Mahinda’s Little World

Played hockey on Saturday, as is often the case. We headed west to play Deeside Ramblers on their turf. Except that it was quite some way from the (astro)turf we usually play on - the pitch was absolutely rock solid…possibly a bit frozen. It was very strange - you’d expect the ball to bounce, except that it didn’t. And it was VERY fast. Definitely not forgiving of my rubbish first touch.

Still, we played very well, and managed to win 3-0. There were chances for both sides, and it was more even than the scoreline suggests, but a win is quite definitely a win! I had a decent game at right back - perhaps not brilliant defensively, but I got forward okay.

The highlight of my day was something that both Martin and Steve told me in the clubhouse afterwards. While I was making a bit of a run upfield, one of the opposition turned to them and said “Bloody hell, he’s a bit quick, isn’t he?!”

The reply was, quite simply, “Yep”.

I’m not actually that all that quick - certainly, my top speed is nothing to be proud of, especially when I’ve got the ball. However, I do have decent acceleration…and the thing that fools people is that I don’t look quick. At all. Opposing forwards think I’m just a big lumbering defender*, and are then completely unprepared when I get the ball and rush past them.

* This is probably because (a) I’m quite big, (b) I lumber, and (c) I’m a defender.

Had a drink at their club, accompanied by a nice bit of hotpot-cum-chilli, and headed back home, via our clubhouse of course. I signed up to go on tour to Barbados next summer, which is nice - it’s NOT going to be cheap, but it’d be so much fun!

Heroes and Villains

Once home, I did what any amazingly sociable party animal would do on a Saturday evening - I went to sleep for two hours! Unfortunately, I had to drag myself out of bed so that I could nip over to Solomon’s and have a drink with Dr.Kate and Jenn, who’d just returned from Mark J’s annual skiing trip. They’d had fun, predictably enough.

And then home, early, just after 10pm. I quickly knocked together a costume for the MUGSS ‘Heroes and Villains’ party, and off I went.

Never again!

I dressed as Sol Campbell, for probably the first and last time. Who is he? Well, as captain of my beloved Spurs for several years, he was a hero of mine. He then defected to Arsenal in somewhat unpleasant circumstances, making him a definite villain. It being a MUGSS party, there were many there who didn’t get the reference, despite him being all over the papers during the last week.

It was a nice party, and I had the pleasure of meeting Amy, who’s FAR too young! Tim and I worked out (in the kitchen, which is where discussions like that usually happen at such parties) that she was actually born just ONE YEAR before we met. How scary is that?!

Sunday

Woke up far too early, and headed straight down to Wilmslow (well, Styal really) for a mixed hockey match.

I started off well, but things went wrong about ten minutes later. My legs just stopped working - the bits below my knees were just stiff and painful. It really wasn’t good. I soldiered on for much of the game, spending a bit of time on the bench (we had a couple of substitutes), but I’ve been hobbling ever since.

It’s the Saturday pitch getting its revenge - I’m pretty heavy, and have weak joints at the best of times. It’s Monday evening as I write this, and it hurts.

I got back home, limping heavily, after the customary drink at the opposition clubhouse, and sat down to watch the end of the Spurs match. All was going well, until the 89th minute, when Sunderland managed a late equaliser. I was NOT happy.

Cue five minutes of extra time, much of which was spent with me screaming at the television. Grrr.

I then watched some rugby, before discovering that there were 3 hours of highlights from the second VB Series final match between Australia and Sri Lanka. I knew we were in trouble when the Australian innings was still being shown 2 hours into the programme. Their HUGE score (368/5) was also something of a giveaway, and I ended up in a foul mood as I watched Sri Lanka fail to come anywhere near that total, albeit with a valiant effort by the mighty Murali.

Suitably grumpy, I headed over to Pete and Rosy’s place, where Rosy cooked us a GREAT roast beef dinner. A huge portion, which hit the spot perfectly!

We then watched the first two episodes of the new series of 24. I’d managed to miss this completely - I was aware that lots of people were raving about it, but I hadn’t seen any of the show at all. In short, I was very impressed.

Home. Bed. Sleeeeep