Amman Jordan, CWFC Fight Night 7

It was always going to be the case, as we got deeper into the year my holiday allowance was going to disappear and it was going to make my trip times a little tighter.  Gratefully, Pat Vickers (Cage Warriors Head of Talent and co-main event match-maker) managed to arrange a late afternoon flight to Jordan so that I could join my CW MMA brethren for Fight Night 7.  Oh, and the middle weight title will be contested- big smiley face!

Heathrow Terminal 3 - so you can polish a turd!  This terminal used to be horrible but now there are high-end retailers, posh shops and even minor celebrities- though the celebs were probably just passing through, rather than making an 'appearance'.  I wanted to experience some of this high life so I touched some fabrics in Paul Smith, got attacked by at least 4 attractive women all spraying me with various effeminate fragrances (got knows why?) and I even ordered the seared tuna at Yo Sushi- you better believe it!

The 5 hour plane ride was a great opportunity to put in a solid 4 hour shift which really helped get my research notes in order.  Even with 4 unruly children playing musical chairs next to me, in front of me and behind me.  "Hey kids how do you like the UFC 10 greatest KO's of all time"...yeah, that'll learn ya!  Also on the plane was a respectable looking,young Jordanian girl reading an MMA publication.  I still find that kinda cool.  Evidence that MMA is becoming more mainstream!

After a disappointing wait at the airport I was finally in my hotel room at 2.30am, much to the relief of my on air partner Josh Palmer who was seemingly waiting up for me like a concerned parent!  At 8am we took on breakfast and I tried to get round to as many of the fighters as possible.  The GYM01 guys are always a laugh, but my stand out encounter was with Pavel Kusch and Combat Dobro.  Now I hope the following wont sound too cliche.  Kusch and his team are obviously Ukrainian and if you haven't had the pleasure of mixing with Ukrainians they all carry a kind of poker face.  Actually, they are all big and scary.  I approached their table with caution, introduced myself and was then told off by Kusch's manager for not sending across questions that I had promised- not the best start! "But I am here to make it more personable" was my rebuttal.  Kusch and I exchanged our views over the fight, his training and his background.  I particularly enjoyed our debate over what is a 'better' discipline; sambo or brazilian jiu jitsu.  I'll keep those thoughts to myself for now!  I tried to add a flavour of comedy in some parts, but much like a lot of my attempts at comedy, they weren't met with raucous laughter- tough crowd!  With all eyes on me and silence that was only broken by the response to my questions, I wrapped up the interview and stood up.  At that very moment all of the Ukrainian fellows sprung to their feet, which I had to confess was a little unsettling.  But in a twist from my paranoia they all reached for their cameras and I was passed around to have my photo taken.  There were smiles n everything!  It was a little bit like being snapped at my wedding again, only this time I felt like I was the one who should be wearing a dress!  Jokes aside, I think I understand these guys a bit better now.  They are proud competitors, deadly serious about their sport, but also very grateful for anyone who is willing to spend time understanding how they do things and they will listen intently.  For the remainder of the trip I managed to get returned smiles from all of the Combat Dobro contingent!

It wasn't long before the ironing of the shirt and the tying of the bow tie (well clipping, those self-tie ones are complicated and expensive!).  It was the first time for the new production company on foreign soil with CW.  I have to say the producer and director really made me feel very relaxed about the new formats etc, however, this was a little different now we were in the Middle East and it soon became clear that technically it was going to be a challenge for us all.  Without getting all geeky about production, there are certain tools that are required to help with the cueing and communication with the director and producer.  This is particularly important with live TV.  We didn't have some of these tools, but then we rarely do unless we are in the UK and Ireland.  So for the entire show I had to do a bit of guess work over the timing and also had to cue Joe in the cage...that is perhaps why you might catch me flailing my arms around...i'm not waving to the crowd or dad dancing, it is a  crucial, technical indication for the MC and I'm putting it on my CV under skills!!!

The fights were excellent as always.  From bright young things to experienced UFC vets.  There are very few promotions in the world who offer this package and I'm very grateful to be sitting cage side for these shows.  The amateur fights were tuned into by an electric Jordanian crowd.  Look out for young Tunisian Karkad who is developing nicely!

