Reading Roars!

Matt is a genius.  Matt Rose, that is.  The Evening Post reports in Cow about that - century of cheer! that, after seeing glum faces in Reading, the 17 year old Reading School student decided to dress as a cow to cheer up 100 members of the public.  After fulfiling requests such as bursting into song while standing at an urinal (very a-moo-sing) and, allegedly, juggling a cactus, Matt completed his challenge on Christmas Eve. 

Many 17 years old bum around all day, scowling or playing on their Wii.  Matt wanted to make a difference by helping to make the nation a happier one (it’s interesting how so many people are perceived to be miserable despite that the UK is the 5th largest economy - this may be because of the growing social divide and rampant empty consumerism).

Matt, if you’re reading this, here is my 2008 wish list that will make me happier still:

• A seat on First Great Western trains.  First Great Western is the second worst train operating company in the UK for punctuality and yet unregulated fares are to rise by an average of 6.1%.  If I’m expected to pay so much then I should, at least, also expect a seat to sit on.   Our rail services (with Network Rail/government also to blame), unfortunately, much like the England football team, are a national disgrace.
• Cleaner streets.  Reading’s streets and waterways are nauseatingly filthy.  The smoking ban has resulted in an increase in fag ends on our pavements.  Vomit and discarded kebabs point to the soaring popularity of Reading’s bars.  In recent weeks, I have seen a teenage girl lob a plastic bottle into the water at The Oracle’s Riverside and joking about it with her mates, and another girl casually drop a bottle of water on the ground near Broad Street. 
• A solution to fix Reading’s traffic congestion.  Or more movement in this direction.  At the moment, the only true city characteristic that the town possesses is the extent of its traffic problems. 
• New ownership of Reading FC.   Madejski has done a formidable job.  Now it’s time for someone with even more bulging pockets to take the club to the next level.

Happy New Year!

Reading FC’s Dave Kitson, I see, was featured in another broadsheet sports section on Saturday. 

According to the article From Tavern to Tottenham via Sainsbury’s on the Dave Kitson road to stardom in The Times, bidding for the striker, who is now the highest-scoring Englishman in the Premiership (as known, I’m sure, by Fabio), would start at £20 million (when he joined the Royals in 2003 he cost £300k).  [As pointed out by a reader, the £20 million would be for Berbatov, rather than Kitson.]

Interestingly, Kitson and I both used to work at Sainsbury’s and we both have ginger hair (not much, in my case, as I lost most of it when I was younger).  The comparisons end there.  Obviously.

An interview with Dave Kitson, Royal who will never be king of the castle, appeared in The Guardian’s sport section today in which the Reading FC striker revealed a remarkably modest character.  Premiership footballers are getting a bit of criticism these days (quite rightly) for shameful behaviour off the pitch.  Players such as Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas and Kitson stand out for being, well, refreshingly different.

Kitson explains:

I don’t own a car.  I refuse to shell out the amount of money for a car that I should be worthy of having at this level. If I spent more than £10,000 on a car, if you could see where I came from, and you could see what my dad is driving around in and you could see my friends who I used to play football with driving around in their Sky vans, it just wouldn’t be right. I’m no better than any of those.

Some of those players were 10 times the player I was. I got lucky. If I went back into my neighbourhood in a Porsche or a Bentley there would be hell to pay. That’s just cars. I have no jewellery. I don’t wear any chains or any watches. I wear plain clothes, no logos. I don’t have a boot deal - I refuse to have one. I am just happy going along and being me and I really don’t want to be that fella what I see every day. I really want to avoid it

In the unlikely event that you are reading this, Fabio, I urge you to consider Kitson for England.

Further to the last post, you may be interested in knowing that highlights of the Spurs-Reading game will be shown first on Match of the Day tonight, 10.30pm on BBC One (despite West Ham’s defeat of Man United, arguably the more meaningful encounter).  Subject to change, of course, perhaps if the game at Goodison Park is similarly chaotic.

More bonkers than bonkers. The current season has seen some pretty bizarre results, topped by September’s nutty Portsmouth-Reading game. Incredibly, Reading were today involved in a goalfest that threatened to equal that 7-4 classic. The Royals ultimately fell at Stamford Bridge, losing 6-4 to Spurs (who in their previous fixture whipped Fulham 5-1).

Berbatov grabbed 4 goals for the home side, with Jermain Defoe and Steed Malbranque scoring one apiece. David Kitson’s brace and goals from Kalifa Cisse and Ivar Ingimarsson demonstrated that Spurs, too, seemingly had defenders missing this afternoon. Catenaccio it wasn’t.

So Reading are still left without an away win and Spurs’ ascendancy under Ramos continues. Ironically, the two sides will meet again on Saturday 5 January after Reading hosts Portsmouth. But will it be New Year fireworks or scrappy draws this time, I wonder?

Several months ago, as I tried Zero Degree’s Strawberry & Vanilla speciality beer, I was thinking about other flavours that the microbrewery could play with: chocolate, to help banish the January blues (low calorie, of course); lychee, to coincide with the Beijing Games; coconut; papaya… The possibilities are seemingly endless (please excuse this well-worn expression).

There had to be a seasonal end-of-year special. I suspected cranberry. Well, there is, as I expected, a Christmas/winter edition though it’s not cranberry, but the other yuletide favourite: Cinnamon & Apple. I tried it yesterday and found it charming (if that makes sense), though quite sweet. A pint of this stuff is simply too much for my liking.

For those who don’t like their beer sweet, there is another novelty introduced by Zero Degrees, that tastes rather like bacon: the gruff-sounding Smokey Lager.

Smokey Lager is exciting. I applaud Zero Degrees for their initiative in offering such an unorthodox flavour. Then again, they are in total control: producing their own beer, they have the means to quickly launch and retire flavours as and when business demands. I love this agility. It’s incredible to think that only a few years ago choice in the town centre was restricted to the usual boring Carling-Stella spectrum (as well as some insipid ales and alcopops looking like stuff you clean your toilet with). Now, thanks to get Zero Degrees, we get a beer that tastes like smoked salmon. Wonderful stuff.