- 06:40 PM
- 04/24/24
Starfucker, you really are a twat. I posted an article I thought was interesting, why the personal attack? Other people seemed to find it interesting which is the whole point of this website. I don't want to get into a slanging match with someone I don't even know, why would you?
posted by Pete at 12:30 PM on August 19, 2005
Am I the only person who is totally ambivalent about the start of the new season? I don't think so. As a rather obsessive football fan of many years standing, I really couldn't care less at the moment and I don't think I'm alone. Attendances were down across the board yesterday as people seem to be falling out of love with the national game. Perhaps it's something to do with the saturation coverage, the greed, the arrogance (personified unpleasantly and for different reasons by Peter Kenyon, Rio Ferdinand and Ashley Cole) and the spiteful atmosphere that pervades so many games. This article encapsulates my feelings about the game. Football needs to go away for a while, the tabloids need to put something else on the back cover and TalkSport needs to find something else for its pointless phone-ins. Maybe if it came back fresh some of us would be able to remember what we liked about it in the first place. Fat chance of that though in a World Cup year.
posted by Pete at 01:15 PM on August 14, 2005
I was at the match on Friday and Saturday and I can honestly say that Saturday was the most exciting sporting event I have ever attended. I was watching at home on Sunday morning and that was probably the most stressful sporting event I've ever had to sit through. Nice to see that the Ashes are catching the interest of non-cricket obsessives - especially as the football season kicked off on the same weekend.
posted by Pete at 01:57 PM on August 08, 2005
Can I just pose a question? What is so wrong with being a casual fan? Not everyone wants to dedicate a large percentage of their time and money following a team to every match, watching reserve games on a wet Wednesday night and naming their children after the Championship winning starting 11 of 1970. Some people go to sports for entertainment, for an evening out, to try something new. I get the feeling that some sports fans would like people to take an entrance exam and swear eternal devotion to the team before they're allowed to buy a ticket.
posted by Pete at 06:35 AM on July 23, 2005
"And overpaying for it" People are treating like Chelsea like an ATM. Need some money to service your debt? Think of a price for your star player, double it and Chelski will pay it. SWP has great potential but he's worth about £12mill at the moment. MCFC have doubled that and they're in business. What is Peter Kenyon being paid for? Anyone can get the best players if they're prepared to pay silly money. That doesn't make for great business, that makes Chelsea an easy mark.
posted by Pete at 01:59 PM on July 18, 2005
There's more insight into rugby and the Lions in these few entries than in the whole of the Lions management! There's an interesting article in today's Guardian which sticks the boot into Woodward and Campbell again - I thought you might enjoy it!
posted by Pete at 12:14 PM on July 13, 2005
The knives are really out for Sir Clive at the moment. I think people really respected what he did with the English team at the World Cup but they probably didn't warm to him as a person. A lot of ex-players from his generation don't seem to like him. Some people accuse him of arrogance and inflexibility. Others won't forgive him for deserting rugby for football. Making such a mess of the Lions (probably the biggest brand in world rugby) has brought all the critics out of the woodwork. Most people can probably see where they went wrong - squad picks, tactics, Alastair Campbell etc. but so good are the All Blacks that it's possible no one could beat them on that form. Whatever the result though, I really enjoyed the series, especially the Maori game.
posted by Pete at 01:09 PM on July 12, 2005
At last, our first posting on the Lions - it's been a long time coming. Excellent selection of articles. I watched the match in a Copenhagen pub(unfortunately amongst a group of triumphant Kiwis) and felt much of the performance was a question of chickens coming home to roost and pre-tour predictions coming right. Everybody seemed to know what was going to happen apart from the coach - too many over the hill English players, not enough of the talented Celtic players, reliance on size and set pieces rather than skill, too much emphasis on the size of the touring party and their much vaunted preparation rather than the quality of warm-up opposition and team-building and also the presence of both Alastair Campbell and Prince William (or is it the other one, the ginger one?) in the touring party. Either he's arrogant or hopelessly out of touch (of course, if they go on to smash the Kiwis in the next two tests feel free to rub my face in it!). Still, as things stand at the moment, I doubt Southampton are feeling as smug about their new director of football as they were a couple of weeks ago.
posted by Pete at 08:43 AM on June 28, 2005
It's actually four losses in row! Two against England (20/20 and one-dayer), one against Bangladesh (one-dayer) and one against Somerset! Of course, the Ashes aren't for a month so that's more than enough time for the Aussies to get their act together but it does show they're not the invincible force they once were and they are (might be) a team on the decline.
