Above the blue and windy sea, when I come home to you, San Francisco your golden sun will shine for me (Tony Bennett)

Wie geht's?

Some great sport happening for me at the moment, and I'm not just talking about Arsenal F.C. in the Premier League.

Being on holiday on a Monday means a chance to overdose on NFL games. There were some beauties this week - some really close games that went down to the last seconds.

The San Francisco 49ers played the Arizona Cardinals in the crazy heat of Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara and Brock Purdy was awesome throughout the game, except for the last minute and a half, when he threw an interception.

That means after 5 games the 49ers have won 2, lost 3. Shock horror!!

Steelers (3 and 1) up next versus the Cowboys (2 and 2).

Being a fan of the 49ers is natural, given my love for the city by the bay (and Brock Purdy is the star Quarterback), but Steeler love goes way back to last century - living in Wakefield and the Sivak family. 

Come on Steelers!!

Love and peace - Wozza

P.S. Boo hiss - the Steelers also lost in the last minutes of their game (17 - 20). Although neither of my teams looks like Superbowl contenders, it was great to watch those games, and I'll be following their progress closely.

Look over the horizon, see the sun shining down on you (The OJays)

Wie geht's?

The count down is on to a month's holiday at the end of Term 4, that includes Christmas and New Year's Eve while in the U.A.E., the U.K., and the U.S.A. (a lot of uniteds in there huh).

The Californian bit will be with Samantha and Andrew and hopefully we can take in either a National Baseball League or National Football League game in January 2023.

 Some NFL maybe - either the LA Rams or San Francisco 49ers. I'm keen to sample the atmosphere and see how it compares to British football; the Giants game was great to witness a few years ago but the atmosphere was very polite.

American Football has been a passion for many years. Admittedly, I've had shifting allegiances over the years. As a teenager it was the New York Giants, but when the Sivaks moved in next door to us in Wakefield I couldn't help following the Pitsburgh Steelers because that was where they were from.

The Green Bay Packers also appealed to me for a while in a romantic way - all that cheese head/Lambeau Field/frozen tundra stuff. There was a great picture on my wall for years with the caption something like - it's the fourth quarter, it's fourth down and it's 4 below - what do you do?

Having fallen in love with San Francisco, I also have an interest in the 49ers. That extends to  other SF teams too - the Giants and the Golden State Warriors.

While the Steelers have had a disappointing start to the current season (fan for life yunnerstan), the 49ers look to be the real deal this time out. During their recent victory over the LA Rams I found myself cheering enthusiastically for the 49ers win. Jacky told me off for upsetting Rey.

An Arsenal game in late December is also high on my list. Potentially, that will be another big highlight of our northern expedition.

Love and peace - Wozza

The light of San Francisco, is a sea light, an island light (lawrence Ferlinghetti)

All my roads seem to be leading to San Francisco at the moment. The America's Cup has contributed to that but for me there are other pointers aside from the fact that Samantha and Jesse and the SF whanau live there.

I watched The San Francisco 49ers play an NFL game last week on ESPN (unfortunately they lost to the Seattle Seahawks so at least Clay will be happy).

I have been grooving to SF band Beyond O Matic and their track Wish during the week.

Reading my 1979 poetry journal I was struck by how many of my favourite poets have a strong connection to SF (Ginsberg, Ferlinghetti, Snyder, Creeley).

We had a House sports day at school during the week. I'm in Wallingford House which has green as its colour. As fate would have it - I have only one green T shirt; it was bought on the corner of Haight St and Ashbury St in SF in April. It has pretty flowers and the replica street sign saying Haight Ashbury; it's cool!

And last night I watched Bullitt again. Steve McQueen is sooo cool! The actual movie plotline is a little too convoluted for today's tastes but the coolness factor is set at 10. From Lalo Schifrin's jazzy soundtrack to McQueen's character (Frank Bullitt - what a cool name) to THAT car chase - all is coolness personified.

The other real star of the movie is the city itself. Here's to you - the city by the bay! 



Love and peace and island light - Wozza