In order to take a little heat off of the RBP, I decided to start this little thread. Here is where you can celebrate a win, mourn over a loss, or just make predictions on an upcoming critical game. I'll get it started:

:banana: The Badgers football team gets to keep Bunyan's axe in a (literally) last-minute win over Minnesota. And the Badger (women's) VB match I saw last night was a blowout. They kicked Indiana's a$$ all over the court. [30-14, 30-25, 30-12]

Ajax Amsterdam just tied against Heracles Almelo with a 0-0 score, once more proving that Ajax has a serious problem with their offensive capabilities.

Which makes me quite happy actually. :grin:

On a sidenote...PSV seems to be on top of things again, they just wasted AZ with 3-0, i didn't expect that to happen. I don't care much for PSV either, but it's a real shame they cannot field Aruna Kone in the CL, that guy is as strong as a bull.

I always wondered what barefoot kickers/punters do with their bare foot during bad weather games (rain, snow, etc). Do they keep a shoe on until they are needed on the field, or do they hang out on the benches and force their foot to tough it out? :hmm:

Damn Card's better be on their game tonight.

@ Pac man

For what team are you actually rooting....Feyenoord?

Yes, sorry about that. :grin:

I used to go to every match, home and away, but i stopped going to the stadiums a few years ago. The combination of violence and insane ticketprices made me decide it's better to watch football on tv. I also used to go to FC Den Bosch, i grew up in that town and whitnessed their most succesfull years in the Eredivisie, including the lost Cupfinale against Feyenoord. I also visited some FC Utrecht matches in the past, mainly because of the good atmosphere in Galgenwaard, but i don't feel connected with that club. My brother is though, but he was born here, so i guess that's only natural.

Damn, AC Milan didn't win yesterday. Too bad, because they deserved it.

Also, Filippo Inzaghi seems to be back in his old tracks. He played really well yesterday, and if he continues like that, he might very well suit well in the World Cup. He is not, from what I've seen from previous competitions, strucken by the Italian Lazyfoot that have kicked them out from WC02 and EC04.

I call it justice, they didn't deserve to beat PSV in last year's CL, and now PSV steals a point back from them.

Sure, they were the better side, but PSV was injury riddled, and were playing without their entire frontline, of which two players aren't allowed to play in the CL because they were contracted after the transfer deadline. If Milan would have to face PSV at full strength it would be a completely different story, trust me on this.

And another reason why i'm glad they didn't win, is that immensely annoying attitude of the Italian players, always whining, begging the ref to give their opponents a yellow card, using their hands and elbows to hurt opponents, bah !!!

Italians as a people are nice, but Italian footballplayers are the lowest lifeform imaginable, simply disgusting.

How awesome are Chelsea?

They're the best that money can buy. :shake:

How on earth do you cheer for your team if it's name is Dnjepr Dnjepropetrovsk ? I would probably swallow my tongue every time i'd attempt to root for them. :D

How on earth do you cheer for your team if it's name is Dnjepr Dnjepropetrovsk ? I would probably swallow my tongue every time i'd attempt to root for them. This may explain their relative obscurity. ;)

How awesome are Chelsea? I wish Ajax had a sweet sugar daddy....*sigh*....maybe not :p

I have much more respect for Ajax than for Chelsea. Ajax fields young talented players from their own youthplan. Over the years numerous of those young talents have become worlwide respected stars who played for the best teams in Europe. How many young talents out of their own pool are playing for Chelsea ? It's not very hard to field a strong team when you have the Russian mob as a sponsor, trying to compete with Europe's finest with 17 and 18 year old talents is.

Pac man, I agree, mostly, but yesterday, Milan played pretty well sportsmanwise. And it's not an Italian symptom, it's something all stars, be they German, Spanish, Portogese, Italian, English, or Dutch, suffers from.

I can't believe that the Falcons had such a rough time against the Saints. It should've been a walk. Tomlinson is a god, he made the Raiders look like old me.

My Oilers have now lost 5 in row. It sucks, but on the flipside, my Canucks have won 3 straight and should be able to beat Phoenix tonight.

Pac man, I agree, mostly, but yesterday, Milan played pretty well sportsmanwise. And it's not an Italian symptom, it's something all stars, be they German, Spanish, Portogese, Italian, English, or Dutch, suffers from.Not so, the Dutch don't beg the ref to give an opponent a yellow card. I don't know why, but that's simply not done overhere. We are disgusted with such behaviour, the fans don't appreciate it either. Newly contracted players from South America or the southern parts of Europe are being told on their first day that taking a dive for a penalty, and asking the ref for a yellow card is not being tolerated, not even by his own teammates. But there's always exceptions to the rule, Robben for instance has the nasty habit of taking a dive every now and then, that's one of the reasons he has critics overhere.

AIK is back in allsvenskan (AIK went down from the top division to the second best, but came back in one season (this season))

Ach, the Irish got smashed by the Aussies in the International Rules football... time to give my would-be-dad-in-law a call to rub this in... :evil:

Did anyone see Pires's penalty for Arsenal today? :lol: What happened there??

Packers making a great showing at Minnesota today, 14-0 and still not half-time yet. Hmm, challenge on the last touchdown, but with a second look there's really no question about it.
EDIT: Yep, upheld. 14-0 Packers. :banana:

EDIT2: Damn, the Vikings got a really good kick return, so they'll probably get at least three off of this possession. :(
EDIT3: They fumbled on the first play and the Packers got it back! :banana: Holy maeven, this is going to be a good game. :D

Damn that Farfan, he took a serious dive againt Ajax today and had the nerve to say he was hit by the ajax player. Game ended in 1-0 because of that undeserved penalty.

Maybe electronic assistance in game should be an option in the future.

I've been saying that for years, this was clearly not a penalty, i can't believe the linesman fell for that trick, he needs to get his ass over to Specsavers. :D

Feyenoord lost as well, damn. Second away loss in a row, looks like the whole thing is falling apart again. :rolleyes:

Big news last night was a Habs player got a tooth knocked out. :nuts: *This* is your big sports news?!

Celtic are 2nd :grin: Not far to go now. We need Martin O'Neill :o

David Beckham (Real Madrid) got a yellow card for argue, so after the card, Beck turned around applauding, so the referee gave him the second yellow card sending him off...
Leo Mesi (Barcelona) got a clear foul (a kick on his ankle) but the referee gave Leo a yellow card for feign.
The Appealing Council took away the yellow from Beck but not from Leo (even thought there is video revision to support their decision and in the video you see that is clearly a foul), saying that Becks was protestiong 'all the way' so the referee already gave him the yellow card so the applause as is in the same 'protesting' (the reason for the first yellow card) doesn't worth another yellow.
As for Mesi, they say that referees make mistakes like everybody...
That was 5 days ago, even with Beck, Real Madrid lost the game, in Barcelona's game, Ronaldinho went down just like Mesi, BUT, the replay shows that Roni just feigned the foul, and he got the penalty kick, and they won the game because of that...

