Apologies I've been AWOL for a while. I'm hopefully returning with some sense of regularity but you never know do you?
My last post was about the anger and stupidity you experience at football, and on reflection, you tend to experience that in all other aspects of life as well. Hopefully this post will try and be a bit more positive instead.
You may remember from a while back how I'd embarked on an attempt to shift the weight I'd managed to insulate myself over summer. I'm pleased to report that it's going remarkably well and I've lost nearly 21lbs so far. I'm down to 194.4lbs (against a target of 187lbs by December 14th) so I'm confident I'll get there with time to spare. As I'd sworn off takeaway of any description until Christmas (much to my wife's dismay), I've relented slightly and agreed to shell out for a pizza if I can get to 185lbs. Fingers crossed!
A few other things have been happening in the world which I'll mention whilst resisting the urge to pass comment or judgement.
Racism has reared its ugly head in the world of football, almost to the point where the media would have you believe people are using racial slurs as flippantly as Mark, Jeremy and Super Hans trying to section each other. Now I'm fairly sure this isn't the case but I suppose enough "high profile"incidents could convince you otherwise. Whilst all of civilised society is rightly disgusted by such behaviour, a few professional footballers decided that throwing their teddy (or t-shirts) out of the pram was the best way to tackle such behaviour. And not by getting off their arses and doing something. Messrs Anton and Rio Ferdinand are now being referred to, somewhat ominously, as the Ferdinand Family, suggesting they're actually part of an underground football mafia. Regardless, the quicker people become educated and stop being racist the better, I'm sure we all agree.
The United States will elect their next President next Tuesday with Hurricane Sandy affecting some key states in the East. Without wishing to reveal too much about my political leanings, I continue to be surprised that this race is pretty much a dead heat between a man who wants to expand healthcare coverage for millions of people, and someone who thinks windows on aeroplanes should open.
Whilst Hallowe'en is upon us this week, I've firmly got my sights set on Christmas now. I appreciate and understand it's far too early to talk about it, but I've not had a holiday since May and the prospect of a fortnight off is enough to make me giddier than most kids. I shall endeavour not to harp on about it too much until December as I'm personally of the belief that Christmas talk starting before late November is a form of insanity.
From a blog perspective, we're getting to the time of year where I run down my Top 20 tracks of 2012 so expect to see a blog or two about music before the end of the year. I'll also be writing my Review of 2012 and my 2013 preview which I'm sure you're all dying to read. And on a personal note, I'm now writing a monthly blog for DiabetesUK so if you're interested you can follow that on here or by visiting their website (blogs.diabetes.org.uk).
I think this has been a bit of a random stream of consciousness but hopefully I'll be back into the swing of it now.
Thanks, as always, for reading.
Take care
Andy
Monday, 29 October 2012
Then and now
This blog first appeared on blogs.diabetes.org.uk on October 25th 2012
I'm Andy, I'm 31 and I've had type 1 diabetes for 11 years.
I'm Andy, I'm 31 and I've had type 1 diabetes for 11 years.
I remember the day I got diagnosed, I got a call from the campus GP asking me to come in urgently - I was at the start of my post-grad year at university. I'd had a few "symptoms" for a couple of weeks and having done a bit of internet research, I had an inkling what she was going to tell me, but I'd assumed I was wrong.
When she told me I had type 1 diabetes and had to go to the hospital, I remember saying something about having a free afternoon in a couple of days time. She said "No, no. You don't understand, you have to go now".
At the hospital, I remember two things vividly. The first was the sheer amount of information I had to try and make sense of in a few hours. There's so much to learn, remember and understand it feels impossible to manage at the beginning. The second was the first time I injected myself with the needle. I don't like needles and to this day I have to look away every time I have a blood test, but I quickly had to acclimatise to injecting myself.
I started out on two injections a day with a mix of short and long acting insulin. Looking back, the Innovo pen was a bit unwieldy but it looked gadgety enough to help me along my journey. Fortunately I've long since graduated to five injections a day using a significantly less cumbersome device.
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The Innovo Pen from 2001
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My first hypo was the following Saturday morning when I was at work. I'd been told what the warning symptoms were likely to be and what to do, but I still gave the on call nurse a ring to make sure I was doing the right thing. There are a lot of other things that you perhaps don't immediately associate with the lifestyle of a diabetic - checking your blood glucose, annual eye screenings, dietician appointments, foot specialists but your life adapts to fit around these things over time.
Some of them get easier and to a degree, some of them don't. Whenever I have a hypo, I still get the same feelings of confusion and anger as I did back then, and the eye drops still sting as much as they first did, but I accept that it's just part of my life now.
Eleven years on and things are definitely easier and more settled now. The theory and understanding is ingrained, the carb counting and insulin maths is automatic and testing my blood a few times a day is now the norm. I still have good days and bad days and occasionally get caught out with a high blood glucose level that I'm not expecting but managing it is now second nature. I also understand what's expected of me by my family and my doctors as well as what I expect of myself.
I try not to let being diabetic define who am I or restrict what I do because there's so much more to me than diabetes. Whilst it might be an important part of my life, it isn't my entire life. Hopefully I'll get to share more of my experiences with you in the coming months.
