- 09:57 PM
- 11/20/09
Totally agree with JJ Cohen's freedom of speech was never questioned. In fact you'd have to argue that Liverpool fans were simply using their own freedom of speech to get their own point across.
Consequences people, there are usually consequences when you say something factually wrong in the public arena
posted by Fence at 05:20 PM on August 25
While I'm all for punishing fakers this does seem a little extreme to me. Considering some of the lighter punishments that have been handed out for, imo, more serious fouls
posted by Fence at 02:33 PM on August 19
I'd love to get a translation of the commentary. Anyone speak Italian?
posted by Fence at 04:59 AM on January 29
I don't think it is a "homosexual" act. It is rape and as with most rapes it is all about power.
"According to a state police report, an assistant coach told the other coaches during training camp "that some sort of hazing incident involving broomsticks was happening." Another coach walked into a cabin to see "a player on his stomach on the ground, with his legs spread open," while a teammate held a broomstick, the police report said. The coach told the players to "cut it out" and the group broke up."
Cut it out is not an appropriate reaction to rape, of any sort.
posted by Fence at 04:06 AM on September 25
wfrazerjr proper hurling is more fun. Canada does have some GAA clubs so you might be able to see some yourself, if you really want to :)
posted by Fence at 04:00 AM on June 03
CNN are just reporting that FIFA have lifted the ban
posted by Fence at 05:26 AM on May 29
Aye, the supporters in Limerick got treated to a three man haka at their celebrations yesterday, that's a sign that we have more southern players than we're used to :) Course it isn't great news for Irish rugby, the big three might manage to gather a couple of quid together, but in comparison to the major English and French clubs they have a miniscule budget.
posted by Fence at 10:16 AM on May 26
Chelsea are going through managers like a hot knife through butter. To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of Grant, but it seemed likely that no matter the result from Moscow he'd be shown the door.
posted by Fence at 06:03 AM on May 25
A recent article in Scientific American says that there is a lot of work being put into preventing these break-downs. Hard to tell if it'll work or not, but at least something is being done. It also points out that although there is speculation over inherited defects, as of yet, there isn't really any proof one way or the other.
posted by Fence at 07:00 AM on May 18
A lot of the problems with rehoming racehorses is that they need a lot of work to turn them from animals who only need to run into animals that are safe to handle and can listen to what their rider wants. It isn't the fault of the horses, they aren't trained to obey aids that a general all-rounder needs to learn. To be totally honest, if the killings are done humanely then I don't have a huge problem with it. It is sad, and in a perfect world it wouldn't be done, but this isn't a perfect world.
posted by Fence at 06:56 AM on May 18
Horse-racing is most dangerous sport out there for the athletes involved. I've no great love for flat racing. The horses are too young to be running like that so many times in close succession. Not to mention over bred. They run for a year and then either end up on the rubbish pile or retire in glory. But I still enjoy the odd National Hunt race. In many ways more dangerous than flat racing, but the horses are around for so much longer, often becoming such iconic figures.
posted by Fence at 07:48 AM on May 04
I wanted Liverpool to win. Mainly because of my dislike for Drogba. But then the whole Lampard thing... So I was happy for him. Think I'll be cheering on Man Utd in the final though.
posted by Fence at 04:37 AM on May 01
There are always going to be the "but what about X sport" in these lists. That's part of the fun, imo, seeing what one person would include and another would exclude. That being said, most of those on the list look like they'd be worth a trip. I'd include the Super Bowl too though, and I'm not even American.
posted by Fence at 04:08 AM on April 30
So he's the best player, does wonders for my Fantasy team too squealy, and yet we still aren't fans :)
posted by Fence at 07:36 AM on April 28
Also JJ I have to agree with you about Drogba. He is another footballer that I just can't stand, purely because of his skills in falling over.
posted by Fence at 05:26 AM on April 25
Or to put it another way, why do people take such an instant dislike to him? - I'd agree owlhouse, only there are those out there who are rabid fans of his, proclaiming him the greatest footballer of the time. And of course there is a segment of female fans out there who think he is sex on legs. I really don't see it. To me he looks like a big gangly calf, only without the cute factor. I think it is because those earrings he tends to wear remind me of the ear tags that cattle wear.
