A load of ballboys

The latest football incident to get the British media all excited concerns Chelsea footaballer Eden Hazard supposedly kicking a ballboy.

Hazard (pronounced 'Azarr', if you are concerned with the French pronunciation) was trying to get the ball back in Chelsea's League Cup match with Swansea. In doing so it seems he kicked a Swansea ball-boy, an act which saw him sent off. Now everyone is waiting to see what disciplinary action will be taken against him. The 'standard' for getting sent off is a three-match ban. A spokesman for the FA today said in this instance that was "clearly insufficient".

Rubbish.

If you ignore all the hype, what actually happened? Watch the video footage carefully and impartially.

First, in what was a tense cup match, the Swansea ball-boy flagrantly sought to waste time, falling on the ball and laying on top of it.

Second, Hazard, in wanting to get on with the game, attempted to kick the ball out from underneath him. He clearly did not aim at or intend to kick the boy.

Third, the boy writhed around as if in considerable pain. In reality, he was wearing a thick, padded coat (understandably, as it was a cold evening): If Hazard did make some sort of contact it would have been slight and I suspect the boy hardly felt it.

Fourth, not content with feigning some serious injury he gesticulated towards the referee (in fairness, where did he learn this sort of behaviour? From watching footballers who do it all the time). His acting was 'successful': Hazard was promptly sent off.

I'm not condoning Hazard's over-zealous actions - but one can understand his frustration. A booking at the time would probably have been more appropriate. The reaction has been ridiculous.

Shopping in the 21st Century

It's not been a good week for the British High Street. First Jessops, then HMV, and then Blockbusters ... all closing down.

Over the years retailers come and go, of course, and businesses are particularly prone to going under when the nation is going through the kind of economical dip we seem to be in at the moment.

However, one wonders if the demise of these three chains is not also a sign of a bigger, longer-term phenomenon.

All of them, in one way or another, have arguably fallen not just because of the current recession, but because of changes in the way we shop.

The question is: Where is this all heading? Will High Streets, as we know them, become a thing of the past at some point? Will Amazon take over the world? And, moreover, do we care and, if so, is there anything we can do about it? Principles, and the desire to see local shops continuing to stay open, quickly give way to pragmatism where prices are concerned.

As I read of the expected closure of the Blockbusters chain it got me thinking about Britain's industrial revolution. That was a time of massive economical and, more significantly, cultural change. How did people cope back then? Perhaps I ought to look for a decent history book on that period for some answers.