Thursday, 20 September 2012
Wednesday, bloody Wednesday
Apologies to regular readers for finally succumbing to writing about football. In my defence, we had a good year before it got to this. Apologies too for invoking Partridge with the title.
I guess the audience for this blog is a bit niche in that I'll end up writing whilst assuming you know something about football and/or Sheffield Wednesday. (Disclaimer - going to Hillsborough does not automatically qualify you to know something about football as we shall see below).
I contemplated whether I should write this whilst trudging back up the hill to the car after last night's game against Huddersfield which we comfortably managed to lose 3-1. We weren't our best last night and despite making a few chances and missing them) up front, our defence made them look like Barcelona.
As a football fan, I think I'm quite lucky in that my entire existence doesn't revolve around Sheffield Wednesday Football Club. I live and die with each kick during the game, but the result washes over me an hour or so after the match. It's only a game right?
Some people are a lot more fanatical than I am and whilst I respect their choice to be that way, I will make a point of not being tarred with the mad brush to a certain extent. Most of my football related conversations take place on Twitter, where a certain proportion of our fanbase believe that being a Wednesday fan means we're all mates. This is definitely not the case.
After last night's game (our 6th of 46 this season) the same old tired tribe took to their phones to start bashing the team and the manager, floating all manner of hysterical observations. On the surface, it's easy to see why. Football is an emotive thing. There's a tribalism in supporting your team and wanting to beat whoever's in front of you.
It's easy to lambast the manager for "changing a winning team" (Wednesday had lost two on the trot before last night) or to blame the keeper (for conceding one penalty and the rebound from another that he'd saved). It's easy to be critical and suggest that our right back last night looked horribly out of his depth and that our centre midfield looked uneasy every time they might have to pass the ball forward. It's easy to bemoan players for not being able to take a corner without kicking it straight to the opposition (I'll hold my hand up as being guilty of that one).
And in the heat of the moment, you can forgive it to a degree. But an hour or so afterwards it's surely time to be objective and reasonable. Wednesday got promoted last season and are now adapting to a new level of the game where things are done faster and more mistakes are punished than they were last season. Three of the starting XI last night were fairly new to the club and looked a little short of fitness. Given their recent signings, they also haven't had much opportunity to play together as a team.
I realised last night that what makes my blood boil about football is other fans. The people on Twitter who make ridiculous statements based on nothing factual. The same people that can dish out abuse to players with one tweet and then send them a message praising them with the next. The old guy 4 rows behind me who dished out a non-stop expletive tirade at the referee after 80 minutes despite there being kids nearby. The idiot who threw something onto the pitch last night. The bloke at the side of me that got up and left his seat 5 times to smuggle a beer into his seat (North Stand, row 26, seat 31, you know who you are). Those people need to experience the real world. Watch the news or read a book. You're entitled to your opinion the same as me and every one else. But to do it in such an ignorant manner is appalling.
Calling for the manager who presided over (almost all of) our joint longest unbeaten run in history after 6 games is mind numbingly stupid. Blaming the keeper because you personally like the other goalie more is insane. Booing your own players is ridiculous. Maybe I should just stay off Twitter after the match.
I don't believe for a second that Wednesday have any right to go out and win a single game of football - you have to earn your points and accept the defeats when you weren't good enough. Sadly, last night was the latter. Finishing 4th bottom this season will be an achievement. I quietly predicted we'd finish 14th in May and I'll stick to that. Last night's game is over and all anyone can do is look forward to Saturday against Bolton.
I don't to rant. Last night was just a bad day in the office. It's a long time until May and I have no doubt the same lunatics who were ready to explode with rage last night will be eating their words in a few months (and will have conveniently forgotten all their hysterics by then). This is my 27th year visiting Hillsborough and stepping out of the concourse never gets tiring, regardless of how we play.
But I'm glad the club isn't my only reason for being.
Up the Owls.
P.S. Credit due to all 25,000 there last night for impeccably observing a moment's silence (and applause) for the Hillsborough Families and the 2 lads from the Yorkshire Regiment who died in Afghanistan
I guess the audience for this blog is a bit niche in that I'll end up writing whilst assuming you know something about football and/or Sheffield Wednesday. (Disclaimer - going to Hillsborough does not automatically qualify you to know something about football as we shall see below).
I contemplated whether I should write this whilst trudging back up the hill to the car after last night's game against Huddersfield which we comfortably managed to lose 3-1. We weren't our best last night and despite making a few chances and missing them) up front, our defence made them look like Barcelona.
As a football fan, I think I'm quite lucky in that my entire existence doesn't revolve around Sheffield Wednesday Football Club. I live and die with each kick during the game, but the result washes over me an hour or so after the match. It's only a game right?
Some people are a lot more fanatical than I am and whilst I respect their choice to be that way, I will make a point of not being tarred with the mad brush to a certain extent. Most of my football related conversations take place on Twitter, where a certain proportion of our fanbase believe that being a Wednesday fan means we're all mates. This is definitely not the case.
After last night's game (our 6th of 46 this season) the same old tired tribe took to their phones to start bashing the team and the manager, floating all manner of hysterical observations. On the surface, it's easy to see why. Football is an emotive thing. There's a tribalism in supporting your team and wanting to beat whoever's in front of you.
