The Washington Football Team

I make no excuses for calling them the Redskins in the early part of this post as that is what I have always known the ‘Burgundy and Gold’ as. I fully accept that things must evolve and sometimes change is necessary, but even though I have adapted to us being the Washington Football Team, the side I grew to love and have followed passionately since the early ‘80’s was the Washington Redskins.

I have a vague recollection of Super Bowl highlights being shown on a Saturday afternoon (World of Sport maybe), but it was only when Channel 4 started their weekly highlights show in 1982 that the fire was lit. Joe Gibbs, Superbowl XVII – Redskins vs Dolphins, The Hogs, Riggins, Theismann, and Monk captivated me, and it has remained that way to this day. Let’s be honest if there was ever a decade to pick to become a fan of a team then this was it. Super Bowls, superstars, and a legendary head coach. I loved it!

These were the times of First Down newspaper, and the crackling, static filled, long-wave Armed Forces Network Radio coverage, whereas these days I can watch every minute, of every game live. Many things have changed dramatically in the last 40 years and NFL coverage is something that is significantly better. For decades I wouldn’t have had much insight into team issues outside of the games, but these days I can name the current long-snapper and intelligently debate whether it is worth the team using a 6th round draft pick to select his replacement.

My fascination with the Washington Football Team led to me becoming a founder member of the Bury Pumas American Football Team and although I played very badly at wide receiver, I enjoyed everything about it. The training was hard and demanding as we gradually came to terms with the complexities of this fantastic sport. The physicality was undeniable, but the cognitive aspect was something that really surprised me. There was no doubt which number I wanted plastered onto the back of my black mesh shirt though, it had to be 84. Gary Clark was an inspiration and that Monday night game in 1985 against the New York Giants was something I felt I needed to celebrate.

I’m not going to deny that following the team since 1992 has become progressively more difficult as, despite the brief excitement of 2012, everything else has been a long slow spiral downwards. However, Coach Rivera’s appearance last year has brought with it a hint of sunshine and hope for the future.

The 2021 schedule has been announced and the countdown clock is ticking down towards the season opener against the Chargers in September. This will no doubt be the start of a complicated few months as I juggle watching the games live, a day later, or sometimes the only option available is a bleary eyed early Monday morning start to watch everything unfold before going into work. To add to the difficulties, if I have a delayed start to watching the game, the result will pop up in my twitter and instagram feed, podcasts will automatically download and notifications will reveal the score, and well-meaning sports news updates will tantalisingly prod at me. It’s not an easy task to achieve, but I seem to be getting quite adept at getting to the start of the game without knowing the score beforehand.

I finally got to DC in 2016 and watched the game against the Cowboys at FedEx field in early January before watching them again against the Bengals at Wembley later that year. It’s bizarre that UK fans got to witness one of the rare tied games that the Team has had since 1932, but I would much rather that Hopkins had simply converted the field goal chances that he had.

The Washington Football Team and it’s fan base have helped me to get through this COVID dominated year and hopefully, as we all emerge in 2021, they will harness all that positivity and a post-season run will have me getting up at 3am late in January 2022. #HTTWFT

Aye, Aye, Aye up The Shakers

Bury FC finally went into administration this week.

Most people probably don’t even know that The Shakers still exist after they were tossed unceremoniously out of the Football League to wither away and die in the football wilderness. A lot has been written about the calamitous owner that lead us to the brink of oblivion, and the cold-hearted asset stripper who saw an opportunity to make a few quid out of something that was special and much beloved. One thing for sure is that the way the pair of them have conducted themselves is scandalous, and the deceit and lies that have surrounded the club since that fateful day is both annoying and saddening in equal measure.

From my excited first visit to Gigg Lane in 1966 through to the joyous, tinged with impending doom, promotion party in May 2019, Bury FC have been a part of my identity. They still are, although now the narrative has changed from ‘who are we playing?’ to ‘will we ever play again?’’

The soap opera rumbles on as Forever Bury seem to have a plan that no-one has bought into yet and Bury AFC continue to be the focus of antagonism and derision. For such a small fan base we seem to be incredibly skilled at driving wedges between factions. Once upon a time it was about Warnock, Knill and Barry-Murphy, but now it’s about the future of the town’s football team.