I was sorry to see Mike Ling lose the way he did and it was a stomach turning moment.  I know he has the qualities, mental toughness and team to get back on track.  Equally, Brett Bassett really needed a win to kick start his career on the bigger stage and I know he was struggling being away from his boy.  Not everyone can win in a fight!  In fact, even the guys who didn't get their hand raised fought like lions and that is all that you can ask of a athlete- 100%.  Sometimes, its just not your day, you are beaten by the better man/ woman and certainly in MMA the margin for error is tight.

I'm not proud to say it but the commentators curse struck not once, not twice, but about half a dozen times!  I've called hundreds of fights but it just goes to show the unpredictability of MMA.  I remember having to change commentary style in the Ptasinski vs Bahari fight as that curse just kept rearing its head.  But hey, we all live and learn, mostly by our mistakes.

The main events were very interesting.  Its always great to see Jim Alers and his coach Hank Porcher (pronounced Porché- sorry Hank).  Jim's confidence and more than that, ability, goes to show why we are all so excited to see him fight Conor McGregor for the belt.

The top of the card was interesting for slightly different reasons. Fields got past the combat sambo without too much hassle and then something happened to Kusch were he looked absolutely desperate, but in a debilitating way.  I'll reserve judgement until I find out what happened to him in there, but that aside Fields looked great.  He is now a proud champion who is discovering the fruits of his labour.  I have noticed increasing improvements in his performances every time at Cage warriors since I first saw him against Mario Stapel.  I believe raising the bar each outing will bring the very best out of Chris and I'm looking forward to seeing him defend his belt.

Its always after the fights that the shenanigans take place and Fight Night 7 was no different.  After sharing a burger with some of the team in a cafe opposite the hotel, we got involved in a few sherbets and discussed what we had just witnessed and what was next.  There are a lot of creative minds in the Cage Warriors group and with a few drinks, its good to hear their thoughts.  And whilst I was chewing the fat with Tommy and Brad, a gag was being played on a member of the CW team by members of a certain fight team.  The game went down like this: shots of high proof vodka for 1 person racing against shots of no proof water by others.  The result - 1 spandoogled vodka drinker and a very well entertained group of pranksters!  That is all I am at liberty to say.

The next morning I left Jordan in a little bit of a hurry, the catalyst being a call from Harry Selby telling me I had 5 minutes before the coach left for the airport.  My quiff was flat, my breath was stale and my travel bag was empty.  However, with the footwork of a western boxer I moved around the hotel bed and other obstacles, collecting my belonging in a big bundle using a gable grip and pretty much suplexing them into my bag as I slipped on an espadrille.  I then got back to my feet using a defensive get up whilst reaching for the door handle and escaping to the lift with my luggage.  I then had to retreat when I remembered I hadn't given Josh a kiss goodbye...I didn't really...give him a kiss goodbye. Though I did say goodbye.  Manners cost nothing!

Visiting the home of Mirko Cro Cop

This title is misleading as this is about as far as it goes with any links to mixed martial arts.  Well actually, I did find out that Split is the hot-bed of mixed martial arts talent hosting a big annual fight show and that Mirko is less popular than years gone-by.  I also found out he has sat in the Croatian Parliament representing all things sport!  Aside from discovering a little more about a man that innocently went to battle with  gay anthem ‘wild boys’, this was my annual holiday with my wife, in part for our first anniversary.  A very important almost sacred occasion which would require lots of thought and planning so that it would be remembered as a very special vacation.  When I put my mind to it I'm pretty good at things like this and our island hopping adventure in Croatia looked set to deliver.  BUT, as with anything I do, there is always a misdemeanor lurking around the corner however big or small.  And this one pretty much topped all others....we missed our flight!  We didn't miss it by a few minutes. We weren't even in the airport to hear the 'final call to all remaining passengers'.  "No biggie" I hear you say, "just catch the next flight", which we did...2 days later!  I'll never forget that sickness feeling and vision of my disappointed wife in tears.  The very moment the not-overly-bothered Whizzair rep uttered the words suggesting there are no other flights for 2 days, embarrassment, helplessness and anger consumed my body - not a crowning moment.  It wasn't just the flight but the transfers, hotels, excursions etc etc, would all suffer.  Anyway, at a significant cost all got rebooked and we enjoyed the Croatian experience very much.  It's the new Ibiza for the ravers, but a real haven for those that enjoy beautiful coastlines, clear waters and historical towns.  Don't expect the highest level accommodation as these guys are just above African rates for standard of living, even with a combined 28% tax rate!  You don't visit Croatia to stay in your room though.  For a fiver you can hire a snorkel mask and help a fellow tourist retrieve his sunglasses from the sea bed (I love a holiday challenge). Or for 40 quid you can hire a boat and take an adventure stopping in at various mini-ports and developing boat jealousy...I mean, as if I'm ever going to be in the market for a Sun Seeker!  Oh and do be careful not to speed as you will be arrested!  There are lots of Scandinavians and Germans in Croatia, which according to my Dad is a good thing as they expect better levels of quality than us Brits.  Not sure where he developed that yardstick, but it has served him well avoiding Benidorm.  Note that it’s also hot.  So hot in fact that it reduced my East-End quiff to a floppy side parting that a Little Britain character would've been proud of.

