Brewed by Grupo Modelo (Corona)
Style: Pale Lager
México DF
Corona Extra is a pale lager that has been brewed and bottled in Mexico by Grupo Modelo since 1926. Grupo Modelo is Mexico’s largest brewer and is currently exporting Corona to more than 150 countries worldwide. Corona is one of the top-selling beers worldwide.
Although widely consumed year round, Corona is generally viewed as a summertime beverage. It is a brand that has a laid back image and is strongly associated with fun in the sun. Corona’s smooth taste is perfect for a long hot summers evening.
Outside of Mexico, Corona is commonly served with a wedge of lime or lemon in the neck of the bottle to add flavor.
Review: Bottle of Corona Extra lager, 4.6%ABV
The appearance has a clear pale straw yellow body. After pouring a small white head appears that dissipates very quickly. Not much lacing.
It has a mild, clean, subtle lager aroma, that smells of light, sweet cornbread
Corona’s very light in taste, mild, clean with no bitterness and has a rather thin tasting watery feel. It’s flavour is minimal, but on a hot day it quenches the thirst.
Brazil’s favourite beer, Skol, can be seen everywhere in the country; on the beaches, in the street bars, on billboards plastered around the cities, the popular beer is all around.
Funnily enough, though, the famous Brazilian beer Skol’s origins aren’t found in Brazil, or anywhere near it. Sol has traveled a long way. Skol’s roots are in the UK (Burton, Leeds and Birmingham). Its a pretty long story that I am not going to bore you with here, but the beer has gone through many mergers and company takeovers, and due to mass branding has ended up as a Brazilian beer, where it found immediate popularity and success firmly securing its place in Brazil as one of the country’s famous lagers.
The name skol derives from the Scandinavian word skål, meaning cheers
Review: Bottle of Skol lager 4.7% ABV
A crystal clear crisp pilsner. No real bite or kick to it, but went down very easily, lovely to drink actually. Nice taste, not bitter.
A lovely looking beer, a light golden color with a small head with moderate lacing.
Key characteristic is that it had a very lovely aroma. Aromas of sweet corn, grains and hay.
One negative is that there is not much bang for your buck. Small bottles, dont last too long in my house, especially since Skol is so easy to drink.
Overall a good beer, and nice for a hot day, drinking to relax.
Second footballer to be previewed for our football special, the one and only George Best.
Bestie
Belfast boy
As the well-known line goes: Pelé Good. Maradona Better. George Best
George Best, born on the 22nd May 1946 and brought up in Belfast, Northern Ireland played as a winger for Manchester United and Northern Ireland. Speed, balance, vision, superb close control, left and right footed, scorer of great goals, he was a ridiculously talented footballer and without doubt one of the greatest players of all time.
In 1968 he was named Football Writers Association Footballer of the Year for his storming season in the English first division, and European footballer of the Year after helping Manchester United win the European Cup for the first time in its history.
the “fifth Beatle”
Stylish and handsome, he was dubbed the “fifth Beatle” for his glamorous lifestyle and joy he gave to millions.
After that high point in which he won as much as any player could by the age of 22, his career started to slide as his battles with alcoholism blighted his life. A battle he finally succumbed to when he died in the early hours of 25 November 2005, aged 59, as a result of a lung infection and multiple organ failure.
Early Years and family
George Best was the first child of Dickie Best and Anne Best. He grew up in the Cregagh estate in east Belfast, with four sisters, and one brother.
As a young teenager George’s exceptional talent came to the notice of his local club Glentoran. But the club rejected him concerned about his small frame and light weight. Thankfully the skinny teenager was spotted playing for the local boys club in the Cregagh by Manchester United’s Northern Ireland scout, Bob Bishop, whose immediate telegram to the United manager Matt Busby simply read: “I think I’ve found you a genius.”.
George was subsequently given a trial and signed up by chief Manchester United scout Joe Armstrong in 1961.
Man United
He first came to Manchester in 1961 with his good friend Eric McMordie. Both homesick they stayed for only two days and quickly went back to Belfast. Manchester United were not going to let this gem slip through, and he was soon influenced to return after a telephone conversation between George’s father, Dickie and United’s manager Matt Busby.
The early years
In 1963 George turned professional and made his First Division debut, aged only 17, on 14th September 1963 against West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford in a 1–0 victory. Legend has it that after the match, his opponent Graham Williams shook George’s hand to say, “Stand still son so I can have a look at your face. I’ve been looking at your backside all day disappearing up the touchline”.
In his next game for United against Burnley, George scored his first goal, and by the end of the 1963–64 season, he made 26 appearances, scoring six goals. Manchester United finished second, four points behind Liverpool. That same season, Best was a part of the Manchester United side that won the 1964 FA Youth Cup, the first since the 1958 Munich air disaster.
Football in those days had hard men playing on even harder pitches. Players like Best were often fodder for the likes of Chelsea’s Ron ‘Chopper’ Harris or Bremner, Charlton, Reanery, aka the hit men of Leeds AFC (of that there was many!) The great Busby ensured that “fierce, sometimes brutal” training sessions left Best well used to coping with these tough challenges. Think of the modern game, think of a once was Red, think of Ronaldo’s tendency for hitting the ground. Best took the hits and stayed on his feet, a credit and testament to his skill and character.
His playing style combined pace, acceleration, superb balance, and the talent to beat defenders at will, with the ability to score from left as well as right foot and head. His father teaching him to practice kicking a ball with both feet, hour upon hour, as a child in Belfast. Good lessons, well learned.
The United Trinity
In his first full season, 1964–65, Best, along with Dennis Law and Bobby Charlton, the magnificent trio, helped Manchester United to claim the league title ahead of bitter rivals Leeds United; over the course of the campaign Best contributed 14 goals in 59 competitive games.
In the 1965–66 season in a European Cup quarter-final match, Best is remembered, at the age of 19, for scoring two goals inside the opening 12 minutes in a 5-1 rout against the then powerhouse of European football, Benfica at the Estádio da Luz. This was Benfica’s first ever home defeat in any European competition. The Portuguese press were so mesmerised that they entitled him “O QuintoBeatle”, “the fifth Beatle”, a nickname that stuck.
However United failed to win any major honours in the 1965–66 season, and Best got injured from March onwards with a twisted knee following a bad tackle against Preston North End.
The 1966–67 season was again successful, as Manchester United claimed the league title by four points. An ever-present all season long, Best scored ten goals in 45 games.
In 1967–68 season a home defeat to Manchester City proved costly as United lost the league to their local rivals by exactly two points at the end of the season tally. Yet the season would be remembered by United fans for a more important trophy, the European Cup. Facing six times champions Real Madrid in the semi-finals, Best scored the only goal of the home fixture. In the return fixture at the Bernabéu, Best crossed for Bill Foulkes to level the game at 3–3 and win the tie 4–3.
Days later, as the First Division’s joint top-scorer, Best was presented with the FWA Footballer of the Year award, becoming the youngest ever recipient of the award.
Legendary no 7
In the European Cup Final at Wembley United were again set to face Benfica who had the magical star Eusébio on their team. Whilst his teammates rested, Best found that the best way to pass the time the night before a big game was by sleeping with “a particular young lady called Sue”.
In the final, ninety minutes produced a 1-1 scoreline, the game went into extra-time. Just three minutes into extra-time Best went on a dribble, round one challenge and beating the keeper, before casually rolling the ball into the empty net; further goals from Brian Kidd and Bobby Charlton settled it for United at 4–1.The victory was not only the pinnacle of Best’s career, but arguably Manchester United’s greatest achievement, considering the Munich air disaster had wiped out most of the “Busby Babes” just ten years previously. That night George Best made Matt Busby’s dream come true. To put the win into context, it took Man United another 31 years to win the European cup again!
Euro Cup Winners
Best also won the Ballon d’Or in 1968. This meant that he had won the three major honours in club football at the age of just 22 (the league title, European Cup, and European Player of the Year award). After this, his steady decline began.
In the 1968–69 campaign the club’s new signings were not able to settle, as United dropped to 11th in the league before Busby announced his retirement. Best scored 22 goals in 55 games.
Under new boss Wilf McGuinness, United improved slightly, but still only managed an eighth place finish in the 1969–70 season. Best scored 23 goals, including a memorable six in an 8–2 win over Northampton Town through one of the worst pitches imaginable at the County Ground in the FA Cup. Mud and dirt, remember that young scallywags of today!