It's easy to lambast the manager for "changing a winning team" (Wednesday had lost two on the trot before last night) or to blame the keeper (for conceding one penalty and the rebound from another that he'd saved). It's easy to be critical and suggest that our right back last night looked horribly out of his depth and that our centre midfield looked uneasy every time they might have to pass the ball forward. It's easy to bemoan players for not being able to take a corner without kicking it straight to the opposition (I'll hold my hand up as being guilty of that one).
And in the heat of the moment, you can forgive it to a degree. But an hour or so afterwards it's surely time to be objective and reasonable. Wednesday got promoted last season and are now adapting to a new level of the game where things are done faster and more mistakes are punished than they were last season. Three of the starting XI last night were fairly new to the club and looked a little short of fitness. Given their recent signings, they also haven't had much opportunity to play together as a team.
I realised last night that what makes my blood boil about football is other fans. The people on Twitter who make ridiculous statements based on nothing factual. The same people that can dish out abuse to players with one tweet and then send them a message praising them with the next. The old guy 4 rows behind me who dished out a non-stop expletive tirade at the referee after 80 minutes despite there being kids nearby. The idiot who threw something onto the pitch last night. The bloke at the side of me that got up and left his seat 5 times to smuggle a beer into his seat (North Stand, row 26, seat 31, you know who you are). Those people need to experience the real world. Watch the news or read a book. You're entitled to your opinion the same as me and every one else. But to do it in such an ignorant manner is appalling.
Calling for the manager who presided over (almost all of) our joint longest unbeaten run in history after 6 games is mind numbingly stupid. Blaming the keeper because you personally like the other goalie more is insane. Booing your own players is ridiculous. Maybe I should just stay off Twitter after the match.
I don't believe for a second that Wednesday have any right to go out and win a single game of football - you have to earn your points and accept the defeats when you weren't good enough. Sadly, last night was the latter. Finishing 4th bottom this season will be an achievement. I quietly predicted we'd finish 14th in May and I'll stick to that. Last night's game is over and all anyone can do is look forward to Saturday against Bolton.
I don't to rant. Last night was just a bad day in the office. It's a long time until May and I have no doubt the same lunatics who were ready to explode with rage last night will be eating their words in a few months (and will have conveniently forgotten all their hysterics by then). This is my 27th year visiting Hillsborough and stepping out of the concourse never gets tiring, regardless of how we play.
But I'm glad the club isn't my only reason for being.
Up the Owls.
P.S. Credit due to all 25,000 there last night for impeccably observing a moment's silence (and applause) for the Hillsborough Families and the 2 lads from the Yorkshire Regiment who died in Afghanistan
Tuesday, 18 September 2012
Birthday post - but no cake
Hi
Apologies I've not posted for a while - September seems to have flown by.
Having officially said goodbye to running for the year, I've turned my attention to trying to shift some weight.
As my exercise post-marathon has been sporadic at best, I've put on a fair bit of weight in the last 4 months. I've spent a bit of time trying to ignore it but predictably that hasn't worked very well so now I'm actively trying to do something about it.
Obviously there are a number of benefits to this. Being able to fit more comfortably in the clothes I own is one. Not feeling knackered every time I have to exert any kind of energy is another. And keeping my diabetes under control is probably the biggest benefit I'll get. I've got my annual(ish) review at the hospital in October (I rescheduled from September because I knew I'd get a kicking) and so being in a bit better shape when I go will be good news.
My plan is fairly simple - try and lose 2lbs a week between now and Christmas. The means I should lose about 2 stone by December 25th which would be pretty good. I know the reality of that will be a bit different but it's worth a shot. Weight is generally easier to lose when you're carrying a lot extra (as I am at the moment) and I know that come mid-December, I'll be into Christmas mode, but it's worth a go.
I'm using MyFitnessPal to track my calories and exercise on a daily basis. If you're unfamiliar with it, you give it some information about yourself (height, weight, age, gender) and then tell it how much you want to lose and at what rate (between 0.5lbs and 2lbs per week) and it calculates a daily calorie allowance for you. There's the option to add exercise into the mix as well.
Based on my current and target weights, I have a daily calorie allowance of 1440 per day (though I earn a few extra each day from exercise). While that sounds like a fairly low number, it's essentially what I eat most days as long as I cut out the snacking that I'm incredibly prone to.
As I mentioned in my last post, I've invested in an exercise bike and I'm trying for 2 sessions per day on that to aid weight loss and boost fitness. At the moment I'm doing 20 minutes 6 mornings a week and between 30 to 40 minutes each evening. On average that burns off about 550 calories per day.
After one full week of calorie counting I didn't lose any weight, but I'm attributing that to a general 1 week lag in diet/exercise showing in my actual weight. Hopefully Saturday morning will show a reduction when I step on the scales.
What I have noticed is that my blood sugar levels have come under control very quickly and that my reliance on insulin has reduced significantly. I'll talk more about that next time.
I've made my daily diary available for public viewing if you're so inclined. As with the running, making this a bit more public gives a bit of added motivation so I hope you'll forgive the slight dullness of this post. I've got some more interesting ideas kicking about for future blogs - don't worry.
