking a football about in the road with my two sons from a very early age.
My connection with village football started when the boys were in the Cubs. I volunteered to run their football team - so that must have been about 22 years ago around 1990. There seemed to be a logical progression from Cubs to Under-10s football and that's when my connection with Hethersett Athletic began - probably a couple of years into the history of the club. I began to work alongside the club's founder Mel Perkins and things as they say progressed from there. I think I can say that myself and Mel as chairman and secretary have an excellent relationship both on a football level and as friends. We don't always agree on things but we never let disagreements wreck our aims.
I coached youth teams from Under-10 to Under-17 level and then ran an adult side for three seasons before giving up to concentrate more on the administration side of the club, becoming the club's first and (to date) only chairman somewhere along the line. I am immensely proud of our club and what we have achieved in the past and what we will continue to achieve in the future.
The national recognition we received by gaining charter standard status was a source of immense pleasure and I can honestly say I have thoroughly enjoyed my relationship with the football club and helping to make it grow into one of the most successful in Norfolk.
The figures speak for themselves with over 300 playing members at the present time and the possibility that in the future we could expand with even more teams, giving more competitive sport to many more youngsters.
My sons both played for the club to adult level. One is still a club member and holds the record for number of appearances. My eldest son has played county football in Sussex. I have no doubt that being part of Hethersett Athletic helped them to develop and mature as people and it is this that I am most proud to have been a part of.
Football is a universal language. There is absolutely nothing in life than can bring so many people together at one time. Yes occasional one off events will do this but football does it week after week after week.
The number of young people who have gone through the ranks of Hethersett Athletic over the 20 plus years of its existence runs into thousands. Hopefully most of them remember the club with fondness despite moving away from the area as their lives take shape.
We are still here, still working for the club, still realising that over the years many of us have put in thousands of volunteer hours without any financial reward simple because 1/ we believe in the value of sport 2/ we love the game of football and 3/ we want to help youngsters have a focus in life that keeps them healthy, teaches them discipline and teamwork and perhaps in a small way makes them better people.
Yesterday I also spent a large amount of time in the garden and in particular cleaning all the paintwork (actually most of it is plastic) on the outside of the house. So a few hours spent up a ladder, but the place is looking quite clean now. It's the kind of thing I put off doing but actually enjoy once I get round to it. It's pretty mindless stuff. The garage door got repaired as well. Now the power socket in the garage keeps tripping and throwing the freezer out which is very strange.
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