The European football thread

[Sdpm100]

UEFA Cup Round of 32 draw (to be played 14/15 and 22 February)
SV Zulte Waregem vs. Newcastle United FC
SC Braga vs. Parma FC
RC Lens vs. Panathinaikos FC
Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs. Blackburn Rovers FC
Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC vs. Rangers FC
AS Livorno Calcio vs. RCD Espanyol
Feyenoord vs. Tottenham Hotspur FC
Fenerbahçe SK vs. AZ Alkmaar
Werder Bremen vs. AFC Ajax
FC Spartak Moskva vs. RC Celta de Vigo
PFC CSKA Moskva vs. Maccabi Haifa FC
AEK Athens FC vs. Paris Saint-Germain FC
SL Benfica vs. FC Dinamo 1948 Bucuresti
FC Steaua Bucuresti vs. Sevilla FC
FC Shakhtar Donetsk vs. AS Nancy-Lorraine
FC Girondins de Bordeaux vs. CA Osasuna

Round of 16 draw (to be played 8 and 14/15 March)
SV Zulte Waregem/Newcastle United FC vs. Fenerbahçe SK/AZ Alkmaar
PFC CSKA Moskva/Maccabi Haifa FC vs. AS Livorno Calcio/RCD Espanyol
Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC/Rangers FC vs. FC Girondins de Bordeaux/CA Osasuna
SC Braga/Parma FC vs. Feyenoord/Tottenham Hotspur FC
FC Steaua Bucuresti/Sevilla FC vs. FC Shakhtar Donetsk/AS Nancy-Lorraine
RC Lens/Panathinaikos FC vs. Bayer 04 Leverkusen/Blackburn Rovers FC
AEK Athens FC/Paris Saint-Germain FC vs. SL Benfica/FC Dinamo 1948 Bucuresti
FC Spartak Moskva/RC Celta de Vigo vs. Werder Bremen/AFC Ajax

[bababui]

They are also playing really dirty football for the last 20 minutes. Lots of dirty tackling. Also, one guy missed an easy pass in front of an open net...because he tried to use a fancy back heal to score.


Night SDPM..or Morning to be more correct. The Barca v Inter final should be fun to watch.

[Sdpm100]

Originally Posted by bababui

They are also playing really dirty football for the last 20 minutes. Lots of dirty tackling. Also, one guy missed an easy pass in front of an open net...because he tried to use a fancy back heal to score.


Night SDPM..or Morning to be more correct. The Barca v Inter final should be fun to watch.

Okay. Night.

[Raderick]

Originally Posted by bababui

You almost need a PhD to understand the footie TV schedule.

Auckland really needs some bettre coaching..in all aspects of the game. Their fitness really isnt good enough to play at a decent level for 90 minutes.

Thank God it isn't as bad here in the States. All NFL games except for the Thursday Nighter are shown on TV live in one form or another, and if you have DirecTV and the Sunday Ticket package, you get all of the games live over several NFL-specific channels. The cities that have teams get to see their local team live, barring they sold enough tickets. They should adopt a similar system over in England, where for example if you live in Manchester, you automatically get to see your Man United and Man City matches live.

[ukhotstove]

Originally Posted by Raderick

Thank God it isn't as bad here in the States. All NFL games except for the Thursday Nighter are shown on TV live in one form or another, and if you have DirecTV and the Sunday Ticket package, you get all of the games live over several NFL-specific channels. The cities that have teams get to see their local team live, barring they sold enough tickets. They should adopt a similar system over in England, where for example if you live in Manchester, you automatically get to see your Man United and Man City matches live.

It would kill football even more if they did that, NFL = 32 Pro Teams, just England alone has 92 Pro Teams then you throw in Scotland whose games kick off at the same time and all the other countries whose games kick off at the same or around the same time and you would have people staying in watching the games on TV rather than going to the stadiums.

So you'd probably end up killing of all the teams below the Premiership as people wouldn't go to the games as they'd be watching the EPL games on TV, also throw in the fact there's one or two more Americans than English people so it's easier to have people watch games on TV and have enough to fill the stadiums up.

Also the NFL don't arrange game kick off times to suit say people in England, the EPL change kick off times to suit other countries one of the reasons by the early kick off on a Saturday is to suit countries on different time zones to us. Also in the NFL you don't have away fans so kick off times don't really matter as 99% of the people in an NFL stadium are local people, football over here you have away fans so you'd end up them not going to games or having to travel at crazy times when they show games live in midweek.

Plus don't forget the NFL teams play only 16 games during a season so demand for tickets will always be high even though they show the games live because of the lack of games, the EPL teams play 38 league games alone so if they show all those games live then you'd see half filled stadiums or even less than half because demand for tickets wouldn't be high.

[Sdpm100]

Originally Posted by bababui

Thank them for selling you stuff for less than they possibly can. Surely a rarity in the retail sales industry.

