355.
Not much to say about today, because I really don't want to rub Rich's nose in it that they will not be winning anything this season! Saying that, though, that Lithuanian with the unpronouncable name who scored Hearts' goal this afternoon looks like the real deal. If he keeps that kind of performance going until the end of the season, no doubt one half of the Old Firm will snap him up as a benchwarmer! Much as I am pleased with the result of today's game, I must admit to feeling a bit sorry for Rich (a true supporter who, unlike me, actually goes to games week in, week out) - not because his team lost and mine won, but because he actually paid to go and watch that poor excuse for a game. For me, football is about entertainment. Lots of people pay a lot of money to watch the games, and I believe that the players have a responsibility to entertain the paying customer. There were times during the first half when I was dozing off so dire was the standard of football being played. None of the players wanted to make a tackle, no-one was running into space, no-one was making incisive passes: in short, no-one was taking responsibility. It was absolute dross to watch. The average basic wage for players in the Celtic team must be in the region of £25,000 per week - with some earning substantially more - Craig Bellamy, Neil Lennon, Chris Sutton and John Hartson are all earning around £40,000 per week. Add in win bonuses, etc., and we are talking about a lot of very wealthy young men getting paid a lot of money to kick a ball around a field. A qualified social worker earns about £25,000 per YEAR; a firefighter gets about £22,000 per YEAR; a private in the army gets less than £20,000 per YEAR. Football players owe it to the paying supporter to put on a show - there is simply no excuse for the standard of football that was on display during the first 45 minutes. In fact, the game only livened up after Hearts pulled the score back to 2-1 with 30 minutes left. The last half hour was exciting, but that is a very poor return for the fan who got up at the crack of dawn, paid to travel through to the game, then £25 to get in and another £10 for something to eat and drink at half-time. So, Rich, I feel sorry that you actually paid to go through to Glasgow to watch that rubbish, and then to come away from it all empty handed. Gavin paid me a visit this afternoon. He wanted his 135mm lens and +4 diopter back (understandably). He wouldn't take back the 28mm Tokina, and told me that I could hang on to it. I said that I couldn't just keep it, so he agreed to sell it to me. The net result is that it is now mine, all mine. Thanks, Gavin! I just sat watching a programme on TV with Liam - it's called Viva La Bam, and consists mainly of a young man with too much money and too little sense, surrounded by a group of equally young and senseless and substantially poorer hangers-on, going about destroying things - including his own home and cars. Talk about trash TV! I must be getting old, because I saw nothing even slightly humorous in what they were doing, and just found myself thinking what a waste. Perhaps rather than cutting Humvees in two and hitting golf balls at Cadillacs, this young man and his friends should be made to live on UNHCR rations in a Sudan refugee camp for a few months. Maybe then they might appreciate all that they've got. At the very least it would get them off the TV.