If you too visit the homeland of  Mirko Cro Cop, there are a few essentials one must pack; high factor sun cream for obvious reasons; Vibrams (or similar) as everything is rocky including the sea bed; a copy of YourMMA/ Fighters Only for a good read and a camera as there are plenty of sights, boats and beautiful people to snap.  Oh and take Kunas, not Euros as its the preferred currency.

Read on if you are particularly interested in Croatia otherwise stop back next week for more tales of travel, sport and misdemeanors as I sit behind the mic for Shock n Awe and Cage Warriors 48.

So we first visited the party island of Hvar which caters for an eclectic mix of people and nationalities.  The harbour at Hvar Town is great for people watching and site seeing but after 11pm it transforms into party central...and still remains a people watchers paradise.  Well actually the Hula Hula Bar is the warm up act from 6 and if you sit and eat in the harbour, you too may witness a young English partygoer stagger and fall between some boats and into the sea- nice one lady, proudly flying the flag.  More congrats to her fella who stood by laughing whilst she nearly drowned trying to retrieve her shoes.  All the same, there is plenty of action throughout the evening.  One of the islands hosts the full moon party which is a must for those wanting to get a little wild till 5am.  Otherwise, just wander around taking in the endless historic constructions whilst munching on ice creams.   By day you can mix your time in Hvar by lazing around the amazing coastline that is lined with pine trees and hiring a boat to explore the neighbouring islands.  Word of warning, do not expect sand.  There is no sand here!  But it really doesn't matter.  I actually enjoyed the lack of faffing around rinsing sand from my size 12s.  Not sure why but the sea in Hvar becomes your pool.  Clear, warm and inviting the actual hotel pool became defunct.  We stayed at Hotel Podstine which was located perfectly.  A 20 minute walk from the town, it was private and ahead of its competition, particularly in price!  More about these islands then...they are tourist destinations themselves so they have their own restaurants, bars, hotels etc.  Some are that small that the only inhabitants are the sea gulls.  It’s still worth a look though to claim your own bit of rock.

After 5 nights we left for Trogir via Split.  Trogir is beautiful and cranky.  We stayed at the Princess Derossi hotel where I successfully pulled the toilet seat clean off of the bowl and did a similar thing with the towel rail.  But it didn't matter.  Everything is tightly packed and intimate here. Trogir oozes character with 14th and 15th century buildings and streets which drown the eyes.  The most impressive of which is the cathedral which is riddled with character including the work of a most excellent stone mason lining the doors.  Just an hour’s drive away is one of the most incredible natural wonders: waterfalls.  Krka National Park is a superb day out where you can climb and descend the route of River Krka through the gorges and canyons.  Eventually, you'll find your way to the mini-waterfalls where you can swim in the tumbling water, buy ice cream (again) and devour pancakes.  Also at Trogir, you can catch a boat to a number of beaches after you have had your fill of history.  We took the 20 minute ride to Okrug which was lined with beach bars and sun beds occupied with many locals and of course the all important Dalmatian Sun and Adriatic waters.

