The New Season

As long term readers of this blog will know (and as typing 'American Football' into the search box on the right hand side of this blog will reveal), I'm a big fan of American Football. [that doesn't mean I don't enjoy soccer - as Stadium MK is just a short walk away, and MK Dons are my local team - I enjoy going to watch them play in person].

Today will see the start of the 2013 season. The Thursday after Labor Day is the traditional starting day for the new season - after the pre-season games in August. The Ravens and the Broncos will set the new season off. Sadly, here in the UK, we have the problem of the time difference with the USA. It will actually be the early hours of Friday here. I will however watch the game - at a decent hour - because of my subscription to NFL's Game>Pass. Of course my loyalty is - you'd expect this in a blog called 'Washminster' - to the Washington Redskins.

Last season they played at FedEx field during my stay in Alexandria, and I enjoyed seeing them in person for the first time. I'll be cheering them on again in 2013 - starting on Tuesday morning. (the curse of the Monday Evening game!).

What do I like about the game? It's like chess with real people - without the need to stay silent! There can be some fantastic plays - as the ball goes flying over the heads of players until it is caught by a well placed attacker. At other times a nimble runner weaves his way around the seemingly impregnable wall of defenders. A quarterback can be getting ready to throw a potentially match winning throw when he is pounced upon - or the ball is intercepted as it flies through the air. It's a great game - it might take a little while for Brits to get used to, but it's worth it!.

There's a beginner's guide here.

Revision

My Open University students (on the W200 and W201 Law courses) - plus other OU students face exams this autumn. I will be using Washminster to publish material that they should find useful for revision.

The courses cover -

W200 - [Major Subjects] - English Legal System; EU Law
[Short introductions to] - UK Constitutional Law; Rights & Police Powers; Contract; Tort; Criminal Law.

W201 - UK Constitutional Law; Human Rights Law; Administrative Law (focused in on the UK's 'Judicial Review'); and Criminal Law.

But Washminster will continue to follow US Congress; UK Parliament; the European Parliament and the French Assemblee nationale. There will still be posts about history; jazz - and of course the American Football season is about to begin!

It is possible to subscribe to Washminster (see above).

A while ago I made and posted a video about techniques for retaining information from studies. It is republished below

The New Football Season

The 2012 American Football season kicks off today with Dallas Cowboys playing the New York Giants – as many readers of this blog will know (and the title might give a clue), I’m a Washington Redskins fan. Their first game is on Sunday in New Orleans.

I’m a subscriber to NFL’s Game Pass – so most Sunday evenings I’ll be watching like on my Desktop computer – or more likely these days – on my iPad. Should I be otherwise engaged (for example during the Sunday evening of the Labour Party Conference, I can watch later. Being the total nerd that I am, I will have my recently purchased “2012 Official NFL Record and Fact Book” at my side.

I also have on my iPhone and iPad the “NFL ’12” and “Official Redskins Feedr” Apps – and of course – as is my practice – I read the sports news in the Washington Post (also through an iPad App.

What is it that I find interesting about this game? It was the references to American Football in political speeches which first attracted my interest (Nixon and Reagan often made references!), but I enjoy the strategic aspects of the game – (hopefully) marching up the field using a series of carefully planned moves – each team trying to outsmart the other. In many ways so much like politics. I even keep my own “playbook” – plays that have been used in Parliament, and particularly Congress (where the scope for innovative procedural tactics is much greater) in order to advance or halt legislative progress.



Are you an American Football fan? Which team do you support? If you'd like to tell fellow readers of Washminster what attracts you to the game - or why you support a particular team - drop me a short piece on jdavidmorgan@washminster.com - which I can then repost here.

Welcome back...

... to the Washminster Blog. Summer, sadly, is now over [though it hasn't been a great one in the UK] - and a busy Autumn (or Fall) beckons. So Washminster will be publishing posts about


- The US elections – which are on November 6th
- The British parliamentary scene – the House of Commons returns this week, and the Coalition must face Parliament after a stormy summer
- British party conferences during September and October
- Forthcoming exams for my Open Students – but all are welcome to read my revision pieces about the British Constitution; English legal System; EU Law and Criminal Law
- The new American Football season
- The conclusion of the Baseball season – which has been pretty spectacular for the Washington Nationals
- And much, much more…

Please do contact me if there are any subjects you’d like to see posts on – or have a contribution you’d like to make.

