Fordy on a Friday - Graham Ford's Blog...
28 January 2010 - Email: fordy@hawickonline.co.uk
Same old story
SCOTLAND may have a new Head Coach, but as far as former Greens players are concerned it seems that the same old problem still exists.
Just what do Scott Macleod and Nikki Walker have to do to earn a regular place in the Scotland squad?
In Nikki’s case the last time he played for his country (November 2008) he scored twice against Canada, but sadly hasn’t featured since. While MacLeod last played during the tour of Argentina when Scotland were victorious against the Puma’s.
Since then Walker (15 caps) has continued to perform brilliantly for Neath Ospreys, a side littered with Welsh internationalists, while MacLeod (21 caps) was involved in a high profile move from The Scarlets to Edinburgh.
Both players are highly regarded by their peers, MacLeod is seen as a set –piece specialist, while Walker was voted Players player of the day in the recent Heineken Cup Match against Italian side Viadana. Walker has scored six tries so far this season twice in the Heineken Cup and four in the Magners League, including a brace against Cardiff earlier this month.
Both players till have a great deal of rugby still left in them and it is hoped that their talents are utilised before it is too late, hopefully they will be joined in the Dark Blue by John Houston and Rory Hutton who are fast making names for themselves in the representative spotlight.
In The Mood for Dancing
One of my great passions is DJ-ing.
At the weekends I work all over the Scottish Borders playing music at parties, birthdays etc. While I have also just begun my own radio spot, at the lesser known, but very professional, TD1 radio station based in Gala. This fledgling radio station is run from a house, but despite the inauspicious surroundings, it is quickly making a name for itself. It has been on air for just over a year now and is proving to be extremely popular with liteners.
My new slot is on a Wednesday night from 8pm to 10pm and who knows this could lead to more ‘airtime’ I really enjoyed my debut last night, and 
was pleased at how quickly I learned the rig. If you want to learn more about the station log on to www.td1radio.co.uk.
Playing music on the radio is one thing, but the buzz from watching people enjoy themselves at parties etc is something else.
One new trend I have noticed recently is the lack of inhibitions from the teenagers. Put on a good tune and the dance floor is full in an instant. Boys, girls whoever it doesn’t matter, all they want is to have a good time and it is something that is great to see. So often the teenage generation get a bad and unjustified press. But I would defend them I think the behaviour of this generation is so much more respectful than previous age groups. Less aggression, just people out to have a good time.
22 January 2010 - Email: fordy@hawickonline.co.uk
Farewell Bill
I am not ashamed to admit I shed a tear on Tuesday afternoon when I learned of the sad passing of ‘Oor Bill.’ Bill McLaren was so many things to so many people, and had such a huge impact on so many people. He is a great loss to Hawick. I for one would like to see a statue of the man erected somewhere in Hawick. I believe that many people would travel miles to pay homage to such a gentleman.
I got to know Bill extremely well while as a teenager. Along with Daniel Carlton and Andy Scott I took part in a work experience project where we worked with Bill for three weeks in the lead up to the school summer holidays. We travelled around all the Hawick primary schools working as assistant PE teachers alongside the great man. After the summer holidays I returned to continue to work with Bill from August right through to December, this was in 1985, two years before he retired as a PE teacher. During that time I got to learn about the preparation Bill put in ahead of international matches. I would watch, as he would meticulously prepare his homework on the various players he would be commentating on. While on the work experience Bill also persuaded me to begin helping with the Saturday morning primary school rugby, this lead me to referee some games and I then progressed to refereeing at semi-junior and junior level for several seasons.
When I progressed to working at the Hawick News I was thrilled when I had the opportunity to visit Bill at home following the release of his book. ‘The Voice of Rugby’. I spent an entire afternoon sitting listening to Bill and his many stories and was thrilled at the end of the interview when Bill praised me on my interview style. To have Bill give me that level of praise was one of the proudest moments for me. Bill will be a great miss to Hawick, but will never be forgotten as a truly inspirational character.
Busy period
Once the Festive Period is out the way it is incredible how busy Hawick becomes.
If you scratch under the surface on any given night there are a plethora of meetings taking place.
I am involved in numerous groups and they all are beginning to waken from their festive slumber.
As Match Secretary at Hawick Golf Club, January is a month where a lot of preparation is undertaken ahead of the new golf season which will begin in earnest towards the end of March. Sadly the Winter League has been severely curtailed by the snow.
As Chairperson of the Board of Trustees at the Escape Youth Café, I am excited by recent developments that could see us moving to larger premises and opening up the youth work opportunities to a wider group of teenagers.
As the Producer of the Hawick Pantomime Group I enjoyed the January meeting of the Pantomime Committee where we reflected on another hugely successful show. I also was asked to write and produce the 2010 show, as soon as I was asked my mind went into creative overdrive to begin to piece together yet another script. The 2010 Hawick Christmas Pantomime will be entitled ‘Palemerk and the Hawick Ball Factory’ and is my version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Writing this script will take up a lot of my spare time over the next two or three months.
