Soccer, the world farce

Good morning,

last night brought the announcemnet of the host of the 2022 world cup & the 2018 world cup. i will make a major comment here. the two nations that wond the cup, where the ones who there had been large speculation about if they had been manipulating votes. Qutar and Russia will host the soccer world cup. well here are some bomb shells for you.

the technical evaluation ranked Quatar LAST out of the candidates for the 2022 world cup. the weather is unsuitable for games to be played and there is no strong soccer population or even devloping soccer population in that country. they either pay people to go watch or they play in empty stadiums. wow how bad is that!

following the bomb shells arround the voting for the Atlanta and Salt lake city olympic bids, the IOC took a long hard look at its self and cleaned out and sorted their stuff out. the process is now more open and accoutnable. but then we have the FIFA example. the media is coming out with a new revelation every day that some one in FIFA has done somthing wrong and not above board. but they have not acted. to determin the olympics, every nation votes, which means great big block voting. but it means that a country can vote for their best intrests.
but the FIFA executive is made up of a select group of 22 who represent the world game. (for more information visit http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/federation/bodies/exco.html) and the head of the Asian Federation is from...... Qutar! O M G, he had influental lobying power. and of the bidding nations, who was the only nation without some one on the comitte? Australia. Which region did FIFA remove the one vote from, due to corruption allegations, whilst not fully investigating all claims prior to the vote? Oceania, which was gaurnteed to support Australia.

so i say this. FIFA you need to clean out your house. open up the bidding process, acknoedge the corrupption and the things that happend in the lead up to this vote and realise that the key decsion needs to be made be the soccer nations of the world and not your select boys club. sure, it means that the process may need more infomration and things put togehter but having a group of just 22 decide who wins, means that you leave your self further open of corruption and interfernce from outside sources.

and at the setting of the sun, we will rember

ok so if you read this (if any one actuly reads what i wirte) i guess this will be a bit of a part II.

back in april i wrote of my experinces of anzac day in a foreign land. now i am back home, we had our second day for remberance, Remberance day.

well if you read my face book today it was bombarded with two peices of "poetry" from my hand.

Gonzo McCoy today at 11am i watched the clock tick over, i stood in a busy shopping center, as the last post played and watched people walk around, chat amongst them selves, and generally ignore what was happening. a few stood still, silent, quietly reflecting on what has been.

i ask... those who didn't stop and wait, have you forgotten?

 Gonzo McCoy as the world continues to turn, we pause, we reflect, we remember, not just today but every day, that there are those out there who continue to give and to serve. in peace time and in war time, we will remember them,

Lest We Forget

 

both of these postings elecited fairly strong responses from my friendship list. not so much heat on twitter, but they were still posted.

 remembrance day is the day where most of the Allies, who Australia has fought alongside, remember their fallen dead. why? well because today is the day when the First world war ended. i find it a bit sad that many people cannot find the time to turn out for the marches and services in the city and in the local communities around Anzac day or observe a simple minutes silence at 11:00 am. and i don't feel that "i was caught up in my computer" is an acceptable excuse. i actually deliberately did not go to the local service. i wanted to go and see how every day people responded to this day. i was in target at the time. some of the store hands continued on working, a few customers continued to chat on their phones, and a large number of people in the main shopping centre conitnued about their days. but the most beatiful thing is the people who just stoped. where they were, to reflect. they stood isolated as the world bustled by them. i wish i could have captured it in a photo but i am not that good a photographer, as others bustled past them, they just stood there, one man i saw almost moved to tears. cashiers were told off for trying to continue to work, and staff were told to stop and wait, just for a minute. well here is the sad bit. the majority of the people who i saw who chose not to stop and wait, were young people. there were a few who stoped and understood why they were standing still. but many continued on.

 both of my grandfathers served in WWII, my paternal grandmother was directly affected by WWI, and that gives me a personal cnnection. i spend each Anzac day giving my time to ensure that we will rember and that we will not forget.

i wonder thou.

