Chuggers.

I apologize in advance for this post because it’s just going to be a rant more than a calm and collective piece.

Every one has seen the people working at trying to round up people to sign up for a charity on the street. These people are known as “Chuggers.” (Charity muggers). Trying (mostly in vain) to be as nice as humanly possible to people walking by, asking how are they and just being generally nice. Most people will just ignore them completely, some people will say they’re too busy (some actually will be) and some will say be honest and say they just dont want to sign up.

Usually, i would be nice and smiley and say no thanks..On occasion I just say ‘im already signed up.  A few days ago, it was quite a warm day i was in  a hurry getting to the shop, pushing my daughter in a pram, because i was in a hurry i was going as fast i my legs would go. Then a woman wearing a yellow vest to say which charity she’s with stands   directly in front of me asking if i have a few seconds to have a chat, to which i said “no i don’t i’m in quite a hurry” very nicely. She pulls a face then slowly steps aside to let me pass.  I go to the shop, get what i need and start to make my way home. In the mean time, the precious cargo im carrying in the pram decides that she wants to scream and leave me a smelly gift.   Running home with a bright red Poring with sweat, Pushing the smelliest, loudest thing that ever lived, the same charity worker steps out directly in front of me again and says “I’m guessing you’re going to say you’re rushing now too?”

Genuinely shocked i just said “of course i am look at me!” to which she replies “you’re all the same” At this point i think the sweat on me was starting to boil because i was getting angrier and angrier,   i starting to move forward.   ‘She isn’t moving’ i thought. I carried on, running over both her feet with the pram and smiling as i did it.  From then on i will find other ways home, adding 5-10mins on to my journey if i have to, to avoid them.

I also have a problem with charity workers setting up camp outside the post office asking for money. (The post office which predominantly used by poor people collecting dole money). but that’s for another time.

Rant Over.

Lowly Owen??

Say the name Michael Owen anywhere in the world and you will find that maybe %99 of people will say they have heard that name before. This is because Michael Owen is a football legend.  After seeing the headline “Time to accept Owen’s lowly status”  I feel that i have to comment.

Yes, Michael Owen hasn’t had the luckiest of  years lately due to injury and the fact he was up against some of the best players in the world for a place in the starting 11.  Just the fact that he was fighting for a place along side the likes of  Wayne Rooney is proof that Owen still has something left of that wide-eyed 18 year old we all remember.  Owen is set to sign with Stoke City – not a high flyer but still in the highest league of all and would (if fit) start most games.  Michael Owen has played for Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle and Manchester United, all in the highest leagues they can be.

In my opinion He still has the ability to play for everyone of them clubs, he might not have the pace he once had but because the pace he had was so fast he still is quite quick, just because he has aged it doesn’t mean he has lost the vision, skill or control, we still saw that the last time he played. Most importantly he still has the heart and desire to play. I’m guessing he isn’t  in dire need of money but is still desperate to put on his boots and play.

You can follow him on twitter @themichaelowen. He’s a great twitterer and might even give you the odd tip on the horses too!

To me Michael should always have a place in the England squad because he is still the same man that should’ve smashed Bobby Charlton’s goal scoring record years ago.

Lowly Owen?  Not a chance.

Ageism or Sensibility?

I have just heard that a petition has been drafted and will be issued to the government to disallow elderly people over the age over 75 to drive their cars.

Now, is this a sensible petition or just plain fruitless?  Honestly it could be either, both sides could have quite realistic arguments.  We all know people over the age of 75 either grandparents, neighbours or just people we know from friends. Some might be suffering from some type of “mental illness” caused by age, some just might not be as quick with their reactions as they used to be, but not all are like that, some are just the opposite and %100 fit and healthy and have every right to drive from A to B just like any other person under 75.

Then we get the people that will say there should be some sort of test to see if they are fit and able to drive, but should we really be degrading the elderly by giving them a mental test?  I’m not one to have an automatic respect for some one because he/she is quite old but i do feel that his/hers feelings should be taken into account.  There is no proper dignified test really.  In cases like this there’s really only one way to solve this and to say whether they should be allowed to drive or not, and that is facts.

The whole point of this was because a minority of people were complaining that people over 75 years old cause crashes and fatalities.  According to the 2009 census there were around 3,800 fatal crashes caused by people over 75.  In 2009 there around 6,300 fatal crashes caused by people aged 20-24.

