Finally, the local football fans can breathe a sign of relief as their effort had paid off with the announcement made this afternoon that SNOC decided to revert their earlier decision to include the football team to the upcoming Asian Games in Doha.Hurray!!, as it's not about winning medals but the rare chance to pip against the best of the lot of Asian football.Go Lions Go, believe in yourself and can make us proud!!!
Looks like the league authority has not give up hope in planting a bastion in the "wild, wild west" of Jurong West.
The failure of Sinchi FC in Jurong to gain a foothold in this area, despite those "wonderful" promises by the Chillins, would have made one sceptic if S.League football would ever established itself here.
Was at the new Jurong West stadium for some sort of sight-seeing, further have me pondering if the whole idea going to work?
Known for it's low population (heresay) and with limited bus services to this area, the key question is: How is Gombak United, the future tenants going to draw the support from this area?
From the students reside at NTU? We certainly hope extra effort will be there and hope the same thing don't happen again.
It seems that most of the times, we are left with very limited choice but endured ourselves to the sometimes tasteless, bland food available at the grounds.
Just to name a few of these "staples"
· Mee Goreng
· Mee Siam (dry version)
· Hotdog rolls
· Spring Rolls (popiah)
· Gigantic samosa with potato fillings· and etc.
Nothing wrong with these foods sold at the ground, the only complaint was that, most of the times, they were made ready available in those microwave oven box or served inside those disposable plastic bags.(Like this box of mee goreng, you see on the left)
Which is why sometimes l do admire those fans at the sporting arena in the States, where the hotdogs rolls and other snacks are cooked right on the spot and serve once ready unlike the bland and often tasteless "makan" we have over here.
We can't blame these vendors for not able to cook and serve right on the spot, probably because of the stringent hygiene regulations that probhited them from doing so.
Which is often, I would rather packed my meal on my way to the ground unless time constraint don't allow me to do so.
Perhaps, It would be nice for the regulators to lax a bit by allowing food vendors to prepare and serve the food on the spot like those in the overseas.
Aflerall, it's all about enjoyment while attending a ball game, isn't it
Just because of the lousy outcome of the Manila SEA Games, does that mean we are once again being denied a chance to involve in the Asian Games??
C'mon, drop this kind of mindset, with due respect to other sports, does they qualified to go Doha?? It's time to drop some of those under-performing sports to give it to those who truly deserved it..
When can we really complete against the best of the continent when such an golden opportunity is not given??
SNOC, we would like to know why? Thank you very much...
Think back, l should not have pay that $15 to the provider. (would it be a better choice to squeeze at Braddell Mac to catch it for free??)
After all, it was something not worth the money paid.
Like al lot of people, I still believe that no extra cent should be incurred to see the game we love.
To make thing worse, the "side dishes" that were to compliment the "main dish" were plain and dull (where are the pre-match analysis and those post-match reviews by any panel of experts, the last time we seen that done was by Les Murray and the late Johnny Warren).
No doubt about it, a lot of fans had criticized the "not-up-to-grade" coverage by the provider.
Just take an example, on a few occasions a non-English speaking coach was being interviewed after the macth, hell would we know what is he talking about when there's not translation or whatsoever.
Given this half-hearted coverage l guess, once again we are being called the laughing stock of the region for paying a prenium for scrappy production by the provider who thought by serving us the main dish is sufficient..
(Writing this base on the fact that l'm still using the old receiver)
Let's just face the stark fact and that is "We are not attracting the right crowd"..Sad isn't it.. 10 years into the league establishment, the S.Leage has yet to penetrate into the hearts of the common folks other than the punters.Before the legalized betting, gambling of the matches were always done at the terrance, on ad-hoc basis, where a spur of moment , kakis and strangers alike would place their bets and collected and distrbuted the earnings after the game.So much so that, ask any of these "fans" to name a few players on the field, you are likely given this answer "err, dunno, that small/tall/short guy wearing red/blue/green or whatsoever colour"
Was at the game between Balestier and Sengkang just now, after Sengkang had let in their sixth goal of the night, a guy behind me commented, "That tall guy (Steven Macdonald) cannot make it lah!!"
Thought he is one of those "rare breed", until he mentioned the odds given by the Singapore Pools on this match.
And his parting shot is probably the most common you get to hear
"Which team you bet and how much you bet??"
(Match pictures took at the Toa Payoh stadium)
(C)1996-2012 Ko Po Hui
All rights reserved
Unfortunately, the reflection ruined the quality of the picture.
Last but not least, many thanks to the staff at RHB Bank Berhad (Cecil Street Branch) for making this photo session possible.
