One friend likes to play, so when I'm out with her we will occasionally, but we both suck. I can't hit anything consistently (partially due to me having Duane's Syndrome, which is the same reason I have trouble shooting anything that isn't an arcade cabinet), so I'd never consider getting serious about it.

One time I did hit a perfect bullseye during a game of cricket by grabbing the dart like a knife hilt and angrily chucking it overhand. I turned to my friend, did the D-Generation SUCK IT motion and gave some random dude a high five. I was on like my seventh drink so it's basically the highest accomplishment of my life.

Did Wolfsburg...?

Beat Real Madrid? This whole time I thought it was Real that won 2-0. WTF? It's all thanks to the legend himself, Lord Bendtner.

China aims to become football superpower 'by 2050'
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-36015657

It'll take a billion people 34 years to figure out how to kick a ball?

Why do they need football when they have badminton, table tennis, diving and Starcraft?

I can't see them producing enough homegrown talent to compete internationally anytime soon. Some of their domestic teams aren't bad but heavily reliant on imports mainly from South America. And Chinese kids are expected to focus 100% on school - they are there for something like 12 hours a day, it's insane. You can't compete in team sport without a lot of free time around friends, a reason slum kids often become top footballers.

I'm fucking stoked for the second leg Europa League match between Liverpool and Borussia.

Go reds go go.

I love how the Mariners can get absolutely clowned on by any random scrub pitcher.
http://i.imgur.com/5V7WQv9.jpg

...and the Black Mamba leaves the show with 60 points in one match at age 37, see you Kobe!

http://video.gazzetta.it/kobe-bryant-ul ... 402310430a

DANKE BAYERN! BENFICA IST SCHEISSE, HEUTE UND IMMER!

The most important thing is that Barca got kicked out; I fucking hate that team.

Yeah, and that means there won't be excuses this year for Messi to win the "Golden Ball".

Bow to the almighty Liverpool!

One of the more intense matches in a long time, that's for sure!

OF FOR FUCK'S SAKE THEY WERE LEADING 2-0 AND 3-2!!!!!!

I have the misfortune of having a die-hard Liverpool supporter as one of my best mates, and he's never going to shut up about this. He's pretty much the stereotypical "this year's Liverpool's year" kind of guy. I hope that they don't win the entire thing, but they're actually looking like they might if they continue playing as they have been.

Here are my predictions for the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs: http://kluseba.eklablog.com/my-nhl-stan ... a125644452

It's a bummer than no Canadian team made it to the playoffs but I somehow saw that coming. The Ottawa Senators were lucky to make it to the postseason last year and are lacking consistency. I think the recent coaching staff changes are a great thing and will give them a fresh start. The Montreal Canadiens are heavily overrated and are lacking depth in offense and goaltending. Despite a horrendous meltdown in the middle of the season, it speaks volumes that the coaching staff will still be the same next season and that the general manager said that he doesn't want to change anything important in the next few months. Canadiens fans should also realize that Carey Price is truly amazing but not the best player in the whole world as everyone claims. The Toronto Maple Leafs are a joke, they suck so much that there should be a new term for this and I couldn't see any improvement over the past few years despite a top coach and manager. The Winnipeg Jets are quite faceless these days and will need to focus on new talents to become a constant playoff contestant. The Calgary Flames need to fix their goaltending issue if they want to be taken serious. How many first round picks do the Edmonton Oilers need to finally improve things? The organization needs a severe wake-up call because with the roster that they have, they should be Stanley Cup contenders sooner than later. Concerning the Vancouver Canucks, they have made too many wrong choices in the past, especially concerning coaching staff and goaltenders, and one of the best NHL teams has slowly become one of the worst. I honestly hope things will quickly improve for all Canadian teams except Toronto because their fans are a pain in the ass.

Since none of the teams that I support (Ottawa Senators and Arizona Coyotes) nor any Canadian team made it to the playoffs, I will root for the legendary Jaromir Jagr to get another shot at a Stanley Cup win.

Anyone fellow strayans see Martin getting smashed?

For foreigners, here's a beautiful bit of footage from our local brand of footy, and one of the many reasons why it's about a million times better than pansyball, er, soccer.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-04-16/m ... t-from-may

I can't wait for the game to start between the Warriors and Rockets! The Warriors will probably win the series, but at least it'll be fun to watch.

Jesus, felt that one! Reminds me heavily of Stuart Hogg's late "tackle" on Dan Biggar a few years back. Hoggy's a great player on his day, but that's never something I ever like seeing. Surprised Biggar wasn't out cold, never mind the fact that he got back up and kicked a penalty a minute later.



