Quest of a Closet Poker Player

weather.com had told us we’d be in for a long stay of rain while we were here. Sunday morning brought the real deal, a constant downpour alternating between drizzle and flood.

For some reason, I always forget that my left knee has no cartilage. Although I’ve been scoped once, my knee is basically no good. Hike London for four days, and I’m basically a one-legged man hobbling around in a pitiful fashion. Friday brought the entire gang, our friends and our crew, into London to hit the Tower of London. For those counting, that’s four adults and six boys (eldest daughter A stayed behind). I’ve been to this particular stop down Imperiial memory lane once before, so I hung out with the Little Guy as we looked at ravens and stone walls and Beefeaters. Still, the Tower of London has height to it, which means stairs and climbing. Sweetie and Mrs. B grabbed discount tickets to The Producers, so we left them in London as we made our way to Staines and Outback Steakhouse, the gem of all that is American by way of faux Down Under.

Yesterday was a day of football (soccer). The Big Guy and I headed to K’s 7 v 7 game to witness young soccer brutes at work. It is a fast paced game for these ten-year olds, and the lads had developed skills not seen by our suburban game of cute uniforms and orange slices. Long kicks that were headed on, one-touch passes into space, tough tackles to stop attacks. The Big Guy was intrigued, and I was glad we headed out in the remains of earlier damp days.

We made our way to Craven Cottage for Reading’s visit to Fulham. Because of some logistical snafus, we walked in as Reading cracked a penalty kick to give them a 1-nil lead. None of us realized that a Fulham man had been sent off for the infraction, so they were down a man for 75 minutes. My favorite American abroad, Brian McBride, had several great chances to equalize, and no one can ever fault his work ethic. He reminds you of a player with the appetite of a Roy Keane without the nastiness. McBride is a player who needs service to be at his best. He provided some great chances to others as well as had a couple of header possibilities. Ideally, he would have some of the Rooney/Henry skills to take a ball at the top and drive. Without it, a few other chances were left wanting. The game ended in a 1-0 defeat, with Reading moving squarely into the Eureopean mix in 6th. It is, IMO, the best thing about English football compared to American sports. This spring, Reading was finishing its workmanlike season in 1st place at the AAA Championship League, the top minor league next to the Premiership. The bottom three teams in the Premiership drop down and out of the league, and Reading ascended into the big leagues. Most newbies drop back down after a season or two, but here is Reading comfortably in 6th out of the twenty team league.

We made our three-train connection back to Sunningdale and hit Choo-Choo Burgers, a place that disgusts Mr. B. The four boys found it to be quite tasty as they munched on their cheeseburgers and chips. And I very well might sneak there in a bit. Sweetie and I watched Georgia Tech glumly fall to the BullDawgs. Tech may very well have the best player in the country in Calvin Johnson; unfortunately, they also have what might be the worst four year starting QB in the last twenty years in Reggie Ball. It not that he’s bad, it’s just that he cannot throw anything other than a hopeful Hail Mary lob and he can’t fall down and hold onto the ball when he needs to. Pitiful.

Sweetie and Mrs. B have headed to London for a final trip to Hamley’s and Harrod’s. I’ve stayed here with the Little Guy, after I had a dream of yet another day of walking the streets trying to keep up with a two year old and five other boys. He and A are watching Mulan, hopeful her football match will be called on account of a flooded pitch. Which word just came that it has.

Church and a pub dinner await tonight when the gang arrives, hopefully with a Man U-Chelsea game thrown into the mix. I just have to arrange for a trip back to Gatwick early tomorrow and we’re all set. Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend, and safe travels on the busiest travel day in America.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 26th, 2006 at 7:27 am and is filed under Uncategorized.