A Bumper Sept-Oct Catch-up

After a busy few weeks,the delay for this blog portal means a double catch-up but alike previous editions, the gaming section is missing as the notes are still to be caught up. As such the gaming section will return in summary at the end of the year.

Sport

September saw the start of the new NFL season, so I will start there and for my team Washington Redskins, it was a miserable start as they opened 0-2 with a 38-16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers followed by a narrow 27-23 defeat to division rivals Dallas Cowboys. However, fortunes turned around with a 29-27 win over division rivals New York Giants for 1-2 to round off the month. 

October opened with a trio of successes to move to 4-2 as they defeated Cleveland Browns (31-20), Baltimore Ravens (16-10) and division rivals Philadelphia Eagles (27-20). The month closed with a narrow 20-17 loss to Detroit Lions and an enthralling 27-27 tie at Wembley against Cincinnati Bengals.

Rugby League reached the business end of the season but a bad start to September for the Wigan Warriors first team with an 8-6 loss to Widnes Vikings before back to back Stadium Travels successes - 18-12 at Hull FC and a superb 35-28 comeback win at Warrington Wolves.

The final home game of the Super 8s saw a 48-24 win over Catalans Dragons before a superb 28-18 play-off win against Hull FC ended the month and completed the goal to attend all home games in 2016. At Academy level, a superb 31-18 win over Leeds Rhinos U19S was followed by an agonising golden point loss in the Grand Final as St Helens U19s won 22-20. The final game of the season for me was the Super League Grand Final against Warrington Wolves at Old Trafford and after two years of hurt, a victory as Wigan triumphed 12-6.

However, the season truly came to an end for me a few days later as I attended the Wigan Warriors Awards Dinner which was an amazing once in a lifetime experience, highlights of which will feature in the images section. Aside from the aforementioned one, other completed goals in Sport are attending my seventh SL Grand Final and renewing my ST seat for 2017.

Football time now and non-attendance first in the shape of Liverpool who had a stunning September which began with a 4-1 win over champions Leicester City followed by a 2-1 win away at Chelsea. A 3-0 success over Derby County in the EFL cup and 5-1 demolition of Hull City led into October. The run of success saw 2-1 wins over Swansea City and West Bromwich Albion sandwich a 0-0 draw against fierce rivals Manchester United before a 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur and 4-2 thriller against Crystal Palace completed the month.

Onto Skem United who began September with a 2-2 draw away to Dunston UTS in the FA Cup before exiting 2-1 in the home replay. Next up was the first win of the season with a 1-0 success at home to Corby Town before a 2-0 away loss to Sutton Coldfield was followed by back-to-back home defeats - Workington (0-1) and Mickleover Sports (1-3). The best performance of the season came in October's opener against Warrington Town which saw a 4-0 win which I sadly missed due to a clash with the SLGF.

However, back to reality a few days later with a 7-0 thumping at Spennymoor Town before I began a run of attending every home and away game which started with a first NPL trip off to Ilkeston Town which saw a 3-0 loss. Three home losses on the run followed with Whitby Town winning 1-0, Hednesford Town 3-1 (including a new feature detailed further below) and Kendal Town dumping Skem out of the FA Trophy 3-1. Completed goals saw Dunston UTS at home become my 20th of 2016 and Ilkeston my first away trip of the year.

Leisure

In terms of goals other than those mentioned above, September saw 50000 Blogger views reached, 9000 Xbox Achievements earned overall as well as reaching 300,000 TA points.

Career success began to slowly move in October with a referral to a Work Programme as well as preliminary discussions about a path into self-employment which will be decided in December/January most likely.

As mentioned earlier, Skem v Hednesford saw a new feature which was an idea dreamt up by the management staff - a 'Post Match Reaction' video which since the pilot edition has worked well with a few games missing out due to the poor mood and result. All of the editions can be accessed via the Skem playlist by clicking here.

Out and About in 2016 has reached 43 weeks and the series has continued to have a good viewership but as content becomes varied as the year enters the final months, viewing figures will likely decrease as they did last year.

Aside from the PMR feature, Skem highlights videos at every game I attend continue as does my tenure at the reins of the club Twitter account.My volunteering at the BHF F&E store nears a year which will have fallen in mid-November with more different experiences every week and sadly more job rejections across the month and hopes are that the part-time 'job' at SARL will continue.

