Gaz's Week of Sporting Stress. Issue 4
Anyone that knows me or is familiar with my blog knows that I love my sport and I am particularly passionate about the teams that I support. Week on week the performance and results of these teams tend to dictate my daily mood. I have had the idea of documenting the trials and tribulations of following my sporting teams, to share the stress and see whether it can give me a little therapy and, in turn, give you guys maybe a few laughs and an insight into my temporary insanity.
A humongous week for my teams with ridiculous amounts of pressure and stress and we’re only week 4. Starting with Bristol Rovers who entertained Plymouth Argyle on Saturday. This is considered by some a derby and to add to that we are both at the wrong end of the table. As it was international weekend Dinamo Bucharest had a week off so that meant a game for England on Saturday night. They were playing Spain, which is always stressful. Then finally the big family showdown. My wife Jayne’s Chicago Bears take on my Green Bay Packers at Lambeau field on Sunday night/Monday morning.
Hold on to your keyboards cause this is going to be a bumpy ride!
The kick off for The Gas was earlier than usual, at 3:30 (GMT +3). I had to organise things ahead of time because we were also going to the Bucharest Food Festival up at Romexpo. So armed with my iPad we made the journey to the festival.
Team Line Up Prediction League
This is a league that I run with some friends. We have to try to predict the starting 11 for Bristol Rovers every match. This is easier said than done as our manager Darrell Clarke loves to use all of his players.
The results from the week previous against Shrewsbury
Parky 8 correct
Mark, Joe Shaun and myself (disappointing) 9
The winners this week were Laura and Hols who both score 1 point each. Congrats!
Table
Gaz 10
Hols 6
Mark 3
Parky 2
Laura 2
Shaun 2
Joe 2
Geoff 1
Chaney 1
I’m still top but being chased down by Hols. If anyone would like to join in then please feel free. You can just put your predictions in the comments before the team announcement for the next game. The rules are in the original post link here
My Team for Plymouth Argyle:
Bonham, Leadbitter, Broadbent, Craig, Kelly, Upson, O’Clarke, Matthews, Bennett, Nichols, Payne.
So we get to the festival and I’m munching on some Pad Thai as I settle down for the game. It is immediately apparent that this is a bottom of the table clash and that both sides have a severe lack of confidence. Both teams cannot string three passes together in a row and possession of the football is at a premium. From a Rovers point of view there are maybe 3 players that are positives on the game and that is the new goalkeeper Jack Bonham who looks commanding of his area and quick in his distribution, Ollie Clarke who at least has some fighting spirit about him and is making some surging runs forward and finally, young Sam Matthews our new player from Bournemouth. He seems to be trying to create and take responsibility for a struggling team. We reach half time with very little to report except that the Chimichanga was delicious. 😁
The theme in the second half continued from the first. Nobody was able to get a grip on the game. In some cases it was the fear of making a mistake and costing your team the points that was inhibiting the creative side of the game. As the game wore on Rovers started to apply a modicum of pressure. The fans were clearly lifted by this and raised their game, singing a little bit louder than before. The players were pushing forward in search of that precious goal to ease everyone's fears. Could they get it?
There were a few goalmouth scrambles and a run and shot by Matthews that produced a great save from ex Rovers goalkeeper Matt Macey but other than that the threat seemed to fade. Encouraged by this Plymouth had a turn of their own. Using a little bit of extra pace that they had in their team they attacked down the left hand side and produced three great chances, one a scramble with about three shots at goal and two nearly identical pull backs that, to be fair, they should have scored from but for good fortune and some great work by Bonham.
Plymouth clearly finished the game on top and will consider themselves unlucky not to have taken the three points away. They remain winless this season. As for Rovers, they were grateful for the final whistle and another point to keep them moving on. There is a huge amount of work to be done to stop this season becoming the relegation dogfight and at the moment, it’s looking bleak. The team are missing the intensity and passion that are normally prerequisites of a Bristol Rovers side.
One positive piece of news as that a player with that passion and intensity in abundance has just returned from long term injury in the form of Stuart Sinclair. Affectionately known as the beard, this diminutive midfielder plays like a giant, with the heart of a lion and has the engine to play 90 minutes at full speed. He has been my favourite player since he joined the club just over 4 years ago and if there was ever a time we needed this guy that time is now.
