tonyXIII
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Posts posted by tonyXIII
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No, you're not. You are right to be sceptical. If you do decide to contact him, go slowly and carefully. You've no idea what he's been up to or what sort of friends he has made. I think you should make an effort (he has reached out to you), but be careful. Are you sure it is him or could someone else have got hold of his phone or even stolen his identity?
Definitely reach out to him, but meet him on neutral ground first. Be careful and good luck.
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I understand the collective angst over this weekend's Premier League results. As Salford Red Devils fan, I can even sympathise with the "Not them again" sentiment - believe me, I am sick of Saints or Wigan hoovering up the trophies.
However, I am also a Man City fan and, as such, I really would like to see them win a unique 4th title on the trot. Next year, I won't care. If Klopp were staying, I'd be happy to see him lift the title as, for many years, he was the only one to rise to City's challenge. Now he is leaving, I would prefer to see Arteta win it as a "City Old Boy".
However, this season is far from over. Liverpool and Arsenal have to focus on their remaining games, win them and hope City slip up. They cannot affect City's results, but they still have control over their own results. Hope. Never lose hope. (Just lose a couple more games this season.
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1 hour ago, gingerjon said:
Not really, I guess.
So I'll repeat mine: there is money. You don't just invest in transport but you absolutely do need to do that. We agree. But you do also need to invest in massive, vanity project stadiums - not overpay for them in full and fleece the taxpayer for years as per America and the Olympics - and things like massive, vanity project stadiums.
The Etihad is getting on for a quarter of a century old. The northwest needs investment. Why not Old Trafford?
We'll have to agree to disagree here and leave it.
We both think that the North (and all the other regions) needs investment in infrastructure and we probably agree that much of the previous money has been mis-spent, we just disagree on what the money should be spent on.
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2 hours ago, gingerjon said:
The government chose not to afford HS2.
Which doesn't affect my point at all.
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On 04/03/2024 at 21:13, gingerjon said:
It doesn't just need to be football matches. Don't think a major new venue could tempt the NFL - especially if a new ground got some decent infrastructure as part of the development - for example?
Sorry gingerjon, but I'm with Red Willow on this one.
Besides, I think you are underestimating the draw of London. To lots of foreigners, England begins and ends with London. If the government can't afford to finish HS2, how could they justify building a new OT, or Anfield or Etihad or Villa Park or St James Park. The North needs proper investment, not vanity projects for wealthy people.
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6 hours ago, JohnM said:
I might just do that Tony, though I'm finding it harder these days to find dubbin and to nail those old leather studs into my boots.
We're moving closer to Wigan so I might actually get to a game without staying overnight.
Dubbin and leather studs nailed onto the soles. Oh, the memories! Thanks for that.
Good luck with the move.
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On 09/02/2024 at 10:58, JohnM said:
Way back in 1989 my then boss used an HP pocket scientific calculator, which is when I first (and last!) heard about RPN.
I thought RPN was mostly used in Texas Instruments calculators, not Hewlett Packard.
Of course, I am probably wrong.
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20 hours ago, JohnM said:
I have mobility problems. Lumbar stenosis and cauda equina, as well as osteoarthritis in both hips and lower spine. Walking any distance has been an issue. Two weeks ago I had a caudal epidural steroid injection. Very unpleasant and quite painful. It's made a huge and positive difference, though, although my chances of playing for Wigan have not improved.
If I were you, I'd still take my boots with me next time I go. Just in case.
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15 hours ago, Spidey said:
After a week at home had a suspected rejection. Thankfully a high dosage regime of steroids and things getting back to normal. 15kg extra fluid on my body which needs shifting but kidney working. Don’t feel ill, just need some stamina & strength building up. Getting back to my own bed tonight, well the spare room anyway so hopefully the steroid filled insomnia will start going away. Hopefully will be right for the RL season starting
Good luck with the recovery, Spidey. Best wishes.
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Shocked to read about this.
R.I.P. Malcolm. A Salford legend.
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10 minutes ago, graveyard johnny said:
Quiz show Jeopardy with Stephen Fry - utter garbage
It's strange. The format worked brilliantly in America for years (decades?), yet it just doesn't feel right for a UK audience. Perhaps it needs a less 'high-brow' presenter, such as Stephen Mulhearn?
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On 18/12/2023 at 11:04, JohnM said:
The brackets are implied. Confirmation from TonyXIII, please.
Only just seen this. Apologies.