Justice... justice...

Spanish refs come with a manual, didn't you know ?

Bah, the NZ cricket team just lost their second game in a row to South Africa. Butchered what should have been an easy run chase of 202.

Again a Goalless tie for Ajax Amsterdam. It's not that they play bad that damn ball just doesn't want to enter between those damn posts.

Ooh, the Kiwis score again. 28 - 20 with about 20 minutes to go over Great Britain. It could be a thriller.

Fleming well unlucky to get out there. He was in good touch as well.
This is intriguing. NZ vs SA, two pretty even sides.

Woah, massive shot by AB De Villiers. Straight out of the ground.

[ October 30, 2005, 13:39: Message edited by: Barmy Army ]

Well, my beloved Eagles got their sorry asses handed to them today by the Broncos. Oh, how the mighty have fallen...

Personally, I blaim this season on you, whomever is reading this. Fix my Eagles you bastard!

What's there to fix ? Philadelphia is a city of choke artists, might as well accept it. The Phillies, the Eagles, the Sixers, all have been close to greatness over the past few years, but they all choked when it mattered. :grin:

I'm not going to fix your Eagles I'm a Giants fan and we stomped the 'skins sunday :grin:

Only 100 days left to Winter Olimpic Games in Turin :D

Good performance from PSV tonight, they've taken 4 points away from Milan now.

Red Sox lost Theo Epstein... backstabber.

For those who don't know him, he is the Red Sox General Manager, and he was the youngest Red Sox GM ever, one of the youngest in the game.

Its a shame we lost him. We should really get rid of Terry Francona, because he sucks. We shouldn't rely on our bats only. We should try and play small ball... Johnny Damon can steal 30+ bases a year, so let him! Our players can bunt, so make them! Don't rely on David Ortiz to hit a homerun everytime he is up at bat. Manufacture runs, you lazy, lazy explitive.

Juventus won with Bayern 2:1 :D
Such cool football day it was :p

2 Dutch clubs on the verge of entering the knock out phase, that's been a while ago I reckon.

BTW, did you see Barcelone play yesterday, Wow, Stunning football in that match. Trio of Eto'o, Ronaldinho and Messi is just gold.

Of course I've seen this one. 5:0 :D !

The best part of the football day yesterday was
Lille 1 Man Utd 0 :lol:

And to make it even better for them Arsenal qualified rotflmao

:lol:

Every time I see Fergie nowadays, it looks as though his head's gonna explode... :shake:

Personally, I'd like to see Kean-o manager, just for the look of fear on Rio Ferdinand's face! Not that that'd help, though; Man U's midfield is terrible, and w/o Heinze and G. Neville their defence is decidedly shaky. What happened to O'Shea, for heaven's sake? A couple of years ago, everyone was saying what a player he'd turn out to be, now he seems to have gone backwards. Bizarre.

Well, hopefully Wigan and Spurs can continue to push Chelsea ( :lol: :shake: ), otherwise it's going to be an awfully short season as far as the Premiership title is concerned...

I thought the match between Werder Bremen and Udinese was pretty spectacular too. Going into halftime with a comfortable 3-0 lead didn't give Werder much confidence, the Italians managed to score three goals within seven minutes. Werder still managed to pull out a 4-3 victory, but at some point they must have felt pretty helpless. :D

Big weekend of sport this weekend. Friday night - NZ v SA Game 4, Saturday night - All Blacks vs Five Nations Champions Wales, Sunday night - NZ v SA Game 5.

Man, I am going to get no sleep this weekend. Why do my two favourite teams have to be touring the other side of the world at the same time?

Lakers win against the Denver Nuggets in overtime, Kobe Bryant hit the game winning shot! But then they lost against the Suns... Kwame Brown have to step up.

Badger VB team won tonight, 3 games to 2, and the scoring was all over the place. Every game was close, and I'm gonna have an enormous headache in the morning from all that yelling, but for now I'm holding it off with a celebratory :beer: . Cheers!

The testosterone in this thread is getting to me. Why are football (soccer) players so cute? :hmm:

All Blacks 13 - 3 over Wales at half time. Go the ABs!

You expected different? It's Wales against the All Blacks mate. The AB's are the best team in the world by a mile right now. I expect a 30+ point margin come the end of the game.

Another dangerous spear tackle from the AB's....

[ November 05, 2005, 18:29: Message edited by: Barmy Army ]

41 -3 for the All Blacks over the Six Nations champions. The Grand Slam dream is still alive. Shame that Wales were missing some of their better players.

NZ are 1-2 on to win the Tri-Nations, that seems like a good bet even at those odds...

Next year's Tri-Nations? I can't believe the odds are out for that already.

Australia VS Great Britain now, let's see if we can do better here after we got pretty much outplayed last week.
All this different rugby stuff confuses me something chronic!!!

Next year's Tri-Nations? I can't believe the odds are out for that already. No this years, the one that's happening now. NZ are top of the table at minute... why next years??

[ November 05, 2005, 19:37: Message edited by: Barmy Army ]

Ah right. I thought we were still talking about the All Blacks. Australia will win the Rugby League tri-nations so any money bet on anyone else is a mug's bet. That's why Rugby League will never be as interesting as Rugby Union because there is no genuine international competition. The Rugby League World Cup is a complete joke because there is only one team with any chance of winning and only 3-4 who are any use at all. When Great Britain have to split back into the home nations they become rubbish.

Impressive. The Leafs managed to beat Tampa, the defending Stanley Cup champs.

If only they had signed better players, they'd be doing much better.

Oh well. Go Leafs!

Looks like the Packers are well on their way to throwing yet another game; I just hope the high draft pick is worth it. :rolleyes:

Watched a bit of soccer today on the French sports channel, guys in dark blue shirts versus guys in green shirts (I can't figure out the names! :lol: ). Must be my inability to understand most of the language (especially when spoken so fast) that makes it easier to pay attention to the game.

Ahh, Patriots lost to the Colts.... I hate the Colts! No me gusta Peyton Manning! Grr....

Won the 6th ODI against SriLanka. 5-1 now.
Sehwag is still an idiot with the bat. Swings it like it were an axe.

Of course, a man with an average of 55+ is an idiot with the bat...!!??

He's one of the worlds best batsmen right now, incredibly aggressive but really talented, the perfect foil for Sachin.

Yes, if Sehwag is an idiot, then we'd quite like to have a team full of idiots, please.

Thats in the tests. He has an average of 31 in ODIs.

