Sporting Sensations

[jms18222]

Fernando Alonso is out for this weekend's race & probably out for China as well. No one is sure what type of qualifying is going to be in place for Saturday. Let's hope no turbo fires on the #7 Ferrari.

Final 4 weekend, not going to watch, can't win it every year but my boys did win last year.

Hear West Ham is going after Renaldo but so are Chelsea & Man U. Can't see him going to Man U with Rooney & please just not Chelsea or Arsenal. They always win.

BASEBALL STARTS ON SUNDAY!!!

[Jonny Come Lately]

I hope Fernando makes a good recovery, the announcement was the first I'd heard of the injury. Even so, compared to the injuries he could have sustained in that shocking crash he did manage to get off quite lightly. I also wish Kimi better luck this weekend, I think he can do well this weekend as the Bahrain circuit seems to suit him - he's come second in three of the last four races, and came very close to winning last year's GP. I want Lewis to win but Kimi would be my preferred winner if Hamilton can't.

Liverpool return to action against title hopefuls Tottenham this weekend, although the games I'm really excited about the Europa matches against Borussia Dortmund. I feel that Dortmund are German football's equivalent of Liverpool and hopefully there should be a great atmosphere at both games.

I'd read that West Ham were interested in Zlatan Ibrahimovic, which would be interesting. Given his age (34) and his status as a free agent this summer, I'd be very surprised if he joined a team that was not in the Champions League season. I'd be interested to see him play in English football (as long as he doesn't join Manchester United).

I'm going to Tranmere Rovers' home game against Welling tomorrow, we still have a chance of going up if we finish top five and make the play-offs. It will be quite an emotional game this weekend as it was announced yesterday that our legendary former manager Johnny King, who took us from the old Fourth Division to the play-offs for promotion to the Premier League in the 1990s, had passed away at the age of 77. :sad: Hope we can celebrate his life with a win.

[jms18222]

I am very new to English football, my son did mention West Ham possibly getting Zlatan which would be a HUGE get for us especially going into a new stadium next season.I am pretty much anybody but Man U, Arsenal or Chelsea.

My son is trying to get us tickets to see a game this summer when English League teams come over & play against the MLS.

Mercedes has just been too dominate these past few years. It really gets to the point that by the summer come around I pretty much Ted's Notebook the entire weekend. Why bother wasting 3 hours when you know it is Mercedes 1-2.

My son really thinks Fernando quits now. Watching FP2 right now.

[Freypower]

So you support West Ham jms? As you can probably tell JCL & I support Liverpool.

[jms18222]

So you support West Ham jms? As you can probably tell JCL & I support Liverpool.


To be perfectly honest I only chose West Ham because of the bubbles! Have their game on right now but have to switch over to F1 qualifying soon.
My son is a Newcastle fan.

[The Disco Strangler]

The Masters is this week! :yay:

My fantasy picks are ready to go. Woot!

[AlreadyGone95]

Opening day for my Atlanta Braves :yay:. The Braves open the season this afternoon at home against one of their rivals, the Washington Nationals.

[buffyfan145]

It's Opening Day for my teams too and I'm currently flipping back and forth between the Giants and Reds games. :D

And HB, I saw your post in the other thread and it is weird Tim Lincecum being a free agent, and now watching the Giants without him.

[Houston Baby]

Yes, Buffy - I am still floored by that news. He is young so I hope he can recover quickly and get back on the mound. I wish the Astros would pick him up before another team grabs him. I guess everyone will wait until he is fully recovered.

Speaking of the Nationals AB, while in FL in March I went to a Detroit Tigers game (I love spring training!). They were playing the Nationals and their 3rd base coach's last name was Henley. I took several photos of the back of his shirt. :D

[jms18222]

Lincecum's arm is shot. He was brought up too soon. If he was healthy the Dodgers would have been all over him sadly they aren't.

[Jonny Come Lately]

I've seen some pretty remarkable football matches at Anfield before, but nothing quite like this one! :thud: WHAT A NIGHT!

LIVERPOOL 4
BORUSSIA DORTMUND 3

After such a disappointing start. The fans at Anfield were exceptional, the rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone before the game. So proud of the team and manager, we've knocked out one of the best teams in Europe.

Just thinking back over this exceptional football match is exhausting, so I'll post a link to a match report:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36020910

GET IN THERE! :yay:

[Freypower]

Seriously... it was Istanbul all over again, although I couldn't watch this (the Europa League isn't shown on Australian TV)....

:smokin::cheers: :rofl::yay:

Just do it Liverpool & the Champions League beckons again (and let's HOPE you know who don't win the FA Cup)...

[AlreadyGone95]

Congrats to Liverpool.


The Atlanta Braves have gone 0-9 so far this season. I knew that this season was going to be a long and hard one, but I really didn't think that it would start out this bad. Both the pitching and hitting aren't even decent. In the rare occasions that they've had the lead, they can't hold on to it. Only 153 more games to go this year. I'm hoping that the Braves can keep the loses under 100, but I have my doubts. I'm a fan 'til the end; however, this is going to be a hard season as a Braves fan :-?. Things have gone from good to OK to bad to horrible over the past 4 seasons. This is a "rebuilding" period for the team, so maybe in a few years, things will turn around.

[jms18222]

That was an amazing match. Congratulations Liverpool.

[MortSahlFan]

my Detroit Pistons are finally in the playoffs! Playing pretty good against the Cavs so far!