If I was forced to complain, my only gripe (and its only a small one) was the 'smoking allowed' rule which affected my mouthfuls of grilled tuna and Dalmatian pizzas.  Oh, ok, while we're at it the 4 hour delay on Whizzair sucked #**$ too.  You do not want to be stuck in Split's airport as it lacks anything decent to eat or even a newsstand.  Also, I’ve always struggled to get my head around delays that are longer than scheduled flight!  Needless to say, I will not be selecting Whizzair as my carrier next time.  The pilot and crew were less than sympathetic to us and more interested in telling the passengers that they wouldn’t get home till 5am.  What they didn’t consider was that the UFC prelims were due to start in 3 hours and we hadn’t left Croatia yet! #priorities!  This took the gloss off an amazing trip, but I’ll get over it.  Thanks to Alison at Completely Croatia for sorting everything…twice.  She has restored my faith in travel agents (other than my friend Nadine at Lear Travel who is amazing too).

Eating info:

Hvar Restaurants to eat in: Dalmatino and Divino.  Don't eat at Bounty or Amo.  According to others, Bonjour les Bains didn't deliver either, but Macondo gets good reviews.

Palmizana restaurant to eat in: Zori

Trogir restaurants to eat in: Varanja.  Trogar is supposed to be good but we never tried it.

Dublin, Ireland

Cage Warriors 47 was always going to be massive; 2 title fights, 1 womens mma tournament fight as well as the usual top level match making. Wow! For this one, Mrs G was coming along too!  I have to say at this point that my wife is not an MMA fan.  She used to see me as her kind of Rocky, when I would roll home sporting all manner of bruising and swelling, but it all changed for reasons I wont go into right now.  It was therefore a pretty big thing.  As we were over in Dublin, she was going to pick up a travel guide and explore whatever it is ladies like to explore.  Unfortunately, we were staying in a hotel in the middle of nowhere and that put paid to that plan!

After arriving at the hotel, the usual madness set in as the weigh ins were now done and I had to interview the fighters for the VTs.  I actually really enjoy this part.  I would have pretty much interviewed all of these guys before and this gives me an insight into their responses.  There was a real variation of responses in these interviews; on the one hand you had Dave Hill dropping the 'f' bomb quite frequently and on the other David Bielkheden was pretty cagey.  Sitting down with Rosi Sexton was good fun though...she's such an intelligent person and really considers every responses and certainly will not be led- I really like that.

Show morning brought about my first Irish incident just before breakfast.  A couple of the crew advised me there was a short cut back to the main building through some bushes (we were quite bizarrely staying in shared houses a few minutes walk from the hotel).  With time of the essence I thought I'd use this short cut, but I wished I never did.  Y'see at 8am on showday I'm a little preoccupied and sensitive, so skidding on the dead corpse of a cat was not a great start.  The smell will stay with me for a very long time- nasssssty!  Despite this unfortunate incident I was able to hold down some food and get going on the voice overs for the VTs.

There are too many stand out points to this show, but I have to mention the 'commentary position'.  Josh and I have really struggled with the commentary set ups recently.  Overseas they have been a night mare and we were finally back in the neighbourhood where all would be perfect!  It was so good to see we had volume controls, commentary mics, ear pieces and an english-speaking sound man who had a good sense of humour (that helps in live TV!).  Things were going so well too until Cathal The Punisher Pendred started a take down from about 10m away and drove UFC vet- David Bielkheden, all the way across to our position which knocked one of the screens clean off the table!  After our very nice sound man fellow put us back together we were good to go.  The only thing  that could upset our table for technical goodies would be me knocking over a can of Monster or fidgeting so bad I could kick a cable out of a socket.  Well not quite.  What could also happen is that after winning the featherweight world title, Notorious Conor McGregor could be so overcome with emotion he could climb the cage wall just above where we are sat and free fall onto our commentary set up en-route to celebrate with his loyal following.  And, he did!  In fact I took a head shot which knocked my cans off my head and more frustrating; my valuable caffeine based energy drink was hugely depleted after being shared across the commentary mixer!  I wouldn't however change this moment for the world.  What a true expression of someone's feelings after they have achieved their piece of history.  And actually if Conor hadn't joined us in the commentary booth, I'm fairly confident  a few of his enthusiastic supporters would have tried to get in the cage, which might not have been so cool!  Congrats to Conor and DJ Linderman on their title wins, and a special mention has to go out to Aisling Daly, Rosi Sexton and Cathal Pendred who all made for an incredible night of action.

