panicfc
13 Apr 2004, 01:25 PM
hostage to fortune
It takes a lot of courage to survive a week-long ordeal as a hostage ** and
then emerge wearing a West Ham shirt. Gary Teeley, 37, was kidnapped by
Shia militants in Nassiriya. Luckily his visits to Upton Park must have
fortified him for what he describes as a period of "mental torture". He
emerged unharmed and desperate for news of West Ham. Clearly his captors
must have known the results. On hearing that West Ham had only drawn 0-0 at
home to Derby in the worst game of all time they decided: "We have only
suffered Saddam Hussein, genocide, invasion, insurrection and near civil
war, yet the poor Englishman has seen relegation and the departures of
Ferdinand, Lampard, Defoe, Cole, Johnson, Kanoute and Di Canio. He has
suffered enough and we must release him at once." His captors will have
realised the wisdom of Teeley's release after the Hammers duly lost to
Crystal Palace. Wearing his Hammers shirt, Teeley told reporters: "There
were instances when I thought this was the time, this is no more and this
is where it all stops." But then, like the rest of us poor Hammers fans, he
renewed his season ticket.
It takes a lot of courage to survive a week-long ordeal as a hostage ** and
then emerge wearing a West Ham shirt. Gary Teeley, 37, was kidnapped by
Shia militants in Nassiriya. Luckily his visits to Upton Park must have
fortified him for what he describes as a period of "mental torture". He
emerged unharmed and desperate for news of West Ham. Clearly his captors
must have known the results. On hearing that West Ham had only drawn 0-0 at
home to Derby in the worst game of all time they decided: "We have only
suffered Saddam Hussein, genocide, invasion, insurrection and near civil
war, yet the poor Englishman has seen relegation and the departures of
Ferdinand, Lampard, Defoe, Cole, Johnson, Kanoute and Di Canio. He has
suffered enough and we must release him at once." His captors will have
realised the wisdom of Teeley's release after the Hammers duly lost to
Crystal Palace. Wearing his Hammers shirt, Teeley told reporters: "There
were instances when I thought this was the time, this is no more and this
is where it all stops." But then, like the rest of us poor Hammers fans, he
renewed his season ticket.