How "Google" made me a GUNMAN!!!

The screen shot of the translated page.

I didn't undergo the BMT during my NS due to my visual handicap but somehow misinterpretation of Google Translate had made me a GUNMAN!!

Just take a look at the screen shot of one of the recent blog entry on the "Floating Platform" (above).

Unfortunately, due to the shortcoming and lack of human touch of this translator, the text "take this shot" was mistranslated as “开枪” (literary means "open fire", "take a GUNshot") whereas what I meant was "take this photo shot".

I hope I had made myself clear as I don't wish to see myself being barred from entering the platform because of this blooper and please verify the translated text each time you used this translator!!

Thank you for your kind attention..

I know it's none of my business...

But having came back from Jalan Besar close to midnight, is something we really ought to look into this issue.

The AFC Cup match between local powerhouses Home United and Indian side Dempo SC, although not as prestigious as any Asian Champions League (ACL) game, it was suppose to be something not to be ignored too. Given its status as a platform for second-tier club sides to challenge for regional supremacy.

I'm sure the organizers should be well-aware of the lack of interest in this second-tier continental tournament in this part of the region (judging from the minimal media coverage and fans' interest, both whose focus are on the debut F1 race in Singapore over the weekend).

Certainly, we can't blame the fact of the 8.45pm kick-off given the pre-existing circumstances but such a late kick-off timing is something not the local fans are accustomed to (as most matches kick off at 7.30 or 7.45pm).

Other factors like how the teams had to complete through the group stages before emerged to the "knock-out" stage also taken toil on the participating teams.

Taking part in continental tournament as such, on top of their domestic commitment, require these teams to travel constantly around the region during certain part of the season.

Not only was it tiring, the teams quite frequently need to request changes in their domestic fixtures to accommodate their continental commitments, thus it not only costs disruption to theirs but also the rest as well.

The solution?
Once and for all, scrap the group stages and implement the "knock-out" format instead!

It's all down to one team's luck whether who will their first opponents and as an incentive to all participate teams, winners of each "knock-out" match shall be awarded some prize monies for their effort, while the losing side - empty-handed.

With the cash as a form of motivation, as fans, we will hope to see a more keenly-contested match instead playing around with points, goal differences etc. to get past the group stages.

In order to make it more interesting and intriguing tournament, perhaps the organizers should have it this: instead of planning this proposed "knock-out" competition in line with a pyramid format, how about after the completion of each "knock-out" stage the teams will go through a "lottery pick" to decide who meet who in the next stage?

I'm not sure how this new idea works well with all, as some would prefer the old format so as to plan out and refine their strategy along the way but the whole idea is to make everybody guessing and keep everybody on "full alert" instead of having those "I know I playing who next and plan what to do" kind of approach to this tournament.

This suggestion is to weed out the kind of stagnation this continental tournament is facing which is some we ought to admit it and that's the fact!

And bring back the romance of a Cup competition ....

SNAPSHOT FROM THE PRESS CONFERENCE

Dempo SC's coach Armando Colaco (right) commented it's good learning experience for his team and Indian football on whole to benefit from playing in tournament as such like the AFC Cup.

While his counterpart, Mr P N Sivaji of Home United (left) said his team shown tremendous character in the game having played for large part of the game with 10 men after key defender Valery Hiek was sent off in the first half after collected his second yellow.

For the record, Dempo SC beat Home United 5-4 on aggregate to make it to the semi-final of this competition

Yes, I mentioned “amateurism” but corporate could play a part too.

(Just a follow up from one of my previous entries.)

I know some of you folks out there don't fancy the idea of reverting back to amateur or semi-pro football, but this shouldn't be see as a setback in improving the game on the whole.

Just take a hard stare at the current local clubs' set-up, except for a small minority, the large number of them are struggling to stay afloat.

They just don't have the muscles to complete with the big guns and helpless in stopping those they nurtured from leaving for a better wages offered elsewhere.

Despite having the salary cap in place, it's not secret that some clubs are running on a shoe-string budget.

As an amateur or semi-professional meaning one will be playing the game without or little monetary gain and largely for the love of it.

As a professional player meaning one bread and butter depend on playing the game, the pressure to perform and maintain oneself in tip-top condition is a test of self perseverance to achieve that feat.

While I'm not saying being an amateur player, one can afford to be slack but the pressure on being one is definitely going to be lesser as compared with their full-timer counterpart.

