TOUR DIARY - DAY FIVE: At least the team had no trouble finding 'the net' (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)
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TOUR DIARY - DAY FIVE: At least the team had no trouble finding 'the net'
6:00am Friday 6th July 2012 in Sport By Sam Morshead
LIVING ON THE HEDGE: The makeshift press desk in Italy
US ENGLISH football journalists don’t know how easy we have it!
Week in, week out we get the varying luxuries of press boxes up and down the country, the free pies and programmes that come with them and generally unrestricted access to speedy, reliable broadband.
I can tell you now; our Italian cousins have got it rough.
I’d never covered a match abroad before yesterday evening and, fair enough, it was on a hotel training pitch in the middle of rural Veneto, but still – it was instantly forgettable.
In England, when you go to a stadium you generally get given enough free internet to satisfy a small nation’s Googling addiction for a week or so.
There is no WiFi available around the grounds of Hotel Veronello and, with my Android also refusing to play ball – that meant a 100-yard dash at half-time and after the final whistle in a desperate scramble to try to post match reports online.
In England, there are self-serving press areas with power sockets, desks and, if you’re really very lucky, television screens showing re-runs of Eastenders pre-match.
At Hotel Veronello, Chris Wise of the BBC and I had to hastily create our own press box in an unused goal on one of the touchlines, using a low-lying bush as a desk. At one point the plant tried to eat my laptop.
In England, a member of the home side’s press office will come to you roughly 45 minutes before kick-off with a teamsheet so identification of players is less of a chore and more of a pleasure. They’ll be typed out and neatly presented on headed paper.
Over on the banks of Lake Garda, I was still trying to use my seven words of Italian and a GCSE in Latin to get the select XI’s assistant manager to scribble down his team selection on the back of my British Airways e-ticket fully four minutes into the first half.
To be honest, I was quite proud I managed to make him understand what I was on about. That was until I returned to our somewhat unsafe press box and realised his writing was about as decipherable as a tipsy Egyptian’s hieroglyphic diary.
In the end it all worked, and I know I shouldn’t complain so I’ll stop now. Besides, I haven’t been able to charge the laptop tonight so the battery will go flat any ti
Comments(20)
jennytools
says...
7:26am Fri 6 Jul 12
Lazaat
says...
7:51am Fri 6 Jul 12
jennytools wrote:i think it was Sam being humorous which we do need, the article was obviously written 'tongue in cheek' so I think you have totally missed
My heart bleeds for you, two hours work a day in Italy lovely sunshine is not bad work if you can get it, as i have a 12 hour shift now in miserable weather in a warehouse, to be fair we dont need to much of your moaning this morning.
Lazaat
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7:52am Fri 6 Jul 12
London Red
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8:16am Fri 6 Jul 12
Sharkyharper
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8:48am Fri 6 Jul 12
STFC Tony
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8:50am Fri 6 Jul 12
mrclick
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9:13am Fri 6 Jul 12
Stilloyal
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9:43am Fri 6 Jul 12
jennytools
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10:34am Fri 6 Jul 12
the wizard
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10:35am Fri 6 Jul 12
Steve. Brentford
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10:49am Fri 6 Jul 12
Stilloyal wrote:Howdy partner, yep his style is different to G Rose and i think if we want the sort of updates Gary gave us then it would probably be a good idea to form some sort of relationship with him, (ohh ar missus)
Yep he's doing a fair old job with the humour. Wonder if he's any good at tweeting updates on matches like his predecessor ? ?:-)
i like the humour part of his reporting and like Laz find myself warming to him, keep up the good work Sam.
Al, you ain't kidnapped Sapman or the RWB bt man have you both apparently have gone AWOL.
Stilloyal
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11:19am Fri 6 Jul 12
Steve. Brentford wrote:Hi Steve, no mate not made contact with SAP but he can come to the Conservative club tonight and I'll sign him in and he can then listen to me singing Elvis at the Karaoke :-)
Stilloyal wrote: Yep he's doing a fair old job with the humour. Wonder if he's any good at tweeting updates on matches like his predecessor ? ?:-)Howdy partner, yep his style is different to G Rose and i think if we want the sort of updates Gary gave us then it would probably be a good idea to form some sort of relationship with him, (ohh ar missus) i like the humour part of his reporting and like Laz find myself warming to him, keep up the good work Sam. Al, you ain't kidnapped Sapman or the RWB bt man have you both apparently have gone AWOL.
Steve. Brentford
says...
11:28am Fri 6 Jul 12
Stilloyal wrote:Shame i cant make it, i have to wash my hair Haha.
Steve. Brentford wrote:Hi Steve, no mate not made contact with SAP but he can come to the Conservative club tonight and I'll sign him in and he can then listen to me singing Elvis at the Karaoke :-)
Stilloyal wrote: Yep he's doing a fair old job with the humour. Wonder if he's any good at tweeting updates on matches like his predecessor ? ?:-)Howdy partner, yep his style is different to G Rose and i think if we want the sort of updates Gary gave us then it would probably be a good idea to form some sort of relationship with him, (ohh ar missus) i like the humour part of his reporting and like Laz find myself warming to him, keep up the good work Sam. Al, you ain't kidnapped Sapman or the RWB bt man have you both apparently have gone AWOL.
ciclosporindorset
says...
12:36pm Fri 6 Jul 12
Malkym
says...
12:50pm Fri 6 Jul 12
the wizard wrote:OBN on the way for you Wiz! -another way of getting a suntan!
I think this is good. Sam is having to improvise and overcome the obstacles by being a bit inventive. Having to chase around and and use the brain instead of everything being handed to him on a plate will do him no harm at all. His predecessor went through all of this and became a top man in the eyes of many. It's all up to Sam now to do the same and become Gary Rose the second.
Malkym
says...
12:51pm Fri 6 Jul 12
Steve. Brentford wrote:Every cloud....!!
Stilloyal wrote: Yep he's doing a fair old job with the humour. Wonder if he's any good at tweeting updates on matches like his predecessor ? ?:-)Howdy partner, yep his style is different to G Rose and i think if we want the sort of updates Gary gave us then it would probably be a good idea to form some sort of relationship with him, (ohh ar missus) i like the humour part of his reporting and like Laz find myself warming to him, keep up the good work Sam. Al, you ain't kidnapped Sapman or the RWB bt man have you both apparently have gone AWOL.
redplymouth
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2:58pm Fri 6 Jul 12
Steve. Brentford
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4:23pm Fri 6 Jul 12
redplymouth wrote:Bail terms dont allow him to leave the country.
on another subject why is luke McCormick not with the guys in italy? Thought Paolo had invited him to go. Swear i just saw him in a shopping centre in North Devon. wander if a club will give him a chance after what has happened.
the wizard
says...
10:30pm Fri 6 Jul 12
Malkym wrote:No sun here, let alone a tan. Plenty of rain, but sunshine on the horizon today. Big shiny new toy arrived, motorhome ! Might make the end of Tour de France.
the wizard wrote:OBN on the way for you Wiz! -another way of getting a suntan!
I think this is good. Sam is having to improvise and overcome the obstacles by being a bit inventive. Having to chase around and and use the brain instead of everything being handed to him on a plate will do him no harm at all. His predecessor went through all of this and became a top man in the eyes of many. It's all up to Sam now to do the same and become Gary Rose the second.
Lazaat says...
7:14am Fri 6 Jul 12