as the number of vetrans slowly reduce, the number of people in the RSL continue to dwindle, i wonder if the day will come when only those left to rember will be those who are comitted to rembering. i will continue to be invovled and i hope to ensure that i, and if i am every lucky enough to have kids, they will also rember and i will continue to be invovled.

and here is the most controversial thing i will write here. i think alot of people (not nessacaily my friends but some of my peers) only truly appreciate anzac day becaue it is a public holiday.

 i will borrow some words here. the come from a friends mother, from face book

A veteran is someone, who at one point in their life, wrote a blank check payable to their country for an amount up to, and including, their life. That is beyond honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer remember that fact.

i will leave you here with some one elses words. they sum it up. its the ode, and i will memorise it one day. but please think abuot it. this is not a glorification of war. this is a call to my peers and those arround me to rember what was given so that we may have our liberties

They went with songs to the battle, they were young.

Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.

They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,

They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them.

untill next time

Richard "Gonzo" McCoy

  

Would FML be to harsh?

well this is going to make me sound like some bloody angsty teen. but here is the thing. the problems we have as teens some times dont go away and some times they properagte them selves in new and exciting fashions.

i guess this post is a venting of my spleen.

i have to say that i find a number of things about my life frustrating. for any of those playing at home, i have been single since March 2006, you do the math. just a few years. (it may actuly be since 2005, i dont care that much either way its a while)

well since then i have asked quite a few girls out, eihter my timing has sucked or i have miss timed it horribly.

well let me phrase some of it this way.

when the dust has settled, and it seems that your life has come crashing down arround you please rember that when its all said and done, that standing, isolated, solitary, watching, waiting, guiding & protecting, i will be there. standing strong, i will be that figure you will look for. i have remained there after all this time, and nothing can move me.

well i know that all seems a bit morbid and a bit self centered, please understand. i find me self at the core of many peoples lives, when their life falls apart, they come to me for support and help. well the problem is that this time, its me. i am watching yet annother friend go and find happyness and joy in simplicity and company. what does that mean for me in the immediate, more time by my self and more solitary. what does it mean for me in the longer term. well if it all works out it means i need to find annother person or people to fill the void left by the departuer of that figure. but in the more likley senario (sorry kids) is that when it does eventuly come to an end, quite often i am left as the person who people come to.

well to be honest i am a bit tired of being in a situation where i am the one who is always told "no, sorry, i am allready dating x" "no, sorry, i like you too much as a friend" "no, sorry, i am not intersted" & just plain and simple "no, sorry" and watching those arround me be smitten, falling for others and finding joy and happyness. i am truly happy for you and i hope you enjoy your time together, but i am allowed to be a bit tired of being on my fortress of solitude. the problem is that many have come to visit, some have even stayed for exteneded periods. but that always comes to an end.  

well thats enough angsty BS from me. i just needed to vent. i will probably actuly write somting meanigful in the next week or so and this will disapeer in to the ether. or it may just provided a insight into a person who people see as being unbreakable, the honest reality after a while even the mightyest rock will crumble.

i hope that i can find the right supports to stop it from happening to me..............

The truth is

I miss people
Saying goodbye to my friends in Aus was no stress, I knew when I would see them again. But my friends in B.C, I don’t know when I will see them in the future. And the question is how does one person have such a profound affect on so many, without doing that much.
It’s kind of made up with the “catch ups” & “reconnects” as I go along, but it’s the good byes and the fact that at least for now, I am alone on the road. I had my second broken moment as I sat on the bus and it drove out of Vancouver, just over a week ago now. I have been fine since, but I think it’s important that I articulate the feelings that I have. That I will miss many people, and it seems that many will miss me.
Life would be so much simpler as a hermit.

