The Leafs traded Tomas Kaberle He was the last player left from the most recent playoff run, and one of the greatest defensemen in the history of the most important franchise in hockey. The return is very good, and for the first time in years the Leafs now hold two first round picks. But it's still a sad day for Leafs fans.
I am of the opinion that NASCAR should not qualify as a sport. Left turn, left turn, left turn, left turn, pit stop, repeat. I just don't see the appeal, frankly.
I agree with you GNR. It's called DRIVING. Stuff people do every day, but because the drivers just so happen to be able to turn left and keep turning left and STOP their car, they get paid millions, I can do all of the above, for nothing.
Leyton Orient drew with Arsenal today, striker Jonathan Tehoue scoring the 89th minute equaliser for the League One club against one of the leading sides in the country. Orient have lost only one in 20 games. They're in tremendous form and will be buoyed by their famous result against Arsenal. Next up for them: Huddersfield Town.
Exactly my point. I know it takes SOME skill set to be able to drive that fast, but it's a skill that everyone has/can learn. Reminds me of the beginnings of this thread when the question was asked, "What makes a sport a sport?" I believe a sport is something that's not only highly physical, but something that very few people can do. And you can't just learn it, either.
You can learn any sport if you are young enough and have the right people teaching you. Driving for 500 laps with 50C temperatures for hours on end is not something as easy as you world think. 99% of people could never drive a formula One car, simple for the fact the G_force would eventually snap your neck or leave you severely injured. Not defending NASCAR as I'm not a fan, but you you think Racing is such a simple thing snd you could pull off what they do with the snap of your fingers, you are absolutely kidding yourself.
I don't like racing sports, but I don't think it's quite so simple as 'turn left,' either. At the very least it is like poker in that you need just the right level of aggression in order to win. Except the decisions come at hundreds of kilometers per hour, and there is a significant risk of injury involved. Of course, curling requires a certain degree of physical skill as well and that does not prevent it from being the worst sport in the world.
I definitely don't think it's an easy thing to do, but I think that with enough practice, a lot of people would be more skilled at it than you'd think. It wouldn't be easy by any means, but I think you're right -- if taught properly, many people may be good at it. When I say you can't just "learn" sports, I mean it's not just something that anyone can practice and be good at. You can practice, but a good portion of athletes today and in sports history have also been born with talent -- born tall, born fast, things of that nature. Some athletes can practice a lot and yet not be any good on the field/court.
League One update! Town lead Dagenham 1-0 at half-time with the goal coming from Tom Clarke, who is making his first start since returning from injury. Sounds like we've turned it on in the first half and could be 4 or 5 up. In other games, it's 0-0 between Hartlepool and Southampton, Brighton lead Plymouth 2-0, Bournemouth are being held at home by Sheffield Wednesday and Colchester have pegged Peterborough back to 1-1.
OK, that ended 1-1. Good news for the weekend: Town have England u21 international keeper Alex Smithies available following his injury. Jamie McCombe also returns to the squad. Antony Kay sits out the second game of his two-match ban and will be back to bolster options midweek against Hartlepool. Bad news: Gary Naysmith (yes, that Gary Naysmith; I have made this point that we attract quality players several times) is out for 2-4 weeks with a calf tear. Liam Ridehalgh isn't ready to deputise yet following his illness, so it looks like Kevin Kilbane (yes, that Kevin Kilbane, etc, etc) will play at left-back. And Saturday's opponents Leyton Orient have lost only once since we last played them, even managing to hold Arsenal last week, with former Town man Jonathan Tehoue grabbing their goal in injury time.
So, in a moment of intense boredom and football withdrawals (it's only been 3 weeks, how pathetic am I?), I checked in on the Bucks (yes, it's really gotten THAT bad. ) YIKES. I don't know anything about basketball, but I don't think a 22-35 record is good. Which is why I don't watch basketball. (Come to think of it, it's not really that popular of a sport in this thread, either.) I think I'll stick to looking for any tiny tidbit of Packers news. Speaking of, the NFL and NFLPA have until this upcoming Friday to finalize some sort of CBA deal. At this point I don't think it'll happen by that date; if it does at all, it'll come later than that. Talk about the Brewers is starting to heat up a little around here, especially with some promising new players and a new manager now that Macha's fired.
