I'd like to.....

I've been thinking about some of the things I'd like to do this year.
In one way or another they represent a challenge but I think potentially all are very positive goals.

1. Organise and save up for a trip to Perth towards the end of the year.
2. Lose at least 5kg but no more than 8kg.
3. Get into the habit of going to the gym at least once a week and exercising at least five times a week.
4. Go to an NRL, or AFL, game. (I prefer watching them on TV but I haven't actually been to a game for years).
5. Go to a play or musical at the theatre.
6. See a live band (hopefully someone appealing will tour in 2011).
7. Try opening up to having a relationship.
8. Win the battle with the way my mind can work against me.
9. Be nicer to myself overall.

I think the majority are very much achievable. It's now up to me to put in the hard work.

Kids caught up in the Storm

Aside from all the legal and moral implications of the Melbourne Storm's salary cap rorting, there's a big problem facing thousands of people across the eastern seaboard.
How do you explain this to the kids out there that run around in their Storm gear?
My eight-year-old nephew almost lives in his Storm jersey, he loves Billy Slater and follows the team closely.
How is he expected to understand why his team won't be able to win the premiership this year, why the 2007 and 2009 premierships have now been stripped and the intricacies of the matter.
Hopefully, if anything, he can be taught a lesson in cheating and in fairness and the consequences of what happens when you do wrong.
It's a pretty heartbreaking way to learn them though, to have a team and players you idolise now internationally embarrassed and their name, if not branded, associated with cheating.
For me, I'm a bit of a fan of the Storm. They're my second team after the Knights and one of my favourite players in the game is from Melbourne. I hope he's not one of the players who was receiving whatever bonuses were handed out.
I'm sure we'll find out in the coming days. It doesn't take long for the media to name names.

Howzat

With a lacklustre cricket season out of the way I have to say I am looking forward to the start of the footy competitions.
While I follow rugby league more than AFL I do enjoy seeing how Victorians really love their game. Next weekend I'm heading to Melbourne (for the races) but the AFL's pre-season competition will be nearing its end and I remember last year being amazed at seeing the semi-finals of a pre-season comp airing on prime time TV.
That's how much they love it.
I think that the people who run cricket really ought to look at rugby league, and AFL to a lesser extent, and see that people enjoy a competition. Sure, some people go to or watch the cricket because they love it but, really, nobody enjoys a one sided game and that's what we have had this summer aside from one test match that Pakistan somehow managed to lose when they had it in the bag.
So, bring on the footy!

Storm win

Much to the delight of my nephew and the dismay of my house mate, Melbourne has won the NRL grand final 23-16 over Parramatta.
It's quite an achievement for a team to make the final four years running, particularly with the salary cap the way it is.
It was above average as far as entertainment and intrigue goes in a game of footy. That's all you can ask for if you don't have anything invested in the game, as far as allegiances go.

Surprise encounters, evaluations and grand finals

The past few days have been interesting to say the least.
Whether through coincidence, if you believe in that, or some higher reasoning, I bumped into a couple of people from a previous church this week.
Completely out of the blue. Had I taken different paths to where I was going at the time I wouldn't have had either encounter.
The first was with a guy I listed on my `old friends' post a week or so ago.
Seeing Nathan was great and I wasn't surprised to learn his life is still ridiculously hectic. Everything I like about him was still evident and he didn't give me the impression that I was bailing him up either. That's what makes my comments about some regret in the way things went while we were friends (I'm not saying we aren't now but it is hard to be friends with someone if you never see them) even more pertinent.
I left that conversation hopeful that there is a future there but, realistically, I'd say there probably isn't. But you never know.
Less than 24 hours later I bumped into Melissa at my local shopping centre.
Strangely enough I had wondered what she was up to not long before and there she is. Off overseas with the husband to try their luck.
By Saturday I was wondering who I was going to run into next. You know what they say about things happening in threes! Anyway I didn't so I guess there were no signs of anything there.
On Friday night I caught up with a good mate who, surprisingly, I hadn't hung out with at all this year due to several different circumstances.
Craig is a guy who was always a very good influence and support (and I'd like to say I've been the same back on the latter score) and little has changed there despite both our situations changing slightly. We didn't do much as it was the end of a long week but it was great going out for dinner and talking, about trivial and serious stuff. We have vowed to do it more often and I'd say we will. I haven't talked about him much on this page but he is one of my favourite people.
It's been a nice weekend, albeit a bit frustrating with some close calls with my selections for the races yesterday.
I enjoyed the weekend, particularly a reasonably laid back Sunday, and even Manly winning the grand final 40-0 won't spoil it. They played better and deserved to win. At least people won't feel bad about hating them next season. You know, everyone has two teams - yours and the one playing Manly. Just how rugby league should be.

28-0

And they said the Melbourne Storm couldn't win without Cameron Smith!
Funny thing, I said to a mate at work yesterday that I hoped the Storm would come out and bury Cronulla in tonight's game, kind of half serious because he is a Sharks supporter. And they did. 28-0.
The commentary was a bit annoying though, when you are up 22-0 with 16 minutes to go you're home and hosed yet they weren't declaring the result even then. Plus the commenatator, Gus, who kept saying Melbourne were gone and out on their feet with 25 minutes to go. He has to go.
The result will keep the nephew happy and now it will be interesting to see the result tomorrow night.

An unusual night

My standard Friday night is a quiet one watching the football and reading the racing papers preparing for the weekend.
I did some of that last night but not quit how and where I expected.
For the first time in I don't know how long I got home well after my housemate and we're talking around 2am. He was well and truly snoring by then.
I went over to Coogee to hang out with a friend and we ended up at a pub for dinner and to watch the footy. A mate of his also came along (very interesting guy but he's another story) and it was he who mae the night out of the ordinary.
Not going to go into the details but it involved a $1 bet on the football score and one of the most remarkable games of footy I've seen.
When he scanned the ticket he almost leapt out of his own skin and, potentially unfortuntely, onto my back just days after recovering from a pinched nerve.
An awesome night with a couple of guys and despite only five or so hours sleep (they kicked on a while longer than me and thank God I don't drink) I have to say it was all worth it.
Haven't had fun like that in ages.

The Two Of Me

In August last year Andrew Johns revealed he had suffered depression and bipolar disorder for pretty much his entire rugby league career.
As a big fan of Joey, as you can see from the photo, I was always going to read his book The Two Of Me with interest.
The first thing I can say is that it is easy to read, being largely a first person account of his life to date.
Some of it is easy to relate to, both as a fan of the Newcastle Knights and someone who has battled depression (though nowhere near as serious), and some of it is a bit ho hum.
However, the good very much outweighs the bad.
Of course some of the book's thunder was stolen when Johns was arrested in England with an ecstacy tablet in his possession and he had to confess to years of drug abuse and such. That interview was quite wrenching but probably the best thing to do.
What troubles me is that nobody tried very hard to reel him in when something was very obviously wrong. Perhaps it was because of who he is or maybe he was hard to talk to, I've only met him twice and you can't get a guide on who someone is based on a couple of two or three minute chats. I am certainly not going to judge, and I think what he's done since everything came out is admirable.
The big shame is that Knights fans won't get to see him play again.
If you're a fan you'll like it, though the book is probably above anyone not at least casually interested in rugby league.