Finally, the title refers to the fact that this blog is one year old now. Thanks to every that's read some or all of the posts. Hopefully you'll keep coming back.
Take care
Andy
Apologies I've not posted for a while - September seems to have flown by.
Having officially said goodbye to running for the year, I've turned my attention to trying to shift some weight.
As my exercise post-marathon has been sporadic at best, I've put on a fair bit of weight in the last 4 months. I've spent a bit of time trying to ignore it but predictably that hasn't worked very well so now I'm actively trying to do something about it.
Obviously there are a number of benefits to this. Being able to fit more comfortably in the clothes I own is one. Not feeling knackered every time I have to exert any kind of energy is another. And keeping my diabetes under control is probably the biggest benefit I'll get. I've got my annual(ish) review at the hospital in October (I rescheduled from September because I knew I'd get a kicking) and so being in a bit better shape when I go will be good news.
My plan is fairly simple - try and lose 2lbs a week between now and Christmas. The means I should lose about 2 stone by December 25th which would be pretty good. I know the reality of that will be a bit different but it's worth a shot. Weight is generally easier to lose when you're carrying a lot extra (as I am at the moment) and I know that come mid-December, I'll be into Christmas mode, but it's worth a go.
I'm using MyFitnessPal to track my calories and exercise on a daily basis. If you're unfamiliar with it, you give it some information about yourself (height, weight, age, gender) and then tell it how much you want to lose and at what rate (between 0.5lbs and 2lbs per week) and it calculates a daily calorie allowance for you. There's the option to add exercise into the mix as well.
Based on my current and target weights, I have a daily calorie allowance of 1440 per day (though I earn a few extra each day from exercise). While that sounds like a fairly low number, it's essentially what I eat most days as long as I cut out the snacking that I'm incredibly prone to.
As I mentioned in my last post, I've invested in an exercise bike and I'm trying for 2 sessions per day on that to aid weight loss and boost fitness. At the moment I'm doing 20 minutes 6 mornings a week and between 30 to 40 minutes each evening. On average that burns off about 550 calories per day.
After one full week of calorie counting I didn't lose any weight, but I'm attributing that to a general 1 week lag in diet/exercise showing in my actual weight. Hopefully Saturday morning will show a reduction when I step on the scales.
What I have noticed is that my blood sugar levels have come under control very quickly and that my reliance on insulin has reduced significantly. I'll talk more about that next time.
I've made my daily diary available for public viewing if you're so inclined. As with the running, making this a bit more public gives a bit of added motivation so I hope you'll forgive the slight dullness of this post. I've got some more interesting ideas kicking about for future blogs - don't worry.
Finally, the title refers to the fact that this blog is one year old now. Thanks to every that's read some or all of the posts. Hopefully you'll keep coming back.
Take care
Andy
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
A Bientot Running
Hello again
As many of you know, I've had a love/hate relationship with running over the last year or so. If you're unfamiliar with that, you might want to re-read the opening post of this blog and the one describing my finest hour (but don't feel obliged).
Tonight will mark my penultimate run of 2012, with my grand finale being the Great Yorkshire Run on Sunday. It's a difficult decision to turn my back on it for a while, but it's the right one to make.
In truth, I've not felt right since the marathon in April and I've held on to the notion that having races like the upcoming 10km at the weekend will keep me fit and solve all of my problems. The reality is much different.
Without rehashing old ground too much, I've found myself back at almost the exact same place I was a year ago. I'm not as fit as I was in March and my inability to find any kind of consistent exercise has meant I've piled on about 2 stone since the end of April. I'm probably a bit better off in the sense that my diabetes is more controlled than this time 12 months ago (though it's still be no means perfect).
I'm also battling quite severe shin splints. No matter how much I try and convince myself it's not a problem, I know deep down it is. I'm at the stage where a long drive in the car causes me pain from holding my foot on the accelerator in the same position. Fortunately I rarely drive more than about 30 miles at a time.
The only real treatment for shin splints is rest and so I find myself in the situation where I'll be stopping my running adventure for this year when I cross the finish line on Sunday. I suppose if I was less stubborn, I wouldn't even bother on Sunday, but I've paid my entrance fee and with the opportunity to get a medal as well, I'm not prepared to give up (I'm all about the glory really).
Instead I've turned my attention to a low impact form of exercise and I've bought an exercise bike which is currently in front of the TV in my living room (much to my wife's disdain). I'm on a mission to lose around 35lbs by Christmas all being well and I'm hoping that 2 bursts a day on the bike will help with that. It'll be more regular exercise than I've had in years so I'm hoping the "little and often" approach will work.
Of course I'll never manage twice a day every day, but if I keep my targets realistic then I'm confident I'll start to see a difference eventually and I'll allow my body the time it needs to properly recover. I managed 7km before breakfast this morning and hopefully that can continue alongside a longer burst in the evenings.
I know I'm going to have a certain amount of jealousy when I see other people out running but I'm trying to look at the positives and come back fighting fit in 2013. The date of the Sheffield half marathon is 12th May 2013 and I'm determined to finally beat the distance. I'm aiming to start training after the New Year so I've got 4 months of cycling and dieting to get me into the right position for that.
