#3 - Starbucks

Possibly the root of all evil. Starbucks has now taken every single teenager and made them believe that they are sophisticated just because they're sat in a coffee shop like in Friends. I just can't comprehend the thinking behind leaving your house, travelling in to town and then doing absolutely nothing for five hours. I hated it when my friends did it and never again will I just sit around complaining about things while sat down...well not in Starbucks anyway.

Why do people insist on paying so much for coffee when they can go down to their local cafe and get a coffee free with a fry-up for a not much more than just a coffee by itself (how much am I using the word coffee?).

Every time you walk past a Starbucks (other coffee chains are available) you can't help but notice the amount of people sat in there, laptops out, headphones in and typing away. I often wonder what these people are writing but those musings are quickly replaced by thoughts of, "how much money are you spending here?!" This can go one of two ways. Either you are spending far too much money when you have a perfectly good kettle at home or you are just advantage of the free wifi by purchasing the cheapest drink possible every three hours. Either way, just go home.
I remember a time when people used to be able to talk to each other while walking around or going from shop to shop, but apparently while humanity has been moving forwards Starbucks customers have taken a step back and now they are unable to hold a coffee/latte/cappuccino and walk somewhere at the same time.

Starbucks is not just ripping us off, it is taking away our freedom. If we don't stand up and say "I can buy a coffee for 40p and I can walk!" we will eventually be conquered by this evil company masking as a fairtrade coffee shop. But I ask you, is it fair to make people REALLY boring?

#2 - Justin Timberlake

It's hard to believe that this guy has such a huge following, mainly consisting of women, who praise him for the "quality" music he produces. However, part of me really has to believe that this could be because he's a good looking guy. This isn't my opinion, just that of many of my female friends. As much as you'd like to believe it I'm not that way inclined.

I feel a need to remind people that he was responsible for such songs as 'Bye Bye Bye', 'This I Promise You' and 'It's Gonna Be Me'.

Don't the horrible images of a beanpole with a dodgy afro just come rushing back to you. People seem very willing to forget that he was once in a boyband that had an asterix in the title. Now you're remembering how truly bad N*Sync were.

Yet he's now moved on to become a "real artist" and making R n B. Yet the man still sings like a girl and then stooped even lower to to sing with a now Ancient Madonna (is she 80 yet? I'll get to her later).

Justin Timberlake has made it into my list of '3 people you wouldn't want to be trapped in a lift with'. He's not the worst culprit but he's right up there. I shall get to the others in good time.

I think I could honestly say that we could live without Justin Timberlake, and his waste coats for that matter.

#1 - Andy Murray

Now I'm not really a big fan of tennis, so I can't speak much for his ability, but in the last couple of years Andy Murray has decided to verbalise his thoughts.

"I support whoever England are playing."

Thats right Andy, slag of the country that you partially represent as a BRITISH tennis player. You hate England but you don't mind turning up for Wimbledon do you?

When he burst on to the scene people were saying,

"He's going to be better than Tim Henman."

"He could actually win Wimbledon."

Now last time I really paid attention to how he was doing he was second in the world and lost in the Semi-Final of a tournament when the world number one was out injured. That to me sounds a lot like what Henman did when he played.

Andy, when you've been World Number 1 for more than two minutes and continually win things and stop blaming little niggling injuries for losing then you will have my respect. But until such time, shut up!

NOTE

1. Looking back, my first blog post really was awful.
2. Turns out Andy Murray might be good at this tennis.
3. Andy, if you ever read this, you're welcome.

#21 - Sports

You’d think for someone that is an avid sports fan, not-to-mention an aspiring sports coach, that I wouldn’t be able to hate sports but you’d be wrong. So very wrong. In fact, of the many, many things that I hate in life, sports is very high up the list.

But why do I hate sports so much? Is it because of the amount of money of spent playing and supporting over the years? Maybe. Could it be down to the many number of sports that just don’t make sense? Quite possibly (seriously rugby, what’s with this no passing forward nonsense?!). Or is it down to my own personal lack of success in sports? Well I am incredibly average.

However, if you thought it was any of these things you’d be wrong. It all comes down to the disappointment sport brings us.

Only a small amount of people can support a winning team. Oh sure, I have the memories of that Michael Owen hat-trick against Germany, or those times Ian Poulter became the Stuart Pearce of the golfing world and inspired Europe to victory over the USA. Those were wonderful memories but what have we gained from them? England were knocked out of the World Cup by Brazil that year and Ian Poulter has still yet to do anything in individual competition.

My point is that either as a player or as a fan we can only enjoy so much success unless we become glory supporters. I must admit I die a little inside each time I see a child wearing a Chelsea or Manchester United shirt in Leeds. Some people might be thinking Liverpool should be on that list...

As fans, we all have wonderful memories of our teams winning great games, gaining promotion and if you’re an Arsenal fan, all those famous fourth place finishes. Ultimately, we all end up empty handed having shelled out plenty of money for tickets, shirts and away trips. My shirt collection grows ever larger but are Leeds winning a trophy any time soon, I doubt it.

The worst feeling of all comes about on what many consider to be one of the best days of the season: opening day. We all go in to it with a clean slate, some fancy, new signings that we assume are the missing part in what will make us the Champions (Champions of Europe). If we lose then the season might as well be over. We’re as bad as we’ve ever been and that fraud of a manager needs sacking despite only being at the club for a couple of months.

Winning can be worse. Suddenly, the stars have aligned. It looks as if finally, our dreams can come true and we might in fact have a successful season. Alas, it doesn’t last. It never does. As the season progresses it turns out we’re just as mediocre as everyone else and we must accept that we’ll win some, lose some and most likely draw some (unless you like American sports…).

As they say, “it’s the hope that kills you.” And it truly is. For no reason, we all dream of our team being successful, of winning trophies and homegrown players becoming heroes. I’m yet to see a Leeds player lift a trophy above their head.

A few years ago, I was “lucky” enough to go to see Manchester City play West Ham on the final day of the season. City won and lifted the Premier League trophy which was nice, but I couldn’t help but feel upset. Sure, I’d been in corporate hospitality with free booze and delicious food but none of that mattered come full time. All I could think was, “I may never see Leeds do this.” Up and down the country there are millions of us in the same position.

So thank you sport for giving me false hope year in, year out. As Leeds fans we were once told we lived the dream. Perhaps it’s better to never dream.