FRIDAY FEELING (From Worcester News)

FRIDAY FEELING

9:28am Friday 12th September 2008

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EVERY now and then you get one of those jawdropping moments in life.

It happened to me last Sunday morning.

I was driving into Worcester through Powick and, as I got onto the Hams as they are called, I could not believe the amount of flood water.

On into the city and down to the cricket ground and the water was unbelievable. How could it be the same place where we’d sat only a couple of days before watching the game against Warwickshire?

What a mess once again and what a great pity after all the work that had gone in after last year’s floods. But as club chief executive Mark Newton pointed out, it’s a flooded sports ground and a lot of people have lost a lot more in the floods once again.

The New Road floods mean Worcestershire will end their season at Kidderminster. I’m sure that once again they will pull out all the stops, but it’s going to be a very busy week for some people.

And once again the racecourse has taken a pounding. That is also a real pity as they too have worked hard to get the crowds back.

Turning to rugby, it wasn’t a great start at Northampton for the Warriors was it? Still, it’s only one game and there are a lot more to come.

It was my mum’s birthday this week and we had a bit of a do.

She’s 86 and I had to pick her up from playing bowls. I hope I am still playing bowls at her age although I suspect even my cricketing days will have gone by then.

“Stompy” Morris was in the Barmaid’s last weekend.

He is a bit of a character, sells a few cattle, does a bit of dealing in all sorts of stuff, made a few bob and drives a nice big motor.

He is what you’d call an occasional rather than a regular, but having seen him in there a lot lately, I enquired as to why he’d deserted his normal watering hole.

“Saving money,” says Stompy.

“How, and why?” I enquired.

“The gaffer put the beer up 15p a pint and I ain’t paying the extra,”

he replied.

Now Stompy lives, we reckon, six miles from the Barmaid’s. He normally walks to his local and, while he is not a big drinker – four pints maximum – I was concerned that he was driving home.

“No, never drink and drive,” he said. “The wife drops me off, goes home to watch the soaps and comes back and picks me up.”

So work it out, four journeys of six miles – that’s 24 miles in his 4x4 with petrol at how much a gallon? And he’s saved 60p on four pints of beer. Is that logic?

* Dave Bradley is the BBC Hereford & Worcester sports correspondent.