OK, let’s look at the other stuff then

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Everyone is still talking about the penalty. And that’s rather sad, as there was so much more to the game than just that one moment. And I know that I was guilty of this yesterday, so I’m going to add a bit more context.

Also, this is a subjective decision because referees are human.

Sure, everyone still talks about Maradona’s handball in 1986 or Frank Lampard’s “goal” in Bloemfontein in 2010 or Thierry Henry’s handball in 2009 as match-defining moments, but those were objectively incorrect calls (because referees are human).
There’s no dispute on those ones.
This one could have gone either way. It went England’s.

And I still think that was right.

But then, if you look beyond that one moment, was this really an unfair result?
No.

England had:
Greater xG
More big chances
More shots
More shots on target
58% possession
More touches in the opposition box
92% accurate pass rate (!)
11 of the top 15 players on the pitch by OPTA ratings

The Dutch got three corners.

And it’s a pity that this clearly dominant performance has been overlooked in the post-match analysis, when it’s a game that they obviously deserved to win. Sure, “the only stat that matters is goals scored”, but they did that as well, and it’s not hard to see that England were the better team on the night.

So let’s stop talking about the penalty decision now, please.

Onward and upward to Sunday evening.

Didn’t watch

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So England are through to another Euros final. I don’t think they’ll be favourites to win it, but then a lot of people didn’t think that they would even get out of the group, so we can all be wrong, can’t we?

I didn’t watch. Not my thing watching the national team. Not my thing to enjoy games where I’m only slightly invested in the outcome. So I watched an amazing documentary about the Sami people of Lapland. Some incredible scenery and cinematography. And this place. Breathtaking.

I woke up this morning to the result, sadly completely overshadowed by the controversy of one single decision on the penalty.

One (English) footy group saying no. Another (local) one saying yes. A few individual opinions. It even caused a rift in the referees forum that I occasionally visit. They – all qualified FA refs – came down 80-20 in favour of the decision. And the more replays I see of it (and the more I read the laws of the game), the more I’m convinced it was right.

It was not a “good defensive block” that was penalised.

If you don’t want to be penalised for a good defensive block, then:

1) Don’t do it studs up.
2) Do make contact with the ball.
3) Don’t make contact with the opponents leg.
4) If you can’t manage any of the above, do it outside the box, so it’s only a free kick, not a penalty.

And if it had have been outside the box, there would have been a free kick given and there would have been absolutely none of the fuss about any of this.

I know not everyone agrees with me. It’s one of those where if it gets given against you, you’re furious, and if it’s not given for you, you’re also pretty pissed off.

A no win situation.

Not like the match.

Will I watch the final on Sunday?
Depends what’s on the other channel.

Here we go again… again.

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It’s rough out there at the moment, and it’s about to get rougher…

Tomorrow is so nasty, they are closing all the schools and they’ve only been open since yesterday.

And this on top of 243mm (and still counting) that we’ve had over the last week. There’s quite literally nowhere for all the water to go, and I’m saying that even though we’re right next to a big ocean. In fact, that’s actually where the bloody rain is coming from in the first place.

I’m not attributing this series of cold fronts to climate change (I’ve covered this here and here “recently”), but there’s no doubt that we are likely to experience more extreme weather events over the coming year. I read an interesting paper on the effect that this might have on our tourism industry:

And so we brace for tomorrow and the following week, in which we’re looking at another 150mm.

Need an ark built?
I Noah bloke.

More weather

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Aside from a surprise heatwave (not forecast yet, but you never rule it out), we have had all the weather in the last few days.

Today, it’s more rain. With the total for the last week sitting comfortably over the 100mm mark, there’s been almost another 50mm this morning alone, it’s still falling hard and it. is. miserable.

This glum, grey, wet weather is forecast the continue until Sunday, with Google helpfully(?) telling me that the next time I would see the sun is Monday. Talk about adding insult to injury.

I was up at 7 this morning, outside in the rain and trying to unblock the garage box gutter which was full of pine needles and moss, and therefore thoroughly incapable of emptying. We’re usually very good at keeping it clean, but the wind while we were away, with the assistance of the alien pine tree across the road, had filled the downpipe rather effectively, meaning that all of the rain was pouring into the garage through the roof.

A thoroughly unpleasant wake-up call after a lovely weekend away.

The rain shows no sign of stopping today or anytime soon, so I’m planning all my necessary travel around places that have indoor parking. And taking an umbrella to anywhere else.

Stay safe, stay warm, help others to do the same wherever you can.

Back home, but what a day!

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Hey – I called it!

Awoken at 5:30 by excited voices outside, I chose to turn over and hide under the duvet a bit more. But then once we did get up, we were in a full-on winter wonderland.

And we were like kids again. Snowmen, snow angels, snowball fights: snow end to the fun you can have with some white stuff (careful now). I’m thinking we got about 10-12cm, which is far more than I’ve ever seen here in SA before. And to (literally) wake up to it (literally) on our doorstep instead of having to get up at 4am to make a Groot Trek out from Cape Town was such a bonus.

So much so, that after some more fun, some breakfast, and copious cups of hot things, we took the long road back, as the grey skies gave way to blue:

And what a drive it was:

Back through Montagu with the essential stop at the Spar there for coffee and sandwiches…

…back through du Toits Kloof and the Holiday Portal and home.

I’ve got (ahem) “several” more images to go through and remove snowflake lens spots and the like, so maybe there will be more to come, but after a couple of amazing days away, today was such a bonus as we headed back home.