Busby returned as manager in December 1970, though the 1970–71 season also ended without a trophy. Best began to get into trouble with his discipline: fined by the FA for misconduct, and suspended by United for two weeks after missing the trip down south to Chelsea to share a weekend with actress Sinéad Cusack instead.
Best not at his best
After Matt Busby fully retired each of the new managers struggled to manage him.
New manager Frank O’Farrell led United to an eighth place finish in 1971–72. With 27 goals in 54 appearances Best finished as the club’s top-scorer for the sixth – and final – consecutive season. However he failed to turn up for training for a whole week in January as he opted to spend his time with Miss Great Britain 1971, Carolyn Moore.
United’s decline continued in the 1972–73 season. United were not the force they used to be, getting beat by teams they should have really beaten. Best said that “I increasingly had the feeling that I was carrying the team at times on the pitch. Disillusioned, he began to drink more with the result that his training suffered and his appearances became less. Best went missing in December to another party in London. He was suspended, and transfer-listed.
Best’s last competitive game for the club was on 1 January 1974 against QPR at Loftus Road, which United lost 3–0.He failed to turn up for training three days later and was dropped by the then manager, the volatile Tommy Docherty. United went on to suffer relegation into the Second Division in 1973–74.
By the end of the 1974 season his days at Manchester United were over. He was only 26.
Over eleven seasons, Best made 470 appearances for Manchester United in all competitions from 1963 to 1974, and scored 179 goals. He helped Manchester United win two League Championships (1964-1965 and 1966-1967) and their first European Cup (1967-1968)
Other Clubs
After leaving Manchester United in 1974 Best went on a globe-trotting series of destinations taking in short spells in South Africa, Ireland, the United States, Scotland, and Australia, amongst other places.
In South Africa he played only five competitive matches for team Jewish Guild. Best endured criticism for missing several training sessions. During his short time there, he attracted thousands of spectators to the matches.
Best had a brief spell in Ireland with Cork Celtic. He made his League debut against Drogheda United at Flower Lodge on 28 December 1975. He played only three league games, but despite attracting big crowds he failed to score or impress. On a rolling contract, his failure to show for a game saw him being dropped and he subsequently left the club.
George Best and Bobby Moore
London in 1976 was the next destination, and along with Bobby Moore, he turned out for Fulham, playing 42 games in two seasons and scoring eight goals. His time at Craven Cottage is remembered for a match against Hereford United in which he tackled his own teammate Rodney Marsh.
Best played for three clubs in the United States: Los Angeles Aztecs, Fort Lauderdale Strikers and later San Jose Earthquakes; he also played for the Detroit Express on a European tour. He scored an impressive 15 goals in 24 games in his first season with the Aztecs and was named as the NASL’s best midfielder in his second season.
In 1979 he made a scoring debut for the Scottish club Hibernian. At the time the club was suffering a decline in fortunes and was heading for relegation. Attendances dipped well below 8,000, but on the day George made his debut, over 20,000 fans turned up. Best was signed on a “pay per play” basis. Even though Best failed to save Hibs from relegation gates increased dramatically. Best was initially sacked by Hibs after he went on a massive drinking session with the French rugby team, who were in Edinburgh to play Scotland as part of the Five Nations Rigby Tournament. He was brought back a week later.
He returned to the USA to play for the San Jose Earthquakes. In his third season in the States, Best scored once in 12 appearances.
In Hong Kong, of all places, he was invited as a guest player and played three matches for two First Division teams (Sea Bee and Rangers) in 1982.
In late 1982, Bournemouth manager Don Megson signed the 36-year-old Best for the Third Division side, and he stayed there until the end of the 1982–83 season, when he retired from football at the age of 37.
After his retirement, Best still played the odd friendly and select games for teams such as Newry Town, in Australia for the Brisbane Lions and Dee Why Football Club.
On 8 August 1988, a testimonial match was held for Best at Windsor Park. Among the crowd were Sir Matt Busby, and Bob Bishop, the scout who discovered Best, while those playing included Osvaldo Ardiles, Pat Jennings and Liam Brady. Scoring twice it was a very memorable thank you to all Best’s supporters in his home town of Belfast.
Northern Ireland
From 1964 to 1977, Best was capped 37 times for Northern Ireland, making his debut just days before his 17th birthday playing his first full international against England.
Unfortunately during Best’s Manchester United days, Northern Ireland were not a competitive team in world football. When the small country did show some hope in the early 80’s, a sharp lack of fitness in Best’s game, and Billy Bingham’s thickness, never allowed his talent to be exhibited in the finals of a European Championship or World Cup. Probably the best footballer never to play in a major world final. Two words, Billy: Roger Milla!!!!
Against Banks and England
On 15 May 1971, Best scored his most famous international goal, in Belfast against England. Except it wasn’t a goal at all! While Gordon Banks, the English goalkeeper, was about to kick the ball downfield, Best cheekily kicked it, sending the ball over their heads towards the open goal. Best then headed the ball into the empty goal, but, although legal, the goal was disallowed by referee Alistair Mackenzie who despite not seeing the incident would always take the word of honest Gordon Banks.
Norn Iron
In 1976, Northern Ireland were playing the Netherlands in Rotterdam in a World Cup qualifying game. The Dutch team, runners-up in the 1974 World Cup and made up of a squad of total footballers, were an intimidating match for any team in the world, never mind small little Northern Ireland. Not so Best who not only nutmegged the brilliant Johan Neeskens but also the maestro himself, Johan Cruyff’s. The end result of the game was 2-2, or 2-0 if we are talking nutmegs.
Celebrity, and After Football
First superstar of football
Such was Best’s talent and charisma that he became one of the first celebrity footballers, receiving more than 1,000 fan mail letters a week. He became known for his long hair, good looks and extravagant celebrity lifestyle. He owned fashion boutiques, nightclubs, restaurants and shops. Had modelling contracts a plenty and appeared on Top of the Pops in 1965, making cameos in movies and fitness albums, yeah make no doubt this was the ‘swinging-sixties’!
Best was married twice, to two former models, Angie Best and then Alex Best.
However for a shy lad from Belfast his subsequent flash lifestyle led to various problems, most notably alcoholism, which he suffered from for the rest of his adult life. These problems also affected him on the field. Remember he was meant to be a professional footballer. Rigorous training can be hard especially when one was up half the night entertaining another miss world. Something had to give. Different managers struggled to manage him, and his football career went downhill fast.
on the Wogan show
In September 1990, Best appeared on prime time British TV, when he made an appearance on the popular BBC chat show “Wogan” in which he was severely drunk and looking the worst for wear, at one point saying to Terry Wogan, “Terry, I like screwing”. This was a very public show of the problems best was having trying to adjust to a life without the daily grind of football.
In the 1990′s he established himself as a successful sports pundit with Sky Sports and was a popular after dinner speaker, but his financial and health problems continued into his retirement.
Best continued to drink, he couldn’t stop. He tried all known cures to give up the drinking, including stomach implants, but all to no avail.
A liver transplant in 2002 gave new hope. The transplant was performed on the NHS, a decision which was controversial due to Best’s alcoholism. He still didn’t stop drinking.
He died on 25th November in 2005, age 59, as a result of a lung infection and multiple organ failure due to complications from the drugs he needed to take to prevent his body from rejecting his transplanted liver.
Belfast murial
For his funeral, his body left the family home early in the morning on the Cregagh Road, East Belfast, on Saturday, 3rd December 2005. The cortege then travelled the short distance to Stormont. The route was lined with over a 100,000 mourners. The funeral was shown live on several television stations. Best was later cremated, and, as he requested, his ashes were entombed beside his mother Annie in a private ceremony.
George Best Belfast City Airport
Afterwards, Belfast City Airport was renamed George Best Belfast City Airport as a tribute to Best.
George Best. Forever remembered. A life lived.
Bestie Quotes
George Best number seven
• If you’d given me the choice of going out and beating four men and smashing a goal in from thirty yards against Liverpool or going to bed with Miss World, it would have been a difficult choice. Luckily, I had both.
• I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.
• I used to go missing a lot… Miss Canada, Miss United Kingdom, Miss World.
• I’ve stopped drinking, but only while I’m asleep.
• In 1969 I gave up women and alcohol – it was the worst 20 minutes of my life.
• If I’d been born ugly, you’d never have heard of Pelé.
• He (David Beckham) cannot kick with his left foot, he cannot head a ball, he cannot tackle and he doesn’t score many goals. Apart from that he’s all right.
