Michael*
720 replies · 7707 views
Really? I thought it would be France for England
and yes I meant history.
In Poland v Germany I guess it's history (then again... Poland v Russia matches never get such fuss, but we rarely ever play with Russia and they aren't seen to be as good as Germany, when it comes to football...) but also the fact we NEVER won with Germany, so there are slight expectations about 'maybe this time...'
He is married? I had no idea
the only thing semi-Lahm-related is that around EURO 2008, I realized that one of the boys I used to go to school with looked a lot like Phillip
Not so much France for some reason, even though it's just over the water.
I suspect if you asked the average England fan to tell you his or her top three rival nations, almost all of them would say Germany, Scotland and Argentina. I can't honestly say I've ever really bought into any of those rivalries myself though - I'd of course want England to win against any of them, but I wouldn't take any added satisfaction from beating them than I would from beating, say, Italy (chance would be a fine thing!
).
Put 'em up! Actually, back home, it's Brasil that causes the most ire - but it's England next to be sure. 
Then it's every other South American nation because of this pathological need to be superior to the rest of the continent! Michael*, do you know the genesis of the Brighton & Hove Albion/Crystal Palace rivalry as aside from duelling birds (of which, I'm sure, the eagle would easily win!) I don't understand why it's such a famous one?
That's quite interesting about Ellen Page taking inspiration from the sporting world, as I'd imagine it to be rather easier to 'come out' if you have a career in the arts.
, I guess for that very reason maybe she felt embarassed that he beat her to the punch maybe. The highest profile footballer to date (and the most recent) to have done it is a German player by the name of Thomas Hitzlsperger (also known as 'The Hammer'), but sadly, he felt the need to wait until after his retirement to break the news. By the law of averages there must be a great many more gay football players around, and though I can, of course, understand there being a lasting sense of apprehension that prevents others from taking similar steps, I’d like to think we’ve moved on a bit in 2014. The notion that being gay could somehow be a hindrance to one’s career should really have gone out with the ark. I suppose it’s possible now that the first high-profile male athlete to come out will be someone who was already out before they actually turned pro.
. Ellen's first show was actually cancelled due to her coming out 
. That shows how far we've come in a relatively short time.
Ah yes, the 'double punishment' rule has been the source of much discussion lately, with many arguing that defenders (like Martin Demichelis in the Barcelona game) who unfairly deny goalscoring opportunities shouldn't have to be punished with a sending off and a penalty kick for the opposition. I can see their point, and it's hard not to feel sorry for defenders who make successful tackles that are misread by referees, but the risk of suffering the double punishment acts as a deterrent to dangerous play too, and given that we're never likely to have flawless officiating, I suppose we have to just ask ourselves which rule would give us the fewest injustices - and at the moment, it's probably that one.
I’m familiar with some of the rules of ice hockey thanks to the myriad of video games I’ve played over the years, the first of which was NHL Hockey on the Sega Megadrive/Genesis, but you could write what I know about baseball with alphabet fridge magnets on the back of a stamp.
What about basketball and golf ?
!
Ha! I was just dropping by to chase you up on that very thing. Glad to see you followed through with your intentions.
Tenuous or not there really isn't anything to it. However any queries or concerns be sure to drop me a line. I'll be happy to help
You do however need to work on your play count
Friend request sent...
Received with thanks. 
I must say, the collection of music on there is surprisingly extensive and very in-depth. Still feeling my way around at the moment, but I'm looking forward to exploring in greater detail. I'm already liking some of the little asides, like the stories behind songs.
LOL why thx
Well at least you had the chance to finally watch the beautiful hilarity that are the Minions
I hear there's a Minion-centric movie on the way. I will, of course, have to give 'Despicable Me 2' a watch first. 
We just lost to Scotland
Hmm I think he does! I don't see him too often though... I guess he may be not the same height as Lahm (but then again I have no idea how tall he is) but definitely shorter than me (I am almost 6ft tall).
