Brian Bollen's Blog

Football, HMRC And Administration

I try not to wish ill on anyone, not least because I firmly believe that whatever you send out into the ether will come back to you in spades. I believe I'm in reasonably good company in this belief, as a chap that some people sincerely but in my opinion misguidedly regard as the Son of God said something similar in the New Testament.

BUT, if Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs strikes some kind of 'deal' to forgive Rangers FC any part of the tax monies owed to them (and remember this is OUR money, as taxpayers) then I propose to change to my own name to Brian Rangers FC Bollen and submit a request for similar preferential treatment.

I pay my taxes in fulll and on time, as I am sure do the vast bulk of my readers, and the taxman STILL hounds me with threats of penalties and punishments.

Why on earth should a football club be treated any differently when it clearly owes incalculable millions? Especially when the former chairman and owner of that club in effect initiated the action that led to the eventual liquidation of a certain other club, Airdrieonians FC? What is sauce for the goose should be very much sauce for the gander.

But do we believe that for a moment? No. Football, tax and political authorities will bend over backwards to find a way to forgive Rangers FC (record home defeat Rangers 2 Airdrieonians 10), at a time when old people are dying of hypothermia for lack of a decent pension.

We're all in this together? Somehow I doubt it...

 

JungfrauTraining Update: Hardest Part So Far

This last week has seen the hardest part of my Jungfrau Marathon training so far: a drastic reduction in alcohol intake. For a journalist, who is Scottish, and doesn't have to go to an office each morning, it can become all too easy to slip into the habit of drinking too much. If I'm to stand a chance of surviving the race in September, that has to stop.

Easier said than done, but I'm able to report some progress. Dry on Monday and Tuesday, slightly wet on Wednesday, but dry again on Thursday and Friday. So dry I was in bed by 9pm on Friday reading a guid book. I always say it's just as easy to establish good habits as bad habits. How I wish that were true. The recycling men will think I'm ill, given the reduction in the number of wine bottles in the box for Friday morning's collection.

Margaret had suggested we institute a mid-week ban after my birthday, which would in effect have meant we wouldn't have started till March 1. So we're two weeks ahead of schedule.

On this morning's training run I did about 11 miles, and plan to up to that a regular 15-16 miles over the next three or four weeks, followed in due course by a further few miles simulating hiking. Keep your eyes peeled for further updates.

Harry Redknapp, Bungs and Broken Dreams

If you're interested in association football, and are following the Harry Redknapp bungs trial, I strongly recommend you read Broken Dreams by investigative journalist Tom Bower. It'll destroy your love of the game, of that I have no doubt, but it shines a very strong arc light on all those transfers of unknown players at grotesquely inflated prices that leave you wondering: Why did they do that?

69th Inferno Finally Runs

Much to my astonishment it seems as if the truncated 69th annual Inferno Downhill ski race finally took place yesterday.

Anne-Marie Goetschi, product manager Mürren at Jungfrau Region Marketing, reports: “The race finally started at 10.15 and was interrupted for about 45 minutes around 1 pm for repair works on the run. There were no major accidents and almost everybody got down safely, although in Lauterbrunnen the snow turned to mud slowly.”

The men's race was won by Samuel Imhof in a time of just over 10m 40s, while the women's was won by Nadine Maechler in just under 12m. Ela Kemper won the Ladies title (Ladies being code for over-50) in just over 13m 24. Interlaken-born Peter Aeschimann won the Gentlemen race (again, code for over-50) in 12m 12s.

Full results and photographs can be found at:

http://www.inferno-muerren.ch/erstframe_e.html

As you can see from the photos, this year's event suffered from too much snow, compared with last year's which saw too little of the white stuff. I had intended to spend virtually all of Saturday following the race, but the sheer volume of snow delayed the start, and I began to worry about (a) the host town of Muerren filling up with skiers unable to go anywhere, and (b) making it back safely to my base in Wengen when the only way in or out of Muerren was either on skis (I don't ski) or the Schilthornbahn down to Stechelberg, where a Postbus could take me to Lauterbrunnen.

I took the decision to cut my losses and returned to Wengen but, as I said, it seems they finally, and reasonably successfully, managed to hold the race despite the doubters. Well done to all concerned.

Slow, Slow, Quick, Slow, Slow: Lauberhorn Training Times

The first thing that strikes the neutral observer when looking at the first batch of training times from the Lauberhorn World Cup downhill race is how slow they are, a good 10-12 seconds more than the likely winning time will be on Saturday. But continental European training for many sports is not based on the British belief that if you flog yourself to death in practice, you'll be better when it comes to the real thing.

For what it’s worth (a snowball’s chances in hell spring to mind) skiers representing Italy (Peter Fill and Christof Innerhoffer)  took first and third places with times of 2m 36.98 seconds and 2.37.84 respectively.

Sandwiched in between is Swiss veteran Didier Cuche, the daddy of the field, born in 1974. He logged 2.37.55.

Cuche lies third in the overall downhill rankings after three races (Lake Louise, Beaver Creek and Bormio), just behind Klaus Kroell. Super-combined Olympic champion Bode Miller sits at the top of the rankings at this very early stage of the season.