Going home to Bahrain

Travelling to Bahrain came as a real surprise.  Cage Warriors were originally scheduled to go to Qatar if I remember rightly, which looked very cool, but this changed and Manama was set. I had previously hinted to the CW man in the Middle East that we should go to Bahrain as its where my gran is from.  In fact she only recently passed away and visiting her homeland really did stir some emotions.  Much like most of the CW trips I would be there for 2 nights and returning home so there was no time to visit what family we have left.  That aside, it was very cool (and surreal) to stay in my gran’s country.  Actually, cool is not the word…its very hot…too hot.  I think it was 45 degree the day before we landed and we were filming outside in the high 30s.  There was also this incredible sand storm that resembled fog in the UK, but dry and, well…hot!

The first day I was there we were out filming the VTs and I did the interviewing.  I had spoken and met a few of the guys before.  One guy I had chatted to via the various social media was Jay Mortimore, but I’d never had the pleasure of meeting him.  What a top man!  We travelled back to the UK together and had a bit of a giggle with his coach and all round good guy, Dave Matthews.  I’ll get a little ahead of myself and mention Jay’s unfortunate loss to ‘Mothers Milk’.  Now I’ve come under criticism both from inside and outside the CW camp for using this term, but it’s what my coach Dave Lee uses to describe the smothering technique Jay suffered.  After having recently watched an Erik Paulson documentary, I can see it’s a technique he uses, but I’m not sure if he describes it the same way.  Anywho, it caused a little stir and to Jay I’m sorry for that as I understand he took some stick.

Another standout point for me was my various conversations with Jim Alers and his coach Hank Porcher.  Firstly, Jim is a bad-ass MMA fighter with the best personality.  The kind of personality that I love to see in this sport and one that I think we need to take the sport mainstream.  He’s a primary school teacher with a big smile and a kids sense of fashion- on his way to the venue to fight, he dressed in a comedy hat, Simpsons pyjamas and possible some comfy bedtime footwear.  He was so respectful and humble taking time out for anyone that spoke with him whilst also being just as interested in other people.  His coach Hank is a crazy, alligator hunting, wrestling expert who very kindly sent me a full description of the various forms of US wrestling and the different levels e.g. all American, div 1 etc (I’ll post that for all to see).  It’s meeting guys like this that really encourages me.

I now feel bad for not mentioning all the other fighters- shout out to Big Daddy Mike Ling who is a gent outside the cage and a warriors inside; Gael Grimaud and Anthony Rea with whom I exercised my French language skills; Matteus Lahdesmaki who tried his very best with limited English (crazy little dude…wish we spoke the same language as I reckon he’s a real laugh) and of course Jesse JT Money.

Now, it wasn’t so much myself who suffered an incident, but more those around me.  To protect identities, I will not name anyone apart from JT Money and Mitch the producer.  After the show, things got a little messy.  Due to the flight home being early hours, it’s not worth the risk in going to sleep in case you don’t hear the alarm, so that’s my excuse to have a beer!  About 10 of us ended up in a very suspect bar, with some of us being very drunk.  I don’t really get ‘drunk’, so watching the shenanigans was entertaining.  JT Money tried his best with his poetry and general tomfoolery, whilst another unnamed party pulled a very sly ol’ trick to make a swift exit.  Beyond this someone missed the plane home even after I persuaded them to stick with me in the lobby so to not miss the coach, and someone else was never really physically present even on the plane home after JT (no) Money had cleared them out and clearly aided their over-indulgence.  I never saw Producer Mitch return and hope he’s ok!!!

Grey Kiev

End of February in Kiev and just a couple of days before my birthday.  I'm still recovering form the strong local beers that were taken on after the show, but I think I have clarity to write a few words:

So Kiev is grey. The sky was always grey, the buildings were grey and the people were miserable. Scary looking miserable. Worse than that was the breakfast!  CW match maker and Oracle of MMA, Ian Wikideania Dean warned everyone that the food was not great and he most definitely got that right with the brekkie.  I couldn't sleep so I was early to breakfast.  I thought I was really early as everything before me was most certainly dinner menu bites; curried stuff...everywhere and just stuff that my weak-ass stomach would not be able to deal with.  They did have some cereal and fruit, so my mind was made up.

