#magic weekend

The Australia and New Zealand Rugby League commission. It’s clear Peter V’landys is an expansionist. As an expansionist myself, I love it! V’landys has been very forthcoming with his ideas about not only expanding the NRL competition, but the overall footprint of Rugby League all over the world. He is being aggressive about it, and looking at all avenues to make that goal a reality. One area I…

"You know : the drop. Like the Drop with a big D"

The NRL's Magic Weekend Is A Load Of Crap #RugbyLeague #NRL #NRLMagicRound

It is an idea ripped off from the Rugby Football League in England and now the National Rugby League had taken it and run with it. Magic Weekend! A whole round of games played at one stadium.

What might be a decent idea in England makes absolutely no sense at all in Australia. With so many NRL clubs based in so many different population bases, Rugby League doesn’t need a manufactured event to…

Put some MTG in your D&D with the Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica.

With 2018 being Magic: The Gathering’s 25th anniversary, fans of the long-running game have been treated to a lot of new formats, products, and events. Some have been well received, such as the Dominaria expansion. Others have been more limited in their reach, like the Battlebond draft set.

One of the major changes that Wizards of the Coast made to their product release and Wizards Play Networkin…

Super League: New York Under Consideration To Host Next Year's Magic Weekend #MagicWeekend #RalphRimmer #RFL #Rugby

The Rugby Football League has confirmed New York as one of the options to host next year’s Magic Weekend.

The RFL Chief Operating Officer Ralph Rimmer who made the revelation during this year’s Magic Weekend said: “Yes, we have lots of offers.

The annual Super League event is being held for the 12th year this weekend and for the fourth consecutive time in Newcastle.

“There is plenty of interest…

Thought I’d just write a bit of a follow up to some of my previous blog posts…

Magic Weekend

So how did I do with my predictions?

Widnes v Wakefield - Prediction: Wakefield by 16 / Actual: Wakefield by 22 > Not far off with that one! Wakefield are playing quite well, but poor old Widnes are still suffering with injuries.

Hull v Saints - Prediction: Hull by 18 / Actual: Saints by 45 (to nil)!!!! > Couldn’t have been more wrong. Looks like Saints could be back up and running! A bad day for the black and whites.

Wigan v Warrington - Prediction: Wigan by 6 / Actual: Draw (24-24) > Well, I predicted a close game. I thought/hoped Wigan would sneak it, but as it turned out, they rescued a draw right at the end.

Catalan v Huddersfield - Prediction: Catalan by 14 / Actual: Huddersfield by 8 > Catalan look pretty poor at the moment. But having just sacked Laurent Frayssinous, maybe a change at the top will do them good. Time will tell. A good win for Huddersfield, nevertheless.

Leigh v Salford - Prediction: Salford by 20 / Actual: Salford by 14 > I wasn’t far off again, but probably didn’t bank on Leigh looking so spirited right now. Something they showed again on Friday with a win over Hull.

Castleford v Leeds - Prediction: Cas by 18 / Actual: Cas by 11 > Not far off again. Leeds definitely had the better of the first half, but Cas showed their class the second half, and in the end looked comfortable winners.

Mentoring Update

It’s going pretty well generally, but has been frustrating too. He’s a likeable young man - not without his troubles - but applies himself well at school. I’m confident he’ll get to where he wants to go in life, if he can maintain his passion for what he wants to do, and with just a little guidance here and there.

The main frustration has been getting to see him regularly. For one reason or another he hasn’t always been available every week (even when we’ve tried to arrange things ahead of time), and I’ve not always found it easy to contact him either. Anyway, if we can start to get a bit more momentum going, I’m sure we can start to see some good things coming out of our time together.

Badminton

One of the things that has come out of the mentoring, is that I’ve started playing badminton. I asked my mentee what he might like to do with our time together (up till then we’d either just been for a walk or a cuppa). He’s pretty sporty, so I suggested badminton. He liked the idea, so I started looking into where to play locally. I discovered a badminton club at a local sports hall, where the first week is free. So we decided to give it a go.

I’d put us both firmly in the ‘beginners’ category, even though I used to play years ago, and he’s played at school. I’ve actually played a few times on my lunch break at work too, but I’ve found that playing and showering takes too long, and leaves me feeling rushed and a bit red-faced back at my desk. It’s a good sport though, so I was more than happy to play one evening in the week.

Our first week was good. There’s a mix of ages (from 15 to 70), and everyone was very friendly. We arranged to go back the following week, but when I went to pick him up, he wasn’t in. I waited a while and then decided to go on my own anyway, and I’m glad I did. I think I’ll see if he wants to continue, but even if he doesn’t, I’ll just keep on going by myself.

I’ve even ordered a new racket from the internet (as pictured above), as the ones I have at the moment are at least 17 years old! Technology definitely moves on - it was a real eye opener researching new rackets! It’s all about weight, balance, flex and head shape these days! A far cry from walking into JJB Sports and buying the first one I saw in my price range, all those years ago! I’m also hoping to snap up a bargain spare racket from ebay too.

Asthma Update

I’m suffering through hayfever season at the moment (and probably will be until late September). It makes my asthma surface a bit more readily, but I’ve actually found that badminton hasn’t triggered it too much. I think because we play doubles, and often get a break between games, it’s not constant aerobic exercise. It’s still pretty physical though, and certainly brings on a sweat.

And if I can keep up the pilates (once a week) and get in the odd walk or game of table tennis at lunchtime, I can hopefully start to lose a few pounds again. Just need to resist the evening munchies!

Nearly Festival Time

On Thursday we go to the Big Church Day Out festival for a few days and nights of camping, activities, live music and festival food. I’m really looking forward to it. Not so sure the girls know what to expect, but I think it’s going to be a memorable, fun time for all of us. Casting Crowns and Newsboys on the main stage, and Tim Vine entertaining the campers in the late night Comedy Tent, should be a particular highlights.