#WBFM My first State of Origin

* * * * * I am guest blogging over at Mamamia.com.au today! Feel free to check it out! * * * * *

So here I am, alone on my couch beside a cupcake paper. I am about to watch my first State of Origin since primary school. Back then, we actually wondered who would win - Queensland or New South Wales. My brother and I would watch it so we could discuss it at school the next day. I am watching tonight as part of my 'Will Blog For Music' campaign at the request of my kind benefactor, Jacob Grams.

I am not a newbie to NRL. It's no secret that I am a diehard football fan and consider all other sports to be sub-standard but once upon a time I was a huge Broncos fan. I was a sweet little blonde girl of about four years old and I loved nothing more than going with my Nana to see the Broncos play! Imagine little Samantha in her pigtails, wearing her brother's old jersey and waving her little flag! One of Nana's favourite stories to tell about me was the time we were at a Broncos game and I spotted a rough-looking bikie fellow who wasn't standing for the national anthem. I screeched, "Nana! That man isn't standing!" She panicked that I was about to cause trouble but instead, the 7'8" Hell's Angel looked ashamed and stood.

When the Broncos were playing Saint George in what my googling has led me to believe was the 1993 Grand Final, I made up a sign using one A4 sheet of paper for each letter spelling out "Let's go broncos!" My best friend Jess and I put on our Broncos jerseys and she stood out the front of the house with a whistle. Whenever a car drove past my house she blew the whistle. That was my cue to ride my pink BMX around the front of the house with my flag billowing behind me! God, we were cool... The neighbours across put up their own sign saying "Up St George" and it was all a friendly rivalry... until the cops showed up. We were terrified. Was there public picketing laws we were breaking? Were we supposed to get a permit? Were we going to jail? The cops pulled out their loudspeaker and stared us down. We stood... wondering how they treated seven year olds in prison. The cop spoke and it echoed around the streets: "Tshh... Who's gonna win?!...Tshh" We were ecstatic and screamed "BRONCOS!!!"

...

So it's nearly kick off time. I have a few thoughts.

• I've seen Seal sing one of his two songs. But unless I've slipped into a brief coma, it appears nobody is singing the national anthem? I hope they're just waiting for the players to take to the field.
• I don't remember anybody "delivering the ball" before, but I thought honouring the police with that waste of taxpayers money and police resources spectacular use of the helicopter was rather touching.
• I thought I might spot some eye-candy to amuse me through the dull parts but alas, it appears not.
• My initial thoughts on the commentators are they are all very angry. I didn't think sport required such passion and yelling before the ball was even in the stadium, let alone in play! There is a lot of testosterone in the atmosphere, it seems.

Oh, lots of men are hugging! This must mean kick off is imminent!

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Bahahahahahaha!!The lead in 'Legally Blonde: The Musical' is singing the national anthem! Product placement fail, much?

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As I watch, these are my thoughts as they happen:

• Where did the Queensland #2 get his white & pink boots from? They're super cute!
• Was there an official dress code to get into the NSW side of the stadium? Every. Single. Person. has a blue jersey and a blue curly wig on! It's kind of awe-inspiring.
• In a way, I am thankful that football doesn't have all the video ref and replays that NRL does. It seriously stunts the flow of the game. Admittedly, the correct decision is always reached but at what cost? It seems the ref won't make any decision without seeing it in super slow-mo...
• There is a lot of nearly fighting, but not nearly enough really fighting.
• NSW scored. I was afraid of this. The first time I watch the State of Origin and I curse my fellow Queenslanders to a loss. At least they didn't convert the try...
• There's tackling a guy and there's playing Stacks On and deliberately smashing him into the ground. Perhaps the finer differences should be discussed with the players.
• And while we're at it, what's the purpose of the scrum if the player throwing it in throws to his side of the scrum? Something about hugging each other and team building or something? Seriously. Anyone?
• Dad just saw the NSW crowd. We had the following conversation.

Dad: They look like Oompa Loompas! Or Smurfs!

Me: No! No! They look like Things!!

Dad: ...

Me: Shut up! No. Things!

NSW supporters

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It's half time and thankfully, Queensland has taken the lead in the 40th minute. Yeah, I know. 40 minute halves. Wusses. Suck it up for another 5 minutes, princesses!! As I wait for Ice Age 4 to bring more than ads (This is like the Super Bowl, right? I'm expecting Janet Jackson's nipple) I remember the time I was part of the State of Origin opening show. Years of dance training meant I was entrusted with a complicated dance routine. I donned a maroon jersey and sprinted across the field. Yeah, I don't get it either. But I was there! Then I left before the game started. I had school the next day!

...

So it seems that those ads were brought to us by Ice Age 4. Thanks for that... Let's get back into it!

• Uh oh! NSW scored again. If you blame me, that's OK. I blame me too.
• Aaaaand NSW scored again. Maybe I should stop typing?
• Is that guys name really 'Cooper Cronk'? Did his parents say his name out loud before signing the birth certificate?