posted by Pete at 03:50 PM on June 21, 2005
Why the suprise? England beat the Aussies in their last one dayer, we beat them in the last test, and now we've beaten them in 20/20 - we're on a roll - Ashes victory is surely only a matter of time! I've got tickets to the second test and I can't wait. By the way, 'England beat Australia? But, but, that doesn't happen!?!' - two words for you - Rugby World Cup.
posted by Pete at 11:43 AM on June 14, 2005
It's the end of the football season folks (at least in Europe) and this is a meaningless tournament. Is anyone interested in the Lions tour of New Zealand or the Ashes? Real contests fought with passion. Just a thought, football dominates 9 months of the year, maybe 3 months off would be nice. We'll all come back in August fresh and excited as a 4 year old on Christmas Day!
posted by Pete at 01:05 PM on June 05, 2005
Actually, the West Ham fans could have done with at least another season down in the Championship. The team might (possibly) be called a class outfit on account of their history but their fans certainly are not. Constantly bleating about being too big for that division and that they belonged back in the premiership, I saw them twice in the two years they were down and on both occasions they looked like they were exactly where they belonged. They were a Championship version of Man Yoo - everyone hated their fans and everyone was happy to see them struggle. I'm sure we'll be seeing you again in 2006/07.
posted by Pete at 03:22 PM on May 31, 2005
Brace yourselves guys, I have bad news. Gary Neville has just pulled out, surely grounds for a refund?
posted by Pete at 02:44 PM on May 21, 2005
I'm shallow - I always think better of stars when I find out they're sports fans (with the exception of 'Scottish' football fan Rod Stewart). This knowledge doesn't excuse La Paglia's god awful English accent in Frasier though!
posted by Pete at 01:14 AM on May 07, 2005
chicobangs, glad to hear you're interested in cricket. You would be surprised to hear how many people in the States are watching and playing cricket, just listen out for the English/Australian/Indian/South African or West Indian accents.
posted by Pete at 01:22 PM on March 22, 2005
This site needs more cricket - I've just got back from India and was blown away by their enthusiasm for it. Anyway, how about Viv Richards? Surely he would make any greatest XI. Maybe Botham, Malcolm Marshall and how about Shane Warne?
posted by Pete at 01:10 PM on March 21, 2005
I must say I'm very disappointed in Clive Owen - as probably the only Cov City fan on SpoFi I just can't understand how can he prefer Liverpool (European Champions, Champions League perennials) to his home town club (perennial strugglers, currently at their lowest position for forty years)? Some people...!
posted by Pete at 03:16 PM on January 26, 2005
Probably too late for this strand but I thought this picture of Makhaya Ntini was excellent.
posted by Pete at 03:14 PM on January 25, 2005
Cricket has really done its bit for the cause and there are more matches planned for the English summer. Cricket is the major sport in a number of the affected countries so it is fitting that the sport is putting something back into the region. The stadium at Galle in Sri Lanka was pretty much washed away by the wave. Although the EPL has donated money to relief efforts, I think that actually running matches shows more effort has gone into the fund raising. There is talk about a European all-star game sometime around the end of the season but it's hard to part footballers from their beemers and their bling long enough for them to think about anyone else. By the way, we need more cricket on spofi, perhaps the powers that be could organise a cricket strand to go with the others.
posted by Pete at 03:30 AM on January 23, 2005
More on this story here
posted by Pete at 02:34 PM on December 06, 2004
So many managers leaving and Peter Reid still has a job! Is there no justice in this world?
posted by Pete at 04:29 PM on November 24, 2004
Thanks to the parochial and soccer-obsessed nature of most of the UK press, this lock-out hasn't had a mention over here. Reading this, it looks like it's to do with owners claiming that players are being paid too much. Can anyone give me more background. Ta.
posted by Pete at 10:46 AM on November 13, 2004
Billysaythis - here's a starting point for helping you to understand the wonderful game of cricket Is cricket like baseball?. Cricket isn't an immediate sport (like baseball) but it is worth perservering with(like baseball). If you ever get the chance, try to watch a 20/20 match, it's the easiest introduction to the game.
posted by Pete at 02:39 PM on October 12, 2004
Steven Wells is just a wind up merchant from years back, he used to write for the NME and specialised in trying to shock the oldies. I was surprised to see him writing about sports as it didn't really fit with his old persona but he's been doing this column on and off for a while. He's just trying to get a rise out of you!
posted by Pete at 01:45 PM on September 30, 2004
I was in Australia this time last year and i was really impressed with the finals. The Australians love their sport and they do this kind of thing really well. If you're ever in Australia I would recommend getting to one of the major sporting events, it's a great experience. It's a really sporty country and unlike the US or UK they like lots of sports and really encourage everyone to get involved. Go Collingwood!