In the last year he has been out for less than 30 over half the time. And given that those 30 runs include atleast 4x4, it is very annoying to see him get out.
I mean it would be ok if he were stealing 1s and 2s on a bad day and he got out. But he always starts out hitting 4s and then gets out caught in the slips off an edge. It just makes me :flaming:

:banana: Broadband's at home! :banana:
So now I have sport channels!!
I saw a NHL game!
What a game, Bruins - Flyers, Flyers were loosing 3 to 1 and they tied the game in the last 2 minuts and won it in sudden death.
Waiting to see some NFL - NBA games!
Oh, sweet sports channels. How I missed them.

Rugby: All Blacks 45 - 0 over Ireland at Lansdowne Road so far. What a thrashing.

Only minutes left to Poland vs Equador football match :D I hope will will win and win high :p

Sydax, which sportschannels are you talking about ? Did it come as some sort of package with your cabe modem ?

Despite terrible weather conditions Poland won 3:0 :D !

@Pac man: yes, is part of a pack: DSL+digital television, for instance I have Eurosport and Eurosport2 plus one channel that has NFL, NHL, NBA, etc., and another with football all day long.

Halfway through the first qurater, the Packers were already up 14-0. Surprise, surprise, they squandered it. :shame: Now it's halftime and they're only up 17-14 due to a final field goal under the two-minute warning. Can you smell what the Pack is cooking? Another loss, I bet. :rolleyes:

EDIT:
Hmph. Seems they pulled it off, 33-25. *Ahem* Yay! :banana:

[ November 14, 2005, 02:27: Message edited by: Felinoid ]

Oh man, i gotta get me a package like that too, they hardly ever broadcast any of the American sports here, we only had a few minutes of highlights from the Worldseries for instance, and that's just not good enough for me.

How much does a package like that cost on a monthly basis ? I already have cable, which costs me 50€ per month, but i'm willing to pay extra, whatever it takes to be able to see the MLB, NHL, and NBA again.

Here. (http://www.sorcerers.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?/topic/33/272.html) And here is some information. (http://www.telefonicaonline.com/on/es/imagenio/index.html?v_procede=home&v_hueco=monotema3)
(in Spanish :D but you'll understand the Euros 'numbers')

I know what you mean Pac Man. I would love to see some NFL, baseball or nascar, but they just don't show that stuff here.

But digital television isn't that expensive on a monthly basis. The cheapest package with extra channels should cost about 5 euros a month more than your analog cable television. And the installation and first decoder box are probably free. However, if you want it on multiple television it will cost you, considering you need a nifty little box on every tv. I haven't really looked into the cost of that, but I doubt it will be very cheap.

I used to have Canal+, mainly for the NBA and MLB games, but when i moved to my new appartment, and my rent got doubled, i threw them out first. But i'm starting to miss those fridaynights and sundaynights with basketball, there's a new season underway and i'm missing everything. :(

Eddie Guerrero is dead! :whoa:

Polish female volleyball team lost today with Brazil
:( But they won with Japan yesterday :D
BTW who is Eddie Guerrero :confused:

@Undertaker:
Eddie Guerrero (http://www.sorcerers.net/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/topic/36/33.html)

I'm not a wrestling fan (and no, my nick is not taken from WWF :p ). I never heard about him. But I guess a minute of silence would be best now.

UW volleyball tonight kicked a$$. :banana: 30-27, 30-14, 30-25. If there had been a need for a fourth game, I bet it would have gone like the second, and a fifth game might've been a blow-out. :heh: Michigan's coach either had no idea how to rotate properly, or no players worth rotating.

More a$$-kickage tonight as UW volleyball wiped the floor with Michigan State 30-17 in the first game. They rallied for the second and third games, but we still swept them 30-28 and 32-30. But the most amazing thing is who I saw there:
this guy -> :banana: I am not kidding; there was actually someone in a banana suit dancing around. :lol: And guess what it reminded me of. ;)

I watched some of Chelsea vs. Newcastle yesterday. Too much focus on Chelsea, imo. I barely saw Newcastle players.

Yes, Eddie will be missed. I was never a mark for him, but you have to respect him for what he's been through.

Meanwhile the Leafs are doing better than most people have said they would. They won their fourth straight game, 5-1 over the Atlanta Thrashers, Alexi Ponikarovsky scoring two goals in the second period. I like the idea of a big, skilled playmaker (Jason Allison) between big wingers Ponikarovsky and Nik Antropov. Gives them a big line that won't be intimidated and can contribute offensively...

El Barza (Barcelona) gave a lesson on how to play football to the 'Galacticos' Real Madrid...
Playstation alike goals for Ronaldinho.
Zizu, Becks, Ronaldo, Raul... just pure junk.

Went to my dad's company's box at Gillette Stadium today for the Pats game... great game, 24-17 was the final. I love that place...

David Nalbandian defeated Roger Federer :banana:

What's wrong with Roy Keane? This guy throws more tantrums than my 4-year-old cousin. And the worst of all is that all of his fellow Corkians support him to the death. :rolleyes:

The dude has to be really good at what he does...

Just saw a UFC fight between some kid from the Ultimate Fighter series and some guy that basically took all the shots this guy dished out. I think it lasted a couple minutes before the Ref stopped the fight. I guess if it lasted that long, I may habe exaggerated a bit, but probably not that much...

I just saw some Bushido (http://www.pridefc.com/pride2004/index_e.htm)fights on Eurosport; I was impressed at the way they fight, kind of wrestling and boxing, it was so realistic that I searched around and found that real Bushido (http://www.bushido-online.com/) has nothing to do with the show.

Just wanted to come here, a bit late, and say how much I laughed at how Real Madrid ****ed up, against. I'm not a Barca fan, but as I've said before, as long as Real Madrid loose, I'm set.

Man Utd VS Villareal - It's the Wayne Rooney show so far! Still 0-0 at half time but I can't see it staying that way. Villareal are really toothless going forward with Riquelme. Rooney showing his class again though.

The Leafs lost 5-1 against the Bruins Wednesday night. The call in show after the game had some panicked callers suggesting some of the dumbest moves. The Leafs should not be trading Mats Sundin. I could see Trading Belfour if they thought that Telqvist could carry the load for the team. The one persistent point has been the Defence. After McCabe, Kaberle and Klee, the rest of them aren't winning the fans over, while they have three young guys (on is geing a shot for now, but will likely return to the AHL when Pilar returns). The team is almost at the cap, so to trade for a top 4 defence man will require that they move some salaries to make the room for them. And if the arbitrator rules that the Leafs still have Owen Nolan under contract, then things get really chaotic...

A woman (http://sg.sports.yahoo.com/051122/3/3wqpe.html) crashed a Minardi F1 car after 2 laps.
Looks like conditions weren't too good, but many people underline the news now that Danica Patrick may have a chance to get into the F1. Should girls be allowed to drive F1 cars?

@Rutkowski
When Ronaldinho made the third goal, the entire estadium (Real Madrid's field) gave him an ovation, that just happened once to Maradona when he played with Barça. After the tie with Olympique in Champions League, people started to claim Luxemburgo's resignation.

