hahahahaha… liverpool top 4. Best laugh i’ve had in ages.

What premier league have you been watching? They finished 8th last year and not only have they finished outside the top 4 the last 3 years as you pointed out, they have not finished higher than 6th. No pundit would have them doing any better than that this time around and weekends game gave no hint that they have spent wisely.

Just blind fanship skewing any type of objective analysis.

Guess that’s what new seasons are all about. The chance for fans to revel in their delusion, but thought that was more for the blue side of the page.

Genius Kris. Still laughing at ‘soccer’ and Milz, but mainly ‘soccer’.

Gutted i’ll be missing the lazy eye & the one more question combo. Hope the night goes well but alas, it is too long a long trip from Sweden, even for free booze & I get the chance to hear the incoherent ramblings of Johnno in person.

Personally I think it’s a great chance for Roarers to solve the mystery of Brett McKay. Or more accurately, does he look like the wise, warm, thoughtful, clooney-greying, slick journo his picture at the top of his articles show him to be, or the crazy eyed, recently incarcerated, never-to-get-a-baby-sitting-gig nutter that his comments picture suggests? I imagine those at the event might see both, as one is Brett pre-8 schooners, and the other post. It is my favourite roar writers mystery though and hope someone shines some light on this at some point.

Ava goodin.

Think Cam really had his wires crossed or is some kind of injury predicting soothsayer. Rubio is the only one out for spain at this point. Marc Gasol & Fernandez both started against China today & Navarro also played significant minutes. If they had Rubio fit, I could really see an upset Gold, especially after watching the US play against France with very little cohesion. Should be a fun tournament. Boomers will need a miracle though with one loss already & some really tough games ahead.

Gravy-train. Good one Rabbs. All aboard Leisel.

By the way, this is the dumbest article I have ever read on the roar and that is saying something. Tell us more about how you bulked up for your club rugby nick. Please do. Bell end.

So to summarise, you wanted the Blues to lose just for Parra would dodge the Ricky S bullet, and you got shafted on both fronts. It’s lotto ticket time AD. Nice piece. Particularly liked the wailing and wonder why that verb is exclusivly reserved for deaths and sentencings. I’m going to try to bring it back into everyday speak.

Cheers K & Choad! The ‘sport sux’ gang are generally so busy discussing the defining characteristics of cubism, they don’t even realise they are looking at a self portrait of Glen Lazarous’ head. I only join that crowd when the booze is free or I feel like I haven’t worn my scarf in too long, which is never.

An interesting perspective and an important balance for the zillion articles that go the other way. Olympic refugees – who’d have thunk? I remember Atlanta’s solution to their homeless problem was to pack them all on buses a few weeks before the Olympics began, and drop them in the next state knowing they wouldn’t have enough fold to get ‘home’. Humanity obviously not so high on their olympic agenda.

I did hear an English woman on the news saying how the Olympics is so great because it means we don’t have to listen to miserable news for 2 weeks… this lady clearly didn’t bank on K-man going into bat for the downtrodden. Cheers for the wake up call.

You are kidding yourself Mitchell. You can throw out all the examples you want, but Arsenal were so ridiculously reliant on RVP last year it was laughable. Everytime he went down an eerie silence would cloud the Emirates as everyone was worried he would get injured which is generally par for the course and their season would disintegrate.

They have signed Podolski & Giroud who were pciked up to supplement RVP, not replace him and get Jack back from injury so they will no doubt field a pretty strong side (Sczcesny-Gibbs-Vermaelen-Mertesacker-Sagna-Song-Arteta-OxladeChamb-Wilshere-Wallcott(?)-Giroud) & be capable of a top 4 finish. But will they push for the title? Not a chance. That is the very reason RVP is out the door. If Theo follows it will be a disaster.

The fans are staved for silverware and have finished top4 every year since Wenger took charge (except for the first). But they clearly want more than that – they want to start the season with title aspirations. The 20 mill they’ll get for RVP is worth that in hope alone.

