I recently noticed there is no thread dedicated to sports, so I decided to bite the proverbial bullet and make one. So in here, discuss anything sport-related, from the Olympics to your local lawn-bowling team.

I'll get the thread perpetually moving by beginning with the Australia-South Africa test. In about an hour or two, South Africa are going to make some history, by defeating Australia in Australia. From my knowledge, that has not been accomplished since 1992 or 93. Australia now need to go back and rethink what they're doing, because they have to get some new players and get rid of Hayden. I also have a feeling we'll be humiliated in the Ashes, too. I can already see England licking their lips in glee.

And the Aussie NRL, what do you think of Wayne Bennett coaching St. George/Illawarra Dragons now? It could be the best buy the Dragons have purchased in recent history, considering Bennett's experience with the Broncos. Since I'm an Illawarra boy, I like to see them do well, so good luck to the team for 2009.

GO MANLY!

Premiership winners two years in a row would be great. It's a shame to see Menzies and Bell leave but they have recruited some huge winger so that should work well in their favour. It would also be good to see NSW win State of Origin this time around.

Ahhh, Manly. I really wanted Melbourne to win it, because they deserved it. Still, it was a comprehensive victory by them in the grand final, but I doubt they'll copy that kind of victory this year, even if they do reach the grand final again.

As for Origin, yeah, I want to see NSW win for obvious reasons . But Queensland are pretty dominant, so NSW need to lift their game a lot.

Something interesting: I was at an ice-cream place in Wollongong yesterday, and I saw Shaun Timmins in there! He's a retired Dragons player, for those who don't know.

I just got back from a ski vacation, and the bruise on my arm has all the colors of the rainbow on it.

I used to be much more interested in sports, especially the statistical side of it, since I like playing with numbers and statistics, but I lost interest when I realized that I wasn't a natural athlete.

Is Shaun Timmins the guy with no eyes? When ever he played league he was always squinting for some reason.

And, how thell did Melbourne deserve it?

The guy with no eyes? Um, I'm not sure. You're probably talking about someone else.

Melbourne have been the most dominant team in the last 3 years, yet have only won the grand final once. Their season this year was wildly interrupted by Origin and other representative games, where the bulk of their team was a part of them. I was hoping they'd win, because they're a good team, and everyone else wanted them to lose . Even haters of the Storm must agree that they didn't deserve to lose the grand final 40-0...that was completely humiliating.

Melbourne deserved to be humiliated more than any other team in the comp, and I'm glad it was Manly who gave them a thrashing. I'm probably just saying this because I hate Melbourne a lot, especially Michael Crocker after he smashed Brett Stewart in the 2007 Grand final. Greg Inglis also grinds my gears because he is too damn good. I only like him when he is playing for Australia

I don't mind Melbourne, and their success isn't going to stop me liking them. Greg Inglis is a great player, but he's now at the Broncos, right? Let's see how that works for him.

I thought it was Israel Folau, the monstrous winger who moved to the broncos. Or maybe they both did?

Actually, you're right, it is Folau. I get the two of them mixed up, probably because they're both really good players.

I watched the Calgary Flames rape the Minnesota Wild last night at the pub (it was wing night ). Calgary scored their game winning goal shorthanded so it was a pretty exciting game!

I guess all the other sports thread must have been closed. Anyway;

I like Geelong in AFL, Storm in NRL, Melbourne Victory in A-League, and in Premier League I go for Liverpool, but also like to see West Ham do well (only time I want them to lose is when playing the Reds). (Big sport nut )

For current sports, Melbourne were set to be the dominant team of the A-League, but the draw has been very unkind to us. Hopefully we'll get back with some home games that we have. We'll probably get up against the Roar this week I think, but Adelaide, even at home, will be a very tough one. As a Victory fan, I'm supposed to hate Adelaide United, but I'm happy for how they fared in the Asian Champions League and particularly the Club World Cup. Bolstering the reputation of the A-League in any way, shape or form is something to be admired.

I do hate Sydney FC however; not just the rivalry thing, but because they're a bunch of snobby idiots who portray themselves as the glamour club but in reality are just incompetent, arrogant fools. Though I guess the arrogant thing could also be said about Victory. Anyway, it'll be an interesting race for the title and two Champions League spots this next few weeks.

As for EPL, I'm happy to see the Reds at the top, and I hope we can make it this year for the first time in Premier League! I think it's also good for the game to see somebody like Hull City come out of absolutely nowhere, hell from the Championship, and make a great go of it.

