Saturday saw my cricket team playing against the team we were playing the day I dislocated my finger. It was good to meet the guys who watched over me and they were surprised by the recovery and the fact I was even wanting to play the game still. In fact, my injury that day is now part of the folklore at that club.
So here was my chance to redeem myself in the field. And I did just that, taking two catches including one right on the boundary.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Peter Brock
Childhood heroes are not supposed to die, especially while doing the thing that made them a hero in the first place. Yet that is what happened on Friday when Peter Brock was killed while driving in a rally in Western Australia.
My earliest memory of watching Brocky race on TV was in 1984, aged 8. Brock's Holden Dealer Team picked up a one-two finish at Bathurst, John Harvey was driving the second of the team cars. It was the end of a triffecta of Bathurst 1000 wins and of an era as the Group E 'big bangers' were replaced by international Group A touring cars the following year.
Brock's luck was not so great until 1987 when Bathurst became a round of the World Touring Car Championships. Crossing the line third, following an inspired drive in the wet in the second team car (having previously retired the first car due to mechanical problems), Brock was promoted to first following the subsequent disqualification of the two Texaco Sierras which had finished first and second. That was win number nine in the touring cars. A 'perfect 10' was to allude Brock in the touring cars but he later picked up a tenth Bathurst victory in a 24 hour production car race.
Peter Perfect rarely seemed to have an accident, especially at the Mount Panorama circuit at Bathurst. And he walked away from the couple of accidents he did have including one in 1997
in which he rolled a 2 litre engine Vectra. Before going out for a practice session for the 2 litre Bathurst 1000 race of that year, Brock had said to his team mate, John Cleland, "I think you can take the kink (the right hand corner at the bottom on Conrod Strait which leads into Caltex Chase) flat out". During the session Brock ran off the track at the corner and rolled his car several times in an attempt to prove the theory. The accident was at very high speed and the car was a wreck. But Brock was OK and came back to the pit area to inform Cleland that "I was wrong".
Apart from putting a foot wrong driving wise, in endurance races Brock had a knack for looking after his car. Rarely did he personally retire from the race. Often the car would develop mechanical troubles while his co-driver was at the wheel. For a man who would race at the limit, Brock seemed to possess a sixth sense for the 'health' of the car he was racing.
While I never saw him race in person, I was lucky enough to meet Peter Brock at a media day at Mount Panorama in 1997. And it is very true about him spending time with fans. He had to be well persuaded by minders to leave the adoring throngs behind in order to fulfill other commitments.
It was a shock to get the call from my friend, Stu, at breakfast time here in London on Friday to tell me that Brock had died. Brock has been called a legend of Australian motorsport for many years now. And while my childhood hero has died, the legend will live on strong.
Postlogue: While watching the post race analysis of the Italian F1 grand prix on Sunday I saw an interview between a pitlane commentator and a Ferrari technician. The technician was still carrying his clipboard with technical information for the race. On the back of the clipboard was a picture of Brock's famous 05 Torana along with a simple message: "Farewell P B".
My earliest memory of watching Brocky race on TV was in 1984, aged 8. Brock's Holden Dealer Team picked up a one-two finish at Bathurst, John Harvey was driving the second of the team cars. It was the end of a triffecta of Bathurst 1000 wins and of an era as the Group E 'big bangers' were replaced by international Group A touring cars the following year.
Brock's luck was not so great until 1987 when Bathurst became a round of the World Touring Car Championships. Crossing the line third, following an inspired drive in the wet in the second team car (having previously retired the first car due to mechanical problems), Brock was promoted to first following the subsequent disqualification of the two Texaco Sierras which had finished first and second. That was win number nine in the touring cars. A 'perfect 10' was to allude Brock in the touring cars but he later picked up a tenth Bathurst victory in a 24 hour production car race.
Peter Perfect rarely seemed to have an accident, especially at the Mount Panorama circuit at Bathurst. And he walked away from the couple of accidents he did have including one in 1997
in which he rolled a 2 litre engine Vectra. Before going out for a practice session for the 2 litre Bathurst 1000 race of that year, Brock had said to his team mate, John Cleland, "I think you can take the kink (the right hand corner at the bottom on Conrod Strait which leads into Caltex Chase) flat out". During the session Brock ran off the track at the corner and rolled his car several times in an attempt to prove the theory. The accident was at very high speed and the car was a wreck. But Brock was OK and came back to the pit area to inform Cleland that "I was wrong".
Apart from putting a foot wrong driving wise, in endurance races Brock had a knack for looking after his car. Rarely did he personally retire from the race. Often the car would develop mechanical troubles while his co-driver was at the wheel. For a man who would race at the limit, Brock seemed to possess a sixth sense for the 'health' of the car he was racing.