Keep Calm and carry on

These are the words I am greeted by every time I reach to pull out my journal to write about my experiences. These words come to me from a very nice journal which I bought for $10 and are in the form of a replica of a WWII poster from the UK. The words of war. Yet these words are just as relevant in times of peace. Every time I feel like I am going to go to pieces I just remember those words. Those five simple reassuring words that remind me that what I am doing here is not beyond me. For those who don’t read my other blog, I am trekking across the world for the next 4 months pretty much. I have jamborees and many other scouting activities that I will be participating in as I go along but those words remind me that what I am doing, whilst big and challenging is doable. They also remind me that I am more than capable of doing this trip and still maintaining my personal identity.
It the fact that I make friends and invest in my personal relationships that make things so challenging at times. I have two families. And now that I am leaving Vancouver and British Columbia, my friends who have been my family here, will no longer be here. So when things start to get tough I will speak to my family back in Aus. But until now I haven’t needed to because of the fact that I had my friends here.
Well I will continue to spend a number hours as I travel to write on musing and thoughts I have as I go. I really am not placing a limit on postings and the topic I write on. So the topics may be rather broad. Possibly about sport, about scouting, about life, religion and all kind of things. I will have a lot of thinking time and time I am able to write and as Douglas Adams said, don’t panic (and always have your towel) and I will remember a very simple message
 
Keep Calm & carry on

when i am 30

so this is a bit of a self reflection exercise put in the public domain. why? BECAUSE I CAN!
in the corporate land we talk about planning and you are always asked the question in a job interview "where do you see your self in x number of years" well i turn 25 in 32 days. so the question came to mind i started making affirming comments and decided to post them.

When i am 30 i will be:
5 years older
married- i hope
paying off a morgatge on my own home
working in the sports industry
doing somthing remarbale in scouting
still at a reasonable size
and most importantly

enjoying life and still exploring.

well lets see how this goes in 5 years :-D

i could elaborate on things if you wanted. but i get the feeling that i am talking to my self most of the time on here

From 100-80

so. my story. well one of my many stories. that will tell you a small bit of my life. i poured some of my deepest thoughts out in my blog posting about anzac day. and today i will air some of my darkest and toughest secrets. i will share with you some of my thoughts and just what it means to be me.
i was always that kid. the one at the back. the one who couldn't. the one who just didn't quite fit. the one who floated from group to group trying to find a place to belong, never quite getting there. and i found my places to belong, to find my purpose. i found happiness in the darkness of the theater and the quiet of the library. a sports lover who found his solace in the shadows. i still attracted my fair share of attention and collected my accolades.
i found joy in the oddest of places. i was happy. i fought some battles, some larger than others. i knew i was never going to be the best academically, because of my learning disability. i knew that i wasn't going to be the best and i was going to be lucky to get into university after a damaged my brain. that was square one all over again. but i battled through. i saw the next day. and i was stronger, even if a little bit damaged for ever.
i made it through uni, i was happy. i found a job, i was happy. i looked in the mirror and i was happy enough with what i saw. until one day i stepped onto the scales.

triple digits.
i realised i had to do something. but that wasn't enough. the day when i discovered that my pants were getting to tight at a size 38 and i was approaching a size 40, that was the turning point. it wasn't anything but that key.
but the question was how to make the change. well here we go.
it wasn't until almost 6 months into my employment at MARC that i decided to commit to it. with a few small changes i had dropped to around the 97 kg mark. and with some support and guidance, i found my way to 90 kgs. but couldn't break it. for about a year i stabilised at that point. but through out the next year i continued. i found a class i enjoyed, i started to improve. i slowly moved from being the middle of the pack to being towards the front. i was no longer that kid. i was average. but i still knew there was more. come the six week challenge in 2009, i decided i was going to go for it. and i did. i committed to making changes. i started to make time for everything i wanted in my life. and eliminated that wasn't important. i started living every day. i started riding my bike to work once a week. i started making decisions for me. i realized that i could be even more than what i had thought i could be. just where would it end? with the support and encouragement of some amazing people i went from being that kid at the back, to be that guy at the front. i achieved level 10 on the beep test. i did a 5km fun run in 26 minutes. and i felt and looked good. but i wondered if i could go further. but then i started to get bogged down in the fact i was leaving. a plane awaited me. i was going over seas.
and i was static. i was walking, but my fitness was not improving. and even going backwards in places. so i didnt go back to the old fall back of "it will be ok in the end". no. i was a changed person, and followed the same advice i gave others. take control. and be the change agent in your life. so i set about exercising once or twice a week. with the walking i was doing each day, it was enough.
then came the day when i was curious. there are scales in the bathroom here, where i live right now. i stepped onto them. and the number came up. 190 pounds. and the next time i stepped onto those scales 180 pounds is the number that greeted me. and then one day i noticed that the needle was sitting just below the small number that said 80kgs. the last time i had weighed in at that weight i was 15/16. nearly a full decade ago. unlike other times, the weight has stayed off. why? because this time, it was life style choices and not a commitment to pushing my self that has made the difference. i eat smaller meals. i eat a good balance of the nutritional groups. i eat fruit again. but it is the advice and the knowledge that i could from the challenges that i knew i could.

