DangerousSausage

Ah the good old days ... hold on, wasn't that yesterday? And I could have sworn I saw a picture of a man barbecueing an opossum this morning. I'll complete the set elsewhere, just for you.

I miss the post count too. I sometimes used to look at it and think "Hmm it's been quiet today, I know I'll post a picture of a footballer with a moustache."

I'm really not ...

Isn't that the Shaun Batt who was playing for Orient last season? Uncle Colin raved about him, could virtually hear him drooling into the microphone.

Thanks to Joe and everyone who voted. Does this mean I get to be Prime Minister too? I echo the sentiments of @AmericanPie, it's a great place to be.

Cool! Would be a good idea to have the voting once entries have closed though, otherwise those who write later are at a disadvantage. Why did you join prideofnottingham.co.uk? Just wanted a light-hearted chat about Notts and the world again instead of the vitriol you get on a certain other site. Members (with multiple IDs) using blatantly racist language yet being allowed to carry on there was the last straw. I had heard of PON, had a look and liked what I saw. The site is obviously a labour of love, the layout is modern and clear and the community friendly. Even disadvantaged people such as Derby fans are looked after. What is your main highlight of being a member? It's yet to come - winning next season's prediction league How much have you seen PoN grow during your time? The site is clearly still growing. Even in my short time here quite a few people have started contributing. The more the merrier! As a community, what would you say are the three core values to PoN and why? Friendliness, solidarity among Notts fans the world over, and spandex.

I just clicked on this thread and saw "men in spandex". I shall now leave the thread, closing the door quietly behind me.

Yes @notts-joe, a sausage is the preferred football food round these parts, hence the name. I've heard they eat fish up north though I miss me pies, but I suppose it's swings and roundabouts.

You have my gracious permission I've gone and ticked a few boxes - does it work now?

I've jotted down a few thoughts on making the transition from football to Fußball on this 'ere blog page. Read it if you dare.

I'm going to use this blog to share some random thoughts with you all ... in and outside the world of football! In doing so I will add to my array of half-hearted and long-forgotten blog attempts already littering the WWW. As most of you know I'm an exiled 'pie living in Germany, who can only get to two or three games a season. Funnily, I don't often watch football on the telly – I'd much rather stand in a dilapidated stadium watching a lower-league defender scuff a clearance than watch Cristiano Ronaldo and his Real Madrid teammates on the box. That probably makes me odd. This particular immigrant, having recently escaped the horrors of watching Gary Silk and Gavin Gordon in League Two, decided to become a groundhopper. Instead of football making me grumpy and stressed, it would be a cultural voyage of discovery. I would discover the glamour of the Bundesliga, the charm of lower league grounds, the fascination of fallen giants in cavernous, crumbling old grounds. And if the weather was awful, I would simply stay at home and watch Sportschau without feeling the need to check the score every five minutes. Football would be entertainment, football would be fun. Except that's not how it works. I find it hard to watch any match without rooting for a team – if I don't care who wins, I usually don't bother watching it. So when I watched SV Waldhof Mannheim (now my most local club) I found exciting football, a city and fans practically begging for success and an atmopshere that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, I got in the habit of watching regular home games again. The prices didn't hurt either. They don't have the same ability to ruin my weekend as Notts do, but they're getting there. I've been to other grounds too – Kaiserslautern, Cologne, VfR Mannheim, Sandhausen, Karlsruhe – but that's my home from home. The derbies are the real highlights. Sadly, Waldhof have a high proportion of troublemakers, meaning that large away followings are often frogmarched by the police the couple of miles from the railway station, accompanied by police horses, riot police and helicopters. Once in the ground, the experience is a more relaxed one. You can buy a beer and take it into the stands with you, and large swathes of the ground are terraced. It's a lot preferable to having a steward tell me to down my drink before taking my too-small seat and trying to keep warm despite not being able to move ... I do miss the UK and Notts though. I miss Meadow Lane and being able to actually eat pies at a match, yes even the funny white snot they use to fill chicken and mushroom pies (a sausage on a bun or a currywurst just isn't the same). I miss the spontaneity of the crowd too – the ultras can create a banging atmopshere and are LOUD, but many weeks they just go through their repertoire regardless of what's going on on the pitch. It changes the way I see Notts matches too, as I'm often so happy just to be there I don't get as frustrated when the performance is a poor one. For some weird reason I don't feel as angry at them for wasting my time (even though my short time in England is precious) as I used to do when I had a season ticket. So, that's a few thoughts to start with. I could write more about living in Germany in general, but that's a very, very big topic and definitely a subject for future blogs! Love Sausage x

Really interesting stuff. Thanks for arranging the interview!

@AmericanPie when I have time to write one

I've posted on MAD for years, so I'm well used to baying mobs!

Good reading! I might jot down some of my own experiences when I get time, if no-one objects