posted by Fence at 05:22 AM on April 25
I'm not sure if this warrants an FPP. So I won't cry if it gets deleted, just thought it was an interesting clip, and perspective from some former players. I've never been a huge fan of Ronaldo. He scores some great goals, but overall, as Dunphy says, his behaviour on the pitch makes me admire him less. Yes, I hate that I'm agreeing with Eamonn Dunphy, but it happens sometimes.
posted by Fence at 03:49 AM on April 25
It's a close run thing between BOD & ROG, especially given how crap the rugby has been this year. Course for real Irish sports stars you'd want to mention the likes of Joe Canning or Colm Cooper.
posted by Fence at 05:35 AM on March 18
The reaction here so far is mostly positive. There are a few comments being made regarding the fact that business man Denis O'Brien will be paying half of Trappatoni's salary. I'm in a positive frame of mind at the moment, so I say yay!
posted by Fence at 03:44 AM on February 14
The football supporter's federation don't seem very taken with the idea. Can't say that I blame them.
posted by Fence at 03:16 AM on February 08
Update to that Freakonomics article catfish linked to is this Is there another way to eliminate doping
posted by Fence at 03:10 AM on January 30
Dog racing is an obscure sport? huh.
posted by Fence at 04:17 AM on December 03
Interesting article. Although the repetition that Suriname is country was a little over done for my tastes. V interesting though.
posted by Fence at 04:26 AM on November 02
I am Irish and I have no problem with all the Irish jokes that abound out there. Well I too am Irish, red-hair, freckles and everything, and while I don't have a "problem" with Oirishness it can be a bit annoying. Most of the time problems like this are because of history and the fact that one term can have so much more animosity loaded into it than another. Just because one person doesn't have a problem with something doesn't mean it isn't offensive. After all I think the idea of snacking on babies is a great one. Other people may object, of course, I paid attention to Fat Bastard when he told me about Baby back ribs
posted by Fence at 05:23 AM on October 23
I don't think so owlhouse, because that is still rugby, just a different style of rugby. That being said I really, really don't want England to win. But I don't want SA to win either. So it is a lose-lose situation. I'm guessing once the match starts I'll cheer for SA. It seems to me though that no team has really gone out and won a big match, instead their opposition have lost games through mistakes. Scotland could have won against Argentina if they'd had a bit of belief earlier. New Zealand made plenty of mistakes in their game, and blaming the ref is just taking the loss badly (though it was a forward pass). Course I read articles like this on on The Roar which has lines like "there are some damning statistics about a spike in women requiring refuge on Sunday October the seventh" and it makes me glad that we don't take our rugby that seriously.
posted by Fence at 03:32 AM on October 16
We tend to have a love/hate relationship with Aussie Rules owlhouse. We love to see Irish fellas doing well over there, but we hate to see them leave. Although Setanta and Aisaike O hAilpin manage to combine playing AFL and club GAA games, which is nice :)
posted by Fence at 03:13 AM on October 04
England are rubbish, and maybe that is why I can support them. I know that they haven't a hope of winning. Although could you imagine the media if they did.... Maybe I can't support them after all ;) I don't buy the whole "support the HM" guff either JJ, I just don't understand it, although i do tend to support Scotland most of the time, if they aren't playing Ireland of course, so I'm going against the norm for that match. I can't see Argentina joining the Six Nations. Not under the current set up at any rate. The clubs would not be happy at another weekend lost. I would love to see them getting into one of the yearly competitions, but it'd probably be better for them to join the Tri-Nations. I do think that for all the alterations to the laws of the game the IRB would be better off trying to rearrange the fixtures. The Six Nations should have a relegation aspect to it, that would encourage the other European "minnows" and offer them more competition when promoted.
posted by Fence at 11:53 AM on October 03
Oh, and all good GAA-girls are anti-Australia at the moment. Seeing as they are busy poaching our up and coming stars. ;)
posted by Fence at 03:27 AM on October 03
I know owlhouse, I know. As I've explained to some other people I have a soft spot for Martin Corry. Which is so weird because I don't like him at all. But I'd like to see Jason Robinson have another go.