What's Next?

At the time of writing, November has ended so it is pointless listing upcoming events but in the next summary will be details of the following...

• Skem home attendances against Widnes,Ilkeston, Colne (League Cup) with news of a few postponements.  
• Trips to Rushall Olympic and Grantham Town with news of away postponements.

Photo/Video Highlights

100 up in August

After the first up-to-date post of the year came last month, the trend continues in the August summary with the Gaming section to follow when that set of notes is finally caught up.

Sport

The countdown to the new NFL season saw the month feature four pre-season games for Washington Redskins with great success in a 3-1 record. An opening 23-17 loss to the Atlanta Falcons was followed by narrow 22-18 and 21-16 wins over the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills. The final game saw a third win in a row as they defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20-13. 

Rugby League dominated the month yet again and Wigan Warriors opened the month with a 60-12 win at home to Wakefield before a Stadium Travels visit to Castleford saw a 36-22 defeat. A superb 25-0 derby win at the DW against St Helens was followed by the sole visit of the month to Orrell which saw the 19s defeat Salford 32-20. The latter saw the goal of attending 10 Wigan Academy/Scholarship games across the year completed.

Football wise, Liverpool started the month with a strange double header as they stormed to a 4-0 win over Barcelona before being beaten by the same score the following day by Mainz. Pre-season over and the opening game in the league saw a seven goal thriller away to Arsenal with the Reds winning 4-3. A 2-0 defeat away to Burnley and 1-1 draw at Tottenham completed the month.

Skelmersdale United also entered the month still in pre-season and started horrifically with a 7-0 loss at Ashton Athletic, my first attendance of the month saw superb outcome as Welsh Premier side Bala Town visited Stormy Corner with Skem claiming a 1-0 win. The following weekend saw the opening game of the league season which was a 1-1 draw against Grantham Town. Away games saw a 1-1 draw at Matlock and 3-1 loss to Mickleover Sports before another mixed attendance as Coalville Town won 2-1 at Stormy Corner. A 4-4 draw away to Stafford Rangers followed with the final game of the month seeing Skem draw 1-1 at Ashton United.

Leisure

In terms of goals other than the one mentioned above,just two more were completed in August with a new record low in terms of weight marked on the 5th as I was at my lightest since 2014. The other goal came in the final stages of the month as just a month short of the third anniversary of my main YouTube channel, I reached a dream total of 100,000 views.

Pale in comparison to most YouTubers but given I don't have a wide audience and the content is produced for free, I'm proud of that accolade. On the video front, Out and About in 2016 has reached 34 weeks and the series has continued to have a good viewership.

After a testing period of filming at the back end of last season, I have resumed Skem highlights videos at every game I attend and strangely the view counts are bigger than the actually match attendance which hopefully could boost figures. Also on the Skem focus, I have been handed the reins of the club Twitter account which is something I have discussed in the past but was not ready to take on but in the week or so on it, followers and traffic are good. The Rio Olympics saw a re-opening of my Olympic blog in which I covered all 16 days and will hopefully cover the upcoming Paralympics as well.

My volunteering at the BHF F&E store has reached 42 weeks with more different experience every week and sadly more job rejections across the month but my part-time paid job on SARL is still going strong and a busy September ahead on the site hopefully. 

What's Next?

At the time of writing, only one event in September which was Wigan v Widnes, details in next month's post but the rest of the month's confirmed events feature below...

• Stadium Travels visiting Hull FC (9th) and Warrington (16th) before Wigan end the Super 8s at home to Catalans (23rd).
• Skem attendances start the FA Cup 1Q replay against Dunston UTS (6th) followed by Corby Town (10th) and Workington (27th).
• Sadly the monthly Riversiders meeting is on the 6th so will miss it this month due to a clash above.

Photo/Video Highlights

July Not Too Joyous

After a huge catch-up on this blog portal, the first up-to-date post of the year summarises July with the Gaming section to follow when that set of notes is finally caught up.

Sport

Rugby League dominated the month so I will start there, Wigan Warriors opened the month with a 26-8 win at Catalans, the first away game all season that I had to cover sat at home, the dream trip to Perpignan will hopefully come in the next few years. Next up was a trip to Orrell to see the Wigan U16s secure a 38-18 derby win against St Helens before a home win for the first team a few days later saw a 22-18 win over Wakefield. The week pushed my attendance winning streak to nine with the record of 11 in sight but at the Warriors Fan Day game against Castleford U19S, a 26-12 loss ended the streak.