so what have i achieved in the past 12 months?
Completed a 5km fun run in under 27 minutes.
started swimming regularly and now do over 1.5kms in a session, pushing towards 2kms.
reached Level 10 in the beep test
probably dropped a pants size.
and i think i am probably the fittest i have been in a very very long time.

now then today i don't think i could do all that. because i haven't been doing any running training. and i am not working out every day. i am merely sustaining what i have achieved.

there is a part of me that know i can go further, but i don't know about my weight. i think i may be close to bottoming out, without compromising muscle mass. (thanks to the BMI i have to weight <75 kgs to be "normal" weight). so i wonder. maybe i can work towards doing something silly like a triathlon. maybe. or an epic canoe trip. or who knows what.

but after all that rambling i will pass on a simple message. i decided to make a change. when i am unhappy with my circumstances i set about making a change. i control my own life and i am master of my own destiny. yes there are things that i cannot change, and those things occasionally do get to me! but, i do take control of my life and make changes that are for me. your life is your own. if you are unhappy with something, it is up to you to make the change, not some one else. You need to make your own priorities and take control.

well thats it from me tonight. maybee another posting in the next few days. this blog will probably go a bit quiet as i travel as my travel blog takes the highlights. but i will continue to post and will probably post on a few ideas and disucssion topics i have. now i ponder if i am talking to my self?

ANZAC Day in a foreign land

April 25

this year i find my self in a foregin land. in an unfamilar country, without the self assuring routine that i have engaged in for the past 4 years. a yearly  involvment that has been part of my life since i was 16. the knowldge that my simple example of mearly contributing would not be enough any more. but to stand proud and pay my respects true to my orgins in a crowd where i was just annother Aussie or Kiwi.

as the sun sets on the 24th, me and a few good mates, set out on a walk. the annual nite hike. we commit our selves to completing the task before us. one of, if not the oldest team, with an average age of 23. unlike those younger than us, we no longer have the same lack of injuries, and we set about walking the 24 kms of the course of nite hike, walking through the night watching the sun set and rise in the 10 hours we were out and on the trail, aiming to reach every one of the 26 stations and completing every activity. the significance of the night felt fitting when i was planning my day, but its only on reflection does it start to make sense.

a dedication to a task, a challenge and a commitment to your mates, to support them and to reach the end together. and the most important thing. not letting your mates down.

 i arrive at the place called victory square, not for any battles that have been fought in that square, but for those who have fought and fallen, and those who fought and stood proud at the setting of the sun. surrounded by Kiwis & Aussies. as the ode is read, i feel the common feeling slowly building within me. i cannot explain it, it is a sense of pride, of sadness, of deep meaning, of respect, of those who give them selves selflessly. in that moment there is nothing, as the last post is sounded across the square, there is nothing else in the world around me. just the sound of that trumpet and the people around me. the street noise disappears into nothing. and as we return to the world we are reminded of a simple message of "lest we forget"