I'll post more about the Storm and Cats later, if this threads still alive when AFL/NRL season rocks around.

haha Bangladesh are 373/6 in the fourth innings of a test against sri lanka. To show you how ludicrous that is Australias highest is 404

We're doing incredibly shit in the cricket..... appalling selections and sticking with players that are well past it, Hayden anyone?

So, we're in Sydney for the final Test against South Africa. It's a dead rubber, anyway, seeing as South Africa are up 2-0. We're currently 6/264, and not going too badly, I guess. Ponting was out for a duck, and Hayden only made 31...although I guess in comparison, Hayden batted extremely well!

The Proteas are turning the screws again. Wait until they bat.

I find it amusing everytime they're reporting it on the radio or TV and are talking of a "South African whitewash..."

I wouldn't discount that...it could very well happen. However, Australia still have 4 wickets to fall, and day 1 is already over. It could end up a draw if both teams don't get a hurry-on.

No, just the words "South Africa" and "white"

Well, ain't that going to ruffle a few feathers?

We hope so!

Anyway. Melbourne Victory back on top of the ladder last night after a 2-1 win over Queensland. More bloody issues with Telstra Dome and the surface marred it though, fuck I hate this venue. Can't wait till we move into the new Bubbledome at Swan Street.

On the topic of the game, an absolute shocker by half the Victory side especially Archie Thompson, I thought we were lucky in some respects to even come away with the three points. If we'd been on target last night, we could have easily won 7-1, we missed some absolute sitters.

Ah, you must have Austar...we don't get that rich-man's TV here. I didn't know the Telstra Dome was that bad. Never heard of the Bubbledome. What's that supposed to be like?

The Dome has had issues since it first opened because it doesn't get much sunlight, they kept replacing it. Numerous AFL players got seriously injured because of the shit quality of the surface, and once a St. Kilda player found glass in the surface during the course of a game.

As for the Bubbledome;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbourne_ ... ar_Stadium

There may be capacity issues, since Melbourne Victory get 23,000-27,000 on any given match (many stay home because they hate Telstra Dome and their overzealous security), but it should be great fun to go to anyway.

Some sad NRL news. Link

And some fairly good news, I suppose. Link Seriously, just axe that show already. The time has come.

I saw that news about Sonny Fai about an hour ago. Very unfortunate stuff

I go for the bombers in the AFL and I'm sure they will become a force again somtime before Guns N Roses make their next album.

On the point of Hayden and Australia losing the series against Sth Africa, I'm sick of the media calling for heads to roll. At one stage during the Boxing Day test there was somthing like 3 pages in the Herald Sun full of articles calling for Hayden to be retired and the selectors to be sacked. It was getting quite nasty.

Fair enough to have an opinion but I think alot of the media were going way over the top. Like it or not Hayden is playing and the roasting he's been getting isn,t going to help a player who is down on form and confidence.

If he had made a century the same people would have praised the selectors for having faith and sticking with him.

Anyway, thats my rant. At least it looks like we won,t lose our No. 1 ranking.......yet.

The Herald Sun is an abysmal, emotional tabloid newspaper, devoid of all credit, shamefully existing to bias a certain group and sell papers rather than get a decent scoop on a story. Read the Age instead, that's a news source that actually deserves some recognition.

Judging by your mention of that particular paper, and pledging allegiance to Essendon, I'll assume you're from Melbourne, as am I. Welcome.

But the Herald Sun has better comics. Therefore it's superior.

Just kidding, I don't really have a particular preference as to which newspaper is best.

Oh, and go Bombers.

Zits >>>> all other comics.

Geelong >>> Bombers.

Anyway, any other Melbournians here going to the Victory at the Dome tomorrow?

Yea, I like sports. I don't play any, unless you count Taekwondo as a sport, but i do watch them whenever I can. Living in canada, we really don't get alot of football matches that aren't Man U vs. Chelsea, but oh well.

Teams I support:

Hockey: Detroit Red Wings
Football (american): Dallas Cowboys
Football: Arsenal FC (premier league)/Toronto FC (mls)

I also like motorsport, if that counts, and I see myself is one of the few people who follows both F1 and Nascar.

