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Baseball Primer Newsblog— The Best News Links from the Baseball Newsstand
Friday, February 01, 2013
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Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.
I've always been very anti-tattoo, but if I were drunk right now, I could see myself getting the cockerel transposed over a Star of David. Leave it to the French to do this in the most cowardly way possible. Up the Yids!
1 Swindon Town p 32 pts 58
2 Bournemouth p 33 pts 58
--------------------------------
3 Doncaster Rovers p 32 pts 58
4 Sheffield United p 32 pts 57
5 Yeovil Town p 32 pts 57
6 Tranmere Rovers p 33 pts 56
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7 Brentford p 31 pts 54
The top 3 have all changed managers during this season: Swindon are currently managerless. And Yeovil have won 8 games in a row. It's mayhem down there.
Spurs support abroad seems to draw a particular kind of violence, from thugs who may only be tangentially involved with actual football supporter groups, due to their associations with Jewish symbolism and Jewish identity.
Is DiCanio done in England? He got results, but he seems like a massive pain in the ass at the same time. Maybe he can be Lyon's next manager...
What I don't understand about Portpin's bid is that if they are successful, they'd essentially be stealing the club from the supporters which seems a very poor way to market your club and build goodwill in the community. Unless this is some kind of real estate grab by Portpin, which is beyond my knowledge of what's going on down there.
Yeah, the value of the stadium seems to be the real contention, so it makes sense that Portpin may be looking to asset strip the club.
I wonder of it was weird for Pompey fans to see Boateng and Muntari scoring goals against Barca last night. I haven't checked, but I wouldn't be surprised if 'Arry makes mention of it somehow, somewhere...
Shooty - I would not be surprised to see Di Canio surface somewhere else in England.
Oh, and Michael Dawson is getting a new contract at Spurs. I think it says a lot about Dawson that he refused to leave in the summer so he could fight for his place and damned if he hasn't earned back his starting spot. His passing has been frustrating this year, but he's adapted well to the high line and has been excellent defensively.
Yes I know about assistant referees.
Portsmouth 2 - Barca 0... Huge upset on the cards tonight!!
Subs: Lopes, Kone, Ferri, Dabo, Malbranque, Briand, Ghezzal.
Tottenham: Friedel, Walker, Gallas, Vertonghen, Assou-Ekotto, Dembele, Parker, Lennon, Holtby, Bale, Adebayor.
Subs: Lloris, Dempsey, Naughton, Dawson, Sigurdsson, Livermore, Caulker.
Is the new Dembele right-footed at least?
The quarterfinal draw is March 15th.
Rosell has reportedly said in Israel (of all places) that Tito Villanova will not be back for the second leg against Milan, which really makes me worry about his prognosis.
Liverpool as the Lannisters explains so much.
I wouldn't bet against them making the last eight.
That job is snake-bitten. Literally.
If Spurs can't win it, I'd be pretty happy if The Expendables do.
Sure, but they are not without a history of miracles in Europe. Might as well go for it!
"Waah, no fair using players against us."
Apparently they think it's unfair Drogba was allowed to play. Imo, if you are going to protest a players eligibility, do it before the game you turds. It's not like it was a secret.
Chelsea have to cut bait with Torres after the season. He's not good now and you can't bring him off the bench.
I'm sitting on my ass in Burlington, MA and the day Galastaray signed Drogba I knew he was playing in that Champions League game. The moment the ink was dry Schalke should have been contacting UEFA (or FIFA, whoever is appropriate). It's nearly a month now and with neither FIFA nor UEFA stepping in to stop him from playing I think it would be terribly unfair for this result to be overturned.
That's a nice picture of Moz and an unidentified fan.
I very rarely get what I want, though.
Yep. He was on the team, and not cup-tied. If you don't want him to play, assume he will.
He's a dink?
I really don't think it's complicated with Suarez. I think he's just an jackass.
Well done.
Viktoria Plzen - Fenerbahce
Benfica - Bordeaux
Anzhi - Newcastle
Stuttgart - Lazio
Tottenham - Inter
Levante - Rubin Kazan
Basel - Zenit
Ajax/Steaua - Chelsea
team listed first has the first leg at home
Ajax and Steaua are in extra time.
Bale time!
Bummed that its Steaua as I would have loved Ajax as an opponent. But loved Hazard's goal. It's taken some adjustment but I personally think that he's lived up to expectations. Were lucky that Wenger's such a cheap old bastard.
That's about as good as you'll see in a Europa Round of 16. Can't wait to see what the line is on that match.
For the first time, fans in the United States will be able to watch the Algarve Cup matches live on television. All four U.S. matches of the Algarve Cup are being distributed in the USA by Integrated Sports Media for live viewing on both cable and satellite pay-per-view via iN Demand, Avail-TVN, DIRECTV and DISH for a suggested retail price of $14.95 per match.
What's the point of even bothering to televise these? I'm not spending $60 to watch the women play in a 2nd rate tournament. (And I don't really mean "2nd rate" as a huge insult but it obviously ain't the WC or Olympics.)
I genuinely have no idea. I'm personally hoping that this means an online stream will be available somewhere (I would actually go to Portugal to see the tournament in person [I have relatives there who I am moderately culturally obligated to see at some point soon], but I'm actually going to Lisbon the next weekend and there's no way that I can afford several trips), but, honestly, I have the same question as you.
