gingerjon

I think we can all think of situations where what appears to be a perfectly fine set-up can be made infinitely better by a reduction of two in the playing staff. Good observation.

Have I put this one on here before?

Smart kids.

Places carry on as normal when they get what's normal for them. Odd that.

I'm sure they will. And nobody will complain about why it's not on the season ticket or that the kick off time means they'll miss Bullseye.

Yup, a final blast from this snap blowing across the Chilterns later.

Certainly in the early days rugby union wanted to kill rugby league. After that, I think it was just pigheadedness and obstinacy. Soccerball also had a problem with potential pro/am schisms up until the 1920s. The FA Cup was originally a challenge tournament for the amateur classes; the Amateur Football Alliance wanted to usurp the FA as the true custodian of the game.

Yes, they were. But rugby league needed paying spectators to survive and grow, and soccer did not sit back and idly wait to see which side the working class public was going to support. (Obviously they acted in their own interests and didn't ban anyone but to pretend that only rugby union has been harmful, or to downplay what losing the fight with soccer meant (and continues to mean) is to ignore a major factor in rugby league's development.)

That is true. But in terms of the spread of a professional working class sport which do you think might have had the greater impact? A few clubbable chaps not wanting to professionalise themselves - or another professional working class sport going all out to win exactly the same market of spectators.

They didn't have to. Soccer actively sought to convert rugby clubs and prevent association clubs from playing rugby.

No, soccer did more than just develop its own game. It went out of its way to restrict the growth of a new code of professional football, prevented the growth of the game outside the heartlands and actively sought the same spectators. It's misguided to believe soccer to be blameless and lay all of our ills on the door of rugby union. Of course, rugby league's biggest enemy was, and is, itself.

You'll get a twenty page thread demanding to know why a rugby union journalist is using the word 'rugby' but you won't find anyone ever wondering why a soccer writer can use 'football'. What's the F in RFL stand for?

I think the issue isn't that he kicked the scrote but that he did a bit of stamping too. I blame the influence of all the rugby union played on that ground.

Much appreciated.

Get me a ticket and we'll talk ...

Enjoyed that.

You're FFSing something you did? You're my hero.

This is because there would be a constitutional crisis should there be more snow pics tagged in French than Flemish.

A few days of the year when things are a bit different. It'd be like if something interesting happened in Belgium. They'd be talking about it for ages.

The side roads round here look awful. Started snowing properly at about 9 and has just now stopped. Meant to start again later. The main road (on which we live) was looking bad but the plough and gritting team have just been through and it looks fine now. Lots of fun watching folk in the snow - and of course two boys hurling round the garden in it. Pleased I worked from home though - and not just so I could watch Argentina v Tunisia in the handball. Obligatory photie Royal Mail by Jon Smalldon, on Flickr

Can't be. He was diehard Everton fan who only ever watched rugby league.

Surprisingly good match for a semi final - should be 'interesting' at Villa Park!

You can tell the age of the editors on a station sometimes can't you?

I don't listen to Auntie much during the day... I'm assuming 6 Music/Radio 2 is moderately excited ...

David Bowie (66) has a new single ...