Programme Notes 2007/8
Ospreys (EDF)
Two points from a visit to Kingsholm would normally be seen as a good result for any team in the Guinness Premiership, but it still felt like 3 points lost. Maybe that disappointment reflects how far the Club has come in two seasons, but before half time with four tries and a 15-point margin, we could all dream. Unfortunately, I could not be there as I was [and still am] in Chicago, so I joined the small, but passionate community following the match on the Comeallwithin supporters’ message board.
This has to be one of the most stressful ways to support a team known to man. The BBC provides updates, but there is always several minutes delay, and if you can actually receive radio reception from the local BBC station you wish you hadn’t, because the commentator usually wishes he was reporting on football, and the “expert” providing insight is clearly a passer-by, dragged off the street while shopping with the wife, and has absolutely no knowledge, let alone interest, in the opposition. So that is why I, and many others, sat staring at our computer screens, continually pressing the “refresh” button to feed ravenously off the posts of fellow Quins’ obsessives who can bear to listen to the local radio reception, or directly from those actually at the match, tapping latest scores into their Blackberrys.
I do stop to wonder if I’m taking this “supporting” a little too far, but at least I have acceptance, so if I want a cure to this Quins Obsessive Disorder (QOD), I’m on the first step to recovery. But remember, when you are visiting the rugby hotspots of Paris, Treviso, Perpignan and Stockport, that there will a whole network of QODs feverishly punching “refresh”, whilst totally neglecting whatever chores their spouses had planned for that afternoon.
May I remind you of the Quinssa Christmas Gift Appeal for the Shooting Star Children’s Hospice. We are looking for donations of new toys for the Under 5’s and new CDs or DVDs for all age groups up to 18. Gifts should be unwrapped, in gift bags if possible, to enable the staff to match presents to individual children. The next chance to donate gifts will be at the Quinssa stand in the Etihad stand bar before the Bristol match on Saturday 8th December. Your gifts will be presented to the children at their Christmas Parties – one for the under 5’s and one for the over 5’s - and we are hopeful of player attendance at both parties this year. As a Thank You for supporting the Appeal, all Quinssa members who donate a gift at the Quinssa stand will be entered into a draw for a pair of tickets in the Etihad Corporate Box for the Saracens match on 22nd December.
You will be aware that we are working with Etihad to develop their partnership with supporters. As a result, everyone who is a member of Quinssa on 22nd December 2007 will be entered into a FREE draw for a pair of tickets on Etihad Airways. The presentation is to be made at the Leicester Tigers game on 6th January 2008.
Again, I cannot be there today and will once more be going through the agonising business of following this match via the Internet. Whatever the result, I’m sure today will be a great occasion and wish all our Welsh visitors an enjoyable visit, if not a successful one!
Cliff Funnell
Cliff@quinssa.org.uk
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