Stadium Travels returned with a trip to Leeds as I looked to avoid a record of 0/4 but sadly it was not to be as Wigan lost 18-16 and with Leeds out of the top eight, the next chance to amend the record will not come until next year. The losing run continued with a 23-4 loss at home in the derby against St Helens to end the regular season in third spot. Success did come that weekend as the 19s defeated North East Thunder 62-22. The final games of the month were a double against Hull FC with both sadly defeats, Stadium Travels visited Doncaster for the 16-12 Challenge Cup semi loss against FC before a reserves defeat at Orrell 42-20.

Football wise, Liverpool are in pre-season but have suffered losses to Chelsea and Roma while securing wins over Tranmere, Fleetwood, Wigan and AC Milan. Skelmersdale United's are also in pre-season and have suffered defeats away to Ashton Athletic and Flint Town but in terms of attendances, sadly no wins , a 1-1 draw against Accrington Stanley before a 4-0 exit from the Liverpool Senior Cup at the semi final stage to Everton U23. The final game of the month was the 50th Anniversary game of Wembley against Enfield Town which saw a 3-2 defeat.

Leisure

In terms of goals, both of this month's came on gaming with 75,000 G and 3000 achievements unlocked on the Xbox One but the statistics for the month will feature in the full gaming post. On the video front, Out and About reached week 30 by the end of the month and my main channel reached 95,000 views putting me on course to reach the goal of 100,000 before the end of the year.

My volunteering at the BHF F&E store has reached 37 weeks with more different experience every week and sadly more job rejections across the month but my part-time paid job on SARL is still going strong.

What's Next?

August has just begun and luckily no events have taken place as yet so a full listing is available for the first time in 2016...

• Wigan host Wakefield (Tonight) before St Helens (19th) with Stadium Travels visiting Castleford (12th). 
• Just a single visit to Orrell planned as the Wigan 19s take on Salford (20th)
• Skem attendances start with Bala Town (Tomorrow) before the new league season begins with Grantham Town (13th) before Coalville (23rd) and Stafford Rangers (27th).

Photo/Video Highlights

Leisure and General - Jan To June

The second main subject is Leisure but as there is a fair amount of topics under that heading, an additional subject called General begins to cover success and negatives away from the main issues. 

January

The new headline of this blog portal back at the start of the year was ' Bouncing Back' in reference to a mixed year in 2015 on a personal level so when in the first week, I got an interview for a position at Aldi, hopes were high. However, despite what I thought was a good performance in the interview itself, the reply was one of 'unsuccessful at this point in the process. 

My volunteering for two days a week at the BHF F& E Store continued with more experience and skill building. In terms of goals for the month just one was completed with the accolade of 250,000 TA points reached. The month also included the second SARL meet up in Leeds which was hopefully the first of a few more this year.  A new year of Out and About began along with another new branch on my YouTube channel in the form of Skem United highlights features. 

February

My social life improved with the start of the new Rugby League season and also with meeting more people at Skem United through my filming and being more open with fellow supporters on the online pages. Goal wise, two completed this month with 8000 achievements reached and also despite such a backlog, my 1500th blog post written on Blogger itself. As with every February, I age another year and this year, the sport across the weekend was mixed with a family event which saw my birthday itself split between the Orrell trip in the afternoon and my cousin Olivia's christening in the morning. 

The scariest thought about turning 29 was that in under a year I would be 30 and many people say they want to achieve certain ambitions or life goals by such an age and honestly, there are very few successes in my life that I would say fall in to that bracket as such. Job wise, a surprise phone call from Dixons Carphone suggested an interview in Southport which after a long trip was proved to be a waste as the job didn't exist so I was left with another downer career wise. 

March

My new Stadium Travels feature was going strong both on my channel and the Serious About Rugby League channel and on the subject of SARL, this month saw an added responsibility as I became Social Media Manager with some financial benefit so in a way a part-time job but one which would fund Rugby League travels and would not mean a reduction in job searching and appointments. 

Goal wise, two successes this month with my 15th away win with Wigan which was the Hull FC trip and I attended my 10th Skem game of the year which sadly came in the Easter Monday defeat to Nantwich. Aside from the SARL news above, no real job news this month. 