So the extortionate pricing is them trying to make it back.
That said, the Algarve Cup is a pretty big deal in women's soccer. Since women's soccer doesn't have much appeal beyond the elite international game, it's basically a yearly World Cup. Just like how the Olympics is basically a pukka World Cup too.
Thanks for the gif, Mr. Friedel, sir.
Scott Parker attempted 107 passes (89% success) in 85 minutes against Lyon. One hundred and f**king seven. I would really like to know if this is a feature or a bug of the AVB game plan. For me, Dembele's equalizer underscored the need to give him a midfield partner whose positioning he trusts so he has the confidence to move forward and get himself into shooting positions like that more often.
I'm really impressed with Lyon and their manager. They got the tactics spot on in both games and forced Spurs to beat them with individual brilliance. Lisandro is fat and Lacazette seems wasteful, but with better contributions from their wide forwards that's a very very dangerous side. I just wish Spurs had played a little better and tested their defense more, but I think we saw enough to know Lyon are quite difficult to beat when they are up for it.
Results forgive any amount of strangeness though. He's not in Roy Keane territory.
Would Huddlestone and Dembele work? Huddlestone isn't the most mobile but that means he will stay back. His passing would definitely help Bale and Lennon - although I guess AVB wouldn't let a low energy guy play big games for him.
This is the first time I've seen that a player is delivering lots of well-aimed passes is used in arguing against him. Drillo would be proud.
Spurs have absolutely no strikers if something happens to Adebayor unless they want to give Shaq Coulthirst a chance. It's a little nutty.
Wouldn't they use Bale?
I think the best solution is to figure out a way to get Dembele and Parker to play together more effectively. AVB has clearly been trying things out. We've seen Parker tasked with staying back and refusing to join the attack or even receive a pass, we've seen Parker given freedom to plow forward and Dembele tasked with holding his position, we've seen them in a more fluid double pivot. Nothing's worked yet. But Carroll doesn't look quite ready, Huddlestone is too slow, and Jake Livermore was so terrible this fall that even though he has the tools to be a reasonable Parker replacement, he scares me. The best solution is still for AVB, Parker and Dembele to figure out a partnership that works.
The other option is to see if Holtby can play a deep-lying playmaker kind of role alongside Dembele. His defensive workrate and toughness have been extremely impressive so far. I wouldn't try Holtby there against any of the top seven clubs, but in games against a parked bus, it might be worth a shot.
No, they'd use Dempsey first, but he's limited as a CF. You could use Bale, too, but it's not the best use of him. Bale looked pretty bad trying to play as a striker in the pre-season. AVB must have a trick up his sleeve to let all the backup options leave town.
My take is that it's more of a recognition that they're f**ked either way if Adebayor is out for long. If Spurs are reduced to playing someone other than Adebayor or Defoe up front for any length of time, it really doesn't matter who that someone else is. If anything, I feel Dempsey's a better option there than either Kane or Obika right now.
I don't think Obika is going to have much of a Premier League career; he looks like a second division player to me at best (upside: Leon Best?). Kane has more potential and is still only 19; I think he has a decent chance of making it. Probably not at Tottenham, but he might carve out a decent career for a mid- or lower-table club or two (upside: Danny Graham). It's better for them and for the club that they go out and play somewhere rather than hanging around the training ground for an emergency striker opportunity that may never come.
I think I have some kind of magic touch picking teams. Tottenham were just hoping not to lose sight of Aston Villa when I came on board, Torino was in the second division, Freiburg were a yo-yo team and Partick, well, who the hell knows what Partick was up to. Now Spurs are regular challengers for top 4, Freiburg is fighting for Europe, Torino is safely mid-table in Serie A and Partick could be in the SPL next season. I think that's enough evidence that I'm magic. Clearly a La Liga team needs to hire my services.
Maybe Zaragoza? There only one spot above the relegation places. Could be a tribute to Nayim from the halfway line!
Maybe. I haven't really been grabbed by a Spanish club yet. No way I latch onto the big boys, though. If Mrs. Shooty and I finally get to Spain, maybe I'll forge a connection that way like I did with Partick.
My choices of Schalke, Fiorentina, and Motherwell to receive my vague sympathy a few years ago have turned out to be exciting.
Ha! I flirted with Motherwell since I actually spent a day there but Partick's red-headed stepchild vibe won me over.
That is incredible, btw. And against the Arse!
Seems like I'm almost duty bound to be a Zaragoza fan. I'm not going to find out their supporters are fascists or they sacrifice live goats or any such nonsense, am I?
David Seaman looking like a boob on a long-distance flare. Now why does that seem familiar.
To the best of my knowledge Zaragoza doesn't have any particularly dodgy supporters or traditions. It also has a nice historical core.
I just listened to the Five Live special on Ajax, the Jewish club. For those who don't know, Ajax fans tend to identify themselves by Jewish symbols, using a lot of tenuous connections and Amsterdam's previously large Jewish minority to turn them into a Jewish club. It was fairly good - Jonathan Legard is the master of the leading question, which I didn't like - but I didn't particularly like how some participants tried to shuffle aside Tottenham's use of Yid as not being the same. I bet none of the people who suffered an attack in Lyon were Jewish.
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