posted by Pete at 12:38 PM on September 27, 2004
If we're having team sports (which is a debate in itself) from my anglo-centric view point I would echo the calls for some sort of rugby and would add 20/20 cricket. I know most people on here don't care about cricket but it's the form of the game most likely to convert the unenlightened - fast, fun and short.
posted by Pete at 01:37 PM on September 23, 2004
I'm not a Forest fan but this guy was a big part of my childhood. I remember him winning the European Cup (twice) and in particular the Malmo game. For those who don't know him, there's more information here, Brian Clough loses battle with cancer . People always say silly things when legends die but this guy was truly unique and there's is no way that either a manager like him could succeed today or that a small team like Forest could both win and retain the Champions League (as it's now called). If football wasn't so obsessed with image rights and merchandising these days it might realise that someone important died today.
posted by Pete at 02:34 PM on September 20, 2004
I though Bush was a cheer leader at college anyway. Which would you prefer, someone whose throwing action might (or might not be) imperfect or someone who stands on the sidelines jigging with pom poms while other people do the work?
posted by Pete at 08:32 AM on September 20, 2004
Thanks tieguy, I was hoping someone would see that. I'll follow up on all those. I find it very hard to get into new sports if you can't get partisan about it, that's a big help.
posted by Pete at 08:10 AM on September 08, 2004
I've been thinking recently that we, as fans, are probably naive in believing that our sporting heroes give a toss about us or the game. I don't know this guy and I'm thinking in particular of the EPL but most of the stars on the pitch probably just see the fans as a faceless horde who are an inconvenience at best of times and the game as something that just takes up time between shopping for new Porsches. Most of them have never been fans themselves. They've gone straight from childhood to the various academies and specialist schools and have never sat on our side of the fence watching the game. They don't understand us, all they know is that we're the suckers who pay their wages and shout their names.
posted by Pete at 03:07 PM on September 07, 2004
Keiron Dyer is the King of Bling isn't he? He seems to be a unpleasant and mercenary individual who represents much that's bad about the premiership for me. I think there are rules about premiership clubs poaching managers during the season and Blackburn would be entitled to fairly substantial compensation from Newcastle. Having said that, I'm not sure that Blackburn would have fought too hard to keep Souness, they're bouncing along the bottom of the EPL and Souness isn't one for spreading peace and harmony wherever he goes.
posted by Pete at 02:04 PM on September 06, 2004
I think there's a lot of media guesswork going on at the moment. No one knows why he's resigned and it makes for an interesting story. However, I do think he might slip up badly if he tried to move into football management. Not so much the coaching as he would get good people to do that for him but managers have responsibility for tactics - he can't just delegate that to another coach or tell them to punt it up the pitch (although no one seems to have told Peter Reid he can't do that this season!). I think he would have trouble earning the respect of the dressing room, the rugby world cup wouldn't mean a lot to players from countries where rugby isn't played. I think the players would feel they could ignore him as they knew more about the game than him. Where he might be good is as more of a general manager position, as they have in Europe. He deals with the off the field matters and leaves a head coach to deal with everything on the pitch. Spurs are trying this at the moment I believe.
posted by Pete at 02:21 PM on September 01, 2004
I was in Malaysia during Euro 2004 and they were obsessed with it. Major coverage in all the press, live on TV and a party during the final (at about 3 in the morning). I was in Thailand during WC2002 and that was similar.
posted by Pete at 01:59 PM on August 02, 2004
This is basically all true, give or take the author's exaggerations (those of us who remember Swells from the NME know that his main reason for existing is to wind people up). However, just as baseball used to be popular in the UK in the early years of the last century, cricket was widely played across the states until the mid nineteenth century. Rising anglophobia and the need for a home grown national game helped baseball replace it (and giving rise to the whole Cooperstown 'myth'). See Ed Smith's book 'Playing Hard Ball' for the parallels between cricket and baseball. By the way, not many people know that the oldest international test feature isn't the Ashes but the USA vs. Canada!
posted by Pete at 07:40 AM on July 27, 2004
According to the people trying to launch a pro-cricket league in the States there are 7 million cricket fans in America. Hard to believe but that's what the organisers are claiming!
posted by Pete at 02:08 AM on July 07, 2004
This is going to be a superb weekend of sport. Starting with the rugby at 8.30 tomorrow, moving onto the cricket mid-morning and onto Euro 2004 for the afternoon and evening. Sunday more of the same, followed by England v. France. Does it get any better than this?
