Maximus Decimus

As an Evertonian, I thought at least one of them was going to be given. However, do I think any of them were so bad they deserved a free shot at goal with an 80% chance of scoring? No, but that's a gripe for another day. The Forest tweet was very unprofessional though, to the point I presumed it was fake at first. Don't get me wrong, many moons ago I remember arguing on here about non-neutral referees and how I think they're a nonsense, but to actively suggest they made decisions to benefit Luton is completely out of order. It is funny seeing the mental gymnastics required to justify why the PL wanted to rig a game in favour of a team they've taken 8 points off this year.

And dare I say a draw seemed a fair shout.

There's a lot being made in the British media about the Welsh RU lad being signed by the Chiefs. I know nothing about him, but find it hard to believe he'll make it. After all, I feel like we've been here before with Hayne who, as the top NRL player, you'd have to expect was a more elite athlete. He actually played an NFL game, before spending the rest of the season on the practice squad. He was actually recalled into the 53 but quit when he had to learn a new playback. There was also another Union guy who impressed pre-season before not making it. To my knowledge, any international successes have been kickers and younger men who were able to go to college first. Never say never, but it's hard to believe that at such an elite level somebody can come from a foreign sport and do better than the best that already exist who know things by instinct that they would have to learn.

I think my point was that the appeal will be less, because it shattered the illusion that an MMA fighter can actually compete. I've enjoyed the events as well. I've no doubt we'll still see them in some capacity, but I can't see another top boxing heavyweight near their prime taking a fight like this. Tbf, Fury-Ngannou was the first time a top active boxer fought an MMA fighter. Mayweather wasn't the same thing.

I watched a very similar more detailed video, and it made it seem quite silly that people were picking Ngannou. It clearly demonstrated the level that a top boxer like AJ is working at. Tbh it made the Fury thing seem even stranger. Yes he had a bad night, but it really shouldn't have mattered. Someone as good as Fury should've been able to spot those things a mile off.

Personally, I think it just reinforces the reality that they're two different sports. It's like Union fans getting hyped thinking the All Blacks could beat the Kangaroos in a game of RL and vice-versa. I hope this puts paid to the notion of high-profile crossover fights like this. Fury made people believe it was possible, but his was the equivalent of a top boxer getting in the Octagon and the UFC fighter standing right in front of him trying to box. AJs win will make it less appealing for boxers, as the intrigue will be less. If a man-mountain who's never been dropped before can get beat like that, who is really going to be an interesting fight for the public?

It was personally very satisfying as my kid brother had been giving reasons all week why Ngannou was going to win and quite easily. I was of the opinion that AJ only took the fight because he was confident he could do a job. The big difference I thought would be the tape of the Fury fight. For all their bluster about him improving leaps and bounds, he wasn't an unknown prospect anymore. That said, I thought AJ would be cagey and it would be like the 2nd Ruiz fight. Seeing as though the fight starter way later than anticipated, I was happy it ended quick!

Fury looked totally embarrassed after. All I've heard is about Ngannou's granite chin, well it didn't last very long.

Big fight tonight. On paper AJ seems like he should win quite straightforwardly but I just have a feeling it isn't going to be. Currently enjoying a tiny scouser on his way to looking like he might win a title over a much taller WBC title holder.

Littler is still averaging over 100 pretty much all the time. He tried to slow down the other week and it failed miserable. For someone who has played since such a young age, he should probably trust his rhythm without over-complicating it.

I think Fields deserves another go off the back of a decent second half of the season.

It certainly helped that the two games were great and looked lightning fast. If you'd told me before they'd get 40k, I'd have thought that a tad disappointing but the way they went on made it seem like a huge success. It was infectious and I've no doubt it'll be bigger next year. It looked awesome and the lighting was such that the empty seats weren't crazy obvious. We have a habit talking down achievements. The initial magic weekend comes to kind, which likewise was below expectations.

I was surprised it went up as a try. There was defo a chance the ball touched the line, however I would say the Penrith example was more likely a try.

As Bevan French himself said, Penrith controlled pretty much the whole game.

Wigan got the rub of the green no doubt about that. The two tries that went up to the VR were basically identical IMO. Both could've been given and both could've been chalked off. However, a couple of hard to take decisions doesn't even get close to corruption. The last two penalties given to Penrith (interference and resetting the tackle count) weren't clear cut decisions and if they were given in reverse would be examples of favouritism.

American Trilogy by Elvis.

Only the RFL would take a look at Super Rugby Union and get ideas. Like pretty much everyone else, I saw that last night and came away thinking there is no game if that is a red card. I had to watch it about 3 times to see where the infringement even was. People will get annoyed and make exaggerated claims, but the reality is that it ruined the game as a contest for everybody there. In the long term that will be very damaging.

Surprised by that. Never liked that new stand facing the cameras, it looks terrible and often quite empty.

Funny enough I had this thought the other day too. Mine are 7 and 10, and I realised the days of taking them the park etc are nearly gone. Don't get me wrong, there have been times it's felt like a right chore but I'll miss it when it's gone. I already had a mini-adjustment a couple of years ago. I'd spent so long looking after the kids, that I didn't know what to do with myself anymore when I had some free time. When they were able to go off and entertain themselves, I'd feel a bit listless and couldn't motivate myself to do anything.

I don't think it's about having an opinion, it's about the fact that you seem to genuinely misunderstand how the clock functions in the NFL, and how it is fundamentally different to British-based sports. If they did away with all adverts the game would still probably be over 2 hours. That's because the clock isn't meant to be a continuous clock. There are times when it runs and times when it doesn't. This is on purpose and key to the tactics of the game. I actually enjoy it, especially when I've played NFL based video games. Clock management is incredibly important. It would be a mistake to think this all because of adverts, and was in fact more to do about controlling time-wasting between plays. Nobody on here is going to argue against the idea that it goes on too long, and ad breaks are frustrating but the idea that NFL is a 60-minute game dragged out to 3 hours misunderstands the purpose of the play-clock. For me it's about expectations, and when I went to the NFL it was almost no issue at all.

I've said for a while if Soccer Saturday was like NFL Redzone, it'd be the most watched programme on TV. If one team was pressing for a winner, they could just go to the game and watch etc.

They are very different games and it certainly can be frustrating when defences are on top and there are very regular changes of possession. When a team is on a decent drive, it flows quite well. Again, it's what you're used to. A lot of British fans will scoff at it, but don't have the same problem with a slow game like cricket. It's about expectations. If you're watching with people, it allows you to chat etc over a longer period of time and dip in and out.

It certainly wasn't a classic but had a dramatic ending. I managed to get to half-time before I had to go to bed. Up to that point the 49ers had dominated, but there was always the problem that they were only 7 points up.

This is the biggest surprise since we found out Jimmy Saville was dodgy.

Yeh, I kind of get this feeling. I've always found it extremely flawed, but I can see how it appeals to sports fans. We like to think that the scoreboard always reflects the two teams, rather than including a great amount of individual instances. Just because a team lost a playoff game, doesn't mean they would have lost had they played the same game 10 times. It's like in boxing. I often find fans treat a victory as proof that their fighter would win every time. Take Fury-Wilder 3. It doesn't suit his supporters to accept he might have lost that fight 20 times out of 100.