Triskaidekaphobia

Fear of the number thirteen, that is. Even more specifically "paraskavedekatriaphobia", a fear of Friday the 13th - today! The Western superstition seems to be linked to number at the Last Supper (Jesus and the Twelve Disciples) and day of Christ's crucifixion. The earliest known English reference to Friday the 13th was in a nineteenth century biography of the composer Rossini who was said to regard the day as unlucky. Ironically, he died on Friday 13th November 1868!
At the Savoy Hotel, if there is a party of thirteen then an extra place is laid for a wooden Art Deco cat called Kaspar, a tradition begun by the French who employed a person called a "quatorzienne". Some airlines do not have a row thirteen and some hotels do not have a thirteenth floor. A study in the United States has found that over 20 million Americans are affected by a fear of this day while in the United Kingdom there is a slight rise in traffic-related accidents.
This is the only month in 2008 which has a Friday 13th. However next year there are three such months - February, March and November.

It's just not cricket

It's not enough that my football club has gone down the road the total mediocrity - my cricket club has followed it! Hampshire have only today won their first Championship match of the season at the sixth attempt - by just four runs - and have moved off the bottom of the Division One table. They have also failed to progress from the group stages of the one-day Friends Provident Trophy and look a completely different side without the leadership of Shane Warne. This Wednesday sees the start of the lucrative Twenty20 Cup as Hampshire entertain Middlesex with a rare appearance of Kevin Pietersen in Hampshire colours, albeit for just one match. KP, along with Dmitri Mascarenhas and Chris Tremlett, joins the England team on Thursday for the one-day series against New Zealand. Hampshire have also been deprived of Shane Watson (called up for Australia's test series against the West Indies) but hope to sign fellow Aussie all-rounder Ian Harvey in his place.
An added incentive this year is the fact that the finalists in the Twenty20 Cup will represent England in a Champions League competition worth over £2.5m. However, Hampshire may be banned from competing in such a competition as they plan to field several players who turned out for the rival Indian Cricket League. Without their trio of England players I don't think Hampshire stand a chance of getting that far!

Who will you support?

It may have passed you by, but one of the biggest sporting events of the summer kicks off tomorrow night in Basle, Switzerland. At 5pm BST, the Swiss play the Czech Republic in the opening match of Euro 2008. Without any of the home nations, as the BBC advert goes, who will you support?

France (5th favourites with Ladbrokes at 8/1) - Living in a Gallic household, this is the obvious choice! With World Cup winners such as Henry, Anelka and Viera and up and coming players such as Ribery and Benzema, France have an excellent chance. However, they are in the "group of death" with Holland and Italy so anything could happen. They need a convincing opening win on Monday against outsiders Romania.

Turkey (=12th favourite at 33/1) - This one is a purely selfish choice as it is the team I drew today in the staff sweepstake! They only just sneaked into the finals and are unlikely to progress beyond the group stages. I don't think I'm going to get a sniff of the £16 jackpot!

Holland (=6th favourite at 12/1) - Again a family connection - my wife's Aunt lives near Amsterdam with her Dutch husband. We were staying with them last week and the country has taken this very seriously with orange at every turn. There are plenty of past and present Premiership players such as van der Sar, van Nistelrooy, van Persie and Robben. They may find it hard to escape the "group of death" if France and Italy are on form. If they're not, Holland stand a chance of progressing.

Poland (=14th favourite at 40/1) - this is a Southampton connection with Saints' only tournament representative in striker Marak Saganowski. As the odds suggest, they are unlikely to progress from a group which contains tournament favourites Germany.

A busy weekend ahead - another wedding to play for tomorrow and thirty six Year 7 maths papers to mark. Looking forward to Sunday and the annual church choir dinner.

It's never boring...

...being a Southampton fan. Just when we survive relegation to League One and look forward to consolidation under Nigel Pearson, returning Chairman Rupert Lowe flexes his muscles and removes Pearson after barely three months - supposedly for financial reasons - and replaces him with the "Double Dutch" team of Jan Poortvliet and Mark Wotte. However, it has since emerged that Poortvliet has only signed a pre-contract agreement with Saints and is still contracted to Helmond.

Today, the Managing Director of Poortvliet's present club - Dutch Second Division Helmond Sport - said "I clearly told everyone the week before that [we] would not co-operate in any transfer of our coach. I told Jan he has a contract and we keep him to that contract. According to me, Jan now has two contracts. That is his problem. I have nothing to solve. If he wants to get rid of the contract with us, he must come into action." (Football365)

So who will our tenth manager of the millennium be? There is growing doubt whether Jan's the man.