Do you have pay TV? I don't know what it's called in Canada but I have pay TV and not only do we get ALL Premier League football games, but we get some of the Championship as well! (Usually Birmingham and Reading matches but sometimes even Swansea and Barnsley and lower teams like that)

I'm a diehard Wild fan. They started soooooo well, but now..they blow. What the hell happened? Every part of their game is sloppy now, sure they still win now and again, but we started the season SO fucking dominant, no one could skate with us...now...people are scoring game winning goals on us short-fucking-handed.

I'm about ready to pull my hair out!
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Do you think the Domestic 3 should pull out of nascar? I am having a lively debate on another forum I'm a part of and its getting mighty heated over there. I think they need to cut their losses and drop the luxuries like Nascar, but thats just me.
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Arkansas beat #7 Texas today. They beat #3 Oklahoma less than a week ago.
and the SEC is "down" this year... Fuck the sports media.

Hull were fifth from bottom of the old Third Division in the 02-03 season. They have had a remarkable rise to success and are doing well in the Premiership. I'm happy for them, but not so much when they held us (Liverpool) to a point at Anfield a few weeks ago.

We're doing very well, like you said. Top of the League and we have (ANOTHER) great chance to extend our advantage at the top as we play Stoke this weekend who're without Ricardo Fuller, who is somewhat of a talisman for them, and Chelsea play Man Utd. Hopefully, they will draw and we will win. We've also got Torres back, which is a major boost, though we've lost the young, but impressive, Insua on international duty, as well as perhaps losing Alonso, who has been immense all season. Skrtel is also back in action, so its looking good at the moment.

Watched the Newcastle game with a friend of mine who supports Newcastle, was amazing. If it were not for Shay Given, we would have won that game by at least 9-1. I'm happy with the 5-1 though, especially away from home and watching the depression creek into my friends expression every time we went forward, which was a lot!

Big months January and February. We've got Everton twice, once in the cup, which was an amazing draw and Chelsea at home at the beginning of next month. I can see us nicking it. We've also got the giants of European football, Real Madrid in the Champions League next month. I think we're too good in Europe for them, personally.

As you can see, I'm a football fanatic.

SEC for life.

Having grown up in South Africa, I'm a loyal supporter of the main teams their but the rugby team, the Springboks, more than any other. Seeing them win the World Cup against England (where I live now and have done in the past) was pretty awesome.

Overall, I was also very satisfied with South Africa's performance against Australia. Sorry, Mikey

You follow any junior motorsport at all? I think Daniel Ricciardo is going to do very well in British F3 next year (top 3 is almost guaranteed, he should aim for the title a la Alguersuari), although I thought Brendon Hartley would win this year's title so what do I know...

Last week's Autosport magazine indicated that BMW have the lead on other teams in F1 with regards to getting their head around the KERS systems, but I'm really not so sure -- they may have pulled development on '08 to aim specifically on '09 (bar Heidfeld's set-up malaise), and the limited testing may hinder other team's efforts but I wouldn't be surprised if McLaren and Ferrari are bluffing at the moment.

Bah, it's alright. Even I was satisfied with their performance, and they deserved to win the series. South Africa even almost pulled out a draw in extraordinary circumstances in the third test.

Matthew Hayden has been dropped now from the 20/20 match and the one-day squad. That should really tell you something about the failing Australian team. Bollinger is the way of the future.

You have to be kidding...it's pretty much a socialist manifesto.

Unless, of course you like that sort of thing.

We would have won that game against Hull, if it wasn't for that own goal by Carragher. However, after said goal, both sides kicked in to gear so much that I have to declare the final 20-25 minutes of that half, the most intensely exciting periods of football I've ever watched. (I haven't been following very long admittedly, however...)

I was amazed at how Stoke knocked over Arsenal earlier this season, those long throw ins that they do are an incredibly original tactic. Still, I can't see us dropping that game, they're pretty much preparing for relegation.

I've missed a couple of games lately, I missed the 5-1 win against the Barcodes because I misread the date that it was played on, and I only got to watch the first half of 3-0 against Bolton, but now I've discovered football to watch as a summer sport (not much of a cricket fan myself), I'm usually up till 5am watching till the end of Liverpool games.

As I'm a relatively new fan, you'll have to tutor me a little on the ins and outs of the club

My Aussie team, Melbourne Victory, are back on top of the A-League ladder as well after beating Adelaide United, we seem to be their bogey team even though we were destroyed in the Champions League and they made the final, we've still beaten them three times this season. Liverpool and Victory on top of their respective ladders makes me a very happy panda.