Creative Beginnings: football (aka: How I Learned How To Stop Worrying And Love The Cold

Is the stadium half full or half empty? For Partick Thistle vs Dundee it was definitely on the half empty side.

Thanks first of all to the drivers of the group, we really couldn't have done it without you! Murray with his navigational skills and Julia with her intrepid following ability...

I really don't think we could have looked more out of place; even if the BBC hadn't already advertised our presence we would have stuck out. All I knew was that I was grateful for every layer I had on. We were sat right at the front, mostly under the cover but we did get stray gusts of wind carrying raindrops to remind us that we were outside. It gave us an excellent view, and a rather unusual one for those of us who'd only watched on tv before. (Quote of the day: "I keep looking for the score at the top left and it just isn't there!")

For  added authenticity, I sampled the Bovril and nibbled on a piece of the promised "half time pie" but regretted it very quickly. Even worse, the attempt to wash out the taste with coffee just formed some kind of unholy trinity in my mouth that just wouldn't shift.

Aside from all this griping though, I had a good time. We had the adventure of getting there, and then trying to park (kudos to Julia again!) and the chat was, as usual, excellent. I also think I got the point of the exercise:

I was completely disengaged from what was going on in front of me. It's not because I don't know the rules because I do in fact know the basics - definitely enough to follow a match - it's just because I have no emotional investment in it. So when I watched England vs Brazil all those years ago I could cheer them on because I felt represented somehow; the point of your football team is that you're a part of it, even if you couldn't kick a stationary ball more than two feet. And I wasn't a part of either team, so it didn't impact me when Mr Blue scored a goal aside from the cold appreciation of their reflexes.

How is this a point, let alone anything relevant you ask? Well first, for me, football doesn't make all that much sense, but for some people sitting and watching a play or a drama doesn't make sense either. And also, it really is important when you're writing to make people join a side. If they aren't engaged, like me at a football match, then they won't care about anything that happens.

Now I'm just off to check how defrosting my toes is going, wish me luck.