Oh my... Who cares what a stupid name he has, look
how devastatingly handsome this man is!

• Queensland is making a comeback now. I'm impressed with that conversion! That takes real skill!
• When the commentators and refs discuss things, I kind of feel like the adults are talking now. I don't know what they're talking about. I just wait until they announce the result. Oh look. It's not a try! But I have no idea why...

Perhaps my mistake was watching State of Origin alone. I enjoy the friendly Queensland v New South Wales rivalry. I guess a guy I play football with summed it up best. He missed Wednesday night football to watch the last State of Origin. He told me, "I don't actually really like NRL but my mates get together to watch. We don't see each other very much so it's a great excuse to catch up." And I guess that's the only good thing best thing about State of Origin. That, and Cooper Cronk!

State of Origin: An excuse to catch up with mates since 1980

Miss SAMawdsley xx

Questions

• Do you enjoy State of Origin?
• What did you think of tonight's game?
• Do you get NRL as a sport?

Would you really want to know?

I smashed my knee in a hard tackle over two weeks ago. I was on crutches for over a week and couldn't drive for nearly two weeks. For me, the main thing is I won the tackle and consequently, my team won the game.

A fracture has been ruled out but with continuing pain, I went to see my physio. He has been a physio for the Australian Olympic and Commonwealth Games teams so I trust him implicitly. He also mistook me for my mum a few months ago. Last time he saw my mum, she was around my age so that's how long he's been tending to the muscles and joints of my family.

Well I saw my physio today and I explained my injury. He asked some questions, as they do and I mentioned that while my knee is sore and has been slow to improve, my foot on the same limb has been really cold. I told him it actually turned purple on the first night after the injury occurred. He seemed a bit taken aback by that and reached down to touch my feet. I was telling him about this as I was taking my Converse sneakers off - that's what reminded me to mention my foot. He pulled back. I assumed they didn't feel any different as both feet had literally just come out of shoes. He told me my right foot was definitely much more cold than the other foot. But he offered no explanation.

As I was lying on the table and my physio was massaging my leg, I asked if he had any theories as to why my foot would be so damn cold. I asked because at the time, my right foot was so cold that it was hurting. He seemed reluctant to answer and started talking about  my sympathetic nervous system. None of this made much sense to me.

Suddenly I thought I was cottoning on to what he was saying and my heart sank like a stone. "Are you telling me this is all in my head?" He insisted he wasn't and upon deciding he hadn't convinced me he told me he thinks it is "Complex regional pain syndrome". He provided a brief explanation about nerves and laughed when he told me it is very rare and he said as soon as he thought of it and how rare it was, he thought if someone was going to have this syndrome, it would be me. Thanks(!).

But then my physio did something I didn't expect. He explicitly stated that I was not to google it. He repeated his direction many times, insisting reading about CRPS would scare me. He told me I could tell my medical profession based friend about it because she wasn't aware of any possible cause but I absolutely was not to google it myself. But his explanation did not offer my any real reason why my foot is cold. And he told me that if I read about it I would become worried. Worried about what?

So what would you do?

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Have a think about it.

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Put yourself in my position.

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Decided what you would do yet?

...

I think I did what most everyone would do. I burned the words into my mind and googled the heck out of the condition the second I sat in the car.

Chronic regional pain syndrome

It's not good. Nothing about what I've read is good. The article opened with "...is a chronic progressive disease characterized by severe pain, swelling and changes in the skin." and didn't get much better from there. I'd be lying if I said I didn't cry and then drive home like a zombie. Obviously I haven't been formally diagnosed and even if I do have the disease, there is a small chance the syndrome can cease it's progression and go into remission. But since as I type this, my right foot is again so cold it's hurting, I'm still afraid.

But what would you do? Would you really want to know?

Miss SAMawdsley xx

Questions

• What would you do in my position?
• How and how long would it take for you to make your decision?
• Have you ever been in the position to decide if you wanted to know something bad?
• What did you do?

How to pretend you know about soccer

I am a girl. This may come as a shock to some people, but I am.

I also like soccer. Ok, I love soccer. Don't worry, there aren't any more big shocks coming, I promise. So if you're not sitting down, you're probably OK to keep reading.

So I am a girl and I love soccer. Now for some guys, this gives me huge bonus points in the dating realm. Growing up with two soccer mad guys (my dad and my brother) I just know a lot about soccer but for some girls, you might like to able to fake it.

Now I don't want to get you into trouble and have you floundering on a first date when the potential boyfriend asks you your opinion on the passive offside rule, I just want to teach you enough to be able to hold a brief conversation and show an interest.

BEFORE reading this article:
How a guy sees you + football

So, step 1.

STOP calling it soccer! The proper name for the sport is Association Football and someone, somewhere decided that you could take the 'soc' out of Association Football and roll it out to be 'soccer'. It took every ounce of my strength to write the word 'soccer' up until this point and that is the last time I will do so. Unless you are in America. The sport is not called football there, but in almost every other place, it is called football. I know there are many other sports that claim to be 'football' as well, but this sport is also known as 'The World Game'. The FIFA World Cup is held every four years because it actually takes four years of qualifying matches to come down to the final 32 teams! From there, it takes a month to bring those teams down to the final two. More countries enter the World Cup than the Olympics.

