Runners-Up Again!

Today Hethersett came second for the second year running in the large villages/market towns section of the Norfolk Village Games. A good day at the UEA Sportspark. Once again Downham Market got the better of us. We were proud of coming second as all the other towns in our category have much larger populations and we are still a village.

For me the day ended a stunning run of village events that of course included the visit of the Olympic flame, the open weekend and many many more events.

Now we have to start our planning for next year in an attempt to become number one. Well done to everyone who took part and at least we won the badminton, the tennis and the junior five-a-side football. In the meantime perhaps time for a short rest!!!!

On TV news last night politicians and journalists were vying for cliched words. Politicians talked about rigour and scrutiny. Journalists weighed in with visibility and transparency .... yuck. Perhaps it's time for all of them to learn some new and more meaningful words.

A Joker and a Farce

Tonight I witnessed one of the most contrived sporting events I have ever had the misfortune to see. Growing up I was an immense speedway fan and regularly went to see Norwich Stars.

Tonight I decided to watch the world team championships. It was a farce and not pure sporting theatre and gripping stuff as the commentators suggested. I don't profess to understand all the silly rules of the evening, suffice it to say that due to a joker system we had riders trying not to win races and virtually stopping on the line to let other riders beat them.

The issue surrounded the joker system. It went something like the team in second place couldn't double up their points by using a joker unless they were at least six points behind the leaders. So Denmark fixed it so that Australia stayed less than six points behind and then Australia fixed it by deliberately not trying in a heat so they would fall six points behind and so could use the joker. It was basically their way of getting free points which the leaders could not have access to.

As it turned out Denmark won the title without being able to play their joker. We could have had the farce of Australia being able to double up their points and winning the competition whilst Denmark came second simply because they weren't able to play their joker. Whoever thinks up these contrived rules and whatever happened to pure sport of the team gaining the most points without gimmicks winning? Very often speedway isn't accepted as a real sport - this shows why it has lost credibility. It's more like It's a Knockout!!!! The trophy was named after former Swedish world champion and Norwich rider Ove Fundin. He was in the crowd. I just wonder what he thought of the shenanigans.

Moved from that to watch an equally contrived quiz. Secret Fortune on BBC 1 is so contrived that I doubt whether even the contestants understand what's going on.

On the news Didier Drogba said that he hasn't gone to play in China because of money - yeah right. Why else would he move from the best league in the world (British Premier) to the backwaters of China where the whole game is under a corruption cloud? I reckon the £200,000 a week may have had something to do with it.

Tomorrow Hethersett are competing in the finals of the Norfolk Village Games at UEA Sportspark. We are hoping for a dry day and looking to finish one better than last year when we were runners-up.

Bad Television .... Bad Service

Two questions today - How bad has Coronation Street become and will it ever stop raining?

Today it rained virtually all day and everything is now saturated. I suppose it wasn't too surprising as it was Friday 13th.

Oh and finally I finished the fourth book in the Harry Potter series. I am currently reading all seven in order on My Kindle and have to say the stories are wonderful. Okay they are slightly contrived with the get out clause to any difficult situation being  a new spell, but there are so many themes there. One day I might just list the areas of interest including faith, friendship and many others.

So to Coronation Street. Everyone knows I love the programme but now they are just recycling the same sad and sorry storylines i.e Peter gets drunk, Peter apologises and goes to Alcoholics Anonymous, Peter gets drunk, Peter apologises and goes to Alcoholics Anonymous, Peter gets drunk (you probably get the idea) and then there's the other storyline Peter falls in love with Leanne, then falls in love with Carla, then ditches Leanne, then ditches Carla, then tries (oh what the hell you get the idea).

I call it the Eastenders syndrome, continually running the same stories e.g Phil Mitchell shouts, Phil Mitchell gets violent, Phil Mitchell breaks down, Phil Mitchell shouts etc ad nauseam.

From time to time I underline in my blog examples of good and bad service. Today it's bad. It amazes me that some companies survive despite treating their customers with contempt. The problem is they don't survive for long. My latest gripe is with a company called Jonny Canvas. They do canvas prints from photos. I won't go into all the boring details but I have been very unhappy with their service. I asked them to do a simple task as their customer and after getting nowhere was told they no longer wanted my custom and "didn't like my tone." Unfortunately they already have my payment which I'm now trying to get back. My suggestion is give them a wide berth.

Olympic Themed Film

Nice evening at Norwich Forum. Hethersett's great year goes on and hopefully it's fully reflected on my village web site.

Tonight we went to view a 15 minute film put together in the Hethersett cluster group of schools. It featured just some of the Olympic themed events that the schools have been involved with this year. It may have been a short film but it did sum up the Olympic journey that the village has been on this year.

If you want to read all about this go to http://www.hethersett.org.uk/olympicodyssey.htm

One Enormous Day

The enormity of today (and I mean that in the nicest way possible) won't sink in for some time.

It was the day the Olympic Flame came to Hethersett and almost 2,000 people turned up at 6.20 a.m to see it paraded round. It was such an excellent event. In itself and on the surface it may not have looked much. After all the flame was in a lantern under one foot high. It was with us for just seven minutes, but the fact that so many people turned up said it all. It brought the whole community together.

As Harry Chapin said in one of his songs:

Sometimes words can serve me well and
Sometimes words can go to hell
For all that they say.

Today I think that words will serve this blog rather well. Just think about the following:

Hethersett is the only place in Olympic History that has had an off route visit by the Olympic flame. That's right the only place in the entire history of the Olympic games. That makes our village world famous, So this was one of those brief moments in time that will last a lifetime. Now to send photos and copy to the newspapers and web sites to reflect such a glorious event,