Carl Ackerley

Posts

Sunday League Football - A Magical Time

It's a real shame that most of us don't appreciate the good times we have when we are having them. It's one of life's tragedies that we are mostly unaware of how good they are until it's too late. Personally, the days of playing Sunday League are amongst my favourite. What could be better than going out the night before a game to Cromwell's bar (the pinnacle of Huntingdon nightlife) with your mates and getting off your nut. There was none of this, "better take it easy guys, big game in the morning" mentality that you mostly get with Saturday football, in fact it was the complete opposite. Who could get the most fucked up and still get to footy on time was the challenge. When I first started playing Sunday's for the mighty Barley Mo pub me and the Tesco crew would finish work on a Saturday, shower, get changed into our boot cut jeans and baggy shirts and be propping up the bar by 8pm ordering our first round of shots. I know the...

Football Manager - 20 years of ignoring girlfriends

Who remembers playing their first Championship Manager? I do. It was 97/98 on PC. Back in the day we only had one computer in the house which my dad used for his business dealings so getting him to agree to let me play champ on it was bloody difficult. Every Sunday I'd ask for a few hours on it to which he'd usually reply, "If you wash my car AND CUT THE GRASS".....so there I was outside in the freezing cold cleaning his car inside and out and trying desperately not to run over the lawn mower cable. It was worth it when I sat down in that leather chair. 97/98 was great. All you really had to do was start a new game, pick a team, select the players and boom! Off you went on an emotional journey and hours of fun. A simpler time..... During a match all you had was a commentary bar letting you know what was happening, The gameplay was fast and uncomplicated, and whilst time consuming it didn't really matter as a youngster. I had all the time in...

Fitness - Finding Motivation

It's 187 calories I wouldn't have burnt by watching Made in Chelsea... I hate cardio in the gym, it's true. Over the years and still to this day I've rarely done cardio sessions in a gym-based environment. Luckily for me, a mixture of playing lots of sports and having a very fast metabolism meant that I didn't really need to come face to face with the DREADMILL very often at all. Well, in a way that's changed now. Now I'm at the grand old age of 33 and have started to notice that my shit is slowing down and it's much easier for me to store fat than when I was 21, despite the fact that I still do weights sessions, play tennis, dodgeball and football most weeks. I've had to seriously consider everything I've been doing and what needs to be done so I can maintain a good, strong and mobile physique for as long as possible. I haven't really changed but my body has. Do I accept this and say, "Oh well, I had a good run and now I'...

The Resurrection of Felipe Massa

In what was the shortest retirement possibly in the history of the world, affable Brazilian veteran Felipe Massa found himself reporting for duty once again at the William's HQ in Oxford at the start of February. When he trundled off on foot down the Interlagos pit lane, leaving his stricken William's lying in pieces in the middle of the pit entrance, nobody expected to ever see him as an active F1 driver again. It was a sad end to an emotional and successful career. Then a few days later Nico retired. All of a sudden Valteri Bottas was the name highest on Toto's employable list and Claire Williams started panicking that she would have to rely on a fresh-faced 18 year old in the shape of Lance Stroll for glory. A quick look at the driver market showed that getting Massa back in case of Bottas leaving was the best choice in the circumstances. Which really begs the question: Did Massa actually WANT to retire in the first place? When a driver makes the decision...

Why We Are The Way We Are - Perceptions

Sometimes I get frustrated talking to the younger generation. Generally, I get on well with people younger than myself because I'm a youthful, spirited person, always have been. Getting old before my time has always scared the shit out of me. I was speaking to a chap I work with the other day about why some people are "the way they are". The woman we were talking about can be perceived as being fucking miserable by all accounts. Whether it's an age or a maturity thing I'm not sure but his response to this person's apparent bad behaviour was, "I can't stand her, why can't she just be happy!" I could see his point. Some humans just drain the energy out of you and the thought of spending any time with them makes you want to beat your head against a curb. And to be frank some people are just arseholes for what appears to be for no reason. In my ever advancing years on this earth I feel I'm becoming much more tolerant and understanding...

Poor Preparation = Poor Results

As I type this I'm sat at work munching on a Lion bar for my dinner. A lion bar! I'm not a big fan of sweet stuff generally, I'm eating this as a desperation measure because of my shitty preparation. I hated every bite but the most annoying thing about it is I busted my ass in the gym yesterday and I feel like it's now a waste. OK, in reality it probably won't have much physical affect but psychologically it does. My brain is apologising to my body right now. Poor Preparation. I worked all morning at my second job and then had an hour to go home and get some food ready to bring to the gym. I knew I had to work until 10pm so I downed a protein shake at 2pm and then came to work. Yeah, that'll be enough, I said. 4pm - starving, no food and full of frustration. Many fitness people will only post healthy recipes, pictures of themselves training and living the perfect life. To be honest when I see that stuff on my Instagram or Facebook it slightly irks me. T...