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DISCLAIMER:
These comments are not intended to cause offence to anyone but rather to try to raise a small smile or to raise debate about a given issue. I am more than willing to enter into discussion about anything written here but try to keep a sense of humour!
I must open this by saying that I hate Manchester United! There are several good reasons for this:
My brother used to beat me up if I uttered any comments against the team [I remember a particularly bad one after they lost the FA Cup Final to Southampton; it was worth it though]. Manchester United then is to me forever associated with pain.
I am just so sick of seeing their shirts everywhere, even in places that have big teams as well.
Their fans clog up every radio phone-in complaining about something or another when they are in a position just to gloat quietly, they won everything last season but they do not know how to win sportingly. Liverpool in the seventies was a much better team but people didn't dislike them the way they hate Man U.
They insist on calling themselves United as if there was only one team with that name; what about Leeds, West Ham, Cambridge etc.
I will never understand why people ever take up this hobby but at least it is perfectly harmless, unlike say foxhunting. On a recent visit to take my youngest to see Thomas the Tankengine I got the chance to see the above group in their natural habitat and observed that they fall into two main groups: those with children and those without.
Trainspotters with no children just don't care what anyone thinks, so long as there are trains on view they will turn up and photograph and ride them. They are even willing to ride on small trains designed for children just to get the full experience.
Those with children are far sneakier because they use them to help blend into the background during these special family days. One particular man was continually badgering his son to ride on various things whilst his son was trying to play with his Star Wars' model. It did beg the question as to whether he had bred merely to have someone to take to these places regardless as to whether the child is interested.
I have a lot of time for this group because I admire anyone who is fit enough to do it however on my recent holiday I saw many CHEATS; those who were hitching lifts. IMHO backpackers should walk the whole way or not bother; you only cheat yourself!
I do have a particular problem with this because I don't think that children under the age of about 14 should be playing the 11-a-side game but rather should stick to smaller versions and spend more time on skills. The final straw for me came when I saw this advert in a local paper [the underlines are mine]:
Centre Forward Wanted
Required-experienced striker of proven ability, for the forthcoming season, who should be 10 years and under 11 on August 1,1999.
Transfer fees next?
If you are one of those people who like to use their cars as moving chicanes, I've got just one word for you: DON'T. Motorways have 3 lanes and we should use all of them.