Thanks Bondy. I love how many people at Arsenal, most of all the manager, fully believed RVP was going to resign. When he gave the whole “I want to focus on the football so we’ll discuss it in the summer… when the euros are on with my team as one of the favourites… then after that i’m on holiday for a few weeks…” Sure sounded like a man that was not at all wanting to commit and was winding the clock down on his current deal to increase his chance of a move.

I always thought that’s the main reason he landed the job. The Arsene in Arsenal and all that. It was written in the skies… or at least on the paper. Yeah he is a bit set in his ways tactically. Hence the 8-2 drumming. No need to go into damage control there Le Profs.

Sorry, you mean the esteemed Francis Jeffers – best striker to ever pull on a Jets jersey? I think i’ve made my case… no wait, you’ve made yours.

3.5mill for Viera was quite possibly the best deal he made although you could argue Henry was a steal. I was living in england the day he signed Henry from Juve and it was the same day Chelsea bought chris sutton for £10 mill (think henry was only 9 initially which raised to 11 when he became, you know, like the best striker the epl has ever seen) because Vialli & Ken Bates were copping so much grief for having no english players. It would have been amazing if they had not listened to the public & signed Henry instead which would have meant Zola/Henry up front… a man can dream. Still, fo all Wenger’s foresight in signing viera on the cheap, he has tried to replace him for similar money. Has not even gone close. Diaby, Denilson & Song have all been horrendously inconsistent although song had a pretty solid season last year. Time to shell out on a real defensive midfielder me thinks. Should have paid the 5 mill for Parker, that’s for shizz.

cheers k-man, appreciate that.

Great point with the Juve duo and congratulations to them. One must wonder how much better it feels to win with a club where you have built something together and win for supporters who have cheered you on through think and thin. I love players that choose a club and stick with them the majority of their career. Like Nasri this year winning the premier league with city – sure he said “it is a dream come true blah blah blah” but really, imainge how much better it would have felt had he stayed at arsenal with the same group of guys, got better and won the league in 5 years. Far more fufilling i’d say. Still, he tripled his wages so I guess you see the real motivation of his move there.

Some good points here. It is crazy that as it stands, the likes of van persie and arteta are on not much more money than complete myths like diaby and bendtner. Where at united Rooney is waaaaaaay ahead of the pack in wages as his value to the team is that much higher.

I think the reality with the big 6 now, added to performances such as Newcastle’s last year when they were pushing for a top 4 spot right until the tail end of the season, means that there will always be at least 2 ‘big’ clubs that miss out on CL football (3 on auto qualification). It’s going to make those following summers very interesting for the teams that don’t. Although ironically, Spurs have managed to sign 2 very good players this summer after missing qualification, more activity than any of the top 6 save for Chelsea.

Empty seats at the Emirates on a regular basis would be a catastrophic for the club, an although their fans are loyal, they will stay away at those prices if they are not pushing the top teams.

It’s an interesting discussion. Glad to hear that Lebron’s name is not mentioned anywhere as it is clearly the GOAT that is up for debate and not simply Magic vs Jordan. Better to assess LBJ when his time is up but he has potential to get there. They were both very different players and both had strong supporting casts for their successes.

That Dream Time doco you mentioned is gold (intended). It’s on youtube in full and is really worth the hour & change. If the debate boiled down to those USA practice scrimmages, then it would appear that Jordan has Magic well and truly covered. It was also appear that John Stockton probably sat next to me on a plane once and I didn’t even notice.

A statistical comparison is always a good starting point, but if that is the crux of any argument then Oscar Robinson’s first 7 seasons stand alone. Had he had an affinity for baseball or caught a horrible illness then his career stats would have stood alone at the top of the heap. But as everyone knows it is more than stats and best ever is always tough to call. So many great players… I’m going with Vinnie Johnson. The Microwave – best ever.

You could always get Candy in there at the 9, as apparently, she doesn’t really love me.

There has been a lot of talk, but as is Sticky’s love for hard running back rowers, maybe Carney/Bird is a best bet. Mullen just far to inconsistent although he has attacked the line in recent weeks. No coaxing Joey back?

We do have to laugh at this “at least it was close” attitude that teachers spout when their school side loses by less than 20. Looking forward to next year’s series but certainly not looking forward to the exhausting hype that surrounds it.