@Sydax; those crashes happen all the time, in both tests, practises as well as the actual races. it is simpoly absurd to fault the crash on the driver being a woman. "aahould girls be allowed to drive F1 cars" is an absurd, stereotypinfg, and rather offensive question.

@Arabwel: Agree, I should remark that that statement/question is made by local and foreign race commentators in every sport/debate program I watched. Eh, and that's the light version.

Another shootout loss for the Leafs. On the plus side, Mikael Telqvist might have what it takes to be the number 1 man between the pipes...

:flaming: I'm really angry with the umpire in the current India - South Africa ODI. Sehwag rapped over the kneeline when he was off his toes and the ball would have missed legstump anyways. Still he was given LBW. :smash:
Idiot umpire :bang:

Since my last post, the Leafs have an overtime win against Storied rivals the Montreal Canadians, and a 2-1 win over the struggling Florida Panthers. Brian McCabe continues to generate buzz for the Norris trophy (Best Defenceman).

McCabe is a great offensive defenceman but defensively he is merely decent. Of course the Norris trophy IS typically awarded based upon offensive productivity.

The real weak point for arguing that McCabe deserves consideration for the Norris has been his mediocre +- rating, although that is starting to creap upwards. Actually, if they were to include power play goals in the +- ratings than McCabe (and the aggregate Leaf team for that matter) would actually be doing much better on that statistic.

I'm begining to think that Indy might be able to run the table. They crushed the Steelers last night.

You have a point JSBB, The Leafs have one of the top Power plays in the league. And with all the penalties being called, that's good news...

Wasn't the Colts on an impresive streak 2 or 3 years ago and didn't make it to the Super Bowl?

David Di Tommaso (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/4483486.stm) died while he was sleeping at the age of 26. How unfair is that.

Boston traded their captain, 1998 first overall draft pick, Joe Thornton to the San Jose Sharks for a second line forward, a depth forward, a top four defenceman and about 1.5 million in cap room.

Most who call in to talk about it think that the Bruins should drop the "b" from their name. They did beat the Senators 3-0 tonight, so that's some good news for them.

Speaking of shut outs, Mikael Tellqvist got his first carreer shut out against the Thrashers as the Leafs won 4-0.

I really don't see what all the complaints are about. It really seems as if Thornton is past his prime already. Sure, he's still relatively young, but he just hasn't been putting out lately. IMHO, the trade was an absolute steal for Boston, three quality players for one who might someday be as good as he once was.

Saw pathetic VB match tonight. :heh: The Wisconsin Badgers clobbered Loyola: 30-18, 30-26, 30-14. The second game was only so close because the Badgers were screwing around. Example:

Badger serves too low and pegs a teammate on the back of her shoulder. When they get it back, the very next Badger serve pegs a teammate in the back of the head and they grin at each other. (If that wasn't planned, they must have been ridiculously tired, and they didn't have to move nearly enough to tire out our hardy girls.)

That would have had me rolling in the aisles if there'd been room; the place was packed for the playoffs. Tomorrow night we play California to advance, and I may or may not be going, depending on whether dad's date cancels. :grin:

I really don't see what all the complaints are about. It really seems as if Thornton is past his prime already. Sure, he's still relatively young, but he just hasn't been putting out lately. IMHO, the trade was an absolute steal for Boston, three quality players for one who might someday be as good as he once was.He did pretty good against us last night. :nolike:

Maybe he's just realizing that he's not immortal, and that he can be traded, so he has to pull his weight. Or maybe I was totally wrong in my earlier comments. :p

Red Sox traded Hanley Ramirez (great prospect), Annibal Sanchez (great prospect), and a smaller prospect for Josh Beckett ( :eek: ), Guillermo Mota ( :eek: ), and a possibly resurging Mike Lowell.

SWEET! And we did this without a general manager!

Now, to get rid of Manny and Wells, and to resign Johnny will be a much harder task...


BTW, does anyone actually know who the Red Sox are, or am I just babbling to myself?

Dad's date didn't cancel, so I didn't get to see the VB game last night, but they swept California anyway: 30-23, 30-22, 30-25.

The Packers should be done losing soon, dropping them even farther to 2-10, the first loss at home to the Bears since '93. Meanwhile, the Bears stay at the top of the division at 9-3; Bears fans may not think so, but this is really a$$-backwards IMO.

Well the Bills managed to blow a 23-3 4th quater lead and lose 24-23.

:bang: :flaming:

I look at the Thornton trade as a change in direction for the Bruins. They weren't getting the job done this year, so they traded their highest paid player to get three guys that can play and free up 1.5 million in cap room. Look for other struggling teams to off load salaries in such a manner at some point...

Patriots, Patriots, I love the Patriots. 7-5 now, in an awful division, but we're coming back. We held the Jets to 3 points, and Corey Dillon is the man. If we do make the playoffs, expect us to be tough, maybe make it past the first round. The colts won't beat us again... I HATE THE COLTS!!!

The Bruins traded their star Thornton?? Who with? He's a quality player IIRC.

Correct, and their top scorer. But the team at that point had only 2 wins against division rivals, and if that trend continued, they'd be out of playoff contention by early February. I think this trade heralds the start of a rebuilding phase for the Bruins.

:banana: :spin: Brad Gushue may be Olympic bound! Horray for the Newf!

Personally, I saw the Thornton trade as more of a move for Boston to shake up an underperforming team and save a bit of cash. San Jose on the other hand gets a relatively young star player whom they can attempt to build a team around.

I don't think trading away a good young star for two older players and a third player who is only four months younger is how one normally goes about starting a rebuilding effort but I suppose that given the salary cap it is no longer possible to just unload your high cost players for prospects or draft picks.

In some markets, rebuilding can't take too long. you need guys that can play now to make the changes they needed to make...

Were Man U sleeping yesterday. Fergie is so gonna get screwed over in the rags for this :shake:

Sabres win again! :banana:

At least we got one team around here that knows how to win. :rolleyes:

The Toronto Blue Jays have made some aggressive moves, landing AJ Burnett, BJ Ryan, the traded for a decent hitter, and are looking for one more before the start of training camp...

Bah, Australia managed to score even more runs in the 3rd game than they did in the 2nd! 331-7! What a nightmare.

Tendulkar made his 35th test century today. What a player.

I found out why the Packers are called the Packers. Cable tv is so full of knowledge. :book:

This morning: 4 Overs, 2 Runs, 4 Wickets. :bang:
Murlitharan nets another 5 wicket haul. :eek: This was certainly not what I had been expecting after yesterday :borg:

Anil Kumble hit back pretty quickly though.

Just another Sunday...

