The meme is from the 70s; everything from then seems cheesy now, and it's a bit of a shame that a guy with such an impressive life (by standards under a totalitarian regime) should be remember as an internet gag.Originally Posted by Gazza
So here's his actual wikipedia page for anyone interested:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduard_Khil
How can someone who was once such a solid player -- a real talent -- have such a 10-cent head about the game? It's stunning. Abso-freakin-lutely stunning. I can only assume the Mariners and Mo Johnstons of this world are as predatory in their approach to life (and therefore missing most of the good parts) as they were to scoring goals. They saw MLS as a meal ticket made of dumb Americans who'd buy anything, and for a while, they were right. When does Mariner get named Bermuda national team coach, anyhow? Or maybe he failed at that, too.Always nice to have an """""expert""""" comment on Jermain Defoe & other things related to TFC...
I refuse to believe Rod Black actually asked someone a hard question.
Sportscasting in Canada outside of hockey is just a train wreck. We have too many generic types who are just providing filler and very few people who know what they are talking about. The other thing I find is that most of them are completely devoid of charisma. Makes for incredibly boring watching.
Really? There could have been no other reason someone would have wanted to leave Scotland?.....
Oh yeah... well, with Mo you can add "entire nation hates me." Forgot that part.
They weren't hard questions that made her cry; they were MEAN questions. Like "don't you feel awful to have let your country down?" It was THAT bad. By the end of the second or third question, she was bawling her eyes out, having just fallen during a performance she'd spent her entire life working towards. Yeesh.
Dan Shulman, John Saunders and a host of baseball commentators would like a word with you
Edit; Also Brian Williams is as good with amateur sport as anyone in the world.
I was trying to find it on You Tube but can't seem to. The way you described it is exactly right. It was so bad, it left an indelible mark on me. It was the gold standard of bad interviews.
Actually had a long standing joke with a friend of mine about that interview, which I'll have to remind him of before the Olympics start.
Last edited by Canary10; 01-15-2014 at 04:04 PM.
It was so bad, I wrote a column about it that moved nationally suggesting they should fire him for grossly breaching anything resembling ethical behavior. Also lost to time, pre-internet/databases.
Here's a typically amusing piece of mlssoccer.com analysis comparing our two new players to those in the league:
http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/articl...ing-toronto-fc
Shulman's been so good for so long, I didn't realize he was Canadian. I thought he'd come up from the U.S.
, another of the thornhill Jews taking over the sports world (he's why Dicky Vitale did an "All Canadian" team during that UNC/Syracuse broadcast on the weekend). He also still maintains his Jays season tickets. Midweek in the summer if you're in the lower bowl of the Dome you may be lucky enough to run into him. Really nice guy. Loves talking about Canadian hoops prospects.
They are comparing minutes per goal of our players in the EPL and Serie A to players who have lower minutes per goal in MLS and suggesting that therefore the MLS players are "better?" Seriously?
MLS is a tough, physical league, that emphasizes speed, and features plastic fields, grueling travel, extreme weather, and incompetent refs. - NK Toronto
What, no that's not what they're saying at all. Did you read it? They're saying Defoe and Bradley numbers compare very well to good players in this league, and Defoe's numbers will likely improve in MLS. Bradley's passing stats might decline because TFC was not a very good possession team. Anyway here's the key quote that sums up the article:They are comparing minutes per goal of our players in the EPL and Serie A to players who have lower minutes per goal in MLS and suggesting that therefore the MLS players are "better?" Seriously?
And if their statistics are similar to – or even better than – what they produced in two of the best leagues in the world, then the Reds will have brought two MVP-caliber player into the fold.
http://metro.co.uk/2014/01/15/jermai...-soon-4264243/
This has got to be one of the least factual articles ever written, and really showcases how not to take some of the journos in the UK seriously.
It might has well have been prefaced with "I wish not to back up any of my statements with any insight or facts as to why it sucks, but rather i would like to repeatedly concentrate on the intensity of its sucking... and it sucks hard" saying Defoe should take a loan out to a lower division... why? no reason other than he can compete, and should compete, in England. Yay, be a striker at Burnley sounds awesome
He goes on to call it a "nuclear" decision, but provides this awesome line, which answers his own dumbfoundedness about the decision...
Soooo, he has nothing left to prove (internationally) and he's getting a massive raise, and he gets to start, and possibly succeed... i mean, stop me if this makes sense to you"How many other natural finishers are there around, especially English ones?"
(EDIT: No disrespect to Burnley, I know some fans that are good people!)
I dunno man, even making this comparison is silly. That quote especially. By putting up "similar" numbers from MLS players they're suggesting those MLS players are of the same caliber and I don't think they are. I like Ossie Alonso and Beckerman as players but neither of them would get a sniff in Serie A. I don't want to denigrate our league, but realistically comparing the two is like comparing a high school track star with an NCAA champion. The kid might get close to break a 10-second 100 meters but compared to the big boys, he's out of his depth.
More realistic would be to say "they'll tear this league ap..."
Oop. Caught myself there before it slipped out.
“Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football.
I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’
And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”
-Eduardo Galeano
lol from BBC's gossip page:
With forward Jermain Defoe set to depart for the MLS, Tottenham are thought to be planning a £4m bid for Juventus striker Fabio Quagliarella, 30.
