SPORTZ

[thalia]

Aw, hugs, foz. I'm rooting for Man Utd, too. A rarity for me, but hey, Chelsea are peeing me off with superfan Fiona Philips gloating on GMTV all the bloody time.

[gr0undzer0]

best wishes foz !

[Fields at Midnight]

May 21, 2008 13:21:01 GMT -5 @manintheshadows said:

Off out to the pub now to watch the Champions' League Final.

Gonna be a tricky one for me, this - last time Man Utd were in the final was 1999, and my Dad (who was at the 1968 Final) was - to put it bluntly and sadly - on his way out. So I'll probably spend most of the evening thinking of him and missing him.

Is it true that if you are not a Manc, you are a Wank?

[thalia]

Excellent result for you, Foz. ;D

[m]

i really fucking hate united, im sorry. they play great football. and they have great heart. but sometimes you cant help but feel everything is scripted to be a United fairytale.

the thing is.. when you can walk into a pub in the midlands and be offended by a huge amount of arrogant Man United fans, who have probably never been to the city of the team in question... well.. that speaks volumes.

at least, for example, the liverpool fans around here tend to have some liverpudlian history and sit and watch a whole game... and know a shitload of songs that they'll sing whether their team are winning or losing.

living in, and being from, the midlands.. and being a supporter of a midlands team (because that is the way it should work).. i tried to start a chant of 'you live in the midlands you live in the midlands...' but there were too many fake, glory-seeking Manc fans for it to catch on to any damaging degree.

Chelsea totally dominated the second half and extra time... but were undone by another England captain who slips when taking penalties.

i have to say, i have only ever seen 2 players slip over while taking penalties, and both of them are England captains.

which sums up England's chances as a national team.

[thalia]

Well, I'm happy to let Man U have their fairytale. Just this time, mind....

Chelsea were not just undone by John Terry not scoring the penalty, they were also undone by Drogba raising his hand to another player and getting sent off.
Oh, and by not actually scoring another goal....
It doesn't matter how much they may have dominated the game, they failed to outscore Man U.

Btw, I'm not a Man U fan (in case you were wondering...). I'm a Londoner and support a London team (do I get extra special brownie points for that?).

But can anyone answer this one question? It has always bothered me. Just how much phlegm resides in John Terry's body? Cos every time the camera is on him, he flobs. He really ought to cut out the dairy. He could be spreading TB. Very unhygienic.

Re John Terry slipping - it must have been the wrong kind of rain. A very English excuse.

[manintheshadows]

The weirdest thing was Anelka - the only out & out striker that Chelsea had on the pitch at the time - took penalty number 7...

It was a good, open game though. Chelsea should have won it in the 2nd half, but United should have been 3 up before Lampard scored, but Tevez was having a bad game. Hats off to Chelsea though, as only Drogba (who did bugger all for the entire match before stupidly getting sent off) let them down. John Terry was immense from start to finish, and it was awful to see him miss his penalty in the manner that he did - and it was his diplomacy that ensured that Vidic wasn't sent off the same time that Drogba was. Gutted for him, but he'll win that trophy one day, the team are simply too good not to.

Still gutted that my Dad's not here to see it though.

[thalia]

May 21, 2008 17:58:09 GMT -5 @manintheshadows said:

The weirdest thing was Anelka - the only out & out striker that Chelsea had on the pitch at the time - took penalty number 7...

And perhaps he shouldn't have bothered.....?

[manintheshadows]

True.
Although, as a striker, it's his job to be up there in the first 5.

I hate penalties, it's a hollow victory - especially in a game as important as this one. The trophy should have been shared.

[manintheshadows]

Was it just me, or did Van der Sar say "Fucking Hell" at the start of his post-match interview?

[thalia]

May 21, 2008 18:03:16 GMT -5 @manintheshadows said:

True.
Although, as a striker, it's his job to be up there in the first 5.

