Mid-Week Action

Nothing like a little mid-week action to brighten the daily grind…plenty of football going on as well, so worth a quick take...

Tuesday night saw a full slate of Championship fixtures and an opportunity for the Tractorboys to build on their win at Plymouth as we welcomed Charlton and former Town hero, Matt Holland. Looked like we had this one in the bag, but that would mean two consecutive wins for the first time this year. Could it be??? No, Pablo Counago wasted a penalty and despite 20 attempts on goal, Ipswich were once again held to a disappointing draw, with the teams sharing the spoils, 1-1. Call-out to Own Garvan for knocking in his 3rd goal in the last 2 games. Other than that, yet another truly disappointing display that sees us slip further from the promotion race. Big Fat Jim (don’t know why they call him that as he’s not really fat, or big, for that matter, but we’ll figure it out another day) Magilton reckoned we created enough chances to win 3 games, and the players are trying hard, and he's really disappointed….err this is getting really old Jim. Put together a streak and lets get moving – 4 wins in 14 games keeps the Blue Tractor firmly stuck in mid-table mediocre mud, heading nowhere….again. Sort it out Jim, pick a team, and get them to play. If you can’t do it, raise your hand and move on.

Got to mention the north London derby between the purveyors of the beautiful game, Arsenal, and the current butt of all football jokes, their hated rivals Tottenham and their new manager Harry Redknapp. So it was Arsene against ‘Arry, and although Spurs took an unlikely early lead, once the Gooners got up 3-1 in the second half, who saw a 4-4 draw coming?!! Too early to tell what effect Harry will have on the men in white, but regardless, ‘Arry or not, this team won’t be in the bottom 3 come judgement time. Keep it in perspective though, they aren’t anywhere near the top 4 either. Elsewhere, Hull finally succumbed to a squad from London, with Chelsea having their way 3-0 at the KC – despite their great start, midfield maestro, Geovanni is getting a bit carried away by proclaiming, "Scolari is a top coach and I do not doubt he will be a success at Chelsea, but I feel sorry for him because we are going to beat his team.” Right you are then.

Nothing else out of the ordinary, Man U, as expected, handed Zola’s Hammers their 4th straight defeat (was Curbs really that bad? And did you fix that kit yet?), Liverpool won on a late penalty…again to stay at the top. Villa continued to confirm their status as a potential top four or five team with a good win over Blackburn.

On the US side of the house the longest 3 innings in baseball history finally ended with the Philadelphia Phillies defeating the amazing Rays 4-3, in a 50 hour game 5 of the World Series and taking the title 4 games to 1. Congratulations to both teams, the Rays for getting there and firmly shoving the Red Sox and Yankess into also-ran nobody's this year, when nobody, including this author gave them a chance. And to the Phillies on your first championship in any sport in 25 years. Now do me a favour and invite all your mates on the Eagles football team over for a right good piss-up before they head to Seattle to kick the crap out of my Seahawks this weekend. 'Till then...Cheers all.

Weekend Rewind

As I develop this site we’ll take a minute to look back over the previous weekend and get some regular themes established.

A royal blue weekend double for me as the Tractorboys got a rare win, romping past Plymouth 3-1, thanks to an Owen Garvan brace and a first in 11 games for Kevin Lisbie. This was followed by an even more improbable ‘Hawks road win against the reeling 49ers who introduced their new interim Head Coach, linebacker legend, Mike Singletary, after the sudden firing of Mike Nolan.

A big fan thumbs up to Singletary though for kicking one of his own players out of the game! Not sure I’ve ever seen that before but after Vernon Davis was flagged for a personal foul for smacking ‘Hawks Free Safety, Brian Russell after a reasonable gain and costing his team 15 vital yards, Singletary gave him a right good rollicking. This was followed by swift sending to the showers…not only that, but as the sulking player headed off for the early bath, his coach calls him back to get his helmet and then tells him to piss off...wow! That’s a Golden Tractor Key award nominee right there (when we get it started).

It’s been a tough season for both my football teams, so this weekend, was indeed, a rare event. Though it was great to see both my blue flags flying, I think it’s going to be a rough year for me on both sides of the football pond.

Weekend Tractor-Hawk Grade: B+ (not an A because the ‘Hawks were actually out-gained though we won by 3TDs and David Norris got sent off in injury time for kicking the ball away – cue the referee’s a total wanker)

Other notes:

The NFL took its show to the “Home of Football” as the New Orleans Saints upended the San Diego Chargers in a 37-32 shootout in front of over 83,000 at the most expensive stadium in the world, Wembley. Can only imagine the “what the bloody ‘ell is he doing then?” when the Saints punter ran the ball back through his own end-zone for an intentional safety in attempt to run off the clock. “Own touchdown?….how much it that worth then?”

Hull City remain in the top 3 in the Premier League after a comprehensive 3-0 win over West Brom, and I was thoroughly impressed getting to watch the game as the Saturday early match on Fox Soccer Channel (our big-screen football feed for English fans living in the US). I will say the result was a bit harsh on the Brom but HCFC have already earned themselves a future article on this site.

Liverpool ended Chelsea’s 86 game unbeaten run at home. The men in red move to first place in the EPL for the first time in like 30 years with a 1-0 win at the Bridge over Big Phil and his lads. Enjoy it while it lasts, Scousers. By the way are you still protesting your US bankroll??

The Phillies take command of the World Series. Most focus is still on the upstart Tampa Bay Rays, who like the previously mentioned Hull City of the EPL, are more than worthy of a full post at another date. Shout-out though to Seattle favorite Jamie Moyer on his performance for Philadelphia Sat. night – at 44, he is giving all us middle-aged over-the-hill beer-guzzling-fried-egg-sandwich-eating blokes some hope.

College football – we’ll need to get this going a bit as it is not one of my hot topics but I pay attention. Pretty much all the top teams won, so we’re still on course for about 8 teams qualifying for the championship but with no tournament at the end noone knows, and for right now, who gives a toss – come on, let Boise State back in, it’s worth it just to see that frickin blue field….no upsets of note, though a worthy mention to the AZ Wildcats for playing a close game against USC, eventually succumbing 10-17. Having lived in Tucson for 12 years or so, you’ll notice a Wildcat reference every once in a while.

And how was your sporting weekend?

Cheers!!