In the end it would have cost me, after including postage, as much to go through the sellers, so I just ordered from Amazon, with free delivery.

[ukhotstove]

Just a couple of examples of why live TV on all games wouldn't work.

December 16th Charlton Athletic v Liverpool 12:45 kick off

With the time of the kick off Liverpool fans will have to set of at around 7am at least to get there.

December 23rd Wigan v Chelsea 5:30pm kick off

Game will finish around 7:45pm so by the time the Chelsea fans get home your talking 1am.

[ukhotstove]

Originally Posted by Sdpm100

In the end it would have cost me, after including postage, as much to go through the sellers, so I just ordered from Amazon, with free delivery.

Sad to say but I'm a bit of a fanboy for Amazon

[Sdpm100]

Originally Posted by ukhotstove

Sad to say but I'm a bit of a fanboy for Amazon

That's okay. I like Amazon too.

[Sdpm100]

A-League's New Zealand Knights closed down by Football Federation of Australia - franchise future in doubt.

New Zealand Knights management has responded to the forced closure of the club by saying it hopes the move between Football Federation of Australia and Soccer New Zealand can ensure that New Zealand retains a team in the Hyundai A-League.

Knights chairman Anthony Lee conceded the club had no option but to cease trading.

That decision was forced on the club due to the FFA cancelling the club's license.

"As has been indicated previously, the New Zealand Knights had for some time been working with the FFA towards a solution to ensure the long-term success of a New Zealand-based franchise in the Hyundai A-League," Lee said in a statement released by the club.

http://www.sportal.com.au/soccer.asp?i=news&id=92393

[Sdpm100]

In other A-League news - a league that probably no-one cares about - Romario finally scores in his last game as Adelaide United beat Newcastle Jets.

Brazilian World Cup winner Romario netted his first A-League goal in his swansong for Adelaide United to help it clinch a first win in five matches, 3-2 over the Newcastle Jets at Hindmarsh Stadium.

The diminutive striker finally delivered the goal United had craved in his fourth and final guest appearance for the club in the 15th minute to thrill the crowd of 12,214.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/Sport/Rom...162324475.html

[bababui]

He could probably play for the other Newcastle at this point too.

[Sdpm100]

Originally Posted by bababui

He could probably play for the other Newcastle at this point too.

As long as you don't need to rely on him to score goals... oh wait, that's what Newcastle need... )

[bababui]

SDPM..Ive been curious..in NationStates..why have you come out against organ donation and euthanasia? Given your history I was sure you would be for those things??

[Sdpm100]

Originally Posted by bababui

SDPM..Ive been curious..in NationStates..why have you come out against organ donation and euthanasia? Given your history I was sure you would be for those things??

It's just the way the answers were wrote. For example the organ donation one is about allowing hospitals to pay patients for organs. I just didn't like the path that could lead down.
As for the euthanasia one, the answer I chose was the only one I could agree with, as the others were in my mind stupid.

[bababui]

Look at my latest issue.

The Issue


The Batter Up! Baseball League has begun to grow in popularity and is now seeking government support in establishing teams and stadiums throughout the nation.

The Debate

1. "Holy cow, is this gonna be great!" hollers BUBL President and sports nut Calvin O'Bannon, wearing a fashionable giant foam finger on his right hand. "Baseball is just what Bababuii needs right now! Think about it: soda, popcorn, hot dogs... oh, and I'm sure the economy will benefit somehow, too! All we need is the government funding to build stadiums and teams, and we'll be on every TV and in every city in the country!"
   
   
2. "You're going to spend the taxpayer's money on WHAT?" counters Minister of Finance Jean-Paul Hamilton, from a newly furnished office. "I mean, I love playing a good game of baseball every now and then, but does the government really need to go around supporting this? The only people that are going to benefit are a bunch of fat-cat burger vendors and bored hicks with nothing better to do on Sunday afternoon! We need to stop spending so much money on these ridiculous games and get back to what's really important: running the business of the country."
   [Accept]

[Sdpm100]

Originally Posted by bababui

Look at my latest issue.

I had that one this week too. I voted for number 2 - because the GDP per capita is so small.


EDIT - and you should delete the "accept" tab in your post, as someone could click it and change your decision.

[bababui]

Originally Posted by Sdpm100

I had that one this week too. I voted for number 2 - because the GDP per capita is so small.


EDIT - and you should delete the "accept" tab in your post, as someone could click it and change your decision.

Would you try to change it? The account should be password protected.

[Sdpm100]

Originally Posted by bababui

Would you try to change it? The account should be password protected.

I pressed on it for you, but it didn't seem to go anywhere. But you better make sure - I don't want to wreck it.

[bababui]

Originally Posted by Sdpm100

I pressed on it for you, but it didn't seem to go anywhere. But you better make sure - I don't want to wreck it.

I think someone would have to have a cookie from my computer to be able to access my account from their computer. Im gonna leave it there to allow for foreign sabotage in my Nation/game.