While I never saw him race in person, I was lucky enough to meet Peter Brock at a media day at Mount Panorama in 1997. And it is very true about him spending time with fans. He had to be well persuaded by minders to leave the adoring throngs behind in order to fulfill other commitments.
It was a shock to get the call from my friend, Stu, at breakfast time here in London on Friday to tell me that Brock had died. Brock has been called a legend of Australian motorsport for many years now. And while my childhood hero has died, the legend will live on strong.
Postlogue: While watching the post race analysis of the Italian F1 grand prix on Sunday I saw an interview between a pitlane commentator and a Ferrari technician. The technician was still carrying his clipboard with technical information for the race. On the back of the clipboard was a picture of Brock's famous 05 Torana along with a simple message: "Farewell P B".
Sunday, September 03, 2006
The end of summer
The weather in recent weeks seems to indicate that summer is over.
Overnight lows are now getting below 10 degrees celcius (50 fahrenheit). During the day we get temperatures in the high teens celcius.
Very pleasing though is the amount of rain we have received recently as the lack of rain over the last two years has caused water shortages. The grass is certainly greener now than it was six weeks ago. And hopefully we will continue to get the rain we need to fill the dams.
Overnight lows are now getting below 10 degrees celcius (50 fahrenheit). During the day we get temperatures in the high teens celcius.
Very pleasing though is the amount of rain we have received recently as the lack of rain over the last two years has caused water shortages. The grass is certainly greener now than it was six weeks ago. And hopefully we will continue to get the rain we need to fill the dams.
Visitors
It has been really good recently to catch up with family and friends here in London.
Apart from our holidays with Tim, we have recently caught up with Uncle Graham and Marie. They visited us for dinner last Tuesday. It was really good to hear about their holidays here as they came over for a wedding.
Natalie and I also caught up with a friend, Melissa, from Miranda Musical Society (MMS) the week before last. Despite only having time for dinner it was still good to hear what is going on with MMS and it got me thinking that I really do miss performing with such a fun group of people. They sound like they have some great shows coming up.
I don't think we have any more visitors coming between now and Christmas when we have family members visiting. However, if you are coming over drop us a line so we can say "hello".
Apart from our holidays with Tim, we have recently caught up with Uncle Graham and Marie. They visited us for dinner last Tuesday. It was really good to hear about their holidays here as they came over for a wedding.
Natalie and I also caught up with a friend, Melissa, from Miranda Musical Society (MMS) the week before last. Despite only having time for dinner it was still good to hear what is going on with MMS and it got me thinking that I really do miss performing with such a fun group of people. They sound like they have some great shows coming up.
I don't think we have any more visitors coming between now and Christmas when we have family members visiting. However, if you are coming over drop us a line so we can say "hello".
Touchdown for Nebraska
It's college football season in the US.
Each year I look forward to it but this year has been especially good as the first Nebraska game of the season is being shown live here in the UK as I type.
The Huskers look like they are well on their way to a win against Louisiana Tech as they lead 35-10 with about 12 minutes left in the game.
I hope to take Natalie to Lincoln, Nebraska in the next couple of years, particularly in the Autumn so she can experience 80,000 plus Husker fans cheering on Big Red.
Each year I look forward to it but this year has been especially good as the first Nebraska game of the season is being shown live here in the UK as I type.
The Huskers look like they are well on their way to a win against Louisiana Tech as they lead 35-10 with about 12 minutes left in the game.
I hope to take Natalie to Lincoln, Nebraska in the next couple of years, particularly in the Autumn so she can experience 80,000 plus Husker fans cheering on Big Red.
Ouch 2!
The old saying "like father, like son" has seen a little reversal yesterday.
Playing in the first game of the new cricket season in Sydney, my father suffered a compound dislocation of the thumb in his right hand while attempting a catch.
While I needed four stitches, my father needed six. So like me, he will probably miss a large proportion of the cricket season while he recovers.
Meanwhile we are having the weekend off in cricket. My team will be in the final of a one-day competition in two weeks time but in the meantime we have a 'friendly' next week against the side we played the day I injured my finger.
Playing in the first game of the new cricket season in Sydney, my father suffered a compound dislocation of the thumb in his right hand while attempting a catch.
While I needed four stitches, my father needed six. So like me, he will probably miss a large proportion of the cricket season while he recovers.
Meanwhile we are having the weekend off in cricket. My team will be in the final of a one-day competition in two weeks time but in the meantime we have a 'friendly' next week against the side we played the day I injured my finger.
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