Izdihar - Magic Kingdom Escapology

There's a delightful folksiness about the small ads you can find adorning the noticeboards of your local convenience store; the missing pet section, that old sofa that would look just right in your spare room if only it were recovered (with BBQ fuel and ignited), the part worn tyres, if you're lucky a battered Sony PS2 with a bunch of games that were tired 5 years back, never mind in the face of the latest from EA. It's all very cosy, all that old tat out there to be had for a song. You also get these sort of ads, the ones where, for the sake of a little experience, you can be out there with the in crowd, strutting your funky stuff.

Guess I won't be getting that phone call then...

If I have something on my mind then I should write of it

If I write of it then perhaps I have something to say

If I have something to say then I think that someone should listen

If someone were to listen then just maybe they would hear me

If they were to hear me it is well that they would know me

Lets get the hard part out of the way first - yes, I'm 48 years old tomorrow and there's nothing I can do about it...

Face it, given a choice there are not that many of us who would willingly get older if it wasn't actually required by the laws of nature. Who wants to suffer indignity of slowly but surely disintegrating and watching as younger folk do things that you once thought easy, when you know that to try it once more would almost certainly end with a trip to casualty or at the very least a chiropractor. Not too much to be done on that score though, so I'll pretend it isn't happening until something tears.

Looking back on the life I've had to date, I find myself wondering whether it was as much of a life as it could have been. Did I try hard enough along the way, were there mistakes I could have avoided, were there opportunities missed; 20/20 hindsight would probably point out a few choice moments where in true Sliding Doors fashion an alternative reality could have had its chance.

In many senses, my life has been relatively easy and free from some of the trials other people are faced with. Born in the UK, no broken home to escape from, well educated but not at a university, never unemployed, happily married and competent, if not outstandingly so, at most things I choose to take an interest in. A steady if unremarkable life, riding over the waves if not at their very crest; head above water. Were you not to know me, it's unlikely you would notice me in the street or any other place for that matter.

None of the above meant to suggest that some how my life has been a breeze, there is much too much evidence to suggest otherwise. No one can go through the pain of divorce or the terror of being forced to confront your own impending mortality to think otherwise. The human animal is remarkably resilient though and it's amazing how soon such challenges are, if not forgotten, then at least parked far enough back in the memory that you can reflect on them in a semi-detached manner. I clearly can and will survive for a while longer yet.

Or at least until I stop...

I'm sure I can't be the only one who has written about this one over the course of the last 24 hours, certainly not if you're a sports journalist. Can I be the only one who is mightily disappointed in the actions of Thierry Henry? I doubt it very much.

Last night's game between France and the Republic of Ireland is something I can only view as a travesty of fair play in sport. I want to see my own team (Stoke City) win as much as the next red & white bedecked fan, but I really detest seeing it done in a win at all costs fashion as happened last night. To Thierry Henry it would seem that the end justifies the means, fair play, dignity and respect for the opposition all gone out of the window, not only in his only partly instinctive reaction at the time, but in his comments afterwards, when surely, he would have had the opportunity to reflect on what he knew he had done. There was a time not so long back when having this particular Frenchman's name on a Stoke City team sheet would have been a dream come true, but no longer. His reputation as a sportsman is no longer intact, his name tarnished forever as a consequence of one game. "Sir, you are a cheat and a disgrace to your profession", have no doubt of it.

FIFA will inevitably find a way of glossing over this and carrying on as if nothing had happened. How can they possibly continue to prolong their stance that video replays have no place in the game of football? By what right do they continue to say that the referee's decision on the pitch is final when it's plain to see for millions of TV viewers and a significant proportion of the crowd, that the referee was either wrong, or unsighted at the crucial moment? It would take no longer to consult a video replay than it would to deal with a bunch of angry and emotional players who know they've been conned by their opposition. It works in rugby, it works in tennis, it works in the NFL, why oh why can't it work in the worlds most popular sport? Can they truly be said to be answering that? After last night, the jury can no longer be said to be out...