My sponsorship page for the Great Yorkshire Run is still open and you can find it by following this link. I've not actually raised anything yet, and I feel a bit cheeky asking people to dip into their pockets again given how incredibly generous people were at the start of the year, but if you have two quid spare, then The Children's Hospital and Diabetes UK would be really grateful of it. I'm going to stagger over the line come what may and I'm optimistic of beating my 10km time from three weeks ago (68 minutes).
Before I go, I should wish Dan and Ben all the best for Sunday as well. I know they're both running and will do a much better (faster) job of it than I will. I'd also like to mention Sam who's running the Berlin Marathon on 30th September for Children With Cancer. I'm sure Sam will attest to the fact that distance running isn't without pain and suffering and you can follow her journey on her blog.
Thanks to everyone who's supported my running/fundraising efforts this year - I do appreciate it all so much. Hopefully I'll be back next year asking for your money and support again. The blog will continue in the meantime...
Take care
Andy
As many of you know, I've had a love/hate relationship with running over the last year or so. If you're unfamiliar with that, you might want to re-read the opening post of this blog and the one describing my finest hour (but don't feel obliged).
Tonight will mark my penultimate run of 2012, with my grand finale being the Great Yorkshire Run on Sunday. It's a difficult decision to turn my back on it for a while, but it's the right one to make.
In truth, I've not felt right since the marathon in April and I've held on to the notion that having races like the upcoming 10km at the weekend will keep me fit and solve all of my problems. The reality is much different.
Without rehashing old ground too much, I've found myself back at almost the exact same place I was a year ago. I'm not as fit as I was in March and my inability to find any kind of consistent exercise has meant I've piled on about 2 stone since the end of April. I'm probably a bit better off in the sense that my diabetes is more controlled than this time 12 months ago (though it's still be no means perfect).
I'm also battling quite severe shin splints. No matter how much I try and convince myself it's not a problem, I know deep down it is. I'm at the stage where a long drive in the car causes me pain from holding my foot on the accelerator in the same position. Fortunately I rarely drive more than about 30 miles at a time.
The only real treatment for shin splints is rest and so I find myself in the situation where I'll be stopping my running adventure for this year when I cross the finish line on Sunday. I suppose if I was less stubborn, I wouldn't even bother on Sunday, but I've paid my entrance fee and with the opportunity to get a medal as well, I'm not prepared to give up (I'm all about the glory really).
Instead I've turned my attention to a low impact form of exercise and I've bought an exercise bike which is currently in front of the TV in my living room (much to my wife's disdain). I'm on a mission to lose around 35lbs by Christmas all being well and I'm hoping that 2 bursts a day on the bike will help with that. It'll be more regular exercise than I've had in years so I'm hoping the "little and often" approach will work.
Of course I'll never manage twice a day every day, but if I keep my targets realistic then I'm confident I'll start to see a difference eventually and I'll allow my body the time it needs to properly recover. I managed 7km before breakfast this morning and hopefully that can continue alongside a longer burst in the evenings.
I know I'm going to have a certain amount of jealousy when I see other people out running but I'm trying to look at the positives and come back fighting fit in 2013. The date of the Sheffield half marathon is 12th May 2013 and I'm determined to finally beat the distance. I'm aiming to start training after the New Year so I've got 4 months of cycling and dieting to get me into the right position for that.
My sponsorship page for the Great Yorkshire Run is still open and you can find it by following this link. I've not actually raised anything yet, and I feel a bit cheeky asking people to dip into their pockets again given how incredibly generous people were at the start of the year, but if you have two quid spare, then The Children's Hospital and Diabetes UK would be really grateful of it. I'm going to stagger over the line come what may and I'm optimistic of beating my 10km time from three weeks ago (68 minutes).
Before I go, I should wish Dan and Ben all the best for Sunday as well. I know they're both running and will do a much better (faster) job of it than I will. I'd also like to mention Sam who's running the Berlin Marathon on 30th September for Children With Cancer. I'm sure Sam will attest to the fact that distance running isn't without pain and suffering and you can follow her journey on her blog.
Thanks to everyone who's supported my running/fundraising efforts this year - I do appreciate it all so much. Hopefully I'll be back next year asking for your money and support again. The blog will continue in the meantime...
Take care
Andy
Thursday, 23 August 2012
Concerning Sport
Hello
After a ridiculous absence I'm back. It's not been a conscious decision to stay away - I've just struggled to find something meaningful to write about.
The last few weeks saw the country gripped with Olympic fever and I was no exception. I was fortunate enough to get tickets to 4 events (football, tennis, handball and volleyball) and I was so enthralled with the buzz of the Olympic Park that I signed up for Paralympic tickets as soon as I got home. I'll finally get to go inside the Olympic Stadium this Friday for two sessions of athletics.
I took my daughter to the tennis at Wimbledon as well and she was remarkably well behaved for a 2 year old. I wanted her to know that she'd been part of this great spectacle, even if she wasn't necessarily ever going to remember it herself. Aside from being asked to leave Court 2 at one point for walking around and shouting, she survived a full day of sport unscathed.