• I was born with a great gift, and sometimes with that comes a destructive streak. Just as I wanted to outdo everyone when I played, I had to outdo everyone when we were out on the town
Diego Armando Maradona, El Diego, one of the greatest players in the history of the game, was born 30 October 1960, Lanus, Buenos Aires. The short and chunky left-footer often used his low centre of gravity to have the strength, skill and dribbling ability to dictate games, taking him past defenders with ease, which often ended in a goal or an assist. (for Careca no doubt!)
FIFA, the football world governing body, conducted an Internet poll where fans from all over the globe named Maradona the top player of the 20th century. And a panel of experts later added Pelé.
Diego
The Argentine played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla and Newell’s Old Boys, and in his international career, playing for Argentina, he earned 91 caps and scored 34 goals. He played in four World Cup tournaments, including the 1986 tournament, where he captained Argentina and led them to their victory over West Germany in the final, winning the Golden Ball award as the tournament’s best player. In November 2008, with little managerial experience, he became head coach of the Argentina national team guiding his country to the 2010 World Cup.
Maradona is considered one of the sport’s most controversial figures. From his infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal, the shooting of an air rifle at reporters, to all that cocaine he has used. Maradona certainly has a checkered past. He was suspended from football for 15 months in 1991 after failing a drug test, for cocaine, in Italy, and he was sent home from the 1994 World Cup in the U.S. after testing positive for ephedrine. His outspoken manners have sometimes put him at odds with journalists and sport executives, and he has an ongoing verbal spat with Pele that seems to rare its head before every world cup.
Church of Maradona
But it is in Argentina where Maradona is considered more than just a sports hero. He is idolized, and like Evita Peron, he is seen as the soul of the country, given the name of “God”. In Rosario, they have taken this one step further where the locals have organised the “Church of Maradona” where worshipers genuflect towards their idol and god, ie Diego. It has tens of thousands members and their prayer is…
“Our Diego, who is on the pitches Hallowed be thy left hand, bring us your magic. Make your goals remembered on earth as in heaven, Give us some magic every day, forgive the English, as we have forgiven the Napolitan Mafia, Don’t let yourself get caught offside and free us from Havelange and Pelé. Diego”
The Early Years
When Diego came to Argentinos Juniors for trials, I was really struck by his talent and couldn’t believe he was only eight years old. In fact, we asked him for his ID card so we could check it, but he told us he didn’t have it on him. We were sure he was having us on because, although he had the physique of a child, he played like an adult. When we discovered he’d been telling us the truth, we decided to devote ourselves purely to him. — Francisco Cornejo, youth coach who discovered Maradona
Diego Maradona was born on 30 October 1960, in Lanús, Buenos Aires Province, but raised in a shantytown on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina, to a poor family as one of eight kids. Maradona is of Italian, Spanish, Croatian, Indigenous-Argentinian ancestry. His surname originates from the Southern Italian region of Calabria.
In motion
Maradona displayed football talent early, and at age eight he joined Las Cebollitas (“The Little Onions”), a youth team of Argentinos Juniors. Showing his exceptional ability at an early age, Maradona led Los Cebollitas to an incredible 136-game unbeaten run and a national championship. He signed with Argentinos Juniors at age 14 and made his first-division debut in 1976 at fifteen, and only sixteen when he won his first cap for Argentina against Hungary in 1977, becoming the youngest Argentine ever to do so.
Although he was excluded from the 1978 World Cup-winning squad because it was felt that he was still too young, the next year he led Argentina to the under-20 Junior World Cup championship. Within this time period he was also voted South American Player of the Year in the years 1979 and 1980.
Club Career
Argentinos Juniors and Boca Juniors
Boca
On 20 October 1976, ten days before his sixteenth birthday, Maradona made his professional debut with Argentinos Juniors. He played there between 1976 and 1981, scoring 115 goals in 167 appearances before his £1m transfer to Boca Juniors. Boca was the team Maradona always wanted to play for. Although only there for a year he did help them win the championship before moving to Europe.
Barcelona
FC Barcelona broke the world transfer record fee when they paid £5 million ($7.6m) for his services at the start of 1982/83.
Maradona had a difficult time in Spain. His spell in Barcelona lasted only two seasons and both were hampered by illness, injuries and other scandals. First he was sidelined for months with hepatitis, then a broken ankle caused by an ill-timed tackle by Athletic’s Andoni Goikoetxea”,The Butcher from Bilbao” who put Maradona out for months. There was also the ongoing disputes with the team’s directors, especially club President Josep Lluís Núñez.
Barca
Despite all this, in 1983, Barcelona and Maradona won the Copa del Rey beating Real Madrid. And on two seasons his goal to game ratio wasn’t too shoddy, scoring 38 goals in 58 games. Also at that time he was recorded as the most kicked player in the league, at a time when forwards didn’t get the same level of protection as they do from referees nowadays.
But overall it was considered a period of underachievement for such a talented player as Maradona and it was his time at Barcelona that he allegedly started to use cocaine.
In 1984 he was transferred to Napoli in Italy’s Serie A for another world record fee, £6.9m ($10.48m), in a move that he hoped would re-ignite his career.
Napoli
SSC Napoli, who just about avoided relegation on each of the two previous seasons, decided to spend a world record £6.9 million to bring Maradona to the Stadio San Paolo in the summer of 1984, where he was welcomed by 75,000 fans at the home stadium.
Napoli
At Napoli, Maradona reached the peak of his club career. He quickly became an adored star among the club’s tifosi, and in his time there he elevated the team to the most successful era in its history. Led by Maradona, Napoli won the league and cup double in the 1986/87 season, their first Serie A Italian Championship knocking Michel Platini’s glorious Juventus off the throne, and won the league title again in 1990. To put this into context this was an astounding success since never before had a team from the southern mainland of Italy ever won the league, with the usual northern powerhouse clubs as Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan winning most of the previous titles in Serie A history. And Napoli added the uefa cup in 1989 to their trophy cabinet, the clubs first European title.
But Maradona’s personal problems continued. He received $70,000 in fines from his club for missing games and practices, claiming he was too stressed and tired to play, and a 15-month suspension from playing football after failing a drug test for cocaine heralded his exit from the club and country. Coupled to this was allegations of dodgy links with – the Camorra – the city’s Mafia also affected his reputation with the Italian FA and so he left for Spain in 1992.
Iconic Status
Yet with all of this, Maradona’ remains an icon and legend in Napoli. In honor of Maradona and his achievements during his career at the club, the No. 10 jersey was officially retired.
Further highlighting his icon status in the city, on hearing of his near death from a drug overdose, many Neapolitan families gathered around a shrine, a portrait of Diego, praying nightly for his recovery. His legend will always remain in Napoli, a city and club he was proud to play for.
Sevilla, Newell’s Old Boys and Boca Juniors
After serving his 15-month ban, in 1992 he surprisingly signed for Sevilla of Spain, where he stayed for just the one year. In 1993 he returned to Argentina and played for Newell’s Old Boys and in 1995 he returned to his beloved Boca Juniors for two years and played his last match on Oct. 25, 1997.
Overall he played 490 club games during his 21-year professional career, scoring 259 goals.
International career
World Cup winner
During his time with the Argentine national team, Maradona scored 34 goals in 91 appearances. He made his full international debut at the age of 16, against Hungary on 27 February 1977. At 18, he played the World Youth Championship for Argentina, and was the star of the tournament, excellent in their 3–1 final win over the Soviet Union. On 2 June 1979, it was Scotland that Maradona scored his first senior international goal in a 3–1 win at Hampden.
Maradona’s career with the Argentine national team included four World Cup appearances in 1982, 1986, 1990, and 1994.
España 82
Maradona played his first World Cup tournament in 1982.
Although the team progressed from the first round, they were defeated in the second round by Brazil and by eventual winners Italy. Maradona played in all five matches, scoring twice against Hungary. The Italian match is renowned for Maradona being aggressively man-marked by Claudio Gentile who gave an Azzuri master class in shirt pulling, sly digs, scheming pulls, ankle kicks and other devious methods to stop Maradona getting into the flow of the game. He was fouled 23 times in the match which was a single-match World Cup-record, as Italy beat Argentina. After being fouled repeatedly in all his World Cup games, Maradona’s temper eventually got the better of him against Brazil and he was sent off for a vicious foul on Batista with 5 minutes to go.
Getting sent off and Argentina bowing out in the second phase wasn’t the ideal introduction to the world of Argentina’s new wonder kid.
