Time to update football rules, Monsieur Blatter?

I've been watching World Cup football as far back as Italia '90, I know it's two decades ago (gosh that makes me sound so old) but yeah I have been watching football for that long. I can't remember much of the Italian World Cup, but the American, French, Japanese/South Korean, German and I'm still watching the South African.
The debate that has pushed itself to the fore of this World Cup, is not why did the big names flop? or why does the Jabulani swerve even though its the 'perefectest' ball? or why Diego Forlan is the only man that knows how hit the ball so cleanly?.. no it's when will FIFA update the fundamental rules of football? The 'suits' in the FIFA offices prefer to change rules which have very little effect on the game and the players. I was reading the rules recently and the colour of any undergarments such as baselayer tops or compression shorts need to be the same as the jersey or shorts. Sock holders, shinpad holders, wrist and ankle tapes also have be the same colours. If you ask me, I'll say it is a pretty pointless adjustment to the rules. I am sure most players will have my back on this issue, because they'd rather get on with the game and know when the ball has crossed the line for sure or if a player is off-side than have any fashion sense on the pitch.
The decision making has been fairly average or poor at times at this World Cup, the majority of referees seem very keen to compete with the vuvuzelas that the watching the game feels like watch American Football, only difference is technology and the right to challenge decisions exists in the latter.
It does no one any good for Sepp Blatter to come out and apologise for the errors of the referees when in fact FIFA is where the errors lie. You can't punish a law enforcer if he was doing his job in the right way even though the law is outdated. Similarly the refs are only doing their jobs and the rules don't in fact have anything to say about the ref not seeing it before a goal stands. One match in question was the England v Germany, Round of 16 match, where Frank Lampard strike had hit the crossbar, bounced a good yard over the goal-line, then bounced back and hit the cross-bar before landing in the willing grasp of Manuel Neuer. The German defenders saw it, the goalkeeper knew it, Frank Lampard and his team-mates saw it, the whole stadium saw it, Sepp Blatter, Michel Platini, David Cameron, Angela Merkel and millions of viewers saw it but the goal did not stand because the referee and his assistant did not see it. The sound of that makes the whole situation even more ridiculous.


see for yourself...



If FIFA could invest so much technology in getting the Jabulani up to 21st century standards why can't they, in the same vain, get the rules on goals up to 21st century standards. It's very simple put some cameras on the crossbar, or in the nets or above the nets, or a chip in the ball with GPS satellite. There must be some cost-effective way to eliminate such blunders. I don't think it removes the human-element either as some anti-goal-line technology folks will say, it takes 3 seconds to have a review radio the ref and decision is made. Heartbreaks will be prevented, referee jobs will be more secure because they know they can't be judged on the blunders.
Sepp Blatter's apology is a step for us to hope that very soon there will be changes to the game we love, one day goal-line technology will be the normal football world. Hopefully that day is before summer 2014 in Brazil.

A random poem...

I was reading through some of my poetry when I stumbled across this... it makes a good read and quite interesting enjoy:

Walking through the station

I’m not alone, a million and one souls

Are moving at the same time with me

Yet I could see you from afar,

You stood out, sitting by the news agent, one in a million

Brown Skin

I walked into the room

Greeted by the scent of cocoa butter

Your everyday protection of your ebony skin

Stopping by the door, I watched-

I watched you in front of the mirror

Your beauty so radiant, reflected around the room

I watched as you coated your toned legs in the cocoa butter

Your legs, elegantly shaped, curved with accuracy, toned to perfection

As you rose towards your thighs, I widened my eyes

Gazing at your beauty so soft like beaten batter.

You then crossed your legs, your posture, regal it became

I knew you were queen, a goddess of beauty

Suddenly your towel dropped revealing your back,

A cool rush of air upon your spine came upon me

I stand as a mere mortal in awe of your magnificence.

Life Soundtrack - iTunes

Well, well, after a month,  I'm back with a plentyto say but not really knowing how to say it. So we'll kick off with a bit of random trivia type of blog
alright, take your entire itunes library, put it in shuffle, and the first 18 songs correspond to the 18 songs in the soundtrack to every 'scene' in the movie of your life...


here goes mine...



Opening Credits:
So Confused - Pretty Ricky


Waking Up:
Be my #2 - R. Kelly


First Day At School:
Where Does Love Go - Eric Benet


Falling In Love:
Never Again - Justin Timberlake


Fight Song:
We Shall Dance - Demis Roussos


Breaking Up:
I'm Cheatin - Dwele


Prom:
You're The Only One


Life's OK:
You Made Me Love You - R. kelly 


Mental Breakdown:
The Appeal


Driving:
Mrs. Officer - Lil Wayne


Flashback:
Just Me and You - Bobby Valentino


Getting Back Together:
Say, Say Lil Fine Ass Niggah - Joi


Wedding:
Shiver - Maroon 5


Birth of Child:
Making Money Counting Hundreds


Final Battle:
I Have Seen The Rain - Pink


Death Scene:
Charlene - Anthony Hamilton


Funeral Song:
That'll Be the Day


End Credits:
A Kind of Magic - Queen




NOW GO TRY URS OUT....