Would have been over sooner, I suppose.

I hate penalties, it's a hollow victory - especially in a game as important as this one. The trophy should have been shared.

You're very magnanimous! That's not what I would expect from a Man U fan (I've heard they're all arrogant.......apparently).

[thalia]

May 21, 2008 18:05:03 GMT -5 @manintheshadows said:

Was it just me, or did Van der Sar say "Fucking Hell" at the start of his post-match interview?

He most definitely did. I heard it loud and clear. ;D

That's the trouble with live broadcasts, you can't control what the little fuckers are going to say.

[manintheshadows]

May 21, 2008 18:06:56 GMT -5 thalia said:

I hate penalties, it's a hollow victory - especially in a game as important as this one. The trophy should have been shared.

You're very magnanimous! That's not what I would expect from a Man U fan (I've heard they're all arrogant.......apparently).

Most of them are. I've been supporting them since long before they won stuff (the 1980s when Liverpool dominated hurt bad), so I know what it's like to lose. the game tonight was perfectly balanced between the two sides (Chelsea had by far the most shots but most were from distance - and the two sitters that United failed to score in the first half were cancelled out by the pair of post/crossbar-hitting shots in the 2nd), so awarding the game as a fair draw would have been good.

Chelsea are a strange side though. I have loads of time and respect for the backbone of the team (Terry, Lampard, Joe Cole, Carvalho, Essien etc), but there are one or two players that I cannot stand. Drogba is one of them, along with Mikel (so glad we didn't get to keep him) and Ashly Cole (who, although he actually had a good game tonight, epitomises everything that's wrong with modern top-tier football. A few of them'll be gone by next season though, hopefully they'll be replaced by players with a bit more respect for the people who turn up to watch them every week.

[Fields at Midnight]

The lounge in my workplace (in America) was packed during the game.

[m]

May 21, 2008 18:28:13 GMT -5 Fields at Midnight said:

The lounge in my workplace (in America) was packed during the game.

im pretty surprised by that, i dont know why.

anyway, it's the biggest game/competition in club football...

and there were 3 English clubs in the semi-finals.

and an all-English final for the first time.

it's just a shame that our national team is such a shambles at the moment, but it's a byproduct of the fact that we've got lots of (the best) foreign footballers in the world playing in our top league.

[Fields at Midnight]

My Braves are on a tear right now. Only 1.5 Games out of first place. Chipper Jones in unconscious right now.

[gr0undzer0]

somebody fell 150 feet to their death at a braves game the other day

[gr0undzer0]

May 22, 2008 6:15:39 GMT -5 m said:

May 21, 2008 18:28:13 GMT -5 Fields at Midnight said:

The lounge in my workplace (in America) was packed during the game.

im pretty surprised by that, i dont know why.

anyway, it's the biggest game/competition in club football...

and there were 3 English clubs in the semi-finals.

and an all-English final for the first time.

it's just a shame that our national team is such a shambles at the moment, but it's a byproduct of the fact that we've got lots of (the best) foreign footballers in the world playing in our top league.

I listen to sports radio while commuting to and from work and they announced the tied score, the shootout and the winner over the course of my hour of driving, granted they were not broadcasting the game, but they would break in and announce things as they happened.....which was a tad annoying to me I hear Chelsea Clinton won? or does she play for one of the f00tsy teams? Ah well glad to see beckham win again ;D

[Fields at Midnight]

That sucks.

[m]

May 22, 2008 11:23:05 GMT -5 gr0undzer0 said:

May 22, 2008 6:15:39 GMT -5 m said:

im pretty surprised by that, i dont know why.

anyway, it's the biggest game/competition in club football...

and there were 3 English clubs in the semi-finals.

and an all-English final for the first time.

it's just a shame that our national team is such a shambles at the moment, but it's a byproduct of the fact that we've got lots of (the best) foreign footballers in the world playing in our top league.