Mexico 86
The crowning moment of Maradona’s career came in Mexico where he captained Argentina to victory in the 1986 FIFA World Cup winning the final against West Germany. Throughout the 1986 World Cup Maradona dribbled his way into the collective imagination of the world. He was the player of the 1986 World Cup. He played every minute of every Argentina game, scored 5 goals and made 5 assists.
Hand of god
In a 2–1 quarterfinal victory over England, he scored two of the most memorable goals in World Cup history. A cheeky handball goal which he later said was the “Hand of God”, and then his amazing dribbling run of 60 yards where Maradona gained possession of the ball in his own half and with 11 touches ran more than half the length of the field, dribbling past a pack of English defenders and rounding the keeper before calmly slipping the ball in the net, regarded as the greatest World Cup goal in history.
Maradona and Belgium
Two more goals from Maradona came in the semi-final against Belgium, including another memorable virtuoso dribbling display for the second goal. This was followed up by a win against West Germany in the final, where despite Germany’s tactic of double marking him throughout the whole game he still managed to find the space to give the final pass to Jorge Burruchaga to net the winning goal. Argentina beat West Germany 3–2 in front of a huge crowd of 115,000 spectators at the Azteca Stadium.
During the course of the tournament, Maradona attempted or created more than half of Argentina’s shots, embarked on 90 dribbles some three times more than any other player and was fouled 53 times winning his team twice as many free kicks as any player. Maradona scored or assisted 10 of Argentina’s 14 goals including the assist for the winning goal in the final. He single handedly won the world cup for his country, and was voted Golden Ball winner as best player of the tournament.
King of the World
He is the only player as of yet to win the Golden Ball at both the FIFA U-20 World Cup and FIFA World Cup, in 1979 and 1986.
Italia ’90
Carry an injury going into Italia ’90, Maradona was not on the same level as four years earlier. Yet despite this he again captained Argentina to yet another World Cup Final. Argentina beat hosts Italy on penalties in semifinal match played in his beloved Naples, but couldn’t prevent West Germany winning the World Cup, 1–0, the only goal being a penalty by Andreas Brehme in the 85th minute after a controversial foul on Rudi Völler who rolled and rolled and rolled……
And yet Maradona was still voted the tournament’s third best player, despite fouled 50 times throughout the competition, a new World-Cup record, in a generally regarded dour, defence minded, World Cup.
USA 1994
Definitely not on drugs
At the 1994 FIFA World Cup Maradona played in only two games, scoring one goal against Greece, before being sent home after testing positive for the drug ephedrine. To many it was clear he was on something as he just about head butted the camera after his goal against Greece, eyes bulging, chest puffed out, and high on something other than just adrenaline. His failed drugs test at the 1994 World Cup beckoned the end of his international career.
Altogether, Maradona played in four World Cups, scoring 8 goals in 21 World Cup appearances, and scored an impressive 34 goals in 91 international appearances for Argentina, making him Argentina’s second highest scorer after Gabriel Batistuta.
Maradona also played on South American championship-winning teams in 1987 and 1989
South Africa 2010
In 2008, Maradona was surprisingly hired to coach the Argentinean national team. Surprising as he had little or no real management experience. After stumbling into the world cup (6-1 defeat to Bolivia included!) and having a talented squad headlined by Lionel Messi, they were sent home from the 2010 World Cup with a 4-0 hiding by Germany in the quarter-finals, and Maradona’s contract was not renewed. It was a nice dream, but it didn’t happen Diego.
Politics, Retirement and the Rest
The politics
Just Chillin
Coming from very humble beginnings, Maradona has shown sympathy to left-wing ideologies. He became friends with Cuban leader Fidel Castro while receiving drug treatment on the island. He also has a portrait of Castro tattooed on his left leg and, fellow Argentine, Che Guevara on his right arm. He dedicated his autobiography, “El Diego” to “Fidel Castro and, through him, all the Cuban people”.
During the 2005 Summit of the Americas in Argentina, he protested George W. Bush’s presence, and referred to the American president as “human trash”. “As far as I’m concerned, he is a murderer”, and Maradona headed a 15,000-strong counter protest against the summit.
In August 2007, Maradona stated “I hate everything that comes from the United States. I hate it with all my strength.” The fact that he is probably not well known in the USA helps of course!
In December 2007, Maradona presented a signed shirt with a message of support to the people of Iran: it is to be displayed in the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ museum
Diego and Chavez
Maradona was also a supporter of former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. “I believe in Chávez, I am Chavista. Everything Fidel does, everything Chávez does, for me is the best.”
Retirement, TV and his Spats with Pele
In 2000, he won FIFA Player of the Century award which was to be decided by votes on their official website, their official magazine and a grand jury. Maradona won the Internet based poll easily getting 53.6% of the votes to 18.53% for Pelé. In spite of this, FIFA unexpectedly decided to add a second award and appointed a “Football Family” committee that also gave to Pelé the title of best player of the century to make it equal. This angered Diego, and has developed into something of an ongoing spat with Pelé, who Maradona calls the “old man”.
ZZZZ
The two personalities could not be more different. Pele the clean cut, corporate fan, and Diego rough, very rough, around the edges. Both great footballers, but both very different. An example. Pele just recently gave a heartfelt plea to his fellow Brazilians not to protest before the world cup, in fear of driving away tourists. He said sitting behind a huge logo for Santander bank! What would Diego do?
On 15 August 2005, Maradona made his debut as host of a talk-variety show on Argentine television, La Noche del 10 (“The Night of the no. 10”). The show is a huge success and guests have included Zidane, Ronaldo and Hernán Crespo, Fidel Castro and Mike Tyson.
Hell-raising
Cocaine, baby
It is said that Maradona became addicted to cocaine while playing in Spain in 1983 and this addiction lasted right through until 2004. By the time he was playing for Napoli he had a regular addiction, which interfered with his ability to play football which eventually resulted in him receiving a 15-month suspension after testing positive for the substance. He could no longer play in Italy.
Maradona endured another high-profile suspension three years later, this time for testing positive for ephedrine during the 1994 World Cup, sent home in disgrace after just two matches.
Looking good
Since his playing days were over, things initially got worse with Maradona having a few serious heart problems resulting in time in hospitals and intensive care units.
In 2004, he had a cocaine overdose; and was was admitted to intensive care in a Buenos Aires hospital. He remained there for several days before being eventually discharged.
In 2007, Maradona was readmitted to a hospital in Buenos Aires. He was treated for hepatitis and effects of alcohol abuse. After transfer to a psychiatric clinic specialising in alcohol-related problems, he was later discharged.
Maradona also has a habit of hitting out at the press. He once fired a compressed-air rifle at reporters who he claimed were invading his privacy. Cocaine can be like that.
But it now appears that Maradona is back in good health, he has lost a lot of weight (surgery?), quit drinking and has not used drugs in many years. Hopefully Diego will get to see his beloved Argentina win the World cup this year in Brazil 2014, as no doubt he will be picked up on TV supporting from the stands cheering on his “la Albiceleste” (the White and Sky Blues)
Diego, in his own words
Maradona
On Pele
“There would be no debate about who was the best footballer the world had ever seen – me or Pele. Everyone would say me.”
“Pele should go back to the museum.”
“The people voted for me. Now they want me to share the prize with Pele. I’m not going to share the prize with anybody.”
“He took the wrong pill. Instead of taking the pill for before bedtime, he took his morning pill. He got confused. I suggest that next time he takes the right medication and that he changes his doctor”
“Why would you compare me to Pele? My mother said I’m stronger and that he played with players who couldn’t even move”
“I don’t like comparisons with Pele because of the stupid things he says. He keeps on saying stupid stuff when he takes the wrong pills”
“Usually, when you see him these days, it’s only at award ceremonies next to the president of FIFA and looking like a doll that’s being moved by remote control”
On Beckham
“Beckham is a nice man and I’m sure he will reach 100 appearances for England. But he is just a good player, nothing more.”
On American politics…
“I think Bush is a murderer. I’m going to head the march against him stepping foot on Argentine soil.”
On the his first goal against England in the 1986 World Cup
“It was the hand of God.”
“It was like pick-pocketing the English and stealing a win.”
We have pound shops littering the high streets, cheap discount airlines like Ryanair and Easy Jet ruling the air, people buying their clothes in charity shops, and getting buses from Leeds to London for a few quid. Think you have seen it all, well what about a PoundPub!
Has life gotten any better! A pub that offers pints of beer for just £1.50 from 8am onwards has opened in Greater Manchester and, so far, has been a huge success. The Pound Pub in Atherton, near Wigan, is the second location in a chain of new no-frills pubs offering booze at extremely low prices.
