GO GATORS !

[Charles Black]

Yep ! Them scaly Gators done it again !

And this aint nuthin' ! Wait till next year !

It was actually an excellently coached game and fairly well played.

Dawn ? You are wrong again ! Where would we be if we all lacked a competitive spirit ?

Probably Dead !

Charlie Black

[John Simkin]

John, let us distinquish between "the game", which I love, and, THE GAME, which is the roaring, over rated, over paid, billionaire snot encrusted circus which it has become. Never mind Manchester United, oh how I yearn for a Nottingham Forrest, and Aston Villa, an Ipswich a Burnley, or even John, a Manchester City, instead what do we have? well football, the working Class Ballet, now entirely conforms to its wider Society, in which the rich walk off with all the prizes, and every one else can go to Hell. I would love to ask the Russian workers that Abramovich "disinherited" what they feel about Chelski lifting the European Cup. Bill Shankley was wrong, its really not that important...

I know Manchester United fans feel sore about the emergence of Chelski. However, it was only a couple of years earlier when Manchester United were outspending all their rivals. In fact, it has been like this since the very beginning.

In March, 1888, William McGregor, a director of Aston Villa, circulated a letter suggesting that "ten or twelve of the most prominent clubs in England combine to arrange home and away fixtures each season." The following month the Football League was formed. It consisted of six clubs from Lancashire (Preston North End, Accrington, Blackburn Rovers, Burnley and Everton) and six from the Midlands (Aston Villa, Derby County, Notts County, Stoke, West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers).

The first season of the Football League began in September, 1888. Preston North End won the first championship that year without losing a single match and acquired the name the "Invincibles". Eighteen wins and four draws gave them a 11 point lead at the top of the table. They also won it the following year. However, they have never won it since. The reason why Preston was so good in the first two seasons was that they had the best players. The man behind this was Major William Sudell, the manager of a local factory in Preston. Sudell decided to improve the quality of the team by importing top players from other areas. This included several players from Scotland. Over the next few years players such as John Goodall, Jimmy Ross, Nick Ross, David Russell, John Gordon, John Graham, Robert Mills-Roberts, James Trainer, Samuel Thompson and George Drummond. He also recruited some outstanding local players, including Bob Holmes, Robert Howarth and Fred Dewhurst. As well as paying them money for playing for the team, Sudell also found them highly paid work in Preston.

The other clubs studied the strategy of Sudell and then copied it. They found wealthy factory owners in their neighbourhood who provided them with the money to buy the best players available. They also arranged them to have non-jobs in the town. Preston lost their best players and began to slide down the league. It was now the clubs in the main industrial areas like Newcastle, Sunderland, Birmingham, London, Liverpool and Manchester that obtained the best teams. The clubs in the small mill towns like Preston did not stand a chance.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Fpreston.htm

[Ron Ecker]

The clubs in the small mill towns like Preston did not stand a chance.

There is a similar situation now in U.S. college basketball and football. There are the Florida Gators, and all other teams in the country don't stand a chance.

[Guest Stephen Turner]

John, let us distinquish between "the game", which I love, and, THE GAME, which is the roaring, over rated, over paid, billionaire snot encrusted circus which it has become. Never mind Manchester United, oh how I yearn for a Nottingham Forrest, and Aston Villa, an Ipswich a Burnley, or even John, a Manchester City, instead what do we have? well football, the working Class Ballet, now entirely conforms to its wider Society, in which the rich walk off with all the prizes, and every one else can go to Hell. I would love to ask the Russian workers that Abramovich "disinherited" what they feel about Chelski lifting the European Cup. Bill Shankley was wrong, its really not that important...

I know Manchester United fans feel sore about the emergence of Chelski. However, it was only a couple of years earlier when Manchester United were outspending all their rivals. In fact, it has been like this since the very beginning.

In March, 1888, William McGregor, a director of Aston Villa, circulated a letter suggesting that "ten or twelve of the most prominent clubs in England combine to arrange home and away fixtures each season." The following month the Football League was formed. It consisted of six clubs from Lancashire (Preston North End, Accrington, Blackburn Rovers, Burnley and Everton) and six from the Midlands (Aston Villa, Derby County, Notts County, Stoke, West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers).