Final Score: Rovers 0 Plymouth Argyle 0
Rovers have played 7 games won one, drawn 2 and lost 4. We currently sit 21st out of 24.
Next up for The Gas is a Trip to Kenilworth Road to Face Luton Town on Saturday 15th September at 5pm (GMT+3)
Later that evening I ventured out into town to watch the England v Spain match and have a few beers with my mate Pete. I took us a while to find a place showing the match which is unusual in Bucharest because they normally show all England games. We eventually settle on a place called Half Time in the old town of Lipscani. We find some seats, order some beers and focus on the game.
England pretty much start with the team that, I believe, overachieved in the last world cup and start the game fairly well. Luke Shaw; playing in his first England game since his horrendous injury a few years ago, made a storming run down the left hand side and swung a pinpoint cross in for Marcus Rashford who slotted the ball home from 10 yards out. It was one of the slickest moves I have seen from an England team in ages and bodes well for the future of this young team.
Spain's response was immediate and decisive! They moved with urgency and a fluidness that caught the Three Lions of guard and buried the ball into the back of the net to equalise with a couple of minutes of the restart. England then go again, looking to build up a bit of pressure again and the game settles down slightly and is pretty even. Spain then get a free kick on the left hand side from a rash tackle by Kieran Trippier. The ball is whipped in with pace and Rodrigo is completely unmarked at the near post to side foot the ball into the net. Very disappointing defending from England.
The Three Lions continue to try to take the game to Spain but are not getting the penetration that they are after as Spain sit a little deeper and soak up the attacks with relative ease. Then a break through. After a corner the ball is pinging around like a pinball in the Spanish penalty area and it falls to Jesse Lingard. Jesse dink’s the ball into the danger area and Rashford heads it towards goal. De Gea in the Spanish goal gets a hand to it and pushes it away. So close!
In the second half it seemed as though Spain were willing to concede possession and defend a bit deeper and that allowed England more of the ball. But the big question at this point was could they do anything with it. At times the forward play was decent, quick interchanges of passing that attempted to open up the defence. I was starting to think that the pressure would tell and the equaliser would happen.
A nasty incident happened when Shaw went in for a header and collided with a Spanish player and landed hard, clearly unconscious. Play was stopped for over 10 minutes while they were treating him. This is a nervous time in sport when anyone has a head or neck injury. Players and fans tend to fear the worst and everyone is praying for good news. He was carried off on a stretcher after regaining consciousness and having the appropriate checks completed. I wish him well in his recovery and hope it’s not too serious.
After the restart it was young Rashford who was the threat and he was bursting into the box trying to penetrate. Eventually a gilt edged chance fell to the England danger man. He received a pass from captain Harry Kane and sliced through the Spanish defence with just De Gea to beat. He pulled the trigger on the shot, that had a bit of pace but unfortunately didn’t have the required accuracy and was directed straight at the keeper and De Gea made the save.
In the closing minutes of the game there was a little controversy. England were trying their best to get the leveler when a blocked cross flew up in the air. Substitute Danny Welbeck positioned himself under the ball as de Gea leapt up to take the ball in two hands. As he came back down he landed on Welbeck, bounced the ball off of his head and dropped to the floor. Welbeck reacted first and calmly slotted the ball home for what looked like a deserved equaliser. As Danny spun away to celebrate the referee was gesticulating for a free kick to Spain.As you can imaging the elation turned to outrage as the goal was disallowed and play continued with a sheepish looking Spanish free kick. I still do not understand why the goal never counted and feel slightly aggrieved as I’m sure do the England players.
Final score: England 1 Spain 2
So to the Green Bay Packers versus the Chicago Bears. Like I said in the opening this was a huge rivalry not only because it is two historic franchises or because it's the oldest rivalry in the league but because it is the rivalry of our household. My wife has been a Bears fan since the Super Bowl winning year of 1985 when they were the monsters of the midway with players like McMahon, Perry, Singleterry. They even played an exhibition game at Wembley in 86 against the Cowboys which cemented Jayne’s love for them.
Edit: I forgot to mention Walter Payton and Jayne has gone ballistic on me!
To cut a long story short, when we were a lot younger Jayne spent a year in Washington DC and I manage to save up enough money to go over there and see her. On one of our first chances to relax we sat down to watch a NFL playoff game and guess who was playing? The Green Bay Packers. They were playing Detroit and a little known Quarterback called Brett Favre was throwing the ball 60-70 yards and nailing touchdowns. I’d never seen anything like it and from that moment Brett and the Green and Gold were my team. The fact that they were the big rivals of the Chicago Bears had nothing to do with it! Honest!
