Birthdays and So Much More

For Dori and me, this last weekend marks the start of a holiday season that goes all the way through to next spring.

It began with my birthday, which I celebrated by watching Team Europe squeak a victory in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor in Wales. As I foretold in my last post, the weather left a lot to be desired for much of the competition, only to end with a gloriously sunny day on Monday as the contest entered an extra day for the first time in its history. To say this year’s event was close would be a massive understatement, with every single match counting towards the final outcome. If just one individual match had gone from a Europe win to being halved, or from being halved to a US win then the American team would have been flying home with the Ryder Cup yesterday.

The tie ebbed and flowed considerably over the course of the 4 days, with Europe starting well only for the US to gain the upper hand, and then Europe fighting back with a stunning third session of games to take a commanding lead into the singles matches. But all was not done and dusted, and the Americans made a tremendous effort to claw their way back into the contest and level the scores with just one match left on the course. The pressure on those two final players must have been immense and it was US Open champion Graeme McDowell who managed to hold his nerve better and secure the win for Team Europe. Yet again the Ryder Cup produced sporting excellence and drama in equal measures and I am already looking forward to the next staging of the event, which will be at Medinah Country Club, Illinois in 2012.

Aside from the golf, we also went out for a meal together with my Mum, who celebrates her birthday on the same day as me. The food was delicious and we all had a very pleasant time. It was a good weekend.

But, as I was saying, this is the start of our holiday season. Being from two different places, as I have mentioned here before, means that we get to celebrate even more holidays than most people. Starting with my birthday, we then have Halloween, Bonfire Night, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, Dori’s birthday, Valentine’s Day, Pancake Day, Mothers Day, St George’s Day, Easter and our wedding anniversary – and no doubt I’ve forgotten one or two in there :-) And by the time we have gone through all of it will be time to start looking ahead to next summer! Time to get buying cards methinks!!

Let Battle Commence

It may not seem like it, but it was 6 months ago that I posted an entry on this blog looking forward to the sporting summer ahead. Well, now obviously that summer has been and gone and we have seen some tremendous performances over the months. It has been a very good year for the Spanish, with the football team finally realizing their potential and winning the World Cup after many years of thwarted dreams – and, of course, Rafa Nadal completing his collection of Grand Slam tennis titles at Flushing Meadows earlier this month.

There is, however, still one huge sporting event of the season still to take place, and that will be happening this coming weekend. I am referring, of course, to the Ryder Cup which will begin early on Friday morning and reach its climax on Sunday evening. This year the golfing battle is being hosted at Celtic Manor in South Wales. That is not too far distant from us and both Dori and I would have loved to attend the event and cheer on our respective teams. Sadly the cost of the tickets is exorbitant and we just could not justify the expense at this time. So, instead, I will be heading over to my Mum’s house to watch part of it there, as she has the sports package on her TV. Attending the Ryder Cup one year is, however, definitely on my bucket list! 

Ever since the Great Britain and Ireland team was expanded to include the rest of Europe in 1979, this contest has never failed to provide drama and exciting competition. Having won 5 out of the previous 6 matches the European team suffered a heavy defeat last time out, losing by 5 points at Valhalla in Kentucky two years ago. So, this year they will be out to avenge that defeat in what looks like being some fairly wet and windy weather.

As always on these occasions, Trevor’s loyalties will be divided and he will no doubt be cheering for the American team when Dori is in the room, and the Europeans when I am there – or, failing that, maybe he will just be rooting for whoever may be leading at the time. He is a bit of a glory hunter after all   :-) Whoever wins, expect a lot of ups and downs and some very heated competition. May the best team win!

The Summer of Sport

Spring has finally sprung – both ’officially’ and in reality, and now is a time to look forward to the warmer months ahead. And for a sports nut like me, that means a host of great events to anticipate.

This coming summer will see the biggest event of them all – The FIFA World Cup, which is being hosted by South Africa. This will be by far the largest sports event ever to take place on the African continent, and promises to be a spectacular tournament. The opening game will take place in Johannesburg on June 11th and will feature the hosts taking on Mexico. Some 32 nations will compete over the following month through the group stage, quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final itself to be crowned World Champions on July 11th. Spain and Brazil are the current favourites, but there are plenty of other genuine contenders to claim the trophy.

The first major tournament of this sporting season will be the US Masters, which as always takes place in Augusta, Georgia. This year the big focus will obviously be on Tiger Woods’ return to golfing action after his personal troubles that came to light very publicly on Thanksgiving last year. What price a Tiger win in his first event back? The Masters is my favourite golf tournament of the year and Augusta is a beautiful course. Getting to go there in person one year is definitely on my To Do list.

And then there is what is often referred to as the Great British Summer of Sport, featuring such events as The Boat Race, The Grand National, the London Marathon, the FA Cup Final, the Derby, Wimbledon, the British Open and the British Grand Prix.

Here are some of the important dates to note:

The Boat Race	The Thames, London	April 3
US Masters	Augusta National, Augusta, Georgia	April 8 - 11
Grand National	Aintree, Liverpool	April 10
London Marathon	London	April 25
FA Cup Final	Wembley Stadium, London	May 15
Football League Play-Off Finals	Wembley Stadium, London	May 22, 29, 30
The Derby	Epsom Downs, Surrey	June 5
FIFA World Cup	South Africa	June 11 - July 11
Royal Ascot	Ascot, Berkshire	June 15 – 19
Wimbledon	Wimbledon, London	June 21 - July 4
British Grand Prix	Silverstone, Northamptonshire	July 11
British Open	St Andrews, Scotland	July 15 - 18
England Test Cricket Series	England	July 29 - August 30

And then finally, and I accept this is way after the summer will have ended, there will be the Ryder Cup. This year it will be played at Celtic Manor in South Wales from October 1st to 3rd, and the Europeans will be out to avenge the heavy defeat that they suffered at Valhalla back in 2008. The captains this year will be Corey Pavin and Colin Montgomerie and I am sure the competition will be as white-hot as usual.

I just can’t wait