posted by Pete at 05:02 AM on June 11, 2004
Fat Buddha (that seems so formal, can I call you Fat?), I totally agree, everyone was talking up New Zealand, saying what a good captain Stephen Fleming was and how they were better prepared for the series than England who would be knackered after the series in the Windies. It hasn't really panned out that way though has it? Maybe that just shows that the experts are probably as good at predicting things as you or me.
posted by Pete at 04:06 AM on June 08, 2004
Good article from the Guardian on where England stand at the moment.
posted by Pete at 10:47 AM on June 07, 2004
It's good to win but, as with the West Indies, I don't think we were playing them at the top of their game. They have been plagued with injuries (of a level not seen since the last time England toured Australia) and don't appear to have factored in the need for replacements. I know there aren't many people in NZ but this is ridiculous. England are playing well, better than for a number of years, but I don't think we will be able to judge how well until we play some really good opposition, perhaps India, definitely Australia. Let's hope we don't peak too early before next year's Ashes.
posted by Pete at 09:32 AM on June 07, 2004
Totally agree, Tresco should have been dropped at the end of the Windies tour, if not during it. Strauss is looking good but let's not forget that it's on the back of just one test match, so it would be wise to be cautious. Whatever you think of Nasser, one thing you can say for him is that he's left England in a better state than he found it and played a vital role in turning round our fortunes (along with others).
posted by Pete at 07:07 AM on May 28, 2004
The best streaker I ever saw was at a nothing game between Coventry City and Derby a couple of seasons back. Both teams were playing poorly, at the wrong end of the first division. It was the Saturday before Christmas, dark, raining and freezing cold. The game looked like it was going nowhere and we were all wondering what on earth we were doing there, especially as the game was being televised. That was until a frankly beautiful blonde burst out of the east stand and ran the length of the pitch wearing nothing but a Santa hat and a smile. My memories of the event may have improved her looks somewhat – after all, what would a beautful blonde be doing at a Coventry City match?. Anyway, after her much needed contribution the game went from awful to amazing, Gary Macallister scored from a superb volley, one of the best goals I’ve ever been priveleged to witness and City went on to beat Derby 3-0. Happy days. Now, if they could get all that onto Subutteo I would replace the set I broke when I was 10!
posted by Pete at 10:46 AM on May 26, 2004
Count your blessings, at least Peter Reid isn't on the market at the moment!
posted by Pete at 07:57 AM on May 24, 2004
I'm sure the Australians will hate the fact that it's gone to a British buyer. Which is nice. Now if we could just get them to relinquish the Ashes so easily we would be laughing!
posted by Pete at 07:51 AM on May 24, 2004
This should answer your question.
posted by Pete at 06:12 AM on April 28, 2004
JJ, I share your pain. You're not alone in saying 'soccer'. It seems to be becoming more and more prevalent in the media (and especially on Sky). E.g. Gillette Soccer Special and Soccer AM. It's football and it should always be called football. Ask yourself this, would Bobby Moore have called it 'soccer'? Probably not.
posted by Pete at 05:47 AM on April 28, 2004
Football works as it is and people accept a draw as part of the game. Nobody outside the US is demanding an end to draws. Blatter is a fool. He wanted the game divided into quarters, he wanted to ban sliding tackles and he wanted women footballers to wear more 'feminine' outfits. Why does anyone listen to what he has to say? He might be the most powerful man in football but everyone takes what he says with a pinch of salt. Nobody ever likes a game to go to penalties, it's an unsatisfactory end to 90 minutes of play and if this was introduced it would change tactics for the worse.
posted by Pete at 05:04 AM on April 28, 2004
The man's a well-known fool and a bit of a joke (as a Coventry City fan I knew that already). However, I would be curious to know whether anyone would have taken him to task if they had heard him say this when the microphones weren't turned on. Probably not. Also, I would also be interested to know what Clive Tyldesley (co-commentator) said in response. I don't think that his record of hiring black players is a fall back. After all, isn't that the excuse of all racists, 'some of my best friends are black/Jewish/gay/bigots etc.'. He was hiring the best players available not helping black players break into the top division in the seventies.
posted by Pete at 06:03 AM on April 22, 2004
He's just a publicity hound - he's certainly got a lot of coverage with his schemes hiring Gaddaffi's son and promising to play women and even more strangely, hiring Arsenal and Coventry reject Jay Boothroyd (bizarrely the only English man currently playing Serie A!). All the publicity in the world can't make you play well on the pitch though.