The order is BODMAS or PEMDAS. The first operation to do is Brackets or Parentheses, then it's Exponents or Indices. I'm not sure why BODMAS has an O. Then, you do Multiplication and Division, which have equal priority, followed by Addition and Subtraction, which also have equal priority. In the event of equal priority, you work from left to right, but this is the final priority and only comes into play AFTER everything else.
So, 8-8x8+8. As Padge has pointed out, the first operation is multiplication - 8x8 equals 64 - this leaves you with 8-64+8 which are equal priority so work from left to right ( 8-64 equals -56 ) and then -56 + 8 comes to -48.
So, Padge gets 10 out of 10 and a gold star, as does JohnM for pointing out that, in this sequence and others, there are implied brackets round the multiplication and division operators so he also gets 10 out of 10 and a gold star. (As does anyone else who got it right. I've better things to do than read the whole thread.)
Happy New Year to everyone, regardless of your mathematical prowess.
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Back onto books.
"Halfway" by B.E.Jones. A decent ending, but a somewhat slow and definitely confusing start. Too many switches between storylines means you don't really get a sense of who is who until well into the book. The ending is interesting and has a couple of twists to the tale. I think the author was trying to set up one of the twists right from the start by giving one of the characters a name which makes you think 'man', but is later revealed to be a woman. It's a neat trick, but here it's a bit laboured.
On the whole, a good story and a decent read, but it could, and should, have been even better.
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On 10/11/2023 at 13:45, tonyXIII said:
Now I've retired completely, I've just begun reading books again.
After a couple of Jack Higgins novellas (<150 pages is not a real book, imo), I've just started "Until Death" by Alex Khan. The copyright notice says 2020, but the following description of a Foreign Secretary is so close the current Home Secretary, that I'm amazed at Khan's foresight.
"The Foreign Secretary, Jane Haslam, was notoriously rude, patronising, borderline racist and constantly in the press for her blunders, yet her closeness to the PM kept her safe from being shifted around. She was being touted as a possible leader of the party, which was more frightening."
Sorry if you think this should be in the Politics thread. I'm only on page 40, but I think I'm going to enjoy this book.
Okay, I've finished the book, so here's the review.
A good read, fast-paced and it was difficult to suss the villain until the last 40 pages. Short chapters means there are ample opportunities to break from the story and catch some shut-eye. The lead cop duo are an interesting pair - one slightly older has converted to Islam and needs to unfurl her prayer mat regularly, the other younger one has abandoned her Islamic faith and revels in excessive booze and sex, but there is a deep reason for this. As I said, an interesting pair. My one criticism is the regular introduction of new characters and bizarre ones at that. It made the storyline hard to follow as I was constantly asking myself, "Who is this one?" Apart from that, I enjoyed it. If you like detective thrillers, you'll enjoy it, too.
On to the next book!
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Hello Mr Coyne (Tony), it’s always being on my mind to thank you for taking an interest in my development whilst I was at Caedmon School. I had potential and wasted this whilst at school, didn’t really have good family role models and also fell in with the wrong crowd. However, it all turned out good in the end. I’m the Divisional Head of Safety for ******** Homes and very actively involved in raising funds for several charities. Thank you for your help and guidance in my youth. Graham ********
Coincidentally, I received the above via fbmessenger today. A beautiful "thank you" from a pupil of mine forty years ago. Such memories (this isn't the only one) give me my very own warm glow of satisfaction.
(Some redactions to preserve his privacy)
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Now I've retired completely, I've just begun reading books again.
After a couple of Jack Higgins novellas (<150 pages is not a real book, imo), I've just started "Until Death" by Alex Khan. The copyright notice says 2020, but the following description of a Foreign Secretary is so close the current Home Secretary, that I'm amazed at Khan's foresight.
"The Foreign Secretary, Jane Haslam, was notoriously rude, patronising, borderline racist and constantly in the press for her blunders, yet her closeness to the PM kept her safe from being shifted around. She was being touted as a possible leader of the party, which was more frightening."
Sorry if you think this should be in the Politics thread. I'm only on page 40, but I think I'm going to enjoy this book.
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15 hours ago, DavidM said:
He could throw ‘em
He certainly knew how to take a penalty! No stuttering run up for him, just a fast 10 yards and hammer it. It worked nearly every time. Thanks for the memories, Franny.
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A giant of the game at a time of true giants. The first super star I ever watched live. RIP Dai Watkins.
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31 minutes ago, Gerrumonside ref said:
In my opinion there’s more to it than just money and how it’s spent. There’s a smartness to the reason they’re in the position they’re in.
