h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

First up to the Rugby team, well done lads, well well done. Comiserations to the Ozzies, you played well but Boring Boring England and Jonny in particular were always gonna win through. It feels good to hear it, say it, write it and even think it.
ENGLAND ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS!

Secondly, good luck to Eddie Gray, he managed Leeds a few months before I was born, and now he's back in the driving seat. We play the Trotters today (fourth biggest match of the season for me after the scummers, Citeh and Chelski, due to the fact I have a few Bolton supporting mates) and we need to win to have a chance of staying up. Thing is without Smudge and Dom we need Dukes to bag a few and/or Bridges to finally show us that he's recovered from injury.

To the Scottish and Welsh (or Jocks and Taffys as they are usually referred to in our house). You talked the talk and you talked it big but face it, you ain't good teams. Scotland, not one of your players would get into the England team and I hope you all enjoyed '96 and '98 because you are never going to qualify again. You're too crap. Oh Wales, Giggsy is a class player but the other ten you put out? Why not just pick ten from the crowd? I'd comiserate with you because you hate us less than the Jocks do but Mark Hughes is a scumbag and I hope he fails miserably in his next job. The best part of it is YOU THOUGHT YOU'D BE IN PORTUGAL! Bwahahaha!
Oh, and well done Turkey.

I went to see the Stereophonics at the MEN on Wednesday, they were pretty good. Better than the last gig of theirs I went to but not as good as Travis (who I'm going to see again in March) or the 'sis.

Well, that was a disjointed ramble but hell, I've written worse.

Boring? BORING???
England were superb, deserved champions of a sport that isn't filled with over payed nonce's.

The match had me well and truely gripped, from the two equalisers by Austrialla too that kick by Wilkinson in the dying seconds.

The ozzies kept calling us Boring England, they even had signs up...

That was cause the aussies got battered by a stronger team. If there so bothered about the kicks in rugby then why did the aussies use them to tie, instead of going for a try and winning the match?

Besides the Aussies are only upset because they were promised the trophey if they won today, and they'd been through the entire tournament expecting to win.
I doubt that sarrong wearing nonce will ever play in a game as gripping as the rugby world cup final. The 5-1 was close, but nothing compared to todays game.

Heh, we'll see in Portugal, we'll see...

Is that going to be like every world cup/euro event where you say 'i've got a feeling' or 'its a good side this year'. Face it the England side that went out there saturday mornin were the best England side we have. No other sport that any one really cares about can equal what they've acheived.

People can moan on about football, how its better blah blah blah. Well there all over paid and under worked. Hard work went into that final, compared to most England sides who turn up when and if they have time.

I take offence by your post on more than one count ...

Fistly, Giggs is certainly not the best player for Wales - he may be the best player we have, but his performances for Wales have been very poor.
We were without Simon Davies, Craig Bellamy and Mark Pewmbridge - 3 of our first choice players - and for a country as small as ours it's a huge blow.
Hartson was refereed out of the game by a referee who used to live in the same street as Viktor Onopko, the Russian marking Hartson - sour grapes? draw your own conclusions.

Secondly, had you bothered to listen to any proper Welsh football fan you would know that we never ever thought we would be in Portugal anyway. We've been here before, we'll be here again - glorious failiure is what we're good at.

Thirdly, why do you think we hate you less than the Jocks do ...?

and what have you got against Sparky?

And the fan's are better behaved, where are the reports of rioting and mindless vandalisum, I used to work at Twickenham, I was shocked to find Alcohol is served at the ground, the fans aren't seperated, I went to the first England-South Africa match after the end of Aparthide, as it was my hubby's ticket it was in the stands and I was surrounded by Afrikaaners which didn't bother me in the slightest, they kind of adopted me, made sure I could see and kept grabbing hold of my collar when the crowd pushed forward so I didn't fall over, I never once felt in danger.
Once after a Pilkington cup final I was walking back to the train station and outside the pub I saw two guys with their arms around eachothers shoulders and a beer in their hands singing Swing Low, nothing wrong there I here you say except one was wearing a Bath shirt and one in a Leicester shirt, I remember thhinking you'll never see football fans do that.
Personally (and it is MHO) football has this loutish image that will never go away no matter what the authorities do people will always see football fans as troublemakers even though it is only a minority that cause trouble.
Maybe the FA should introduce the same system as the RFU, each ticket is purchased via an affiliated rugby club and has the clubs name printed on the ticket that way touts and troublemakers can be identified, and it also keeps out those that want to cause trouble.

Ok That is it from me for now.

Have you ever been to a football match Reefgirl?

Yes and I hated every second and I couldn't wait to leave

Who were playing?

I take it you've never been to Cardiff when Wales play England at rugby ... the English team bus was stoned two/three years ago smashing all the windows and English fans were smacked indiscriminantly around Cardiff city center ... but hey, it was just rugby boys and their high jinks!!

When Neath played Munster (?) in the Celtic Cup Final last year in Cardiff, the city was like a warzone with pissed up Welshmen and Irishmen fighting pitched battles ... but hey, it was just rugby boys and their high jinks!!

Last year, a friend of mine was spat on and threatened because he was sat next to a girl with an England shirt ... but hey, it was just rugby boys and their high jinks!!

Stereotypes are very, very dangerous Reefgirl.

I have travelled to the ends of the earth to watch Wales play football. In the group I travel with there are Cardiff City, Swansea City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Everton and Wrexham fans. We don't wear club shirts to international games because we all wear the WALES shirt.
Yes, there are idiots, but no more than follow the rugby team.

Tar and brushes ...

Well if you went to Italy, I'll shake your hand. My uncle got smacked about in Rome and I can't see the Welsh getting treated much differently.

I went to Helsinki, Baku, Belgrade, Milan and Moscow in the group and also to San Jose and Varazdin for the two friendlies we arranged during the group.

Sounds like a nice little European tour you had there.

... apart from San Jose

I went to a Brentford match

Your Welsh pride does you credit as does my English pride but lets not decend into 'nobody loves us everybody hates us', ok national pride was at stake in the incidents you mentioned everybody gets a bit het up after a few beers and I don't condone that kind of action against anyone.

Everyone likes to remember the best times with pride, I'm sure you could give me the lowdown on every Welsh team of the 70's during their glory days of Gareth Edwards, JPR & JJ Wiliams like I can give you the same of England during the Will Carling, Rob Andrew and Rory Underwood years.

Lets just remember we are 4 nations in 1 country and how boring life would be if we all agreed on everything.

Nope, I couldn't give you the low down on any of the 1970s side - I HATE rugby.
That's my point - it's not national pride I'm on about, you obviously haven't read my post properly.
I'm on about the stereotyping of football fans as thugs and of rugby fans as fun loving good blokes - it's nonsense

Good point.

Football fan shows arse in fountain?
Daily Mail say- "THUGS IN TAUNT TO LOCALS" etc

Rugby fan shows arse in fountain?
Daily Mail say - "......" Nothing, it's just jolly good fun and hi-jinx!

well football fans have an unfair tag as hooligans, a small minority have tagged the rest with the hooligan thing, Fair enough I hate football and like Rugby, yes there are trouble making minority's in all sports but it does take 2 sides to start a fight. it's not fair to stick all trouble on England, notice the lack or coverage when Turkish Fans cause trouble.

I still feel happier at a rugby match than at a football match but that is my opinion.

You say it's an unfair tag yet feel happy enough to bandy about similar sentiments ...