The Champions League (Mainly Barca) thread

my_grandadʹs_bike

Stevo 666 wrote:

my grandad's bike wrote:

a campag riding Evertonian!!!

If I ever have a bad day I will think of this and remind myself that some people have it a lot worse

Glad to be of service - the way I look at it is I could be an Ammeco riding Tranmere supporting smack head so it's all relative

pinno

Oh well. Didn't see the game.

Can someone fill in?

Stevo_666

Pinno wrote:

Oh well. Didn't see the game.

Can someone fill in?

Highlights on ITV now.

Flâneur

it was a final and so average, Zz now has a champ league to his name but still has a lot to prove

Stevo_666

Feel a bit sorry for Atletico, losing twice to Real in a CL final in the space of 2 years.

verylonglegs

Atletico's keeper has made some fine saves during the games I've seen this season but in the penalty shoot-out last night it suddenly looked like it was his first time ever in goal.

Matthewfalle

It's like buses for Real - years for La Diecima to come along and now two in (?) three years...........

And Ronald got what he wanted after all these years - winning spot kick.

I must admit that I'm glad that Bale is Welsh - could you imagine the hyperbole spouting forth from the Englocentric media if he was English - Gawd, thes of trash him and that Rashford (or whatever he's called) dude could fill......

Still not a patch on Del Pierro/Pirlo though ........

I actually screamed and ran around in circles when this happened - if Carlsberg made footballing moments. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3ehbfgISDEU

ugo.santalucia

it is reasonable to expect the champions league to become a league within the next ten years, no qualifiers, just a league of teams that belong there (basically the top 16 based on revenue/results plus a few invited/qualified). At that point there will be nowhere to go... it is already a very boring competition as it is, it's just going to get more boring, with the same 3-4 teams winning over and over.
Over the past 20 years, only once the winner didn't come from one of the 4 richest leagues (Porto 2004). In the previous 20 years Romania, Yougoslavia, Netherlands, Portugal and France did win the competition at least once.

Over the past 20 years, nearly half on the times (9) either Barcelona or Real Madrid won the cup.

I compare the excitement of the Giro d'Italia with the boredom of the Champions League and wonder how long before the balloon deflates...

Matthewfalle

I personally don't really care who wins it, it's the standard (quality/entertainment I suppose) of the matches together with the Europeanness of it all (I just get a special feeling out of watching it) that matters to me.

ugo.santalucia

Matthewfalle wrote:

I personally don't really care who wins it, it's the standard (quality/entertainment I suppose) of the matches together with the Europeanness of it all (I just get a special feeling out of watching it) that matters to me.

I don't watch it/follow it, but I like cold statistics and seeing it from the outside it keeps repeating itself and has reached a point where you can compare it to formula one... not much happens and the same bloke wins almost all the time. I suppose as long as you have markets to sell your crap to, you can keep the ball rolling on the pitch and keep paying the astronomical wages of the stars and suckers involved in the game, but once even the Chinese have got bored of it, what's left?

ugo.santalucia

another entertaining fact... since 2008 only 2 players have been awarded the coveted balloon d'or, one plays for Barcelona, the other for Real Madrid... neither has won the World cup or the Euros... on many occasions they have not been the best players of the year by any stretch of imagination, but the industry has decided to go for a restricted number of superstars, rather than a larger pool of stars, as it was the case previously

Stevo_666

ugo.santalucia wrote:

I compare the excitement of the Giro d'Italia with the boredom of the Champions League and wonder how long before the balloon deflates...

Each to their own. Personally I find the sight of a group of blokes pedalling mostly in a straight line for hours on end about as exciting as watching paint dry.

ugo.santalucia

Stevo 666 wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

I compare the excitement of the Giro d'Italia with the boredom of the Champions League and wonder how long before the balloon deflates...

Each to their own. Personally I find the sight of a group of blokes pedalling mostly in a straight line for hours on end about as exciting as watching paint dry.

Which leads inevitably to the question I have been asking since the days I was moderating (mainly to the seemingly vanished VTech): why the heck you guys are on a cycling forum and not one which is more in line with your interests, being that politics, combustion engines, football, real ale or whatever?

Stevo_666

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Stevo 666 wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

I compare the excitement of the Giro d'Italia with the boredom of the Champions League and wonder how long before the balloon deflates...

Each to their own. Personally I find the sight of a group of blokes pedalling mostly in a straight line for hours on end about as exciting as watching paint dry.

Which leads inevitably to the question I have been asking since the days I was moderating (mainly to the seemingly vanished VTech): why the heck you guys are on a cycling forum and not one which is more in line with your interests, being that politics, combustion engines, football, real ale or whatever?

If I wasn't interested in bikes I probably wouldn't own four Though enjoying doing something doesn't necessarily mean you enjoy watching it.

I find watching road races boring. Try watching the world cup down hill series if you want to see interesting bike racing.

ugo.santalucia

I always thought MTB doesn't make for good TV, but I have never seen any downhill televised

Matthewfalle

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Stevo 666 wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

I compare the excitement of the Giro d'Italia with the boredom of the Champions League and wonder how long before the balloon deflates...