Recess Announcements

Back to the UK - the Government has let it be known that its 'Pasty Tax' and the 'Caravan tax' will be dropped. While the House of Lords is still sitting - it rises tonight, the House of Commons is in recess.

I wonder whether Ministers will get a reprimand when they return? The Speaker (in line with previous Speakers - but a lot more vigorously) has stressed that the House of Commons should be the place where Ministers announce policy (and policy changes). This is to allow MPs to question - hold to account - the Government. This is important!

While the legislative process in the US Congress can be likened to a game of American Football (I’ll be developing this analogy in future posts) – Parliament is more like a game of soccer– faster flowing, with less emphasis (less, not none!) on strategy and tactics to move the bill forward or halt its progress. But it is like putting an enthusiastic under-11 team against Manchester United. The Government control ‘the ball’ most of the time – and usually the most the opposition or backbenchers can do is kick the ball for a few moments – before the relentless onward march of the Government.

Any thoughts on these analogies?

NOT a bank holiday weekend

Normally today would be be the middle of a long weekend. The last Monday in May is traditionally the Late Spring Bank Holiday (it used to be the Whit Monday holiday), but not this year. Next weekend is a super-long weekend – with this holiday shunted back a week (Monday 4th June) and an additional holiday for the Diamond Jubilee (Tuesday 5th June).


However, it is still a day off work (well I will be doing some more marking) – and this afternoon the Milton Keynes City Pathfinders will be playing in Emerson Valley. They are the local American Football team, and whenever I can I go over to see them play. If you are able to get to the Emerson Valley Sports fields (off Bowland Drive, MK4 2DN) – for 2-30, it would be great to see you. It should be an entertaining afternoon. If you want a short introduction to the game of American football, press this link.

Britbowl XXV

It's that time of the year again - when British teams playing American Football - participate in Britbowl.

The weekend festivities began yesterday - and conclude this afternoon. This year the venue has been the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, Ledrington Road, London, SE19 2BB

The timetables are available here.

Tickets can be purchased here

It's a Sunday!

It's Sunday - so instead of a post on practice & procedure in the Washminster legislatures; or a Revision article for law or politics; I am going to write something on a leisure activity. "Six Days shalt thou Labour..." - a good prescription for a healthy body and mind!

As long term readers of this blog will know (and all previous posts can be accessed - back to the first post in March 2007 - either through the search engine - or by using the list in the Blog Archive) - I particularly enjoy watching American Football; listening to jazz; reading French (yes, for relaxation!!! - I find I enjoy it more than reading English - probably because I can't go into 'speed-reading mode'); watching or listening to political comedy; learning about history or just walking or cycling.

With the end of the summer holidays (last Monday was the final bank holiday until Christmas - and schools return this week) - there's lots of ways to relax.

Jazz Matters returns to the Stables in Milton Keynes. Once a month there is a live jazz session - and twice a month a talk (with music). Dame Cleo Laine will be the next guest in the "Desert Island Discs (without the island)" series on October 2nd - for more details press here. We are very privileged in Milton Keynes to have a series of walks organised. Great for health, but also good fun and you get to learn lots (history; natural history; more about our City). Further details here.

The NFL (American Football) season kicks of this week. There are lots of websites giving further information. My favourites are NFL and of course the site of the Washington Redskins. Britbowl is only a couple of weeks away, at Crystal Place - there is a facebook group. In October there will be an NFL match played at Wembley - Tampa Bay Buccaneers play the Chicago Bears on October 23rd. More info here.

For something lighter - type in "political humour" into "Search this Blog" - and see my previous posts.

American Football Teams

There are 32 professional teams who play in the National Football League. The are divided into the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). Each Conference is divided into 4 divisions.

Teams play each other within and across Conferences and Divisions. There is a scheduling formula to ensure rotation of games over a period. It is described on p16 of the Official NFL Record & Fact Book 2011.



How can you record who plays in which conference and division. The MindMap below - which stresses the connections - and has some spatial relationships (the teams in each division are in the rough position of the cities relative to each other).

