4-0 win for the sounders on saturday! Woot woot!! After a couple months of nothing (goal-wise that is, not overall play) Nkufo comes out with a hat trick. That Ljunberg trade is just getting better and better
That was a shocking tackle. How Douglas stays on after that excuse for a challenge I'll never know. Over the ball and two footed - and it broke Gary Roberts' arm. To add insult to injury, he wasn't even booked. And he played for L**ds.
The finals are tonight for the AZ Derby Dames...my friend's team is one of the finalists, so I'm crossing my fingers that they win! If only I didn't live in Nevada, so I could go...
Tonight's UFC was one of the worst I've ever seen. The main event was just a disaster. For all they've done in their careers, both Mir and Cro Cop put on a pathetic showing tonight, and I wouldn't be heartbroken to never see either of them again. Cro Cop in particular needs to walk away from the sport, preferably yesterday. That wasn't even the worst part of the night. The excellent Dunham/Sherk fight was absolutely ruined by a decision which reveals fundamental flaws with the current Unifed Rules, and standard of judging. For all of his submission attempts and domination on the feet, Dunham loses because his opponent was able to hold him on the mat for two out of the fight's fifteen minutes. The sad thing is that even though every single person in the building, judges aside, knew who the real winner was, this isn't even the most egregious example of awful judging. Though perhaps it is unfair to blame the judges themselves. Clearly, far, far too much emphasis is being put on takedowns, as they outweigh close, dangerous submission attempts- in the same way a light jab outweighs a solid leg kick. If I ever stop watching this sport, it will be because all the decisions like tonight's will have finally worn down my interest. Though I cannot post his reaction word-for-word, I completely agree with UFC president Dana White's assessment of this fight's decision, as seen on his twitter account. The same was true, to a lesser extent, in the Bader/Nogueria fight, though I think Bader- cosmetics aside- did more damage to his opponent than did Sherk, and Nogueria wasn't nearly as effective on his feet as was Dunham. At least both Dunham and Sherk took home a well-deserved fight of the night bonus, much happier to see that fight get it than the Serra/Lytle slop fest. I'm also glad the UFC gave out a second fight of the night bonus (to Mitrione/Beltran from the prelims) rather than reward Frank Mir's performance with a knockout of the night award.
Hey Speedy, if you're about What's the relative popularity of Aussie rules v union v league v football v cricket, these days? What are the kids playing? Cheers
Further on the Douglas 'tackle', I've just watched it again. How can he call himself a professional? That was a disgrace - he went in with no intent for the ball. He went in to injure Gary Roberts and he managed it. It looks like Robbo's out for the season. The way Douglas went in was just appalling - I'm a dreadful tackler, but I've never gone in like that, with my second leg right off the ground, straight and aiming right at the knee, studs showing. He'll argue he got the ball. He only got it because Roberts saw him coming and managed to pull his leg away at the last minute. The force of the tackle saw Roberts somersaulted over and land on his arm awkwardly, leading to his horrific broken arm. One of the worst tackles I've ever seen.
The World Equestrian Games' Opening Ceremony is going to be on NBC at noon EST. The ceremony occurred yesterday, but I guess NBC had better things to air, like bad news. These international games are in Lexington, Kentucky, this year, and span from September 25 to October 10, and include dressage, jumping, endurance, vaulting... etc. For those who dont know and wish to, the games are on level with the Olympics, and so they attract a lot of world-renowned competitors. The games are always at the two-year mark between the Summer Olympics, which is cool too. I guess of the fifteen days, NBC is going to air an entire six hours over today and the next two Sundays... Still, it's better than what they air during the Olympics, I guess. I'm not entirely sure what's going to be aired during the six hours; the first is going to be the opening ceremony, but the other five are probably going to be compilations of jumping, eventing, and maybe dressage and vaulting, since those appeal more to the general public... I'm excited.
The Commonwealth games start in a week. I hope they don't fail as hard as i have a deep feeling that they will.
UFC 119 I enjoyed the Mitrione vs. Beltran fight, even if it wasn't the greatest example of technique in the later rounds. They're both tough guys, though. Plus, Beltran has one of the best nicknames in the sport. I didn't get to watch the other prelim yet. But from the clip I saw, C.B. Dollaway pulled off a nice submission. (I'm not a fan of his, but one must give credit where it's due.) The main card was average. I really thought the Guillard/Stephens fight was going to be full of fireworks, especially after the opening salvo, but it wasn't. Sherk (or Shrek as a friend of mine calls him) vs. Dunham was pretty exciting. I think the thing that did it for the judges was the blood from that nasty cut that Dunham received. If he wasn't cut, I bet he would have won the decision. I also enjoyed Lytle vs. Sera. Lytle always seems to be in exciting fights. And compared to some of the other bouts, this one was pretty exciting. "Little Nog" and Bader wasn't too exciting for me, and the main event was. . . . Well, thank goodness there was a knockout is all I can say. I'm definitely interested in 120, especially since it will be on Spike. Condit vs. Hardy seems like it has great potential.