If you’re interested, it’s worth picking up a book on the evolution of the NFL from the boom and bust of bickering rival owners trying to pick off the best of the college talent, to an ownership group that worked together with parity as a byword.
In fact in terms of the NFL they have structured things a lot to negate the factor of money as much as possible to allow small places to compete comfortably with huge places like New York and Los Angeles for the sake of creating a better overall product.
Enough of us on here have been saying that narrow club self-interest is holding the game back for years. We know that lesson, it's just that the 'powers-that-be' aren't listening and cannot see. A governing body that is independent of club control is essential for the game to grow. The game is not growing. Perhaps the "big-4" (note, it is no longer the big-6 of only ten/fifteen years ago) will be happy when they are all there is left of our professional sport.
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On 02/09/2023 at 12:21, Gerrumonside ref said:
(trimmed)
That’s not to say that the USA isn’t the great teacher in almost every other facet of professional sport.
The only lesson to be taken from American sport is the importance of money. Without money, you can do nothing in professional sport. With money, you can afford to create the best structures and employ the best staff. My own club are testament to that. However, money alone is not enough, you need to spend it wisely. Chelsea, who seem to be rolling in dosh, but not performing on the pitch are testament to that.
If only RL could learn from America how to squeeze money out of the TV networks, we'd be laughing.
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I just want to add a few thoughts.
The problem is not how you slice and dice the leagues. It is very simple - MONEY. (Or lack of it) This is what IMG should have addressed, but have failed to do so.
A nine-team league can be successful. The Canadian Football League has nine teams and works quite well. The difference is obvious - MONEY. It also copes with some truly massive journeys.
You can whore yourself as a high-end escort and retain some control, or you can put yourself in the hands of a pimp and lose all control and dignity. We chose Sky. You can make up your own minds where I stand on the matter.
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53 minutes ago, idrewthehaggis said:
Tony, the girls and myself were there and , whilst your deconstruction makes it seem close, in hindsight it wasn't so and on other occasions the score would have been greater.
First pleasing matter is that the game wasn't decided by (coughs) a "curious" refereeing decision. Hurrah!
Second the play-got so frantic in the second half it almost felt like a sevens game or nines if you prefer.
And those pitch side LED ad screens might gather Scooby snack points with IMG, but they glare harshly on yer eyes. At one time, a brilliant incandescent white turned the players into shadows.
Sort of like an artsy Hebden Bridgesque physical theatre in silhouette. Yup.
The attendance was shocking. 4000 were missing, but be honest so was Wakefield sadly.
And yup, I too would rather Wakey stay up as at least that new stand shows some (albeit belated) desire to live in the 1990s at least. Unlike some others eh! Plus their supporters seem a fine bunch.
Now for us Reds, that win was essential.
The thrills, spills and belly aches carry on.
Next up. Back to yer Wigan. Fun n' games, erm.
As Curtis says "Move on Up!"
Wow! A Curtis Mayfield reference. You must be almost as old as me!
I didn't make it clear in my post that I was relying on Jack Deardon's call on the game. I got the distinct impression that both teams were poor, hence the "game was close" view. I bow to your better knowledge of what actually happened.
Here's hoping for another W before the end of the season.
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11 hours ago, north yorks trinity said:
Looks like I need to be better at managing my giddy expectations.
Only from Radio Manchester, but I think you got the "complete commitment". The "basic competence" I will leave for others who were there to comment. 20-0 sounds like a big win, but was it? One try came from a crazy short drop out (brain fart?) and another was right at the end of the game. Take those two away and it was a close run thing. Not a great game by the sounds of it but I'll take the win.
Personally, I'd like to see Trinity survive. You are actually trying to improve Belle Vue, which is more than a certain other West Yorkshire club are doing with their ground, so "Come on, Trinity!"
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3 hours ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:
1. Catalans
2. Wigan
3. Leigh
4. Saints
5. Salford
6. Hull FC
Hull to beat Leigh
Salford to beat Saints
Hull to beat Catalans
Salford to beat Wigan
Hull to beat Salford
Thus Hull beating everyone this season
Salford to beat Saints! Seriously, we haven't beaten them away in years and years. No chance!
On reading your post again, I think you might have been joking. Joke's on me.
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Obituary Thread
in Any Other Business / Any Other Sports
Posted
Ah, the passage of time!
One of my favourite albums ever is The Allman Brothers Live At Fillmore East, particularly 'In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed', a fantastic rendition. My copy has about ten signatures of college pals from 50 years ago. A treasured memory.