[buffyfan145]

I'm going tonight to see my Giants take on the Reds, which is always fun since I'm a fan of both. LOL :D It's also Bark at the Park night which means people can bring their dogs and I love seeing all the dogs there and the parade they do before the game.

Also I'm really happy how my brother's team the Cubs are doing. :D He's been a fan his whole life which we don't know how since we have no connection to Chicago. So we usually joke he's a reincarnated Cubs fan. LOL

[Freypower]

I'm a few days late but heartfelt congratulations to LEICESTER CITY FOOTBALL CLUB, champions of England. Can you believe that?

Also the Europa League semi final second leg... Liverpool 3 Villareal 0.

The mighty Reds will now play Sevilla in the final.

[LuvTim]

Saw some incredible video here in The States of this impressive victory!

Congrats!! :yay:


Also, congrats Liverpool!

[FWIW]

I'm a few days late but heartfelt congratulations to LEICESTER CITY FOOTBALL CLUB, champions of England. Can you believe that?
Few could have predicted the results this season. What a truly amazing accomplishment. Leicester faced possible relegation during much of last season and started this season as a 5000-1 longshot to win the Premier League! Now the bookmakers are taking it in the shorts (http://www.businessinsider.com/leicester-city-odds-were-a-sham-2016-5).

[The Disco Strangler]

The European BMG PGA is happening at Wentworth. I watched Thursday's round. Now recording Friday's round. My fantasy picks are Martin Kaymer (Germany), Russell Knox (Scotland), Danny Willet (England), Jaco van Zyl (South Africa), Bradley Dredge (Wales), and Bernd Wiesberger (Austria).

Hopefully I do well in the fantasy pool.

[AlreadyGone95]

The pitiful year for my Atlanta Braves continues. Their record is now 13-34, with a 2-17 home record at Turned Field. At this rate, they'll have one of the worst season records in modern MLB history.

[Annoying Twit]

I live in Leicester in the United Kingdom. This year our football team won the Premiership. While I'm not a big football fan, ours was one of the minor teams in the league, so it's notable that we won.

And on the same day, Leicester snooker player Mark Selby won the snooker world championship. I was watching that.

Overall, a good year for my city.

[NOLA]

Got a call a couple of days ago from the ticketing agency for the New Orleans Saints. The season tickets, that I had registered for in the fall of 2008 before they won the division playoffs and 2009 Super Bowl, were now ready for purchase. Well, a lot of good they'll do me half a country away. So, I made the difficult decision to turn them down for release to the next member of the Who Dat Nation. Needless to say, I was quite sad. :(

[jms18222]

I live in Leicester in the United Kingdom. This year our football team won the Premiership. While I'm not a big football fan, ours was one of the minor teams in the league, so it's notable that we won.

And on the same day, Leicester snooker player Mark Selby won the snooker world championship. I was watching that.

Overall, a good year for my city.


Congratulations on Leicester winning The Premier League. I am for anybody but Manchester U.

My baseball team, the Dodgers, has a $300 million payroll but doesn't have much of a pitching staff or bullpen. Wish I could clone Clayton Kershaw.

My favorite college basketball signed a kid to a scholarship taking him away from going to Kentucky. The kid they forced out of college to go try for the NBA decided to return to college but not to Kentucky. LOVE IT!

[Freypower]

I live in Leicester in the United Kingdom. This year our football team won the Premiership. While I'm not a big football fan, ours was one of the minor teams in the league, so it's notable that we won.

And on the same day, Leicester snooker player Mark Selby won the snooker world championship. I was watching that.

Overall, a good year for my city.

I bet you were proud. I was so delighted I used the celebrations as my wallpaper last week (I support Liverpool).

[Jonny Come Lately]

I live in Leicester in the United Kingdom. This year our football team won the Premiership. While I'm not a big football fan, ours was one of the minor teams in the league, so it's notable that we won.

And on the same day, Leicester snooker player Mark Selby won the snooker world championship. I was watching that.

Overall, a good year for my city.

I haven't been around enough lately to post in this thread, so I probably need to catch up on a couple of things.

Re: Leicester - it's been a fantastic year for the city. It was brilliant watching the Leicester team lift the trophy but no one deserved it more than Claudio Ranieri. He is a charming man, almost like a favourite grandfather, and has done a simply great job this season. One thing which I think hasn't been emphasised enough They are the first completely new team to win the league since Nottingham Forest under the great Brian Clough 38 years ago. (contrary to what Sky Sports might suggest, football did actually exist before the creation of the modern day Premier League in 1992! :lol:)

Funnily enough when I'm at university (although I won't be for most of the next four months) I'm quite close to Leicester, probably about 20 miles or so away. I've never been to Leicester itself though, it's not really somewhere I tend to go past on long journeys.

Not such a great end to the season for my own favourites with a defeat in the Europa League final. At half time I really thought we were going to do it, all the cards seemed line up - the sensational comeback against Dortmund, the stadium being full of Liverpool fans. The I saw the Champions League final last season, felt really sorry for Atletico. I wanted them to win and they would have really deserved it and to lose on penalties was sickening for them. From a personal level this was not helped by Cristiano Ronaldo scoring the decisive kick! Can't argue with Zidane's managerial record though, anyone who wins the Champions League in their first five months as manager must be onto something good.

