lankster2003
12-04-2012, 20:32
Friday
So my weekend started travelling up to Glasgow, rather than down as I was spending a few days with family. Arrived at Braehead around 10:00 and immediately set off to the hotel to drop my bag off. Just as I arrived at the hotel, two of my companions (Michelle and Gemma) were just leaving to get some supplies for the day. Handed my bag and jacket over as was too early to check in. Before I did though got my new Team GB hoodie out. This was very kindly given to me by Flembo's sister. I also got 3 of Colin's own training tops which I wore on each day.
After leaving the hotel, I went to get something for lunch as knew full well it was going to be a long day. Got to the arena for about 10:45 and was soon joined by Michelle, Gemma, James (Jambon) and Kels, with Liz joining soon after. The queues kind of reflected the optimism for the weekend, i.e. none as the picture shows ;) .
424
So got in at 11 and we firstly watched the Belgians practice then Josh, Dan and the one they call Leon came on to court. During their practice we heard some noise filtering into the arena. We all thought, here comes the Stirling Uni Barmy Army and then we saw some Red, Yellow and Black. Fair to say they were friendly with the Belgian staff and players as a good 15 minute spell of Belgian kissing (they kiss 3 times I'm led to believe) started. We were a bit apprehensive of where our seats were as very close to them. Anyway, parted ways with James and Kels as they went to sit with the forum crew. Our seats were actually pretty decent. Only real thing they had going against them was the Barmy Army were rather drowned out by the BTF's (names on back of some Belgians shirts).
Not going to get into the tennis as most know the patterns of play, but one of the funny moments was when we could see the camera pointing in our direction so of course a wee fist pump was necessary every now and again :clap: Anyway, after the match we were all a bit gutted but extremely proud of the effort both boys put in. We went to get something to eat and bumped into James and his Mum so we sat with them. Felt a bit sorry for James' Mum as he spent most of the time talking to us about our Wimby plans. After dinner we walked back to the hotel, I finally checked in and after watching a bit of TV, dosed off.
Surreal Saturday
As some of you are aware, I like to tweet now again ;) Twitter does occasionally have it's uses and on Friday night I arranged to meet up with someone I've gotten to know through that particular social network. This was Jennifer, but those on the forum may know her as Seabreeze. She travelled up with Lizzi and Rob. We had breakfast together and spent a good hour chatting away about all sorts of things. It was great to finally meet her after all this time chatting, from both sides of the pond. She was off to tour Loch Lomond so I went and got ready for the day ahead (although I certainly wasn't ready for what was in store).
Much the same routine as Friday so arrived to see the Belgians practice. Colin, Ross, Leon et al then wandered out. Liz pointed out to Colin that I had a familiar attire on. Nice of her to point it out to him. I said to him he had a very nice sister :) Got him and Ross to sign my #bringit t-shirt I wore for the tie in February. Leon came and spoke to us for a while which was really nice of him. Discussed how Friday went and how proud we were of Josh and Dan. We also talked with Doc Turner too. He's a really nice guy :thumbup: Here's a picture of Colin and Ross' Chest Bump.
425
Tennis over, we made our way to Wetherspoons for something to eat and post match drinks. Got our food ordered (and by miracle it was with us within 10 minutes). Had a few minutes pondering our plans for the night (it was only 6 after all). We knew James was in the cinema until 8.30 so we decided to hang about for a while at least. We got a round in, but I'm a fast drinker so quickly got another drink for myself and I looked over and saw Evo's dad, standing by himself. Mentioned it to the girls and Liz decided to ask him if he wanted to join us. We could see them chatting away and then I saw him walking over to the table and we just thought OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He had a drink when he came over so I thought he might just finish his drink and head off. We had a really good chat about Dan and the route he's decided to take this year (doing Challenger qualis rather than futures). Could tell from an early stage that he was a tennis players dad, rather than a tennis enthusiast. He finished his drink and thought he would part ways, but he offered us all a drink. Felt bad to begin with but took him up on his offer. We chatted away for a while and we started buying each other drinks. James then came and joined us and we really started talking about all sorts of things (Michelle even brought up football :surprised: ). Also he mentioned he does Bikram Yoga twice a week, rather him than me! David (not Steve), Dan's dad kept on mentioning about going back to the hotel to watch some of the Masters, but time ticked away and drinks were still flowing, as was the conversation. It's fair to say that the conversation got ever less intellectual as the night went on ;) We all stayed until closing time and looking back on it, shows that David really enjoyed our company and that was a nice thought :thumbup: Decided to walk home as were going to have to wait 30 minutes for a taxi. Me being the gentleman I am, I made sure the girls got back to the hotel in one piece. We thought the McDonalds on the way home was a 24 hour one - it wasn't so had to make do with some crisps at the hotel to cure our munchies. There were a few revellers in the hotel lobby left (you know who you are lol), but we all decided to just go to bed. And that was Surreal Saturday over!!!
