Friday, January 15, 2010

Ludicrous decisions at the test

From The Times :

A second highly contentious ruling in successive days by Darryl Harper, the third umpire, may yet prove a pivotal moment in this third Test.

If Harper’s decision not to call a no-ball when Alastair Cook was leg before on the first day was one of those 50-50 cases that England eventually chose to accept, the Australian official’s failure to pick up the noise of an edge from Graeme Smith appeared to have been a bad error on his part.

Cutting at Ryan Sidebottom early in the morning session when 15, Smith was reprieved by umpire Tony Hill despite impassioned appeals from England close fielders, who clearly heard something. The South Africa captain added a further 90 runs to his score before England eventually dismissed him, Andrew Strauss taking a smart catch at first slip after Smith edged a ball that left him in the air - but the damage had been done.

The decision to give Smith not out had immediately been referred to Harper, who rejected the review. When the television tapes were played back, a noise was clearly audible, although no deviation could be seen either by Hawk-Eye or the naked eye. Often, a very thin edge, or ‘feather’ as it is known in the game, cannot be picked up on TV, but the noise could not have been anything bar an edge as the bat was a long way from the pad and ground.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/cricket/article6989297.ece

AbNormal service?

Ugh...after the optimism of the two battling last wicket draws and the comfortable win what has happened at the final test?????

Well it looks like the South Africans have definitely prepared a "result" wicket but both teams have to play on it.

England look like batting first, being asked to follow on and still lose by an innings.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Don't count your chickens. Liverpool 1 - 2 Reading (AET)

Oof, not having a gloat or anything...we’ve all been there (Oldham, Shrewsbury etc) but prior to Reading’s FA Cup win at Anfield last night Liverpool FC were sending this around to its cup ticket scheme members. Did they learn nothing from their pre-decorated Athens Champions League victory parade bus?

 

Dear XXXX,

As a valued member of the Auto Cup Scheme, we’d like to confirm details for the following FA Cup match:

FA Cup
Liverpool v Burnley (4th Round)
Saturday 23rd January 2010. Kick Off: 12.45pm
The Ticket Office will begin taking payments for the above game from Thursday 14th January.

Please note: customers whose payments fail will not be notified due to the short timescale involved. Payment failure and subsequent non purchase of a ticket for this game in the competition will result in the removal from the scheme.

We do advise that you check your 'purchase history' on line at www.liverpoolfc.tv to ensure that a seat has been purchased for this game. Alternatively, please contact Customer Services on 0844 844 2005.

Season Ticket Holders whose normal seat is available (i.e. the seat used at F.A. Premier League matches) for this match WILL NOT receive a match ticket. The respective fan cards will be activated for this match and Season Ticket Holders should access the stadium using their fan cards.

Season Ticket Holders who cannot be offered their normal seats WILL receive a match ticket for an alternative seat.

Those customers who are unsure whether their normal seats are available can check for this information on-line or alternatively contact the Customer Services Department for clarification (0844 844 2005).

If your credit or debit card has expired or is about to, or you have had a replacement card (even if one or two numbers have changed) can you please ensure that your details are updated as soon as possible to ensure that you are allocated a seat for this game. Details of updated credit or debit card numbers, expiry/start dates etc can be provided by calling Customer Services - 0844 844 2005 or alternatively can be faxed to 0151 261 1416 for the attention of the ACS Team or put in writing to the ACS Team, LFC Ticket Office, PO Box 204, L69 PQ. Please be advised that we are no longer able to accept Maestro, Switch or Solo cards for recurring debit card payments relating to card schemes.

For further details, please refer to the terms and conditions in your season ticket renewal booklet.t.

Kind Regards,

The Ticket Office

 

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Sooooo cold

Bloody freezing here in the UK. It's crazy...can hardly ever remember it being this cold, snowy & icy

Thursday, December 03, 2009

Smiling Evertonians...at last

Last night was another nightmare in terms of injuries (footy matches played on ploughed fields usually are) but it was absolutely brilliant in terms of character. A one nil win away from home in those circumstance with players dropping like flies can’t be under-estimated.

 

Great performances from Fellaini, Jo, Cahill, Hibbert as well as kids like Duffy, Coleman & Baxter coming in and playing hearts out. Superb stuff....great to be through the group stage with a game to spare. The Benfica games were pretty disappointing but you’ve just got to hold your hands up and acknowledge that they are a top side.

 

Ugh

So the derby ended in a two nil defeat for the blues. Not being churlish but that is the worst Liverpool side I’ve ever seen. So many of their players are just utterly, utterly average. Everton, I thought, played really well but had no luck whatsoever. Pienaar coming back could be key to us if we are to avoid a relegation battle, it was also great to see Cahill pushed further forward. Onwards and hopefully upwards

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Japanese Samurai Subs

Wow how cool is this :

 

Japanese Samurai Subs

 

After 60 years in a watery Hawaiian grave, two World War II-era Japanese attack submarines have been discovered near Pearl Harbor, marine archaeologists announced today.

 

Specifically designed for a stealth attack on the U.S. East Coast--perhaps targeting Washington, D.C., and New York City--the "samurai subs" were fast, far-ranging, and in some cases carried folding-wing aircraft, according to Dik Daso, curator of modern military aircraft at the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum, speaking in the new National Geographic documentary Hunt for the Samurai Subs.

