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AlricDark

Listed below are comments made by AlricDark between Tuesday, 2nd September 2008 and Monday, 17th November 2008.

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A friendly word from Fab 4:42pm on 17 Nov 2008 Robbo,

as always an entertaining read but I've got to add my voice to the other posters who have already pointed out that Rio and Rooney didn't even make the Utd squad on Saturday against Stoke due to their injuries.

I agree with most of the genuine points you are making inbetween the entertainment, but it's frustrating that you've chosen to take a pop at a couple of players who are probably gutted to be missing this particular friendly international. Fergie's views are well known (check out how many caps Giggs didn't get playing for Wales due to 'injuries' immediately prior to friendlies), but in this case no matter how much it spoils the story you wanted to write, the facts don't appear to support you.
Calzaghe has too much hustle 3:00pm on 07 Nov 2008 Joe's legacy is assured, whatever the outcome of Saturday's fight. Good luck to him.
Auntie's dilemma 6:08pm on 30 Oct 2008 Aghhhh - some of the comments on here make me want to scream.

I want the BBC to inform me in an unbiased way - which is only possible by being funded in a completely independent way.

I want the BBC to educate me - which is possible because not every programme they make has to get high enough ratings so that advertisers will pay for commercial slots in them.

I want the BBC to put programmes on through the night which aren't phone call bingo, roulette or word games for prizes - which they can because they don't have to make money every which way they can.

But above all, I want the BBC to entertain me - which they can because alongside 'safe' family fare, which has it's place of course, they can experiment and push the boundaries with no fear that show sponsors are going to get upset and withdraw commercials and punish the broadcaster for daring to be different. It's something they've always had the courage to do,

Monty Python
Not the Nine O'clock News
Black Adder
Little Britain
and numerous others......

all hugely controversial at times, all very unlikely to have made it beyond a handful of episodes on a commercial television station (with the exception of Channel4) that has to be risk adverse when judging public reaction or risk financial meltdown. A lot of people may disagree, but for me at least my world is a better place for having had these programmes in it.

Brand and Ross are being asked to push boundaries. That they've overstepped them is probably without dispute, but sack them for it??

It's going to be a very very dull world in the future if there's never going to be the possibility of switching on a tv or radio and hearing or seeing something and thinking "Bloody Hell, did they really just do that?" A very dull world indeed.
Open and shut case? 5:44pm on 30 Oct 2008 I thought it would be easy for me to comment, but I'm too stunned by how many people have picked up the flaming torches and pitchforks and are marching down the road demanding Ross and Brand's heads on stakes.

I implore anyone who doesn't want to see Ross and Brand thrown to the mob to be as vocal in their support of them as those that oppose them. Speak up now as if you don't, the battle will be lost without a fight.
Little Big Planet's global delay 11:27am on 22 Oct 2008 @mgillespie

I reckon I have more than an ounce of technical knowledge so that would seem to make me qualified to comment.

Yes, at purely a technical level you are quite correct. Patching one song pre-release on Little Big Planet is hugely easier than patching an entire level out of Resistance Fall of Man. That's in software development terms though, rather than logistics which I'll come to later.

Unfortunately though, the technical argument seems imho to strengthen the argument for double standards being applied, not diminish it.

As has already been pointed out by a number of posters, the Resistance Fall of Man level in Manchester Cathedral is an integral part of the game, which will have been worked on for many months by numerous people. Now clearly I have no idea if one person, many people or nobody ever asked the question "Hang on, do you think we might not be taking this a bit far basing a shoot out level inside a model of an actual Cathedral?" but obviously the corporate response if it was asked was "no problem, not an issue".

Little Big Planet, 1 person asks a similar question regarding the Koran references which are quite obviously an innocent mistake on the part of the developers and the eqiuvalent reply appears to be "OMG, sorry for potentially causing you offence, we've been so stupid, let us recall the millions of CDs from our warehouses and retail outlets around the world, destroy them all and remove any last traces of the offending item".

Now I'm sorry, but if that's not double standards I don't know what is.

