My first blog piece since turning 21, doesn't time just fly?
I obviously have no recollection of what it was like all those years ago, but I can say that being born as premature as I was I do feel lucky at times.
Across all that time I have met some excellent people who have all helped me reach different points and milestones in my life, and there's too many to sit here and name them all, honestly, and I'd probably miss people out as well so.
To go back to the headline, for me I always consider myself to be a winner every day because of the job and work I get to carry out.
There are times where things get tough, and this month in particular with-it being Movember it's in place encourage men to speak out in this country and realise that they don't have to face their problems alone.
So the most important lesson I've learnt over the last 21 years and even throughout the last 12 months as well is that no one has to face things alone if you speak out about things properly.
Unfortunately, in the sporting world we had a few losses at the weekend.
England women showed grit and determination in the rugby world cup final, playing most of the match with only 14 players, but in the end they just couldn't get over that line for one more try which would've crowned them winners.
The 34-31 defeat was such a tough one to take, but there was so many positives in that performance, and I have no doubt that they will already looking to get revenge at the next one.
England's men had no luck in the rugby league either, they fought back from what looked like an impossible position at one point but they just couldn't quite do enough.
To lose 27-26 in golden point is heart-breaking and certainly wasn't in the script for Shaun Wane who wanted to get to the final with being on home turf.
Again there was plenty of positives in the performances, and they just didn't turn up at their best on the day and were beaten by a better side.
Hopefully it kickstarts something now though ahead of the next one and can make sure that we're in the final in 2025.
Time for the usual pause, get ready for the quick ten points of all the action from the weekend gone by...
Ells Ten
1. Cricket - England men won the T20 World Cup after beating Pakistan in the final.
2. Rugby Union - England women fell to a 34-31 defeat in the final on Saturday morning.
3. Rugby League - England's men are out of the rugby league World Cup, losing in golden point to Samoa.
4. Horse Racing - Ga Law wins the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham.
5. Formula 1 - George Russell wins his first race after being successful in Brazil.
6. Horse Racing - Baaeed has been named horse of the year.
7. Rugby Union - Fylde beat Huddersfield 57-14 to keep up their unbeaten home record, and stay level on points with Sedgley at the top.
8. Cricket - England's men are in the T20 semi-finals after a nervy win over Sri Lanka.
9. Running - Marathon man Gary McKee is now on his 318th consecutive marathon.
10. Snooker - Neil Robertson and John Higgins are out of the UK snooker championship.
We did have some winners though in amongst all the losing.
England cricket won the T20 final over in Australia with another polished performance and it shows to me that short form cricket in this country is firing on all cylinders.
Ben Stokes is really just the man though isn't he?
It's not just because he's originally from Cumbria, this man has done so much for sport in this country and for the entire nation, his documentary is an absolute cracker as well and he always finds a way to deliver the goods.
Rugby did have a tough weekend as mentioned, but the wheelchair team also cruised past Wales to set up a final against France.
That is a sport that is going to take off around the world now and rightly so because it highlights so much skill and talent it just really is phenomenal.
I spent my birthday working at Fylde, and they delivered the perfect present with another win.
Still unbeaten at home, you can have a read of the match report here as they stayed 2nd in the table: New scoreboard, same old Fylde – Fylde Rugby Club.
Horse racing was also at its best as well, with Ga Law winning the big one at Cheltenham.
The Paddy Power Gold Cup is always a very competitive handicap which is a good race early on in the season, and this horse didn't really do much wrong, and got up that hill more importantly to win.
Edwardstone didn't turn up to face Nube Negra on Sunday and that made it a routine success for the latter, who jumped well but didn't have the same challenge as he was expected to have.
Plenty of good racing lies ahead this week as well, with Jonbon making his first appearance in a Novices' Chase at Warwick on Wednesday against Monmiral, should be a cracking contest I know!
That's all for now again though in this short blog piece, make sure to listen to my podcast if you haven't already, and keep an eye out for this week's one on Friday.
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