Last night was a bit of a kerfuffle for me and the Memsahib as we made a dash from work to our home. First to take the dog out. Second to snatch a quick cup of tea. Third to rush back to work to spend an evening with Howard Webb. Whilst I have a number of football hero's Howard is (as a local lad) held in similar esteem.
Howard Webb is the bald headed football referee who has reached almost cult status after he refereed this years world cup final in South Africa. Howard also broke a record during the contest by issuing 14 yellow cards as well as 1 red card.
Howard spoke of one of the low points in his refereeing career. After managing the Poland Austria match. After the game ended, fans in Poland raged against Web, with hate-filled videos and images. One article on Soccerlens profiling Howard Webb received around 300 comments in the 3 hours between the end of the game and the point where comments were closed and subsequently removed. The comments were full of hate and vitriol, aiming sexual abuse and death threats towards the English referee and claiming that Webb had taken bribes to give that penalty.
His love for football and for refereeing was obvious. Evidenced by the passion that came across as he spoke of his refereeing experiences. There was little time left for questions at the end. However, the big one was asked about the use of new technology into the game. In a well reasoned argument, he supported goal mouth technology. However, he opposed other forms because "it would disrupt the ebb and flow of the game". Howard was in my opinion spot on!
As it happens Howard Webb is no stranger to the University as we have a very good sports fitness department and Howard is a regular visitor. I do hope they invite him back very soon. I have about 50 questions of my own that I would like to ask.
Questions like, "Is a referee who sends off Peter Crouch actually doing football supporters a favour" and "apart from get yourself some glasses - what other bit of advice have you had from football supporters"
Went out at lunch time for a walk round the city centre when I spotted a copy of "Canals and Canal Boats" Narrated by Brian Glover. It was for sale in one of those charity shops that now seem to fill every high street.
Priced at a bargain 49p I shall enjoy having a watch of it tonight.
Later.....
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