Each to their own. Personally I find the sight of a group of blokes pedalling mostly in a straight line for hours on end about as exciting as watching paint dry.

Which leads inevitably to the question I have been asking since the days I was moderating (mainly to the seemingly vanished VTech): why the heck you guys are on a cycling forum and not one which is more in line with your interests, being that politics, combustion engines, football, real ale or whatever?

Because we have multiple interests and are not dullards and don't make sweeping statements about things we don't watch or follow.

We are all cyclists - some of us race bikes only, some of us do tri/duathlons, some downhill as well as footy/cars/life. We can talk about more than hand built wheels and steel frames.

pinno

ugo.santalucia wrote:

it...

I compare the excitement of the Giro d'Italia with the boredom of the Champions League and wonder how long before the balloon deflates...

I love the Giro and I loved this years Giro.

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Stevo 666 wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

I...deflates...

Each to their own.

...why the heck you guys are on a cycling forum and not one which is more in line with your interests, being that politics, combustion engines, football, real ale or whatever?

'Guys' ?!

There are not many people who frequent BB that is not a cyclist (I think) of one description or another.

For me cycling is a way of life. Has been for 30+ years. I don't want to talk cycling 24/7. That's why I frequent other parts of the forum infrequently but I do want to talk with like minded people to whom I can relate to.

Stevo_666

ugo.santalucia wrote:

I always thought MTB doesn't make for good TV, but I have never seen any downhill televised

You'll need to look in the internet to see footage mostly - DH is probably too much of a niche to make it onto TV channels. Here's the sort of thing I'm talking about:
http://www.redbull.com/uk/en/bike/stories/1331790567644/cairns-dh-world-cup-2016-replay-results-and-race-action

Or if you prefer the madder stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FAuNcWSxuY

I think it makes for more entertaining watching than Giro/TdF stuff, but each to their own.

pinno

I often watch the Red Bull Rampage even though I have no interest in MTB/Downhilling.

ugo.santalucia

It is spectacular, but you watch 3 or 4 coming down, then it's all the same... there is no man Vs man action or drama... it's the same as skying... only exciting if you are a fan

Stevo_666

Pinno wrote:

I often watch the Red Bull Rampage even though I have no interest in MTB/Downhilling.

:shock:

Matthewfalle

ugo.santalucia wrote:

It is spectacular, but you watch 3 or 4 coming down, then it's all the same... there is no man Vs man action or drama... it's the same as skying... only exciting if you are a fan

Action or drama. Wow. Superlatives from the club ridin' wheel buildin' steel framer.

It's cycling.

The main essence and being of cycling in all its forms is that it attracts all walks of life, from the farmer to the politician. We don't need to profess our cycling through snobbery and pictures of us riding with little cotton caps while slagging off people who buy (shock! Horror!) our wheels already made - the fact that we're doing it is the most important thing.

And I'll wager a bar of chocolate that a few of the BBers are faster, have done more and are actually more fun to ride with than than the holier than thous.........

pinno

Matthewfalle wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

It...fan

Action or drama. Wow. Superlatives from the club ridin' wheel buildin' steel framer.

It's cycling.

The main essence and being of cycling in all its forms is that it attracts all walks of life, from the farmer to the politician. We don't need to profess our cycling through snobbery and pictures of us riding with little cotton caps while slagging off people who buy (shock! Horror!) our wheels already made - the fact that we're doing it is the most important thing.

... and Carbon frames that are 'far too expensive'.

Stevo_666

ugo.santalucia wrote:

It is spectacular, but you watch 3 or 4 coming down, then it's all the same... there is no man Vs man action or drama... it's the same as skying... only exciting if you are a fan

I'll leave you to the Giro then.

I do road riding and mountain biking so I can come to an informed view about what's more fun to do and/or watch. I suppose what you haven't had, you don't miss

pinno

Stevo 666 wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

It is spectacular, but you watch 3 or 4 coming down, then it's all the same... there is no man Vs man action or drama... it's the same as skying... only exciting if you are a fan

I'll leave you to the Giro then.

I do road riding and mountain biking so I can come to a personal view about what's more fun to do and/or watch. I suppose what you haven't had, you don't miss

FTFY.

Stevo_666

Pinno wrote:

Stevo 666 wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

It is spectacular, but you watch 3 or 4 coming down, then it's all the same... there is no man Vs man action or drama... it's the same as skying... only exciting if you are a fan

I'll leave you to the Giro then.

I do road riding and mountain biking so I can come to an informed personal view about what's more fun to do and/or watch. I suppose what you haven't had, you don't miss

FTFY.

FTFY.

ugo.santalucia

Matthewfalle wrote:

Action or drama. Wow. Superlatives from the club ridin' wheel buildin' steel framer.

.

Don't ride for a club, haven't done so for over 5 years

I have an aluminium frame now...

I no longer build wheels other than for my own personal use...

On a more general note, I am not sure what you are on about

Stevo_666

Back to the footy...far more interesting than blokes on road bikes

pinno

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

Action....framer.

On a more general note, I am not sure what you are on about

We've never understood him, that's what it's like in the nut house.

Matthewfalle

Just don't worship the false gods built on stupidity. Then all will be well.