True, but I heard it was without Poland's Dortmund boys. Qualification from the group may come down to home form and whoever drops points away in Georgia. I don't suppose many teams will nick a result from the Germans.
You're almost taller than me, then. If I may ask, is your height considered far above average in Poland?
Put 'em up! Actually, back home, it's Brasil that causes the most ire - but it's England next to be sure.
Just wait until we qualify from our group above, erm, Italy and Uruguay! Actually, on second thoughts, maybe don't.
From what I understand, the Brighton/Palace rivalry is a relatively young one. It kicked into overdrive in the late seventies, thanks to some kind of pre-existing feud between managers Terry Venables and Alan Mullery, who’d been teammates at Spurs. They carried their personal animosity into meetings between the two teams, and it supposedly made for some pretty fiery games, all of which were packed with controversial incidents.
Hopefully there's some truth to that, should bode well for the Black Cats/Canaries confrontation next week! 
^Ah, so it's... personal! 
That makes some sense then, as most of these things tend to be geographic (at club level at least - international, of course, brings in war historic grievances). I mean here it's Pompey/Scum, and back in Bs.As it's Banfield(hooray)/Lanus(boo). All the traditional rivalries in Argentino club football are based on who's in (often literal) spitting distance. Oddly, given the relative proximity in the other direction, Portsmouth hasn't got any beef with Brighton & Hove Albion at all... 
So you don't rate your chances of moving forward from the group stages? Group F is highly winnable for us, as would be the Group E second round, therefore I expect a Quarter-Final placing at least. I'll actually be in Japan at the beginning of the tournament, so I hope they do well too and I look forward to watching them with the locals. 
I hear there's a Minion-centric movie on the way. I will, of course, have to give 'Despicable Me 2' a watch first.
^ I sure hope so, they have my money already after reading that 
So I wonder, you're not a fan of EA too?
It may be one of those things that's a lot more complicated than what it appears to be on the surface. For some (though likely the minority), it may not be as much the issue of acceptance as much as not wanting the extra attention to distract them. That is at least many average players seem to generally suffer from exta media attention for whatever reason. Good players on the other hand are already used to attention, so it doesn't seem to bother them. As a result, it would be interresting to see an elite player make the step. I've heard many NFL players say that they believe there's a minimum of 2-3 on every team and that they all know who they are, so it appears in that case the outside world is moreso the obstacle. With Michael Sam (the NFL player), the attention he's been getting has been positive, but I wonder how some of it will affect him. For example, his popularity puts his every move under the microscope. For example, the 'scouting combine' is usually helpful in giving average to below average players a chance to impress scouts before the draft. Due to the fact that he's so popular, his combine performance had a lot of anticipation and the fact that he performed so poorly is now much bigger news than it would have been otherwise. That's not to say the pros won't outweigh the cons in his case, but it may possibly cause someone else with average talent to want to fly under the radar until after the draft. Of course, with how our culture is evolving, the next generation will likely look at us judgeingly the way many of us look at past generations
Very true. Maybe one day, people with those kinds of attitudes will be as much a target of ridicule as folks who thought the earth was flat are today.
I've a few memories of playing basketball as a kid, it's a great game to take part in. But again, I'd need to lean heavily on Sega Megadrive/Genesis games for a decent insight into the rules.
Does crazy golf count?
I know you enjoyed your big payoff Mr. Lucas, but you sold a part of my childhood with it
I remember when Jedi masters had integrity. :persuazn:
^Ah, so it's... personal!
That makes some sense then, as most of these things tend to be geographic (at club level at least - international, of course, brings in
warhistoric grievances). I mean here it's Pompey/Scum, and back in Bs.As it's Banfield(hooray)/Lanus(boo). All the traditional rivalries in Argentino club football are based on who's in (often literal) spitting distance. Oddly, given the relative proximity in the other direction, Portsmouth hasn't got any beef with Brighton & Hove Albion at all...
