Secret Garden

One of the best things about Lausanne and what makes the prospect of leaving some day so difficult is moving away from our friends. It is going to happen someday, we all know that. We just do not know when exactly, and we all know we do not want to be the last ones standing. There is a six month rule in place whereby anybody departing must give a six month notice period. Having worked a six-month notice period previously, I know how tough that is, but this is more important than that.

Some of our most memorable trips have been together as a group. Barcelona, London, Carolina, Nova Scotia, and Madrid have all been fantastic trips which everybody will remember.  There have been a couple of weddings along the way, and there are a couple more to go. Sharing these moments, these trips with our fab group of friends, is special, and I know they will stick in my memory.

There is one place which is special to HJ and me. I planned a surprise trip to St Tropez when we were studying together over Easter 2006. Hannah was desperately trying to woo me, and I was just playing it cool as always, but thought I’d whisk here away somewhere pleasant. I have no real idea why I came up with this place, but I just felt my hot girlfriend at the time would enjoy it and it looked the ideal place to relax. As with virtually all trips we make socially, it was worth spending the time to read the reviews of all hotels and find the best place, and I stumbled across a gem.

The first place we ever went together was a filthy and romantic weekend in Leeds. Filthy because it was -5c and HJ’s eyes almost popped out of her head when she saw what some of the ladies were wearing on a night out. I thought they were overdressed personally. And romantic because it was Leeds. Ok, perhaps that is still part of the filthy bit - I cannot quite blag that any more after many of our friends visited Leeds on my stag do. But it was around the birth of my adorable niece and for that reason, along with it being the first trip with HJ, it made it memorable to me.

The first more exotic trip was St Tropez however. We have been virtually every year since, and sometimes a couple of times each year…….every time we have been to the same hotel. When we went after I finished working at the Euros in June, it may have been our ninth or tenth time there. The staff in the hotel are exactly the same as when we first went there and most of them know us now. It took a while, and it is certainly cliquey….picture us turning up the first time with our backpacks….they had to drop the value of the rooms that weekend due to us lowering the standard. Our last visit was memorable because of my friend behind the bar. I have had lengthy discussions with him the last couple of times I have been. He is a good looking, smooth French chap, and if one was inclined that way, he would be a dreamboat. However, he has the memory of a sieve and should have been born 190cm, blonde, and with crazy heels. I ask for a cheeky beer, and he asks if we have ever been to St Tropez before. I reply yes. He says, ‘…but this hotel?’ I reply yes, only eight times. No clue but quite funny really.

It kind of feels like spending time in a French version of Gossip Girl. Hard to describe unless you see it. Needless to say that Burns and I keep ourselves to ourselves and largely stay clear of the Chucks and Serenas…..that reference was included for a number of my Gossip Girl fan readers….I’ve never seen it myself. It is however a special place because it is our place. It is a place we’ve never been with any others. It is a place we have come to know well, and enjoy. It is a place that had the first time we visited been a bad experience, we may never have gone again. It is a place that we made a pact on – that we will never go with anybody else. There is something magic about that.

Random Awards 2010

It is usually this time of year that in various industries – sport, music, film - present annual awards to recognise the achievements of individuals in that year. It seems like a random thing to do and I would like to take the opportunity to recognise some friends of mine for outstanding achievements in 2010. I present to you…..the Random Awards 2010.

The ‘Best Emailer’ Award goes to Roob Lockhart. You may not know him, you won’t find him on Facebook nor in a Starbucks, but this gent has pure magic in his fingertips when it comes to comedy emails and never fails to put a grin on any face. Winning this award ruled him out of contention for the ‘Longest Running Thesis Saga in History’ and the ‘Negative Nelly’ awards.

The ‘Weight Losing Champion/Mr Ironman 2010’ Award goes to JP, my colleague at Uefa. Considering that this is something I have made a serious effort with this year, I cannot fail to be impressed with JP. He looks a totally different person and is in fabulous shape after losing kilo after kilo. Utmost respect JP.

The ‘Glue That Holds Group Together’ Award goes to everbody’s favourite Mexican Tacito Vazquez. JVM11 is not exactly unassuming or quiet, but in a certain way he is. He is the cornerstone of a solid group of friends – always in good form even when he is not in good form, always up for anything, and has quietly become the glue. JVM is a rock that every family or group of friends need, and the type that you notice when he is not there. Look out in 2011 for the Glue’s new website!

The ‘Most Exciting Holiday Countdown’ Award goes to Les. Nobody made you feel as excited about somebody else’s holiday as Les did this year as the Steeples hit Florida. Thousands tuned into FB every day to count the days down with Les, and Les didn’t disappoint his faithful by providing photos aplenty of what looked to be one of those classic family holidays that none of them, or us will forget.