The football team loses again :almostmad: and the hockey team wins again. :banana:

Packers trying to lose this one with a SAFETY! :toofar:
And now they're trying to to challenge a PENALTY! :rolleyes:

EDIT:
:jawdrop: They won the challenge...I didn't think you could do that. Not only that, but the additional holding call was ruled to be outside the end zone, so the safety is reversed!
/me faints from surprise

EDIT2:
Hmm. What d'ya know, they pulled it off. 16-13 in OT.
.
.
.
Oh yeah. :banana:

[ December 12, 2005, 06:01: Message edited by: Felinoid ]

Name - Centuries/Tests
Sachin Tendulkar - 35/125
Brian Lara - 31/121
Ricky Ponting - 25/97
Matthew Hayden - 24/76
Inzaman-ul-Haq - 24/105

Gavaskar's record stood for 22 years. How long will Sachin stay king :hmm: :heh:

Tendulkar rules. How many would he have he wasn't injured half the time?

Tendulkar might have made this record a year ago if Dravid had not declared when Sachin was at 94, v/s England a couple of years ago iirc.

Sabres win again! :banana:

:eek: The Ottawa Senators absolutely humiliated the Toronto Maple Leafs yet again tonight. I can't say that I am really surprised, the Leafs just don't have what it takes to win against the good teams.

The Senators' top players were flying again tonight while Sundin continues to be barely noticable for the Leafs.

Gushue to the Olympics!

Ottawa is going to be tough to beat. :(

Another weekend goes by and another Bills loss and two more Sabre wins. :rolleyes:

I watched all the UK Snooker Championship (thanks cable tv!) and even I fan of Steve Davis (my surename is Davis ;) ) I wanted Ding win the championship, he really played much better than anybody else the entire chmapionship.
Great win.
The story. (http://sport.guardian.co.uk/snooker/story/0,10158,1670482,00.html)

Nineth straight road win for the Sabres!

One more ties the NHL record! :grin:

BTW the Sabres are one of the three teams that share that record from years ago.
;)

The Leafs snapped out of it tonight with a 9-6 win over the NY Islanders, and Belfour landed his 448th career win (2nd all time now). Stajan got two goals, but they may have lost Jeff O'neil after a knee on knee hit...

NOOOOO! Johnny Damon went to the Yankees!

You traitor! How could you go to our enemy, just because they offered more money? You already have enough money, and you are an icon here! Boston loves you! How dare you betray us! My favorite player, now gone to the team I hate the most... :wail:

:sosad:

:(

Anyone find it amusing that Belfour became 2nd all time in wins after a game where he gave up 6 goals?

I just hope the Leafs keep scoring hardcore for the two games against Boston tomorrow and Friday...

@ Blog - Yeah it is pretty funny, Belfour plays decently and loses by one goal again and again and then gets the milestone win in a game where he plyed poorly. As the t.v. announcers said - he probably won't want to keep the game tapes of that one.

As far as the Bruins go, the Leafs had better get at least 3 points out of this home and home - if they can't capitalize on facing the weaker teams then they are in serious risk of sliding right out of having a playoff position.

They didn't get the job done tonight. There has to be a problem when the only guy to score is the guy that's been in the press box for the last 20 games or so...

This is becoming the NHL thread! :D

How did the Sabres put out such a poor effort with the NHL record on the line!?
:mad:

I guess all things come to an end. But at least the Leafs bounced back...

Yeah the Leafs bounced back and managed to eke out a win but can we really be happy about splitting a couple games against Boston?

They had better start playing a lot better than this unless they want to get an early start on their golf season.

A bounce back win after that one game losing streak! :banana:

Against the defending Cup champs no less! :D

Tampa Bay should be called that shouldn't they even after the strike season correct?
:hmm:

I guess the big surprise for the Leafs has been Darcy Tucker getting his team leading 15th goal last night. That and Brian McCabe putting up Norris trophy like numbers...

Yet another glorious come from behind win! :grin:

OK you Leaf fans...
Our next game is Thursday night in Toronto.

Ready for a whooopping? :smash:

The Winter Games are not far alway :D
Sorry, I couldn't resist :p

You can't beat a good 10th wicket partnership. It was hilarious watching Hussey and McGrath put on 107 against South Africa yesterday. Brilliant stuff (although it wasn't so good when Lee and McGrath did it against NZ last year........)

I'll probably watch so much football this weekend, I'll be bleeding out my eyeballs.

First one dayer against Sri Lanka is tomorrow and Fleming is out because his wife is having a baby. Go the Black Caps!

I'm surprised the Leaf fans here aren't giving me the business yet. :o

The 1st one dayer against Sri Lanka is about to start. Never heard of them playing in Queenstown before but what a great backdrop for a cricket match.

I think Janne Ahonen will be the best ski jumper,again.

Why does Green Bay have to suck so much this year?!?!?

To make things worse, there are 3 other GB Packers fans at my work, and there are 5 *hardcore* Broncos fans too. Needless to say, the football comments never stop. :shake: :rolling:

Become a Patriots fan... and show them all up! REPEAT, REPEAT!


(I'm a Pats fan :D )

Green Bay's not sucking quite so much today. We forced a fumble by Shaun Alexander in the red zone just before halftime to preserve our 13-7 lead. :banana: Roman is much better than Anderson was.

Steelers are whooping on the Lions, too.

EDIT:
Ten points apiece in the second half, so the game ends 23-17, meaning we get away with a 4-12 season. One out of four ain't bad...wait, yes it is! :wail:

[ January 01, 2006, 22:04: Message edited by: Felinoid ]

I think Janne Ahonen will be the best ski jumper,again. I'm not so sure about that. Jakub Janda seems to be doing fairly well right now, Ahonen might be leading the Four Hills right now but Janda has been in a very good form and I have a feeling that he'll take it in the end.

Maybe the fight for lead will be between them?
Oh Adam Malysz will not participate more in Four Hills. How sad :(

How are they called? cheesheads? Hehe, I love Packers, but I think Favre have to leave his place to young blood, maybe have to make Something about Mary 2?
How is that nobody cares about Colts?
Patriots seem to get better...
Well, have to wait how this week went, sunday night game will be on at 12 today, monday night will be on wednesday, so it takes almost a week to me to know how the games went :D
By the way, no more Madden? no more Al Michael? Man, they can't do that! Who will be now? Chris Bergman (sp?) he-is-go-ne-all-the-way! or is it backbackback... no, that's baseball...

I hate Madden. He has no idea what he is talking about. He says "They're gonna run it with Corey Dillon right here." They pass it, and he just yells "Boom!" I don't like him at all...

Who's Madden? Isn't he some guy out of a computer game?

Meanwhile the Black Caps won their third one day game in a row. Good to see some new players like Jamie How and Peter Fulton doing well.

