Category: sport

Can’t see the wood

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BYE BYE FOREST!

Maybe tomorrow, I’ll do *that* post in response to *that* post in response to *that* other post. Maybe.
But all that nonsense pales into insignificance when Sheffield United get through to the sixth round of the FA Cup:

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These the scenes at Beautiful Downtown Bramall Lane as Chris Porter put us ahead in the dying moments. He scored again a couple of moments later to make it 3-1.
Cue international delirium.

The match is on DSTV at midnight and I’m probably going to be good for nothing tomorrow.

UPDATE: And here’s some (*cough*… “amateur”) video of the penalty.

Love it! 😀

Snowboard Start

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I flicked on the TV in the hope of getting a bit of Ice Hockey from the Sochi Olympics. Instead, I got Freestyle Snowboarding. And here’s the top of the course with one of the Finnish competitors about to start (or “drop in”, as it’s apparently known):

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Yes. The guy next to him is knitting.

Off you go then, mate. Good luck with the run. Don’t forget to let go of my ball before you head off, hey? Wouldn’t want you getting tangled.

And before you ask: No, I have no idea.

UPDATE:

When viewers turn on the NBC broadcast of the men’s snowboard slopestyle finals Saturday night, they might see an odd sight at the top of the course: a man knitting a scarf.

That man is Antti Koskinen, Finland coach, and at Saturday’s competition he was busily working cream-colored yarn with green needles. The scarf is something others on the Finnish team will add to before handing it off to Finland’s Summer Olympic team going to Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

What they will do with a giant scarf in South America is unclear.

The idea for Koskinen to work on the scarf at the starting gate was that of Finnish snowboarder Roope Tonteri, who finished 11th Saturday.

“I think that it looks really weird, so it’s kind of funny,” Tonteri said. “Everybody just thinks, ‘What’s he doing?'”
Tonteri noted that his coach is a slow knitter, but that beats the alternative: Tonteri doesn’t knit at all.

Last Minute Winner

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I stayed up awfully late watching football last night, especially since Mrs 6000 was getting up at 4:15 to head to the airport and I was getting up at 6 to get the kids to school and the me to work.

I’m knackered.

But it was SOOOOO worth it!

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After 119½ minutes of… “uninspiring” (polite terminology) football and with the threat of a penalty shootout looming large, Sheffield United substitute Shaun Miller stooped to head in from a couple of yards out after a towering header by Harry “Harry” Maguire, sending the visitors’ huge and vocal contingent into ecstasy.

I may have shouted a bit too.

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I’m suffering today – Scoop even commented on the “big blue lines” underneath my eyes this morning – but, fueled by imported Caribbean coffee, I’ll somehow make it through to this evening. However, please be warned that today’s productivity may be slightly reduced.

Where did all the good guys go?

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Short on time, but felt that this deserved (at least) some passing comment. It’s sportingintelligence.com’s Big 5 player producer analysis. By Big 5, they mean teams in top-flight clubs in Spain’s La Liga, England’s Premier League, Italy’s Serie A, Germany’s Bundesliga 1 and France’s Ligue 1 and by “producer”, they mean “spent 3 or more seasons developing players when aged between 15 and 21”.

It makes very interesting reading, especially the English table, which has Sheffield United at 14th place, ahead of 8 Premier League teams.

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(you’d be a fool to overlook the mighty Skelmersdale United in joint 40th as well)

It’s a good indication of the draw of the Premier League and the issues that plague smaller clubs. While the talent flows ever upwards, in search of money, fame, fortune and glory, there’s scant compensation for the little guys who have spent time and money developing the the players in question. Sheffield United’s academy regularly provides 3 of the back 4 for England’s national team, but we’re still strapped for cash and disappointingly languishing at the wrong end of League 1.

I can only hope that we rise again to our natural haunt in the Premier League and become one of those clubs which pillage the talent of the lower league clubs, as soon as possible.

Team with dreadful record still has much support

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For many, this weekend was the final straw. Yet another disastrous performance – letting the country down when we were all so full of hope – was just too much. There’s been repeated harsh (and entirely justified) public criticism – “useless” and “losers” just a couple of the words bandied around – but it merely seems to fall on deaf ears.

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It wasn’t the first time, either. It sometimes seems like we’re lurching from one poor performance, riddled with errors and incompetence, to the next.
For some, the problem is obvious: they choose to blame the man in charge, but I don’t think it’s necessarily that cut and dried. In my mind, the performance of the whole lot of them has been repeatedly calamitous. Fairly regularly, it’s actually been embarrassing for the country. You’d be excused for thinking that maybe they’re simply not up to the job in hand, and yet they’re highly paid and highly respected. How can this be?

It’s all so different to those glory days back in the mid-90’s. Back then – yes, perhaps under better management – things were so much better and the achievements were clearly there for all to see. Since then, however, while there have been occasional moments of triumph, it’s mainly been a steady downhill and 2014 shows no signs of bucking that trend. It’s actually rather sad.

And yet, there remains a huge level of support for these guys. Perhaps it’s because the population feels there’s no other team that is worthy of their support, or perhaps it’s habit, because they’ve just never supported anyone else.

But yes, the ANC will still win the elections again this year.
Incredible.