^DIARY

Diary - May; Diary - June; Diary- July; Diary- August; Diary - September; Diary - October; Diary - November; Diary - December

23/01/04

• I made a big mistake on my computer this week.

  I’ve been running Windows 98 ever since I bought my present machine four or five years ago, and I decided it was about time that I upgraded, to improve both flexibility and (hopefully) speed.

  So, off I went and invested in a copy of Windows XP, and spent the remainder of the day loading it (you always tend to forget how long it takes for new programmes to load!).

  The result, initially, seemed good; files opened more quickly, and the whole system seemed to be running better.

  Then I discovered the downside. It turned out that some of my hardware “… is incompatible with Windows XP”. That struck me as a bloody cheek in the first place. Don’t they mean that XP is incompatible with my hardware? The hardware was there first, after all.

  And what’s the point of making a new operating system that won’t operate equipment that has worked perfectly well with the older system?

  I suppose I might just about have managed without using my scanner, and I never use the fax facility anyway, and could use the CD rewriter drive instead of the DVD.

  The loss of the printer (brand new at Christmas!) would have been somewhat more irritating ... but I somehow couldn’t imagine running a business and a website without having a working Modem!

  So, I had to waste more time uninstalling XP (although the fact that installation had left the old operating system in place in the background suggests that Microsoft realise that many people do have problems with the upgrade), and then restoring the settings on Windows 98, most of which had changed.

  New technology is wonderful … when it works!

15/01/04

• I really must apologise to those clubs which have been sending in their regular reports over the past couple of weeks, only to find they haven't been posted.

However, now that the funeral is over (Tuesday of this week) I should be able to concentrate more on keeping things up to date - and will attempt to publish the back-reports, for completeness.

I've been very touched by the messages of condolence that I've had from my friends in basketball, who have e-mailed me over the past week or so, but the funeral itself was even more moving. I'm not unused to commentating on matches in front of crowds measured in thousands, but standing up, in front of a standing-room-only church to give the funeral oration for my father was probably the most terrifying experience I've faced.

There were so many people there that it really brought home how well respected and liked he had become in the thirteen years he's lived in North Wales, and it certainly helped by showing how fulfilling a life he's had.

• So, now that's over, it's back to the mundane business of the regular season ...

• Last weekend's Cup Finals at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield were an excellent advert for the National League.

Most observers, myself included, expected the Women's Final to be a very one-sided affair, but Nottingham had done their homework well, and kept Rhondda away from the boards in the first half, and though the Rebels were able to draw on their European experience to see them to their fourth Cup success in five seasons, the Wildcats showed that the have the potential to continue to mount a challenge in the future.

The Men's Final was every bit as good, with Plymouth defying the "underdog" tag to outhustle and outplay last season's triple-Champions, Teesside.

The fact that I didn't manage to complete the match report on that game was no reflection on the match, or the participants, but merely a result of being too knackered at the end to do much, after which the influx of results didn't allow time.

I had intended to go down to the Haribo Final the following day, but decided against it on two counts - that I didn't want to be even more tired for the journey to North Wales on Monday ... and since the game was on TV it meant I could watch it without having to endure two hours travel before and after!

I know you can't really judge an event fully if you're not there, but I got the impression that although the BBL match had a far larger crowd, the game itself did not seem as competitive as the two the previous day, and the fans at the EBL event (especially the traditional large contingent who had travelled all the way from Plymouth) were at least as noisy and enthusiastic, if not more so.

I wonder, though, if we can hope that the EBL/BBL differences can be sufficiently resolved by next season to avoid the farce of having two competing Finals on successive days?

09/01/04

• The New Year has not begun well for the Youth competitions, with the withdrawal of two more teams - Enfield Jets from Under-20 South, and Haringey Warriors from the Junior South Conference.

The former cited "personal reasons" for pulling out, and since I don't know what those reasons are I can't (and won't) comment. However, their departure is the fourth from the Under-20 South division, and leaves just six teams vying for the four play-off places!

As for Haringey, their demise from the Junior Men's competition hardly comes as a surprise. They had just postponed yet another match at late notice (the day before the match was due), and were thus about to have a fifth 20-0 recorded against them; two of the existing forfeits were also for late postponements, while the two others were for playing unregistered players early in the season.

I do hope that's now the end of this season's record withdrawals. Not only is the loss of teams bad for the competitions, and for the image of the game ... it also creates a hell of a lot of extra work, revising results' matrices, league tables and fixtures!

• I'm afraid I'm not yet fully back on track after the events of last week.

I find that half the time I'm in adrenalin-fueled overdrive, doing my world-famous impersonation of a blue-arsed fly ... and then the next moment I'm just flopped in front of the TV, and can't be bothered.

I've also been pretty busy this week with work on the programme for the Cup Finals, so that's left precious little time to attend to the website.

However, this weekend should bring a little light relief, with trips to Sheffield for those Cup Finals (should be a couple of excellent games), and to Birmingham for the new Haribo Cup Final (which I hope is not as one-sided as I fear).

Full reports on all three matches should be online soon after each one finishes, and the usual results' service will operate, though timing will have to be worked around matches.

Don't expect much in the early part of next week, though, but after Tuesday's funeral I should be able to get back to what passes for normal in our house.

03/01/04

• Sorry there were no updates, including the Diary, over the New Year, as I'd planned.

Unfortunately I was called away on New Year's Eve, to North Wales, where my father had been taken into hospital with heart failure.

The last couple of days have been spent, in very unfestive fashion, sitting at his bedside, as he slowly slipped away.

I just hope that I get the opportunity to go as quietly, and peacefully, at the age of 85 ... and that I, too, am still at work right up to the day before!