The Commonwealth triumph

Tonight there is a Commonwealth Games shaped hole in my life! I really love festivals of sport, especially multi-sport events like the Games and the Olympics. Although some in the media have criticised the Games (probably because it had the temerity to not take place in London) i thought the Commonwealth Games was a tremendous show.

In many ways i actually prefer the Commonwealth to the Olympics, for one the medals are more fairly shared out without the juggernauts of the USA and China being present, plus some sports that really should be in the Olympics like squash and netball have a chance to shine. A great thing about events like the Commonwealth and the Olympics is that women's sport gets some decent time in the media and it isn't all about football (which i like to watch a lot but the endless speculation and droning on about nothing in particular gets rather tiring).

But now its over, and the countdown to Rio begins i suppose. But there is something about a games in the home islands that makes them extra special... Unfortunately we'll have to wait a long time for another home games, maybe Cardiff in 2026?

Worcester racecourse

No horses were about luckily.

Bescot stadium

Home of the mighty (?) Walsall FC.

Floodlit club cricket

Unusually for me i haven't seen any live cricket so far this year yet (though gorged myself on televised cricket during the Ashes). Usually by now i would have seen at least some Warwickshire 2nd XI action but circumstances and bad luck meant i had missed out. That changed last night when i went and watched some club sides in a floodlit tournament at the local Walmley CC ground (nearest ground to me).

It was good fun though the floodlights did not seem to illuminate the gloom that much, maybe it was better out in the middle? The tournament is on all week is free to enter, so why not give it a try? You can see the photos i took last night. Real ale on tap too...

Tennis

After the Olympics last year i resolved to continue to watch live sport, i watched some badminton earlier in the year and today moved onto the big brother racquet sport tennis. I went to the WTA event in Birmingham (Aegon Classic) which is one of the various grass court warm up events for Wimbledon.

I had a great day, i'm a big fan of tennis especially the WTA tour and also i find the mechanics of live sport events fascinating. You can see the photos i took here.

All England Badminton

I have vowed to try and see more live sport in the wake of the Olympics and today attended my first event of the year. Actually i am a big fan of badminton but last year when i was watching the Olympic badminton i thought to myself i really need to see the All England, especially as its actually held in Birmingham! So here i am, and i will be there tomorrow too. I did take some photos even though you arn't supposed to, but just some blurry iPhone pics. I did get told off once!

Its my first time to the National Indoor Arena which is a lovely venue. I must try and make this an annual pilgrimage.

Olympic Feast!

Following my Olympic debut in Coventry to see women's football i headed down to London last Wednesday to stay with my sister-in-law for a few days (who handily lives in East London). I had a ticket for the volleyball but also managed to get a ticket for the badminton too just before i went down. Ironically both of my events were in West & North London while i was staying East, still the Tube would be quiet...

First the volleyball at Earl's Court on Thursday. That was great fun, at school the only bit of sport i was ever any good at was serving in volleyball (though i was reasonable at badminton). It was interesting to see how different the serve is in proper volleyball to how we played at school, its served a lot faster and harder though my serves always got past the net, unlike some of these guys!

The spectator area was fun at Earl's Court, it included this rather awesome statue of a female volleyball player. I wish i could have something like this in my garden. As for the games i saw Russia vs Tunisia and Poland vs Argentina in the men's competition. The latter was a great game with a really hot atmosphere, it seemed like half of Poland was in the arena cheering their team on. There even was a Mexican Wave, which i joined in natch.

The second event was the next day and was the women's semi-finals and the mixed doubles bronze medal match in the badminton at Wembley Arena. An early start though crossing London was no problem (the tube got a lot busier later). Badminton was the sport i tried to get a ticket for in the original ticket ballot last year, i failed on that occasion but was lucky to get a ticket when some extra tickets were put up for sale last week. I love badminton so was really glad to see this event, it was good to see Wembley Arena too as i've only ever been there once before, to a Waylon Jennings concert oh... about 20 years ago...

The two singles games were good, both won by the Chinese natch. The mixed doubles match was won by Denmark defeating Indonesia though sparking scenes of joy in the arena. A full set of my photos from the various Olympic events i attended (and some other related images) can be seen here.

Everything was so well organised and everyone involved so helpful and professional, i couldn't help feeling pride at how Britain has took on the biggest event in the world and has basically smashed it.

Away Day

The age of austerity bites, a couple of years ago our annual department away day was a treasure hunt in Stratford-upon-Avon, but this time it was some staff development at Walsall FC's Bescot stadium. Having said that i quite enjoyed the shabby yet honest working class environment. The morning of the day was a bit boring, with a talk on leadership though we did get some clips from the film True Blue which i'd never heard of before (and ordered on DVD afterwards, natch). The afternoon was more fun, if slightly surreal. Team games in the carpark of Walsall FC!

Olympic tickets

The website for people to get their tickets for the London 2012 Olympics opened a few days ago. Well when i say "get" what i actually meant was submit an application for tickets. Later in the year people who submit an application for tickets will be informed if their application has been successful as if an event is oversubscribed people go into a ballot.

My tickets are for the badminton on a Tuesday afternoon so i hope there isn't too much competition for my tickets.