April

This month will best be remembered as a technological nightmare which saw possession of five laptops after my faithful one of a number of years suffered a complete power/hardware failure on the 4th. I utilised my mum's spare laptop in order to continue my SARL duties and as my finances are not at a premium, ordered a refurbished laptop which worked great for about a week before an unknown power failure.

A return to the spare before the refurb was replaced by the same model and that annoyingly had the same issue after just two days. So no more deals with that company and thankfully got a brand new one via my mum which I'll be paying for for a while given bills etc have to be paid with my UC benefit. The backlog of blogs that includes this came from the laptop issues and has taken until July to finally begin to repair the backlog. Goal wise, two again this month with my 125th Wigan game coming on the first but sadly it was the home defeat to Warrington and on the 21st my 100th Super League regular season game which happily was the win at home to Huddersfield. 

May

The most successful month of the year so far in terms of goals and the start of something really special too but like most things in my life, it didn't last but more on that in a bit. The first goal came on the fifth as I attended my first Reserves game but as with many milestones, it was a defeat - Hull FC. The volunteering at BHF F & E reached week 25 and saw me begin to grow close to a colleague who I spent a lot of time with in the shop as we had a lot in common.

The 16th is a day I will not forget in a hurry as I sent a heartfelt message to her online as was too shy to say face to face and we began to get to know each other and spent a lot of time messaging outside of the store and got on more in store too. The close friendship took on a different spin near the end of the month as we met up at a friends house and kissed for the first time before I stayed over at her house due to it being a late night. Something I had not done for a long time but something that felt very right. 

A break for more goals now starting with the 23rd being my 250th YouTube upload on my current channel and also attendance at Magic Weekend as the feature uploaded. The 26th saw my 200th RL game in my new era since 2010 and was the win at Castleford. The aforementioned friendship continued strong as the month ended which included a few more meetings included coming to my house to spend time together.

June

A month that I will probably never forget for as long as I live is June which took over May as the most successful goal wise, saw something special become very special before becoming far from special later on in the month. The first goal of the month came on the second as after nearly three years being single, I began a relationship after being asked out by my close friend having got a lot closer and stayed over a few more times. A memory sitting together discussing it before the magic words that evening before marking it with a special kiss and hug.

The next goal came on the fourth as I reached 275,000 TA points with a certain someone deep in my mind who I then spent that evening and weekend with as the relationship grew strong early on. The return to BHF on the Monday saw me solo for reasons that can't be mentioned here before going in and having a great day together in store on the Tuesday. Later in the week, a special night saw me end a run of near six years without 'being with someone', the previous someone being my first back in 2010. A wait well worth it that's the best way to say it but not the last in the month itself. 

The next goal came on the 11th as my 8500th achievement was reached with my Xbox Live membership renewed into a ninth year on the 13th. The midpoint in the month saw my relationship go public as such both in and out of store and in my view maybe this was a factor in what was to come the following week. The weekend saw a meet with some of my family as I introduced her at my cousin's birthday party.The BHF on 20th/21st went great as usual but when I went to her house for our regular 'Twilight Tuesday' something just didn't feel right.

The warm loving feeling that seemed normal was not present that evening to the point that I was watching the film solo with her on the other side of the sofa, just in her own world. In getting to know her, some things stood out and this night had one that was hard to shrug off as she popped out for a bit and honestly, I was worried if she would return, thankfully she did and we hugged and slept next to each other in a good mood or so I thought... 

The next morning we awoke and she was in the store that day and being Wednesday, I was on SARL duties, a simple GPS check on leaving the house ended up with her walking ahead and getting to the stop with me lagging behind. A bad mood greeted me and I said "Ok, then see you later" and began walking home. As I turned the corner, something inside me pulled me back to her and I apologised and despite her mood, was here if she needed me. Bus to the Concourse and sat a metre apart but I let her know I was still there for her and we parted with a smile and a 'See you later'.

That afternoon, the usual 'How's your day been?' text from her didn't arrive so I knew something was wrong, I messaged that very thought and was told, "I'll ring you, we need to talk", I asked ' Us or ****" - sadly the former and I broke inside at that very moment. We chatted but I knew this was the end as a couple but I'd still be there as a friend. That evening to try and quell the 'heartbreak' two goals were reached with 175,000 G and my 100th Wigan home win which came against Warrington U16s. 

