Posts by giovanni tiso
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On the other hand, the English football system is the most successful sporting organisational system ever.
As evidenced by the dominance of the national team in all major tournaments? By the five-year ban imposed by Uefa on all English teams after the Heysel massacre?
Granted, they've turned it around financially with the new stadiums. And they're making a lot of money as of right now. Whether it's a long-term sustainable model (Manchester United at the moment is is being run pretty recklessly by its US owners), and whether they'll manage to keep a lid on the violence, remains to be seen.
From a purely commercial standpoint, it is obvious that you cannot compare the kind of market that Premiership teams can enjoy thanks to the domestic population and the international popularity of the game, to what the NPC or the Super 14 can rack up.
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From the guys that broke the Edwards tryst comes Palin says love affair story 'a vicious lie'.
This is not a person. She's an automatic scandal generator.
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Looks like Nicky Hager obtained some of Palin's emails about Troopergate.
(All true, apart from the bit about Nicky Hager.)
And this from Joe Klein on MSNBC:
There is a tendency in the media to kick ourselves, cringe and withdraw, when we are criticized. But I hope my colleagues stand strong in this case: it is important for the public to know that Palin raised taxes as governor, supported the Bridge to Nowhere before she opposed it, pursued pork-barrel projects as mayor, tried to ban books at the local library and thinks the war in Iraq is "a task from God." The attempts by the McCain campaign to bully us into not reporting such things are not only stupidly aggressive, but unprofessional in the extreme.
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Still, it got the delegates up and boogying. Which was a spectacle of its own...
On the subject of the crowd, what a diverse bunch. I don't think I had ever seen so many people, so white all in the same room.
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Talk about knee to the goolies, though. She's not afraid to take the gloves off.
It worked for Clinton to get the very same voters that they're hoping to get through Palin. She attacked Obama pretty much in the same way, too. But then she's like Clinton but without social policies. Bit of an empty simulacrum, no?
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So... what do people make of The Speech?
She did pretty well I thought. Pitched at the rural voters, with plenty of good lines against Obama, well delivered. The crowd did its part well. One thing though... did she really say she wants to stay in Iraq until victory is achieved? That's how I read the "We're so close to victory in Iraq" line. That could backfire quite a bit.
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If he puts on a pugnacious performance he is going to come across as a bully.
But if he just answers the questions better than she does, esp. on foreign policy, he will appear more competent. The guy wasn't born yesterday.
I should have completed my previous point: Palin gives the Republicans an outside chance of winning that they previously didn't have; but she also increases the chances that it will be a rout. The wheels could fall off this thing very fast indeed, beginning tonight.
The interview with Brian Williams is also pretty funny.
Williams is always good value when he spars with Stewart, isn't he?
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First game the fielders can't take their hands out of their pockets
You can always count on Emma to bring the saucy.
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Take live NPC coverage off TV. Show one game a weekend live if you must, the rest delayed (or highlights). Make people go to the games if they want to see them live (and let the kids in for free, good show Wellington).
Is the Sky TV subscription going to go down in price, then? Otherwise I'd have to side with the family on a budget that likes its occasional NPC game and say no thanks.
In Aussie they black games out locally but if I'm not mistaken (I may well be) the TV coverage is free.
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You've obviously never been to a Canterbury v. Auckland game at Lancaster Park.
Do the fans get stabby? No? Didn't think so. I grew up near the stadium in Milan and there were a few key games in the season when I knew better than to leave the house - that's the kind of thing I'm talking about.
And I was being flippant, obviously, but not entirely: there is a certain element of 'be careful what you wish for' that ought to be considered. Perhaps the current interest in rugby is just the right amount. Perhaps people used to go the stadium more because there were fewer activities to choose from in the weekend - as far as my partner's family is concerned, I'd have to say that lack of other interests probably played a big part. Do we want to go back to a more monocultural country? I'd also argue that attitudes towards sports in countries where the attendance is higher aren't necessarily healthier.
And it's so hard to figure out the root causes, anyway. The Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup almost in a canter last year, and yet they struggled to fill their stadium week in, week out. The media outside of Detroit made a big deal out of this; local reporters pointed out that the good people of Michigan are out of work and don't have money to support their team. Sky might just be a better investment for a lot of families on a budget.