The pub saves money and cuts their overheads by not offering entertainment or subscribing to Sky Sports but will have traditional games like darts and billiards on offer. Strongbow, Fosters, Theakstons and John Smith’s – are all on offer at £1 for half a pint or £1.50 for the full pint. The interior of the pub is basic and the pub’s slogan is ‘more round for your pound’.
The Reaction
News over plans to open these chains of discount pubs has angered alcohol awareness campaigners who claim that drink is already too cheap and readily available. However, Mike Wardell, a director at Here for Your Hospitality Ltd, the company behind the ventures, said it was returning to the traditional concept of a pub. “We are responsible retailers, and this is about giving value for money to working people.
No one said anything when Workingmen’s clubs were offering bitter for 99 pence a pint, in fact it was pretty popular. We will offer a quality product at an affordable price”. He further went on to explain that “These two sites are the test, and a lot will depend on how successful they are as to how we expand. At a time when 12 pubs a week are closing across the country we have to think outside the box a bit.” If it’s a success, the chain plans to bring the brand nationwide.
DOWN WITH THAT SORT OF THING!
Some residents of Atherton and Stockton have criticised the Pound Pub for taking advantage of ‘vulnerable’ drinkers and lowering the tone of the town. They are afraid that the pubs will attract the “wrong sort”.
pound pub
Chair of the Stockton Town Team, Joanna Waker called the Pound Pub ‘counter-productive’ to Stockton’s development. She said: ‘Businesses do not need to be low cost to survive in Stockton, ‘Earls of Ashwood deli serving fine cheeses and The Storytellers pub serving fine and real ales from around the world – both of which are absolutely thriving – prove it.’
A £38 million town centre refurbishment is being undertaken by Stockton, and concerns were voiced by borough councillor Phil Dennis about the scheme’s impact on the redeveloped town centre. He cautioned that the pub’s cheap offerings were tarnishing the image of the new investment. He added: “I have initial doubts and concerns about the ability of such a venue to control the environment where effectively we are selling at a point where the quality of clientele will likely match the price of the product on offer.”
Lowering the tone
Ken Lupton, leader of the council’s Tory group, said: “An individual pub with such a pricing policy would only be detrimental to the general improvement the council hopes to achieve with their significant investment in the High street. I have initial doubts and concerns about the ability of such a venue to control the environment where effectively we are selling at a point where the quality of clientele will likely match the price of the product on offer”.
The inner sanctum
This type of drivel is a joke. How do ordinary people having a few pints in a pub lower the tone of an area? It’s all well and good for the cheese eating, coffee drinking, bridge playing types to moan, but drinking in pubs is what the British do best. They have done it for centuries and if it puts a few tory noses out of joint in the local councils then so be it. Stick your 38 million redevelopment up your arse. Who the hell wants another starfucks or M n S in their high-street! Can there not be a little bit of the town left for ordinary people to drink and be merry.
Some Concerns
The pub is also raising concerns over its application to start serving alcohol at 8am. Angry neighbours claim it caters for drunks “staggering around the streets” before lunchtime.
This is also a bit of a misconception. A person can only drink so much. I am amused as to where all these drunk people would be going to, are they not already in a pub, where would they be off too?
Pub landlord, Dave Sutton, allaying fears, stated ‘If people get out of hand they get kicked out – it’s like any other pub, only cheaper.’ He also added that the pub was only met with one objection when its application for an extension to its alcohol licence was put forward last year. Which makes you wonder if all the residents objections were a figment of some newspaper hacks mind.
I will leave the last sentence to the Greater Manchester Police who confirmed there had been no problems with the PoundPub.
Drink Irresponsibly
pound pub
Colin Shevells, director of Balance – an organisation that encourages people to reduce their alcohol consumption said: “Drink is already too affordable, too available and too heavily promoted. We know that problems are caused by it being too cheap. The PoundPub is just part of a much bigger problem. We need to wake up to the problems cheap alcohol is causing both in the short and long term. We need to find a way to bring in a minimum price that doesn’t penalise the moderate drinker and the good solid community pub. So many of them are closing because they can’t compete and this will make it worse.”
The local council has also raised fears that the pub will encourage ‘irresponsible’ problem drinking and threaten public health. Wigan Council’s director of public health, Professor Kate Ardern, said: ‘Alcohol used to be a luxury, but it is now widely available and often sold at pocket money prices. Research has proved that the cheaper alcohol is, the more people drink. ‘Any promotion which potentially increases the supply of cheap alcohol and which appears to target those on limited incomes, especially young adults, who are cost-conscious, is highly irresponsible – particularly in a borough like Wigan which has high rates of alcohol harm.’
Mr. Sutton, the pub landlord, dismissed accusations of “irresponsibility,” firmly stating, “We’re not in the business of promoting drunkenness.” He cheekily noted that supermarkets flog their own value beers at a measly 40p a can—unscrutinised by councils, mind you!
My View
I have to be honest I love the idea; half a pint for a quid, £1.50 for a whole. In fact I don’t just like it, I fecking love it! I like drinking; I like drinking in pubs; I like drinking cheap beer in pubs. So far I can’t see anything too wrong with this concept!
All in for a pound
Pubs are very valuable in improving the communal spirit of an area. It’s a place to make friends, have a chat, relax, and take a breather from the outside world. Is this not better than buying a cheap can of pish from Tesco’s and drinking it all alone at home? Where are all the old men meant to spend the day and where can one relax and have a sit down after the weekend shopping spree?
Mr. Sutton, the pub landlord, said his clients were mainly old men drinking throughout the day, starting as early as 9am. Not the image of boozed up vandals terrorising the locality then. PoundPub is offering a service, and the point that the two pubs are doing a roaring trade so far supports the fact that people want them in their areas.
PoundPub’s a lifeline for an industry where 12 pubs shut weekly. Supermarkets slash booze prices and offset the price onto something else, pubs can’t compete. Dave Sutton says, ‘Pubs around the country are shutting all the time so something has to be done – and this could be it. The idea is to bring people back into the pub”. Amen to that.
Would you like to drink cheaper beer? Think that’s a strange question with only one obvious answer? Well the UK discount pub operator JD Wetherspoon’s is embarking on its first big overseas expansion by purchasing a small number of outlets in the Republic of Ireland. And this expansion in the south of Ireland has a few people upset and worried of the further demise of the traditional family owned Irish pub.
The London-based company is to spend €1.5 million refurbishing what used to be the Tonic Bar in Blackrock, Dublin. The pub will be renamed The Three Tun Tavern and will open for business on July 8th. The Blackrock pub marks Wetherspoon’s entry to the market in the Republic. It has also acquired the former Newport Cafe pub in Cork, which is due to open in the summer of 2014
The chain, which runs almost 900 pubs in the UK, is believed to be in negotiations on another 10 premises and is looking at opening as many as 20 pubs here over in the next 5 years.
The Republic of Ireland, is a tough market to crack, as it’s a heavily indebted and regulated market still dominated by family-owned bars, but the cost of buying outlets and licences in the Irish pub sector has fallen rapidly since the country’s financial crisis. Falling turnovers and huge debts are crippling many of the nation’s pubs all around the country.<br>According to a report by the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland, since 2007, almost one in eight of Ireland’s pubs have closed, bar sales have fallen by a third and employment by a quarter. The industry is just about hanging on.
This is too good an opportunity for Wetherspoon’s to miss. The company’s chairman and founder, Tim Martin, stated that Wetherspoon’s “aim is to invest up to €50m in the Republic of Ireland over the next five to 10 years, with our strong buying power we expect to provide good value with 10-20 per cent cheaper prices than most Irish pubs.”
Who are they?
Tim Martin
Tim Martin, in 1979, set up Wetherspoon’s in the London area. The no-frills pub chain, known for cheap drinks, reduced priced food, and shunning live music or sport on TV has more than 900 pubs and employs about 23,000 staff. You can find a Wetherspoon’s in every town and city in the UK, and they have a pretty efficient standardised operating system across all of their venues.
Listed on the stock market, in July 2013, it made a pre-tax profit of £77 million (€93.7 million)
Ireland!
feck off wetherspoons
But will the idea take off in Ireland: Would you drink in a British discount chain pub? Attitudes towards Wetherspoon’s’ introduction to Ireland seems to be mixed, at least from what is seen on the Irish online community. Within days of the announcement a Facebook page “Feck off Wetherspoons” was created having nearly 2,500 followers. On Irish themed forums some commentators were foaming at the mouth at the prospect of a British pub chain moving into Ireland, with one online news network having the headline “The British are coming!”