Step 2.

Choose a favourite English Premier League Team. The 2011-2012 season consists of these 20 teams.

Manchester United (Manchester)

Manchester City (Manchester)

Arsenal (London)

Tottenham (London)

Chelsea (London)

Newcastle (Newcastle)

Liverpool (Liverpool)

Sunderland (Sunderland)

Everton (Liverpool)

Swansea (Swansea)

Norwich (Norwich)

Stoke (Stoke-On-Trent)

Fulham (Fulham)

West Bromwich Albion (West Bromwich)

Aston Villa (Birmingham)

Blackburn Rovers (Blackburn)

Bolton Wanderers (Bolton)

Queens Park Rangers (London)

Wigan Athletic (Greater Manchester)

Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolverhampton)

Be careful to see where your new favourite team is on the current table because the bottom three will be relegated to first division and will no longer play in the English Premier League next season. Then you'll have to pick a new team or try and follow a team that does not get much media coverage outside of England.

You can choose a team based on the name (Stoke's nickname is the Potters if you're a Harry Potter fan, but it is based on the pottery industry, not the wizard), a colour (Wolves are bright orange!) or any other cute reason. As long as you can explain why you like the team, I'm sure the boy won't mind. If you're dad or brother likes a team, it's a safe bet to pick that one as 'family history' is a strong factor! If you pick one of the big four, you might be in for a bit of questioning. Manchester United is particulary dangerous and they have many "bandwagon supporters" who pretend to like Man Utd because it's the only team they've really heard of. The others are Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea based on their many years of success. Manchester City are a recent addition but their success is a lot to do with money.

Step 3.

Refer to the English Premier League as the EPL. Do remember what it stands for, but it's most commonly just shorted to 'EPL' or 'Premier League' in context of a discussion about English football.

Step 4.

Read the Wikipedia page for your new club. You will be caught out if you pretend to be a Liverpool fan and meet the word 'Hillsborough' with a blank look. Just familiarise yourself. You should be able to list a few accomplishments, know where abouts they are on the table and be aware of any club rivalries. For example, if you pick Tottenham and you go on a date with a Chelsea supporter, be prepared for a few fireworks and good natured ribbing. You should definitely be able to name the stadium your team calls home.

Step 5.

This one is tricky, but it's pretty essential that you try to remember the usual starting 11. There are 11 players from each team on the field and the same 16 or so rotate who starts or comes later in the game. Familiarise yourself with the names, particularly the stars of the team (and pay attention to the pronunciation as you will look a bit stupid if you start referring to 'Teevees' when it is 'Teves' or pronounce 'De Jong' with a hard J instead of the soft J.)

Step 6.

Famous names. You won't be able to recognise their picture but you should recognise these names.

Pele: Arguably the greatest football player ever. He played for Brazil and is the greatest goal scorer of all time. His name is pronounced 'Pell-ay'.

Maradonna: An Argentinian mid-fielder / striker who is famous for his 'hand of God' goal in the 1986 World Cup. Argentina beat England 2-1 and one of the goals was a clear handball to everyone with eyesight except the referee, who allowed it. Maradonna himself claimed later the goal was, "a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God". The appropriate response to this is outrage.

Messi: Ah, Lionel Messi. YouTube him. If someone asks you about Messi, you should arrange your face into one of pure adoration and say these words, "It's like he has the ball attached to his foot with a string!" The person will assume you know just who he is. (He's a striker for Barcelona, a Spanish football team, by the way.)

Ronaldo: You probably know the name Cristiano Ronaldo. He was in The Simpsons after all and he's somewhat good-looking so he makes the gossip mags sometimes. He used to play for Manchester United but now plays for Real Madrid (another Spanish football team). He was player of the year many times running and contrary to popular belief, does NOT play for Brazil. A suspicious guy may try and trip you up if you mention Ronaldo. His international team is Portugal. OK?

Step 7.

Random facts that you should know and be able to throw into conversation should they come up.

Spain won the last World Cup.

The next World Cup is being held in Brazil in 2014.

The current EPL title race is between Manchester City and Manchester United.

In league football, a team gets three points for a win, 1 point for a draw and no points for a loss.

Each EPL season runs from August to May and your team will play every other team in the EPL twice - once at home and once at the home of the opponent.

AFTER reading this article:
How a guy sees you + football

If you get caught out, put on your cutest smile and say, 'Oh, really? I didn't know that!' Don't admit you aren't interested, listen intently and try to learn. You're obviously pretty damn awesome or he wouldn't be talking to you anyway, right? And you don't need to be one of the guys, just hold a conversation. But football is the most watched sport in the world, so why not join the crowds? Or better yet, sign up to a local team and really learn to play!

Miss SAMawdsley xx


You'll Never Walk Alone...