Chris Rock Quote

Something I saw Chris Rock say during a stand-up show:

A black C grade student can't even manage a Burger King, but a white C grade student is the President of the United States of America...

Probably not true (I'm sure Bush dreamed about getting C grades) but funny nonetheless.

Re: 'No one stops the ball: it's all shoot, shoot, shoot'

I thought I'd post this reply to an article from the Guardian Unlimited website.

My first (over) reaction to Carlos Bilardo's views was "b*ll*cks, this guy's a moron", especially when he said "I honestly think these teams would struggle to fight for third or fourth position in Argentina".

But after thinking about it, I think I can understand the point he's trying to make (although I still disagree The Big Four would struggle in Argentina, especially if the climate wasn't a factor).

The points he seems to be making (judging from the couple of quotes the writer has used, who knows what else he said?) is that English teams lack technique, and that because of this the football is either not as effective as Argentinian football (hence the "these teams would struggle to fight for third or fourth position in Argentina" remark) or that it not as enjoyable to watch.

I would concede that teams overall in the Premiership aren't as technical as their counterparts in other leagues; however you still need certain abilities (or put another way, talents) to make it in the Premiership, such as pace, strength, quick thinking, which not all players have.
Because of this there have been talented players who have struggled in the Premiership because they lack some or all of these abilities.
The best example of this is probably Veron, arguably a great player in Argentina and Italy, he just couldn't cope in the Premiership because he needed more time and space to influence the game, something he couldn't get in the Premiership. Other examples include Forlan (another South American) and more recently Shevchenko; I definitely believe if Shevchenko had stayed in Serie A he would still be banging in the goals today, but in the Premiership he looks less than half the player he once was.

This style of football is usually exemplified best by teams like Blackburn, Bolton (under Allardyce), and to an extent Chelsea (I say to an extent because Chelsea, under Mourinho, were far better tactically and technically than the others).

I've watched these teams regularly beat far more technical Arsenal teams, even in matches Arsenal have dominated through their technique.

Bilardo also says "If you watch English football, what they do well is delivery from the defence to the midfield. But the tendency is always to return to the area. And no stopping, no one stops the ball. It's all shoot, shoot, shoot... From here to there, from the first minute to the 90th, all running, running, running. One touch, gone. A touch, gone. It's like tennis."

While there are some matches in the Premiership that leave a lot to be desired, I personally feel that when football is played one touch at a high pace (which teams like Arsenal and Sevilla do, two of the most admired teams in Europe), football is far more enjoyable than some of the strolling, pass-pass-pass football Channel 5 showed last year from Argentina.
And interestingly, it actually takes technical players to be able to play fast one-touch football, which makes Bilardo's comment a little confusing.

He also made this comment on the weekend after he saw a player that does stop the ball, and does so regularly: Cesc Fabregas.
All last year and this year I've seen Fabregas take a ball from the midfield, move it sideways from an opposition player to buy a little time, look up and then hit a glorious 30 yard ball to a player making a run ahead of him.
I can't remember if he did this against Derby (he did make a couple of very good long passes to Adebayor, but can't remember if he actually stopped the ball as Bilardo demands).

Finally, a little off the original point, but this excerpt from sampras14's post got me thinking:
"probably because of the many foreign manager and EPL have become a much better league to watch even if the EPL still have a lot to learn from the Serie A about tactics and from the Primera about technical skills. These two leagues could, in turn, learn a lot from the EPL about pace and strength..."

This is the great thing about European club competitions like the UEFA Cup and the Champions League (for all it's elitism); they go beyond just a clash of countries but also a clash of footballing styles - Italian tactical nous vs. Spanish technique vs. English physicality.

Football is certainly a sport that encourages stereotypes...

God Hates Shrimp!

Little known fact: God hates shrimp.



According to Leviticus 11:9-12:

These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat.
And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you:
They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination.
Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you.

I stumbled across this website by accident, but before the religious fanatics start mobilising, the site isn't really about God hating shrimp, it's more about how there's a lot in the old testament that doesn't apply anymore, and that the new testament put down a new set of rules.

They use this as a basis to suggest that God isn't actually against homosexuality, because according to the site Jesus never spoke out against it.

Interesting stuff, read the about section for more information on the site.

For I am

I close my eyes
I hear my breathing
I feel my mind clear
And I hear pain and suffering
For I am the world

As I concentrate
I hear people crying
I feel their fear and hopelessness
I hear the world avoiding looking at me
For I am Darfur

As I concentrate
I feel violence within me
I hear myself attacking someone
I feel their possesions in my hand
And I feel I have no choice
For I am the cycle of crime

As I concentrate
I feel the temperature of the world increasing
I hear another piece of the ice cap fall into the sea
I feel the pollution pouring into the skies
And I feel those in power counting votes
For I am climate change

As I concentrate
I feel people who care
I hear them want to make a difference
I feel the desire to be better people
And I hear them continue to fight a losing battle
For I am human potential

C:\My Documents\My Football Club

I first read about this site in an article on the BBC Sport website.

The idea of the website, My Football Club, is that members sign up and pay £35 a year to buy an equal share in a football club.

What makes this idea different to a club owned by a Supporters trust is that each member gets an equal vote on almost every aspect of the running of the club, from picking weekly formations, transfers to staff appointments, all backed up by reports from the head coach, videos of training and matches etc.
There won't be a manager as the members will in effect be both the manager and chairman (in a Football Manager kind of way).