posted by Fence at 03:25 AM on October 03
30 points is a large margin Ricardo. But you'll often find that a more "established" team will score a lot more in the second half after wearing down the opposition in the first. Plus, once one team is in the lead the other may take more chances and so play a riskier game, and the leading team can sit back and wait for the mistakes to happen. Your maths is right, 4 converted tries = 28 points. I've made my decisions for the next round; I'm going to be cheering on France when they play the All Blacks ; Argentina when they play Scotland ; Fiji when they play South Africa ; England when they play[12] Australia. I may burn in hell for some of those choices ;)
posted by Fence at 12:38 PM on October 02
On the one hand I can see the IRB's problem with this. It is against the rules. But then again, it isn't, because Paddy Power aren't paying the Tongans to dye their hair, it is just something they decided to do. I'll be cheering on Tonga, they played some great rugby this tournament, England, not so much.
posted by Fence at 08:48 AM on September 28
I don't know much about Austrian football but I can't say I agree with the petition. They may say they aren't criticising the players, but giving out that they don't play attractive football is, imo, criticising them. And if your team aren't able to play beautifully then all you can ask is that they try their best.
posted by Fence at 01:59 PM on September 25
When they were talking about it on the news they also showed footage of other similar incidents, like when Di Canio caught the ball after the opposition goalkeeper was injured (Video link). It is nice to see that spirit of sport still around.
posted by Fence at 09:52 AM on September 21
There is also a metafilter thread on the game.
posted by Fence at 04:48 AM on September 20
Howard T, both that FAI and Steven Staunton, the manager, have said that if Stephen Ireland had told the truth of course he would have been allowed to go home to be with her. If the reports are accurate it was the girlfriend who rang up, didn't get through to Ireland but told some official that there was an emergency, a granny had died, and that that he needed to come home. He then rang back, found out the truth, but went along with the lie.
posted by Fence at 04:34 AM on September 20
I'm guessing it was the girlfriend who didn't want the world to know about a personal loss like that. What right do any of us have to pry into his affairs? Should he have said a granny died? No. But wanting to keep a miscarriage personal is their right. He should have said there was a family emergency. But ever think that maybe he just wasn't thinking straight and wanted to get home to the presumably upset girlfriend? So a stupid stupid thing to do, but forgiveable, imo.
posted by Fence at 03:38 PM on September 16
I'm pretty speechless after our performance. Only winning 32-17! And so many mistakes. If it weren't for the equally rubbish warm-up matches I'd simply discount it as a one-off. Still, I'm determined to try and stay positive. After all we got our win, and our bonus point, and we can play so much better. I just hope this was the kick in the arse we needed. So far all the SH teams are totally outplaying the NH. New Zealand were superb. It took a little longer for the Wallabies and Springboks to get going but then easily disposed of the opposition. All the "home nations" had poor games, although Scotland probably put on the best performance, and Ireland the worst.
posted by Fence at 03:30 PM on September 09
Definitely Argentina! Maybe, for a non-Irish person. But seeing as the RWC sees three of the top 6 (I think) in the one group I'm very conflicted. I expect France to do well. I'd like to see Argentina do well. But over-riding all that I want Ireland to do very well. If Argentina win, then maybe we'll get a French reaction. Course if France win Argentina will be fired up for their match against us.
posted by Fence at 08:43 AM on September 07
I've always loved RWC's World in Union. Of course, it probably stands out more at the moment as almost every second ad on the telly at the moment features a clip :)
posted by Fence at 04:36 AM on September 07
Another training session, another injury to Wilkinson, no change there. I read somewhere that he has only started something like 7 games since winning the RWC 4 years ago. A huge loss for England. Luckily for us (Ireland) BOD seems to have recovered from that punch and will lineout against Namibia. I'm so looking forward to the start of the competition tonight. I just don't know whether to cheer for France or Argentina yet. And don't forget the fantasy league PIN: 16552-2771
posted by Fence at 03:32 AM on September 07
For those wondering King Henry's men did it again. Kilkenny won, outclassing Limerick for most of the match.