Tap the MindMap to enlarge it.

Does this way of representing the information make it easier to remember who the teams are - and which Conference/Division they play in? It may be a technique which may help you record and remember key information for your exams!

Bank Holiday Weekend

It's a Bank Holiday weekend in the UK (the last Bank Holiday) before Christmas Day! My mind is therefore turning from the upcoming return of the UK Parliament (back on 5th September); US Congress (6th September); French Parlement (Special Session on 6th & 7th September) and European Parliament (Committees return to Brussels on Monday!!!). Instead I'm thinking about the upcoming American Football season.

I'm a fan of Washington Redskins (which other team could WASHminster follow?). Their website is accessible here. I've already copied & pasted the roster into an excel file - so have lists of the players by Name; Number and Position. My copy of the Official NFL Record & Fact Book, 2011 arrived on Friday.



I'm looking forward to watching Redskins games using NFL Game Pass on my computer - further details here.

I won't be posting any more until Tuesday (unless a major story breaks over the weekend). By the Way (or should I write BTW?) the photograph is ironic - its not expected to be a very summery weekend (but at least it's better than in Washington!!!) - this was a photo taken during our recent holiday in Brittany.

NFL (American Football)

The new NFL season began last night for the Washington Redskins (or at a disgustingly early hour for their UK based fans). I hasten to add that I did not stay up to watch it. Because I check the Washington Post headlines at breakfast (an iPhone app), I knew of the good news about the result in the game against Dallas.

I will be watching the game this evening on my computer, thanks to NFL Gamepass. The Washington Redskins website (which has news, interviews & lots of short videos) is available here.

And to brighten you day up - listen to this

Labor Day

A Happy Labor Day to all of Washminster's American readers. (and Happy Labour Day to our Canadian readers) We Brits have already said goodbye to the summer - last Monday was our final Bank Holiday before Christmas.

Labor Day was, according to the US Department of Labor - "a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country." The first Labor Day parade was held in 1882 - and the Library of Congress describes it - "After marching from City Hall, past reviewing stands in Union Square, and then uptown to 42nd Street, the workers and their families gathered in Wendel's Elm Park for a picnic, concert, and speeches. This first Labor Day celebration was eagerly organized and executed by New York’s Central Labor Union, an umbrella group made up of representatives from many local unions."

The day is treated as the symbolic end of summer - and is followed by the start of the political season (when was the 'close season' this year?) and the NFL American Football Season (the first regular game of the season is between the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints at 8.30pm ET this Thursday)

Hope you'll be following Washmister in the new political season - and do pass on the link to your friends

Washminster Takes A Break

Washminster is taking a short break - to catch up on some reading; listen to podcasts - and to prepare some series which Washminster will be running from late August through to Christmas. (I'll also listen to some jazz & watch the pre-season games involving Washington Redskins). I'll be staying in Milton Keynes during this break - so here are a few photos of Furzton where I live.

Washminster will return on 25th August.

What Day is it?

The last few days seem to have merged with each other. My first post on election day was written before I set out to deliver the last few leaflets. Later posts came from the committee rooms on "Coffee Hall", an estate in Milton Keynes, where I was based for the 15 hours that the polling stations were open.

I went straight from there to the count at Milton Keynes Stadium. It was a long night - and I only got to leave at 8am (Friday). I was back for 9am to be ready for the start of counting in the local elections.

It's a pity that the cameras can't record what happens as the count is proceeding. Staff (many of whom will have been working at polling stations from before 7am) first open the ballot boxes and sort the ballot papers into bundles of 25. This is known as verification. Ballot Papers which have been put in the wrong boxes have to be taken out. (There were two ballot boxes at each polling station - one for the parliamentary and one for the council - but some people didn't separate the papers as requested). Postal votes also had to be added in. Then the number of ballot papers needed to be reconciled with the number of ballot papers given out. On the other sides of the tables representatives of the candidates sat. At this stage most were noting the way people had voted. For each box opened it was possible to "sample" the votes - I was noting how the votes were cast by threes - so if I noted 2 Conservative & 1 Labour - I noted that on a printed sheet. the next sample might show 1 Lib-Dem 2 Labour - and so on. By the time the box had been emptied, I had a fair sample showing how the votes were distributed. So we knew fairly early on what the likely result would be.