Last weekend, the football season returned to fill that void left by London 2012. A number of people (including journalists far and wide and those at the FA) were quick to note the differences between top flight footballers and our Olympic athletes and 'demand' something be done about it. Privately I think I was one of those people too. Having been a follower of football (in one way or another) for a good 27 of my 31 years, it's fair to say I'd forgotten how brilliant other sports can be, and how humble and gracious other sportspeople can be too.
Football is a worldwide "brand" (I hate that term) and due to it's lucrative appeal it has over a number of years descended into a soap opera of sorts. For those less familiar with this, you only have to look at Sky Sports' self-parody of a Transfer Deadline Day to see what I mean. I've tried to stay away from "articles" about what Rio Ferdinand tweets or who Ashley Cole has dinner with - such things fill me with an inner rage that isn't good for my health.
Compare the daily, relentless, in-your-face minutiae of football with the Olympics and the difference is so refreshing you'd think someone had thrown a glass of water in your face. As you'll no doubt be aware, our Olympians work incredibly hard for a fraction of the recognition (and for the most part, a fraction of the financial reward) of top flight footballers and, it seems, do so with a graciousness you'd be hard pressed to believe.
And so, for the first time, my enthusiasm for the start of the football season was subdued. This is the first year I've ever had a season ticket for my club (Sheffield Wednesday), and yet somehow I was struggling to motivate myself submerge myself back into football.
Admittedly, a lot of that went out of the window on Tuesday night as I turned up at Hillsborough for our first home game of the season. I sang as passinately as I've always done and shouted as loudly as ever when we scored, but it felt a bit different watching the game. Seeing players (ours and theirs) shouting at the referee for calls that were never going to go their way seemed cheap somehow. My Dad turned to me at one point and said "you wouldn't have see that [player rolling around on the floor after a 'foul'] at the women's football the other week". And he was right.
I don't mean this to sound like some incredible revelation - it's quite the opposite really. To anyone who's not a football fan (and to a lot that are) this is old news.
Football is, and will always be, my first love. I've been going to Hillsborough for about 26 years now and I'll keep going as long as I can. But I think the Olympics has changed my view of it as a sport - in the short term at least. There's a good chance that the spirit of London 2012 will die away (the reasons for that are numerous and probably another post in their own right), but for now, the daily gossip columns and "Breaking news" stories can go whistle. I've long understood that football is only a part of llife, but now, more than ever, I'm starting to insulate myself from the trivialities of it all.
My best football memories make me smile - I haven't cried about football since I was 9 years old - but I'm still not yet past the stage of watching Jessica Ennis win the 800m without welling up.
Whether London 2012 inspires a generation remains to be seen. It's inspired me to look at my sporting life differently and that feels like a good thing.
I know this is just a set of random thoughts, but I felt like I needed to write it down. If you made it this far, then thanks.
I'll be back again soon no doubt.
Andy
P.S. As part of my final fundraising attempts of 2012, I ran a 10km the weekend the Olympics finished. I worked out if I was 2.5 faster, I'd give Mo Farah a run for his money. My Olympic dream may be over. I'm running my second and final 10km next Sunday (2nd September) and like the other one, I'll be doing so in quite a bit of pain, having struggled badly with shin splints since the London Marathon. This will be my last run of this year as I'll be switching to low impact exercise afterwards to give myself some proper rest ahead of training for a half marathon next year. I won't post a fantastic time, and it'll hurt like hell, but I'm going to do it anyway. If you want to put a few quid towards my attempts to raise £200 then you can do so by following this link to my fundraising page. Thank you.
After a ridiculous absence I'm back. It's not been a conscious decision to stay away - I've just struggled to find something meaningful to write about.
The last few weeks saw the country gripped with Olympic fever and I was no exception. I was fortunate enough to get tickets to 4 events (football, tennis, handball and volleyball) and I was so enthralled with the buzz of the Olympic Park that I signed up for Paralympic tickets as soon as I got home. I'll finally get to go inside the Olympic Stadium this Friday for two sessions of athletics.
I took my daughter to the tennis at Wimbledon as well and she was remarkably well behaved for a 2 year old. I wanted her to know that she'd been part of this great spectacle, even if she wasn't necessarily ever going to remember it herself. Aside from being asked to leave Court 2 at one point for walking around and shouting, she survived a full day of sport unscathed.
Last weekend, the football season returned to fill that void left by London 2012. A number of people (including journalists far and wide and those at the FA) were quick to note the differences between top flight footballers and our Olympic athletes and 'demand' something be done about it. Privately I think I was one of those people too. Having been a follower of football (in one way or another) for a good 27 of my 31 years, it's fair to say I'd forgotten how brilliant other sports can be, and how humble and gracious other sportspeople can be too.
Football is a worldwide "brand" (I hate that term) and due to it's lucrative appeal it has over a number of years descended into a soap opera of sorts. For those less familiar with this, you only have to look at Sky Sports' self-parody of a Transfer Deadline Day to see what I mean. I've tried to stay away from "articles" about what Rio Ferdinand tweets or who Ashley Cole has dinner with - such things fill me with an inner rage that isn't good for my health.
Compare the daily, relentless, in-your-face minutiae of football with the Olympics and the difference is so refreshing you'd think someone had thrown a glass of water in your face. As you'll no doubt be aware, our Olympians work incredibly hard for a fraction of the recognition (and for the most part, a fraction of the financial reward) of top flight footballers and, it seems, do so with a graciousness you'd be hard pressed to believe.