As you would suspect, many publicans seem doggedly against the development, as it will invariably lead to more competition on price, and a further division of their dwindling market. Some argued that Wetherspoon’s are too dull and sterile, with standardised platforms, offering cheap pints and average food, with no music or sport showing on TV. If Weatherspoon’s succeed some are concerned that this will push many traditional Irish pubs out of the market. Irish pubs conventionally the centres of friendly conversation, music, and watching live sports.
The negative reactions tend to focus on the soulless atmosphere in Wetherspoon’s and/or British pubs comparing it to going to McDonalds for a beer!<br>Another issue is that cheap drink attracts a certain clientele and might end up as all day drinking houses for the unemployed and alcoholics.
Some views are just outright anti British whatever about the price. One stating on a forum that they “would never drink in a British owned pub in Ireland”, while another post stated with gusto. “No. No. No. No. British “McPubs” not welcome here. Stay across the water”
Positive reactions
Positive reactions centre on the fact that more competition usually leads to cheaper prices. Competition is always a good thing. Consumers are really just interested in one thing, and that’s the cheapest price. Many feel that Irish publicans have ripped off the public for a long time now, and that if a discount chain arrives into Ireland, prices across the board might come down. A change is good for the stagnant industry.
Real ale
The “Indigenous or traditional culture” tag doesn’t seem to wash either when you consider that pubs up and down the country show English Premier League football, British horse racing, and with many patrons reading fare set as “The Irish Sun” or “Irish daily Mail” (shudder) for example, all the while probably drinking Budweiser, Heineken, or even, a Guinness with its long established Anglo – Irish roots. It’s a capitalist free market world, and competition is what the consumers want. Actually, Weatherspoon’s are just as likely to help the local Irish economy as their modus operandi is to source local beers in the UK so one could quite easily see them do the same with local breweries and up and coming craft beer start-ups, giving them a chance to expand.
Conclusion
It’s about time the Irish pubs had a bit of competition as the bar industry has criminally overcharged customers for years and are still doing it. I find it hilarious that publicans are at a loss to why they are doing so badly. It’s got to do with the public finally voting with their feet. Why spend money in overpriced bars when you can have a party in your own home with cheap beer from the supermarket.
The Vintners association of Ireland are also very powerful in the circles of power, second only to the Catholic Church. Price fixing is their forte, profits and squeezing the customers the target. Watch Weatherspoon’s hit the Irish market running.
I have drank in Wetherspoon’s several times, and they were fine, good food and beer for the right price. Weatherspoon’s pubs are where everyone starts the night off, and is also the place for the hangover fry up the next day. I do like the idea of a bar with no music, or a TV blaring out from the corner of the bar. People can chat to each other in total comfort.
burger and a pint
Would I drink in there? Yes. British ‘McPubs’ with cheap pints, good variety in beers, and quality and value in food are strongly welcome here!
Drinking in an Irish pub is still the best place to have a beer in the world. But it’s the people you’re with that makes a night out, not the establishment, and for that reason the traditional Irish atmosphere won’t die out, it might be just rocking away in an English pub chain in Ireland!
After watching Ronnie O Sullivan throw away one of the easiest Snooker World Championships (2014) ever to win, and with it some of the money I had bet on him (got him at evens with what I thought was a decent bet), I got so peed off that I said I will try online Poker, again. I tried it years ago when I had lots of free early morning time working evening shifts. I was never a great player but I did win the odd hundred here and there and was a few tables off a televised event.
Real life poker I have tried before much with the same results, not much wins, not a whole lot of losses. I tend to get kicked out of live poker as I am usually sloshed from all the free beer, and eventually always thrown out the front door!
To be honest I find Poker extremely boring, and in my opinion it isn’t even the best card game.
The card game 25, from Ireland, is a really good game, and Auction 15, a derivative of it, is my favourite game where one player can bid against a pack of players for cards.
Anyway here is some of my observations and tips! Please don’t take it too seriously!
Avatar. I know it sounds silly but I always go for the avatar of a young woman. You would be amazed how it throws people off. The majority of poker players are men, and they do have this idea that woman can’t play the game, which is of course nonsense. But you would be surprised at how men get aggressive towards a female avatar, it’s funny actually. Sad bastards.
An ace hand
I always start with the very small pot games, less than a dollar or so, and always with sit and go’s. Small pots as it takes time to get warmed up. I think poker, like any other game, is a game you need to practice for a while to get going. If you go straight for the deep end with not much game time you will be eaten by the sharks pretty quickly. The more you play the better you will get. Even if you are not winning you are getting good game time and developing your game. Remember many top class poker players train online before real live tournaments, solely for the purpose of practice. It’s all about the practice.
Even with these small pot games, you would be amazed at how seriously people take them. People would fight for a long time to win 10 cents. And then the opposite not play for less than 10 cents. I always call at the start of a hand for anything less than 50 cents. Why the feck wouldn’t you? It’s such a small stake, that it’s worth the gamble to see some of the flop and its good game time.
It’s always tempting to go in when you think you should win. It doesn’t work like that. Nearly getting a run, but one out is still out. Wanting to win doesn’t mean you will win. So patience is required, bite the lip, and hit the competitors when you do get a good hand, a definite hand. Bide your time you will get that good hand soon! I am no good at bluffing with nothing. I nearly always go with at least something in my hand. Fair dues to real poker players that can bluff, that’s a skill I can’t do.
Nice
Know when to give up a hand, even if invested a lot. That’s gambling in general, the test to see if you can walk away from a loss. That’s where people get into trouble in gambling, chasing losses. I used to have a rule for the horses, if I couldn’t get a winner in three consecutive races, then out the door. Take a deep breath, remember there will be other days! Sometimes you can also be just plain unlucky, don’t kill yourself over it. You can have two sweet ace’s in your hand but if the other fella has three 2’s or whatever then so be it!
I also love going overtly aggressive if I have twice as much money left as any others at the table. I raise everything even if I have garbage. Even if you lose the odd hand you will shake it up, sometimes it gets the other players into a panic, keeps the game going, and get players pots reduced (even if you lose). Also you won’t be beaten by a bad hand, most players would rather hold onto their crappy pot if they have a useless hand. Drives me mad seeing someone sitting on a big pot fiddling their thumbs. I mean I don’t want to be all day playing online poker, hurry it up a bit!
Sometimes players bet exactly a hundred as a raise, or sometimes something weird like 32.45. Jesus don’t make it that obvious you have something! You might as well tell the other player you have a good hand! Only a matter of time when you catch these players out.
As for going for a double in a crowded table if required. I always go for it if I have at least a Jack or more. Of course in a two player game I’d nearly go in with anything half decent, within reason, ha!
Another obvious one is someone who bets big on fecking everything (the Chinese poker player?), they usually have rubbish, and are usually gone fairly lively from a game. In my local casino it’s always the Chinese that do this, in fact in any sports (horse/dogs) they always go for the favourite, maybe it’s because they haven’t good English. People hate playing this kind of player, as they are not really playing the game, or in fact gambling, but they don’t usually last. Get a decent hand, catch them out, and they are gone. Simples.
Waiting on the last card, don’t bother it won’t happen. Think of the numbers, what are the chances of you having that run with the very last card? Exactly!
So playing for two days constant not winning not losing. I had a nice run of 6 games unbeaten, but lost a few while distracted on the net, then I got bored, went over to the 21 table and lost all my money pretty quickly. Fuck that for a load of old wank, dodgy!
Reality
So what does all this show? Internet poker is fecking boring, and if you want to win you need to be on the virtual tables’ hour upon hour. I sincerely doubt many make a living from internet poker. I have heard a few fellas say they do but I don’t believe them. Gamblers always boast, will always hear about their wins, never their losses. Have you seen some of the guys on TV that rose from internet gambling? They invariably look geeky and sad, do they in all sincerity look like guys you could have a pint and a chat with? Granted they might be rich bastards but….. no!
Nah, poker is a good game but the amount of hype that surrounds it is funny. It’s skillful but like any gambling game it’s also about luck. I am amazed at how there are so many webpages with insider tips and all. Feck off, it’s just like anything else, you get what you put in. If you want to sit on an internet poker table hours every day for the next few months I am sure you will do well, but could you be bothered?
Anyway football is my thing. Regards till then as I bin my poker face.