Adieu!!!

What are you waiting for, come on get your read on

Random title I know, but seeing as I'll be very busy in the coming weeks with extra hard revision for Law of Tort, I figured I'd spice up the blog with a catchy title... I bet it worked!

Lately, what have I been going through you may ask? Well to put it mildly, a lot! Oh yes a lot of nothing... sorry to burst your bubble there, but a lot of nothing has been happening to me and around me... The reason is everyone is on their essay or exam mode so conversations that used to be 'hey what you doing this weekend' now sound like 'how many essays are you handing in on Monday' or pick up lines like this :

(scene: A club, somewhere in Leeds on a Friday night)
Guy: Hey, have we met?
Girl: No, but I'd like to meet you if you buy my next drink
Guy: What you drinking?
Girl: Apple Martini please, and one Cosmo for my friend too

Exam times now make em sound like:
(scene: Level 1, Library in Bradford on a Monday night)
Guy: Hey, when is our next dissertation meeting?
Girl: It's tomorrow 2pm, btw are you going to Sainsburys?
Guy: In 5 mins, why?
Girl: Could you please get me a bottle of water and 2 cans of Red Bull, I'm doing an all nighter

The human body is engineered to go hours without recharging, I've noticed from observing people's study patterns, some can go close to 48 hours refuelling with water, red bull and relentless... I'm sure shopkeepers can't wait for exam time to come around, cuz that's when they sell almost anything and everything. Some students smoke packs of cigs to get by, some stuff their faces with wine gums, others guzzle bottles of Ribena, pretty much everything gets sold in corner shops during exam times.

Moving on, I couldn't help but pause in utter shock when I overheard a passer-by say, 'sometimes, I wish I were back in prison'.  He was comparing his life in the two worlds and the life behind bars gave him a roof, good food, TV, gym and a bed and ironically the 'free' life gave him nothing but anger, hopelessness and a wish to return to the pen.  The government ought to sit up and ask why? Why would a free man prefer life in prison? Something must be wrong with the system outside, and I mean something must be really really wrong. Well, Thursday is less than 48 hours away and the election race could not get any hotter! DC is as cocky as Jose Mourinho (before and after his Chelsea days), NC is playing it cool and not getting 'bugged down' with the 'Cleggmania' while Mr. PM, GB (ironically Great Britain) is calling for 'strategic voting'.  Obvious signs of fear and desperation, I'd say.  But good luck to all the candidates, it is interesting to read their manifestos, even the BNP manifesto made a good read at times, other  times it was just a laughing stock and an indication of an absence of logic and an ignorance of REAL LIFE.

I'm sorry to say but many football fans are more concerned about this weekend's result than the election result. We want to know which set of fans have 1-year bragging right, we want to know who showed class, composure and a clear head on the final day when it mattered most. We want to know who finishes fourth in the hard fought race.  We already know what Arsene Wenger will be saying 'I feel for the fans especially, they deserve more' blah blah blah for 5 years they've constantly been deserving more... Arsenal are a great team when they win and a bunch of Sunday league kids when they lose. They never seem to have an in-between, they rarely do and I think the excessive shrewdness of Monsieur Wenger is to blame for their dusty trophy-less cabinet.  Their London neighbours, who live in Craven Cottage, might  be tasting glory this season and I hope they do, for 'Lord' Hodgson's sake. He is a true gentleman, a role-model sportsman and a fine manager.  Bobby Zamora, looks a different player now, Clint Dempsey turned from a nobody to an American Idol.  When they said there aren't any good British managers they must have been suffering from memory loss.  Even Steve McLaren has proven his critics wrong, he went abroad and conquered and he is now a Dutch title winner.  Football managers, today has become overly scrutinized and criticized when in reality the players should be partly blamed.  Like one manager said recently 'when they cross that white line, there is little I can do for them', which is very true because even the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, Fabio Capello know that when it is all said and done the 90 minutes the players spend kick and running defines the game a lot more than the team talk.

Well, it is time for me to hit the sack now but before I go here is a random statement I once heard a young man say 'I don't want to get married, cuz I don't want to get divorced'.  Wow! society must be breaking down if marriage and divorce come together... I shall talk about that next... (remind me)...

Good Night!

44-4 - 3rd World Cardinalz

My next blog is a rap I wrote when I was a member of the group 3rd World Cardinalz... It was a group of myself aka Billy Bones, William P. Obubo (the poet that couldn't rap), Julez Jigsaw, Julian E. Obubo, (the rapper with a stammer), Tha A.N.G., Angelo Portier,  (the shortest basketballer I knew and now established DJ, Music Producer & Engineer).
This was a high-school phase and I guess it kinda made us closer and we had a message to give to the world... we never got to record our music but the beats still exist and the raps are still in hard copy... MAYBE someday the 3WC (3rd World Cardinalz) will hit the charts... Someday...


