Disqus - Latest Comments for BishopvilleRed

Re: Does ESPN Have What It Takes To Win UK Premier League TV Rights?

BishopvilleRed — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 22:52:39 -0000

I have a suspicion that if ESPN really wants EPL football, they'll get it. Simple as. The questions for us are:
how will that look on our TVs? Will ESPN give it the proper treatment, or will matches get bumped around for baseball and Football? Will matches get dumped o ESPN2, thus making it harder to catch your non-glamour club play?

What happens to MLS? Does ESPN ditch it because they have the big boys now, will people see the big boys and dismiss the MLS as a weak sister, or will more mainstream generate enough interest that people want to keep watching football year-round?

I'm going to remain cautiously optimistic on this one.

SB

Re: Mike Riley Should Never Referee a Big Match Again

Tom — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 02:02:41 -0000

Man U get away with far more than ANYBODY which is why they and their fans have an entitlement mentality. Take the example of the penalty this week. Everyone knows that such calls are only reserved for top players and top teams and apparently Chelsea does not fall into that category. Gerrard should have been carded in the 3rd minute but he is above such a call. Rooney should have been carded in the Man U/Chelsea game for desent but he too is above such a call. Terry desents for Lampard's red card and gets carded. See how this all works?

Re: Mike Riley Should Never Referee a Big Match Again

Bishopville Red — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 19:32:53 -0000

Tom,

Is this more sarcasm? Evra missed 4 games for NOT throwing a punch against some Chelsea groundstaff yob who did. Simply because the FA decided not to believe his version of events. Or the CCTV. And despite apologizing afterward, they did not consider rescinding any of the 4 match ban.

For all his diving, Cristiano Ronaldo gets grabbed and hauled to the ground in front of the ref TWICE without so much as a whistle, let alone the penalty they deserved. In the case against Chelsea and Carvalho, Ronaldo ended up getting carded for being bulldogged by the Chelsea defender.

Rio Ferdinand misses 9 months for NOT taking drugs, while players who fail drug tests get shorter sentences.

United take on FA Disciplinary for a large card count at Stamford Bridge despite the game being far from testy. Howard Webb (he of the "he's usually good, but..." ) just felt like throwing cards. Like he did when he sent off Ronaldo for a so-called intent-to-gain- unlawful-advantage handball.

United have goals disallowed because the three blind mice are too clueless to notice when a ball has been touched into play.

Scholes and Vidic both get suspended for Champions League matches because of cards accumulated in Non-CL matches.

Vidic gets two dodgy yellows at Anfield, which means noting can be protested Suspension issued without recourse.

Meanwhile John Terry rugby tackles players and gets his cards rescinded. Wait and see - Lampard will get this one rescinded too.

Yeah - United get off scot-free all the time!

Re: John Kerr Interview: Questions Please

Bishopville Red — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 21:33:23 -0000

Ask him why he played for the USA when is dad born in Scotland, and played for Canada, and he was born in Canada.

Why not play for Canada?
He did play in the CSL for the Hamilton Steelers - did that league ever have a chance?

SB

Re: Chelsea Pathetic at the Post as Manchester United Blitz Chelsea

Bishopville Red — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:51:45 -0000

Simple reason why Rooney want booked for his goal protests: he was right. The ref and lino totally fell asleep. the Lino claimed that Rooney didn't tell him he was taking a short'un. Don't remember ever having to tell the lino to pay attention because the kick was taken. Pathetic. THIS is why the respect campaign falls apart. they can't get the simple ones right.

Re: MLS Ranks Shockingly Low in IFFHS Study

Bishopville Red — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:31:48 -0000

I'd like to see the criteria IFFHS uses to establish their rankings. Sometimes things used on a micro level are not appreciated in a macro environment.

I doubt 77 is true indicator of MLS's status in the world, but people talking about MLS being in the top 10 are out to lunch. As for beating EPL sides, you're joking. Sure the blind squirrel might find the odd nut, but any MLS side would be relegation fodder, easy. Remember, it took an all star squad to beat a mid-table and dropping pre-season version of West Ham. No club on their own would stand a chance.

As high as fifth? No way! Better than Russian, Greek, Portuguese, French or Turkish leagues? No way. Brazil or Argentina? Forget it! Even a Colombian, watered down Duch Eiredivisie, and SPL would swat MLS.

20-25 tops for MLS. But I wold really like to see the criteria and weighting of the data. If it's on performance against clubs from other leagues, MLS might not even be the top league in North America.

