Anyone still watching England???

brad68

Oh my god! How bad are we! Some very well paid, very average players!!

pepelepew

Anyone still watching England???

Haven't started. Rather watch X Factor with Preston from Ordinary Boys as my company whilst my balls are wired to the national grid.

Perhaps I could have just said no.

I find the England football team to be the most over rated collection of toss pots ever put together. They just seem obnoxious characters. I think it's a Premiership footaller thing.

No problem with other England teams/performers, so it's not an anti-English thing.

brad68

I agree totally, they have this smugness about them and sing the fcking anthem!!!!! Would love to let the rugby boys have a go at them........

Stewie Griffin

Am watching Ratatouille with my niece on disney cinemax and doing this obviously :P Wont give a monkeys about the England football team until the World Cup.

deptfordmarmoset

I'm watching it now but about 15 minutes behind. Don't tell me....

Stewie, I see you've got a Spurs avatar - any news on Cudicini's health or how it happened?

Stewie Griffin

deptfordmarmoset wrote:

Stewie, I see you've got a Spurs avatar - any news on Cudicini's health or how it happened?

I want to blame the bint in the car :x but truth be told I have no idea.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 358853.stm

"Tottenham's head of medical services Wayne Diesel said: "Both specialists are extremely pleased with the result and expect a good recovery."

Diesel said Cudicini will be on forearm crutches "for about 12 weeks".

He added on the Tottenham website: "Carlo is in a lot less discomfort than before and is in good spirits.

"The splint on his left wrist has been removed and he now has full use of this wrist. He will remain in hospital for a few more days."

Get well soon Carlo we love you

Tonymufc

I'll be watching them til the day I die mate. I'm English and proud, so screw the p.c. police. C'mon England.

finchy

I usually support England, but to be honest I really can't stand the current shower of over-hyped, inflated egos who play in the white shirts. I hope the next generation will be more substance and less flash.

I also despise that f**king England band.

I'll still be cheering them on next year in SA though.

geoff_ss

Well I watch the bit of England that forms our house and garden all the time if that's what you mean

I suspect you mean football (or cricket?) Quite honestly, I couldn't care less about either. Games involving balls or teams were ignored as soon as I left school and was able to pursue my own interests.

Geoff

Smokin Joe

It was only a reserve team and British sides always suffer in very hot conditions which are alien to our high tempo game.

England's best asset next year will be the cold climate in SA.

Stewie Griffin

There is a part of me that is quite glad we lost. At least it stops (or at least puts on hold until the next win) the we are going to win the World Cup tabloid stupidity.

iainf72

Smokin Joe wrote:

England's best asset next year will be the cold climate in SA.

It will be in winter there, so not very hot. Games in JHB could be pretty fresh with the altitude etc.

sampras38

The problem with the England footie team is at the end of the day, no matter who is playing for them or coaching them, on the world stage they are simply average, at best. So all the hype never ever amounts to anything. It doesn't matter whether they have individual players who are world class. As a team they are average.

Pross

brad68 wrote:

Oh my god! How bad are we! Some very well paid, very average players!!

Which shaped ball are you talking there? Could apply to either (or the version with the little red leather ball!).

sampras38

Pross wrote:

brad68 wrote:

Oh my god! How bad are we! Some very well paid, very average players!!

Which shaped ball are you talking there? Could apply to either (or the version with the little red leather ball!).

Definately...

The world cup victory was nothing more than a kicking contest from Wilkinson and England were very lucky.

Basically we are sh*t at most sports worth caring about.

Buckled_Rims

johnfinch wrote:

I also despise that f**king England band.