The first season of the Football League began in September, 1888. Preston North End won the first championship that year without losing a single match and acquired the name the "Invincibles". Eighteen wins and four draws gave them a 11 point lead at the top of the table. They also won it the following year. However, they have never won it since. The reason why Preston was so good in the first two seasons was that they had the best players. The man behind this was Major William Sudell, the manager of a local factory in Preston. Sudell decided to improve the quality of the team by importing top players from other areas. This included several players from Scotland. Over the next few years players such as John Goodall, Jimmy Ross, Nick Ross, David Russell, John Gordon, John Graham, Robert Mills-Roberts, James Trainer, Samuel Thompson and George Drummond. He also recruited some outstanding local players, including Bob Holmes, Robert Howarth and Fred Dewhurst. As well as paying them money for playing for the team, Sudell also found them highly paid work in Preston.

The other clubs studied the strategy of Sudell and then copied it. They found wealthy factory owners in their neighbourhood who provided them with the money to buy the best players available. They also arranged them to have non-jobs in the town. Preston lost their best players and began to slide down the league. It was now the clubs in the main industrial areas like Newcastle, Sunderland, Birmingham, London, Liverpool and Manchester that obtained the best teams. The clubs in the small mill towns like Preston did not stand a chance.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Fpreston.htm

John, the last thing I feel sore about is the emergence of Chelsea, as the phrase "never mind Man Utd" should have pointed out. Yes of course there have always been rich clubs, and their poorer bretherin, but the last fifteen years has seen the emergence of something far more worrying, the complete domination of English football by a handful of super rich clubs, bankrolled, in the main by Billionaire owners, to the extent that it is now impossible for a smaller side to compete on anything approaching equal terms without selling their soul. This in turn has lead to most working class supporters being priced out of the game, as season tickets, like house prices, soar beyond the means of many true fans. The beautiful game now, in the words of Robert Tressell, "Tears up the flowers to get at the worms." And as such, as I have already said, only reflects the priorities of the wider Society of which it is a part. But be of good cheer, football, like Capitalism, will destroy itself through its own greed.

[John Simkin]

John, the last thing I feel sore about is the emergence of Chelsea, as the phrase "never mind Man Utd" should have pointed out. Yes of course there have always been rich clubs, and their poorer bretherin, but the last fifteen years has seen the emergence of something far more worrying, the complete domination of English football by a handful of super rich clubs, bankrolled, in the main by Billionaire owners, to the extent that it is now impossible for a smaller side to compete on anything approaching equal terms without selling their soul. This in turn has lead to most working class supporters being priced out of the game, as season tickets, like house prices, soar beyond the means of many true fans. The beautiful game now, in the words of Robert Tressell, "Tears up the flowers to get at the worms." And as such, as I have already said, only reflects the priorities of the wider Society of which it is a part. But be of good cheer, football, like Capitalism, will destroy itself through its own greed.

Of course I agree with you about this. Paul Jewell, the Wigan manager and long-time socialist, made an important point about the gap that has emerged between the players and supporters. He suggests this explains the hostility expressed by fans against the England team last week. It definitely has been a factor in the way West Ham supporters have responded to players like Nigel Reo-Coker and Anton Ferdinand this year.

[Michael Hogan]

Yep ! Them scaly Gators done it again !

And this aint nuthin' ! Wait till next year !

Maybe if Noah, Horford, Green and Brewer choose to forego the lucrative NBA for another year. Real Gator fans know that it is all about celebrating and enjoying the moment.

"Right now, I don't know what we are going to do," Noah said. "I feel like it's all about enjoying this moment right now."

Coach Billy Donovan's signature catch phrase all season long has been, "Live in the moment."

Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley said, "We're just enjoying tonight."

It was actually an excellently coached game and fairly well played.

Final games for the national championship usually are. That's how they got there.

Dawn ? You are wrong again !

"I've said it a thousand times - once you think you've got it all figured out, you get in trouble."

Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley (Who also brought national champion football coach Urban Meyer to Gainesville.)

[Ron Ecker]

Basketball is an international sport, though it may have originated in America (not sure about that). Is basketball not popular in Great Britain? Is it all football (soccer), cricket, and rugby?

At least I'm glad the Brits gave up bear baiting. (Not much sport in that!) If only we could do something about bull fighting in Spain. I always pull in vain for the bull. The critters have better luck in American rodeos, where the cowboy quite often gets the worst of it. Also I can't muster much sympathy for the folks who get gored at Pamplona.

[John Dolva]

dbl post

Edited April 3, 2007 by John Dolva

[John Dolva]

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showforum=126

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Funny.

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Thank you, Thomas, for seeing the humour in it.

Nevertheless, the blessing of the moderators and administration for the intrusion of 'topics' which belong elsewhere sets a precedent. They have done so, contrary to past diligence. A nonsense topic, and now the blessing of such by the moderators and the administration to introcuce more like it merely distorts the forum and may possibly discourage serious participation.