My other commitment is as the new Organising Secretary of the Hawick Summer Festival. The first meeting of this group will take place this Monday. Following the huge success of Party on the Pitch last year, the hard working Summer Festival committee will be looking to see who they can sign up to be on the entertainment bill this year. I am sure the next few months will see an exciting line-up finalised and along with the many other events that make up the Summer Festival Programme the committee will create another summer showpiece. I look forward to keeping people informed of the progress on all these projects over the coming months.
If you have a group and would like to announce developments feel free to email me and I will be happy to promote your good work to Teries worldwide on this blog.
15 January 2010 - Email: fordy@hawickonline.co.uk
White Christmas
For many the image of the town in the build up to a 'White Christmas' must always feature the Winter 
Wonderland. But like a child with a new toy the novelty wears off sooner or later. Once the first few flakes of snow had landed it was brilliant to see the migration to the hills around Hawick with people enjoying the spills and thrills of the slopes.
But when the conditions continued and the snow decided that it was in no hurry to stop, many suddenly found themselves almost housebound, and the town was quickly transformed into an eerie post-apocalyptic scene. Cars were abandoned at the side of the road as people were forced to travel as best they could on foot. Most people being forced to walk on the roads due to the huge piles of snow on the pavements. Shop shelves were stripped bare as everyone stocked up on essentials such as bread, milk etc. There was also a period one night last week when Hawick was effectively 'cut-off'.
As always people are happy to mump and moan during adverse circumstances, but I prefer to see something different or out of the ordinary as an experience not an endurance. Walking instead of driving I found myself speaking to people that I would often drive past in the car. While some people complained about the lack of snow ploughs, I saluted the work that these people were undertaking, the battle to keep huge network of roads free from snow is a thankless, and indeed dangerous task and they deserve every credit for doing their best. I would expect that the team of snow plough drivers has probably been reduced as part of departmental 'cut backs' in recent years and the survivors are probably asked to work more and more.
My legs and back are still aching after spending most of Sunday and Monday digging out several cars in our street. But to be honest I quite enjoyed it and once again found myself speaking to people as they passed by. As the town clear up begins and life gradually begins to get back to normal, I for one have actually enjoyed the last few weeks and the challenges the snow has brought. But I also hope we are over the worst of it.
On a different subject wasn't it great to see three former Greens players teaming up for Edinburgh against Cardiff last Saturday night. Rory Hutton was making his debut for the capital pro team alongside Scott MacLeod and John Houston, I am sure the fact that Rory had several familiar faces alongside him as he jogged from the Murrayfield tunnel would have settled the fly-half as he looked to make an immediate impression in a rare start for the Gunners.
Despite what some rugby writers described as a 'shaky' opening half-hour, Hutton gradually began to gain confidence before setting the National Stadium alight with a mesmerising run that produced the first try of the match. Hutton was also instrumental in the second score for Edinburgh before be was substituted by his coach on the hour mark.
I for one, can't work why Moffat would take his best player off the park especially when two further scores would have earned his team a try bonus point and hoisted them to second spot in the Magners League. I also hope that Coach Moffat, and Scotland supremo Andy Robinson will give Hutton further opportunities to shine. Hutton is one of the most exciting players Hawick has produced for almost a generation and it is hoped that his ability to beat a man in an instant isn't coached out of him.
He may end up at times being exposed, but it is up to his teammates to be alert and support Hutton, rather than Hutton toning his game down. The next few weeks will be interesting to see if the electrician will be given more chances to demonstrate his undoubted skills.
8 January 2010 - Email: fordy@hawickonline.co.uk
Welcome to my new online blog. 
As a youngster I always kept a diary and nowadays a blog is in a sense a modern diary. My writing progressed through my teenage years to the point where I wrote an autobiography, one that has been developed further over the years. When I finally make it big that autobiography may well be published. When I was in my 20s I worked at Hawick Youth Centre, I helped a team of members of the Havelock Street facility produce what turned out to be a popular magazine entitled ‘The Youthie’ this magazine ran for almost two years. This sparked my desire to take my writing to another level and a two-year degree followed.
Journalism jobs at The Border Telegraph and laterally The Hawick News helped develop my writing skills further, and my time at The Hawick News also saw the introduction of the popular ‘Ford on Friday’ sports column. During my time as a journalist I also began writing pantomimes and to date I have written and produced three local pantomimes. The most recent being ‘The Teri Who Never Woz’ which was performed at Hawick Town Hall over five nights in December raising over £10,000. My writing continues to develop and I am also currently writing a book, I am over half way through. The plot is triple pronged involving Scotland, Eastern Europe and America. My dream is to get this book published, hopefully I will complete this book in 2010, but as always there are always new projects on the horizon. More details of these will be revealed in due course
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But turning to the blog. I was invited by the owner of the hawickonline website, Cammy Reith, to write a weekly blog. My intention is to write about Hawick issues, but from time to time this may also include wider issues. My Ford on Friday sports column was very popular and a number of people have indicated that they miss this column in the Hawick News. Now it is back, but in a new electronic format. I look forward to hearing people’s views and comments.