+1 It's just a headaching noise :!:

redddraggon

sampras38 wrote:

The world cup victory was nothing more than a kicking contest from Wilkinson and England were very lucky

You didn't watch the World Cup I did then. Apart from the Semi Final against France, England scored plenty of Tries.

sampras38

redddraggon wrote:

sampras38 wrote:

The world cup victory was nothing more than a kicking contest from Wilkinson and England were very lucky

You didn't watch the World Cup I did then. Apart from the Semi Final against France, England scored plenty of Tries.

sampras38

sampras38 wrote:

redddraggon wrote:

sampras38 wrote:

The world cup victory was nothing more than a kicking contest from Wilkinson and England were very lucky

You didn't watch the World Cup I did then. Apart from the Semi Final against France, England scored plenty of Tries.

I wasn't particularly impressed with them and what have they done since?

And if I remember rightly, most of the big teams were nowhere near their best at the time. England got lucky and took advantage of a very weak team list.

geoff_ss

sampras38 wrote:

Basically we are sh*t at most sports worth caring about.

We're pretty good at the sports I find worth caring about. Sailing, mostly and cycling right now is on the up.

It's just the totally boring team games.

Geoff

redddraggon

If England were the best team in 2003, they deserved to be World Champions. Unless every match was close, luck doesn't play a part. Rugby is not like football, the best team will generally always win.

sampras38

Geoff_SS wrote:

sampras38 wrote:

Basically we are sh*t at most sports worth caring about.

We're pretty good at the sports I find worth caring about. Sailing, mostly and cycling right now is on the up.

It's just the totally boring team games.

Geoff

Sailing? are you kidding me?

Hardly a sport average Joe can relate to. A good friend of mine used to sail for GB and it's another world.

Pross

Don't see why not, it's relatively cheap to get into sailing the small dinghies with a club from what I've heard. Not great TV though!

sampras38

Pross wrote:

Don't see why not, it's relatively cheap to get into sailing the small dinghies with a club from what I've heard. Not great TV though!

Yeah, because everyone lives near water..;-)

Do me a favour.

geoff_ss

sampras38 wrote:

Pross wrote:

Don't see why not, it's relatively cheap to get into sailing the small dinghies with a club from what I've heard. Not great TV though!

Yeah, because everyone lives near water..;-)

Do me a favour.

That's right. Many people live near water. There are at least 5 sailing clubs near Derby for instance. I couldn't care less about it as a spectator sport. For me, sport is something you do rather than watch. Even so, the last Olympics had me on the edge of my seat watching it on iPlayer.

You live in West London? IIRC the Queen Mary reservoir has a sailing club. There used to be some on the Thames at one time. I've never raced down there so I'm not familiar with the clubs down there. There was once a club right in the middle of Lichfield very near to the cathedral.

Geoff

sampras38

Geoff_SS wrote:

sampras38 wrote:

Pross wrote:

Don't see why not, it's relatively cheap to get into sailing the small dinghies with a club from what I've heard. Not great TV though!

Yeah, because everyone lives near water..;-)

Do me a favour.

That's right. Many people live near water. There are at least 5 sailing clubs near Derby for instance. I couldn't care less about it as a spectator sport. For me, sport is something you do rather than watch. Even so, the last Olympics had me on the edge of my seat watching it on iPlayer.

You live in West London? IIRC the Queen Mary reservoir has a sailing club. There used to be some on the Thames at one time. I've never raced down there so I'm not familiar with the clubs down there. There was once a club right in the middle of Lichfield very near to the cathedral.

Geoff

I don't think you're living in the real world as far as sport goes. How many people have regular access to boating?

My other main sport is tennis and that's another so-called middle class sport that loses out on talent because of the way the clubs are run. Speak to 100 people on the street in the UK and you'll probably find 1 that sails.

Pross

sampras38 wrote:

Geoff_SS wrote:

sampras38 wrote:

Pross wrote:

Don't see why not, it's relatively cheap to get into sailing the small dinghies with a club from what I've heard. Not great TV though!

Yeah, because everyone lives near water..;-)

Do me a favour.

That's right. Many people live near water. There are at least 5 sailing clubs near Derby for instance. I couldn't care less about it as a spectator sport. For me, sport is something you do rather than watch. Even so, the last Olympics had me on the edge of my seat watching it on iPlayer.