Is that kind of hit common in Aussie-rules football? Seen bits of a couple of games but I don't recall anything like that going down.

Contact is common but a hit like that is totally illegal and he'll be suspended for at least 5 games, I reckon. Nothing "beautiful" about it - completely sickening and unprovoked and that shouldn't be a selling point for the AFL.

Yeah that kind of hit is really really bad for you, over time that shit can lead to horrible mental problems that can start as early as your 30s. The NFL over here had to change a lot of rules and introduce a lot of new penalties once that was discovered, and of course our players wear helmets.

Bit of old news, but does anyone else think Maria Sharapova's suspension is bullshit? She'd been prescribed meldonium for almost 10 years for an irregular heartbeat. Now it suddenly shows up on the banned PED list in 2016, because some other jackasses (who don't need it for medical reasons) have taken to using it to improve blood oxygenation. So she gets thrown under the same bus as these clowns. I don't like it.

Absolutely. Repeated concussions are really bad for you. Stef Martin, the guy who got flattened in the video, is from the same team where another player retired just three weeks ago due to concussion. It's a big area in the game and those types of hits are hopefully becoming the exception rather than the rule.

AFL, as like the NFL, are contact sports, so injuries will occur, but it's all about playing legally and sportsmanlike.

Yeah, the front on aspect is legal, and you can definitely lay a huge bump on the body, but it was way too high. If he'd got him in the chest it would've been legitimate, but he'll probably get scrubbed for 6 or so weeks.

Huge bumps are a great part of the game. I'm not going to disagree with what Mikey said though. The physical aspect of AFL is brilliant, but you've got to keep the bumps fair.

Here's a legitimate one from a few weeks back that was also pretty huge-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnNxywLoYhU

Even that one looked a bit high through my eyes, but I guess that's down to the fact that in rugby union (sport I watch most often) most hits are about waist height. Aussie-rules looks pretty interesting though, I might look into it further.

It's pretty great, I certainly consider it the best contact sport (although I'm not going to say rugby's shit or anything, because it's great). Fast as hell, rather physical and I love the lack of offside. Probably one of those games that looks fairly chaotic/nonsensical to the untrained eye, but whatevs.. if you want a simple game go and play chasey, right.

It's a good sport. I live near Sydney so my team is the Sydney Swans (I'm going to the game against West Coast on Saturday), but support in Sydney is not as large as it is in other capital cities, especially Melbourne (the rugby league has a bit of a stranglehold here - a sport which I also enjoy and a followed team [St. George Illawarra Dragons]). I hope you like the sport. If you're ever out this way we will go to a game.

I don't mind Australian football. I prefer Gaelic because of its faster pace and lack of stoppages, but both are pretty entertaining. I agree with Mikey that the contact isn't what makes it, or any other sport good or not good. That kind of attitude is off-putting as someone who enjoys a lot of non-contact sports - golf, hockey, tennis for example.

Vardy scores, putting my money in now, the miracle championship is a done deal.

So what's Gaelic football like? From the vague knowledge I have of it, it's basically Australian football but with a soccer net and a round ball. Looks interesting but we have very little exposure to it.

It's very similar actually: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Uq3MLpkLek
So similar that there is an international match series between Australia and Ireland every with a ruleset that is halfway between AFL and Gaelic.

Vardy scores more than a goal. I'll keep my money in, though.

Yeah, I know that Australia plays in the international stage, but I think we are not competitive due to not being used to playing with a round ball. Looks like an interesting game, although I'll never see it on TV here.

I heard PSG offered Wolfsburg 400 million and Zlatan as a bonus to get Lord Bendtner, but their stiffest competition is Barcelona offering their entire offensive trio in trade for him.

Lord Bendtner must be laughing at all these pathetic offers.

Haha, in the end, his contract was quietly terminated. How can they? He scored three goals for them!

Oh and Tottenham drops points, you know what that means!

Greater Western Sydney is about to record a very important victory over world-beaters Hawthorn. The Giants have scored over 20 goals against the Hawks - when was the last time a team managed that many goals over Hawthorn?

WELL FUCK CONGRATULATIONS LEICESTER CITY FC!!

I remember reading about a guy who bet on Leicester at the beginning of the season only for the company to beg him to take some tens of thousands of pounds before the end of the season. The guy took them up on the offer (wonder how much would he get if he refused the deal).

Saddest thing of all would be that he's a Leicester fan.