Monday, November 09, 2009

Brilliant blog post about lower league rugby

Saw this over at My Waterloo Rugby, hope it’s the first of many posts :

So why did I fall out of love with the game?  The game started to lose its mojo a few months into our second season in National Division 2 back in 2004.  The sense of adventure of visiting away games ceased to exist, many of these newer club grounds we found ourselves visiting lacked charm, many purely sterile.  These new grounds don’t reflect the warmth of the local community, they reflect a cold ambition to win and succeed to progress, there was no joy or character and so my interest waned.  Give me a Wharfedale over Doncaster any day; these are places where the true spirit of rugby lies, not in the concrete slabs of the new Coventry ground; you walk into places like Rosslyn Park and you feel the heritage and esprit de corps come up and shake you warmly by the hand.  In Nottingham three years ago, my love of rugby hit rock bottom; there we were, 300 of us, in a football stadium on a Sunday afternoon, the moon had a better atmosphere that day.  I’m sure any first time visitor to the game that day will have ensured it was also their last; no bar, no banter and they had one of those wretched over sized cartoon mascots; not a parrot or a squid or something vaguely amusing for the kids but some bloke adorned as an eight foot mobile phone.  And then at half-time the Nottingham people entertained us with cheerleaders….

People know I have an abundant hatred of the use of cheerleaders in this country, if you go to a grid-iron game in the States you’ll see buxom blondes being thrown in the air and performing multiple silhouettes before being caught by their peers (note to self – can we learn any techniques from the Dallas Cowboy cheerleading coaches? Look up ‘awesome cheerleading stunts’ on “YouTube”- get that girl in our line-outs) but here we have to make do with 14 year olds in the middle of winter waving a couple of pom-poms; it isn’t attractive, it isn’t rousing, in fact I find it very creepy….     

….And that was the end of the love affair. Since then the numbers of games I attended could be counted on one hand.

 

Saturday, November 07, 2009

Wow

How did that happen? Hayes beat Valuev!!! Bonkers. Utterly amazing sporting moment. Outstanding.

Friday, November 06, 2009

Eusebio on Goodison Park "Best stadium in my playing life"

Last night was pretty depressing but loved this quote from Eusebio

 

Eusebio on Goodison Park: "Sorry, I don't speak good English. But today for me, for my family, it's a good day, for Benfica to play here. This stadium for me is the best stadium in my playing life."

 

Everton were swept aside in the second half, Benfica looked spot on whilst we looked clueless and frantic. A game crying out for Phil Neville it has to be said. The next two games now have a fair bit of pressure on them but BATA and AEK drawing helps.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Everton's treatment room xi

Everton are depressingly beatable at the moment but ultimately it's not surprising when our treatment room xi is, apart from needing a keeper, looking fantastic. Look at the team we had missing for the weekend against Bolton

Everton Treatment Room XI - 26/10/09

Hibbert - Yobo - Jagielka - Baines

Pienaar - Arteta - Neville - Bilyaletdinov

Yakubu - Vaughan

with Anichebe and Osmanalso fighting for a place too

sporting depression

Some pleasant viewing to take away the blues (and scarlets and a myrtles)

Friday, October 23, 2009

Fame at last

Last weekend I phone the Danny Baker Show in order to try and save Goodison and Blundellsands (home of Everton FC and Waterloo RUFC respectively) from his totalitarian demolition crews....I was less than successfull but Hey, it was early on a Saturday morning, I didn't do too bad.

Listen here : Danny Baker Show Podcast

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Evertonians don't forget their own

Just a very quick notes, a mate of mine is off to Lisbon tomorrow with T-shirt highlighting the continuing hopes we all have for the safe return of Madelaine McCann.

We also have issued a special purple 3rd kit in memorial for little Rhys Jones (and as a fund raiser for the city-wide Liverpool Unites charity).

Footy fans are sometimes viewed as neanderthals but things like this remind us that we do not forget our own.

Who were the first Liverpool FC players to play for England?

Interesting trivia question there “Who were the first Liverpool FC players to play for England?”. It is of course a trick question because 4 players of Liverpool Football Club (as in Rugby Football) took part in the very first rugby international in 1871.

 

Step forward J. H. Clayton, A. Lyon, E. Tobin & E. Kewley. Liverpool Football Club players representing their country a full  7 years before Everton were formed and 13 years before Everton’s offspring stole your club’s name.

 

Almost as good is the one “Name three Russians to play for Everton”...the answer, of course, being “Bilyaletdinov, Kanchelskis and Gethathibbertoff” or “Name three Israelis to play for Liverpool....Cohen, Rosenthal and Judas Barmby”.

Same clubs, different rules - Richmond take on Barnes (again)

National League Division 2 South Fixtures

 

Would dearly love to go to a Richmond V Barnes fixture :

 

Saturday, 07 November 2009

Barking v Westcombe Park, 15:00

Bridgwater & Albion v Rosslyn Park, 15:00

Canterbury v Southend, 15:00

Dings Crusaders v Worthing, 15:00

Ealing v Henley, 15:00

Lydney v Clifton, 15:00

Richmond v Barnes, 15:00

 

Why? Because Barnes and Richmond played the first ever game of association football. I’ve been to Richmond RUFC’s lovely homely ground...it was the same day I went to Twickenham and if I was brutally honest I wish I’d plumped for spending the full afternoon at Richmond. Lovely club, very similar to Waterloo.......just a hell of a lot posher. ;)

 

Friday, October 09, 2009

Where do Premier League players come from

Superb little gadget from the BBC showing all the current Premiership squads and where they are from :

 

Where do your Premier League team’s players come from?

 

Nice little cluster of home grown players for Everton as well as our foreign leagion.