Overs & Unders

Every so often I like to sit back and assess things in life that I consider to be underrated, and equally things which are just plain and simple overrated. If we understand the value of something, we can measure things up against expectation. That's my measured approach to a lot of things which helps me balance my emotions. Some may say that is overrated. Here are five things that I currently think are over and underrated.

The Underrated

Ireland

After spending the 4 days travelling around Ireland at the end of June, I can say that in all my travels, I have never come across such amazing friendliness and customer service as this trip. From the Hotel owners who made bacon sandwiches, put the Lions Rugby on, and ironed my shirt for the wedding, to the car rental gent who drove us to the hotel rather than the airport, nothing was too much for them. Well and truly spoiled.

RnR

Sleep should be in the overrated column as most of my 2 blog readers are aware of, but Rest and Relaxation is firmly underrated. Taking the time out of a busy schedule to recharge the good old batteries is essential, and one thing I have been learning to do more recently.

Reading

I am probably scribbling this to the wrong audience as you're reading right now, but one thing I tell myself and need to action is to start reading more consistently. A case of finding the time, but I am trying to commit to 30 minutes every day.

Weather Forecasts

Planning for any weather is sensible, but it's a tough old game. Was lucky enough to have a great day (some would say 'the' rather than 'a') for a fabulous wedding in Ireland, but expecting good weather these days is a mug's game. Some of the extreme weather conditions recently have been crazy, and it makes me wonder what it will be like in some 10 or 20 years. I have spared several thoughts for folks in Calgary after the crazy weather there – I sincerely hope and expect the city has rebounded with a sensational Stampede.

Depression

Watching Clarke Carlisle’s superb documentary about depression and suicide in football was a fair eye-opener. As I scribbled a few months ago, I genuinely believe that the biggest area of high performance in sport for potential growth is psychology. If you haven’t seen it, find an illegal download or something. (Oh and piracy may be one of the biggest threats to sport!)

The Overrated

Early Early Flights

I don't mind getting up early, and I don't mind flying. I have had a couple of 6.30am flights recently, and that meant waking up at stupid o'clock. It is one thing to have to get up early morning, it is another to have to wake up through the night. That moment of rubbing my eyes and then putting my contact lenses in is grim to say the least.

Travel Agents

Does anybody even use them anymore? I haven't since I was something like 17 and it is unlikely I will do so again. I guess it is a convenience thing, but I just think if you're willing to do the research yourself, you'll find better options that way. Exchanging money is another one - withdrawing the money on your debit card in the country when you land often has a way better exchange rate than at the Travel Agents.

Sci-fi movies

I actually started writing this blog in a cinema watching 'After Earth'. Not my cup of tea as my mum would say. If anybody you know suggests going to watch this movie, you should defriend them on Facebook and potentially in life in general. You would only thank me for it if you knew.

Friendlies

Friendly people are fine, but friendly matches in football are an absolute nonsense to me. They serve a purpose (more than internationals at least) for building fitness and cohesion in a match environment, but I have little time for watching them. Now that so many of them are televised due to the thirst for live action, it sensationalises David Moyes’ first loss as Man Utd manager etc. Who cares?

P4P

Last year, if you have the inclination to re-read any of my blogs, I predicted Tim Bradley would beat Manny Pacquiao. I was lucky and it was a horrendously poor decision. However, I am going to predict a couple more. I think Canelo Alvarez gives Floyd Mayweather as tough a test as any fighter has given Floyd in his career. He may not necessarily beat him, but it would not surprise me. I will also go on record as saying Johny Hendricks will beat GSP in Vegas in November. As much as I have absolutely loved watching Manny, Floyd, Anderson Silva and GSP in recent years, I fear their time is coming to an end.

Rest in Peace Gary Speed

When you’re a kid, there is inevitably a role model or hero that you look up to. They may sing, act, play sport, they may be your parents. Like so many young boys, mine were largely footballers, and being an Evertonian, I desperately tried to find a Toffeeman that I could imitate. Sadly, as the mid-eighties came to a close, I was left with the likes of Preki, Robert Warszycha and John Ebbrell to try and imitate and that just didn’t cut it for me.

My first real memories were largely based around the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. I was mesmerised by Diego Maradona and he stole the show for me even though I was hardly skilful….a boy can dream. There were some iconic figures for my beloved Everton as the nineties kicked in however. Duncan Ferguson was right up there for me and so many Everton fans. Aside from the big names players or the top goalscorers, fans often develop soft spots for home grown talent or players that are fans of the team themselves. Ultimately, you know that they will give their absolute all for the team and fight until the last whistle.

As I grew up and developed as a player, I still hadn’t honed those Maradona skills, but I was as committed as anybody. Along with Laurence Budd’s left-wing magic, I often scored a fair number of headed goals – not because I was particularly tall, but I was willing to put my head in places where others were not, and I worked on timing my jump. Duncan Ferguson was an Everton legend as he was 6 foot 4 and scored a number of headed goals for them. However, there was another player, another Evertonian, who I tried to imitate when playing myself, as I was short of 6 foot, like him, but he was a master at timing his leap to perfection.

When I was Junior Bobby, the only football I could watch live was Leeds United. My Uncle Ken would take me to games and I was just happy to be watching live football. I was mesmerised. I was around 11-12 years old when I watched my first game at Elland Road and I would wear my Everton shirt deep under 17 layers of clothes so none of the scary Leeds fans would spot it, but I knew deep down that I was not betraying my team. I was fortunate however to witness one of the best Leeds teams in history, and the Leeds midfield at that time was as good as any around at that period. There is just one other conventional four-man midfield that I have viewed that was as balanced as that Leeds quartet of Strachan, Batty, McAllister and Speed and that was the Valencia midfield of Mendieta, Gerard, Farinos, and Kily Gonzalez.

And it was the latter of the quartet that caught my eye as a player to try to imitate. Gary Speed was the player who was not quite 6 foot, but was superb in the air. He was the Evertonian. He was the guy who was perhaps not the most pleasing on the eye like Maradona, but clearly worked incredibly hard to master the skills that he did have. He was the left-footer with a decent right, which encouraged me to use my weak foot as much as possible and become more comfortable with it. He was the player who clearly looked after himself extremely well on and off the pitch that enabled him to have such a long playing career. He was the guy who was so well respected in the game, that transitioning to become a coach proved successful in such a short space of time.

When I woke up to my mum’s text last Saturday to hear that he had died, I had a lump in my throat. I had absolutely no idea of the reason – I just assumed it must have been some illness that had been hidden, an accident, or a sudden heart attack which has seemingly become more common among active players in recent years. I was pretty shocked when I learned that it was suicide, as it seems so many others have been, as there were clearly no indicators to those in football, and certainly not to the regular fan like myself.

I have not had the opportunity to read much in the last day or so about it, but I can only assume that there was some form of depression involved. The PFA statement saying that players would receive information on suffering from depression and their acknowledgment that it was an issue, suggested as much, and in truth it is surprising that it has taken this news for them to realise that. The numbers on divorces, alcohol and drug addictions among recently retired players is scary, and the void left by retirement for so many is something that requires attention from football authorities.

The news reminded me of an article I read a few weeks back from a television personality in Canada – Michael Landsberg. He is the presenter of a sports TV show called Off The Record – one of my favourites. It came following the death of a former Hockey player called Wade Belak. You can read it here - http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=375694. It is as thought-provoking a read as you will find, and I suspect the case of Gary Speed is probably something similar. Sad times. I can only hope that the likes of the PFA further acknowledge depression as a major issue and work hard to build awareness and provide the tools and support for the guys like Belak and Speed, who have been role models to so many.