Saturday 5 December 2009

The Jimmy Bullard Appreciation Post


For once, sod fantasy football...

Jimmy Bullard is a LEGEND.

He's just like you or me - a boy who grew up dreaming of playing football at any level, hoping for a career. He put his whole life in to it, knocked around the Conference for years, working his arse off, but finally made it in his early twenties; a contract at a league club.

He kept working hard, for the next 5 years, got up there to a very good level, but as soon as he reached his peak form at 29-30 (form that led him into the England squad) he suffered a career threatening knee injury. He fought back time & time again, set-back after set-back (surgeons told him he'd never play again) - finally regaining his fitness last month & inspiring Hull to 8 points in 4 games. He got them out of the relegation zone.

To all real fans, he's the player you love, because you feel you could've maybe been him, living the dream. He inspired team mates & deservered some serious luck, a real nice guy who loves football, hard working, honest - you'd want to go for a beer with him.

Today he suffered another career threatening injury in Hull's 3-0 defeat to Aston Villa, in an accidental challenge, ligament damage to his left knee, possibly career-ending this time & he left the field in tears. He has no other fall-back - football was his life. I feel so sorry for the bloke & I hope he comes through this time. We all hope it wasn't as bad as it looked, but at 31, if it is, it'll be very very tough to come back.

I'll be here tomorrow with an update on my team & the barndoor. I scored 78 points from 9 players. But today, honestly, who really cares about fantasy football when stuff like this happens in real life, to a genuinely nice, desperately unlucky guy. It goes well beyond a silly game.

Good luck Jimmy, fingers crossed for you.

Cheers,
AM

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

good luck to you jimmy. we'll be supporting you!!!

yoyowassup

Bradley said...

According to the official Hull City website, there won't be more news till Monday. Brown stressed though that it's not the same knee that last time kept him out injured for 10 months.

http://www.hullcityafc.net/page/NewsDetail/0,,10338~1896487,00.html

Bradley said...

And to think Bullard was just awarded "Player of the Month" for November...

G-man said...

AM - great, and I mean GREAT post.

I am a big fan of Bullard in both real life and YFF, and had him in my line-up this week. Ashamed to say that when I saw that he went down, my first thought was "damn it, what about my points"?

You really pout the things in perspective.

DJ PIGG said...

Well said, AM!

bp9000 said...

Excellent post, AM. My heart sunk as I was reading the report of the injury on the yahoo matchcast this morning (west coast, usa). But from what I know about Jimmy, he will do everything he possibly can to make it back. Hopefully, monday's news will be encouraging.

Mike B said...

Poor old Jimmy Bullard, i regard the man as a true national treasure. He's done everything i wanted to do, with a real sense of style and a magnificent sense of humour. A quality football player that obviously loves what he does, and one of the only players in the game that i'd be pleased to pay to watch.

I didn't realise how bad it was at the time and like alot of people i was cursing his injury, for that i feel bad. There's alot more to think about than fantasy football points, this man did what the majority of us wanted to do from when we were youngsters.

So good luck to you Jimmy! Lets hope we seen another one of those goal celebrations soon :P

Anonymous said...

Agreed

Jimmy, Hope it's nowhere near as bad as first reported and you'll be back in action soon.

Paphos Toffee

Anonymous said...

if not because of the injuries, he could become a bigger player..anywy he's legend to me :p

CH said...

Jimmy is a true legend...
God bless Jimmy..

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