bgnewf, great post buddy. happy to hear you were able to share that moment with your dad. we have a habit in our lives to take the people around us for granted and it sounds like you made a habit of not letting that happen. good on you!
as an aside, i was on one of the bolton supporters' sites just now and they had posted your blog as well. the overwhelmingly feeling over there was support for your post. ("READ this . ITS why we love football !!!": http://boards.footymad.net/forum.php?tno=80&)