The ‘Switzerland’s Got Talent and Cojones’ Award goes to my favourite former flatmate Erika Riedl. ER has taken up the scarifying sport of Skeleton and never ceases to amaze me with her dedication, passion and serious cojones. If anybody I know can succeed in something so random as Skeleton, it is Erika. She just missed out on the ‘F-Bomb’ World Record, narrowly being beaten by her previous bests in 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, and 2005 when she learnt the word. Oh and she needs a sponsor!

The ‘Cool, Calm, Collected but usually Late’ Award goes to Mr Norway himself, JJ. Tour guiding us around Oslo and Kongsvinger, Joey showed that even in his home land, he is the guy we all love and adore. Despite our visit to Kongsvinger’s stadium almost ending in disaster involving me, a steering wheel, 2nd gear, a bold overtaking move, and the longest lorry in Norway, Joey showed us the sights in one of the best weekend trips of the year. For somebody who is not the greatest sleeper (it’s 4.28am), and enjoys the high tempo pace, Joey is a role model for me and how to ease off the pace, stay calm but still produce the goods.

The ‘Happiest Immigrant 2010’ Award goes to Gabor, a gentlemen I met while working in Hungary at the start of the year. A true football man and who I thoroughly enjoy reading on FB and his experiences in Australia and life over there. We all make decisions, many of us have lived and worked abroad, but I cannot think of anybody as cheery as Gabor over in Oz.

The ‘Up and Coming Superstar of 2010’ Award goes to my dear friend Buuude. Larry the News Guy is a staple on the radio, even here in Lausanne, where we can listen to his Sunday show on delayed recording. His achievements have been nothing short of impressive and a reward for working 8 days a week, and greater things lie ahead for 2011.

The ‘Social Media Queen 2010’ Award goes to m for being a truly dedicated blogger, tweeter and genuine social media star. Mallory was the first person ever to write a blog (I think) and she inspired me to get my pen and paper out, so blame or thank her for my random writing.

The ‘Victor Meldrew’ Award goes to another Uefa colleague of mine, AGN. Jimmy is one of the most miserable, bitter, and sulky people you could possibly meet. Not helped by the Redskins spectacularly bad season, nor his own crash and burn fantasy football season, Jim somehow has the ability to make my days shorter and to make me laugh. Thanks Victor and apologies for beating you on Sunday night.

The ‘Pick You Up When You’re Down’ Award goes to Ms Brodeur for her offer of a homemade cake when I had my two laptops stolen. Unquestionably one of the lowest points of my year, the gesture put a huge smile on my face and cheered me no end. I’m still waiting for the cake, but it doesn’t really matter as the warmth of the thought, did just the trick.

The ‘Winter Dream Maker’ Award goes to KK. Already having an amazing time in Vancouver, Kristina came up with tickets for Canada v Russia, possibly my best sporting event of the year, and up there with my all-time best that I’ll remember on my death bed. It was that special, and it would not have happened without Ms KK. Thank you K!

The ‘How to Do It In Genuine Style’ Award goes to a certain somebody in my immediate family who decided to crash into the Chief Exec’s car. Not only was it a Bentley, a £150k Bentley, he had only just got it back from the garage to repair damage the previous week after somebody else had crashed into him. This one is going down in history.

That concludes this year’s awards. I have surely missed one or two people that I would like to recognise, for which I apologise, but thanks to anybody and everybody who played a small, medium or large part of my 2010.

It Takes Two Baby

In most countries, football events and statistics are measured in single actions. Tackles, dribbles, shots are all events recorded in games. In one or two other countries, they have a different concept. The duel. Effectively statistics are recorded in for both players – the tackle and the tackled for example.

I’m working on a project right now involving this kind of stuff. It won’t particularly interest most people but it got me randomly thinking about the whole idea.

You take a shot, and somebody saves it. You tackle and recover the ball, somebody loses the ball. You winner a header, somebody loses a header. All duals where somebody wins and somebody loses.

It makes a lot of sense really. Most of events in our lives are duel. There are certainly individual actions in life (there is a joke there somewhere), but so many things we do are duels. Decisions and actions we take so often have an impact on other people.

You accept a job, somebody else doesn’t get the role. You throw litter on the floor, somebody picks it up. You make a joke, somebody smiles. You make an inappropriate comment, it hurts somebody’s feelings. So much of what we do has an impact on other people.

I have a spontaneous side – I do some random stuff sometimes without too much thought. I also often think too much sometimes about how other people will feel if I say of do something. The outcome of the duel. I don’t particularly consider it a negative, though it can either weigh on my mind or possibly affect my decision making, which I do not overly like. I also do not like stumbling across people who do not give any thought at all to the outcome of their duels. They are not hard to find and I don’t give them too much time any more.

I guess a certain somebody has made me more aware of this and maybe I’m getting old. We are also surrounded by a group of special friends who are incredibly thoughtful and sensitive. Some have even decided to use the post office now to pay bills. I know I have worked with stats for some years now but I am far from an expert. I would guess that a rather large percentage of what we do and say affects somebody else. I introduce you to the duel.