Rumours, Speculation and Helicopters

I spent this morning getting acquainted with Hout Bay. I took a stroll from the estate where I’m staying (when I say estate, don’t think sink estate. It’s seriously nice) down the road to the town. After having a look in a few shops and getting some money out of the bank, I went for a walk on the beach. It’s really nice, with white, soft sand, so no doubt I will be frequenting it many times. On my way back, I stopped off in the local coffee house for a chocolate milkshake and bacon sandwich. One good thing about South Africa (especially compared to the weak pound to dollar ratio in Australia) is that things are sort of cheap – so it was only a couple of quid. Also handy is the exchange rate. I never really got my head around the rate between the sterling and the Aussie dollar (there were one and a bit dollars to the pound), so I was mainly going on gut instinct and guess work. This often meant I ended up getting it wrong and spending far too much on things (hence paying about £9 for half a pint of cider), but here it’s nearly 10 to 1 – so if something is 100 rands, it’s about 10 quid. (It’s actually a bit less - about 8ish, but dividing by 10 is much easier mentally).

After getting home, I turned my attention to Transfer Deadline Day. It’s a day in the footballing calendar that everyone looks forward to, and while the last few have been a real let down, today’s has been brilliant. Rumours, speculation and helicopters meant that BBC’s Live Text was being followed hawkishly. Normally at home I would be glued to Sky Sports News (makes a change…) so I looked to the South African equivalent – “Sports Blitz”. As I’m sure you’ll know, SSN on TDD (Sky Sports News on Transfer Deadline Day)devote all 24 hours to it; have reporters at every training ground, Jim White going into overdrive, Andy Burton pretending he’s talking to all of the agents, and Georgie Thompson. While SSN repeat stories every hour (with new ones every now and again when stories break), Sports Blitz evidently don’t. They have 15 minutes of news, which includes 10 minutes about the South African league, 5 minutes about the Women’s Hockey World Cup, and 4 minutes of adverts. That leaves 1 minute every news cycle for transfer gossip every quarter hour. And it’s the same transfer “news” (this hasn’t updated once throughout the day) – there’s a video of Robbie Keane scoring the scrappiest goal ever, and a video of Paul Konchesky running onto the pitch. Two very minor transfers in the grand scheme of things. Nothing about Torres, Carroll, Suarez, Aguero, Forlan or Adam. The 15 minute cycle then repeats after the adverts (word for word), so I’ve now seen the goals from Ajax Cape Town’s 2-0 win on Saturday about 40 times. And they’re not even that good. There’s an interview with the Platinum Stars coach, who says he was pleased with the boys performance, and then more adverts. For someone who’s used to the great moving and updating coverage of SSN, Sports Blitz has let me down. Luckily, I had my man in the field (dad) who was keeping me posted via a series of texts. And Chris Bevan on the BBC Live Text.

Continuing the football theme, I made my South African league debut this evening. The parents (and older kids) from the local school meet up every Monday and Thursday evenings, so I was brought in as a highly touted signing for tonight’s game. For what could be seen as a bit of a kickabout was really hard fought and competitive, and by the end I was absolutely knackered (although my fitness levels, which leave a lot to be desired at the best of times, haven’t been helped by two months of doing absolutely no running about). My performance? Well, despite the fitness issues (not helped by blazing heat, even at 6pm) and the not great footwear (£2.50 plimsolls from the Australian equivalent of Primark), I had a couple of nice touches in midfield, and set up a couple of goals. However, I did miss an a bit of a sitter - I laid off the ball to the left wing and burst into the middle. The ball was flighted in, and with a free header about 5 yards out and the goal gaping, I missed the ball with my head and ended up shouldering it wide. Our side lost 7-4, but I look forward to getting involved and playing more over the next few weeks. Although I will be looking to get more appropriate footwear for next time!

So that was my football heavy day – and to all of my Liverpool supporting friends, can I just say

He’s now a blue he was a red, Torres! Torres!
He hates the Kop he loves the Shed, Torres! Torres!
He used to go out on the rob, but now he’s got a proper job
Fern-an-do Torres, Chelsea’s number nine!

Na na na na na na na na na na, na na!
Na na na na na na na na na na, na na!
Na na na na, na na na na, na na na na na na na,
Fernando Torres, Chelsea’s number nine!