24th May, Tannadice - A Reflection

On the 24th of May, Tannadice cemented itself in my opinion as a favourite football away day. As one of only a few thousand present in the 'Shed' I felt somewhat honoured to be in attendance watching Rangers obtain their 52nd Scottish League title. The game itself was fine, but it was the buildup which had the most impact.

There must have been at least 100 re-dials to Tannadice about a month beforehand to secure the tickets. With United selling them to the fans direct, I went ahead and got some. As the games progressed, the title swayed in the favour of Rangers, then Celtic, then back to Rangers after a series of bizarre results. Rangers were in pole position and suddenly the £22 tickets I had were changing hands for several hundred pounds. It would have taken a lot more than that, as I was taking Dani to her first Rangers game and I knew the atmosphere would be electric!

Tension built up and on the way to Dundee, every second or third car was filled with supporters, with Celtic busses travelling south on the opposite carriageway. The wait outside the ground was heightened with JC's weak bladder! We got in, the songs started 20 minutes before the match and finished about an hour after. Rangers scored an early goal, then one before half time and a third early in the second half. The songs continued, the helicopter flew overhead and the match was over. We headed south and passed those same Celtic coaches travelling north, it was somewhat amusing.

It has brought about a sense of happiness amongst everyone, suddenly the imminent Champions League fixtures has everyone foaming at the mouth. As for the atmosphere, I haven't sampled anything like that since the Sturm Graz game in September 2000. The song of the day? Well one someone has thankfully added to YouTube, Glasgow Rangers Champions....

Modern Monopoly: A Social Problem?

Monopoly is one of my favourite board games. In my younger years, it was the game of choice on rainy days when we couldn't play football. The set we used to play with was from the 70s and belonged to my mum. Money has been lost over the course of many years, so it is now supplemented with money from the Game of Life and Operation! Games took hours, but you received a ruthless lesson in how to handle money. Poor investments and you would pay later!

I discovered that anti-capitalist passengers of the Offended Bus created Anti-Monopoly where you have to turn the board back to a free-market economy. Doesn't sound as much fun, but still better than the modern versions.

Most new Monopoly versions (Here and Now, etc.) have no money. All payment is on a credit-card. Surely this cannot be right. By having paper currency in your hand, you got a feel for money and along with that came a value. Can it be said that 'invisible' money is absent of this value and is essentially skipping out the part of growing up where you feel what money is like? I know that society today is mainly card-based, represented in the newest versions of the board game, but surely it would do no harm to get some experience with paper cash...whether it is Monopoly money or not!!!