KwAcKy's Konfessional |
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Nothing of interest; just mindless links to bikes Birmingham City Football Club and useless junk  
  
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19 December 2006
Tis the season to be jolly Christmas is just round the corner. It’s a time of celebration, to be with the family, to set aside your differences and love your fellow man (in a peace and happiness way, not the Adam and Eve physical kind of love he enjoys with men). So why are there so many miserable chuffers about? Blues are top, we rode our luck against Preston, we were given a penalty, we saw a hat-trick scored by a Blues player and we're privileged enough to watch one of the most exciting young forwards in Europe, yet we're still miserable. Just the other week I was proud to announce that the Bluenoses of Small Heath Alliance had clubbed together to buy Ryan Hunt, his mate and an adult a season ticket for the rest of the season so they can watch Blues race to the Premier League. Just to recap, Ryan lost his mum (who was 8 months pregnant) and his 9 year old brother when a car driver lost control and crashed into the family. Ryan also suffered a broken leg and is in the process of recovering from both his physical and mental injuries. With kind thanks to BCFC, it was arranged for Cameron Jerome to hand the tickets over to the lads. The presentation on the pitch was a done a couple of hours before the Preston game. Ryan and his mate, Keighan, turned up along with some of Keighan's family. The two 7 year olds were just like any 7 year old lads. Both were chuffed to pieces to be at the football club they love, to walk onto the turf at St Andrews and to meet rising star Cameron Jerome. The photos in the Evening Mail show just how big those smiles were. I asked Cindy, Keighan's mum, how Ryan was adjusting. She told me that Ryan has good days and bad days, but he's slowly coming to terms with the fact he's lost his mum and brother. His forthcoming birthday and then Christmas will be the big tests for the young lad. By all accounts and understandably his Dad Scott is struggling and now is the time he'll be calling on family and friends for support. The photo session went well. Cameron was great with the lads and they enjoyed a kick about in the centre circle. I did get a bit worried when Keighan tried to take Jerome's legs. That might explain why he pulled up near the end of the game. Kids of today, no respect for their elders. Steve, sorry about the state of your pitch! Unfortunately, both for me and the general public, my photo appeared in the papers. I hate having my photo taken. Not just because I'm Marty Feldman's uglier older brother but photos feel to me to be really unnatural when you have to pose for them, I just become awkward and ungainly. I should have taken a leaf out of the lads' book. They posed like film stars and the produced the biggest heart warming smiles you've ever seen. Anyway, later on the week I received the following e-mail from Cindy:- Richard Just like to say a huge thank you to you and all that contributed for the tickets. We had a great game and the seats are excellent, Ryan did manage to stay for half the game but his leg started to hurt so had to leave. I would be very grateful if you could say thank you to all concerned You have put faith back into Scott and myself- you hear all the time that people are just interested in themselves but you have proved that wrong Once again Thank you from the bottom of our hearts Cindy This week sees Birmingham go to Hillsborough, scene of the one of the most horrific tragedies in British Football. On 15 April 1989, 96 football fans lost their lives when the ground became over crowded and people began to panic. Not only did thousands of people inside the ground witness the horror, but the whole nightmare was played out in front of countless television viewers. I won't go into the whys and whereabouts. At the end of the day, almost one hundred people died, affecting countless people and changing forever the face of English football. Many people this Christmas will be alone, or at home, thinking about a loved one lost. Make the most of your family, give thanks for what you’ve got, celebrate Christmas like you mean it and raise a glass that you're fortunate enough to be here with your mates and your kin to see Blues playing with a spirit and passion they lacked in the last couple of years Have a very happy Christmas and here's to a prosperous New Year. |