In my other main sport of interest, Formula One, there was a dramatic race in Spain which saw Lewis Hamilton collide with his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg shortly after the start. Although this did protect Nico's championship lead built up after winning the first four races, in a way I was quite glad when Lewis's out of control car took out Nico too as it prevented him from further extending his advantage. The other major story was a shock win for F1's youngest driver of all time, Max Verstappen, who became the first teenager to win a grand prix (and the youngest driver to do so by about three years) by holding off Raikkonen to win in his first race for Red Bull. I think there is no limit to what Max can achieve, it's quite scary to think how good he might be in his mid-twenties!

[Freypower]

At least Lewis won last night. I'm not sure about Ricciardo yet - I certainly won't cheer for him based on where he comes from (I was the same with Mark Webber).

I wanted Atletico to win too - but Zidane is one of my heroes. Admittedly it probably isn't that hard to manage a team of galacticos like Real but credit to him.

Regarding Leicester we drove through it in 2010. We passed Simon de Montfort University. We stayed one night in Hull, so I was pleased they were promoted. Mixed feelings in this house as Sunderland stayed up & Newcastle went down.

I never talk about Rugby League here but my poor Sydney Roosters are second last on the table with two wins from nine! This after having won the past three minor premierships (which in football would be enough to win the title - but we have a playoff system where you have to win the grand final to win the title & we won one out of those three).

[Jonny Come Lately]

I've been following the European Championships (football) in France with great enthusiasm since the tournament started just over a week ago. I have thoroughly enjoyed it so far. I did wonder whether the expansion of the tournament to 24 teams (compared to 16 in the previous edition four years ago) would dilute the quality, but these fears have been allayed as virtually every game has been competitive and there have been some terrific performances by unfancied 'underdog' sides. Northern Ireland beating Ukraine 2-0 was one example, as was Hungary defeating Austria by the same margin, but my favourite was tiny Iceland holding Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo to a 1-1 draw (after the game Ronaldo criticised Iceland, saying that they had a 'small time mentality'. He just came across as a bad loser and I felt he got his comeuppance tonight when he missed a crucial penalty that would have given them a win over Austria).

Although there have not been as many goals scored as at some international tournaments, the quality of football has generally been good and a number of the goals that have been scored have been quite brilliant. The game between England and Wales was a great day, as it was the first ever meeting between the two sides at a major tournament. It was especially sweet for me as England secured a late 2-1 win with a goal from Daniel Sturridge, who at club level plays for my favourites Liverpool. Really excited for the next stages. I don't expect that much of England, although I think there is the potential to do well if everything falls into place. I couldn't pick a potential winner at the start of the tournament, but I was impressed by Spain in their 3-0 dismantling of Turkey and think they are probably the team to beat now.

[Freypower]

C. Ronaldo is a ......... (insert word of your choice). I always thought so. The Tom Cruise of football (sorry if anyone likes Tom Cruise).

Disappointed for Ireland who will probably exit now, hope Iceland progress, hope Spain win it. England not so much unless Sturridge gets the winner.

[Jonny Come Lately]

I agree it's a shame about Ireland, they're in a difficult group though so I don't think it's been a disaster for them. They were much worse four years ago, where they lost every game. Always had a bit of a soft spot for them (I believe my surname is Irish in origin), but I think they will probably have to beat Italy to get through to the next stage. It's happened before though (1994 World Cup) and the Italians may be relaxed as they're already qualified. I have mixed feelings about England myself, I always like seeing Liverpool players do well but even at international level Rooney scoring is still a bit of an 'ugh' moment for me! Basically I enjoy it when they win, but shrug off any failures.

Agreed about Ronaldo too - if it was just about anyone else I'd have reservations about saying this, but seeing him flop so far has been very entertaining in itself!

[RudieCantFail]

Watched the Warriors lose Game 7 to the Cavs. Sad that it happened b/c they had the best regular season record of all-time in the NBA (73-9). It doesn't mean as much w/o the ring. I'd say that the 95-96 Bulls are still better than the Warriors. If the Warriors won, then I'd say the margin would be closer.

BTW, I'm not much of an NBA fan. I'm a band wagoner, and I started watching it because who can resist those mind-blowing, long distance 3's? The Warriors have sparked my interest in the NBA again though, since the Lakers did that back in 2010. I think I liked the Lakers b/c I had a friend who was really into basketball and the Lakers. This was back in 5th grade.

To cut to the chase, I was going to share a YouTube vid on my social media accounts of the song, "In the City" in honor of the Warriors for making it all the way, but that didn't happen. I was tempted to do it for their narrow Western Conference Finals series victory over OKC b/c of how intense it was. I thought that the Joe Walsh/Eagles song would be an appropriate victory song, except the Dubs weren't victorious in the end. Thinking about it, I might just share it anyway for the heck of it.

[Annoying Twit]

** Le Mans 24 Hours Spoiler Below **




















Toyota at the Le Mans 24 Hours race. Deservedly winning the race for about the last 12 hours (+/- lead changes due to pitshops). Then at 23hrs 56 minutes their car breaks down!

[Jonny Come Lately]

I watched a fair bit of the race, although I missed the very end as the European Grand Prix in Baku was starting at the same time. I did hear about it during the Grand Prix commentary, and it's so devastating to lose a race like that at the end. To make matters worse, they weren't even classified (if they had, they would have had minor consolation in finishing second) as I believe they took too long to complete their final lap (IIRC you have to finish it in under six minutes?). Felt really sorry for their drivers, Anthony Davidson in particular, he did a great job in his stints and I've always loved his commentary/punditry for BBC 5 Live and Sky F1 too - he's perceptive and witty.

