Tag: England

TIL: “Your boys took a hell of a beating”

I discovered this gem of Football commentary today. It’s from a Norway-England match in 1981. I love the passion, sprinkled with humour.

We are the best in the world! We are the best in the world! We have beaten England 2-1 in football!! It is completely unbelievable! We have beaten England! England, birthplace of giants. Lord Nelson, Lord Beaverbrook, Sir Winston Churchill, Sir Anthony Eden, Clement Attlee, Henry Cooper, Lady Diana–we have beaten them all. We have beaten them all.

Maggie Thatcher can you hear me? Maggie Thatcher, I have a message for you in the middle of the election campaign. I have a message for you: We have knocked England out of the football World Cup. Maggie Thatcher, as they say in your language in the boxing bars around Madison Square Garden in New York: Your boys took a hell of a beating! Your boys took a hell of a beating!

—Bjørge Lillelien

No wonder…

It was not unusual for Norwegians to turn off the sound on the TV and listen to him on the radio instead.

For more fun, follow the link above and read some of the parodies inspired from the commentary :)

Farewell, mug.

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My favourite coffee mug is no more :'(

R1 dropped it ages ago—breaking the handle, chipping the lip, and cracking the body. I superglued back the handle, and kept using it. The glue is good for regular use but comes off every few weeks, specially when using warm soapy water to clean.

Last night it broke again while I was cleaning it. This time it won’t be stuck back. With a heavy heart, I’ve decided to say my thanks and put the mug to rest.

You served me well, señor mug. We had many good times together, all involving that great drink we both love—coffee. Thank you for your service. Thanks for the company. Thanks for the coffee. Rest in peace.

Continue reading Farewell, mug.

Boiled eggs

Warm, boiled eggs, salt and pepper sprinkled on top.

Taste just as good in cool and wet autumnal England, as in cold and foggy winters in northern India.

Taste just as good at 36, as they did at 10, and at 19.

Taste just as good sharing with wife and dog, as they did with mom, dad and sister, and later with friends and wingies in hostel.

Some things, thankfully, are just the same everywhere :)

Ian Bell was just being selfish in the…

Ian Bell was just being selfish in the aftermath of being of having acted foolish and arrogant.

However, I can’t understand that what was Strauss doing going to the Indian dressing room asking for Bell’s recall! Did he go begging bowl in hand? Or did he go threatening them with dire consequences on and off the field if they didn’t recall Bell? Or was it that he & his team suddenly remembered that cricket has a ‘spirit of the game’ that they can mould according to their needs and flout it about for getting a decision reversed?

Not one of the many people discussing the incident in Sky studios said that Bell had been wronged. Almost all of them went out and said that Indian team’s appeal was not against the spirit of the game. Nasser Hussain accepted he would have acted in the same way as Dhoni in appealing for the decision. English hero Ian Botham was clear in his belief that Bell should have gone. Still, Strauss had the balls to go into the Indian dressing room and ask for the recall!

Can’t figure how he’ll sleep with his decision tonight. It was clear from Bell’s behaviour that he knew he was out and that the protest could get him out. He acted in a manner to incite the situation and use the crowd to force Indians to recall him. However, I expected Strauss to remember that Cricket isn’t really a Gladiator’s arena – crowd doesn’t decide what’s wrong and what’s now. My disappointment is in Strauss, for I expected better of him.