And so, for the first time, my enthusiasm for the start of the football season was subdued. This is the first year I've ever had a season ticket for my club (Sheffield Wednesday), and yet somehow I was struggling to motivate myself submerge myself back into football.
Admittedly, a lot of that went out of the window on Tuesday night as I turned up at Hillsborough for our first home game of the season. I sang as passinately as I've always done and shouted as loudly as ever when we scored, but it felt a bit different watching the game. Seeing players (ours and theirs) shouting at the referee for calls that were never going to go their way seemed cheap somehow. My Dad turned to me at one point and said "you wouldn't have see that [player rolling around on the floor after a 'foul'] at the women's football the other week". And he was right.
I don't mean this to sound like some incredible revelation - it's quite the opposite really. To anyone who's not a football fan (and to a lot that are) this is old news.
Football is, and will always be, my first love. I've been going to Hillsborough for about 26 years now and I'll keep going as long as I can. But I think the Olympics has changed my view of it as a sport - in the short term at least. There's a good chance that the spirit of London 2012 will die away (the reasons for that are numerous and probably another post in their own right), but for now, the daily gossip columns and "Breaking news" stories can go whistle. I've long understood that football is only a part of llife, but now, more than ever, I'm starting to insulate myself from the trivialities of it all.
My best football memories make me smile - I haven't cried about football since I was 9 years old - but I'm still not yet past the stage of watching Jessica Ennis win the 800m without welling up.
Whether London 2012 inspires a generation remains to be seen. It's inspired me to look at my sporting life differently and that feels like a good thing.
I know this is just a set of random thoughts, but I felt like I needed to write it down. If you made it this far, then thanks.
I'll be back again soon no doubt.
Andy
P.S. As part of my final fundraising attempts of 2012, I ran a 10km the weekend the Olympics finished. I worked out if I was 2.5 faster, I'd give Mo Farah a run for his money. My Olympic dream may be over. I'm running my second and final 10km next Sunday (2nd September) and like the other one, I'll be doing so in quite a bit of pain, having struggled badly with shin splints since the London Marathon. This will be my last run of this year as I'll be switching to low impact exercise afterwards to give myself some proper rest ahead of training for a half marathon next year. I won't post a fantastic time, and it'll hurt like hell, but I'm going to do it anyway. If you want to put a few quid towards my attempts to raise £200 then you can do so by following this link to my fundraising page. Thank you.
Tuesday, 3 July 2012
Wisdom of the crowd
Hello
I'm going to try something a little different this time - a commentary piece. If you're reading this, then I managed to finish the post without totally hating it. That said, I can't promise this is very good but I'm into challenging myself to do new things and I guess this counts.
There's a pretty well known and understood theory about how collective opinion can be used to answer questions better than a single voice or opinion. Experiments have shown that by collating and taking "average" responses to questions you will get close to a "true" answer than you would expect any individual to. There's a self-referencing Wikipedia article here if you're after a better explanation than I can offer.
In theory at least, this appraoch can be used to model "opinion" answers as well as things such as quantitative answers (such as measurements). Unless you've avoided any sort of news or media outlet for the past week or so, you're probably familiar with the goings on at Barclays and their involvement in attempting to manipulate the LIBOR and mis-selling to small businesses. You're probably also equally familiar with the exodus of people at the top including the Chariman, the CEO and the COO.
The media have been quick to label these events as a "yet another scandal" and they're probably well within their rights to do so. There's a good argument to say that some actions are essentially purely fraudulent and that criminal proceedings should follow. There's the usual lines of how the public's faith in the banking system as been shaken and so on and so on.
And as always, the public (or for the purposes of this blog, the crowd) have an opinion. The BBC offer up the ability to comment on selected news stories in an attempt to garner the mood of their readers. And without even a hint of irony, many people are quick to do so (If you're already bored of this, then the rest of this post can probably be summed up in this clip from Mitchell & Webb).
The news story on the depature of Bob Diamond has, at the time of writing, attracted nearly 1700 comments from the public. You may think I've cherry picked this to prove some sort of point, but these are as representative as they can be given the huge volume of commentary:
Why only him? What about Hester and all the others? I hope he does not get a penny settlement and that his residence and work permit are revoked, and his licence to 'practice' as a banker withdrawn. As he is not a UK citizen, time to expel him as an undesirable alien - Dr John Frank
I am glad he has resigned. Now there should be a full INDEPENDENT enquiry headed by a judge. - Si Cheshire
Never trust a banker. Its one of life's immutable laws like death and taxes. Whose bright idea was it to ignore this? Was this the price of fighting communism? Was it worth it? - United Dreamer
i borrowed £25k from Natwest over a 6 year period, when the loan has completed (2014) i will have re-paid £49k. is this relevant? - alanbang
I am normally totally against Capital Punishment but I would cheerfully pull the trap on the the scum that have made this country no better than a Banana Republic mired in corruption and dishonesty at the highest level. These people are economic Nazis who care nothing for the suffering of the Untermensch. How many suicides and breakdowns can we put down to economic pressures? - Simmybear
There is, of course the occasional, slightly more reasoned comment that you get the impression isn't written by someone wearing a hat made out of tin foil and screaming at their monitor. But those are few and far between and as such are not representative of the 1700+ comments.