So on that bases should we also have a petition to get drivers aged 20-24 off the roads too? Or 45 to 54 year olds there were 8,300 fatal crashes.

Victims families are really only using an elderly persons age as an excuse, it could have been a freak accident coincidentally involving a person over 75.

So Ageism or sensibility? You make your own mind up, but in my opinion mildly Ageism.

What is wrong with today?

I am sad to say that this evening 25/08/12 The first man ever to walk on the moon Neil Armstrong has died at the age of 82.

As I am interested in all things space I though I’d do a bit of research on Mr Armstrong. So as you do you begin to type Neil Armstrong into Google (other search engines available)  Just as I finish the l in Neil a drop down box appears attempting to preempt what I am about to search for.  What do I see?  Neil Armstrong is 4th on the list, meaning he is the 4th searched for Neil.  Above him No.1 Neil Patrick Harris,  No.2 Neil Young and No.3 Neil Gaiman.  The man who’s name will be in history for ever as being the first human being to ever set foot on the moon is searched for less than a gay actor,  A Canadian singer and Neil Gaiman (apparently he’s an author)

You could say that this angers me just because I like spacey stuff, but no! This angers me because now it seems people are a lot more interested in getting the latest gossip on “Celebs” rather than looking at interesting, intellectually stimulating things – just like a person that made history like Neil Armstrong. I’m not doing this because i’ve had a slow day in the blogging world, this actually saddens me that the collective minds of the human race is slowly being eroded away by “celeb news”

Please could somebody tell me I’m wrong.

“Its one small step for man- One giant leap for mankind” – Neil Armstrong  05/08/30 – 25/08/12

International Football Retirements

It has just been announced that yet another Ireland football player has retired from international football only. Damien Duff who is only 33 years old has retired from the honor of representing his country. He is not the first person to do this: Shay Given, Damien duff, Robbie Keane teased about it, the Fai is trying to bribe Richard Dunne to stay playing by offering him the captaincy and Stephan Ireland- well thats just another story with him.

It’s not just Irish players obviously, many players lucky enough to be a regular in their respective international teams retire from their country’s team at an early age to “focus on their club”

Ryan Giggs, Jamie Carragher, Jason Koumas, Paul Scholes just to name a few retired from international football quite early. Every single one of them said it was to “focus on their club career” but as we all know it was either because they were no longer good enough or simply because they didnt want to play damage limitation matches in world cup or euro championship qualifiers.

I find it outrageous that one of the people i mentioned earlier said that he wasn’t getting paid enough for international duty! In my opinion and the opinion of many others, you shouldn’t get paid at all for international duty. It should be an honor and a privilege to be even considered to represent your country to do the thing you love to do.   Madness!

This is just my opinion but i feel that players should carry on representing their country for as long as they are physically able to, and not just pick and choose whether they want to do it or not.

Man/Woman’s best friend?

What would you honestly say is a humans best friend?

The obvious answer is a dog right? A cat maybe?

They are both right, neither would purposely harm you unless you provoke it. Recently a number of dogs have been needlessly killed or “put to sleep” because they attacked children or teenagers “out of the blue”.

These animals would not just attack anybody unless they saw them as a threat. Notice how adults don’t attacked out of nowhere. This is because most adults know how to treat dogs and other animals with love and care unlike some teenagers that think they can use this pet as a toy to mess with, then when they hurt the animal it does what every other living thing does and defends itself.

So please can everybody learn how to treat animals with love and respect, because that’s what they will give you in return. Nobody wants to hear any more stories of dogs being put down because it bit a kid..was the kid completely innocent? did he/she do something to hurt or provoke the attack? Probably, but you don’t hear that side of it.

Sport intro

From time to time in this category there will be sports updates. Manchester united is my team but i will be using all sports and all teams. Obviously if i find that the update is interesting then and only then will i post it, I won’t be posting just any little thing.

A quick note.

This is just a quick introduction to myself.

My name is Matthew Preston, I live in Ireland but am originally from Wales, i’m 20 years old.  I have been living in Ireland for 11 years.

My first love is sport, watching, playing, coaching or even talking to a random person about it.  Aside from sport I also love writing, either short stories or maybe even the odd poem from time to time.

Everything that is to be posted on this site is merely opinion, could be mine or it could be yours.  I don’t and wont claim to be the sharpest knife in the draw or anything to that effect, if you see something that you believe is wrong on here please tell me, leave a comment here or even on twitter (address to follow.)

Thanks for reading.