The purpose of this blog..

I’ve had quite alot of mixed reviews about my blog.  Some people say that I write way too much about football, others say that the football is good and that I should keep going.  Others say that I should include more pictures of my “handsum” face.  I guess these are the trials and tribulations of having a massive fan base (20 something readers).  While I’ve been gathering feedback from my avid and regular patrons (again a massive audience), I have decided that just like everything else that people claim you should always do when setting your stall out on a huge project, you would have to set a list of things to do.  Seriously, while goals and objectives are important to reach your target in life, I think it’s a lil’ too over-rated a concept.  Too much striving can lead to obssession and obssession in turns leads to a loss of perspective as well as over-anxiety to reach your goal.  Sometimes, while we set goals for ourselves, we should just do our best, enjoy the ride and let God do the rest. =)  I have therefore instead decided to create a list of things that people can expect to find on my blog.

1)  Football (Duh)

Not the oval ball version that people play in Australia of course but the round ball version that has a world cup every 4 years.  Next one is in South Africa by the way and we might see a winner from that continent for the first time.  A truly global sport that encompasses 22 men (incl. me for almost 12 months a year) running around and chasing some stupid ball.  You will find my reports extremely biased towards Manchester United with a complete distaste for all things Chelsea, Liverpool, Real Madrid, AC MIlan and Juventus.  Obviously, don’t ask me why i don’t like them if you are a fan of any of those teams.  On a lower professional level, I also support Perth Glory (Why????).  I guess that’s cause I live in Perth, Western Australia and that the team has consistently been in the top 8 every year since the A-League was inaugurated.  In case, you are wondering, there are only eight teams in the league anyway.  

As a Singaporean, I am also an avid supporter of the Singapore National Team.  My support of the team dates back to the old Malaysia Cup days where we took on the likes of Sabah, Sarawak, Kedah, Pahang and Johore.  My Dad used to take me to games when I was a little kid and I will always have that image of 60,000 spectators cheering the team on stamping their feet and delivering the Kallang Roar imprinted in my spirit.  It also helped that they were shite so we looked pretty damn good half the time.  After winning the Malaysia Cup 24 times, the Malaysian FA decided that we were too good and kicked us out and we were forced to form our own league, aptly named the S-League.  While the way we exited Malaysian shores has been similar to our independence, the development of the league hasn’t exactly mirrored our actual transition from third world to first. Response has been lukewarm at best but what can you expect when the big wigs are not interested in developing the game and annual salaries for entire clubs can’t even match Michael Ballack’s weekly salary?  As the old saying goes…”You pay peanuts, you get monkeys”.  You can expect to hear my stories of high praises for the people that run football and sports in general in this blog.   

That being said, the awesome exposure that I have received in my younger days has ingrained a passion in the game and watching the Singapore team at the stadium continues to bring back a flood of memories especially those male bonding moments with my dad when I used to annoy him with the irritating questions of “What’s the score”, “Who’s playing better?”, “Isn’t that a penalty”, “How come we only have 2 chinese players?”.  I’m sure he misses that now =p.  The excitement and anticipation of a live game at the stadium will never leave my heart.  

In case some of you don’t already know, on the playing side of things, I play my football with a modest amateur club near the lush suburbs of the city called Subiaco United.  It as founded in 1984 by my friend’s dad (well at least that’s what my friend told me) and it is currently involved in the Western Australian Amateur League which comprises of 12 teams.  After a successful 2008, we are now back in the Amateur Premier League, hopefully to stay.  The club has a total of 3 squads and 6 teams.  One in the Prem, one in the 4th division and one in the 5th division.  We have about 90 players from different walks of life and cultures.  The club for me has been a great place to assimilate myself in terms of interacting with people from different countries and also has been a fantastic learning ground in the playing aspects of the game learning from players that have played at higher levels before, picking up tips during games and trainings and applying the necessary discipline and commitment as you are required to attend 2 sessions a week and games on sundays.  It’s been a great journey so far as I picked up a number of values that would useful in life as well.

2.  Funny Incidents & Powers of Exaggeration

Sometimes we got to learn to laugh at ourselves once in a while.  I notice that I do get a fair share of retarded and not-so glamourous moments and I would be most willing to share.  I know my friends have heaps that they remember.  If you are a friend and you would like me to blog about the stupid incident, please let me know.  For now I can’t remember cause I have selective amnesia =p.  Also, please note that I might choose not to post it as I please.   

Some of the information on the blog can be greatly exaggerated especially in the areas of listing statistics, dissing other football teams and telling jokes.  Do try to take everything with a pinch of salt because it’s all for a laugh.  If you can’t, I still love you.

3.  Random

Besides the regular football updates, I will be posting a lil’ for your info kind of stuff on this blog.  Normally, I will be talking about stuff to do with music or concerts that I attended.  I meant to post the Stevie Wonder concert but my good friend still has my videos so I obviously haven’t got to doing that yet.  As an oldies fan, do expect to get youtube videos on pretty cool songs that you may have forgotten about once in a while.  I also love reading and improving my general knowledge and would be avidly posting “Do you know” stuff once a while. 

Most importantly: God

No words can aptly describe the role that God has played in my life.  While I have my failings as a person, it is God that grants me favour, grants me the ability to write well and the opportunities that I have.  Praise the Lord!

God Bless,

Daniel