SB

Re: Benitez Attacks Ferguson: Press Conference Video

Raatzie — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:30:14 -0000

Whatever. Rafa doesn't respond, he's "weak." He does, he's "losing it."

Given those choices, his measured response was more than appropriate.

Lot of season left. The League will not be won in January - and certainly not in the papers.

Re: Benitez Attacks Ferguson: Press Conference Video

Bishopville Red — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 15:26:31 -0000

Jeff H - the notes are exactly why Rafa is losing it. This wasn't a situation where he simply responded to a question; he was asked a question, went off on a tangent, pulled his notes out and worked through them. It's obvious this has been playing with him for a long time, and he's let the cracks show.

SB

Re: Benitez Attacks Ferguson: Press Conference Video

Bishopville Red — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:34:17 -0000

I wonder if he ended by saying, "I'd just luv it if we beat them. Luv it!"

Tick tick tick....

SB

Re: Help Decide Who EPL Talk Should Interview Next

Bishopville Red — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:41:35 -0000

John Wark - ex-Liverpool?!?!?!!?

Almost 550 appearances for Ipswich over 20+ years, all of his Scotland appearances as a Tractor boy, and you call him "ex-Liverpool"???

WTF???

SB

Re: West Ham United Face Administration Threat And Possible Relegation

Bishopville Red — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 14:53:27 -0000

Parachute payments are one thing, but don't forget, each of the individual players ended up with a massive pay reduction because of relegation too.

Either way the FA and Premiership need some blood on their hands over this too. They are the ones who OK players to play. It always takes months for the FA to sort out the smallest of things (see the battle of Stamford Bridge).

For them to not realize Tevez was ineligible until after the season and Sheffield United made a stink is simply unacceptable. Both the FA and PL owe it to Sheff United AND West Ham to protect them from silly mistakes that turn onto £30 M disaster.

If a player has to sit until his paperwork is authorized, so be it. Better safe than sorry.

SB

Re: Who Is Zoran Tosic?

Bishopville Red — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 14:46:12 -0000

The word on the street is somewhere in the neighbourhood of #17M for the two of them, depending on appearances and performance.

Yet another very encouraging piece of work from Fergie!

SB

Re: College Cup: Carolina Shocks Wake & Maryland beats St John’s

BishopvilleRed — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 00:38:56 -0000

Boys, boys, boys! C'mon!

D-Ro to T.O. and not a word written on it? Asleep at the wheel!

SB

Re: Portland should be a “slam dunk” for MLS

BishopvilleRed — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:58:58 -0000

gotta get out of PGE park. Soccer Specific is the way to go.

A guy like Paul Allen would be acutely aware of the need for a strong rival for Seattle and probably could be tempted to help do something about it. Obviously, his involvement in Seattle is not a stumbling block to potentially assisting Portland.

Maybe in a few years Allen could be tempted to jump from Seattle to Portland and stoke the rivalry even further.

SB

Re: Portland should be a “slam dunk” for MLS

BishopvilleRed — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 12:50:36 -0000

Well, they're gauging everybody, true. But the fee is skyrocketing - Don't forget, TFC paid all of $10 million 3 years ago, and the league admission isn't exactly a license to print cash.

Montreal has negotiated with MLS for a few years now, and are so far the only one to say "Thanks, but no thanks" to the $40 Million price tag.

And I'll admit, it remains to be seen just how wise that decision will prove to be. Nevertheless, MLS got too greedy. Not only did they lose an excellent market, they also lost out on the chance to cripple USL (I'm not a fan of that, but MLS wold be well interested) in the process.

Re: Champions League Potential Parings

BishopvilleRed — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 10:14:33 -0000

Mourinho will have to settle for another rematch with Benitez.

United . Real Madrid is a lead pipe lock.

Barça / Chelsea III would be a no brainer for the fixture fixers at UEFA too.

Is it just me, or is the same teams facing the same teams every year wearing down the mystique of the tournament?

United v Sporting. United v. Villareal. United v. Roma (quarterfinas, anyone?)

Liverpool / Chelsea...

A lot of Same-same going on. This tournament needs a re-working.

SB

Re: Portland should be a “slam dunk” for MLS

BishopvilleRed — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 09:59:59 -0000

Portland is an excellent soccer city, but the MLS "braintrust" seems to be intent on taking the biggest cheques, not the best footy markets. Otherwise they wouldn't have price gouged Montreal to the point where the Saputos said, "screw it".

