I was wrong. England avoided defeat, and even managed to look pretty good in patches. I watched it on a big screen in a packed village pub. A great atmosphere: intense, seething, emotional. All the contempt we felt over the last few days was forgotten. When it mattered, we couldn’t desert them.
So, we’re in the finals of Euro 2004 in Portugal next June. Unfortunately (which may not be quite the right word here), we’re in Cuba next June, and seem likely to miss the first week or two of the tournament. If it was the World Cup, the games would be on in every bar, but I’m assuming there’ll be less Caribbean demand for a European tournament. But I might be wrong. It’s not unknown…
There was an email in my inbox yesterday morning, offering me a free £20 bet on the game if I placed a £10 bet of my own money. It was the perfect opportunity to cover all eventualities. I already had £30 on a Turkey win, and now I could put another £30 on the draw (including the free £20). Had England won, I’d have lost £40 but had the pleasure of the win. Instead I had the best outcome, and collected £60 as a result.
There was little option but to get fiercely drunk last night, and stumble home with a savage Chicken Bhuna dangling from my ring finger. In short, the perfect Saturday evening.
This wasn’t why I didn’t do the Great South Run today. I was able to embark on my evening of debauchery because I’d already decided on Friday that it wasn’t a good idea to do the race, for a variety of reasons — physical, mental, political and horticultural. My only regret is that it’s another £19 thrown away on an unused entry, but there are compensations. Another bed dug in the garden, another great pile of potatoes disinterred, hedges clipped, the compost heap agitated, another load of bark chippings collected and turned into paths through and around the vegetable beds, seeds collected. All it needed was a crackling bonfire to turn the afternoon into a true autumnal cliché. This evening I made a stupendous tomato and plum soup garnered almost entirely from home-grown ingredients.
Tomorrow the running continues.
A couple of interesting lexicological observations today: the guest on Desert Island Discs was pretty forgettable, but he did describe an entertaining acquaintance as a “one-man three-ring circus”. And a new word from the USA. People who tend to go with the flow are known as “dittoheads”. Splendid.