Well to the rap, 

44-4 – 3^rd World Cardinalz

Where do I start counting after 4:44?

My day just started like the day before

The 44^th second and nearly a quarter past 4

I’m barely a quarter past 4 but I can’t take no more

And I can’t wait no more till I slam that door

Raise my hands; feel like I’m free once more

But no, my day is done at like 5:44

Walking home, blue-red-siren it’s the POPO

Now I’m thinking, be calm, it’s just some routine go

Raise your hands and take a step no more

What I do to invite this-tell me-I don’t know?

Before I could move I’m staring at four 44s

Running aint wise, cuz I’ll be gone before I hit the floor

Excuse me officer but what is the problem to you?

They aint talking still point their four 44s

The Mike Johnson in me wanna mark, set and go

Then I remembered, ey, I got my own 44

Should I respond, damn it’ll be like some Western show

I reached for it- but homie- I was just too slow

Adieu!!!

RE: Letter from the Prime Minister

Well, well... it's been a whole 9 days since my last blog, I sincerely apologize.  I've been pretty caught up with reading books on politics and social change and rounding up an essay on the collapse of apartheid in South Africa.  When I started the essay, I wasn't to sure if I could really write 4,000 words of logic and sense but after research and reading and several toilet and water breaks in-between I finally ended up with an essay I'm very confident in.
Well let's move on from the essays, yesterday I came home from a pretty long and interesting day to open my mailbox and I received a letter from Mr. Gordon Brown, that's right, the Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party as he so eloquently put it in the letter.  Writing about it, it kinda reminds me of times at home in Holland when the fax machine pours out several letters claiming they are from the President of Nigeria, difference is though, the fax letters were scams from 419ers telling us about several unthinkable millions of dollars that needs a bank account to be stored in.  It makes you wonder, are there really people out there that receive such letters or emails and actually fall for the unbelievable claims they make?  Cuz even the lottery just doesn't work that way, but I guess the saying 'money is the root of all evil' is so very true for people to be so greedy.
Well let's get back to the Prime Ministers letter, he opens like this 'Dear William Obubo, Since I last wrote to you...' Let's get the facts straight here Mr. PM, you've never written to me so please don't flatter me by sounding all friendly and familiar but I do commend the personal touch nevertheless.  He goes on to talk about how 'we' are going tough financial times; we? really you and I? Mr. PM, I'm sure you've never checked up on my Tesco shopping or offered to cover my Sky bill or T-mobile bill or even given me £2 to take a bus to the School of Management, so no, I disagree, we haven't been going through tough times together, I have, you haven't.  The truth of the matter is, you have seen several people like me go through tough times, there are even people worse off than myself and they have been immensely affected, so I'm sorry but I'd say the 'we' thing is grossly patronising and might be offensive to some people.
I'd be straight up with you Mr. PM, the attempt to win people over now with just about a week before the elections could not have been more dented by the 'bigotgate' as the media have so kindly named.  The question and answer sessions have done a lot to prove that there is a huge void between the electorate and the politicians, especially the leaders.  The only time they (the politicians) run to us really, is when they need our support or our votes. Once we are done voting, we are dumped on the streets like left over fish'n'chips... If a democracy is a government of the people, by the people, for the people then I'm sorry to say Mr. PM we aren't in a democracy.  The best leaders are the best servants, and simply put the country is lacking any.
So here is my reply Mr. PM;

Dear Gordon Brown,

Thank you for your last letter, it was very kind of you to write.  The events of the week ahead will help me decide how I'd vote.

Yours sincerely

William P. Obubo
Student and Member of the Electorate

Adieu!!!

PS: I'd scan the letter and post it soon....

Watching The Wear

Watching the Wear

The sun’s shining bright
its sparkling reflections upon the river Wear,
makes glaring upon the water a rare sight.

For some strange reason
I’m wearing a jacket,

I know that it is sweltering hot, though.

My right leg is crossed over my left giving-
a slight muscle pull and a sharp tingle in my toes.

I just watched little boys and girls,
kindergarten ages, in baby blue polos-
and ashy grey skirts, trousers and pinafores,
run past me along with their teachers.

Two fishermen, one on either side of the river.

They wait patiently for their catch,
I’m waiting patiently for Julian and my dad.

I’ve only been in Sunderland for 2 hours,
but my ears have tuned into its ambient sounds,
the roaring rustic metro, the buzz of the double-deck buses,
the clanks of modern construction, the Northern English accents and-
the low deep flowing tone of the river Wear.

I am anxiously waiting to see my own town of Bradford.

Adieu!