As a follow-up to my last entry, I do accept that my brief moustache phase in the late 1990s was misjudged, but stand by my insistence on the full beard being the way to go, even in my current circumstances of having a cold. There's no denying you ideally don't want to have a moustache if you've got a runny nose, but even that isn't enough to make me want to go for the clean-shaven look (or even, heaven forbid, one of those stupid beard-with-clean-shaven-top-lip affairs). Besides, I rarely get colds, so I think I can be forgiven both for keeping the beard and for whining about it extensively on the rare occasion I do have the sniffles.
Anyway, it occurred to me that I should probably post more on this blog of mine than a sentence every couple of weeks about the fact that I've got a beard. Let's talk football. It's the World Cup, you know! I do love the World Cup format, and I think I'm reluctantly agreeing with the commentators who say it's a bad thing they're changing the format to 48 teams (16 groups of 3?) next time round. I tend to automatically disagree with things football commentators are instructed to say and pretend it's their own words, even if I actually think they're right when I think about it some more (the FA Cup is still magic, whatever the naysayers might say. ("Nay," probably. Or is that the horses?)) and I'm sure I'll even prefer the new improved format soon enough.
But this one has worked out just great - lots of 'shocks', lots of 'upsets', but we've still got a Round Of Sixteen in which eight of the world's top twelve* international teams each play a plucky lower-ranked opponent. And the top teams, as I write this, have made it three out of three, so it all bodes very well for England tonight. I look wholeheartedly forward to us losing in the semi-finals again!
*It would be eight of the top nine if Belgium's failings hadn't let Croatia in. And it could have been eight out of eight if not for Italy's hilarious failure to even qualify for the tournament, just like they did at the previous world cup. Italy are totally rubbish at football. However, there's one thing at which Italy aren't rubbish, and that of course is the world of memory sports!
Specifically, the world of Memory League - yesterday, it was the grand final of Season 16, and as has become a long-established tradition by now, it was Alex Mullen (USA) against Andrea Muzii (Italy). Would Alex follow the long-established tradition of winning and leaving Andrea to be content with yet another runner-up trophy? No! After an epic battle, Andrea finally overturned the inevitable and won a well-deserved victory! It really was terribly thrilling!
I really need to get into the habit of playing more Memory League. I always find myself badly out of practice when a new season begins. And there won't be another league season until some time early next year, giving me no 'official' reason to play games for months and months (unless there's an unprecedented lack of interest in playing in January's World Championship; the top 16 in the world rankings get invited, and I'm number 23). Time for an early New Year's Resolution! Play more friendly Memory League matches! Get into the habit, and I'll be in world-beating form in no time!