I listen to sports radio while commuting to and from work and they announced the tied score, the shootout and the winner over the course of my hour of driving, granted they were not broadcasting the game, but they would break in and announce things as they happened.....which was a tad annoying to me I hear Chelsea Clinton won? or does she play for one of the f00tsy teams? Ah well glad to see beckham win again ;D

when the score is even, it's not called a 'tie', it's called a 'draw'.

[gr0undzer0]

See? You can't resist can you

Draw: to come out even in a contest

Tie: equality in a contest

[m]

May 22, 2008 11:42:15 GMT -5 gr0undzer0 said:

See? You can't resist can you

Draw: to come out even in a contest

Tie: equality in a contest

i think you're taking offence at absolutely nothing. what im saying this...

in football, someone would say a 'draw'. you just dont say a 'tie'.

elevator / lift.

a 'tie' in football is actually a forthcoming game, usually in a cup competition.

it was simple explanation of terms, and you've jumped down my neck with it, after already trying to provoke a response anyway.

so what im saying is an explanation of the terms that are used.

if i started calling a 'touchdown' (american football) a 'try' (rugby), you would probably correct me.

if i called a 'love' score in tennis as a 'nil', then a tennis fan would say 'actually, in tennis we call it 'love''.

pillage of chillage..?

[gr0undzer0]

Just an fyi I spelled "Sports" "Sportz" on purpose, and I used all caps but I am not really yelling

[manintheshadows]

May 21, 2008 18:06:56 GMT -5 thalia said:

May 21, 2008 18:03:16 GMT -5 @manintheshadows said:

True.
Although, as a striker, it's his job to be up there in the first 5.

Would have been over sooner, I suppose.

Anelka was interviewed in French sports paper L'Equipe on Thursday, and it makes for interesting reading. He basically complains about everything to do with his short involvement in the game, starting with his moan that he wasn't allowed to warm-up sufficiently before being substituted and ending with his admission that he refused to be involved in the first 5 penalties in protest against his being played in (according to him) the wrong position.
With Drogba almost certainly off after another "I'm going to play somewhere else" rant and his sending-off (and didn't he also refuse to collect his runner's-up medal?) and Shevchenko more than likely heading home to Milan, it leaves the club woefully short of strikers willing to actually put in a performance for them.

EDIT: And now they haven't got a manager either, as Avram Grant has been sacked.

[m]

May 24, 2008 10:42:34 GMT -5 @manintheshadows said:

May 21, 2008 18:06:56 GMT -5 thalia said:

Would have been over sooner, I suppose.

Anelka was interviewed in French sports paper L'Equipe on Thursday, and it makes for interesting reading. He basically complains about everything to do with his short involvement in the game, starting with his moan that he wasn't allowed to warm-up sufficiently before being substituted and ending with his admission that he refused to be involved in the first 5 penalties in protest against his being played in (according to him) the wrong position.
With Drogba almost certainly off after another "I'm going to play somewhere else" rant and his sending-off (and didn't he also refuse to collect his runner's-up medal?) and Shevchenko more than likely heading home to Milan, it leaves the club woefully short of strikers willing to actually put in a performance for them.

EDIT: And now they haven't got a manager either, as Avram Grant has been sacked.

it's gotta be Frank Rijkaard for Chelsea manager.

it's pretty clear that Abramovich bought his Chelsea toy not just to win things, but also to play football as exciting as Barcelona and Man United do.

Mourinho's style was pretty boring. it was based on physically-strong and determined football. Avram Grant knew what Roman wanted, but couldnt change it because he didnt have time to build a new squad.

it's a pantomime really, and it'll cost them.

basically, they've had the same quality of season as double winners United, but not scored enough goals in the league and just lost out on penalties in the Champion's League.

anyone seen this... Beckham against Kansas... youtube.com/watch?v=8-J0B9voPkE - Kansas's goalkeeper came forward for a last minute corner, then the ball falls to Becks.