Someone else hit the nail firmly on the head in an earlier posting. Can anyone really imagine Sony publishing Resistance Fall of Man with the shootout set in The London Mosque for example rather than Manchester Cathedral? Anyone?
Lies, damned lies and statistics 4:42pm on 10 Oct 2008 MOYESYSIDE

my 40% was just an indicative figure to provide a contrast. I don't know what Gerrard's true pass completion rate is.

I can't agree entirely that more possession means more chances, or even for that matter it stops your opponent getting more chances to score. Take Arsenal for example - probably the best passing team in the EPL, but this season they've already come a cropper a couple of times against teams that are prepared to give them tons of possession but crowd them out when it gets into the danger areas. I' ve seen England play on numerous occassions where they've had plenty more ball than their opponents, but created nothing in attack and been undone by pace and flair in defence. It's entirely about what you do with the ball when you have it and also your ability to adjust your tactics to exploit the weaknesses of the team you are playing. The long ball over the top makes perfect sense if you have speed upfront against less quick defenders. If they react to that by sitting deeper, then the space opens up infront of them for a shorter passing game through them.

Some teams play one way and play that way brilliantly. Other teams are flexible and can change formations and style of play at will during a game as the match situation dictates. I think all I'm really saying is that personally I'm glad it isn't a stats based game as yet and still a sport where individual brilliance can undo brilliant teamwork at a stroke and vice versa.
Lies, damned lies and statistics 3:46pm on 10 Oct 2008 Pass completion rate - can someone tell me exactly what that is meant to prove about the ability of a footballer?

I know one thing, if Gerrard has a pass completion rate of 40% because, to quote, he tries a lot of 'glory balls' then I'll take that every day over a player with a pass completion rate of 90% who never puts the ball more than 10 yards sideways.

Guess what boys and girls.........'glory balls' that come off equals goals and last time I checked putting the ball in the back of the net was still the way you won football matches.

Good players in any sports know what the 'percentage' plays are but the greatest are the ones who instinctively know when to do something different.
Lies, damned lies and statistics 3:35pm on 10 Oct 2008 Oh dear,

ViscaCatalunya, your analogy of the die roll is absolutely fine, but there's one very very important difference between the die and the goal scorer - the die has no knowledge of the previous outcomes of the event. Discrete probability theory if anyone wants to take a look. The goal scorer however knows exactly what happened the last time he took a shot and that can clearly have a bearing on the result of his next shot - either positive or negative (as can hundreds of other external factors). The die results are 100% based on probability theory, striker's goal scoring patterns are goverened by infinitely more complex sets of parameters.
Capello will keep England grounded 3:44pm on 08 Oct 2008 Haven't rated Lampard in the past; thought he's benefited tremendously from being surrounded by more talented and creative players at Chelsea and been found wanting more often than not when put into an England team and expected to lead the midfield.

Having said that, I think he's playing the best football of his career at the moment. He was Chelsea's stand-out player in the Champion's League Final and that's written as a United fan. He's carried that form into this season at club level but more importantly, has stepped up a level at least for England. On that basis I don't think there's any doubt that he should start for England.

Gerrard's problem is different. He's world class for Liverpool but rarely for England, despite having the ability to be. For that I lay the blame squarely on previous England managers who never seemed to feel confident enough to build the team around Gerrard and at least give him a chance. I hope he's beating down Capello's door pleading to be picked on the left to replace Cole, but I'm not 100% certain that's the case.

Owen - said before, surely he's worth a place in the squad? Capello got the results without him last time out and at the time Owen was a long way from being fully match fit, but he's stronger and sharper a few weeks later.

Sorry Defoe, but you'd be my odd one out. Crouch offers a completely different style of attack which is always handy and Heskey is having the sort of Renaissance that I wouldn't have predicted in a million years.

I'd have Owen on the bench, Gerrard out left and leave the rest alone.
Keegan exit turns heat on Ashley 4:57pm on 02 Sep 2008 Another Man Utd fan, but not come to gloat, just to express sympathy for the long suffering fans of NUFC. Your passion and loyalty deserves to be rewarded by more than this.

Take heart though. As I'm sure even the most die-hard Man City fan would admit, their fortunes have not been too dissimilar from Newcastle's on and off the pitch over a number of years and look where they are today. Ok, they've not done anything yet, but the point is that it is possible for a club's fortunes to be changed literally overnight and the same can happen for you.

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