I'd never watched Le Mans 24 Hours until last year - I was intrigued when I noticed that F1 driver Nico Hulkenberg was competing (as he was free to race with no grand prix that weekend) and decided to check it out. I really enjoyed it and was very happy when he was in the winning car that time. Quite a few former F1 guys in the field too, at least half a dozen names I remember going back to 2007-08.

[UndertheWire]

It retrospect, I enjoyed the football yesterday. I was a bit annoyed that I couldn't find the Wales game and had to watch the England match instead but I can't complain about the results. I spoke to my brother afterwards and he was on a high - sat in his apartment in Germany wearing his Wales jersey and with the welsh flag behind him. It's extremely rare for Wales to qualify at this level of competion and to come through the first round at the top of their group - ahead of England - is remarkable.

[Gemini]

One of my coworkers is Welsh and I've never seen him so down as he was after the match with England and I've never seen him so happy as he was after the match with Russia. He took vacation time from work to watch both!

[Freypower]

Italy 0 REPUBLIC OF IRELAND 1!!!!!!!

[DivineDon]

Thanks FP!!!! We're all still trying to actually believe that just happened! France next on Sunday "Come on ye boys in green! " :rockguitar:

[Jonny Come Lately]

Well done Ireland!

Fantastic result for the boys in green, really deserved it too. France in the next round will be difficult as they are hosts and among the favourites, but Ireland have great team spirit. Also watched Portugal v Hungary yesterday, what a cracker of a game that was, most exciting one of the tournament so far I think - six goals and both teams attacking for the majority of the match.

One oddity of this championship is the somewhat lop-sided nature of the draw, which puts heavyweights Spain, Germany, France and Italy in the same half of the draw. England are in this half too, which almost certainly means we won't win it! This does mean that in all probability, the final probably won't be between the two best sides. On the flip side, there is a great chance for teams like Wales to go far and I think a team like Croatia could even make the final. It's a real opportunity for Belgium's 'golden generation' too, even though they didn't win their group, they have so many classy players, just need to play more as a team I feel.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36602266

[UndertheWire]

Amazing to see Iceland go through and also to see so many Icelandic supporters in the crowds. One estimate was 30,000 which is about 10% of the population.

[Jonny Come Lately]

Agreed, I believe Iceland's total population is comparable to that of Leicester. In light of Leicester City's recent triumph, make of that what you will!

Just noticed that the England-Iceland game clashes with Don's Manchester show! This is quite funny as my previous concert (Neil Young in Liverpool in July 2014) also happened to clash with a notable international football match, the World Cup final between Germany and Argentina. It's no contest really though, I can easily record the game and watch the following day, whereas there's no substitute for going to see Don live! I doubt I'll even be thinking about the match during the concert.

[UndertheWire]

You could try watching the game on your phone through the concert. Maybe Don will give updates.

I'm looking forward to this evening's match between Wales and Northern Ireland.

[Jonny Come Lately]

Thanks for the suggestion - to be honest I'm not really that worried, I'll still enjoy the match if I record it and watch it tomorrow (okay... maybe not if Iceland win - but the 'post-mortem' will be worth watching in that case!) when I'll have plenty of time to get around to watching the game, today it's all about Don for me!

Watching Wales play Northern Ireland in an international tournament was kind of strange, it felt a bit like watching a football league match at times! Well done to the Welsh (although Belgium are certainly formidable opponents in the next round if they click as they did against Hungary last night) and commiserations to the Irish all around, as the Republic put up a good fight against hosts France to lose 2-1 despite having one of their defenders sent off.

[DivineDon]

I bet you're glad you went to see Don after THAT result! !!

[Freypower]

I bet you're glad you went to see Don after THAT result! !!

My husband was not impressed.

CONGRATULATIONS ICELAND!!!!

[Jonny Come Lately]

I bet you're glad you went to see Don after THAT result! !!

So true! Apart from having a fantastic night, I even managed to avoid finding the result out until I watched the game yesterday. After I saw it... well, we were absolute rubbish, no arguing with that. Basic mistake for the first goal shortly after taking the lead (!) and an error from goalkeeper Hart for the second. The players looked in a state of shock after that and rarely did it ever seem like they would get an equaliser. In short, it was the most humiliating England result in my parents' lifetimes, let alone my own! Well done to Iceland though. With no offence intended to Iceland their players come from a country that does not have a full-time league compared to our self-proclaimed 'best league in the world' that virtually our entire squad plays in. Ireland lost to France, but at least they played well and were kind of unlucky, and Northern Ireland did well to get out of a tricky group, and many of their players ply their trade in the lower divisions.

I think one of the main problems throughout the tournament for England was that the players and systems were being chopped and changed too much (in some cases I suspect bowing to media pressure), leaving the team disjointed and weaker than the sum of its part, but that is no excuse for such a terrible display. I must admit I probably should have seen this coming - I remember Roy Hodgson's short (and disastrous) reign as Liverpool boss too well. After a very poor start there was a slight upturn and there was some hope a corner might have been turned, but there was one game in the winter of 2010/11 that put paid to his time at the club. We were at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers, a mediocre and relegation-threatened team with a terrible away record. Had we played remotely decently we would have won, but we performed abysmally and lost 1-0, then a couple of weeks later he was sacked.

[UndertheWire]

I confess, I fell asleep during the Englan-Iceland game. I saw the goals and got the idea that England were going to struggle to get back and then I became oblivious.