Sunday
Met Jennifer for breakfast again and we yapped for ages again. She was waiting for Lizzi and Rob so not quite sure how much she enjoyed my company :laugh: I then got my stuff and checked out of the hotel. Food and drink (non alcoholic) bought for the day as knew it was going to be a long day for me. Went in and saw Rochus in his tracksuit bottoms so knew he wasn't playing and then Goffin came out and got interviewed by Rob Curling (who is a great guy, but most of you already know that). Bemelmans was practising so thought it was pretty clear he was going to play the dead rubber if it came down to it. His DC record wasn't exactly great so obviously a great chance for him. Josh then came out and he was certainly hitting the ball a lot better (in my opinion) than on Friday. Spoke to Doc Turner again for a while. Really knows his stuff. Evo then had quite a long hit and then spoke to one of the coaches sons for a while. Doc then called him for some 'bonding'. We then took our normal seats, well everyone apart from Liz. Wasn't quite sure where she was when I spotted her in the distance calling us over. She'd manage to blag us seats in with the Barmy Army. As some of you know, I like to shout a little so I was pleased to be with them. Plenty of shouting was done during Josh's match. I've no idea how they maintain their levels for 3 days. Well I do actually ;) I was exhausted by the end of his match and had absolutely no energy for Evo's match unfortunately. I left at 5-4 in the 2nd set as needed to catch the bus into Glasgow. Passed a few of the crew walking back to the hotel after I had collected my stuff.
I got to Glasgow and I did feel rather depressed after one of the best weekends I've ever had!!! Hope I've portrayed it with this.
So my weekend started travelling up to Glasgow, rather than down as I was spending a few days with family. Arrived at Braehead around 10:00 and immediately set off to the hotel to drop my bag off. Just as I arrived at the hotel, two of my companions (Michelle and Gemma) were just leaving to get some supplies for the day. Handed my bag and jacket over as was too early to check in. Before I did though got my new Team GB hoodie out. This was very kindly given to me by Flembo's sister. I also got 3 of Colin's own training tops which I wore on each day.
After leaving the hotel, I went to get something for lunch as knew full well it was going to be a long day. Got to the arena for about 10:45 and was soon joined by Michelle, Gemma, James (Jambon) and Kels, with Liz joining soon after. The queues kind of reflected the optimism for the weekend, i.e. none as the picture shows ;) .
424
So got in at 11 and we firstly watched the Belgians practice then Josh, Dan and the one they call Leon came on to court. During their practice we heard some noise filtering into the arena. We all thought, here comes the Stirling Uni Barmy Army and then we saw some Red, Yellow and Black. Fair to say they were friendly with the Belgian staff and players as a good 15 minute spell of Belgian kissing (they kiss 3 times I'm led to believe) started. We were a bit apprehensive of where our seats were as very close to them. Anyway, parted ways with James and Kels as they went to sit with the forum crew. Our seats were actually pretty decent. Only real thing they had going against them was the Barmy Army were rather drowned out by the BTF's (names on back of some Belgians shirts).
Not going to get into the tennis as most know the patterns of play, but one of the funny moments was when we could see the camera pointing in our direction so of course a wee fist pump was necessary every now and again :clap: Anyway, after the match we were all a bit gutted but extremely proud of the effort both boys put in. We went to get something to eat and bumped into James and his Mum so we sat with them. Felt a bit sorry for James' Mum as he spent most of the time talking to us about our Wimby plans. After dinner we walked back to the hotel, I finally checked in and after watching a bit of TV, dosed off.
