Join The List

With the start of a new year just a round the corner it's often a time for us to reflect and take stock. At the same time we like to look forward to what the future holds, but unfortunately, some of us can't look that much further ahead.

A few months ago I read about the plight of a young 23 year old lady named Victoria Tremlett who suffers from Cystic Fibrosis and who is currently waiting for a double lung transplant to transform here life. Now, most of us would crawl under a rock, feel sorry for ourselves and generally retreat from society but not 'Tor' - she's made it her mission to raise awareness of her 'life on the list' and has campaigned tirelessly throughout 2010 for people in the UK to join the Organ Donation Register.

She's still waiting, and she's not the only one. In the UK it's not compulsory to be a donor and the the sad fact is that somebody would have to die for anyone on the list to receive an organ transplant. Whilst an unexpected death would be a terrible situation to face I can't help but feel that I'd like to help someone 'live on' after I've gone.

So this is an appeal to my readers. To join the list and be able to help others if the worst should happen then click here.

If you want to follow Victoria's story then you can also read her Blog or follow here on Twitter.

Hopefully I haven't put too much of a downer on your celebrations, and I wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year!

Buffoon Boycott

Congratulations England. A fantastic first day brought embarrassment to the Aussies and also a well known ageing commentator.

Geoffrey Boycott has been around for donkeys years and whilst he may have been a quality player, how much longer can he milk the BBC out of tax payers money by providing expert analysis?

If any of you were listening to 'Five Live' last night then you'll already know what I'm talking about. Boycott started sledging the England team after just 12 minutes play and came out with brash statements such as, "I can't see England winning this" and "I'm supposed to know what I'm talking about, that's why I'm an expert."

You really need to listen for yourself, so click this link and listen from 42 minutes to 48 minutes. The great thing is that this period also covers the fall of the first Aussie wicket, which is very amusing after his earlier comments.

In the end he couldn't have been more wrong - England put on a clinic and the Aussies folded to 98 all out. Boycott should hang up his microphone for good.

Tough At The Top

I watch quite a bit of rugby but I haven't seen a tackle as bad as the one Xavier Rush made on England International Courtney Lawes at the weekend for a long time. He nearly took his head off! Click here to see it.

Elsewhere, Phil Taylor has stumbled through his first round match at the PDC World Darts Championships. It's crazy that quite a few TV pundits are now suddenly questioning his credentials. I accept that players in any sport will never hit the dizzy heights forever, but write off Taylor at your peril. His price has drifted on Betfair to a very tempting 2.18 from 1.75, but I can't help but think that the 'Sports Personality of the Year' nomination may have distracted him a little.

Snow Problem

With the snow putting many of the weekends sporting clashes 'out of action', it's given me the opportunity to review whether I should continue posting my Premier League ratings on the blog.

The initial reason for putting them on here was to generate thoughts and accumulate some feedback. As that hasn't materialised I'm not sure if there's that much interest despite the positive results. So with this in mind is there any point in cluttering up the blog with uninteresting content?

I appreciate that quite a few of my readers may not want to read about Football all the time so what's the answer?

Well, you've probably noticed the yellow banner above this post - I've set-up a mailing list. This helps me solve 3 issues; it frees up the blog again for other things, it will show me if there's any interest in my ratings and it also gives me the opportunity to present the information in a nicer fashion. Here's an example...

With a busy Christmas period coming up it also ensures that anybody who subscribes won't miss my selections. I won't take it personally if I get little response but there's no charge and I won't share your personal information so you haven't got anything to lose.