John Madden (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/madden/story?page=bio)
This guy puts his name for the NFL (http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/08/17/DDG5H87UJS1.DTL&type=printable) Electronics Arts games and I guess you can hear him in those games too.
He hosted with Al Michaels Monday Night Football (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monday_Night_Football) games, but last monday was the last show.
Personally, I like Chris Berman.

I watched a game, Leafs vs Penguins; the game was tied and in the final minutes Toronto played 3 on 5, but Telqvist and the Penguins lack of offensive managed to finish the game tied; Toronto won the game on sudden death, great game, but I know I can't watch games live, so I want to know when was this game, I only know that there are 2 or 3 days delay before I can see a game...

we are...

PENN STATE!

Are you? Good for you, then, Rallymama.

Another nice wins breaks a one game losing streak.
:banana:

I'm surprised the Leaf fans here aren't giving me the business yet.Sorry, I've been away for a while. My computer has been down. The Leafs have a nice 6 game winning streak going, while the Habs are in a tailspin. Life is good.

But more important, Canada's world Junior team won gold. They were not even expected to win a medal, but they stole the show. Life is good.

Even better is the fact that the top two goalies in the tournament, Canada's Justin Pogge and Finland's Tuukka Rask are both prospects of the Toronto Maple Leafs! Almost good enough to overcome my withdrawl symptoms from no computer...

10 - 1 is a sweet way to win a hockey game!
:D

DAMNIT! The Patriots lost! Its Brady's first postseason loss (he was 10-0 before this), and now we can't repeat, and go 4 of 5, or 3 in a row...

Yeah, and Indy lost too.
I was looking forward to a NE vs Indy rematch.

Looks like Carolina is handing the Bears their heads now too.
Big week for upsets! :eek:

Heh, but I hate Indy, so I'm happy. Although, I hate the Steelers too. But playing Indy would be more fun to watch, albeit more nervewracking as well. Eh, next year for the Pats. We'll have all our guys back, a full roster, no injuries, so we won't go win-lose for our first 8 games. And with Bethel Johnson, Rodney Harrison, Kazcur, and many other defensive starters back, we won't be depleted for the entire season. Next year, Pats will be back again!

Why would anyone like the Patty Cakes?

GO STEELERS!!

I'm rooting for the Steelers too (their fans are almost cheesehead-like in their devotion ;) ), but either way I want an AFC victory in the Super Bowl. Whether it's Broncos or Steelers (preferably Steelers), neither the Seahawks nor the Panthers should get this one over either AFC team.

...Oh yeah. GO STEELERS!

Boo!

Why do I hate the steelers?


...
Actually, I don't remember right now, but I do. I find them despicable, for some reason that my brain can't comprehend at 130 in the morning. Grr...

But, I think I'll root for the Seahawks, my cousins live out in Seattle.

:lol:
What is it with the Colts?
Run out gas at post season?

I like Steelers and Broncos, so... :hmm:

Go Steelers! :banana:

Wow, I must say that those Toronto Maple Leafs keep finding new ways to impress me. :rolleyes:

Two games in a row now they have led the opposition going into the second period before letting in four unanswered goals. :eek:

How pathetic.

Yay...the Denver Broncos got their butts kicked by the Stealers! :banana:

Not that I'm a Stealer's fan...I just hate the Broncos, and I'm glad they won't be going to the Superbowl this year! Now if my team could get better... :rolling:

And the birds took over the 'felinoids' :D

So who will win the Super Bowl?

Go Steelers!

Go Steelers?! Pah, Seahawks all the way!


Actually, I don't even care, because I don't like either team (although, I hate the Steelers), and I have too much homework to actually watch it. Pats next year, guaranteed.

/me knocks on wood

/me sings
Toooooooomorrow!
Tomorrow!
Super Bowl
tomorrow.
It's onlyyyy a
dayyy aaaawaaaay.

Tooooomorrow!
Tomorrow!
It's coming
tomorrow.
It's onlyyyy a
daaaaaaaaayyyy
aaaaaaaaaaaa
waaaaaaaaayyyy!!!
:banana:

Why is the Super Bowl in February now? :confused:

21-10 Steelers. Woo-hoo! :banana:
The Seahawks just screwed themselves over in so many ways, you gotta wonder what Holmgren and Hasslebeck were smoking before the game. This was an undeniably great game, with momentum swinging back and forth, surprises at every corner. And to top it off, this could be an incredible end to Jerome Bettis's carrer.

Next year, hopefully the Packers can do the same for Favre. GO PACKERS!

4 days till Olimpic Games :D

Ice Hockey :D

Cricket :D

They play cricket at the winter olympics HB? How did I miss that :grin:

Where's my dang Olympic coverage?!? :flaming: I'm stuck watching everything on the French channel again! At least I can totally tune out the commentators. :p

Woah! Australia were 10-3 in the 2nd final vs Sri Lanka and ended up getting 368! Unreal! Symonds and Ponting went nuts. Looks like we'll be going to game 3. No way on this planet can Sri Lanka score 369.

Murali went for 99 from 10 overs :o .

I have no time to watch the Olimpic Games :(

After two days, Norway has 7 medals. Russia, USA, Netherlands and Italy are the runners up with 3... :D

Apollo is out of the short speed skating :( He hit his hand on someone elses skate, hit a block, and fell from second (which would have qualified for the finals) to fifth. Someone got disqualified, but he still only got 4th. He is definately one of the best, he just had a little bit of bad luck.

And the frenchman winning men's downhill, wow! He was great! He won by .74 seconds, the largest victory since 1964!

Women's hockey round robins, what a joke. At least for the teams up against Canada.

Canada 16 Italy 0
Canada 12 Russia 0

Even though I am Canadian, I was disappointed by the lack of competition. I have to admit, it was getting to the stage where I was hoping that Italy or Russia would get a goal.

Yeah, women's hockey is pretty much a two country event. It was kind of sad how badly outclassed the Russian's were. The Canadians seemed to be able to steal the puck away from the Russians at will and proceeded to pass and skate circles around the Russians. Italy doing that poorly was a given - this is a textbook case as to why the host country automatically getting a team is kind of dumb.

I have heard suggestions that they should have just had Canada play the U.S. for the Gold/Silver and let everone else play a seperate set of games for the bronze. I have heard that Italy's goal against Canada was to lose by less than 20 goals so I guess they can say that they achieved what they set out to do.

What I find amusing is everyone complaining that the Canadian women's team scored too many goals and that this was unsportsmanlike. Maybe these people would be happy if Canada had sent out only three skaters for the second and third periods.

I would say that would be even more insulting but I guess that is just me. Given that home ice advantage for the gold medal game against the U.S. will be decided by which team has scored the most goals I am quite happy with Canada driving the score up.

Edit: Well, Sweden just took down Italy 11-0. It will be interesting to see how the Italy/Russia game goes. I imagine that Italy would be happy if they were able to score a single goal.

