Part 5 of my sporting diary, as this week I look back at my evening at the darts, cast an eye over the midweek Premier League fixtures, and breath a sigh of relief that deadline day is over.
Last Friday I was mainly drinking Guinness, whilst surrounded by people in fancy dress, as I watched the darts in Milton Keynes. It's a curious affair when you attend a sporting event, and end up looking at a TV screen for the majority of the evening. Maybe if you're a bit nearer the oche then you can get a good view of proceedings. But I enjoyed it nonetheless. I did video Peter Wright's walk-on to the stage, and embarrassed myself by trying to sing along to Pitbull; 42-year-old men should never try and sing along to Pitbull.
Talking of the walk-on, the big news in darts this week is the culling of the walk-on ladies. It's a tricky one. On the one hand, you do feel that this belongs to a bygone era, and that in the 21st century, we really should have moved on. But I did see a comment from one of the walk-on women, who stated that she should have the right to do a job she likes, and that she will now be losing 60% of her earnings. I do feel a bit for the women who have lost their jobs, but it is the right move.
Sad news drifted through on Friday that Boreham Wood player Dean Wells had been forced to retire. Joining the club last summer, Wells slotted in brilliantly at the back, his performances helping the team to dream of the play-offs. You could always hear him talking to team mates, organising and cajoling, and he will be sorely missed. Thanks Wellsy.
I did bang on a few weeks ago that players like to moan about their short careers. It's only when something like this happens, that you realise what they mean. However, I stand by my comments about the weekly wage of Alexis Sanchez, and other Premier League players. The levels of money they receive is obscene. It's the players lower down the league ladder that need protecting, and hopefully the PFA play their part.
Pep Guardiola is quite right to voice his concerns about some of the tackles that have been made on his players in recent weeks. Arsene Wenger was obviously ahead of his time. For years he complained about the treatment of his players, as the likes of Diaby, Eduardo, and Ramsey had their legs broken. All I heard in response was "he's not that kind of player", "Arsenal don't like people in their faces", "Arsene Whinger", and other such bollocks. Aaron Ramsey even gets booed at Stoke now, as he had the temerity to stick his leg in the way of a Ryan Shawcross tackle. How selfish of him.
A few things came out of the midweek Premier League action. Arsenal may need to target a goalkeeper, centre back, and central midfielder in their next batch of recruitment; down to the bare bones City continue to struggle on; Manchester United got a tune out of Alexis off the pitch, but he and his team mates were battered by Tottenham; Chelsea are having such a Chelseaesque season that they'll no doubt go on to win the FA Cup and Champions League before sacking Conte.
The battle for relegation looks like providing the only excitement in the Premier League this season. City have won the title already, and I refuse to get too excited about the battle for top four places. A few weeks ago I tipped Swansea, Huddersfield and Bournemouth to go down, but the former have recently beaten Liverpool and Arsenal, with the latter defeating Arsenal and Chelsea. I have no idea now. There are possibly 11 teams involved in the relegation dogfight. I can already hear the adverts for Sky's Survival Sunday on May 13.
Thankfully we have managed to all get through another Deadline Day. If ever you need an example of over hyped nonsense, then Sky Sports News and their wall-to-wall coverage of this non-event is top of the pile. Yellow ties, yellow dresses, "Sky Sports News understands", a countdown clock, "Sky Sports News sources", Jim White, "over to [insert name here] at Newcastle, where he has news of absolutely bugger all happening", "the window will slam shut". The list goes on.
I think Sky were hugely pissed off when actual football matches took place on Tuesday and Wednesday. It's almost as if the action on the pitch deflected away from their special day. There isn't even the element of jeopardy now, seeing as the general public are not allowed to simulate sex on camera, or place dildos on the shoulders of reporters. Perhaps that is the problem. Take away the chance of something entertaining happening, and all you're really left with is a reporter telling you that there really is nothing to see here at Stoke.
Previous entries:
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
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