Well that's is from me. i know its a long post. but if you read into what i say, i remember more than just those who give themselves in battle. i remember all those who give them selves selflessly for the community and those around them. those who pitch in and go into bat with their mates.what is to be taken away from this is that i will personally always find time, regardless of where in the world i am, to take a moment and remember. and come the 11th of November, should your phone ring at 11:00 am, decide if you really do have to take that call? or can you spare just one minute for those who gave all of their minutes so that you have the chance to make that choice. and if you happen to be walking past a cenotaph or a memorial, take a moment. go in. have a look. and read the names & learn from their stories.

well i will post this tonight but there may be some edits in the next few days to this posting. also i have a few more articles/blogs that i will post. but no spoilers at this stage. Maybee next time some song tags for you to listen to to provoke your thinking. prehaps i might have more to say about this at annother time.

A follow up to my comments regarding the NRL salary cap

so the comments and media continue to issue explosive statments about this incident. well here is the bottom line. the Melbourne Storm discoverd the rorts, not the NRL. the storm went the NRL and owned up to it. what happened after? the storm got reamed. now then, annother party that has seems to have escaped suspicion and accusation. thats the player agents. now they are the ones who negotiate and organize all the payments for their clients and even take a healthy 10-20% cut of the players income. so yes the storm did the wrong thing. but as i noted allaredy the penalties issues do not match the crime, based on previous penlaties. but it also sends the message that if you get caught by the NRL they will punnish you but wont have you hisotry for FOUR WHOLE SEASONS be eraised. but if you own up and say "look the people who were in charge did the wrong thing" they will take you to the cleaners. what can i say. News lmtd, thank you, you belive in the storm and what it stands for, but the NRL you have made it perfectly clear that you do not want the storm in your competion. and whats this, a nsw team allraedy to go should the storm fold? well isnt that a bit suspisous!

come on, i know i am sprouting conspiracy theories now but i seem to feel that the punishment is going the wrong way. criminal sanctions will follow for those involed quite possibly and the Players agents will probably be deregisterd. but the punishment to the players and the supporters, the innocent parties in this is unaccptable. punish those responsible not those who are also victims.

oh yeah. i am still behind the Purple fury 100% and will support them.

post script published 29 April 2010
so i heard a wonderful bit of commentary the other day. it was from the ABC. and they made the comment that if the NRL discovers a larger rort, but the team has not been as sucessful how do they make thier penalties equal and matching with precendnet. the contention is that this is where the key inconsitneices are coming from and i have to say that i agree. the precedent of a hard line approach was there. but the penalties do not match with the prior case history. i am a little bit disapointed that the MSRLC are not persuing this, but they are respecting the "referees" decsion.

RELAUNCH!

hey look. i have another blog page. its been dormant for many years and i have since developed a blog for when i am traveling and used face book when i wanted to communicate something to the world. but what i am doing is i am officially relaunching this blog. what is it going to be. well i will ponder things occasionally and when i do i will put up a post. expect sport and theater and scouting to be recurring themes and i do not promise to update regularly but when i feel the desire. as well, i am going through a "re branding" of both blog pages to better reflect who i am and my sensitivities!

ok so the key links
Gonzo Travels
my travel mascot
my facebook
and my twitter

the power of sport

for six years this blog has laid dormant. and today i find a need to post. i have been using other mediums to publish my voice and let my views be heard. but today i feel a need publish and write somthing new. to think this used to be my high school blog!

Today i write from the Paralympic city, Vancouver, having experinced and been a part of the festival of the olympic games, but also having just experinced and sat in the crowd for the opening of the Paralympic gmaes. with a quick note on opening ceremonies, the creative minds need to realise that olympic openings since 2004, have left me feeling cold. the last Olympic opneing that inspired and powerd my imagination was Sydney and Salt Lake. the Melbourne 2006 opening and the paralympic opening both inspired and raised spirits witha sense of fun and irrevrence, but respect and spirit at the moments when required!

so why is sport so powerful. well that is a question for a pshycologist to answer. but i do know its alot of fun and watching the best in their sport go at it and they try to achive their best.

