Exiled in Texas

My new favourite quote...

My shining moment...... justice for the Ninety-sinks

Just back from Barca - Club Americ game at Cowboys stadium in TX. Gotta say that for a dome stadium it's a heck of a place to watch a game. Especially with the video screens that they have. For those that don't know....the video screen hangs down the middle of the pitch from about the Penalty Arc to the other Penalty arc - yes, that's a video screen that is 50m long and 22m high. There are also two smaller screen on each end of the big screen for those behind the goals to watch. And they show the game live. The roof does slide open on the stadium "to let God watch his beloved Cowboys", but thankfully it was close today as it was 108/43 degrees outside so the AC was welcome. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v207/pmrye/08062011246.jpg A bit of a recap for VI (and anyone else interested) No Messi or Puyol, but Xavi, Iniest, Silva and Pique played. Silva scored he best goal of the game and won Man of Match but I thought he was run close by Thiago for best player. Silva worked the channels really well in the first half when the 1st team was out there....great running, and movement. Faded in the second half when the subs started and Xavi and Inesta went off. It looked like they played 442, but really that's their defensive formation and usually it was more 352 with Kieta pushing up into Midfield when the had possession (which was most of the time). Thiago Silva Pedro R Xavi Iniesta Adriano Abidal Pique Kieta Busquets Valdez The game was really dying in the last 10 mins but a couple of late subs in the 2nd half #30 Deulofeu and #27 (unknown stocky player) decide to run at America and made some great interchanges to press the goal 3-4 times. Deulofeu also stayed on his feet well in the final moment of the game in the Penalty Area close to the by-line to slip the ball in front of goal where Kieta was waiting (looked like an OG to me (on the super huge replay screens) but they gave him the second goal of the game). Final observation - the mainly hispanic crowd was probably 70% Barca and only 30% Club America, and they booed Club America big time. Surprising as when I saw Chelsea vs Club America at the same stadium the crowd was mainly Club America fans. Must be the lure of the Barca bandwagon.

Gary Neville Gaap Stam Gruud Nistleroy

Two things happen here - 1st, ticketless dickhead is then charged with entering stadium without a ticket - probably some sort of trespass charge just to further add to the lilst of charges. 2nd - club installs CC at every turnstile/entrance. Then at any time can find when/where dickhead entered, identify ticket numbers redeemed at that location/time and therefore link back to purchaser.

Do you ever try and plan it when Newcaslte have to two back to back home games in the space of a week? My connection to Newcastle was through Uni and then staying on for another couple of years to work in the city. I have no family or any other reason to come to NCL so it's coming for the game only and only for the weekend. Would be nice to catch a mid-week game somewhere else to double up the experience while I'm in the UK on vacation, but I can't see ever being able to fit in two games unless I get extended business trip to the UK during the season.

As an "out-of-towner" who must make a special trip to Newcastle (or even just to UK) to see Newcastle United play, the membership fee wouldn't bother me one bit. By the time that I have factored in air travel, hotel, car etc plus decided where in the ground I wanted tickets (real good seats rather than L7) then the additional membership fees would be negligible in the big scheme of things. An extra £20 when I'm spending a grand or more for the trip is not going to make any impact. I see it affecting locals moreso than overseas visitors. People who don't go regularly due to costs, and want to buy tickets as a special treat for the kiddo's birthday or special occasion. The extra £20 to someone who scraped together just enough for cheap tickets to the back of L7 might be enough to stop them from going.

i've often wondered and asked about this in various places. whats to stop players just saying "nah f*** the draft, i don't want to go there" The only way that players in the USA can be eligible to play in the NFL is to enter the draft. They are then either selected by a team or go un-drafted and become free agents. Until a player goes through the draft they are not eligible to play in the NFL. Players may not want to go the city/team that drafts them - or not for the money being offered, but their only option is to hold out and refuse to sign. However the team that drafted that player still holds their rights, unless they trade them to someone else (or in the case of the NHL, they can re-enter the draft after 3 years (i think this only applies to overseas players). But when you consider the salaries on offer, effectively players can go to Cleveland or Grimsby and become millionaires or go work in Home Depot filling shelves. Most sign.

Ah, but there is a reward for having a crappy season - you get the best player in the draft (the next rooney). The worst team gets the best player, and the best team gets the 20th best player. After a few seasons at the top your talent level is thin, and the teams at the bottom get a good talented crop of youngsters to help them get better. But you need a closed league and a draft to make this work - no free agent signings until they pass through the draft so you can't hide players and then bring them in.

To stop the Franchises from over spending, they install salary caps. Hard caps in the NFL- which works, but with a soft cap in NBA (allow payment of a tax to the league for over spending on big name players) and therefore the NBA owners are loosing money because they can't control themselves.

I love the open league concept that exists with promotion and relegation - something that is missing from US sports. And I can't see closed league franchises ever taking off unless the "Haves" decide to run off and create their own super league (the Euro League concept we hear about every now/then). But what about the "farm team/minor league" concept that baseball has, and is in use in Germany and maybe other Euro leagues. Would there be benefit from Newcastle having their own minor league team, say in League 1, and using that to develop their younger players. Perhaps legitimising the reserve league into a true league. So instead of loaning players to just any club to develop them, they go to a club that is connected to the parent club.

LOL Colo and David Luiz.......the hair pair

If he somehow gets lucky and manages to get something right, he's going to make an absolute big deal out of it of course.....but even a broken clock is right twice per day.

The american system works because their leagues are the pinnacle of their sports (American Football, basketball, baseball, hockey etc) in terms of salaries. So players accept the work restraints because of the salary received. Soccer/Football is a true global game, so no one league can effectivly impose restrictive work practices without it effecting the players decisions to move elsewhere. Hence why we'll never see a salary cap.

Other than the 4 mentioned only Spurs and Citeh have more games on TV and us. We hardly plummeted.

F*** me!! Do those socks really have R and L written on them to make sure you put them on the right feet?

Three 30 minute thirds??? Well, only if FIFA agree to ammend Law 7 that states: "The match shall last two equal periods" Imagine the keeper who has to look into the sun twice vs just once for the other guy. I'm not saying that they shouldn't have water breaks - just plan for one each half. Either planned at the 23rd minute, or at a natural stoppage around the 22nd/23rd minute. Players gete a drink etc, and then resume play with the restart due from the natural stoppage.

I was thinking of doing something like this but I didn't have the software to do so! Be my guest if you want to use it for an avatar

Vive le Toon http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v207/pmrye/Viveletoon.jpg

http://insiders.aber.ac.uk/blog/adam/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/the-fast-show_001745_1_MainPicture.jpg

I went to college at Nevilles Cross....shame what's happened to the old building, but good times.....good times

Frikkin Humbug makers..... Can't even get simple stripes right

Alreet then. Classy. Everton fans? Haha - I was sure that they were quotes from RTG.

I'm pretty sure he'd like to live on a world of his own. Starting forward

tout l'amour que j'aime, comme moi