posted by Fence at 12:52 PM on September 02
There is hurling in the States boredom_08. Most clubs are under the control of the North American GAA County Board but those in New York fall under the jurisdiction of the New York GAA. And wherever you find a contingent of Irish immigrants you're bound to find some form of GAA eg Canada and Argentina
posted by Fence at 05:26 PM on September 01
Seeing as there was a bit of interest in my previous GAA post I figured I'd do one for the hurling final as well. And if there are any Irish people abroad who want to keep up to date RTE have all the details. Come on Limerick!
posted by Fence at 06:25 AM on August 31
Interesting comments over at The Roar about the conflict the club management had. Everyone always says that for the good of the game drug-takers need to be outed, but when it comes to a specific club's star player then management seem to adopt a blind eye approach.
posted by Fence at 03:22 AM on August 31
Sudden Cardiac Arrest in sports-people as been a big story here in Ireland for a few years now. Mainly due to the death of Cormac McAnallen (Gaelic footballer) and John McCall (rugby player) in 2004. Since then the GAA has undertaken to install defibrillators at all its clubs. I wonder do many football grounds have them? And people trained in their use.
posted by Fence at 03:19 AM on August 30
I saw this on the news this morning. The whole Rhys murder is such a tragedy, nice gesture from Liverpool.
posted by Fence at 10:28 AM on August 29
It is slightly over-written, but still, you just gotta love local sports fixtures.
posted by Fence at 05:46 AM on August 29
Thanks for the link tommytrump, really nice article.
posted by Fence at 05:39 AM on August 29
#3, still guaranteed to raise hackles in Irish footballing circles. Although my personal favourite is 43.
posted by Fence at 05:53 PM on August 04
It is a great little story until you look at the details and see that Man U sign around 30 similar aged kids every year, and that while there are some who make it, footballing talent at this age doesn't always result in a great professional. Still he is pretty good.
posted by Fence at 07:08 AM on August 03
There is a lot of bad news out this week isn't there Joey?
posted by Fence at 07:28 AM on July 27
sprman92 there are plenty of people who complain about horse-racing. But there is a world of difference between an underground industry that exists in order to create pain and suffering and one that is regulated, with rules regarding the proper treatment of animals, that exists to see horses run. And the whole Barbaro issue isn't an issue. That horse was put down to prevent further suffering, not because it wouldn't make more money. Sure you can argue that we are breeding horses that are more prone to broken legs and injuries like that, but, in a majority of cases, the anatomy and physiology of a horse's leg means that is the bone is broken nothing can be done. /derail. Nice link
posted by Fence at 04:00 AM on July 27
Deadly story JJ. Maybe they could award him an honourary win when he finishes :)
posted by Fence at 08:14 AM on July 26
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posted by Fence at 04:59 AM on July 26
Nice post JJ. And no I hate and despite Nesbitt. Okay, that is going a little far, but I usually don't like him as an actor. After his first big break, what was it? Cold Feet? you couldn't turn on the telly but he'd be there, flogging some BT crap. Still, I'm really enjoying Jekyll. One of de brudders is a big golf fan and has been saying for some time that McIlroy is the next big thing. Looks like it. You really should have kept a closer eye on that autograph.
posted by Fence at 04:57 AM on July 25
I was far too busy with Harry Potter and then catching up on Jekyll to watch any of the golf (or pay any attention to the tri nations, damnations), but I'm glad that Harington won. The Sunday Game (all about GAA) showed a clip of his father, or possibly grandfather, playing football in honour of his win, which was a nice tough.
posted by Fence at 03:36 AM on July 23
That was surprisingly funny. Poor old drowned Sheffield.
posted by Fence at 12:45 PM on July 12
German MNT keeper Enke in apparent suicide
.
Interesting post on Pitch Invasion about depression in sports stars.
And while I can sorta understand Drood's take on the method Enke used to commit suicide, I really don't think that people who haven't suffered from depression can't understand how it makes you think. And the way it messes with any rational thoughts.