Only when the verification had been completed could the counting begin. The unsorted bundles of 25 were now sorted into piles for each candidate. The party observers were watching to see that no votes accidently ended up in the wrong piles - and that when these were counted there were 25 in each new bundle.

Finally the votes were added up - and finally a result was announced.

During the night, the political staff would pop out for a break and to watch the national results coming in. It can be an emotional time - as one learns of the loss of personal friends.

Now the focus has moved to the national scene. I arrived home a little after 2pm on Friday. I had a nap of about 20 minutes - but spent the rest of the time watching the news channels (and prepping for a live-to-air interview I was due to do after 5pm. I finally went to bed about 9.30pm. On Saturday I bought a huge bundle of newspapers - and spent some time watching the TV - but joined my daughter for a relaxing morning in central Milton Keynes (and a couple of coffees at Starbucks as we read and discussed the results). I had another snooze in the afternoon - then lots of chats with friends over the telephone.

Today I am relaxing. In a few minutes I will head off for the Stables at Wavendon, for Jazz Matters. Then Milton Keynes City Pathfinders will be playing American Football in Bletchley. Tomorrow it's back to work - and I hope that the regular pattern of Washminster posts will resume - but who knows what the next few days will bring?

I often put up news stories on Twitter and Facebook.

Superbowl

Tomorrow, at 6pm ET (11pm UK/ Midnight Central European Time) the 44th Superbowl will kick off in Miami. I shall therefore be turning my attention to American football (though, thanks to CNN, BBC 24 and the Internet I will continue to follow political events - and I may even go canvasssing).

This years game will be between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts. For British viewers the good news is that BBC One will be broadcasting the game live. Further details here. Britain will be represented during the half time show - by The Who!

Sadly I am teaching in Leicester at 9am on Monday morning (which means catching the 6:10 from Milton Keynes Central) - so no 'Superbowl Party' with the Coventry Jets for me this year

The NFL superbowl site can be accessed here.

Britbowl Report

A report on the game can be found at Coventry Evening Telegraph

Britbowl

The final of the 2009 Britbowl was played yesterday at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster. For the third year running the two teams were the Coventry Jets and the London Blitz. This year the Blitz came out on top - winning 26-7.

It was an excellent game - both teams played hard. Once I find any videos online or press reports I will post links here.

American Football in Britain

This weekend defending champions, the Coventry Jets, will - for the third year running - meet the London Blitz in the Britbowl final. Unlike last year, when I was at the Labour Party Conference in Manchester, I will be in Doncaster to cheer on the Jets.

If you are interested in following the great game in the UK - there's an interesting blog called "British Football Online".

Washington Redskins

The US preseason games are now in full flow. As regular readers of this blog know there are three teams I follow - two in the UK [Coventry Jets & Milton Keynes City Pathfinders] - and the NFL team - Washington Redskins (who else could "WASHminster follow?].

The Redskins media guide - which has details of rosters; player biographies - and much more - is available at http://www.redskins.com/gen/articles/2008_Media_Guide_16723.jsp

Superbowl

Earlier this week I posted an entry about an aspect of American culture - which has had a big impact in the UK - Jazz. Britain and the US have shared many great things in the past - and I very much appreciate this cultural interchange. My other great love of things originating in the USA (apart from the US Constitution and Congress) is American Football.

This Sunday is Superbowl XLIII (wouldn't it have great if it could have been '44' as that number is being celebrated so much this month). The Pittsburgh Steelers will play the Arizona Cardinals in Tampa Bay. Details of the match are available at

http://www.nfl.com/superbowl/43

http://www.tampabaysuperbowl.com/index.htm

If you are in the UK you can watch the game live from 11pm Sunday to 3am Monday on BBC1 - and highlights will be shown on BBC2 from 7pm to 8pm on Monday.

and if you can make it to Bar 87 in the Isle of Capri Casino, Ricoh Arena, Coventry - the Coventry Jets are hosting a superbowl party. http://www.cassidyjets.com/newsresults.php?newsid=456&gameid