The Iceland story is interesting. The key seems to be that they invested money in facilities and coaching for the whole population rather than flashy stadiums.


Bolstered by the TV money pouring into every Uefa country, Iceland set up an open, hugely popular training scheme. Currently this nation of 335,000 has around 600 qualified coaches, 400 with Uefa B licences, or one per 825 people. To put this into context, in England this number falls to one per 11,000.


https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/jun/08/iceland-stunning-rise-euro-2016-gylfi-sigurdsson-lars-lagerback

[Annoying Twit]

COME ON SERENA!!!!

[UndertheWire]

That was fun. Wales 3 Belgium 1. Good match. Good goals. Hard to believe.

[Freypower]

CONGRATULATIONS WALES!

[RudieCantFail]

Kevin Durant is going to sign with the Golden State Warriors! NBA Free Agency has been interesting. Kevin Durant instead of Harrison Barnes, yes, we'll take that. Barnes was 3 for 27 at one point in the 2016 NBA Finals, and he's just inconsistent. Sad that they had to trade Bogut but he gets hurt often. I'm sorry about Ezeli too, but he's not as good as Bogut. Can't wait for the small ball lineup of Steph, Klay, Iguodala, Durant, and Draymond.

[Annoying Twit]

ANDY MURRAY!!!!!!!!

[NightMistBlue]

That was so flaming exciting - winning the championship in a tiebreak, wooh! I was shoutin'. Very happy for Andy.

[FWIW]

I'm a few days late, but congratulations to Portugal, champions of Euro 2016! While the final wasn't the most attractive, free-flowing match, Portugal got the job done. It was heartbreaking to see CR7 stretchered off injured so early and I'm sure many people figured France would triumph when he left the pitch.

[Jonny Come Lately]

Congratulations to Portugal! I'm not going to pretend they were my favourite team to watch, and I'm not the greatest fan of their captain, but they did a great job in the knockout games. It's weird how they finished third in their group and went on to win the tournament, but a win is a win! It was a shame for France though, they did play some very good football and Griezmann was excellent once he got going.

Although I'm kind of used to seeing Cristiano Ronaldo as a 'villain', it could have been quite different - I believe my club Liverpool were seriously interested in signing him in summer 2003. However, Manchester United put in a far larger bid and that was that... Unfortunately I can't say I'm terribly fond of Nani (Ronaldo-Lite!) or Ricardo Carvalho either. On a more positive note I think young Renato Sanches already looks a brilliant talent, and the keeper Rui Patricio was superb in the final.

I have mixed feelings about the expanded tournament - on one hand it gave teams like Wales and, yes, Iceland a chance to shine, and other teams like Albania their first ever appearance in a major tournament. It was kind of pleasing that none of the smaller teams looked really out of their depth. On the other hand, I think the knowledge that three draws could be enough to get through to the second round encouraged cagey football and this meant there weren't many classic games. I also think the increasing homogenisation of tactics and playing styles across Europe also increases the likelihood of stalemates (although Iceland were one of the main exceptions to this).

[buffyfan145]

The Olympics start today!!! :D I love watching both the summer and winter games but prefer the summer since I watch more of the sports. I love watching the swimming, girls gymnastics, basketball, track, soccer, beach volleyball, and various other sports. Golf has also been added back after not being a part of the Olympics since 1904. Plus, the IOC announced two days ago for the 2020 games in Tokyo they are finally adding back baseball & softball, which I've missed, and the last time they had it was 2008.

Go Team USA!!! :yay:

[AlreadyGone95]

I probably won't get to see much of the games, but I will watch the opening ceremony tonight.

USA!

[Jonny Come Lately]

The 2016/17 football season has just kicked off so I'll do a brief summary of some of the more interesting things that have gone on.

It was a hugely exciting opening game for Liverpool, with a 4-3 win away to Arsenal. This is a huge result for us because IIRC since Arsenal moved into their new Emirates stadium a decade ago we had only won once there. What was particularly impressive was how, having equalised just prior to half time, the team rushed into a 4-1 lead in the second half. Arsenal later pulled two goals back to make it a nervous finish, but it was a great result nonetheless, the only shame being that these goals prevented Liverpool from topping the table after the opening weekend, an honour which unfortunately went to the old enemy Manchester United (although this doesn't mean much in the grander scheme of things).

After Leicester City's stunning title win last season, they became victims of a shock themselves as the reigning champions unexpectedly lost their opening game of the season against unfancied Hull City, a team which is not only newly promoted but currently has no permanent manager and is desperately short of fit players.

Several rungs below the Premier League, It's also been a great start to the season for my local team Tranmere Rovers - they top the National League (the highest division below the Football League, where they played for 94 years until 2015) having won all four of their league matches so far, the only team in the division to do so. The games come thick and fast in this league in the first three months of the season so a fast start is extremely helpful.

[Freypower]

Yes, it was a good start. http://freeemoticonsandsmileys.com/animated%20emoticons/Sport%20Animated%20Emoticons/liverpool.gif

They have a tipping competition on the Genesis board where you have to predict the results of four Prem & four Championship games every week. Due to my optimistic tip of Liverpool I started in second place. It won't be easy because I will have to keep an eye on Championship results (which I will probably do anyway given that Newcastle are down there).

As for the Olympics I must congratulate Team GB on their performance. Australia, as usual, went in talking big & boasting how they would finish in the Top 5. Again they underperformed in the pool & again the attempts at pretending any athletes would achieve anything didn't happen.