So you don't rate your chances of moving forward from the group stages? Group F is highly winnable for us, as would be the Group E second round, therefore I expect a Quarter-Final placing at least. I'll actually be in Japan at the beginning of the tournament, so I hope they do well too and I look forward to watching them with the locals.
I think realistically (and bearing in mind that we were taken to the cleaners by Italy at the Euros), qualifying as runners-up is going to be our best shot, but even that could be a tall order with the kind of firepower Uruguay are currently packing. Without wishing to sound too contrary though, I do actually prefer a difficult group. Four years ago, we expected an easy ride in the opening stages, followed by Ghana in the second round, which of course went south after hilariously inept performances against USA and Algeria. So give me games against Italy and Argentina over Ecuador and Honduras any day - if we're not going to have a chance of winning it all, we might as well test our mettle against as many of the big boys as we can before we have to bog off home! :lullaby:
Sounds fantastic, I seem to remember the Japanese and Korean fans creating a cracking atmosphere when they were joint hosts back in 2002. If it’s anything like that this time, then I couldn’t imagine there being many better places to be at World Cup time. Plus, with their respective group draws, both should be in with a decent chance of progressing to the knockout stages.
^ I sure hope so, they have my money already after reading that
So I wonder, you're not a fan of EA too?
It's confirmed to happen but apparently, it's been pushed back from December of this year to July 2015.
Quite honestly, I still find it a bit tricky to get my head around it, thinking about EA in those terms. When I used to play on my Sega, they were just another dinky little software company making things like ‘Aquatic Games’. I must have missed out on the middle part when they started to transition into the evil empire they are today.
^ Gah, one more year for Minions! Well, Rome wasn't built in a day right?
As with most companies, they had humble beginning but soon bad management and sheer greed turned them into the evil empire they are today.
We just lost to Scotland
Hmm I think he does! I don't see him too often though... I guess he may be not the same height as Lahm (but then again I have no idea how tall he is) but definitely shorter than me (I am almost 6ft tall).
True, but I heard it was without Poland's Dortmund boys. Qualification from the group may come down to home form and whoever drops points away in Georgia. I don't suppose many teams will nick a result from the Germans.
You're almost taller than me, then.
With or without them, I guess the result could be the same.... there are 11 players in the game, it shouldn't be about the 3 only. Błaszczykowski isn't playing until September or so? His contusion somehow came in the right time I guess, with his wife being pregnant btw have you ever heard about his personal tragedy back when he was 11? I am pretty impressed he turned out to be not bitter after that.
Sure! I don't want to say 'far' but come to think about it, I only know 2 girls that are around my height. I am really surprised when I see girls taller than me! Some time ago I checked this 'average height' for men and women of different countries. For Polish men, it's 5 ft 10 1/2 inches and for women it's 5 ft 5 in. I think it is pretty accurate because many guys I meet seem to be a bit shorter than me and most of my female friends really are about 165 cm tall.
Are you between 6'1 and 6'2? If so you should be happy, that's a pretty damn good height for a man!
? I'm somewhat surprised it took so long with it being the world's most popular sport and thus having arguably the most at stake. Some things can't be helped *anime voice* such as sport that need judge scores, but I think its a good move for any regular scoring sport anyway.
...Old Neil...looks like we hardly knew ye ....
I know that this is "Daily Fail Mail" so not the most accurate and reliable source... but a particular part of the title of this article surprised me 
Have you seen the new Robocop? I saw a bit of the CAM and the new design of the Robocop is disturbing. Let's say that when they open the suit, much of him is not there...also, making him a conscious person and not mostly a robot (like the original) makes it a bit eyebrow raising & difficult to look at.
Also: A not so subtle allegory on universal healthcare, immigration, and class warfare....I'm going to check out its competitor & partner, Oblivion (Cruise) next.