It's all about the Craic
By AMS August 17 2008
I volunteered to do the Craic report spontaneously, knowing I had a babysitter booked for the evening, thinking I could therefore concentrate on the rugby… I figured I’d check out the new players, get a feel for how the pre-season was shaping up and whether I thought London Irish were heading in the right direction in 2008 – 2009.
I volunteered to do the Craic report spontaneously, knowing I had a babysitter booked for the evening, thinking I could therefore concentrate on the rugby… I figured I’d check out the new players, get a feel for how the pre-season was shaping up and whether I thought London Irish were heading in the right direction in 2008 – 2009.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Ha. Yeah, right.
It started badly on Thursday night, when one of my best friends was over to dinner. “What are you up to tomorrow?” I asked… “Come to Sunbury. There’s a barbecue, there’s wine and there’s players thighs to ogle.” I know my friends and this was way too good an invitation for her to pass up.
Trouble_gb and I had had a text conversation about social plans we have for next week. “Are you going to the Nottingham game? If so, how are you getting there?” she asked. We’d arranged to meet at Richmond and share a taxi. After Foggy-Balla had sent me a copy of his hideous train journey to get to Sunbury (two changes, more than two hours), I suggested he meet us at Richmond as well and suddenly the party was starting before we even hit The Avenue.
Despite the advertised season ticket holder’s discount for the barbecue not happening, I was in way too good a mood catching up with everyone pre-match to mind paying an extra pound for supper. Familiar faces surrounded us, asked after the Munchkin and how our summer had been, then we reached the front of the queue and we were diverted by good food. If only they did BBQ like that at the Madejski! We set up shop at the end of the pitch, sat down with paper plates laden with food, plastic cups of beer/wine and started chatting merrily between mouthsful.
After we’d scoffed, Foggy suddenly asked “Do you have pen and paper?” I took me a moment to click why I needed them, so the classic Homer Simpson “Doh!” slap on my forehead was necessary to knock some sense into me. That didn’t work any better than you’d expect, so I promised to crib notes from the official report to include and frankly, gave very little more thought to it, being far too involved in catching up with everyone.
It was fun to watch the rugby, see the familiar faces on the field supplemented by some new ones. Having tried to be a Tinkerbelle over the summer, I’d joined in their grand scheme to sponsor one of the Academy lads, a certain Adam Thompstone. Emails amongst the Tinkerbelles had speculated how we might divide him amongst us – while the lads might’ve wanted say, his speed, his fitness level, his sidestep or his ability to score the multiple tries he ran in during the Nottingham match, some of the Tinks hadn’t got much past divvying up the collected parts of his body.
Most of the second half was thus spent in happy discussion with the ladies about the merits of London Irish’s personnel, with the conversation pausing occasionally to watch and admire our young Mr. Thompstone, as he scored yet another try. Having left the Munchkin at home, my excuse for missing the play at hand went from my usual “He distracted me” to “I was engrossed in adult conversation” – a treat for someone who spends most of her waking hours around small people!
When I wasn’t giggling with the girls, replenishing my supply of vitamin G and – having not dressed warmly enough - stealing all Foggy-Balla’s extra layers of clothes (explaining why I had lots of LI green and he wound up in his spare red & black rugby jersey – looking embarrassingly like a Sarries fan. Now there’s devotion!), I did manage occasionally to watch the play on the pitch. The vitamin G will explain how those memories have been misfiled, leaving me to assure you that while London Irish definitely hosted Nottingham on Friday evening, winning 38 – 12, any further detail escapes me beyond knowing a good time was had by all.
Actually, it occurs that this is exactly the point of rugby for me. I don’t need Irish to win. I don’t live or die by the results on the field although I certainly hold those who contribute in high esteem. I go to Sunbury and the Madejski because I always have a great time with all the other nutters (and a few deeply serious people) who have discovered the joy of being London Irish supporters. The Tinkerbelles have added several new supporters or introduced some of the shyer to the rather more exuberant and the fan base looks to me to be in rude health.
It was the craic that made me a London Irish fan in the first place and it continues to be a compelling reason to keep going back, to invest in a season ticket and travel to inconvenient places at inconvenient times. Cheers for the memories and everything I’ve forgotten, the Munchkin and I are looking forward to seeing you all again soon!
It started badly on Thursday night, when one of my best friends was over to dinner. “What are you up to tomorrow?” I asked… “Come to Sunbury. There’s a barbecue, there’s wine and there’s players thighs to ogle.” I know my friends and this was way too good an invitation for her to pass up.
Trouble_gb and I had had a text conversation about social plans we have for next week. “Are you going to the Nottingham game? If so, how are you getting there?” she asked. We’d arranged to meet at Richmond and share a taxi. After Foggy-Balla had sent me a copy of his hideous train journey to get to Sunbury (two changes, more than two hours), I suggested he meet us at Richmond as well and suddenly the party was starting before we even hit The Avenue.
Despite the advertised season ticket holder’s discount for the barbecue not happening, I was in way too good a mood catching up with everyone pre-match to mind paying an extra pound for supper. Familiar faces surrounded us, asked after the Munchkin and how our summer had been, then we reached the front of the queue and we were diverted by good food. If only they did BBQ like that at the Madejski! We set up shop at the end of the pitch, sat down with paper plates laden with food, plastic cups of beer/wine and started chatting merrily between mouthsful.
