Villa are looking for a new shirt sponsor, some wag on H&V suggested this...
Friday, January 20, 2006
Practical Jokes
Little gem hidden in this good interview in the Telegraph
"Cooley's decision to return home is, says Jones, a 'sickening blow', though one he fully understands. 'England are going to lose a very, very good bowling coach and I'm going to lose a very good friend.' Just that morning the two of them had played a practical joke on a classroom full of coaches. The set-up was that Jones would be helping Cooley with a seminar on 'How to handle an elite athlete', but instead he turned up late, launched a volley of invective and stormed out."
"Cooley's decision to return home is, says Jones, a 'sickening blow', though one he fully understands. 'England are going to lose a very, very good bowling coach and I'm going to lose a very good friend.' Just that morning the two of them had played a practical joke on a classroom full of coaches. The set-up was that Jones would be helping Cooley with a seminar on 'How to handle an elite athlete', but instead he turned up late, launched a volley of invective and stormed out."
Sunday, January 15, 2006
End of an Era
Just as I feared, Denver put an end to New England's dream of a third straight Superbowl win, the home team coming through 27-13
The game turned on a single play - with Denver leading 10-6, New England drove to within five yards, and Tom Brady was intercepted in the end zone, and the ball was returned the length of the field to NE's one yard line - one play later, instead of being behind, Denver had an eleven point cushion.
Call myself a big fan, but having been excited all week, I somehow inexplicably forgot to record the game, and inadvertantly caught sight of the result on the BBC website first thing this morning. An anticlimatic end in all respects - I did manage to catch the re-run this afternoon...
Ironically, I've today found the website of the UK Patriots - to think I've been celebrating in silence these past few years. At least I now have somewhere to drown my sorrows...
The game turned on a single play - with Denver leading 10-6, New England drove to within five yards, and Tom Brady was intercepted in the end zone, and the ball was returned the length of the field to NE's one yard line - one play later, instead of being behind, Denver had an eleven point cushion.
Call myself a big fan, but having been excited all week, I somehow inexplicably forgot to record the game, and inadvertantly caught sight of the result on the BBC website first thing this morning. An anticlimatic end in all respects - I did manage to catch the re-run this afternoon...
Ironically, I've today found the website of the UK Patriots - to think I've been celebrating in silence these past few years. At least I now have somewhere to drown my sorrows...
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Winter in Foxboro
It's that time of the year again - the NFL play-offs have begun, and the New England Patriots are looking menacing.
For those of you unfamiliar with American Football, the Patriots have won 3 of the last 4 Superbowls, and are looking for a unprecendented third in a row. After an injury-devastated season, they limped into the play-offs with a 10-6 record by virtue of being the best team in a very poor division. However, most of their sick list victims are now back, and they clicked into gear with a 28-3 demolition of Jacksonville on Saturday night. New England now travel to Denver, courtesy of the Pittsburgh Steelers upsetting the Bengals in Cincinatti on Sunday evening, which means THEY travel to favourites Indianapolis rather than the Pats.
I started following the Patriots when I first watched the sport on Channel 4 in the mid-eighties. They got to the Superbowl that year (where they were thrashed by Chicago), and for most of the next fifteen years, they were the whipping boys of the NFL (a popular Gulf War I joke was why did Saddam bomb the Superbowl ? It was the only target guaranteed not to have Patriots). However, the arrival of coach Bill Belichick and his trademark aggressive and unpredictable defence, coupled with star quarterback Tom Brady, means the Pats have turned into arguably the best team of all-time. Their first Superbowl win, where they upset the highly-fancied St Louis Rams with the last kick of the game, was one of the most exciting sports events I've ever seen.
Denver's going to be a tough game on Saturday (1am Sunday here), and I wouldn't be surprised if the great run of 10 successive play-off victories came to an end at the hands of some hungrier Broncos. But until that day, nobody is going to want to play New England - they know how to win.
For those of you unfamiliar with American Football, the Patriots have won 3 of the last 4 Superbowls, and are looking for a unprecendented third in a row. After an injury-devastated season, they limped into the play-offs with a 10-6 record by virtue of being the best team in a very poor division. However, most of their sick list victims are now back, and they clicked into gear with a 28-3 demolition of Jacksonville on Saturday night. New England now travel to Denver, courtesy of the Pittsburgh Steelers upsetting the Bengals in Cincinatti on Sunday evening, which means THEY travel to favourites Indianapolis rather than the Pats.
I started following the Patriots when I first watched the sport on Channel 4 in the mid-eighties. They got to the Superbowl that year (where they were thrashed by Chicago), and for most of the next fifteen years, they were the whipping boys of the NFL (a popular Gulf War I joke was why did Saddam bomb the Superbowl ? It was the only target guaranteed not to have Patriots). However, the arrival of coach Bill Belichick and his trademark aggressive and unpredictable defence, coupled with star quarterback Tom Brady, means the Pats have turned into arguably the best team of all-time. Their first Superbowl win, where they upset the highly-fancied St Louis Rams with the last kick of the game, was one of the most exciting sports events I've ever seen.
Denver's going to be a tough game on Saturday (1am Sunday here), and I wouldn't be surprised if the great run of 10 successive play-off victories came to an end at the hands of some hungrier Broncos. But until that day, nobody is going to want to play New England - they know how to win.
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