A success which came with hurt inside but not something that was clear on the outside, not an emotional person in public but from there, a friend I hoped to be to her but on a return to the shop, I asked to discuss things and was met by a state of ignoring. The month ended with me wondering what was going wrong between us other than her being 'awkward' and not just talking as there was no grudge from me and she knew that in terms of the relationship ending. This post is being written in July of course with the further nuances of the now former friendship as it seems taking a twist which I will reference here rather than mention in July's post as it's better to come out now. 

The first BHF day of July saw a revelation that 'she' was back with her ex (father of her two girls) - how nice that I was the bit in the middle eh! The main thing to take from June is that after being single for close to three years and without something for near six - both runs were ended which is a great way to end the post on a positive. 

Photo Highlights

Rugby League - Jan To June

The blog backlog means that in terms of Rugby League, two thirds of the season has to be reviewed so therefore features in this post.

January/February

A new year of action began with a test of my new series - 'Simon's Stadium Travels' with a trip to Leigh for a friendly which sadly saw a 26-20 defeat. My fifth season as a season ticket holder began in February with a 12-6 home win against Catalans Dragons before the first official Stadium Travels feature of the year saw a visit to Huddersfield and an instant success for the series in an 18-13 win.  

The World Club Series game at home to Brisbane Broncos was one to forget in a 42-12 defeat leaving me 0-2 vs the NRL side. My birthday weekend saw success at the DW Stadium though with a 20-16 victory followed by my first Orrell visit of the year on my birthday which saw a 26-24 win over the City of Hull Academy U16s.

March

Stadium Travels resumed with success as a trip to Hull FC saw a tight finish but a 26-25 win before back at the DW, a 28-6 win over reigning champions Leeds Rhinos. A first defeat of the season and first home loss in nearly two years in Super League came against the league leaders Widnes with an 18-12 loss which featured a fan cam spot on Rugby AM. 

My first visit of the month to Orrell saw victory with a 52-10 win over the London Broncos U19s before Easter saw the traditional win over St Helens and another success for Stadium Travels with a 24-12 victory. Another Orrell success the day after saw a 22-14 win over the Leeds Rhinos U16s. The month ended with a 30-16 win on Easter Monday against Hull Kingston Rovers. 

April

The month began with a 28-10 home defeat to Warrington Wolves followed by the success of Stadium Travels coming to a horrific halt at Wakefield Trinity Wildcats in a 62-0 defeat but a bounce back at the DW with a 26-12 win over Castleford Tigers. Back-to-back home wins came with a 26-19 win over Huddersfield before a return to Orrell saw a 36-20 win over Wakefield U19s. The month ended with a Stadium Travels visit to Warrington which sadly saw a 40-10 hammering. 

May

 My first experience of the new reserves programme was a mixed one as Hull FC Res sealed a 36-34 win with a superb comeback before a first ever Challenge Cup Stadium Travels feature saw a visit to Dewsbury Rams which saw a 54-4 success. Back at the DW for a 30-16 loss against Hull FC before a 37-16 defeat to St Helens U19s at Orrell the following day. 

St Helens Res gave me my second reserves loss of the year in a 32-10 defeat before days later, Stadium Travels visited Newcastle for Magic Weekend. A superb 40-8 win over Leeds Rhinos kept my 100% Magic record intact at five wins before the month ended with a my first win in three attempts at Castleford as the Stadium Travels visit saw a 33-26 triumph. 

June

A Stadium Travels visit saw a tight game with a 23-20 win at Salford before another Stadium Travels success at Hull Kingston Rovers as I claimed my first win there with a 20-18 victory. The run of Stadium Travels continued successfully with my first win at Widnes and the lowest scoring game of my entire spectating record at 7-0. A return to Orrell saw a 36-24 win over Warrington Wolves U16s before my first Challenge Cup game at the DW since 2014 which saw defeat to Castleford but this time around saw the Tigers beaten 26-12. 

What's Next...

As this post was drafted at the beginning of July- the month's action is as follows...

• St Helens U16s (6th), Wakefield Trinity Wildcats (H) (8th) and Castleford U19s (9th).
• Stadium Travels visit to Leeds (15th), St Helens (H) (22nd) and North East U19s.
• Stadium Travels to Doncaster for Challenge Cup Semi Final  - Hull FC (29th) and Hull FC Res (31st)

Photo Highlights