Outside it was well below zero, but better than the -30 from the previous week. I had actually bought special boots (oh and I mean special, special looking), socks and thermal accessories. They weren't really necessary and I had thankfully kept all receipts. I had some good fun trying to get my tongue around the names on this card. I remember sitting in Comedy Paul's (show editor) hotel room trying to record the voice overs, but failing miserably. On the night it wasn't too bad, but trying to interview fighters via a translator who didn't understand ground and pound, submission or head kick in her mother tongue, made for a lengthy process. It wasn't an easy card to commentate either. I would never be disrespectful to a fighter as I feel it takes huge cahoonas to compete in MMA, but too many fighters just didn't want to engage. That left a fairly quiet crowd and Josh and I having to create some energy. The main card was a whole lot better and I think this is where i started my thing for Gym 01! James Brum and Phil Harris were fighting and were a joy to interview. Over and above that they are super talented and have become 2 of my favourite fighters in their respective divisions. Also on tour with them was Callum Jones who will be taking on my good friend Luke Dalmedo in a few weeks, so we had some fun discussing that one. The Gym 01 guys have a really good bond and that's alot to do with their coach Brian Adams who is a real entertainer.

Operation February: Part 2

Part 2 of 'Operation February' was a little closer to home in London.  With 1 week to prepare however, that week was fraught.  Amateur, semi pro or professional, I will always try my best to research each individual as they are just that.  Everyone makes a sacrifice to fight so I make it my responsibility to learn about it and try to portray it in the commentary or show opener.  That make for about 30 fighters to connect with as well as watching fights, writing the script for the top of the show and also the script for all the VTs that are broadcast for the main card.  I'll make no secret that I check out the Big Shows in the US and get an idea of tempo and content to help write these.  At about 10pm after the weigh ins we set up in the corner of the MMA Clinic where we recorded them.

I always love the London show.  It gives me the chance to invite some friends along and I normally get to commentate a team mates fight.  This time Shah Hussain was up against the MMA Clinic's Jacek Toczydlowski.  Shah never takes an easy fight and it was tough night for him as Jacek out wrestled him and took a points victory.

I wasn't feeling great before this show...a huge argument with the wife and no bow tie around my neck wasn't the best preparation and it wasn't my finest hour.  The show however, was again, excellent.  It had knock outs, high level submissions and text book wrestling...what more could you ask for?!

I was really pleased I dropped into the after party where I had a drink with the SBG guys following Conor McGregor's win and also some of the finest UKMMA people, where I was advised about the game, some of the people and the pitfalls of the sport- and to that person i am grateful.

Part 1 of February 2012

2012 was always going to be an interesting year as 2011 was pretty damn special;  I got married and had the most incredible day with the most amazing woman which culminated with a dreamy honeymoon; I had helped create two new business under our existing business umbrella; I had survived 6 days and nights in Vegas; planning permission had been granted on our house extension and Cage Warriors announced 17 shows in 12 months.  Oh, and they were going to be aired on Sky Sports as well as other international networks!  There was little time to consider 'how?' and it was time to get my head down!

February was a pretty good benchmark as we had 3 shows, 2 abroad so it was going to a tight process.  The good thing was the continuity- as a presenter and commentator who has  only really been active in the last few years (my earlier attempts during my young 20s aside), camera time and establishing your style is key.  Whats more, developing the relationship with whomever you are working alongside is also important.  Despite the fact that these exploits are currently part-time for me, I want to deliver something that looks seasoned.  Having plenty of practice will help me get there, but there are obstacles!!!

My first challenge for our opening show in 2012 came to light when I checked into my room in Beirut, Lebanon.  It was a fine hotel and I actually had my own room, which saved my usual room-mate, Josh Palmer, from listening to my pre-show playlist (we have slightly different tastes) and slightly frantic behaviour on show day.  After throwing my (over-sized) suitcase on to the bed, it became clear I had lost the key to the new lock.  This was then followed by having to search out the most sturdy tool I could find to break said lock.  That sturdy tool came in the shape of a butter knife!  So with tired eyes and a carpenter's precision I took to sawing the padlock off my case so that I could unzip the case free the suit and bow tie that awaited selection.  Needless to say, there was a small injury, sweat, expletives and a broken zip!

Meeting the various fighters on this show was very exciting; guys like Tommy Speer, Matts Nilsson, Victor Cheng and Kyle Watson.  Special mention to Tommy Speer's brother who was pure entertainment and also to Domingos Mestre for being one of the nicest guys with some great stories.  One of the thigns I love about meeting people is learnging about their story of how they came to be here and Domingos had a great one.