So, Moody’s as well as 10% of some ridiculous prize money, Peter Moody’s git New on tap as it’s a safe bet Black Cav would be pi$$ing like a racehorse. Hadn’t really considered the inappropriate sponsorship of VB, I think NSW would put XXXX on their shirts if the price was right,

Good read AD, I felt your pain. However I take exception to your assessment of 2001. If Jana Novotna played social league and was an inferior backrower, then your point stands but I hope that wasn’t a suggestion of choking. See in reality, The Brothers Hindmarsh and Off the Wagon were just given a complete masterclass in the actual responsibilities of hardrunning back rowers by Simo, BK & Billy Peed-again. Joey (despite winning the CC medal) was relatively quiet and it was all won from 11-13. There was no choke, it was just being completely outplayed by the opposition and more Novocastrian than Novotna for mine. Well that, and the obvious fact that Brian Smith couldn’t get his players up for a big match if he had a pocket full of viagra & your friend Jenna as assistant coach.

As for Hayne, it must truly irk every Parra supporter that Hayne has been named an ‘origin specialist’ after being able to play much better for the blues than the eels. Personally, iäd just say that makes him lazy and unprofessional, nothing ‘specialist’ about that.

I wonder if Ricky has rung him yet. Might be able to talk him into a blue jersey for next season.

It was a half of two halves alright. Great comeback by the knight. I didn’t think they had it in them as they looked very lethargic coming off the bye. Hope they keep steamrolling the 2nd stanza. Knights getting plenty out of the old dogs. Timana, big willy & bedsy been in everything. And Darius… i’m finally believing the hype.

hahaha classic. The Chinese offer only the tallest of government approved women to Yao Ming, so this isn’t as far fetched as you think.

I was always kind of hoping that Hewitt & Aussie Kim stayed together to see the forehand on their spawn. It might have had some classic future battles with the Graf/Agassi hybrid, but alas, all we get is another soap actress screaming ‘C’mon’ between takes.

Bugger me. Great article Nick. Not exactly the two flashing lights of big city markets here, but you break it down well & obviously know your hoops. This belongs on ESPN.

Nobody has considered the implications of the next generation of sporting starts (or lack there of). I think if Darwin had anything to say on this, he would suggest we’d be watching some pretty sloppy, boring league in a few generations time once Ben’s ‘no skirt for you’ bill gets passed.

I think cricket (or baseball for that matter) is a sport that is just custom built for sledging. It’s relatively quiet, there are loads of blokes standing round, occasionally half cut, doing very little except thinking how they can rag on the man at the crease. Cricket just wouldn’t be the same without the wonderous element of the heckle.

Criminal offences a no go zone?? Surely when you’re staring down Michael Vick before the snap, there’s got to be some room a canine references or three. Speaking of man’s best friend, you didn’t specify which side of the fence beastiality sits on. Best to ask Joel direct if it is fair game or not.

Too funny, great piece.

“and you feel the evening just won’t be complete without a bit of boy-on-girl violence.” I can almost hear that getting read to the jury some day Benny, with you being dragged away screaming “I was being facetious I tells ya….FACETIOUS!!!”

If you added the likes of Belgium, Scotland, Wales, Serbia, Turkey, Switzerland, Slovakia & Austria to the current tournament the quality would not suffer too badly as they are all pretty decent sides. But I agree the beauty of this format is that the action, big match ups that come thick and fast and it’s great having these strong groups where one top team is sure not to advance.

But I thinks it’s futile to argue for no expansion on the back of economic and environmental sustainability grounds. It is going to make UEFA tonnes more money which is why they are doing it, and the sustainability impact is far less moving teams around Europe than say, the World Cup or even the Asian Cup. Just look at the Qatar WC where they are building stadiums from scratch , all with the A/C pumping full blast. The footballing powers that be have made it very clear that the last thing on their agenda is the impact on the environment in any of their tournaments

Nice article. This is a pretty amusing spin on the whole thing. Those two gun wielding intellectuals I mean
http://therestijustsquandered.com/2012/06/11/youre-looking-at-the-wrong-photo/