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| Name: | Andrew |
|---|---|
| Location: | South Wales, UK |
| Gender: | Male |
| Member since: | November 19, 2004 |
| Last visit: | July 22, 2011 |
afx237vi has posted 16 links and 411 comments to SportsFilter and 4 links and 40 comments to the Locker Room and 1 column.
Harlequins rugby coach given three year ban: after "bloodgate" inquiry. The episode centres around last year's Heinekin Cup quarter-final where Harlequins winger Tom Williams faked a blood-injury (video) in order to leave the field and be replaced by a specialist kicker. [more inside]
posted by afx237vi to other at 09:35 AM on August 18, 2009 - 8 comments
From Exeter City to the 2010 World Cup... via Singapore?: After struggling to forge a professional career in the lower leagues of English football, John Wilkinson was about to pack it all in and quit the sport. Then the Singaporean FA came calling, and he now has a realistic chance of competing at the next World Cup in two years time.
posted by afx237vi to soccer at 10:10 AM on February 06, 2008 - 9 comments
Broken Faces: During 2006, photographer Denis Rouvre travelled throughout France to document Top 14 French rugby matches. Granted open access to the locker rooms, he captured portraits of 220 players immediately after they left the pitch. "Bruise, grimy, bandaged, these smiling or grimacing faces reveal the impacts, the high stakes, the solidarity." (Note: Lots of Flash. Click Work ? Broken Faces.)
posted by afx237vi to culture at 08:22 AM on September 12, 2007 - 4 comments
The 6th Rugby World Cup: kicks off tomorrow with the hosts France taking on the Argentineans. The BBC and the Independent have each compiled a handy team-by-team guide of the 20 nations taking part. [more inside]
posted by afx237vi to other at 05:06 PM on September 06, 2007 - 10 comments
Fantasy Tour 2007: In amongst all the scandal, there was actually a race in there somewhere. So congratulations to qbert72, the winner of the inaugural fantasy Tour de France!
posted by afx237vi to fantasy at 08:33 AM on August 01, 2007 - 5 comments
It's hard to hear what she's saying, but the woman seems to giving as good as she is getting in the verbal asshat stakes. The young guy is being a loudmouth jerk, but he didn't look like getting violent until the old guy tried to throttle him. Even after he takes a dive, the woman starts with the shoving.
But yeah, where the hell was security?
posted by afx237vi at 02:35 PM on September 04, 2010
A few of the places I've read about this online have brought up the death of Bob Woolmer in the 2007 World Cup, hours after Pakistan lost to Ireland in a huge upset. I remember there being a lot of speculation about that match being fixed at the time. It makes you wonder.
posted by afx237vi at 04:15 PM on August 30, 2010
Wait, wasn't Greg LeMond's name mentioned in the recent allegations by Floyd Landis?
Yes, in as much as Landis's manager made threatening phonecalls to LeMond on the eve of LeMond appearing as a witness in Landis's arbitration case against USADA.
I believe LeMond has since accepted Landis's apology for that incident and has said he believes most of the allegations that Landis came out with last month.
With regards to this latest story, I saw this quote from Armstrong today was pretty confused: "We will have the opportunity to tell the truth to the authorities, and Greg LeMond will tell the truth about 1989 I hope".
What is that? A threat? Is he suggesting LeMond doped in 1989? Because if you ask most cycling fans to name one racer they think is clean, most will say LeMond.
posted by afx237vi at 04:22 PM on July 19, 2010
Sure does. By my reckoning, he only had one crash in the Tour between 1999 and 2005. Then three in one day. Plus one on stage two. Oh well.
posted by afx237vi at 01:31 PM on July 11, 2010
End of an era in the Tour de France. Armstrong crashes 3 times and gets a pasting, losing 12 minutes.
posted by afx237vi at 12:35 PM on July 11, 2010
I think it was nasty and irresponsible for the radio station to interview him when he was clearly wasted. As JJ says, Gazza was comical and the butt of many jokes when he was playing, but now it's just sad.
posted by afx237vi at 12:33 PM on July 11, 2010
The octopus is starting to scare me.
posted by afx237vi at 04:45 PM on July 10, 2010
There's still a handy number of Tweeting riders in this year's Tour de France. Robbie Hunter is particularly entertaining.
posted by afx237vi at 06:19 PM on July 05, 2010
The ball swerves and knuckles and dips and skips so viciously...
From what I've seen so far, every shot from outside the box has sailed high, wide and straight into row Z. Where is this swerving and dipping he's on about?
posted by afx237vi at 02:03 PM on June 14, 2010
Which is better, apples or oranges?
deflated is right, the ToC is a good race, but does not come out well when you start comparing it to grand tours.
posted by afx237vi at 06:13 PM on June 02, 2010
trapskiff: Dragging all that weight around for over 100 miles so you can use it over a couple hundred yards at a few critical spots in the race may be counterproductive
The conspiracy theorists who believe in the "bike doping" stuff would point out that Cancellara changed bike in both Flanders and Roubaix, both times a few kilometres before he launched the winning attack.
But put me firmly in the skeptics camp. I can't believe people are actually taking it seriously. Most of it has been covered already, but :-
- Cancellara is the best one-day racer in the world. His victories in the Spring were dominant, but not surprising. He'd been building up to that for years. Not only is he strong, but he is also smart. If you watch the winning attack in Flanders, you will notice that he attacks while Boonen (his only real rival) is eating and resting at the rear of the group. When Cancellara attacks, everyone hesitates and waits for Boonen to chase - that's why it appears that Cancellara "motors away" and leaves everyone standing.
- The race is on live TV for hours at a time with millions of people watching. The bikes are on display outside the team buses at the start and finish. No-one would notice the mechanism or the buttons? Or the noise? Not even the other riders in the peloton?
- To my eyes, the original Rai video looks like a practical joke. The cameraman is careful not to show the whole bike, and the presenters look like they're on the verge of laughing. One of them, David Cassani, a former pro, was the guy who blew the whistle on Michael Rasmussen's lies in the Tour de France. Now he has a "doped bike" and won't say who used it or where he got it from? Really?
So yeah... in my opinion, this is a joke that the gullible English-language press have fallen for hook, line and sinker.
posted by afx237vi at 05:47 PM on June 02, 2010
One of the quirkier sports related volcano stories I've seen involves the pro cyclist Kurt-Asle Arvesen, who got stranded on a north sea oil rig for five days. He went to give a lecture and got stuck, so carried on training by running up and down the stairs.
posted by afx237vi at 04:22 PM on April 19, 2010
Italian cycling legend Franco Ballerini has died at the age of 45 after a car crash in a rally he was taking part in. Ballerini won Paris-Roubaix in 1993 and 1998 and was the current Italian national coach.
posted by afx237vi at 09:47 AM on February 07, 2010
Togo have now pulled out of the tournament.
posted by afx237vi at 09:16 AM on January 09, 2010
Belgian cyclist dies in Giro D'Italia crash
I watched the stage live on TV and I'm still shaken up by it. I would recommend you don't watch a recording of it. Unfortunately there are some fairly graphic images.
Cycling is a dangerous sport, but things like this are still shocking and tragic. 26 is no age to die. RIP Wouter.