So what does the wisdom of the crowd tell us? Essentially that the "average" person believes Bob Diamond is a tax dodging, bang-to-rights criminal who would happily see him killed. The "average" person will also invoke Godwin's Law and invariably mention something that is wholly irrelevant to the conversation.
I hope I'm not making a leap when I think that the average British person doesn't really think like that. I'd really like to hope we're a bit more reasoned than that as a society. I suppose the wisdom of the crowd can be adapted in this case to be the wisdom of the mob. Perhaps that's the view of the average person-who-feels-compelled-to-comment-on-news-stories instead.
I suppose it's a bit sad that people aren't willing to read more around things before commenting. For example, criminal prosecutions are difficult in these cases due to the absolute burden of proof - as a lawyer states here. All the information about that story is contained on one website and yet the commentary seems to rarely reflect the fact that anyone's read anything. Whilst the workings of banks and financial markets is complicated, surely it can't hurt to educate yourself before resorting to calls for murder and comparisons to Banana Republics.
Ignorance is little excuse.
I'm going to try something a little different this time - a commentary piece. If you're reading this, then I managed to finish the post without totally hating it. That said, I can't promise this is very good but I'm into challenging myself to do new things and I guess this counts.
There's a pretty well known and understood theory about how collective opinion can be used to answer questions better than a single voice or opinion. Experiments have shown that by collating and taking "average" responses to questions you will get close to a "true" answer than you would expect any individual to. There's a self-referencing Wikipedia article here if you're after a better explanation than I can offer.
In theory at least, this appraoch can be used to model "opinion" answers as well as things such as quantitative answers (such as measurements). Unless you've avoided any sort of news or media outlet for the past week or so, you're probably familiar with the goings on at Barclays and their involvement in attempting to manipulate the LIBOR and mis-selling to small businesses. You're probably also equally familiar with the exodus of people at the top including the Chariman, the CEO and the COO.
The media have been quick to label these events as a "yet another scandal" and they're probably well within their rights to do so. There's a good argument to say that some actions are essentially purely fraudulent and that criminal proceedings should follow. There's the usual lines of how the public's faith in the banking system as been shaken and so on and so on.
And as always, the public (or for the purposes of this blog, the crowd) have an opinion. The BBC offer up the ability to comment on selected news stories in an attempt to garner the mood of their readers. And without even a hint of irony, many people are quick to do so (If you're already bored of this, then the rest of this post can probably be summed up in this clip from Mitchell & Webb).
The news story on the depature of Bob Diamond has, at the time of writing, attracted nearly 1700 comments from the public. You may think I've cherry picked this to prove some sort of point, but these are as representative as they can be given the huge volume of commentary:
When will he be arrested? - sunshinesuzy
Read my lips, I will not avoid tax on my payoff!!!!! - gillan69
Why only him? What about Hester and all the others? I hope he does not get a penny settlement and that his residence and work permit are revoked, and his licence to 'practice' as a banker withdrawn. As he is not a UK citizen, time to expel him as an undesirable alien - Dr John Frank
What's the better he got paid off..... - Pevvy78
I am glad he has resigned. Now there should be a full INDEPENDENT enquiry headed by a judge. - Si Cheshire
Never trust a banker. Its one of life's immutable laws like death and taxes. Whose bright idea was it to ignore this? Was this the price of fighting communism? Was it worth it? - United Dreamer
i borrowed £25k from Natwest over a 6 year period, when the loan has completed (2014) i will have re-paid £49k. is this relevant? - alanbang
I am normally totally against Capital Punishment but I would cheerfully pull the trap on the the scum that have made this country no better than a Banana Republic mired in corruption and dishonesty at the highest level. These people are economic Nazis who care nothing for the suffering of the Untermensch. How many suicides and breakdowns can we put down to economic pressures? - Simmybear
There is, of course the occasional, slightly more reasoned comment that you get the impression isn't written by someone wearing a hat made out of tin foil and screaming at their monitor. But those are few and far between and as such are not representative of the 1700+ comments.
So what does the wisdom of the crowd tell us? Essentially that the "average" person believes Bob Diamond is a tax dodging, bang-to-rights criminal who would happily see him killed. The "average" person will also invoke Godwin's Law and invariably mention something that is wholly irrelevant to the conversation.
I hope I'm not making a leap when I think that the average British person doesn't really think like that. I'd really like to hope we're a bit more reasoned than that as a society. I suppose the wisdom of the crowd can be adapted in this case to be the wisdom of the mob. Perhaps that's the view of the average person-who-feels-compelled-to-comment-on-news-stories instead.
I suppose it's a bit sad that people aren't willing to read more around things before commenting. For example, criminal prosecutions are difficult in these cases due to the absolute burden of proof - as a lawyer states here. All the information about that story is contained on one website and yet the commentary seems to rarely reflect the fact that anyone's read anything. Whilst the workings of banks and financial markets is complicated, surely it can't hurt to educate yourself before resorting to calls for murder and comparisons to Banana Republics.
Ignorance is little excuse.
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