After we’d scoffed, Foggy suddenly asked “Do you have pen and paper?” I took me a moment to click why I needed them, so the classic Homer Simpson “Doh!” slap on my forehead was necessary to knock some sense into me. That didn’t work any better than you’d expect, so I promised to crib notes from the official report to include and frankly, gave very little more thought to it, being far too involved in catching up with everyone.
It was fun to watch the rugby, see the familiar faces on the field supplemented by some new ones. Having tried to be a Tinkerbelle over the summer, I’d joined in their grand scheme to sponsor one of the Academy lads, a certain Adam Thompstone. Emails amongst the Tinkerbelles had speculated how we might divide him amongst us – while the lads might’ve wanted say, his speed, his fitness level, his sidestep or his ability to score the multiple tries he ran in during the Nottingham match, some of the Tinks hadn’t got much past divvying up the collected parts of his body.
Most of the second half was thus spent in happy discussion with the ladies about the merits of London Irish’s personnel, with the conversation pausing occasionally to watch and admire our young Mr. Thompstone, as he scored yet another try. Having left the Munchkin at home, my excuse for missing the play at hand went from my usual “He distracted me” to “I was engrossed in adult conversation” – a treat for someone who spends most of her waking hours around small people!
When I wasn’t giggling with the girls, replenishing my supply of vitamin G and – having not dressed warmly enough - stealing all Foggy-Balla’s extra layers of clothes (explaining why I had lots of LI green and he wound up in his spare red & black rugby jersey – looking embarrassingly like a Sarries fan. Now there’s devotion!), I did manage occasionally to watch the play on the pitch. The vitamin G will explain how those memories have been misfiled, leaving me to assure you that while London Irish definitely hosted Nottingham on Friday evening, winning 38 – 12, any further detail escapes me beyond knowing a good time was had by all.
Actually, it occurs that this is exactly the point of rugby for me. I don’t need Irish to win. I don’t live or die by the results on the field although I certainly hold those who contribute in high esteem. I go to Sunbury and the Madejski because I always have a great time with all the other nutters (and a few deeply serious people) who have discovered the joy of being London Irish supporters. The Tinkerbelles have added several new supporters or introduced some of the shyer to the rather more exuberant and the fan base looks to me to be in rude health.
It was the craic that made me a London Irish fan in the first place and it continues to be a compelling reason to keep going back, to invest in a season ticket and travel to inconvenient places at inconvenient times. Cheers for the memories and everything I’ve forgotten, the Munchkin and I are looking forward to seeing you all again soon!
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StumbleuponRe: It's all about the Craic
Posted by: Griff (IP Logged)
Date: 2008:08:17:13:23:39
Apologies for the typo in the thread title - one of the wierdnesses of the new system is that I can't fix it...
Many thanks AMS, sounds like a good nght out.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008:08:17:13:24:10 by Griff.
Many thanks AMS, sounds like a good nght out.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008:08:17:13:24:10 by Griff.
Re: I's all about the Craic
Posted by: AMS (IP Logged)
Date: 2008:08:17:20:31:30
It was an excellent night out!
I had to leave out all the funniest bits as I'm sure they'd be actionable or deeply embarrassing to those involved...
I'm working on the principle of doing unto others as I'd have them do to me - if I don't tell now, I've the moral high ground the next time I do something equally embarrassing and ask them to keep schtum!
I had to leave out all the funniest bits as I'm sure they'd be actionable or deeply embarrassing to those involved...
I'm working on the principle of doing unto others as I'd have them do to me - if I don't tell now, I've the moral high ground the next time I do something equally embarrassing and ask them to keep schtum!
Re: I's all about the Craic
Posted by: MaggieH (IP Logged)
Date: 2008:08:18:13:18:45
yes, it was a great night. It's always an absolute pleasure to come to Sunbury - please can we have more games/events/ nights out there? Apparently there was a rugby game on Friday night going on as well :-)
As for Tinks sponsoring Adam, I've got a great picture of his arms, which are my bits. Contrary to popular belief, I didn't manage a photo of the bits Mrs Cheffy and Trouble own!
As for Tinks sponsoring Adam, I've got a great picture of his arms, which are my bits. Contrary to popular belief, I didn't manage a photo of the bits Mrs Cheffy and Trouble own!
Re: I's all about the Craic
Posted by: MickeyMouse (IP Logged)
Date: 2008:08:18:21:10:26
I felt really sorry for Adam after the game, as the Tinks all surrounded him pointing out which bits they'd sponsored. There was a big debate over who had his eye-lashes...!
Poor lad look *most* embarrassed!!
Poor lad look *most* embarrassed!!
Re: I's all about the Craic
Posted by: AMS (IP Logged)
Date: 2008:08:19:07:00:53
That's ok, we told Big Bob to have a word to make sure he wasn't scarred for life.
Bob said something to the effect of "It's all part of the fun, learning how to deal with the fans" and seemed to think Adam would survive just fine... and probably be quite flattered to have so many women interested in him!
Bob said something to the effect of "It's all part of the fun, learning how to deal with the fans" and seemed to think Adam would survive just fine... and probably be quite flattered to have so many women interested in him!
Re: I's all about the Craic
Posted by: Trouble_gb (IP Logged)
Date: 2008:08:19:07:45:49
Oh Adam quite enjoyed it !
Plus we had to introduce ourselves and after 2 bottles of wine it seemed like the perfect occasion.
Plus we had to introduce ourselves and after 2 bottles of wine it seemed like the perfect occasion.
Re: I's all about the Craic
Posted by: Cider in Rosie (IP Logged)
Date: 2008:08:19:18:53:29
That will teach me for leaving too early! I missed this bit.
Still - there is always the first home game of the season!
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