Highlights for me have been Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps & da Silva, the Brazilian pole vaulter, although the crowd behaved extremely badly in booing the Frech silver medallist.

[Annoying Twit]

As I'm a dual citizen, I'll say that I think both of my countries, GB and NZ, did well at the Olympics given their populations and compared to past history. Only one country with a smaller population than NZ did better: Jamaica!

[Jonny Come Lately]

What a fantastic performance by Team GB! Didn't want to say anything earlier in case I 'jinxed' it, but second in the medals table - wow! It's hard to believe that we won more medals than on home soil four years ago and overtook China. I didn't watch that much of it, partly because a lot of the events were on in the early hours of the morning.

AT, if only Usain Bolt had been from New Zealand? IIRC Jamaica got nine gold medals, three of which were his.

Also quite nice to see the Brazilian football team get some revenge on the Germans in the Olympic football after their 7-1 mauling at the World Cup two years ago. After some dodgy penalties in their Euro 2016 game against Italy, it appears the Germans aren't quite as good as penalty shoot outs as they once were! :p Unfortunately England aren't actually good enough now to get sufficiently far to find out for themselves...

[Annoying Twit]

What a fantastic performance by Team GB! Didn't want to say anything earlier in case I 'jinxed' it, but second in the medals table - wow! It's hard to believe that we won more medals than on home soil four years ago and overtook China. I didn't watch that much of it, partly because a lot of the events were on in the early hours of the morning.

AT, if only Usain Bolt had been from New Zealand? IIRC Jamaica got nine gold medals, three of which were his.


Even without Usain's medals, Jamaica would have beaten NZ as NZ only got 4 golds. Still, both GB's and NZ's medal hauls are results to be proud of. (And congratulations to the US for topping the table and congratulations to Jamaica.)

[buffyfan145]

College American football finally has started back up and I'm a huge Ohio State Buckeyes fan. :D I really don't get into football except OSU and their first game is today. Does make me laugh too how I think Glenn was a Michigan fan, as I remember seeing him wearing their shirts in pics, and that's our rival and it's one of sports most famous rivalries. LOL :p

[LuvTim]

AG, I guess you're pretty happy about the Atlanta game. Lol...

[AlreadyGone95]

AG, I guess you're pretty happy about the Atlanta game. Lol...

Yes, I am. Rise up, Falcons!


If anyone wants a laugh, watch this spoof YouTube video NBCsports made. An American football coach gets hired to coach a British football(soccer) team. My history professor showed this to my class yesterday morning, and it had us all cracking up.
https://youtu.be/6KeG_i8CWE8

[WS82Classics]

I'm not a big sports fan, but I am keen on the Florida Gators, which isn't a common stance for where I live. Definitely prefer college football to the NFL.

I do like basketball--Atlanta Hawks and Minnesota Timberwolves are long-standing favourites. I don't have any use for games like auto racing, baseball, golf, and hockey. Love bowling.

[Annoying Twit]

Shakey Byrne is back with a title lead in British Superbikes. Pity Leon Haslam fell off like that, but Shakey had his own bad luck recently.

(I'm behind as I watch the highlights on free TV. If there have been more races recently which haven't been shown, please don't tell me what happened :) )

[RudieCantFail]

The San Francisco Giants choke and fall to the Cubs in the 9th due to their poor bullpen and lack of a good closer. Good luck to the Cubs. Sorry, @jms18222. I can't root for the Dodgers, but hey, who knows what's going to happen in the NLDS?

[buffyfan145]

I'm ok with the Giants losing since the Cubs deserve this and I'm rooting for them so much. My brother's a huge Cubs fan and I'm so hoping the best for them.

[Jonny Come Lately]

Forgot to post earlier on this week but just wanted to post happy birthday wishes for the veteran Formula One commentator Murray Walker, who I believe turned 93 on Monday! :birthday: It may seem weird to celebrate a commentator's birthday but Murray is a man who has literally seen it in all in F1 going back to the very first race in 1950! He was once called 'Muddly Talker' for some of the mistakes he made during his race commentaries, but his enthusiasm and love for the sport always shone through. I saw a documentary once on his life and career, which was fascinating. I should probably post some videos of his commentary when I have a bit more time, some of them are very funny.

[Freypower]

Forgot to post earlier on this week but just wanted to post happy birthday wishes for the veteran Formula One commentator Murray Walker, who I believe turned 93 on Monday! :birthday: It may seem weird to celebrate a commentator's birthday but Murray is a man who has literally seen it in all in F1 going back to the very first race in 1950! He was once called 'Muddly Talker' for some of the mistakes he made during his race commentaries, but his enthusiasm and love for the sport always shone through. I saw a documentary once on his life and career, which was fascinating. I should probably post some videos of his commentary when I have a bit more time, some of them are very funny.

And Prost is in the lead! Except for the cars in front of him! :rofl:

[Jonny Come Lately]

As promised - a highlight reel of famous Walker's famous 'Murrayisms'!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0TZ_YLQSgg

Also amusing is this old advert for Pizza Hut from the mid-1990s, which features Murray and Damon Hill. I've also posted the video of the outtakes from the advert, which I think is even funnier!

Advert:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rKhCeHlULM

Outtakes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nafnclzeOYo

EDIT: On a vaguely related note, I've just remembered one of my favourite pieces of commentary from the late darts commentator Sid Waddell. After one particularly outstanding performance, Waddell sagely observed:

'There's only one word for that. Magic darts!'

