Toxic Web v4.0

…I thought their coverage would be bad.

And it was.

Yeah I didn’t have much confidence in the B.B.C. broadcasting the Super Bowl this season and it looks like are doing their best to prove me right when they showed highlights of the Giants / Dolphins mudbowl from Wembley yesterday – all that money spent you think they could have fitted a retractable roof.

I had asked the B.B.C. sports editor on his blog who was going to present the show in my usual pleasant tones, basically saying which yoof muppet are you going to get to front it and for god sake please keep that useless bint Gabby Yorath away from it. Oh and also just show the damn highlights of the actual game.

The question to my and doubtlessly everyone’s surprise wasn’t published on the blog, so we had the programme fronted last night by some kiddies TV yoof muppet, Gabby probably too busy crying over being dumped from some stupid dancing show aimed at the mentally challenged – I typed this sentence and then googled for a link for those who didn’t know what I was on about only to find the daft cow had been crying about it.

Now when five show highlights of the Sunday night game on fiveUS, because they can’t show it live when the baseball season is still going on, the show starts and you are straight in. No talking head walking to camera telling you what you are about to see, just Al Michaels saying one team is kicking off. You then get as much highlights as they can fit into an hour minus the ad breaks.

Not the B.B.C. a 50 minute show and they were nearly ten minutes in before you saw any action, useless yoof muppet talks to camera, idiots guide to the game – badly done – shots of the crowd in the rain. Six minutes of action then interview with John Cusack, now I like John as an actor I have no interest in seeing him talk about a game I could be watching, much as I hate it when they do the same thing on ESPN’s Monday night game. Then there was the riveting highlghts of players standing about chatting in the rain and of various soaked spectators, don’t know how they came up with a figure of 90,000 watching, that’s the official capacity but there was a lot of seats cordoned off in the first few rows.

It does not bode well for next February and Super Bowl XLII, still doubt the Skins will be there anyway.

One thing the Beeb did get right this weekend was having Jimmy Armfield back co-commenting on 5Live’s Sunday Premier League broadcast. It’s great to have him back after he’s been fighting Non-Hodgkins lymphoma, he is by far one of the best on radio and TV.

Unlike so many of the muppets employed to cover the game he knows what he’s talking about and he’s not scared to say what he thinks, as good behind the mic as he was at right back – the best right-back in the world and so unlucky not to be involved with ’66.

The radio section certainly do have the better bunch, while on TV we have to put up with useless articles like Alan “let me repeat what you’ve just asked me and then say they done well” Shearer, Mark Bright and Gavin Peacock on radio they have the likes of Armfield and Chris Waddle who may not be able to say the word penalty or indeed kick one but he gives far more honest insight into what’s going on than his fellow Geordie. Still on radio’s down side is they do have Alan Green for us to put up with.

…is A-Gone.

The man who said a bit back when the Yanks claimed a playoff spot…

This feels like home. It’s hard to believe that I played for another two organizations. So much has happened to me here - adversity, some success - that I feel like anything but New York feels weird for me now. - Alex Rodriguez

Decided last night that he wanted to test that weird feeling and see how much they will pay, by opting out of the last three $91 million years of his contract. In a nicely timed announcement during game four of the Sux sweep of the Rockies, without really giving the Yanks any chance to present him with an offer.

So the Yanks won’t be negotiating with him as they would lose out on the $30 million the Texas Rangers had to cough up over the next three years, I bet Rangers owner Tom Hicks is a bit happy about being off the hook for that, can use it for more bench warmers at ‘Pool Unless they have a big change of heart, which reading the utterings from the Steinbrenners doesn’t sound too likely.

“It’s clear he didn’t want to be a Yankee…He doesn’t understand the privilege of being a Yankee on a team where the owners are willing to pay $200 million to put a winning product on the field. I don’t want anybody on my team that doesn’t want to be a Yankee. - Hank Steinbrenner

Will be interesting to see what kind of deal A-Rod gets without the Yanks there to push the price up and maybe teams being ready to play a bit of brinkmanship with him and his agent, who claims it’s because of the unsettled nature of the club with Torre gone and no news on any deals with Posada, Rivera and Pettitte and of course nothing to do with any greed. Still think there’s obviously going to be a number of teams that chance their arm and one’s going to be forking out the best part of $30 million plus annually for a number of years to come.

It is a tough loss playing wise, well in the regular season, big numbers that would be extremely hard, if not impossible to replace, he certainly carried the team in the early part of the year and it would mean little or no power from the right side of the plate without him.

And who is going to play 3rd next season? Wasn’t this situation the reason they went out and traded for Wilson Betemit, there’s talk of moving Cano over there along with signing the likes of Crede and Lowell. Latter two have a ring of paying big for someone who has had recent success but then flops in the Bronx that we’ve seen so often.

Yes I wanted A-Rod to stay, didn’t have the negative feelings towards him as so many Yanks fans but now just gotta look at it like this, he put up some great numbers in pinstripes but we won nothing, never even got to the show. So maybe back to the 90s it should be no gaudy numbers just the right players for the right situation.

We’ve lost bigger and better over the years…now just got to find a manager…

…nothing changed with Clive in charge.

Had chances, took the lead, had more chances, couldn’t hold onto the lead, back off an opposition player who shoots and scores, it’s 1-1, have more chances, useless at set pieces, can’t clear a corner for toffee let someone have a shot in injury time that is the winner.

So with Martin gone Spurs do exactly the same as they did under him to lose 1-2 at home to Blackburn.

With new boss Junade Ramos watching on from a seat next to Levy, he should have had a gone view of all the problems currently with the club.

Just have to hope he can justify that salary, that seems to keep going up, any advance on £6m per year? And along with new number two Gus Poyet can sort it out, starting with the glamour tie with Blackpool in the Carling Cup on Wednesday.