Glen Waverley Soccer Club - Mens Seniors & Reserves

They think it's all over and other cliche's... 07/06/2010

With less than a week to go to the start of the "Biggest show on Earth", spare a thought for the commentators. Why, I hear you ask, since they get a free, all expenses paid trip to South Africa and get to see games only you and I can dream about. Well the reason I have some sympathy, is it must be difficult to remember all those cliche's football seems to be riddled with.

If you listen to any PC or Play station football game, you'll know what I mean.

Examples such as "it's a game of 2 halves" or "they think it's all over, it is now" or "festival of football" etc litter the game and commentators seem to relish the opportunity to give them maximum airtime. A question I have is, when do they become a cliché? How many times does a perfectly valid comment become a cliché?

Anyway, just listen to the voices blasting from your TV's - Martin Tyler, Clive Tyldsley, Bashir, Les Murray et al, and you'll hear plenty no doubt. Even the betting companies have come to the party and are now giving odds on what will be said and when. England play the USA, first up and is a prime candidate for cliché heaven. Here's a sample of what odds you can get on the first cliché mentioned.

7/4 .... "David Beckham"
10/3 ... "1966"
5/1 ... "1950"
14/1 ... "Wags"
40/1 ... "Carnival atmosphere"
50/1 ... "Golden generation"
100/1 ... "Fabio will have something to say"
125/1 ... "Those awful trumpets"
150/1 ... "Quickly turning into a nightmare"

Don't forget these are appropriate to an England v USA match. if you want to see a whole lot more novelty bets, check out www.paddypower.com/fourfourtwo

Have fun and hope that someday, the TV companies stop worrying about LCD, HD, 3D and put some attention into giving us the option to turn off the commentators - sometimes. Know what I mean 'Arry?

Loyalty 23/05/2010

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Back again for another bout of "brain to hand to keyboard". So the word for the day is loyalty and how does it relate to us and our chosen football club. The dictionary tries hard to define loyalty, but in essence we need to involve ourselves in a football club to fully understand its true meaning.

Involving ourselves can be either as a player or supporter, but for the
majority, following a team as a supporter is our main contribution. We
generally find a club from a very early age and our lives are then
intertwined as we live, eat and breathe with the fortunes of our club.

We celebrate when we win, we commiserate when we lose, suffer desperation at times of relegation - again and again. But the one thing that remains constant is our loyalty to our club. Because we know that by being there during the hard times, we have the god given right to celebrate when we win.

Ok, so we can swap cars when a better model comes out, or upgrade to a better computer (or even girlfriend), but one thing stands above all and defines our character more than anything else and that's our loyalty to our football club. Even when that club is only 5 years old ...History has to start somewhere, and who decides when it's been long enough.

Oh, and if you're interested, I'm quite sure the opposite of loyalty would be bandwagoner. Those who would jump ship when things got a little tough? Imagine going to war with you blokes.

Have you got your World Cup wallchart yet? 09/05/2010

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There's a question and one which a lot of the younger players
may not fully comprehend. As the World Cup draws near there has always been the quest to find the ultimate World Cup wallchart. For theuniniated, the wallchart is general a poster sized chart whereby you can fill in the match details and follow the progress of the competing teams in that years particular world cup. In days gone by, they would have been a feature of the many soccer/football magazines of the day.

Although various corporations and companies would jump on the bandwagon and produce their own mickey mouse variation.

As it stands, the only one I've seen advertised is the local 442
mag's production, and we'll have to purloin a copy to vouch for its
quality and "artefactedness".

The World Cup wallchart once complete, and after the final if you remember to fill in the details, will then be rolled up carefully. It will then be safely stored away from degenerative sunlight and damp atmosphere in the walk-in robe on the top shelf. The only time they will be brought out is on certain rare occasions (decorating, tidy up, Mrs needs more shelf space etc) and shown to various uninterested offspring. My personal favourite is from the 1986 world cup and is complete with team tabs, slots, graphs and everything. Strangely though, not much is recorded after the England v Argentina match but therein lies another story.

So if you see a World Cup wallchart worthy of the name, keep it,
fill it in religiously after every game, then store it carefully in a
wardrobe near you. You never know, one day it might be worth something.

But probably not. Still, they help pass the time between games.

First Post! 06/05/2010

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I’ve been asked to contribute a Presidents blog, so here we go. My thoughts now turn to what my first ever blog could have as a subject. There we are, why not use the subject “Firsts”. On a day when our seniors got their “first” win of the season, this subject is quite topical. How important is that “first” win, when ultimately we could win another 10 or 12 or more this season. The first win is the most important, as it now provides a massive confidence boost for the players and relieves pressure on the team as a whole. Players can relax and enjoy their game as the season progresses, no more searching and being shackled by the pressure of getting that first win.

Of course the first win is important to the team and the club, however individuals also feel the importance of individual firsts. Today we saw two Under 16’s getting their first taste of seniors football. A day which hopefully they’ll remember as special, as the day they pulled on their first seniors shirt. Two players scored their first goals for the club, the new reserves coach took charge of the reserves for the first time, we managed to score our first penalty of the season after three attempts.

So all those firsts help release the tension, anticipation, pressure and build confidence. They also set the bench mark of what can be achieved, so there we go. My first blog, over and done.

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