Saturday, 2 May 2009

Barry'll Fix It

One of the nice the things about becoming a dad is having the chance to make a little boy's dreams come true.

My dad, for example, took me to see my first football international in Belfast. Sadly, his powers didn't extend to arranging the result and England beat Northern Ireland 1-0 with a Mark Hateley strike.

But I still clearly remember the thrill of travelling to the big city, standing in a noisy bar before the event, getting to the venue, hearing the cheer of the crowd as the players came out and enjoying the atmosphere of what was a huge sporting occasion.

Sadly, Jamie can't yet talk so it's therefore quite difficult - some might say impossible - to work out what particular dream he wants me to turn into reality. So I thought I'd practice on the other little man in my life, Uncle Wee John.

I went to the World Snooker Championships in Sheffield for the first time last year and loved every second of it. It also made Uncle Wee John very jealous which, needless to say, made the experience even more special for me.

But thanks to the kindness of my friend Dan (below left) - who I went to the rugby with last Friday - three tickets were secured for last night's semi-final between two-time World Champion John Higgins and Northern Ireland's Mark Allen who dumped out the reigning champion Ronnie O'Sullivan earlier in the tournament.

And it was terrific. Mark Allen was 13-3 down in frames before last night's session began and, with only four frames required for Higgins to win, we didn't think we'd be there for long. But thankfully the Antrim man rallied, won six out of the eight frames scheduled and gave us full value for money.

A great night out and Uncle Wee John still hasn't stopped smiling. Bless his teeny tiny cotton socks.

Hopefully today we'll give our other weekend house guest, Auntie Curly Lou, something to remember from her stay (other than Jamie's projectile vomiting).

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