One other concern for Portland - while it may be a venerable old stadium that's a massive part of Portland sport folklore, PGE park looks like total shit on TV. I have a suspicion that, as a soccer stadium, it falls short.

Re: Which Premier League Clubs Are Punching Above Their Weight?

BishopvilleRed — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 09:30:40 -0000

You missed Chelsea.

SB

Re: Poll: Who’s The Worst Player In The Premier League?

BishopvilleRed — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 15:27:53 -0000

With Robbie Earnshaw back where he belongs, I'm finding this question surprisingly tough.

SB

Re: Say No To Sunderland’s Negative Tactics

BishopvilleRed — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 11:15:45 -0000

All I could think whilst watching that dross was, "Some poor bastard is watching a live Premiership match for the first time today, and they've been subjected to *this*"

JB - it had better be about entertaining, because people won't pay top dollar to see eleven mules kick the ball away - especially since you can't even justify the tactics with a result.

SAFCMark - if your back line is such swiss cheese, you SHOULD go down. If there's one thing we learned this year, it's that there are Championship sides out there who will come up and try to contribute to the Premiership, not make the news for dire football.

DAVID WOODWARD - you might have an argument if it were true, but United DID break down your negative tactics and you have nothing to show for it - nothing as far as points are concerned, nothing as far as helping your reputation, nothing in the way of sympathy from the casual supporters when you go down.

If you want to play conservatively and try to catch a superior side on the break, so be it. but 11 behind the ball with NO ambition to go forward is unacceptable. Nobody's cheering on the small guy if he's going to be so...small... about the prospect of competing against top sides.

When you go all you'll hear are big sighs of relief that now Sunderland are gone, we might actually get to watch something worth paying for at the end of a long week.

SB

Re: Cristiano Ronaldo: What Were You Thinking?

Raatzie — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:32:32 -0000

A hearty thanks to the United delegation for chiming in.

Considering you've already won one match this year by shoving a keeper out of the way, you might want to pipe down about the reffing, yes?

Re: Cristiano Ronaldo: What Were You Thinking?

BishopvilleRed — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:22:21 -0000

Paolo DiCanio was given a fair play award for doing a similar thing; Ronaldo gets sent off. use your head and see the situation, Webb.

Ronaldo did motion to the prone Micah Richards after the play, and indicated that he thought there was a whistle.

The ball was easier to head into the goal than bat away with hands.

He batted the ball away from the net, not toward it. Obviously he was NOT trying to gain advantage here. Actually, he conceded advantage instead.

There's the rule, and there's the spirit of the rule, which refs are allowed to employ in making just decisions. No way on Earth Howard Webb was going to pass up a chance to card a United player, though.

United owned possession, not a nasty game at all, and yet he conjures SIX yellow cards for United out of that? Lunacy. And he's the best England have to offer? Yikes! No wonder the Respect campaign has fallen apart.

SB

Re: Chelsea Suffer Arsenal Disease In 1-2 Killer Blow

BishopvilleRed — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:15:01 -0000

Simon Burke's nailed it. RVP was offside when the pass was made. Doesn't matter if it bounces off Chelsea players. Not sure where Robbie Earle was getting his interpretation from.

Re: Don Garber Speaks: Thoughts

BishopvilleRed — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 16:45:12 -0000

KK - I also heard MLS will recognize and suspend operations over FIFA international dates. FINALLY! It's insane to expect fans to pay top dollar to watch clearly substandard sides.

Garber also declared that teams can play Superliga or CONCACAF Champs League, not both. Logical, considering the dissolving of the reserve league

I agree with our point on the reserve league. Opportunity lost. I see the points UNDRAFTED raises, but I think this is a step backwards. Football-wise, reserves league seems a logical step as a building block with youth programs and academies. Business-wise, an internal contraction looks like a short-sighted cost-cutting measure.

SB

Re: Would you pay $40 million for a minor league franchise?

BishopvilleRed — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:52:28 -0000

You can buy a AAA baseball team for about $15 million. The coverage is about the same, media-wise; probably higher op costs, but more chances to earn it back and lower payroll. Not to mention a parent club that will agree to cover a number of costs.

$40M? As it turns out, at least one group (Montreal) that was a slam dunk for MLS has reconsidered, thinking the fee a money grab.

MLS needs to wake up and realise that the quality of a league is measured by the quality of the clubs involved, not the cost of a new franchise. Deepest pockets are not necessarily the people who are the best owners; in fact the more you pay for a franchise, the more they're going to want to look out for themselves instead of looking at the health of the collective.

SB