Rival watch

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Congratulations to Man U for winning the Europa. I'd love for Spurs to have won it.

As far as how to weigh accomplishments goes, to each his or her own, I'd say. I've gotten to the point I value the quality the team displays while I watch it above everything else. I used to be a much bigger fan of winning at all costs, though.

 

How on earth did you come to support Spurs?

 

My hopes for the Cubs winning shattered into a billion tiny pieces. I used them to build myself an alter at which I worshiped teams that were brilliant, memorable or spectacular in some way yet didn't win a title.

I think I got to like winning at all costs from playing sports.

 

Out of interest, how do major US sports compare to football over here? I know that many are - for reasons of sheer practicality - divided by geography. But will a baseball/hand-egg/basketball team enter a season with a shot at winning 3-4 trophies, some more prestigious than others?

 

I'm very competitive when playing sport. However, I watch it to be entertained. I couldn't support a side or go to watch one that just plays to win, with no thought of flair and brilliance and excitement I want to see someone do something that I can't do, that makes me stand up and cheer.

 

Sissoko must be your favourite player then. Unless of course you also can't complete a 5 yard pass.

 

He can run (and not a lot else) which I really can't anymore but I can **** things up just fine.

 

Marco Silva resigns as Hull manager.

 

A secret so badly kept, Amber Rudderless is probably irritated by it.

 

Manchester United's 31-year-old forward Wayne Rooney has two offers from China that would be worth £50m in salary over two years. (Daily Mail)

...so much for that Narrative: £50m over two years is Rooney taking a pay cut!

 

Citeh have spent £43m on Monaco's Bernardo Silva. Pah! Spare change! We could have had him...........or not?

 

A position they were really short in! Going to help their defensive fragility no end.

 

Two things came to mind when reading this
1.) Pellegrini's self-inflicted plate-spinning by having *deep breath* Aguero, Dzeko, Jovetic, Bony and Negredo all in the squad at the same time
2.) Kevin Keegan fixing Newcastle's defensive fragility by signing another striker...and then signing another one...and another one...

So not only does this not address their suspect back line in any way, it also means he's now got to balance *deep breath* De Bruyne, Sane, Jesus, Sterling, Nolito and not one but two players named Silva.

 

Buying players they don't need to stop others from recruiting them?

I guess Ross Barkley's move to Citeh may be delayed or maybe he'll take Delph's seat on the bench?

 

Will be tough but Nolito is off and as much as the media think Sterling is the next best thing, he's pony and he's only good at running fast.

So really its Aguero, KDB, Jesus, Sane and the 2 Silvas. Knowing Pep as well he's going 3 - 1 - 6 anyway so thats his problem solved. The other part is to get the refs on his side so his defenders can get really aggresive to stop the counter and have his team flop all over to buy free kicks when they lose the ball

 

It doesn't matter how aggressive his defenders are allowed to get if they're perpetually injured, habitually caught at least five yards out of position, or are still playing for Spurs after the transfer window slams shut - which leads to City paying through the nose for Bellerin at the last minute.

 

There's only one trophy in all 6 of the major-ish sports. I suppose you can count winning the division or league, but it's very much the equivalent of getting to the quarterfinals, semifinals or finals of the playoffs, which are always knockouts. The closest thing to an exception is college football or basketball, where winning the conference is a bit like winning your derby.

Of course, with 6 teams every year, some team you back is bound to win something eventually. So the title itself takes a back seat to some other memory of a winning team, for me anyway..

When I was 13 and went to see the Pitt Panthers college so-called football team with one of my closest friends. Miles said, "Pitt's starting a freshman running back. 150 pounds. Typical PItt." I laughed. I'd gone to every home game a couple of years earlier with my dad, when they came within one game of a perfect record, but sadly in a way managed to beat the University of Miami. Their best athlete was the mascot, which in these parts is the guy or girl who puts on the animal or bird suit. The Pitt Panther performed acrobatics on the goalposts and wrestled the Notre Dame Leprechaun to the ground.

The first play they pitched the ball to the kid. He started to run. I realized something strange was going on. Everyone else was running at one speed, and the kid was running at a very different, much faster speed. Tackling angles disappeared one by one. We all stood up and started to yell.

Three years later I turned on the radio to hear a radio announcer describe the same kid running against the biggest college football team. He's at the thirty, the forty, the fifty, the forty, the thirty, the twenty, the ten. That happened five times that game. Tony Dorsett broke his own record for most yards against Notre Dame, won the award for best college player, and led Pitt to the college football national championship. At the moment he retired, he had gained the second most yards in both college football and professional football history. But the moment I'll remember most vividly was his first play, when I stood up and started yelling, and realized maybe my college football team might have a good player for once.

 

Do they have a play-off for it at the end of the various seasons? Which sport do they use?