Randomazos

Moments in time

How many moments in a day, in a week, in a month, in a year do you get to have some ‘me’ time…some ‘quiet’ time….some ‘quality’ time…some ‘thinking’ time? The answer for me is rare and I am entirely to blame for that. I live a fairly fast life which I enjoy, we all know sleep is overrated, and I like productivity. That said, finding the time to read a book, or to write a blog, is essential. I have failed on both those counts recently, but finding the time on a long flight to North America with no calls, no internet, no sport, no nothing to distract me, is an opportunity for me. Blogger Bobby is back!

A smile a day….

I checked in prior to my flight this morning and was greeted at the counter by an old jolly Scottish gentlemen who was insanely pleasant. Now I am not suggesting I want to start every morning at 6am with a Scottish chap putting a smile on my face, but if you encounter somebody with such a positivity radiating from them early in the morn, it can surely only lead to a good day.

Spain v Germany

Is it just me or do virtually all major football matches these days seem to be Spain v Germany? I cannot wait for the Champions League semi-finals though I hope the two Spanish teams are kept apart, and the two German teams, just to see some different match-ups. That said, I will never tire of these recent Real Madrid v Barca games. I cannot decide whether my favourite is Real Madrid or Bayern. I sense Dortmund just lack a fraction in this company, and I sense that Barca are struggling physically more now than I can recall in the last few years. Real are peaking, Bayern are fresh. Their tie last year was close, Bayern edged the penalties, but I felt Real were ever so marginally the better team. I think both teams have improved this season once again, and if I have to choose, I’ll just edge Real, but it is 51/49 between them two for me.

Bloody Hockey

I am not sure how I feel about this rule in Hockey. If a high stick hits an opponent, you receive a two minute penalty. If there is blood drawn, then it is doubled to a four minute penalty for the aggressor. I watched a game this week where a ‘high-sticking’ offence occurred and the player on the receiving end was desperately checking his mouth aggressively trying to find some blood from somewhere. Now I am not suggesting he was trying to cheat (just insinuating!), but there seems to be that little space for a bit of creative ‘rubbing’ shall we say.

Stressed

Turns out I have a stress fracture in my foot after visiting the docs this week. I have had a pain in my left foot for the best part of a month. I’ve tried rest, I’ve tried running through it, but something was not quite right. Evidently that was the case. The Swiss medical system is fascinating. Legally, you must have health insurance – there are various options in terms of the premium you pay. I pay the lowest amount per month but I have to pay the first 2000 CHF of any medical bills I incur over the year. I figure unless I need something drastic like a brain transplant, I may as well go down that route. This trip to the doctors was lengthy due to the check, the x-ray, the diagnosis. The itemised bills show that you are charged for every five minutes of the doctor’s time that you take. Picture me checking my watch frantically counting the five minute segments.

Future of Sports Performance & Life

The more I work in performance analysis and the more I live, the more I believe that the psychology of sport, of performance, of so many of the things we do in life are affected by our psychological make-up. That may sound so obvious, that may sound random, I am not really sure. What I do know is that for all the statistics of passes, possession, tackles and shots that you may have on a player on any sport, one of the most important (largely) unquantifiable elements is the psychological part of the game. Think of some of your favourite players and think about their psychological characteristics – their drive, their determination, their passion, their will to win, their tantrums when they lose, their unflappable nature. Whether is good trait or a bad one, recognising and harnessing it as a player or a coach is key to high performance in the early stages of their careers, during and after. There are some pioneers in sport who have focused on this in recent years, but it is still one element that is not paid enough attention to. I think it is the same in our everyday lives, and one we do not really pay as much attention to as we should. If I ever decide to return to a classroom….and I swore I was finished with formal education a few years back….it will be in this area.

Amir Khan

There was a documentary last night on boxer Amir Khan and I can’t help but like and respect him. He is one of my two favourite British fighters right now along with Carl Froch – two fighters who have faced the best possible quality of opponents they could have in the last few years, and have not shirked any challenges. Their fights are tough, they take chances, they are exciting to watch. Khan v Diaz this later this month will be a good fight, and Froch v Kessler in May will be immense. If you’re going to watch a fight this year, watch one of those, particularly the Froch one and you won’t be disappointed. And if you are, you’re ticked off my list for the next trip to Vegas.

Amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic

Laying there on the cold hard surface looking at the stars in the sky. My young hockey career may be over before it has even started. This was not the way it was supposed to end. The silence was deafening, the sensation was numbness. Bobby Ovechkin had gotten a little excitable and over-confident and one slip and crack of the head brought me right back to reality – the local Leeds headlines read Bambi Ovechkin.

I think many of us are bad losers and hate to admit failure. I do my very best to try and hide it, but it is true enough. I skated once at Bradford ice rink when I was 14 – somebody told me it was a cool thing to do and a great place to take the girls. Nobody told me that if you have the balance and coordination of one-legged baboon, that would not be so cool if you invited your first girlfriend. I said to myself that day that I would never skate again. It was something that I was bad at and I could not accept it.

Well, fast forward around 15 years or so and Bambi received a set of ice skates for my 30th birthday from one of my favourite couples. A great gesture and it spurred me to get back on the ice. I skated once last year but this year I have been on the ice several times and it is gradually getting easier. Apart from the one severe crack on the head which clearly did not knock enough sense into me, I will continue to practise to hopefully get to a level where I can hold a stick and shoot a puck.

I am actually determined to master it now or at least be able to skate properly. NHL is unlikely now I guess, but I’m further on than 15 years ago. I guess failure or a lack of understanding and knowledge of something makes many of us avoid confronting a situation – whether it is eating a new food, trying to speak a foreign language in public, wearing a V-neck sweater or learning to skate. When I was younger I never had the confidence or the cojones to try some things. Folks often say kids will try anything and throw themselves into things. That is not always the case, and it wasn’t much for me. I was hardly a choir boy, and I got into plenty of mischief, but I always had reluctance with certain stuff. Ice Skating and Ice Hockey is a challenge for me now.

For my 31st birthday, I received a pair of skis from an equally generous couple! I am making my debut next week in Zermatt – hard to believe given that I have spent four years in Canada and Switzerland. So basically, the moral of the story is if you have any friends who have birthdays coming up, buy them some equipment or book an activity for something they have never done before and you should shame them into trying it. The fact is, I would do neither of the two if I was left to my own devices, and I am glad I am giving both of them a go. This may of course be my last blog, so wait until the end of next weekend to see if you should recommend skiing.

Hard being a hero

I sat behind a hockey legend earlier this week during Canada's game against Germany. My hockey knowledge is reasonably good from the last 3-4 years, but I'm struggling prior to that and historically, so I didn't really know much about Joe Sakic, even if his name sounded familiar. Turns out he retired last year at the age of 40, after a highly successful career. He never played in Vancouver but he is a local, and was a star for Team Canada and the Colorado Avalanche.

That's the end of my introduction of him, but seeing him sitting at a game, with his wife and three kids got me thinking. I was hoping and trying to watch the game, so was Joe. During the intermissions, and even during the periods themselves, he was bombarded with fans asking for photos and autographs. Granted, it was a one-sided game and not the most enthralling game one could wish to see, but I found myself paying more attention to him and how he dealt with it all, than the game itself.

Now the only reason why I knew who he was and recognised him was because I had bumped into him the night before at a ceremony. He was given a hero's welcome that night, and likewise during this game. He seemed so well mannered and pleasant throughout the various times I stumbled across him, as did his family.

I did however detect signs towards the end of the Germany game, that he just wanted to stop being pestered and catch a bit of the game. I couldn't fault him. It was distracting me and I just wanted to study the game. He genuinely seemed like a nice guy from the few times I saw him, but I could just sense frustration creeping in and he rejected a couple of requests and said he would sign the photos at the end of the game which sounded sensible.

The more I observed it all, the less I envied him more and more. Just one of the prices of fame and success I guess, but it cannot be easy constantly being in demand.

I have met a number of high profile people, mainly sportsmen and women, including some heroes of mine - Everton players to be precise. On the whole, I was quite disappointed with what I saw. You can hear stories frequently of people being disillusioned when meeting their heroes or famous folks, and questioning their attitudes.

Seeing Sakic, seemingly a nice guy, being pestered for most of the game however, just got me thinking, that it was totally reasonable that just some days, it's surely going to become annoying and frustrating. Money and success just does not matter, we all get out of bed on the wrong side some mornings, heck, I do regularly! So to be greeted with hundreds of requests from people who idolise you, must be tough at times.

Maybe I have been a bit harsh on some heroes and idols in the past, if I've seen how they have treated some fans or myself, and they have dropped in my estimation. Maybe they are divas and suffering from muppetitis, especially if they are young and early in their careers and have the attitude already. But maybe they are just having a tough day.