posted by Pete at 04:26 AM on April 20, 2004
I worry that too much hype and expectation is going to suffocate his career before it even starts. Remember how immature you were (I certainly was) at 14, still interested in playing around, just finding out about girls, going through major changes. This kid is going to do it in the glare of the world’s media and with football fans singing his name when he scores and cursing him when he screws up (both of which he will do). The world of football, and sport in general, is littered with people who never reached their potential or who couldn’t handle too much too soon (Diego Maradona is a prime example ). Freddie is going to need strong people round him, to keep his feet on the ground, to keep him focussed and to show him at the age of 14 that there is more to life than football. The nearest comparison we have at the moment in England is Wayne Rooney. He’s 18 at the moment but was playing in the first team at 16 and made his debut for England at the same age. He’s been very much protected by his team manager who is pretty down to earth and has tried to stop the success going to his head (stories in the press imply that this might not have been totally successful unfortunately). However, there is a huge difference between a 14 year old and a 16 year old and it certainly helped that even at 16 Rooney was built like the proverbial brick outhouse even on his debut.
posted by Pete at 05:30 AM on April 19, 2004
I think football (soccer) will gain in popularity and I think that American teams will grow and grow. It's too good a business opportunity to ignore. The domestic market is obviously important (although until it gets on TV it's always going to struggle) but the overseas markets are the key, particularly the Far East. This is where teams like Manchester United and, increasingly, Real Madrid make their money. Players like David Beckham are almost literally worshipped there and the clubs can sell millions of dollars worth of merchandising on the back of them. Go anywhere in Asia, from Tokyo to Tibet or anywhere in Africa, from Cairo to Cape Town and you will see European (mainly EPL) merchandise being worn. These people are well informed about soccer and are passionate about it, they might not be able to speak English but know the names of Beckham, Owen, Roberto Carlos etc. American business men are shrewd and they will want a piece of this action. It will be easier to develop American soccer teams, import a couple of established stars at the height of the power(Beckham, Ronaldo et al), develop potential stars like Adu and sell truckloads of merchandising to these markets rather than convert them to American Football (which has very little recognition outside the States) or baseball (which is only really played in a couple of countries). Alternatively, American corporations could just buy a couple of European clubs and develop them. By the way, IMO, the major US sport outside North America is probably basketball and the major potential competition for soccer rather than MBL or NFL. This is the one that has made serious inroads into the cricket market in the Caribbean and whose merchandising you see all over the world (mainly thanks to the sports wear worn by rappers on MTV). I think I may have got off the point a bit here but once I start typing...
posted by Pete at 03:51 AM on April 15, 2004
Thanks for the link to the LRB piece, very interesting. I agree about the comparisons between cricket and baseball. I'm coming to baseball pretty new and don't really know my DiMaggio from my Gehrig as it's not much covered over here but I do find it really interesting. It does seem to have some of the same qualities as cricket, particularly the love of stats and the long and proud history (as well as the fact that it is being eclipsed by other flashier sports such as football (both sorts). I've got the Gould book on order from Amazon and would like to hear about any others you can recommend (plus I think I should find a good MLB team to support).
posted by Pete at 06:02 AM on April 13, 2004
A superb innings, just a shame it happened to be against England! The pitch certainly helped him but then again, England didn't do much with it when they had the chance. After all that though, I would argue that this shouldn't disguise the fact that Lara is just not a good enough captain to lead the Windies through this slump in form. They've done pretty OK during recent tours but when it's not going well it all falls apart. Lara sets a poor example as a leader both on and off the field (the stories of his behaviour at Warwickshire make Dwight Yorke look like a stay-at-home) and sometimes looks like he can't be bothered to field. All good batsman are, to a degree, selfish but Lara takes it to a new level. A superb batsman (when he feels like it) but a poor motivator and tactician.
posted by Pete at 04:00 AM on April 13, 2004
as a limey I'm probably not qualified to comment on this one but I will anyway. We've never had much luck with cheerleading at our sporting events, it just looks embarrassing. It's one of those things that only Americans can do, like wear a cowboy boots, drink Budweiser and vote for Dubya! Anway, IMO, cheerleading is not a sport, i'm sure it's hard work and requires dedication and skill but whatever way you define sport it aint. Cheerleading is an entertainment and who ever said that sport should be entertaining? Equally darts isn't a sport (it's a bar game) and snooker and pool aren't sports (anything you can drink beer while doing is not a sport!).
posted by Pete at 05:58 AM on April 06, 2004
Football fans are idiots
Fucker, I enjoy coming to this website and so I'm not going to engage in a childish slanging match with you. Do me a favour, don't read my posts and I won't read yours.