Bury AFC will never be a replacement for me. It lacks the memories, history and passion that I spent a lifetime fostering with The Shakers. Did they reduce the chance of Bury FC surviving? Who knows? One thing for sure is that I wouldn’t trust anything that Bury FC’s present owner has to say. He has shown us exactly who he is already, and I don’t need any more evidence to confirm what my thoughts about him are. The fans at AFC just want football to watch and they have created and successfully launched their team and I applaud them for that. Radcliffe Borough has no Boy’s Stand, or dodgy tannoy system but it is the starting point of a journey for them. I would love to think that somehow the differences could be resolved and that Bury FC could once again stride out at Gigg Lane in front of a unified fan base.

As it is, at the moment, when people say to me ‘who are you going to support now’, I smile sadly and realise that they have no way of knowing that my football heart still beats for Bury FC and will forever belong to The Mighty Shakers.

It’s bigger on the inside

Sometimes in life, you start a project. You plan it out, set your aims and objectives, bring it to a conclusion and move on. That’s not what has happened here.

I’ve always been a Dr Who fan. When people say they hid behind the sofa when the Daleks first appeared, they are not lying. I know because I was one of them. For me though, the scariest early Dr Who recollection was the grainy black and white sight of a deadly Cyberman jerkily crawling out of a manhole cover. This is an image that has seared itself on my memory and has remained there for the five decades that have passed since their first appearance in 1966.

The Doctor first graced our television screens in 1963 and although I just about existed then, I don’t have any recollection of the Hartnell era but vaguely remember watching Troughton stagger around in the snow. Jon Pertwee was the one who captured my attention before the arrival of the fabulously flamboyant Tom Baker, and it was his Genesis of the Daleks battle with Davros that made me a fan for life.

On a dark evening, in the cold, wintry depths of December 2019, I decided to do a sequential re-watch of all the episodes that have aired since the show was relaunched in 2005. I did have a serious debate about starting from 1963’s Unearthly Child but, for a change, common sense prevailed. My plan was then to create a ‘Best 10 episodes’ listing, but that’s not how it turned out. In fact, it was nothing like that.

By the time I had stopped sobbing after Face the Raven and held my breath through Blink I found that my ‘would I sit down and watch the episode again’ criteria had yielded a Top 47 which isn’t quite what I had in mind. I thought I was being strict but it just goes to show how much I love the show. However, now I will have to watch these episodes again and muster the resolve to ruthlessly cross 37 of them off the list. It isn’t going to be easy but “I am and always will be the optimist. The hoper of far-flung hopes and the dreamer of improbable dreams.”

So, once again I need to step onboard the TARDIS and follow the Doctor through time and space. After all, ‘it’s so much bigger on the inside’.

Still here

You all think you’re safe, ‘the R number’s down’,

Except I’m not finished, still fooling around,

You’re making me laugh with your masks and your gel,

With exciting, survival stories to tell,

You’ve been on the bus, on the tube, in the pub,

Smiling and happy, feeling so smug,

Life is so great when no sickness you get,

Truth is, you just have not met me yet.

94 in a hundred I’ve still yet to greet

Think about that as you walk down the street

You cannot see me, but I can see you

I’m your judge, your jury, executioner too.

You think you know me, I know that you don’t

You’ll take care forever, I know that you won’t

You’ll slip,

You’ll lapse

You’ll forget who I am,

I’ll be back in your lives,

Time to rewrite the plan?

What’s Happening, Boris?

Out in the killing zone, mask on, beware,

Glasses are steamed up, too much hot air,

Frightened faces, awkward approaches,

Can you contract it from minimal doses?

Waiting in queues, Oi, don’t get too near,

Keep socially distant, avoid any fear,

Coughs and sneezes spread diseases you know,

It must be correct, ‘cos they told me so,

That Johnson and Gove, that Hancock and Raab,

Tried to convince me that things aint too bad,

Only 45 thousand, we’ve done a great job,

But these are all people, the stats make me sob,

Every one, a disaster, a loss,

Families destroyed; do they give a toss?

Forget the statistics, the dead ones won’t heal,

They’ve not even got a new app to reveal,

A day trip to Durham sealed lockdowns fate,

Deal with it Boris, don’t care he’s your mate,

Stop baffling me with the vaguest of rules

And treating me like the biggest of fools,

No track and trace, no daily report,

Look, it’s under control, defies any thought,

This shit is real, don’t make a mistake,

Or let them convince you your fears are all fake,

Football and cricket without any fans,

Iconic venues without any bands,

Cinemas, gyms where we all used to go,

Restaurants, bars, ‘no entry’ signs show,

There’s a way to move back to the world that we knew,

Look after each other while you do what you do,

It’s incredibly easy, not too much to ask,

Stop being an idiot and put on a mask.