Surreal Saturday
As some of you are aware, I like to tweet now again ;) Twitter does occasionally have it's uses and on Friday night I arranged to meet up with someone I've gotten to know through that particular social network. This was Jennifer, but those on the forum may know her as Seabreeze. She travelled up with Lizzi and Rob. We had breakfast together and spent a good hour chatting away about all sorts of things. It was great to finally meet her after all this time chatting, from both sides of the pond. She was off to tour Loch Lomond so I went and got ready for the day ahead (although I certainly wasn't ready for what was in store).
Much the same routine as Friday so arrived to see the Belgians practice. Colin, Ross, Leon et al then wandered out. Liz pointed out to Colin that I had a familiar attire on. Nice of her to point it out to him. I said to him he had a very nice sister :) Got him and Ross to sign my #bringit t-shirt I wore for the tie in February. Leon came and spoke to us for a while which was really nice of him. Discussed how Friday went and how proud we were of Josh and Dan. We also talked with Doc Turner too. He's a really nice guy :thumbup: Here's a picture of Colin and Ross' Chest Bump.
425
Tennis over, we made our way to Wetherspoons for something to eat and post match drinks. Got our food ordered (and by miracle it was with us within 10 minutes). Had a few minutes pondering our plans for the night (it was only 6 after all). We knew James was in the cinema until 8.30 so we decided to hang about for a while at least. We got a round in, but I'm a fast drinker so quickly got another drink for myself and I looked over and saw Evo's dad, standing by himself. Mentioned it to the girls and Liz decided to ask him if he wanted to join us. We could see them chatting away and then I saw him walking over to the table and we just thought OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He had a drink when he came over so I thought he might just finish his drink and head off. We had a really good chat about Dan and the route he's decided to take this year (doing Challenger qualis rather than futures). Could tell from an early stage that he was a tennis players dad, rather than a tennis enthusiast. He finished his drink and thought he would part ways, but he offered us all a drink. Felt bad to begin with but took him up on his offer. We chatted away for a while and we started buying each other drinks. James then came and joined us and we really started talking about all sorts of things (Michelle even brought up football :surprised: ). Also he mentioned he does Bikram Yoga twice a week, rather him than me! David (not Steve), Dan's dad kept on mentioning about going back to the hotel to watch some of the Masters, but time ticked away and drinks were still flowing, as was the conversation. It's fair to say that the conversation got ever less intellectual as the night went on ;) We all stayed until closing time and looking back on it, shows that David really enjoyed our company and that was a nice thought :thumbup: Decided to walk home as were going to have to wait 30 minutes for a taxi. Me being the gentleman I am, I made sure the girls got back to the hotel in one piece. We thought the McDonalds on the way home was a 24 hour one - it wasn't so had to make do with some crisps at the hotel to cure our munchies. There were a few revellers in the hotel lobby left (you know who you are lol), but we all decided to just go to bed. And that was Surreal Saturday over!!!
Sunday
Met Jennifer for breakfast again and we yapped for ages again. She was waiting for Lizzi and Rob so not quite sure how much she enjoyed my company :laugh: I then got my stuff and checked out of the hotel. Food and drink (non alcoholic) bought for the day as knew it was going to be a long day for me. Went in and saw Rochus in his tracksuit bottoms so knew he wasn't playing and then Goffin came out and got interviewed by Rob Curling (who is a great guy, but most of you already know that). Bemelmans was practising so thought it was pretty clear he was going to play the dead rubber if it came down to it. His DC record wasn't exactly great so obviously a great chance for him. Josh then came out and he was certainly hitting the ball a lot better (in my opinion) than on Friday. Spoke to Doc Turner again for a while. Really knows his stuff. Evo then had quite a long hit and then spoke to one of the coaches sons for a while. Doc then called him for some 'bonding'. We then took our normal seats, well everyone apart from Liz. Wasn't quite sure where she was when I spotted her in the distance calling us over. She'd manage to blag us seats in with the Barmy Army. As some of you know, I like to shout a little so I was pleased to be with them. Plenty of shouting was done during Josh's match. I've no idea how they maintain their levels for 3 days. Well I do actually ;) I was exhausted by the end of his match and had absolutely no energy for Evo's match unfortunately. I left at 5-4 in the 2nd set as needed to catch the bus into Glasgow. Passed a few of the crew walking back to the hotel after I had collected my stuff.
I got to Glasgow and I did feel rather depressed after one of the best weekends I've ever had!!! Hope I've portrayed it with this.