Please read a contribution from Matt Bowen, a friend from Canada, on his interesting first hand experience of the G20 protests in Toronto back in 2010
Hanging out during the Revolution
The summer of 2009 was notably nice, and I’m going to recall a particularly… interesting story for the readers of This Drinking Life.
At the time I was living with my mother in a small town called Roches Point. It is just under an hour’s drive from Toronto. The community is small, it is rural, and it is a great place to get drunk. For an example one particularly nice evening, I drank myself unconscious and woke up – surrounded by empties – on the front lawn sometime around noon. The town is so laid back, I don’t think anyone even noticed, or if they did, it didn’t bother them enough to say anything. It’s the sort of town where the main mode of transportation is a golf cart and the beverage of choice is beer.
At the time my 2 younger cousins were also staying at the Roches Point house, and between the 3 of us, we were known to polish off a few two-fours between us and get into some pretty heated political debates. (A two-four or “toofer”, is Canadian slang for a 24 bottle pack of beer)
The G-20 is the global meeting of the world’s 20 most successful criminal gangs, and it just happened that it was going down in Toronto. Being the anti-disestablishmentarians that we are, there was no way that we were going to miss it. And there was no way that we were going to go to sleep at 9pm the night before – well rested and ready for action – haha, no, so that night – myself in particular – got completely smashed. We stayed up well into the night, plotting and scheming about how we were going to bring down the capitalist system single-handedly, and raise the heads of bankers and politicians on stakes etc.
The next morning we staggered to the car and drove to the city. My head was throbbing, my whole body ached and I was exhausted, but undeterred. I knew something good was going to happen there.
After arriving, we joined the main protest at Queens Park and it wasn’t looking that great. It was raining a bit, overcast and I wasn’t really in the mood. At the Park were mostly state and private union’s and student political groups; everyone from Marxists and Maoists to Social Democrats and Taoists were milling about getting ready for the march. We were looking for the anarchists though, the ‘black bloc’ as they call it, that is where the fun is.
After around noon the march started, a lot of hootin’ n’ hollerin’, singing and banners; basically a parade. We walked all over searching for the black bloc and we were this close to leaving when finally we saw them. It was as if they just materialized in our midst. The Black Bloc! Now it is going to get interesting.
We marched all the way from Queen’s park to the “security fence” that was erected to protect the bankers and politicians from the hoi polloi. A few union reps blasted messages of appeasement towards protesters through loudspeakers. “Go back to Queens Park and stand around chatting for the rest of the day and then go home!” they pleaded.
It was quite clear that most of the protesters were having none of that. We all wanted to send a message to the scum, and nearly everyone was looking at the Black Bloc for leadership. Soon enough a flare was lit. The black flag was raised. (The tension was palpable) And with a roar a crowd of about 200 people – all dressed in black, faces covered in balaclavas and handkerchiefs, fists raised into the air – charged down Queen Street. The first target was a police car. It was quickly swarmed and was fully engulfed in flames in a matter of minutes.
Behind the 200 or so Black Bloc ran the rest of the crowd. Some of them devising impromptu face masks and joining the fray, others standing back and watching. The mob of unruly protesters made it to another blockade for the G-20. We rallied at the corner of King and Front, basking in the glow of several burning police cars, the sheer inertia of the Black Bloc forced the police to retreat. “Smashy smashy” Vandals hammered bank windows, spray painted A’s and ACAB’s on walls. There was a bit of confusion as the mob slowly ground to a halt. I thought we were going to try and storm the meeting, but instead the group travelled East towards Yonge St (the main commercial boulevard in Toronto) and smashed nearly every window along the way, shouting out anti-capitalist slogans and denunciations along the way.
The scene was of utter chaos. The outnumbered police just moved out of the way, let us pass and wreak havoc. Circling back around towards Queens Park, we passed Toronto Police Headquarters along the way. Rocks were thrown, chairs, bricks, anti-fascist slurs. The police could do nothing but watch and mentioning that they looked pissed off would be the understatement of the year. There was even talk of storming police HQ and burning it to the ground, but the crowd was not brave enough. Though like Ice Cube, I’m down for whatever.
So we all made our way back to Queens Park, destroying more police vehicles as we walked. The mood was jubilant, we were fearless, and at that moment we truly owned the streets. But something curious happened as we made it back to the park. The black bloc, our destructive spiritual leaders were disappearing into the crowd, shedding their clothing in human circles to block out the eyes of the police. It took a few moments for the rest of the crowd to notice, but the Black Bloc was gone.
After the BB left we figured out why. The police were quickly surrounding the rest of the people remaining in the park. They were enraged and wanted blood. After being peppered sprayed and shot with tear gas rounds my cousins and I decided to leave. It seemed like there was going to be a prolonged stand-off, and we were hungry. We managed to slip out of the dragnet and went for some great hangover food: Korean barbeque. It ‘cures what ails ya’ as Kim IL Jong was fond of saying.
After restoring our vital organs with food and drink we went back to the park. To our surprise, aside from the occasional angry police or dirty hippie wandering around, the park was empty. As we were surveying the debris and remnants of the post-modern police siege we were confronted by 3 muscle head police with tazers who were looking for a reason to use them. “GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE, NOW!” they barked. We took off and headed back to Queen Street.
We met a large crowd milling around a Starbucks that was being looted. We arrived just as a verbal confrontation started between a gang of yuppies on a 2nd story balcony overlooking the coffee shop and the masked vandals below. “This is our neighbourhood! Get out of here you horrible people!!” they shouted. “Fuck your fascist coffee shop Yuppie scum! Come down here if you dare!!” they retorted. My cousins and I stood around in amusement, laughing at the events unfolding in front of us.
Along with the darkness and shadows that the setting sun brought came the riot police with their batons and shields. Fuelled by doughnuts and anger, they set upon the rioters at once. The sound of smashing glass and laughter was soon replaced with screams and the hollow thud of steel bars hitting skulls. The crowd dispersed and the police chased us into the night.
Being faster than the police we soon outran them. We spent the next hour wandering the streets of Toronto, dodging angry police and meeting other lost souls. “To the barricades!” was the cry, and with that we were off.
Really! What a load of old horse manure. Wonder how many people they asked, and where?
The English can be the most jingoistic of nations when they want to be. Maybe if they redid this poll during the World Cup they might get a different reaction. Researchers and pollsters only get the results they want to get. Statistics and damn statistics.
The study showed that most people could remember the national day of the USA and Ireland over St George’s Day, England’s national day. Well of course they would, England doesn’t celebrate its national day in the same manner. It’s not even a public holiday, despite the fact that St. George has been the patron saint of England since the 15th century.
English
British Future, a body specifying in identity and integration which carried out the study, says the results show that many English people are too “nervous” to celebrate St George’s Day. Many people are worried that national symbols like the St George’s Cross flag may be viewed as racist, and that celebration of the national saint’s day could upset ethnic minority groups. What is racist, I ask you, in having a day to show your love for one’s country?
So Thisdrinkinglife have decided to do a write up on St George’s Day as we strongly think that English people should have this day as a national holiday and a day to fall in love with their country again. Sure crass overt nationalism, like the muppet’s in the EDL and BNP, do take the fun out of celebrating English culture, so let’s ignore them. But I would recommend a good English breakfast to start off the day, listening to Madness (insert your fav great British band from a list of hundreds) on a loop, have a few real English ales, go to a football game (Skrill conference south have a few games on), have a gamble on a few nags in the National Hunt, and don’t forget to wear your red rose, and have your flag of a St George’s cross: all these activities might awaken something inside you.
St George was also known for Charity, Courage and Chivalry. Perhaps bring your partner out for a nice meal (Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding?), donate to the Help For Heroes charity, and do not be afraid to shout out “Yes, I am English and proud”, but in a nice way least you get arrested!
Dragon
One could also attend a public St. George’s Day celebration. Unfortunately the massive parade in West Bromwich was yesterday, but In Wolverhampton, the city’s mayor Councillor is holding a food-themed celebration on April 23 to raise cash for charities. He will be hosting a patriotic event in the Mayoral Suite to celebrate all things English. But you could try and see what, if anything, is happening in your local area. There must be something!
15,000 attended the event in West Bromwich which goes to show that there is definitely an appetite for a St George’s day civic event if done correctly. The WB parade has been going for 17 years and is funded privately from donations from the community. With no help from the local council!
Must also remember that the 23rd April is William Shakespeare’s birthday. In his play Henry V, Shakespeare famously summons the Saint.
