Britbillsfan

Badass? Heh... The original was FAR better. Lee Marvin's original kicks Mel Gibson doppleganger's arse in coolness (and coldness). And after that he would kick him in the head. Repeatedly.

Not a lot I can really disagree with here, in all honesty. Was just pointing out the 'no smoke' argument has certainly been used before and in relation to the Ramseys.

Public sentiment towards the Ramseys for a good too many years?

And some years it is really difficult to trade down because the quality of the players available is perceived to be so low. If you have no trading partner you are forced into picking a player possibly higher than you might otherwise rate him.

Always a good question.

Whilst I agree with the sentiment (death is too good for murderers, rapists (which includes many paedophiles) and drug dealers, IMO) I think the way the entire investigation was handled in this particular case only strengthens my opinion against the death penalty.

Not sending any of the evidence for detailed forensic analysis for about a decade can do this in a case. And the Boulder Police did just that. The Jonbenet Ramsey case is infamous in that it is almost a perfect example on how not to investigate a serious crime.

Confessions are probably next to eye witness identification in their unreliability. It is very easy to get a significant proportion (largely at the dumber/more suggestable end of the demograpghic) of any population to confess to anything you want them to, even if they are innocent.

er, mostly blue......although there are a few grey clouds here and there..... wiseass.....

Ah, yes. The press. Those esteemed gentlemen who have continually and deliberately misrepresented the facts in this case in order to make $ whilst hiding there abyssmal conduct behind the 1st amendment. I would go out and have to double check the sky was blue if any journo involved in this case stated such.

Considering the bumbling incompetance of the Boulder Police force in missing lots of good forensic evidence by chasing after their own preconceived and flawed theories and their refusal for years afterwards to look into the case properly it is somewhat of a miracle that someone has been arrested. Given the forensic evidence at the scene (including DNA) once someone with something resembling the ability expected of a murder detective actually investigated the case it would be inevitable that the criminals behind this awful murder would be tracked down and caught. I would imagine that the arrest would be based upon the DNA evidence at the scene and pretty conclusive. As for the Ramsays? Well they were fairly odd but given their backgrounds it would not be THAT unexpected that they would have their daughter enter those pageants, but murderers? No credible evidence has EVER has linked them to the crime, just press (and Boulder police) innuendo.

Well William the Conquerer, William Rufus, Stephen and Henry I (ie: the first Norman kings) were not Plantagenets......... Besides they had to learn the lingo of the locals they had conquered because the French kept pretending they did not understand them...... (mind you in England they had to learn the language of the locals proved incapable of understanding them......)

Pah, they were all Norsemen who grabbed Normandy and then realised they had ended up with some crappy real estate and went for somewhere better instead.....

I'm really concerned...... I expected to have to scroll down half a page reading this post. You feeling okay?

Hey I'm an uber-geek. I edit/play/very occassionally write RPGs for a living......

Told you my team was worse than your team

Kuntz. (or possibly Maradona, but I may be a little biased..... )

In a 4-5-1 (or more accurately 4-4-1 in Crouch's case yesterday) the idea is that the midifled supports the lone striker who holds up the ball for them to run onto and attack. Crouch did this very well with Lennon charging up in support. (ie: it was SUPPOSED to work like that). Rooney did not do this, largely because for the most part when he was on the field the midfielders did not run up and support him well at all. As a result the defenders had all the time in the world to isolate and frustrate Roooney (who then lashed out at one inexcusably). If Lennon had been in Crouch's position and tried to do what you suggest he too would have been isolated without support (as no one else had the speed to support him) and would have been dealt with just as effectively as Rooney was.

There were some pretty nice passes (and J Cole's goal was a thing of beauty). Unfortunately England did not play with enough width (with the right side being manned by the lumbering Beckham and J Cole's lack of real speed on the left this is not too surprising). Gerrard, Cole, Lampard are all superb, skilled, attacking footballers. But they need to be playing in a system that makes sense, not a bodge job trying to fit square pegs into round holes.

On Ronaldhino He was asked to play a different role, Kaka was supposed to be the main attacking creative threat. Brazil were undone by a combination of aa stupily talented but stupidly unfit striker and a dodgey defence whenever anyone got at them. On England's midfield It is a mess despite some real quality because Sven made some poor decisions. Lampard and Gerrard when combined are half the players they are because neither is asked to play the role he plays for his club. And neither like the 4-5-1. Also Beckham has lost what speed he had and now can not get any room to make those wonderful crosses of his. England really do need to play a 4-4-2 with the midfield of J Cole, Hargreaves, Gerrard and Lennon on the right. Of course Beckham was Sven' s untouchable (like Ronaldo for Brazil) so Lennon did not get to play much. Gerrard may be the best attacking midfielder in the game, when not shackled by being asked to play a holding role or in the wrong formation, that is. Lampard is not far behind in talent. Cole would also play in that role normally but is so skillful he slots in to the left reasonably well. He had some pretty good games. As for strikers Rooney and Crouch would be the strikers to create opportunities. Owen, Defoe and Bent are the good strikers that England have that can fit in the goalscoring role. Of course Sven took only three of these with him and England ended up going home largely as a result. England does have a talented (and deep) pool of players available, just Sven lost his way. Such is life.

well Rooney deserved the red, definite stamp on the nuts of the Portugal player and it looked intentional to me. (Although I had to go away and sober up before looking at it again). Missed it first time. That is about as automatic red card as you can get. (Does not stop Ronaldo being a p***k, though). Now who do I support? Well France over Portugal. I think the Portugal team are the most unsportsmanlike in the tournament (well, next to the Argies....), have been fairly rubbish (and lucky). good riddance to bad rubbish. Italy over Germany. Although both teams have improved in their sportsmanship the Germans have been worse offenders over the years. So Italy - France final would be what I will be hoping for. Hopefully England's new coach will not be such a numpty. I mean a 4-4-2 team and you take just one fit striker, and pick only three in total (comedy picks do not count). Sheesh. And don't get me started on the defend by having 11 in the box bollox at corners and free kicks. Ho hum......Forty years of hurt......

The size of the goal has stayed the same since the rules were first written down in the late 19th century. > Which is actually the last time someone scored. > Pathetic. Sums up my love life.......

The size of the goal has stayed the same since the rules were first written down in the late 19th century. Lack of goals is not an issue in football - it adds to the flavour - the currency of the goal is so valuable and it actually gives weaker teams a chance.

I thought they did well against the Aussies considering they were ludicrously down to 10 men. The Azurri ARE maddening to watch, but they have been far less maddening this time around (although just about anybody has been better to watch than England, apart from the Swizzzzzzzzzz). As far as dominating, I would settle for England just looking competant. Like the results, have hated the performances. I suppose we could start a 'my team is more boring to watch than your team' thread the way this is going......

The firms were very visible in the 70s and 80s, however they have been largely run out of the game in the UK these days, good police intelligence has meant that these pr**ks have been unable to get into the games as much as they used to. Funnily enough more women and families are now going to games. Some 3500 of these thugs are banned from travelling abroad when England play overseas. Firms still exist, but they are little more than street gangs that get together away from football matches for punch ups.