Haan'sThunderbolt

How many Tour De France winners of the past 15 years were actually clean? 1996; Riis no 1997; Ulrich no 1998; Pantani no 1999 - 2005; Armstrong probably not 2006; Landis no 2007; Contador ??? 2008; Sastre yes, I think, I hope. 2009 - 2010; Contador dodgy clenbutarol infused beef.....

Hardly a surprise - his treatment by Chavs has been a disgrace. Juve have sacked their coach, will he go back there?

Same here. He's not the only one on his way though - if you're not productive, then you're out!! Unproductive, injury prone players are no good, especially when you're paying them BIG wages. The new owners want 'more bang for their buck'.

Pity Wolves, WBA, Birmingham and Blackburn can't all go down.

It's worth downloading the ESPN Baseball Today podcast from i-tunes, a good listen.

I could never decide whether he was inept or corrupt........

Complete and utter joke - except it's not funny. And our League is 'straight'?

All the other sports that have video/ decision review systems don't worry about the lower levels not having it. Never understood the reluctance in football. The world game, yet left behind by virtually every other sport. It just encourages 'dodgy' decisions, and other ambiguous rulings.

And most of those same journalists had never heard of him until Porto knocked the mancs out in 2004....

Nice bike, think it's the aluminium version of the carbon Roubaix.

Oh dear, 0-6....not the start people were expecting...... ..ah well another 156 to go..still only early. Yankees next, starting tomorrow@ Fenway, live on ESPN America, I believe.

MLB.com Gameday | MLB.com: Gameday

Why did they play the World Cup Final in a stadium only holding 32,000? Kolkata holds 70,000+, The people running cricket aren't really that bright, are they?

Looks like they may do a lot of pitching - as their bullpen isn't fantastic. And with Chase Utley injured, and the loss of Jayson Werth, pressure is going to be on the rest of the line up to produce enough runs. Saying that, I'd still fancy them to do well.

India will win - nothing will be allowed to stop them from winning! Or is that me being a cynic?

Don't think most fans would begrudge them if they did win it. I think they're the only cricket team that nobody minds. Massively under-rated players and team, and well led by Vettori.

Probably the latter, the Celts are just like the bitters, nothing else matters apart from stopping/beating the English. Talk about 'small time' which explains why their records in the World Cups are rubbish.

Think your namesake could have a good year. Looked good yesterday in practice.

You might need a First class system in place though...... Saying that, it might help if you received the kind of money both Bangladesh/Afghanistan got off the ICC. Ireland by comparison, received a pittance. How's that going to grow the game? The ICC are seemingly only bothered about the Asian countries....

Don't forget Bukta......

Absolutely!! The German side all used to - though some now have the temerity to wear Nike....

Absolutely!! What do the ICC really want for the game of cricket? Make loads of cash, or grow the game to become a true world sport? Or let the BCCI tell them what to do? The ICC should be pumping money and resources into the associate nations - they do have talented players - it just needs lots of help and development. Anyway, well done to Ireland - to chase down 327 takes some doing, and they never seemed to panick, and were controlled when they got into position to win. O'Brien will take the plaudits, but he had great support form Cusack and Mooney. As for England - 327 should win against Ireland, especially when you have them 110/5 - the bowling and fielding wasn't even Minor Counties level - simply shocking!! Strauss is a poor ODI captain - far too conservative - tellingly, he wasn't in charge when we won the T20 World Cup last May. Anderson has lost his mojo, Collingwood is surely finished, Pietersen needs a brain. However, they're not out yet, and could still progress.

If an English kid turned up to his local club with an action like Malinga - he'd be coached to bowl 'properly'. I'm not totally convinced about his action - it's hardly over-arm, more round-arm. However, the ICC would be too gutless to do anything, like with Muralitharan. But that's another subject. Bloody effective bowler though - can be almost unplayable.

I know people don't like the thought of leaving or demolishing the current ground - however, unlike FSG's Fenway Park, virtually nothing is left of the original Anfield. The Main stand needs knocking down, and the Anfield Road is far too small, add that the Centenary/Kemlyn could do with a refit - that's virtually 3/4 of the ground needs doing. I'd think 65,000 could/should be a viable capacity - and providing there is a sensible ticketing arrangement, why shouldn't it be close to 100% full most of the time. Add in all the other money making facilities like shops, cafes, museum, cinema, etc I'm not sure redeveloping is feasible, but maybe FSG have something up their sleeves.