(Act III, Scene I): Prior to the battle of Agincourt:
“I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, Straining upon the start. The game’s afoot: Follow your spirit, and upon this charge Cry ‘God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'”
Of utmost important, contact your MP to make (next) St. George’s Day a national holiday and ask why England’s national day is not a bank holiday.
But anyway let’s have a look at the history behind St George’s Day
Who was the real St. George? And why on the 23rd of April is he celebrated as the patron saint of England?
St George, born in and around the year 280 in what is now Turkey, was a brave Roman soldier who rose quickly through the ranks of the army, eventually becoming a personal sentinel to the Emperor Diocletian. He protested against the Romans’ torture of Christians, was executed for being a Christian on April 23, 303, and is buried in the town of Lod in Israel. The anniversary of his death is seen as England’s national day.
The popularity of St George in England comes from the time of the early Crusades when it is said that the Normans saw him in a vision and were victorious. Richard the Lionheart and his knights brought the colours, imagery, and tales of St George with them from the land of the Crusades back to England.
England isn’t the only country that celebrates Saint George’s Day. Countries that celebrate St George’s Day include Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Malta, and Serbia. Cities include Genoa in Italy, Beirut in Lebanon, Catalonia, Valencia, and Majorca in Spain, and many others.
Why the dragon?
St George’s Day
One of the best-known stories about Saint George focuses mainly on the legend of Saint George on a horse as a knight carrying a shield or banner with a red cross, slaying a dragon to save a princess.
According to legend, the only well in the town of Silene was guarded by a dragon. To get water, the citizens of the town had to offer a human sacrifice every day to the dragon. On the day that St George was visiting, a princess was to be sacrificed. George took on the dragon, killing it, saving the princess and gave the people of Silene unlimited access to water. The residents of the small town, showing immense gratitude, immediately converted to Christianity.
You can believe in dragons all you want, but to this day St George is known throughout the world as the dragon-slaying patron saint of England.
Why the flag and the St George cross?
City of London
The most widely recognized symbol of St George’s Day is his red and white cross, often displayed as a flag. It is the flag of England, and part of the British flag. Its origins in English folklore are from the time of the Crusades. St George’s emblem was adopted by English knights who used St George’s cross as part of their uniform, during the crusades in the 1100s and 1200s. The Knights considered the colours very lucky. Richard the Lion Heart brought the emblem to England in the 12th century. It has been the official flag of England for centuries. Go to any major sporting occasion and you will see England fans proudly wave the flag of St George as they cheer on their country. It is also has a prominent place on the arms of the City of London and the flags of the city of Barcelona, Spain, and Genoa in Italy.
No Parades and celebration?
From the 15th century, St George’s Day used to be a national holiday in England, and was celebrated as widely as Christmas. The tradition of celebration St George’s day had waned by the end of the 18th century after the union of England and Scotland. In recent years the popularity of St. George’s Day appears to be increasing gradually. Organisations such as English Heritage and the Royal Society of Saint have been encouraging celebrations. Since elected Mayor of London, Boris Johnson continually encourages the celebration of St. George’s Day. And every year now there is a celebration in Trafalgar square and within other areas of London.
Rikki Hammond,in the excellent blog The Cider Drinker, has written for us a great beginners guide to cider. This is a good introduction to the exciting world of cider drinking. Rikki writes regularly on all cider related news, and reviews, on video, all the best ciders, and some of the not so good, so I STRONGLY recommend you check out his website
Picture the scenario. You’ve popped to your local shop/off-license/pub to peruse what variety of alcohol they have on offer. You’ve been a beer drinker for most of your life, and decide that tonight’s the night you pop your cider cherry. You view the drinks on offer, and decide to go for the most eye-catching and cheapest one they have on offer.
After your purchase, you head back home/to your table, crack open the can or bottle and take your first sip of fermented apple juice……….and are promptly overwhelmed by a hideous taste that makes you almost gag, forcing you to tip the rest of the contents down the sink or palm it off to a mate.
That was my first experience with cider! Now, ten years down the line, my taste buds have developed, and to all you people who have had this same experience with cider, I say to you, give cider another chance!
Of course, everyone’s tastes are different, but most people have only tried the cheap, mass-produced ciders available, and probably think this is what all ciders taste like. This is most definitely not the case. So, where do you start looking for better tasting drinks? The answer, is right in the very shop or pub you bought your first cider from.
Different types of cider
There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of different apple varieties out there, and with this comes the ability to make a lot of different tasting drinks. But first off, we need to know the different types of ciders out there, these are as follows:
Cider
‘White’ Ciders – The absolute bottom of the barrel, coming in at 6-10% ABV, no colour and usually smells and tastes of chemicals, perfect if you don’t care about taste and want to get wasted quickly, as they are usually dirt cheap
Mass-Marketed Ciders – The next step up, not naming any names, but you know the ones I mean. Usually 4-5% ABV, quite a pissy colour, and rather bland tastes in the mouth. Still cheap, although some companies try to rip you off big time, and probably the biggest type of cider people have tried.
Vintage Ciders – If you see the ‘V’ word on a bottle, it quite often means that the cider has been left to age (most likely in oak barrels,) and gives it a much deeper colour and stronger taste. Vintages usually come in between 7-8% ABV
Farmhouse/Scrumpy – Now we’re getting in to the big boys. A whole variety of tastes and colours are present in these ciders, and are almost always cloudy in appearance, due to the cider being unfiltered. This also means, you will probably get natural sediment in your bottle too. Again, these can range anywhere from 6-8% ABV normally.
‘Real’ Cider – The top end of the cider chain. Unfiltered, no artificial stuff added in, and no sugars. Just 100% pure apple juice left to ferment of it’s own natural causes, and almost always still not sparkling. The range of tastes and colours here are phenomenal, and the ABV can be anywhere from 3 to 8%.
Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg (or ciderberg if you will,) as we can also get in to apple wines, apple brandies, pommeau, ice ciders and more, but we’ll stick with the basics for now.
With VS From
One thing I have noticed from drinking a lot of cider, is the wording on the bottle can plays a big part in whether the drink is going to be good or not, and it all comes down to two words, with and from.
The process involved
If you spot ‘with’ plastered all over the bottle or can, this could mean that the drink has been made with apples, but also a lot of other crap thrown in too. All the company has to do is add one apple to the drink, then the rest can be concentrated apple juice, imported from another country, and they can still label it as cider, because it’s made ‘WITH’ that one apple.
If you see ‘from’ however, it’s usually accompanied with ‘100% apples’ or something similar. This, more often than not, means you’re getting the real deal, with no nasty additives thrown in, and makes for a much better tasting experience.
Other buzz-words to watch out for are ‘premium’, ‘refreshing’, ‘clean’ and ‘crisp’, as these usually indicate that the drink is going to be NONE of them, those words are merely there to whet your taste-buds, and to make you buy the drink, and then you will most likely be wholly disappointed with the end product.
The Next Step
Ok, so you’ve tried your hand at a few different ciders off the shop shelves, and have decided to have a pop at ‘real’ ciders. But where do you even begin? That’s where ale and cider festivals come in to play. More often than not, they will have a vast array of drinks on offer at very reasonable prices too. Find out where your nearest festival is held, and book a day to go and visit it with a couple of your mates, and let the adventure begin.
The festivals I’ve been to come in two flavours. Sometimes you will be given a beer card, which equates to £10, and you’re free to fill the card up with whatever drinks you want (you can even go back for a second one if you want,) or you simply walk in to the festival, and pay for the drinks as you normally would in a bar. Either way, you’re gonna get through a lot of drinks while you’re there. But which ciders to try?
Cider drinking
The best bet is to ask the guys behind the bar on their recommendations, and have an idea as to whether you’d prefer a sweet or dry tasting cider. The bar staff almost always allow you to have a little taster of a drink if you’re interested in it, and if you like it, they’ll fill up your glass from there. As you try out the ciders, you’ll find out for yourself which ones you do and don’t like, and can use this knowledge for when you take a trip to your next festival, because believe me, once you’ve been once, you’ll want to go again and again.
If you can’t afford to go to your local festival, have a look online to find out if any pubs are offering ‘real’ ciders, and try them there. You might end up paying a little more for them, but the end result will still be the same.
So as you can see, there’s more to cider than meets the eye. Once you’ve tasted a real cider for the first time, you’ll begin to wonder what you ever saw in those mass-marketed ciders in the first place, but the only way you’ll find out, is to go out there and expand your taste-buds!
Don’t forget to check out Rikki’s blog for all your cider related inquiries