[ February 13, 2006, 18:23: Message edited by: JSBB ]

I'm not complaining about the number of goals, I figure, if they get the chance to score a goal, go for it. It was the lack of competition that surprised me. Let's see what the Canada/Sweden game is like tomorrow.

Canada/Sweden should be a little more even but the USA is the only real competition.

Personally, I am a little upset that none of the stations here are airing the Italy/Russia game. For some reason watching the two worst teams battle it out has some sort of twisted appeal to me.

Hmmm...so whats the current medal holdings?

I know that the US has several Gold medals now, but does anyone know what the current rankings are?

GO USA! :thumb: :rolling:

Well, Medal count, (http://www.eurosport.com/olympicgames/torino/2006/standing.shtml) updated hourly.
Eurosports is dedicated to the Olympics all day long, but they air just 'popular' events, we couldn't watch any hockey game yet, even tho I kind like to watch almost everything, I would like to watch another things that just biathlon, bobsleigh and snowboard. Also, they fill times with just 'mission Torino' interviews instead of replays of games or other events.

Well, the first period was relatively competitive but as expected Canada ended up demolishing Sweden in women's hockey. Final score was 8-1 with Sweden's goal coming on a powerplay. As the game went on Sweden's two good lines just couldn't keep up with Canada's four good lines. I think I heard that one of the Swedish players had her first shift with less than three minutes left to go in the game - I'm sorry but playing only your best players in order to be competitive against a team using all of its players is a recipe for disaster as time goes on.

One thing that I was happy about was that Italy actually managed to score against Russia. The final score was 5-1 for Russia. Italy needed a two woman advantage to get their goal but it was nice that the host team can say that they were not completely shut out during the tournament.

Oh and here (http://www.torino2006.org/ENG/OlympicGames/home/index.html) is the official Olympic site. It has a pretty good constantly updated section for the medal count and results of each event.

What, does this mean that NBC's coverage doesn't completely suck? They've got programming on three different networks and so far we've been very happy with the range of events we've watched. Of course the covereage is far too broken up with commercials, but that's that the DVR is for :thumb:

Anyone else pumped up for curling? Anyone know when it starts!?

Curling schedule: http://www.torino2006.org/ENG/IDF/CU/X05_20060214.html


I'm not sure if the times are American or Italian.

The times listed are Italian.

Well, Finland had the USA down 3-1 in women's hockey but the U.S. managed to come back and win 7-3. I didn't watch the game so I really don't know if it was the case of the US needing a bit of a wake-up call or if it was like the Sweden/Canada game and the Finns just were not able to play up to the USA's level for an entrie game.

@JiggaJay: today was the second day I think, I watched yesterday and today, I kind of like it already; great game but Canadians boys couldn't beat Sweden guys. Here some more news and the shedule. (http://www.eurosport.com/curling/torino/2006/)

Ups. People already posted an answer.

In the men's hockey I was really impressed by Italy, particularly during the first period of their game against Canada.

In the end Canada won 7-2 but the Italians really put in a lot of effort and played a real physical first period.

I think the Canadians thought they were going to skate circles around the Italians and the Italians spent the first twenty minutes knocking the Canadians onto their butts to prove them wrong. :thumb:

Grrr, I really want Apollo and the Americans to win the men's relay skating, but its on too late and I have a test first period tomorrow, so I need sleep.

I guess I'll check the newspaper tomorrow...

Go Apollo! (And, uh, the rest of the team too :p )

Apolo won after all... (http://www.eurosports.com/shorttrack/sport_sto243131.shtml)
Apolo (http://www.torino2006.org/ENG/IDF/ST/C73B_STM450200.html) , Izykowski, Kepka and Smith won their round so they are in the finals. Great race with controvery, so in the final will be 5 teams.

Great hockey games also, USA was surprised because couldn't win to a 'supposed-to-be-an-easy' team.
Czechs had to suffer, they were winning 2 to 1 but Germans were pressing very hard until Jagr made an incredible goal :grin:
Russia lost to Slovakia 5 to 3, great game, when they were 3 to 3, 2 very fast counterattack(?) gave Slovakia the other 2 goals.

NHL players sure are making themselves noticed :grin:

All yesterday's results. (http://www.torino2006.org/ENG/IDF/X05_20060215.html)

Well, we beat the Czechs pretty nicely, but I am currebntly cheering for Swizerland beating Canada :D

and I am actually thinking about turning on the TV tonight :D

I am not loooking forward to the Canadian men's hockey game against Czechs. Our men's team is playing terribly.

On the plus side, our women's team was dominant in winning their gold medals. During the five games they managed to outscore the opposition 46 to 2 with both of the goals against being power play goals. They were pretty much in control at all times for all five of their games. :thumb:

Aww, come on JSBB, not that terribly, we only beat you 2-0 :p

Wow this days race for the 1500 meter men was a thriller, too bad Kuypers was placed 4th by Davis in the last round. Tomorrow it's the womens turn to show how they can handle the toughest distance :D

BTW, I am of course talking about skating, which is the only sport that does matter at all, now that the climate is getting too mild for the Elfsteden tocht (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleven-cities_Tour) I'm forced to watch indoor skating :(

Well, the Canadian men's hockey team somehow managed to fluke its way into a win over the Czechs but boy did they look bad. Considering how vulnerble team Canada is looking I can't believe that Sweden would actually want to throw a game in order to play Switzerland instead of Canada.

Bah, maybe we should see if we can send our women's squad out there to play the remainder of the mens' games. :shake:

What confuses me: Why do women and men get different skiing courses? The women are just as good athletes... and although they are not as muscular (men are naturally more muscular), in relation to other women, it would all be even.

Well, as expected the Canadian men's hockey team continued their horrid play and managed to get shut out yet again. How pathetic.

On the other side of things one of our cross country skiers whose goal was to place in the top 30 managed to win a gold medal - it just goes to show that just about anything can happen.

The curling final should be interesting - Methinks we will kick Canada's ass.

and Russia's in hockey, of course :D

I'll be cheering for Canada in the curling final... their skip is just too adorable for words! :love:

...and of course I'll be rooting for the US to win the bronze!

The curling final should be interestingNow that are two words I never thought I would see in the same sentence :p :1eye:

TYell you a secret? the commentariues sound incredibly dirty in Finnish :p

Yay for slang :D

Anyone else not surprised about Canada's hockey results?

I wish I caught Don Cherry's comments after the game... I really wonder what he said afterwards.

I don't even know what Canada's hockey results are. Are they good or bad?

Crap. Really let themselves down.

@ Harbourboy - the Canadian men's hockey team was eliminated in the quarterfinals. They were shut out in that game, just like they were in two of the five opening round games.

On the plus side, so far so good for the Canadian men's curling team. After trading deuces in the first two ends Canada stole one in each of the third and fourth ends and Finland had to settle for one in the fifth so Canada is up by one after five and they have the hammer.