Full story: Metro
I wonder if MLSE has looked at Defoe's time playing for Tottenham until the end of next month as part of their recent massive marketing initiatives.
If you even casually follow the EPL, you will know the name Defoe.. but, there's surely a contingent of whom might not; now that he's linked with the club, here, following Monday's announcement, there will likely be a report about it in local (Toronto) papers, whenever he bags a goal in the English top flight.. serving to emphasize the quality of the player we'll be getting and building anticipation for when he actually suits up for us. Also, until he finally leaves, commentators/pundits are sure to continue mentioning Toronto FC, now and again, when he plays, and it's a great advert in demonstrating our ambitions, as a club, going for players of Defoe's quality; might get one or two others thinking and possibly keeping tabs on how we do, this season.
It's a win-win; whilst he would have benefited from being able to gel a bit with the rest of the lads, he would always be well beyond their levels of intensity to start the pre-season, anyway.. so, this way, he keeps his fitness/sharpness levels up (especially important, as you get on in age). He also won't have a bunch of trialist scabs hacking away at him, in training (arguably safer for him to remain there, for a time). Defoe also gets to have that much more of a chance at making the England WC squad, which will see him motivated to light things up for those thinking that, because he's signed with us, his quality has significantly dropped off, both in his time remaining at Spurs and once he arrives in Toronto. Should he make the squad and hold his own, even, that will have a similar affect as his time until end of Feb. with Spurs will have had (albeit, exponentially better).
I wouldn't put it past them and it might prove genius, even if they had little choice in the matter, for one reason or another.
Swansea vs. Tottenham, 8:00 AM Sunday, on T.S.N.
COYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Spurs beat Swansea 3-1. Defoe on bench. Be curious to see just how much game mins Defoe gets. Something tells me that there is some sort of agreement to not to use Defoe too much, unless absolutely necessary. I expect to see Defoe mostly on subs bench for remainder of his stay with Tottenham
“Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football.
I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’
And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”
-Eduardo Galeano
On a related note... my 15 year old daughter, who pays absolutely no mind to sports, at all, sat down on the couch yesterday while I was playing FIFA and started asking me all these questions about this "English guy" who is coming to Toronto. It impressed me, because clearly their marketing strategy must be working. She wanted to know how it's possible for an English person to come to Canada and play (answer: $$$), how much is he going to make (she was under the impression he's making $50 million per season), and generally who he is that they'd be making all this fuss about him.
Now I'm hoping she may actually sit and watch a game to see who this "English guy" is and what he's all about.
So Mr. Leiweke, whatever it is your doing, you keep it up because it is clearly working.
Spurs led 3-0. There was no reason to even consider playing Defoe.
Moderator
Here's something mildly interesting: A guy on the Columbus Crew BS forum, claiming firsthand knowledge from Brad Friedel (or at least his "camp"), that had Columbus hired him as their coach, Defoe had pledged to go play for him.
http://www.bigsoccer.com/community/t...996461/page-49
A bunch of other posters proceed to poke some holes in his assertion, and also note that he was unlikely to go to Columbus for (probably) far less money than Toronto paid him - but still interesting I guess?
- Scott
“Heroism breaks its heart, and idealism its back, on the intransigence of the credulous and the mediocre, manipulated by the cynical and the corrupt.” ~Christopher Hitchens
Well, Im pretty sure if his Mum Sandra paid a visit to Columbus...she would have steered him clear.
Well the racists in Colombus would accept Brad Friedel as coach, but the much larger group of xenophobes there (read Bill Archer) would wonder why an American boy didn't get the job.
Since Defoe would not be accepted by either of those camps, I could never see him going there, even if the Crew could match MLSE's cash (which they couldn't possibly do, even if they sold their stadium).
Plus even if one was accepted by the Crew fans and society... you'd still be living in Columbus, of all places. Seriously, any one with options would probably choose elsewhere to live.
Last edited by Oldtimer; 01-23-2014 at 09:25 AM.
MLS is a tough, physical league, that emphasizes speed, and features plastic fields, grueling travel, extreme weather, and incompetent refs. - NK Toronto
Friedel is American. Racists and xenophobes would have been equally happy.Well the racists in Colombus would accept Brad Friedel as coach, but the much larger group of xenophobes there (read Bill Archer) would wonder why an American boy didn't get the job.
Since Defoe would not be accepted by either of those camps, I could never see him going there, even if the Crew could match MLSE's cash (which they couldn't possibly do, even if they sold their stadium
My bad, I thought he was from the UK.
MLS is a tough, physical league, that emphasizes speed, and features plastic fields, grueling travel, extreme weather, and incompetent refs. - NK Toronto
Makes you realized how many great goalkeepers the US has been producing for a long time.
It's true, that's the one area where they have excelled.
MLS is a tough, physical league, that emphasizes speed, and features plastic fields, grueling travel, extreme weather, and incompetent refs. - NK Toronto
Well the racists in Colombus would accept Brad Friedel as coach, but the much larger group of xenophobes there (read Bill Archer) would wonder why an American boy didn't get the job.
Since Defoe would not be accepted by either of those camps, I could never see him going there, even if the Crew could match MLSE's cash (which they couldn't possibly do, even if they sold their stadium
Plus even if one was accepted by the Crew fans and society... you'd still be living in Columbus, of all places. Seriously, any one with options would probably choose elsewhere to live.
This statement is 100% true!
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