My Comments on the NRL salary cap infringments by the Melbourne Storm

if you do the crime you do the time, as they say, and we must abide by the decsions of the NRL and the adminstrators of sport at all times. and the hounds have come out slamming the Melbourne storm and their actions and labeling them cheats and that the punishment fits the crime but lets look at the case history and see if it relay does. also i will preface this with saying that i am a mad keen Melbourne storm supporter and support the storm and will support the rebels when they enter the Super 15 competition. i will probably also adopt the Melbourne heart as my soccer team, and i have a team i support in every code.

so a brief history of NRL salary cap infringements can be found here and you will see that maybe, just maybe the punishment may not fit the crime.

case one is going to be short and sweet. the Knights deliberately cheated during 2000, and went on to win the trophy in 2001. they were discovered in 2000, and then again in 2002. hold up........ the knights kept the silver wear?? and when you add the number up they come to arround $600,000 in a single season.

so case two dates to 2002, when the bulldogs were assumed to be headed for the championship and that they were going to take it out. well that was untill they got caught with too much money going to the players. so what was the plan by the bulldogs? to delibartly rot in the order of 2 MILLION dollars over 3 years. the bulldogs finished second in 2001 and 3 games from the end of the season 2002 were docked all of their points. interestingly though they were still allowed to accumulate points for the remainder of the season. yes a police investagion insued, but the Bulldogs contested and argued and pleaded innocence and tried to avoid their punishment.
now thier status for all 3 of the seasons stand and were only punnished in the current season. also because they had failed in 2001 to make it past week two of the finals they didnt win anything, but their status was allowed to remain. the penalty? $500,000 and their premiership points.
in 2007, the bullodgs didnt allow the nrl to audit thier books. the penatly - nothing

so the storm. yes they did the wrong thing but the numbers are simple. $1,700,000 over 5 years with $700,000 for the 2010 season. the penatly? a $1,500,000 fine, two premierships, 3 minor premierships (effectivly removing all of thier points and results for the 3 seasons) and their "removal" from the 2010 season. and why is this? because the NRL has a third party payment clause in their salary cap and it was rorted. the question is, is it just the STORM. look at the numbers, the punishment does not fit the crime. it is in excess of previous cases and it is because the nrl chooses to involve them selves in all payments. my biggest gripe? the fact that the bulldogs and the knights were allowed to exist and were not labeled as CHEATS by the rest of the competition. but it in my mind reinforces the NSW centric nature of the NRL.

i have just watched a comment piece by Fatty Vaughn of the NRL Footy Show. he labeled the team cheats and made some very explosive comments. did he make similar comments around the bulldogs who manged to keep most of their team together the following two seasons?

the numbers and facts speak for them selves. whilst news lmtd the owner of the storm are comitted to melbourne, it appears that the NRL is not. and what about those who stand to win hundreds of thousands on bets placed? it appears that this penalty has been rushed and has been announced without the completion of the inveestiagion, due to the infomration geting out and betting markets being activated. with the departure of the CEO, these irregularities were discovered and now a wholesale change in the administration of the club will ensue.

so any way. now its over to the authorities to do their job. the statements made publicly have some interesting repercussions in a legal sense, due to potential for mistrals should criminal charges be laid, with some parties already being named.

i will still support the storm and i am still proud of my team, regardless of the actions of the administrators.

post script added 4 hours after orginal posting
well i just re watched the video and to the storm players get on your phone to your lawyers and go after that wally from the NRL footy show. he has said that you as players are cheaters and do not deserve to play!  well if you have had no knowledge of what was going on get at him! there we go. a really inflammatory comment to finish it all off

ANNOTHER POST SCRIPT!!
so people are saying in the media that it is the bigest rort in the NRL's history....... WRONG. the penalties yes the harshest, the offence, as demonstrated above, no the worst!