So, to the game and thinking ahead, we signed up for the game on NFL Game Pass. It is a little steep at £18 but we haven’t really got a choice and this game is too important to mess around with. The game for us in Bucharest was going to kick off at 3:30am (GMT+3) so we set our alarms for 3am and watched some of the earlier game of The 49’ers @ Vikings. The Vikings looked impressive and they are up week 2 for the Pack.
My alarm goes off at three O’clock in the morning and I get the game set up on the main TV in the living room. Jayne follows in after me and we are ready for the game. I am predictably nervous being its the opening game in our centenary year against the old rival. It’s the middle of the night so we are not saying much to each other anyway but the tension is rising. 78k fans at historic Lambeau field. The place sounds rockin and everyone is ready. The ball gets kicked off and the 2018 season is underway.
My senses told me something was up from the moment we started. We looked flat and lacking intensity. We barely played our starters in the preseason and it was showing. What good is having a protected, healthy squad if they are not ready to play anyway? My stress levels were rising. Our first possession was awful. The Bears D, including their record signing of supreme pass-rushing monster Khalil Mack, was all over it and we couldn’t move. In fact we still looked like we were playing not to get hurt, almost like the real games were yet to come. If we weren’t ready then Mitch Trubisky and the Bears offence were.
The Bears first drive was full of misdirection and tricksy, un-Bearlike, plays that had our defence chasing their tails. It looked like the defense of the last few seasons with a lack of pass rush and a soft secondary playing miles off of their man. The Bears corralled their way up to our red zone and then when everything broke down Trubisky just wandered into the endzone for the touchdown and 6 points.
The Packers second drive was much like the first. Khalil Mack and Akiem Hicks were causing havoc with the Packers game plan and Aaron Rodgers were being pressured and worse still, hit, by all and sundry. Another punt from our MVP, JK Scott. At least he was playing well.
My heart is just dropping now as we cannot move the ball and if our defence don’t change something we are going to be further behind. The Bears next drive was as slick as the first up to a point. Something seemed to happen on that drive that swung in the D’s favour and even though the pass rush was still non existent, Trubisky was starting to struggle to find his receivers. We tightened up and held them to a field goal. It was a small victory but a victory nonetheless and gave us a little hope.
And then it happened. The unthinkable. Disaster! On our third drive we were still in a mess and not moving the ball. Then on a third and 9 play the pocket collapsed and Hicks landed on Aaron and Aaron didn’t get up. The previous season was spent without him after game 5 and it looked like it could be a possibility again after three drives of the season. He tried to get up and fell back down again. My heart and the heart of all the Cheeseheads in the Packer Nation was in our mouths. Eventually he gets up and limps, very heavily, over to the medical tent to receive treatment.
I’m starting to whine and moan at Jayne complaining that ‘this is what her team always do’ blah, blah, blah! I’m ready to walk away from the game to stop my fuse blowing but I just about hang in there and stick around. I real don’t know how I got through the next hour or so because my football world was crumbling before my eyes.
The defence holds on the next series and the offence get the ball back and our backup DeShone Kizer steps up to the plate. The first couple of plays look good. We’re actually moving the ball. Kizer zings a nice ball to Allison and we are in the red zone. The commentators are ‘trend commentating’ as usual and are talking about the faith that coach McCarthy has with his backup and how he wont change the playbook to accommodate him. Typical! And rubbish as usual because no sooner had they said this, Khalil Mack; the one man wrecking ball, just takes the ball off of Kizer like he is a baby. It was a horrible play and one that anyone who’s watched Kizer knows he is capable of. The defence, who are quietly getting on with business, make another stop and we get the ball back deep in our own territory. We run the worst screenplay that has ever been attempted and, guess who, Mack is in position to make an easy interception and trot into the endzone for the score. Eerrgh!
I am mad, frustrated, outraged and terrified all in the same breath. Coach Mike McCarthy insists on not playing starters in the preseason and insists on using slow developing plays that the Bears are just eating up. Aaron looks done and Kizer isn’t going to get it done. Thank Lombardi it's half time. It’s 20-0!
