As I type this, English teams consisting of (almost) mostly British talent somehow dominate both of the European finals, I’m trying to keep up with the ever changing gameplay updates on PES 2019, trying to not suck at Rocket League, whilst keeping an ear to the ground on the independent music scene.

Firstly I need to point out I am a Spurs fan, and have been so since the age of 14, when Italia ‘90 convinced me that I simply needed to watch more of Lineker and Gascogne on a football pitch, full stop. Most would agree that their exploits since then have been somewhat erratic, but always entertaining and unpredictable. Had Terry Venables been able to hold onto Gascoigne for longer, which he couldn’t for various reasons, who knows where a Gascoigne/Anderton/Sheringham/Klinsmann combination could have taken them? As it transpired, we ended up with 14 years of mediocrity (that somehow included 2 more trophies in 1999 and 2008 to add to the 1991 FA Cup).

Then Martin Jol happened, and the modern Spurs became a top 5 team, due to what I put down to solid recruitment, honesty with the players and mostly common sense management. Fast forward another 14 years and Spurs are in the ‘Champions’ League final – illustrating the kind of bewildering unpredictability that seems to be part of their DNA.

PES 2019 continues to excite and bewilder me just as much. The regular updates to the game engine are welcome, but whilst the realism skyrockets, the loopholes by which ‘win at ANY cost’ players seem to swear by, seem to mostly remain. The ‘long ball from kick off’ glitch is one of my least favourites, and should be less easy to accomplish than it seems to be (yeah I have never used it). There are others involving corners and ‘long ball spamming’ the latter which never fails to frustrate, especially when your opponent’s team contains a 100 rated Lionel Messi for example. If your midfield contains Vinny Jones, one could understand it – but hoofing it long at every opportunity when you have world class passers in your team is, to me, downright lazy.

Anyway in the online areas of the game I’ve peaked at a rating of around 730 and division 5 in the online divisions, and a rating of around 630 in division 5 in the MyClub mode. I’ve recently been averaging around 490 to 550 in ratings, combined with much swearing and what I refer to as ‘gentle trolling’ post-match to ‘help them’ understand more clearly how the match should have gone, what they did or didn’t deserve, etc. It’s therapeutic for me, and it’s keeping their egos grounded and humble (in most cases – some are a lost cause) so overall, I think everybody wins.

Rocket League is proving much more elusive thus far. I have resorted to watching the YouTube series ‘Why you suck at Rocket League’ in order to address the issue. I seemed to have a Bronze level 3 rating in the online competitive modes a few days ago, but after a rough ride (to say the least) in the 2 v 2 and 1 v 1 modes, that appears to have vanished. I’m persevering and feel my defending and overall game is tidier, yet I still feel like everyone else has more control of the huge metal ball, and where it goes. It’s work in progress.

Alongside this I’m monitoring the world of independent music, and whilst having a break from DJ’ing the show 11TroniX, whilst travelling, I’m keeping up to date with 11TroniX’s home, http://www.xrpradio.co.uk – which is currently undergoing a facelift to the website. A new schedule has been published and there are live shows almost every single day, encompassing all independent genres, broadcast alongside live chats.

With this ‘ere blog, I aim to garnish the above gaming and footy trivia with an occasional glance into the world of the independent musician. Hopefully this will prove an absorbing and somewhat entertaining experience. Most of the time.

Until next time…