The driving principle behind the idea is for football fans to be more involved with football in an age where some fans feel alienated by millionaire footballers, expensive ticket prices and hostile take over bids for clubs.

The site is waiting for at least 50,000 people to commit to paying £35 (which will give a purchase fund of £1.375 million) and when this is received members will vote on which club to try and purchase; the most popular choice at the time of writing is Leeds United.

I've already registered for the site as I think it would be an interesting project to the involved with.

So far 31,479 people have registered an interest - will you be 31,480?

Links
My Football Club website
BBC Sport article: Fans given club takeover chance

Ban on gay men giving blood? WTF?!

I learnt an interesting fact today: Despite the shortage of blood donors, gay men (or men who have ever had intercourse with another man) are discouraged in the UK from being blood donors and are actually banned in the US.

From what I've read, the reason is that men who sleep with other men are a high risk for HIV.
While on the surface this seems to be a sensible and valid argument, it ignores the fact that HIV is now widespread in the general population and not just limited to the homosexual community; this isn't the 80's any more.

Screening for HIV these days is supposed to be very accurate and can take just a matter of days to test, so the risks of getting infected blood is probably very small.

Personally I feel the ban is an example of institutional homophobia.

What do you think?

If you want more information follow the link to an article on Gaylife.About.com in the references which has more information (though does seem biased towards the gay view point).

References:

Nation Blood Service information on who can't give blood
Gaylife.About.com article: Gay Blood and Bone Marrow Donors

Album Review: Avril Lavigne - The Best Damn Thing

As Avril Lavigne is my favourite female vocalist (my favourite male vocalist is Adam Levine of Maroon 5. I know, how similar are their names, [US teeny bopper] it's like - freaky!!), I eagerly downloaded her third album as soon as it was released on Napster, having loved her first two.

While promoting the album, Avril Lavigne suggested that the album had a more fun, brattier sound than her previous two albums (she even claimed she wrote the track "Girlfriend" while drunk).

Having listened to the album a few times since it's release, I'd definitely say this album is very different to the previous two. While they were filled with teen angst and melancholy, this album
is a lot more rockier.

Though the album lacks much depth in terms of lyrics (apart from Everything Back But You), this is probably intended and instead the album draws you in with it's very catchy and contagious choruses. You too will catch yourself singing on the bus telling the guy in front of you you want to be his girlfriend (not a true story, honest!).

On a side note, Avril's new husband Deryck Whibley's influence can be felt through some of the album with some very Sum 41 sounding production on a few of the tracks (see "I don't have to try "as an example) as he is quoted as being a producer of the album along with Dr. Luke (Kelly Clarkson, Pink, Lady Sovereign and Daughtry), Rob Cavallo (Green Day, The Goo Goo Dolls, My Chemical Romance, Jewel), Butch Walker and even Avril Lavigne herself producing some tracks. Travis Barker (of Blink-182 fame) also recorded the drums for the album.

All of this means that the music on the album is a decent standard; generally very pop-rocky and aggressive and the Sum 41-esque tunes bring memories of a time when Sum 41 were set to be the next big thing. Sigh...

On the whole the album is very good and fans of Avril Lavigne and pop-rock in general will not be disappointed.

- 3 Napsters out of 5!

The God.com race

Technically not a race (sorry if the title got you excited) but while I was writing the previous post, I suddenly thought "I wonder which religion's got God.com?"

Click here to find out...

The existence of God

Walking to work today, I was thinking about the existence of God, and whether he exists or not.

Personally, I don't believe in any religion as they all seem man made (I know they'll be lots of you willing to argue that your religion is directly from God, but that's not what I see).

So while thinking, I had a small revelation.

One of my biggest problems with God is that if he exists, why would he suddenly choose to stop communicating with man kind? In the Bible, Qur'an etc., God seems to talk to man quite often, either through Angels or prophets etc.

But why has he suddenly become so quiet in the last few hundred years?

And then I thought, maybe he hasn't stopped talking to us at all?

When you do something bad, you always get a little voice in your head that tells you you're doing wrong. Or sometimes you'll hear a voice telling you something you don't want to hear, but it's something maybe you need to hear.

What if this is God speaking to you?

Unfortunately, even though I came up with this theory, I personally don't believe in it...

The all imporatant first post

For the first post I thought I'd try and define why I created this blog.

For a while now I've been thinking. To some people this may come as a great surprise because people find that I'm either one of two people, either someone who is quiet and doesn't seem to say very much, or they find I'm someone who talks a lot but still doesn't seem to say very much.

So I figured at some point I should put the results of all this thinking I'm doing down, so that once they're out in the real world I can have a chance to formulate them into some kind of sense.

Of course the real reason (and I doubt I'm alone in thinking this) is that I secretly (not so secretly now) believe I have a unique mind that sees things in a whole new perspective to everyone else on this planet and that if I wrote my thoughts down other people would read them and realise that I am actually a genius, and this would then lead to much fame and fortune (because what's the point of fame without the fortune).

So there you go, the first post is done. Longer than I planned it to be, but I suspect most of my posts will go that way.

Assuming I ever post anything else, that is.

Oh my god, how seriously witty is that title! Snort!