Former Gombak United's star striker Toh Choon Ming should served as an example how a non full-timer can excel in his game for the Bulls, as compared to his days at Sembawang Rangers.

Given the fact that life as a pro footballer is a short one and unlike their European counterparts, whom some are likely to continue their involvement as a media pundit, coach or even as a players' agent, it's not hard to foresee the limitations faced by these pro footballers once their "game over".

Of course, the question will be asked: Given the scarce timing to train and play competitively and on top of that, these folks have to juggle with their other commitment (eg.: personal and work-wise), would it be stress for them?

Which is why I wonder if the Business Houses League still functioning?

From what I read Business Houses League is (was) a league that comprises teams from various companies in this country, where players are employees of the company's team that play competitively in this corporate league.

It works something like this in what this book I read some times back (above), where in Japan, employees were be given time-off to train and play for their company's team in tournaments as such.

Now, this is what I wonder if such model is feasible for our needs?

Players being employed by these companies, work, train and play at the same time, any good players would therefore be groomed as a convenience marketing tool for his company (aka the “star” players), players themselves need not worry if their playing days are over since they will still remain in this company as a normal employee.

The minus points of this plan:

• Players might not be able to change teams as frequent as it is now because of his working commitment.
• Companies may, anytime, suspend their teams for playing in tournaments due to budgeting issues and other unforeseen circumstances.
• Particular player's status will be in dispute in event he might leave this company, so what would be the solution if this happens?
• Corporate teams remain a corporate entity and might not go down well in generate that "sense of belonging" among the fans who likely to see themselves more aligned to the team based in the area where they live.
  

As I always do: I'm here to give some suggestions but I leave the room open for discussion...

To summarize the whole thing: SHALL we see this as an amateurism that blends well into the professional setup?

Videocast: The Sultan of Selangor Cup 2008

I was late as I was trying to figure out how to use the new "annotations" function by YOUTUBE.

And here's one using the clips taken at my SOS trip, back in July 2008.. Enjoy :)

So this is gonna be our HOME... (the PLATFORM)

The bland outlook of the facade of the Platform

... for the next few years until the completion of the much-touted SportsHub in mid-2011.

Initially, I thought this marvel structure is out-of-bound, only later I was informed you can simply walk in anytime like nobody business (thanks Shamir for your tip-off), despite the barricades and all the stuff loaded at the basement of the main stand (for the upcoming F1 race.)

Multi-colour plastic seats are the trademark of the platform.

The Singapore Flyer

The famed Singapore Skyline

And there we have it, located right in between the two landmarks - the Singapore Flyer and the fame Singapore skyline, if the actions on the field is NOT gonna entice the spectators, at least they will be given a choice to visual remedy by these two landmarks.

I think the red sector of the main stand will be reserved for the VVIPs and their guests, since from where I positioned to take this shot, this is supposedly to be the best seat of the house (remember the President seat here few weeks ago!)

Slightly further up from the red sector is the yellow sector, given its middle positioning in the stand, I would not be surprise that this will be the "premium" seat of the house without having to tilt their heads to the left or right.

Below are some of the pictures taken from the left and right of the stand.

The "green" sector

The "blue" sector

As you can see for yourself, seating at the extreme end of either the"green" or "blue" sectors, chances are you are going to strain your neck and of course, this would be the "budget" seats of the house (unless the organizer decided not to open this part of the sector for health reason)!

Organizers may also want to take consideration on opening seats that are near to the ground level (just look at the pictures above, which are self-explanatory).

I'm not a smoker but if there's an urge to have a quick puff, there are two locations (pictured above) might be a good idea for something like the "yellow box" :p

VIP lounge/ Media work area?

Any as mentioned before in my previous entry on the platform, the ideal location of the platform is also due to the fact that its proximity with major shopping malls like "Marine Square", where fans can eat, shop before or after the game.

Maybe it's already too late but I got one question that I been pondering: WHY IS THE DESIGNER IN THE FIRST PLACE HAD THE EXTENDED WALKWAY FIXED BETWEEN THE SEATING GALLERY AND THE PITCH?

Would it be feasible to have something like this instead (as illustrated below)?

A retractable walkway that would linked up the pitch and gallery as now fans are complaining the distance between the gallery and pitch, which is now the sticking point on whether would the Singapore Cup Final be held here!

Unless engineering difficulties had forced them to drop the idea initially (if they had thought of it in the first place).