Jayne’s staying quiet because she knows I’m at exploding point and completely frustrated. In hindsight her team just played a perfect game of football and just dominated us in all facets of play. As much as I should be congratulating her and her team I just can’t. I know that’s pretty sad of me but it’s all a bit too much. At this point I’m thinking that their is no way back and the chances of Aaron Rodgers coming out for the second half are slim to none.
Aaron Rodgers comes back out for the second half! What!! OMG The crowd go nuts as he walks across the pitch and even breaks into a run. We have clearly dodged a massive bullet. To what extent Rodgers play will be limited is yet to be seen but he’s out there and ready. The relief is huge and definitely sparked what was about to come.
The defence continued to have a handle on the Bears offence. Now for Aaron. Can we start to turn this around and at least give ourselves a bit of pride back. Our first drive of the half was immediately different. We were using quick fire stuff, getting the ball out quickly and it was working. Along with the high tempo their defence was blowing and we were moving. Aaron was in rhythm and that is a beautiful thing to behold. What was becoming apparent was that he wasn’t moving in the pocket and clearly had an issue with his left, surgically repaired knee. Will it hold out?
Our drive faltered in the red zone and we had to settle for a field goal. Nevertheless, hope was back. Our defence made another stop and Aaron had the ball back in his hands once again. This time he hoisted a pass to Geronimo Allison into the endzone for a TOUCHDOWN! It was a play of 39 yards made even more amazing by the fact that A-Rod couldn’t throw the ball off of his front foot. It was literally all arm strength only. Incredible! 20-10
Aaron has the ball again. We might actually have a defence this season. We are in the 4th quarter and time is not a factor but we need to keep the momentum going. Another score and we are in business and this could be one memorable comeback. Aaron launches another beauty to Davante Adams and he twists and turns and gains a bunch of yards. He dumps one off, again to Adams and Adams does the rest. He beats his man around the outside and dives for the endzone. TOUCHDOWN! What a play. Where was this in the first half? 20-17 with 9 minutes remaining.
The Bears next drive was determined and purposeful with plenty of work by the impressive tandem of Cohen and Howard. The Packers D makes another impressive stop and the Bears kick a field goal to make it 23-17. Only 6 points in it and Aaron has the ball back with 2:42 on the clock. Time is beginning to be a factor but only a little.
Aaron throws a bullet straight at Kyle Fuller the cornerback for the Bears that the Packers tried to sign in free agency. It hits him on the numbers and I’m thinking great turn around but game over. As it happens the ball bounces off of Fuller’s chest and onto the floor. Wow! We got away with that. Were still in with a chance to win. Rodgers completes to Randall Cobb over the middle and Cobb uses his skills and weaves his way around and turns it into a 70 yard touchdown. The crowd are going bonkers, Cobb does his Lambeau Leap and we are leading 23-24. I didn’t make a sound, in part respect for Jayne and in part because I’m a little embarrassed by my whining, shouting and the occasional swear word in the first half.
We need one more stop and this game is fried chicken. The Bears are again reduced to using their two running backs as their primary go to guys. They are making good gains but they are also unable to get in behind us and that has tipped this thing in our favour. Trubisky is running out of time and has made a couple of errant throws and it comes down to a 4th and 10 on their own 46 yard line with 1:10 remaining. Nick Perry generates some pressure, gets to Trubisky and strip sacks him for the turnover and the win.
All that's left to do is for Aaron to run out the clock and then launch the ball into the crowd and go home victorious. What a win! It’s been suggested that this game will go down in history, not just as Aaron Rodgers best ever comeback but maybe the best of all time. It was certainly an incredible turnaround and further evidence that A Rod is the GOAT!
We were both completely exhausted after the game but poor Jayne had to get ready and go straight to school. She wasn’t very happy with me either. Come to think of it, I doubt the neighbors were either. Ooops, sorry.
Looking forward to 2018 season! Love my american football :)
Week two and I'm tearing my hair out. I'm not sure I can take a season of this! 😱
This sounds like insightful comments @cheese4ead. Wish you were writing about real sports like rugby or cricket... :-)
Coming to you tongue-in-cheek via #steemitbloggers from sunny South Africa
😂
Hey @reonlouw
You never know! I like both sports so if it comes around i'll cover it.
Cheers, Gaz
Nice read. I leave an upvote for this article thumbsup