:hmm: I wonder how many people's reaction will be WFT? after reading that last sentance. :lol:

Holy Sh*t! The Canadians just managed to score six in the sixth end to bring the score up to 10-3! Sorry Arabwel but I think the Canadians have just about wrapped this one up.

Edit: Yeah, its official now. Canada wins 10-4.

[ February 24, 2006, 19:52: Message edited by: JSBB ]

The Netherlands earned two medals in this days 10 km race, gold for Bob de Jong and bronze for Carl Verheien. Yay :D What's next?

Horray for the boy from St. John's!

Team Gushue wins gold (http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/)

I wanted the Georginian woman to win :( She was a great skater. In Vancouver, she is going to kick ass, I'll tell you that. She'll beat Sasha, Kimmie, and Emily, methinks.

Nathan Astle, you beauty! 118 not out from 126 balls; what a fantastic innings. 18 runs off the last 3 balls of the innings. Go the Black Caps!

Grrrrrr.

Oh well, I am looking forward to the Ice Hockey final - Finland vs. Sweden games are ALWAYS awsome but this? this is going to be magical.

All I have to say right now is congratulations to Clara Hughes and Cindy Klassen for their gold and bronze medals, respectively, in the women's 5000m speed skating final.

That was a beautiful thing to see. Hughes now having won medals in both Summer and Winter Olympics, and Klassen winning a whopping five medals in a single Olympics. I believe that's a Canadian record. :hippy: :banana:

Apollo won gold! Yes! Unfortunately, my cable kept freezing, so I missed it, but he still won gold! Apollo is the man.

Such abyssmal performance from us thus far....

Edit: `sigh*

I refuse to admit taht Sweden exists.

[ February 26, 2006, 16:15: Message edited by: Arabwel ]

Ara, who is 'us'? Are you from Sweden, or just pissed because they might have beaten you guys?

Saber Ara's from Finland does that help? :)

Yes, I am from Finland, situated right between Russia and Norway :p

Wow, Canada finished 3rd overall in the medal standings! That's quite a surprise.

Hopefully the success will carry over to 2010 Olympics... without losing momentum from the Summer games in between, in which I doubt Canada will be anywhere near the top countries.

I'm kinda sad that Derric Para didn't win anything this year. He works at a local Home Depot, and I met him soon after the 2002 olimpics.

Neat guy. :thumb:

Yay, only two more years 'till the better of the two olmpics! Go US Swim Team! :bigeyes:

Germany got thrashed by Italy tonight, 4-1. I think Klinnsmann has some reason to get worried now.

DIE Chelsea DIE

Pac Man, since that was without Totti, I'm still in the thoughts that he shouldn't be allowed near the World Cup. =D

Also, Sweden got heavily trashed by Ireland who missed the WC, 3-0.

England scraped a win against Uruguay, sscoring the winner in injury-time.
To be fair though, we had most of the game and would have won 5-1 but for better finishing - we missed Owen amd Lampard. Doesn't matter though, it was only a friendly.

Their goal was a cracker mind, see it if you get the chance.

We also had a bit of a lame friendly against Ecuador, which finished third in South America, so i expected quite a bit from those guys. I wasn't impressed though, and we played without a handful of starters. 1-0 victory for us, but it could and should have been 4-0 or even 5-0. But like Barmy said, it's only a friendly, not that important. But even though friendly's may not be important, i think teams like Sweden, France, and Germany have a lot of reasons to start being a little concerned.

Pac Man, France will get past the group stage, cause they had luck(the only thing that gets them somewhere in Football) and got an easy group.

After that, they'll be out in the first game.

Which would be really amazing, because no matter how you look at things...France still has a lot of potential. Maybe it's just not a team, that could be our ultimate downfall as well. Even though Argentina lost to Croatia, they really looked like a team. I expect a lot from them as well. But Italy has made a big impression on me since the last two times i've seen them play, especially Luca Toni, he's a wrecking machine. :D

Any team with Thierry Henry in it has a chance of beating anybody IMO. If France decide to play, then they are still one of the worlds best.

Henry needs a big supporting cast, Arsenal's European failures of the last years made that more than clear. The question is....if you build your team around him, will he be able to carry it home ? I have my doubts about that. He's no Maradonna, who won the title almost all by himself. Zidane is still good, but age is catching up with him. Maybe that guy from Juventus can make a difference, dunno though. I feel like France's reign is over and done with.

Mark my words, Italy is going a long way this time.

He's almost single-handedly kept Arsenal a competing force in the Premiership the last 4 or 5 years. It's not his fault the rest of his team suck in Europe. But with France, he has much better players around him.
I don't think France will get anywhere near winning the WC, but they're still a good team on their day.

I can't see Italy doing great either. They're a similar level to France at the minute.

England's success depends a lot on Owens fitness. We don't have another antural goal-scorer.

Holland's success depends a lot on their defence, because it's pretty crap.

Brazil are just immense, although I guess it depends on what Ronaldo does.

Argentina's success depends on Riquelmes fitness.

I love the WC, I can't wait for it!

Riquelme is not a teamplayer, you're overestimating him, and clearly it has been a while since you last saw Italy play. They've changed, they actually seek the offense now, and damn...they're good at it too.

Can't wait for the WC either, disagreements can be so much fun. :D

Riquelme not a team player? :confused:
That's what he's reknowned for; being a great playmaker! Forlan owes like 80% of his goals to Riquelme and his good eye.

I admit, I've not seen Italy in a while, but I' be willing to bet that they choke at the WC. Plus, I don't think they have enough great players. Especially up front. There's only really Luca Toni, and he doesn't get that many internationally.

We'll see when it comes to the WC, it should be interesting ;) .

Riquelme's presence is exactly what killed his team last year in the UEFA quarters against AZ. Don't get me wrong, he's a worldclass player, but he's also a solo artist, he really loves being in the middle. If you, as an opponent, focus on making his life miserable, he's more than vulnerable, he becomes a burden for his own team, because he simply refuses to make defensive actions. Stars don't do that according to his philosophy. I wish every team that played against us had one or two Riquelme's on their team. Catch my drift now ?

Oh, I see what you mean, he's not very defensive. That's true, he's not very interested in tracking back and working hard when it's needed. But still, his pin-point passes, eye for a killer ball, and good shot. He doesn't need to be defensive! :D
Quality player.

Yes, he DOES need to be defensive, there are moments the team is under pressure, and that's when he's useless, he thinks he's too good to get dirty. To make a long story short... i agree the guy has a lot of talent, he just doesn't have the heart to go all the way, he doesn't know how to fight, and at moments like that, he lets the team down. I'm not questioning his abilities as a footballplayer, i'm questioning his winners mentality. You can't have a guy in your team who thinks he's above the others regarding dirty work, otherwise you won't go anywhere.

You mean like Robben? :thumb: :D