Great game, Sox on top 6-4 against the Yanks! Error. Error. A-roid! Edit: Yeesh, Aceves sure didn't last. Come on Bard, keep the score.
7-5 currently. I'm watching and pulling for the Sox, I can never root for the Yankees. Which makes me think of Fenway and how it's the oldest MLB stadium and how I really need to go there and watch a game before I die, because it looks gorgeous and I'm a sucker for sports history. Lambeau Field is the oldest stadium in the NFL and it's always breathtaking to go there, which we try to do as often as possible.
Thanks Gigi for the support. Man, you're right. There is no place like Fenway. And we won! Oh, how sweep it is!
I've never understood the appeal of baseball (I'm a huge disappointment to my father who played college ball), but I'm itching for football season to start...!
We swept too, and boy is it sweet! Oh gosh, me too. I have only a passing interest in baseball, but football is my true love in sports. I want to get the season back up and running so we can repeat!
Ticket sales going well for the second leg of the play-off semi-final against Bournemouth. Had a look at the eticketing plan of the stadium, and the Kilner Bank is virtually sold out. The Riverside Stand isn't far behind. Looking at a crowd of at least 18,000 on Wednesday (not including away support). Wouldn't surprise me if it was 21, 22,000. Most of whom will be trying to put the fear of God into Bournemouth and inspire Town to a famous victory. That there'll be such a big crowd and big atmosphere should on its own give Town an edge - Bournemouth only get 6,000 at home. Just reading the call to arms on one of the Town forums. The atmosphere they're talking about getting fired up on Wednesday could be incredible. I've been there when the atmosphere was something other (Lincoln in 2004, L**ds in 2008) and this could top the lot. Get on top of the opposition, boo their every touch, pressure the ref into making decisions and get behind the men in blue and white stripes.
Against all reasonable expectations, the courts ruled in favour of the owners today, ending the stay of the lockout. Meaning that unless the players accept the one-sided offer of the owners, football is off until the anti-trust case is resolved. Meaning it might be a very long time until the NFL returns. The only hope at this point is pressure from the networks on the NFL. The league gains nothing by negotiating, as they have to think the players will cave before the courts rule against them. Edit: There have been rumours of progress in negotiations following the ruling, but it's unclear whether anything will come of it. At this point, I think the players are running out of options. Odds are they will win their case, but if they see it through to the end, it could take years- by then the NFL as a brand will be ruined. Their best option is probably to wait it out, and turn public opinion against the owners as they are, literally, the ones preventing the season from happening. I could see many of the older players going for a deal now, as they're towards the end of their careers and won't be terribly harmed, but younger players might resist, especially rookies.
^ When I heard that ruling, I was seriously pretty depressed. What legal reason can there possibly be for this to continue? It's not fair to the players, coaches, staff/personnel and most of all the fans who fuel the entire NFL operation with money from merch and ticket sales and TV ratings. This really sucks.
...This is what I get for not turning on my TV in like ten weeks. I didn't realize there was even a beef going on with players vs coaches! Well, this sucks... But I'm sure something will get worked out in the coming weeks / months. The NFL is too big of a franchise with too much corporate pressure for something not to get worked out. I'm not worried about there being no football this fall; I'm sure there will be, just like every other year --says the ignorant girl who has not been paying attention. I'm just shocked I hadn't heard about it. Every morning in April and May I had breakfast in the food court next door and watched either the Today show or ESPN, and now that I've moved, I usually watch Today in the mornings before I leave for classes from around 7:45AM to 8:30AM. We don't get ESPN in this apartment, but I'm just really surprised I hadn't heard anything about it... Weird. So... like, what is the issue about? I'm really confused now.
The ruling today was a surprise, and the ruling itself is odd. While I'm much more on the players side than the owners, I think it's ridiculous they can't come to some agreement. It is a game, for which millions of viewers spend billions of dollars, in a time when money is hard to come by. The NFL is such a profitable business, I find it hard to believe both sides are so short sighted as to let this happen.
@Merc -- the entire issue is basically over a plethora of things: how the league's annual earnings (somewhere around $8 billion) get divided up amongst the players and owners, with the owners insisting on more money than they're getting now; benefits for retired players so they can get good healthcare and care for their bodies after they leave the league and a lot of other things. What it basically boils down to in the end, however, is money. @Agreen -- I agree completely. How can you not have resolved this by now? It makes me mad.
The Kilner Bank is practically a sell-out! The lower tier of the Riverside Stand is also practically a sell-out. There's limited numbers of tickets left for the Riverside Upper. The Fantastic Media Stand still has around 2,000 tickets available. 16,000 home tickets sold. Haven't a clue how many Bournemouth are bringing.
Town will face Peterborough in the play-off final. We essentially have home advantage. We have the Stretford End. We will be in the famous blue and white stripes. Our fans will outnumber theirs three to one, and in terms of passion each fan of ours is worth TEN of their after what I heard from their match tonight. It's time to lay an old ghost to rest and to stick it to daddy's boy Darren Ferguson and his owner. (And, most likely, his dad - who will be giving Peterborough full use of Manchester United's facilities, no doubt, in the run-up to the match). This is our year! This is our time! Let's show Peterborough United the real Huddersfield Town.
Just realised I'll be one of the first northerners on the Stretford End in years. And that we'll be facing a Ferguson. But it's OK, because my sister's going. We've never lost a game with her there!
Sox play the Cubs this weekend. My brother cheers for the Cubs. Game 1 of the series, Boston won 15-5
Technically, it's 7. The Premier League is technically a non-League division. (I told my housemate that. He called me something beginning with 'c' and threatened to wallop me - worst banter in history).
Well, if we look at it that way than by the current standard of the highest level of English football, they've won almost twice as many championships as the rest of the Premiership combined. I'm cool with that.
