Pools for ever...

Grandson Alex had no idea what hit him when I bought him a season ticket to Hartlepool United a year ago.
So much so that, after his first match and Pools defeat back in August 2008, he asked what team we were going to support instead.
I told him it wasn't the way it worked. When you support a team, you go through the peaks and troughs, the ups and the downs but never give up.

Alex listened and listened well. He is now a staunch HUFC supporter. He knows more facts about our team than I will ever care to research.
He reads the match day magazine more ardently than a priest studies the Bible.
He knows more facts about HUFC than his times nine table. He knows how many times Ritchie Humphries has played, who has scored the most goals, who has defended best, etc...


Terry Hanlon, took this picture of us with H'angus the Mascot, smiling and laughing before we lost to Norwich...

Krimo's Christmas Colours...

Do not forget to tell us how you spent New Year's Eve.
(Poll in the top right hand corner)

According to Eat Out Magazine, it appears many diners are going to see how the festive mood takes them, with 17% saying they are just 'not sure' if it's going to be a 'cut back' Christmas or whether they will dine out more or less frequently, compared to this time last year.

In Hartlepool , everyone in the business reported a drop in customer numbers since mid-November compared to the same period last year.

Over the holidays, shops, restaurants, cafes, etc... were full to capacity. Let us hope the mood continues into the New Year.
At home we went for the usual favourites:
Family gatherings...
Friends...

Pomegranates, Duck, Tuna, Turkey...and lots of Christmas spirit.
Pools lost twice but didn't put a damper on things:
A Boxing Day trip to Scunthorpe to watch them lose 3-0.
And losing 4-1 at home against bottom of the league, Crewe Alexandra.
Let's hope we start the New Year with a better result on Saturday against Stoke City in the Cup.

A Belgian Beauty...

Terry Hanlon, the once-gentle-HUFC-Hospitality-Main-Man has started a new Facebook group called Sprouts Out.
I have joined it as an undercover-agent-provocateur.
Not because I do not like Brussels sprouts, on the contrary I love them! I joined this extremist group to try and undermine Terry's malicious campaign to discredit the beautiful and versatile sprout.

I met and fell in love with this beautiful, well-rounded, firm vegetable when I first landed on these exotic isles, over 33 years ago.

There she sat, alone, all green and shy on my dustbin lid of a plate, surrounded by generous slices of roast beef, a pile of shrivelled peas, a few sad baby carrots and a giant Yorkshire pudding.

I wondered who and what she was. I had never seen anything like her back in Algeria. The host explained: something about Brussels.
My limited understanding of the English language back then led me to wonder why the chocolate-loving Belgians would sprout such a weird-looking vegetable.

I caught it with my fork after several attempts. It felt and tasted like a water-filled balloon. My first encounter with the sprout did not have a happy ending.
Yet, I am glad to say, our relationship did not fizzle out, instead it flourished when we began experimenting. Butter, toasted nuts, bacon, lemon, etc...

Nowadays a roast is not a roast without a few Brussels sprouts on the plate.
You see I have grown to love anything Belgian, especially sprouts and chocolates, with the exception of kids who wet themselves in public.

A Delighted Mascot...

A very special day for my 8-year old grandson, Alex. I got a call from Terry Hanlon, from the Hartlepool United marketing team. He asked if Alex was coming the match against Brighton because he had been chosen as Pools mascot for the day.

We arrived just before with one hour to go for the match.

Terry took us both to the players dressing room where Alex got his photo taken with every single player and each one of them signed his matchday programme.

After a light kickalong with Terry, where Alex won £1 in a competition where he had to hit the corner post.

The electonic scoreboard was unveiled for the first time and guess whose name was up in lights?

Alex then led out the players, walking along captain Sam Collins. He shook hands with the referee, linesmen and the Brighton players before taking his seat next to me under the complimentary smiles and pats-on-the-back of our neighbouring Pools fans.

The day was crowned with a one-nil win against Brighton courstesy of Kevin Kyle in the 12th minute.

Several times through the match Alex said to me:"Grampa, this is the best day of my life!"

Little does he know that I enjoyed it just as much as he did.