And the worst part, where is the shelter??

snapshots of "FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL"

According to "Wikipedia", there are two other versions of "FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL" in the world. One being the Canada's broadcast of a Canadian Football League fixture on that day (Canadian Football, almost similar to American Football) and the other is the Australian versions of both Aussie Rules and the 13-men version of Rugby - the Rugby League (where die-hards still stubbornly refer it as FOOTBALL).

The host of the night, her name is Angel Teo, right? (Correct me if I'm wrong, thanks)

At the Tunnel before the match officials lead the teams out

The lining up of the teams...

Mingle around at the VIP Lounge...

Post-match interviews at JBS are conducted at the lift lobby...

Pictures of this entry were graphically-edited using "Picasa3" of Google (What a painful experience to use it at the beginning, still struggling now)

Has anyone think of that?

Pictures taken at the my flat's lift lobby.

I'm sure somebody already thought of that...

See these two snapshots took at my flat's lift lobby? Well, the main thing is not the lift but the two notice boards placed on the pillars of the lobby.

One of which is maintained by the town council and the other is under the care of the Residents' Committee (RC).

As mentioned before, clubs should align themselves with the RCs and other community-based organization. So the question is: Has the clubs thought of having newsletter and other similar publications pasted on notice boards like those?

For a start, we need not have something that's glossy and colour intensive if the money is tight, as I read before a simple newsletter can started off with a piece of photocopy of a mastercopy and duplicate as according to the number required (so as to save the trees and effectively managed the cost).

A simple guide/format of such newsletter.

The whole is, again, to spread the word around using "alternate media" in a time when the "mainstreamer" aren't provided much information on the local scene.

Just think about the number of "eyeballs" the newsletters going to attract.

After all, whenever we are waiting for the lift, chances are we might want to have a peek what's going on around our community right?

And I'm sure that some of us actually thought of this idea, don't we?

what happened?

Looks like EPL isn't the only place we see coaches' resignations (ie: Keegan left Newcastle, Curbishley left West Ham) lately.

Saswadimata Dasuki quit Sengkang as well with the question going on everybody's mind is - what's actually happened after both sides given their side of the story?

For the Passion and Love for the game NOT money.

Picture credit: New Zealand Folk Song

Sometimes you really got to appreciate why the Rugby Union (pictured above), until recent years, stubbornly resisted the temptation of embrace professionalism.

One of the well-guarded rules stern from the fact - "it's a sin to be paid to play for the game" and the disagreement of that led to one of the biggest split in the sport history when the rugby clubs in northern England went separate way with the south and eventually evolved into their own 13 a-side version game (ie: Rugby League) in 1895.

Football, in the other hand, took a slight different route and gradually see professionalism as a way to maintain the game's popularity in the masses (sort of).

And it did, however, sad enough to say nowadays, it become a toy of mega riches and tool of exploitation of anyone with ulterior motive.

Players' power, as the term coined, is raging on the modern game with players being the dictating factor in almost every aspect of the game.

The more the famous the player is, the more marketable he will be and of course, the tonnes of cash that he bring along will enriched the club.

Thus, it's no wonder that clubs and corporate sponsors are more than willingly (or leave with no other option) to fork out the awful sum to get whoever they want, not to forget the players held the club at a ransom to get the wages they demand.

Picture credit: http://www.footy4kids.co.uk/

I would say the founding fathers of the modern game must be sad to see the simple game being transformed into a mercenary manner like this.

The initial thought of the "broken time payment" during the early days was to compensate players for their wages losses due to their game commitment, but as times goes by with the appetite for football grown, gate income had generated enough to support the clubs.

Having said that, sometimes I really wonder if the game should remained as the way it was - being amateur, with no financial element being involved and players playing the game with pure passion for it.

Just look it with the football headlines being dominated by whosoever demanding for higher wages for their clubs, it's pretty sickening and disturbing to see some players, who are supposed to be role model to kids outhere, behaving like an unreasonable greedy b@#*&!!

As they always said, "MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVILS" and how true it is.

Happy Birthday, coach Hiroaki!!

Hope it's not too late but I would like to say a "Happy Birthday" to Albirex's coach Hiroaki Hiraoka.

What a way to mark the celebration with an upset victory over the defending champions SAFFC at their own backyard, Jurong East Stadium.

Post match celebration was marked by the serving of cream to the birthday boy (as pictured above).

Once again, Happy Birthday coach..