But ruling that he should have won based on the cut is still ridiculous- the cut happened in the first round, which is the one round Sherk actually won. How is it possible for him to win one of the later two rounds based something he did the round before? In fact, if he won because of the cut instead of the takedowns, that makes it an even worse decision.
Well the Vikings finally won one. Happily though, Favre threw 2 interceptions (that's, what, 5 in two weeks? ) and he doesn't look like he wants to be there. He's not gonna have a good year. Certainly not as good of a year as last year. The Packers go up against DA BEARS tomorrow. An excellent rivalry game, and on MNF too!
I agree that it would be ridiculous and a worse decision. But I can just see a judge seeing the blood from it in the next round and it having an impact on them. Maybe I'm just cynical. *Shrug* I personally agree that Dunham won the fight.
And after making from 55 yards, he misses from 30 yards and 42 yards. There are no words. This team, much like the Leafs, is cursed. Edit: I think Rogan mentioned something about that. I guess it goes back to the judges need better training. Hopefully decisions like last night, and the first Shogun-Machida fight are just bumps on the road to sorting the rules out.
Yay, Colts. I unfortunately had to miss the entire second half (I had a meeting to go to) and the first half I had difficulty focusing on, but I saw a good few catches... It looked like a good game, but maybe not spectacular? I'm more excited for the WEG, to be honest. I'm seriously contemplating organizing a weekend road trip to Lexington. It's just 3.5 hours away; tickets are only mildly expensive, especially when you compare them to other major riding events; and I'm sure the people I've got in mind, my riding friends, would love to go too.
I was a fan of the game. Or at least the result. Didn't take the sting off the Janikowski's failure, but it still made me smile. And Austin Collie almost single-handedly won my fantasy football matchup this week. What is the WEG?
I really like Collie as a receiver, although I really only saw one of his catches today. I saw Dallas Clark's awesome (although painful) reception though; so awesome. The WEG stands for the World Equestrian Games (I shall direct you to this post), which kicked off with the opening ceremony yesterday. Over the course of the next two Sundays, NBC is going to be airing a total of five hours' footage, which is a lot considering the sport isnt as popular as football or basketball is. I'm not entirely sure what they'll be covering, but you can bet on a healthy compilation of eventing and jumping and perhaps some dressage from big names... I'm really excited to see Eric Lamaze, a Canadian rider who is simply the best in show jumping (he won gold at Beijing), and his stallion Hickstead. I feel like there may be even vaulting, which is human gymnastics on horses, essentially, because the more dangerous something appears to be, the more people love to watch it. I really think I might go with some friends... The midwest of the USA can be pretty stereotypically boring, but Indiana's Traders Point show (which I attend annually) gathers a lot of veteran Olympians and Olympian hopefuls, and Lexington, Kentucky, after all, is the horse capital of the world. Speaking of the WEG, the United States just won the first gold of the event. It was in reining; I'm not really an expert in that field, but good on us.
"I felt that the defensive side of the game was very good on Saturday and we had to defend quite a lot as we didn't keep hold of the ball as well as we like, but unfortunately over the course of ninety minutes they will get an opportunity and their lad scored a terrific header - if any of my lads scored that goal, I would think it was tremendous. You have to hold your hands up sometimes and he beat one of our lads in the air before heading it in the only place he could to score." - From Lee Clark's pre-match comments, regarding the last minute goal we conceded down at Swindon. "What, you mean the place where there should have been a defender stood on the back post waiting to clear any such header from off the line?" - From my post-reading-that rant regarding how to defend set-pieces. Further rantings on the issue on my external blog. I find this important, even if no one else does. It goes a long way to explaining why my system of defending on Football Manager is more successful than anyone else's (almost).
Oh this stuff is vital, Dante! When a goal is scored and it flies in near the upright where we think a man should have been stood, we assume that that goal wouldn't have been scored had he been stood there. Quite an assumption: goals frequently occur where the ball flies within an inch or so of an utterly unmoved man on the post. Given the speed of things, your man on the line is far from always covering a yard; sometimes he is, in effect, covering only that part of the goal his in situ body physically covers (as little as 400mm if my delightfully athletic body is any measure) The man who isn't on the post will, presumably, do something else: mark a man or space. How many goals are scored beacuse a man who is stuck on the post isn't doing something else? Difficult to quantify. You will know too that it is a rather alien thing to do - to stand rigidly at your post in the midst of a game characterised by almost constant movement. All the more alien for the modern full-back who is, arguably, (required to be) the most dynamic player on the pitch. Sure, you might get Evra or Cole to be rigorously disciplined in their defensive work, but you would lose something in the process.. So, yeah, I kinda agree with you.
It isn't that hard to stand on a post. Hook an arm round it - stops you going anywhere! Tonight is an all new level of low for Huddersfield Town. Gubbed 3-0 by effing Rochdale. I don't know why I bother, but I'll still be there for the next two home games, including the one in the Johnstones Paint Trophy. Glutton for punishment, me.
Bugger me. A proper supporter. My hat goes off to you! This evening, I will sit on a comfy sofa, in front of a large tv, with lots of coffee and biscuits at hand, and watch the largest club side in the world against the Spanish league leaders....true dedication