The second training session on the Lauberhorn takes place today (January 12). Competition proper starts on Friday the 13^th (unlucky for some?) with the super-combination truncated downhill race in the morning followed by the single run slalom in the afternoon.

Wengen and the surrounding areas seem much less busy than in previous years, possibly because of the combination of the strong Swiss franc and the unseasonably warm weather. But locals insist there has been enough quality snow in the past week to ensure the races will go ahead as scheduled. Having personally tested conditions on the Mannlichen yesterday afternoon, albeit as a pedestrian rather than a skier, I can vouch for its depth and quality.

For readers making a late decision, there might still be room at the inn. As of yesterday, the Hotel Jungfrau in Lauterbrunnen, a delightful, traditional family hotel (http://www.hoteljungfrau.com/) had a grand total of two guests, surely unprecedented for the peak week in the local calendar.

 

Wengen In Lauberhorn Week

The transformation of Wengen continues as the Lauberhorn Races approach this weekend (January 13-15). The bars and restaurants are beginning to fill up and the number of soldiers scampering around is becoming noticeable (an entire company of the Swiss Army is needed to make the necessary preparations). The pictures below were taken just as twilight started to make itself felt yesterday (January 9).

Oddly, though, in the town of Lauterbrunnen in the valley below, things are looking a bit stick economically, suggesting the strength of the Swiss franc is hitting harder than ever. A friend who stays in the same hotel in Lauterbrunnen at this time each year confides that he is the only guest in occupation there. That is simply unheard of in modern times, when every room for miles around could normally be rented out several times over.

If the pattern of last year is going to repeat itself, we can expect another record crowd on Saturday, which puts the local train service under unbearable pressure. Last year the conditions underfoot were such that a large number of people who grew tired of waiting to get on a train were able to make it to Wengen by foot. That's not something I'd like to try given the amount of snow we've had.

What If It's So Snowy No-one Can Get To Wengen?

I just found myself wondering earlier today, how ironic it would be if we have the best snow for the Lauberhorn Races in years, but there's so much of it the trains don't run? I'm sure it won't happen, but I've just been out on a recycling run and it is very very deep and STILL falling. I couldn't resist going up to town and taking some more photos of Wengen in the snow.

Locked In In Wengen

More postcards from Wengen, showing the effects of snow over the last 24 hours or so:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=342269632467781&set=a.342269212467823.96197.100000542404850&type=3&theater

Postcards From Wengen

A selection of photos taken today (January 1 2012) in Wengen, where the Alpine Skiing World Cup Lauberhorn races take place on the weekend of January 13-15.

Jungfrau Marathon Entry Confirmed

I've just been told that I can have a press place in the 20th Jungfrau Marathon on September 8 2012. Not sure whether to laugh or cry!

I'm already covering 16 miles in training in Milton Keynes, but I'll need to start being serious about it. Not until around February, though, when alcohol and tobacco consumption will be cut, probably after the Schroders' Retox function early that month.

I'll keep readers updated on training, and will be looking to write a series of articles based on the race day experience. If you haven't already read the story I wrote for the Financial Times based on my participation in the race training under its organiser, and the former Swiss marathon record-holder Richi Umberg, you can read it here: http://www.brianbollen.com/bbb_brian_bollens_blog/2008/09/jungfrau-marath.html.

Jungfrau Marathon Training Advances

I ran a total of about 16 miles this morning, I estimate, in a time of around 2h 39m. I calculate that that, repeated pretty much on a weekly basis over several months, would enable me to carry out the Interlaken-Wilderswil-Stechelberg-Lauterbrunnen component of the Jungfrau Marathon pretty comfortably.

Mass participation means that from Lauterbrunnen to the finish at Kleine Scheidegg it's a hike rather than a run, and with a total of around 10 miles completed on foot between yesterday afternoon and this evening, I will have covered the total distance within a 24-hour period, demonstrating that I have the latent stamina, if I can piece the different exercise periods together.

It's impossible to replicate the Swiss mountain terrain, especially its steepness and narrowness, in Milton Keynes, but my UK training partners and I are already working on how we might introduce some long climbs into our runs.

I might be mad, but if I'm ever going to attempt a marathon this is the one to have a go at. If I find I'm incapable when we prepare for the ascent from Lauterbrunnen, I just jump on a train to Wengen, and head for the sauna at Chalet Margaux. I feel certain though, barring injury, that personal pride won't let me take that easy way out.

Airdrieonians Scottish Cup Final 1992: Picture Two

Broomfield Demolition Picture Fourteen: Dugouts/Directors Box From Pitch

Broomfield Demolition Picture Thirteen: View From Pavilion

Paul Harvey In 1995 Cup Final: Copyright Robert Dalzell

With full acknowledgement and proper thanks to Photographer and Copyright Holder: Robert Dalzell (email rd5659@gmail.com).

Rangers 2 Airdrieonians 10

This is one of my all-time favourite match reports...

Airdrie in 1879-80 SFA Book

Broomfield Demolition Picture Twelve: Stand View From Enclosure

Broomfield Demolition Picture Eleven: Broad Perspective

Broomfield Demolition Picture Ten: Far Pavilion