[buffyfan145]

The Cubs are going to the World Series!!!!! :yay: That was such an amazing game to watch last night. For those that don't know the Cubs used to have a "curse" going back to 1945 when a fan got angry he couldn't go to the game with his billy goat and he said the Cubs would never go to the World Series again. It took them 71 years but they're finally going back to the World Series!!! :D They're going to play the Cleveland Indians too and they haven't won a World Series since 1948, while the Cubs' last WS win was 1908. So either way it's going to be a fantastic series.

I'm so happy for my brother, my friends that are Cubs fans, and all the Cubs fans. They've waited so long for this. I actually started crying when they won because I was so happy for them. LOL :)

[Annoying Twit]

Very pleased to see Shakey Byrne win British Superbikes. There's some life in the old codgers yet.

http://www.shakey.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Shakey-Spain-Test-4-Poster-JJ-350x236.jpg

[AlreadyGone95]

The Cubs are going to the World Series!!!!! :yay: That was such an amazing game to watch last night. For those that don't know the Cubs used to have a "curse" going back to 1945 when a fan got angry he couldn't go to the game with his billy goat and he said the Cubs would never go to the World Series again. It took them 71 years but they're finally going back to the World Series!!! :D They're going to play the Cleveland Indians too and they haven't won a World Series since 1948, while the Cubs' last WS win was 1908. So either way it's going to be a fantastic series.

I'm so happy for my brother, my friends that are Cubs fans, and all the Cubs fans. They've waited so long for this. I actually started crying when they won because I was so happy for them. LOL :)

I've always liked the Cubs because I grew up watching some of their games on WGN. I'm super excited to see them in the World Series. Hopefully, they can win it all!

[buffyfan145]

I've always liked the Cubs because I grew up watching some of their games on WGN. I'm super excited to see them in the World Series. Hopefully, they can win it all!

I hope so too!!! :D I remember watching the games on WGN too and back in the 90s when Harry Caray was still alive and calling the games. I oddly remember doing a lot of my homework after school as my brother watched a day game.

[Jonny Come Lately]

I was very pleased with this weekend's football results - Liverpool beat West Bromwich Albion 2-1 (a team who have often caused us problems in the last few years) which takes us joint top of the league, while my other team Tranmere Rovers also won 3-0. :yay:

I am also happy to say that Jose Mourinho's first return to Chelsea as Manchester United manager went well. For Chelsea. ;-)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37670362http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37670362

[Freypower]

I was very pleased with this weekend's football results - Liverpool beat West Bromwich Albion 2-1 (a team who have often caused us problems in the last few years) which takes us joint top of the league, while my other team Tranmere Rovers also won 3-0. :yay:

I am also happy to say that Jose Mourinho's first return to Chelsea as Manchester United manager went well. For Chelsea. ;-)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37670362http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37670362

Didn't it. Not so special now, is he?!:evil:

Congratulations to the Cubs!

[LovinGlennGirl]

GO CUBS!!!!

[AlreadyGone95]

I hope so too!!! :D I remember watching the games on WGN too and back in the 90s when Harry Caray was still alive and calling the games. I oddly remember doing a lot of my homework after school as my brother watched a day game.

I'm too young to remember Harry Caray, but I grew up watching his son and grandson, Skip (RIP) and Chip announce the Atlanta Braves games. Chip is still announcing the Braves games alongside Joe Simpson.
My mom likes to watch almost any baseball game no matter what teams are playing, so since WGN aired both Cubs and White Sox games, I saw a lot of their games in the early 2000s (around the time of Sammy Sosa's heyday.) I spent a lot of weekday afternoons mostly listening to ball games while doing homework at the kitchen table.

[buffyfan145]

I'm too young to remember Harry Caray, but I grew up watching his son and grandson, Skip (RIP) and Chip announce the Atlanta Braves games. Chip is still announcing the Braves games alongside Joe Simpson.
My mom likes to watch almost any baseball game no matter what teams are playing, so since WGN aired both Cubs and White Sox games, I saw a lot of their games in the early 2000s (around the time of Sammy Sosa's heyday.) I spent a lot of weekday afternoons mostly listening to ball games while doing homework at the kitchen table.

I remember Skip and Chip too as before Harry died they used to come a lot when the Braves were in town, and then Chip did the Cubs games for awhile with Steve Stone after Harry died. I too remember the Sammy Sosa days and that home run chase, which is tainted now. LOL

[LovinGlennGirl]

I too remember the Sammy Sosa days and that home run chase, which is tainted now. LOL

I remember the home run chase too, it was awesome and exciting. It wasn't tainted then, just fun. :blueblob:

[MortSahlFan]

NBA Basketball starts tonight!

[LovinGlennGirl]

World Series just starting...Go Cubbies :)

[AlreadyGone95]

The Indians took game 1, but it's only the beginning.

[buffyfan145]

Totally agree and looking forward to game 2. :D I also loved FOX used Tom Petty's song "The Waiting" before the game started as it is very fitting.

[buffyfan145]

Cubs won last night!!! :yay: Great game and it's been awesome seeing Kyle Schwarber be able to come back and play again after he got injured earlier this season. Excited for game 3 tomorrow in Chicago and my current favorite Cubbie Kyle "The Professor" Hendricks pitching!!! :D

[Jonny Come Lately]

Hope no one minds but I've been meaning to ask a question - in American team sports is it common for there to be multiple teams who play the same sport in the same city with a rivalry between the two or is it usually 'one city, one team' in each sport?

