Dear Spurf, I am in. I also have a favour to ask. One of my former students, in South Korea, became a totally dedicated Spurs fan, a few years ago. This was due to the influence of his two English teachers (including me.) For a Korean lad to follow anyone other than Manchester United is quite remarkable, in itself...but he would contact me on a daily basis to discuss the fortunes of the team - and he never missed a game, either on tv or online. The thing is, he lost his life last weekend, aged 17, having been in a coma since the day before we signed Toby. What I'd like to do, on his behalf, is enter him in the tipping contest, posthumously. He has a younger brother, who was also my student - and he made me promise not to forget Shaun. If it's okay with you and with other members, I would like to submit entries for Shaun and relay the results to his brother (Andy) (of course these are their English nicknames.) If anyone objects, then I understand. As for my own entry, you know me well enough to remember that I will be tipping a Tottenham win in every match, no matter the opposition.
The last photo of him, before the tragedy is attached. I'll go with "White Hart Shaun" and his first prediction is Man Utd 2-3 Tottenham (Kane, Chadli and Alderweireld)
Sorry to hear about your student, S352. Far too young. Manchester United 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur. Rooney for them, Kane and Chadli for us.
the problem, in Korea, is that there is so much unrealistic pressure placed on students to pass the University entrance exam and get a place in one of the top two institutions, that the FEAR of failure is enough to drive people to their deaths. Korea has the highest suicide rate among developed countries and Shaun is one of the latest. We were chatting, about the likelihood of signing Toby and a striker and then I signed off. Some hours later, his dad discovered him hanging from the ceiling with the words "I quit", handwritten in his school notebook. He applied CPR and Shaun was rushed to a hospital that I know well, on the outskirts of the nearest city to his home. He remained on a ventilation machine for a few weeks, until it was switched off, last weekend. He LOVED being the only Tottenham supporter at his school - it made him stand out in a sea of Man Utd shirts (blame Park Ji-sung.) You're dead right - far too young!
****ing hell, that's terrible. It's getting a bit like that over here now, but qualifications are becoming irrelevant too, somewhat paradoxically. Too much pressure on young people, who just aren't going to be stand up to it in many cases, unfortunately.
What I always tried to tell the kids (and uni students) when I was over there was that in 10 or 20 years time, no-one will give a s*** about your exam results. also told them that, no matter what expectations people have, not everyone can finish first. To give them a practical example (because it is a country OBSESSED with appearance), I said "In the Miss Universe Competition, all the entrants may be beautiful - but no matter how beautiful they all are, only ONE person can be crowned Miss Universe. Does that mean all the other girls are, suddenly, unattractive?" To be honest, I will be haunted by Shaun's death for the rest of my life - he always seemed so level-headed and came from a supportive family. I have to believe he was being bullied at school (another of my pet hates.)
Thanks Spurf for your work in advance. I went for 2-1 Utd in the 'All teams' but im going to hedge my bets and be slightly more optimistic and go for 2-2 Kane and Chadli
Hello., Here we go...here we go....here we go. Man un-delighted 3 - 1 TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS ( Dembélé ) Thanks Spurf