You live in West London? IIRC the Queen Mary reservoir has a sailing club. There used to be some on the Thames at one time. I've never raced down there so I'm not familiar with the clubs down there. There was once a club right in the middle of Lichfield very near to the cathedral.

Geoff

I don't think you're living in the real world as far as sport goes. How many people have regular access to boating?

My other main sport is tennis and that's another so-called middle class sport that loses out on talent because of the way the clubs are run. Speak to 100 people on the street in the UK and you'll probably find 1 that sails.

Just because people don't do it doesn't mean there's not access though does it? I live within a 10 minute drive of Llandegfedd Reservoir which has a sailing club and 15 minutes of the River Usk at Newport which also has one. I'm not exactly in a posh part of the world. I've never sailed so don't have an axe to grind and it doesn't particularly interest me but to say it's another world is far from the truth. Making it as an Olympic sailor is no more far fetched than making it as an Olympic cyclist and from the little I know local clubs tend to have boats that people can use rather than forking out for their own. Maybe there are a lot of sports out there that could improve their public image. Golf used to be classed as elitist but has gradually become more diverse. As you say tennis gets tarred with the elitist brush but if there were more council facilities there's no reason why it should be as it could be a relatively cheap sport to start in. Rowing is another that people see as the preserve of public school types but again there are often clubs based in towns on the banks of decent sized rivers. Even cycling isn't immune, I've read numerous threads on here where people are unsure if they or their bike are good enough to join a club and that's from people who have already made the jump to cycling regularly.

finchy

You can buy a sailing boat for a few hundred quid 2nd hand, although then you'd have to pay to either keep it somewhere or get a trailer. Then you need a lifejacket, and it's best to get some lessons.

Alternatively, you can hire a boat for £15/hour or less on some lakes. With two or three people in a boat the cost works out at about the same as the subs you would pay to play Sunday league football.

I've only sailed and windsurfed a little bit, and never owned a boat, but in terms of price, it's nowhere near as bad as people think. When I was a wee lad my Dad used to take me sailing using the money he saved when he gave up smoking.

I'm sure that a lot of people would be able to afford to sail if they made some savings in other parts of their life, but probably the elitist image - Cowes Week and Pimms and all that - puts people off.

sampras38

I can really see 12 year old little Johnny from a South London housing estate going "mum, I want to get into boating".

How many kids to do you know who sail, apart from maybe the ones you've met doing your hobby?

finchy

sampras38 wrote:

I can really see 12 year old little Johnny from a South London housing estate going "mum, I want to get into boating".

How many kids to do you know who sail, apart from maybe the ones you've met doing your hobby?

That's my point. Price isn't the problem, it's the image and the belief that it has to be a really expensive hobby.

I'm not a massive sailor, it's something I've done a few times in my life, but it's a good day out, doesn't matter what background you come from. If you can get a teenager into a boat, they will in all likelihood enjoy it.

And judging from the number of satellite dishes that you normally see on some of these housing estates, I can think of one way of paying for a fair few hours in a dinghy.

sampras38

johnfinch wrote:

sampras38 wrote:

I can really see 12 year old little Johnny from a South London housing estate going "mum, I want to get into boating".

How many kids to do you know who sail, apart from maybe the ones you've met doing your hobby?

That's my point. Price isn't the problem, it's the image and the belief that it has to be a really expensive hobby.

I'm not a massive sailor, it's something I've done a few times in my life, but it's a good day out, doesn't matter what background you come from. If you can get a teenager into a boat, they will in all likelihood enjoy it.

And judging from the number of satellite dishes that you normally see on some of these housing estates, I can think of one way of paying for a fair few hours in a dinghy.

I'm not saying it wouldn't be fun, and I've been on a few boats in my time (big scuba diver), I'm just saying it's not what I would consider a sport in the true sense of the word, more a pastime, and not exactly practical for most people.