I know that in US soccer there are now two teams in New York, which is similar to in British football where quite a few of the big cities have two teams:
Birmingham - Aston Villa and Birmingham City
Bristol - Bristol City and Bristol Rovers
Liverpool - Liverpool and Everton
Manchester - Manchester United and Manchester City
Nottingham - Nottingham Forest and Notts County
Sheffield - Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday
Stoke on Trent - Stoke City and Port Vale

London has about a dozen clubs in the Football League, although there are some big cities such as Leeds and Newcastle which only have one club. It's a bit different in a sport like cricket, which is played at a county level (Lancashire, Warwickshire etc.). Rugby is more like football in that the teams take the name of the city or town, although it tends to be more popular in certain areas (there are several places that are not especially successful in football which are rugby strongholds and represented at the top level in one or both of the rugby codes - union or league - Bristol and Hull are good examples).

[buffyfan145]

JCL, it's totally common in American sports too with teams that are close together, even though most will be teams that are if different states. In baseball there are big rivalries between the New York Yankees and Mets, Chicago Cubs and White Sox, then in California the San Francisco Giants and Oakland As do as they are right across the San Francisco Bay and very close together. The Giants and LA Dodgers still have their rivalry that goes back to when they were in New York in the beginning of the sport (they both moved to California in the 1950s/60s).

There's similar ones in American football, basketball, and hockey if a city has more than one team too.

[buffyfan145]

So happy the Cubs won last night and they'll be going back to Cleveland tomorrow for Game 6!!! :D This has been so stressful to watch but last night's game was great. LOL

[Jonny Come Lately]

JCL, it's totally common in American sports too with teams that are close together, even though most will be teams that are if different states. In baseball there are big rivalries between the New York Yankees and Mets, Chicago Cubs and White Sox, then in California the San Francisco Giants and Oakland As do as they are right across the San Francisco Bay and very close together. The Giants and LA Dodgers still have their rivalry that goes back to when they were in New York in the beginning of the sport (they both moved to California in the 1950s/60s).

There's similar ones in American football, basketball, and hockey if a city has more than one team too.

Thank you very much! Yeah, I can definitely see the similarities. The rivalry between the San Francisco Giants and Oakland As strikes me as being a bit like that between Liverpool and Manchester United - although United are not a city rival to us like Everton are, they are only about 30 miles away, and if anything the fact they're from a different city makes it even spicier. Another example is the East Anglian derby, where Norwich City and Ipswich Town are the only league clubs in their respective counties (Norfolk and Suffolk) and so there is an extremely intense rivalry between the two.

[AlreadyGone95]

In college football, most states have in state rivalries (Georgia Vs. Georgia Tech, Alabama vs. Auburn, Florida vs. Florida State, Clemson vs. South Carolina etc). Usually, the last game of the regular season is the game against the in-state rival.

Well, there's going to be a game 7 in the World Series!!!(Cubs beat the Indians 9-3.) Go Cubs!!! One more win, and the 108 year winless streak will finally be over.

[buffyfan145]

I'm so excited for Game 7 tonight!!! :yay: Last night was awesome for the Cubs and it's always great when we get a game 7 in baseball. Just feel bad for the CMA Awards and other TV shows on tonight as their ratings are going to be so bad with this historic game but they had no idea how this would turn out.

[buffyfan145]

The Cubs won the World Series!!!!!!!! :yay: That was one of the most crazy games I've ever seen and went into extra innings and had a 17 min rain delay. My emotions were all over the place and my brother was so happy he was crying last night. It was amazing and they broke their 108 year drought. Now they totally need to make a movie about their GM Theo Epstein as he first helped the Boston Red Sox break their cruse to win the World Series and now did the same with the Cubs.

[LovinGlennGirl]

My Cubbies WON!!!!!!!
"I ain't afraid of No Goat" Bill Murray's t-shirt.
I was crying too. Hell froze over again.
:headbang::blueblob::heart::applause::partytime:

[AlreadyGone95]

I'm so very happy that the cubs won. The curse has finally been broken. :yay::yay: I know that Chicago wil be celebrating for a long time to come.:partytime:

[DivineDon]

The Irish rugby team beat the New Zealand 'All Blacks' for the first time in 111 years on Saturday in Chicago! !! Now THAT'S a sporting sensation! :)

[buffyfan145]

I'm heading up to Cleveland for my first NBA game and to see the Cavs!!! :D I've only been to high school and Ohio State college basketball games so this will be my first time ever at a professional basketball game. Plus, it'll also be my first time going to Cleveland as we've only ever driven through there before. Columbus has a lot of sports here with Ohio State, our NHL hockey team and MLS soccer team, and Cincinnati is so much closer for pro baseball or football games that we never really go to Cleveland. Plus, I'm glad to get away from all the election coverage for a bit. LOL

[buffyfan145]

Had a great time at the Cavs game even if they lost. LOL :D It is a lot more fun watching it in person than on TV and how the whole crowd gets involved. Also they had a player for Cleveland with the last name Frye.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

CONGRATULATIONS TO UVA!!!

NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL 2019 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS


GO HOOS!!

[Brooke]

Yes!!!!

Since Duke went down, they were my pick! Great game! :applause:

[Glennsallnighter]

Congratulations to UVA on their win!