Basketball is great because every score has a negligible effect on the outcome of the game. It is also awesome because all of 5 or so teams can be competitive at any time, and players can personally put together moves to get themselves to the teams they want to play for, which, if they are any good, is invariably one of 5 or so teams.
In happy news, both Fitch and the always loathsome BJ Penn failed to win their fight. Sadly, neither lost. In tragic news, on the back of an illegal knee Bisping won. He then proceeded to spit on his opponent's cornerman. He's almost as hatable as the unholy welter weight trinity of Koscheck-Hughes-Penn. I can't wait for him to fight another good fighter so that I can see him get smoked again. Dana, please sign Henderson to a one night contract for this purpose. Sotiropoulis lost, which is a pretty big surprise. The biggest surprise was how ineffective his wrestling proved to be- against Edgar he'd likely get finished. The Ebersole/Lytle fight was much better than I expected, but of course my favourite fight of the night was the People's Main Event, Mark Hunt vs. a fighter with even worse technique than Mark Hunt. The best part of this fight is it means we are practically guaranteed another appearance from Mr. Hunt in the future.
Cricket, anyone? So, we had the first exciting match in the ICC World Cup: India, England tie. Kudos to the English captain for a brilliant performance.
I love basketball, but it'll never be as cool as it was in the 90's. SOOO much telent in such a short period of time. Still enjoy it, but yeah.
I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but this season looks like it could be really, really good for the Brewers. We have such excellent players, plus some really, really good new additions to the team, plus a new manager. Things feel urgent, opportunistic, with them. We always seem to be the baseball team with a lot of promise who can't get anything done, but this could be the year. I really hope so. We've never won the World Series, so I hope this year could be our year to finally win it. (Plus, winning the Super Bowl AND the World Series? Can you imagine?! )
Town winger Anthony Pilkington suffered an horrific broken leg last night. The 22-year-old fractured his left leg and dislocated his ankle in an innocuous block - hit foot was rotated around 180 degrees according to some accounts. He was taken away from the Galpharm in an ambulance with his leg in a splint and will go into surgery this evening to ensure the bones heal correctly. Realistically, he won't play for 6-9 months. The chairman has been told that the best case scenario for Pilks is that he'll be off crutches in 3 and back in light training in 4. Whatever happens, I can't wait for his return to first team action. He'll get a sensational reception. Pilks, Pilks will tear you apart! Again!
And of course Zach Greinke starts the season on the disabled list from a rib injury. Hopefully he'll be back after the first few games and be up to his 2009 form. He's a very important player and a great new addition to the team, and we need pitching help. I hardly dare hope, but we could be a very good team this season. Fingers crossed!
NFLPA has officially filed to decertify. A lockout is almost certain at this point. Ridiculous. That a group of millionaires and billionaires cannot come to some compromise on how best to share the profits of one of the most profitable markets in the entertainment sector in a time like this is just ridiculous. The NFL refuses to be open about their profits, while expecting players to just give them a larger share of the money- and for that they're going to shut the whole thing down? Ask the MLB and NHL what a prolonged labour stoppage will do to their income.
Not to mention what it does to their popularity. Lockouts have long-term effects, and they hit leagues with fan approval and rating lows. I'm trying to remain optimistic about the whole thing (it's difficult), because the bottom line is that both sides want money, which comes from football. There's too much money to be made and too much at risk to lock out the league. A shortened season could be imminent, but I'm hoping that, if nothing else, the love of money keeps the NFL's season intact. Which is horrible, but at this point I just want a season to be a sure thing.
Did anyone catch Paul Scholes' cameo at the end of the Man Utd / Arsenal game at the weekend? In a word, he strolled on and played with a panache and acuity that mocked the efforts of all the other players over the previous 80 minutes and then kicked a few folk. Basically, he was saying '**** you!' Extraordinary. Reminded me why I love sport.
