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BennyBlanco

Listed below are comments made by BennyBlanco between Thursday, 20th August 2009 and Saturday, 7th November 2009.

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Streetwise Aussies douse England spirits 11:53pm on 07 Nov 2009 England were woeful. The following players should never play for England again: Deacon, Borthwick, Crane, Care, Banahan, Cueto, and Monye as a full back. Danny Care was so awful that even when the ball was there for him (which wasn't often admittedly) he looked up, made a cup of tea, discussed the weather, then shipped it out. Hodgson was a huge improvement, some looped passes aside.

And Wilkinson... It seems like he can't punt the ball any more. His kicking out of hand was well short on yards, even when he had all the time in the world when kicking a penalty or free kick to touch. Compared to Carter, Jones and Hook who made 20 or 30 yards more. His kicking out of hand was predictable, and the Aussies sat deep. Apart from that he was our best player.

But the ultimate blame must lie with the coaches. Tactically the players look clueless. Defence was awful, again, and the forwards again had no idea or ability to dominate the breakdown. I mean, how long are Wells and Ford going to get?
Johnson primed for battle ahead 08:57am on 04 Nov 2009 Miles, you may or may not have a point, but while Jonny is fit and playing he is always going to play 10, and after Geraghty the next fit available candidate capable of playing 12 is............................

Possibly me? So luckily Geraghty is fit (currently) and has the ability to fill in.
Johnson primed for battle ahead 9:09pm on 03 Nov 2009 It speaks volumes about the lack of confidence I have in Johnson and the management when I look at the players sent home. Foden and Tait, two extremely talented runners who have both played 15 more than Monye, Nick Kennedy, the best 2nd row in the country, Armitage, the only genuine openside meaning Moody is going to once again try and convince us he is a true 7...the only surprise however is that they sent home Worsley. I was sure they'd pick him at 8 instead of the young Crane or the "Brand" Haskell. Progressive Martin, progressive.

I hope I am proved wrong and my negativity is in vain. I'd be happy with a dreadful win overall against Australia, but I think the likely XV selected is still capable of more, even with injuries and better players being left out. Much will depend on how the anonymous front 5 perform. Jon Wells HAS to get them generating quick ball from the breakdown. I think they will leave the likes of Moody and Croft with too much to do. Mostly however, I'll be pleased just to see if everyone has a genuine clue to what they are supposed to be doing, rather than 80 minutes of mindless nothingness.
Capello's World Cup contenders 03:44am on 15 Oct 2009 I agree with the other comments, Beckham has to go. I don't believe there is another player mentioned above that has the passion for playing for his country and the will to win like Beckham. He is a senior player who can offer leadership and focus off the field as well as on. I think he still had a Greece 2001 performance in him.

I just hope the players realise what an opportunity they have. They will never get a better chance to achieve footballing immortality and win the ultimate prize. They have a strong enough squad, a group of world class players, and an intelligent and driven coach. As much as they are led to believe by certain people that playing for their club is everything, nothing could compare to lifting the World Cup, the effect that would have on the nation, the open-top tour and a lifetime of respect and adulation. Do these players want to be remembered as a generation who demanded ludicrous sums of money for themselves, or do they want to be mentioned in the same sentences as Moore, Hurst, and Charlton? One thing I am convinced of is that Beckham is the only player who truly, publicly states and craves this. The others might, but it doesn't show. He has to go.
Chelsea will suffer if transfer ban stands 02:05am on 04 Sep 2009 Any player who doesn't leave on a Bosman is "breaking contract" effectively. So any time a club signs a player who still has a few years left is signed are the club responsible for inducing the breach, or is the player? If that player says "I want to leave and play for Real Madrid" how is that different to Chelsea saying "come and play for us". Should that player then be fined/banned for inducing a break of contract?
Fifa's global ambitions 04:56am on 26 Aug 2009 Maybe Premiership footballers could start by donating half their weekly pay to charity. They could feed and educate an entire African nation if they did that.

HA! Yeah right.
Strauss's England worthy winners 07:24am on 24 Aug 2009 #90, Tottenham Lad,

Sorry to hear that, my sympathies.

I live in Oz. Top 5 excuses for Australia losing the Ashes, according to today's press and comments:
1) England cheated by slowing the play down in 1st test
2) The umpires cheated
3) England cheated by doctoring the Oval pitch and winning the toss
4) It's not England, it's South Africa B
5) Australia are rubbish anyway, so it's not like England beat a good team.

Here are my 5 reasons why Australia lost the Ashes:
1) They failed to bowl out arguably the worst batsman ever to play test cricket in dying overs of the 1st test
2) Their best bowler, Johnson, spent the first 3 tests throwing custard pies down the pitch
3) They couldn't cope with the pressure when Freddie Flintoff was steaming in and the crowd were roaring behind him at Lords
4) They were simply woeful in the face of a brilliant Broad bowling spell, that meant they were skittled for 160 in their first innings at the Oval. The fact that England and Australia batted after this innings and made 350 ish showed that they were poor, and the toss/pitch had nothing to do with it.
5) They didn't pick Hauritz for this test
Semenya's sex test explained 01:04am on 22 Aug 2009 Jamesalexanderr,

To her and her family it has never been a problem she should get checked out, and have seen where she is from? I imagine she doesn't have access to top quality health care. South Africa struggles to provide basic medications in many areas, let alone the ones you mentioned. The way the IAAF guy was talking it is as if she has never known or suspected, so there is no deliberate cheating. As I said earlier unfair advantage is going to be a really tricky thing to decide.
Semenya's sex test explained 9:30pm on 21 Aug 2009 Gordon,

A reasonable attempt at explaining a complex issue. However, you haven't fully explained the range of intersex disorders. Semenya can't have complete AIS as with that condition she would not have any male features at all. You're right, partial versions are a possibility. The other possibility is she has female chromosomes but has had a lifetime of exposure to excessive male hormones from a condition such as congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

But the most important issue you raise last; when people find out about these conditions they have a whole team of specialists to deal with issues, and a diagnosis is a huge thing for a person to deal with, and it is very sad she will have to deal with this in the public eye.

And finally it is going to be very interesting to see how the IAAF rule when her diagnosis is made. If she is a female who has had a lifetime of exposure to male hormones that is not her fault, such as with congenital adrenal hyperplasia, is that an unfair advantage? Similarly is she is a male 46XY who has partial AIS, so her male hormones don't take the full effect they should, meaning she is more woman like, is that an unfair advantage?

I think no for the first scenario, and possibly for the second. I'm hoping for the first so she can keep her medal.
Semenya left stranded by storm 2:19pm on 20 Aug 2009 Philman 132,

Sorry, but you aren't quite right. 47XXY is a condition called Klinefelter Syndrome - they are boys, although genitalia can be smaller, and they mostly have subtle features. The other things you mentioned, XXXY and so on are extremely rare, usually cause intellectual impairment and other abnormal features.

The chromosomes you inherit aren't the only things that determine your sex, and they aren't the thing that goes wrong in intersex disorders. In congenital adrenal hyperplasia for example, there is an enzyme defect in the chemical pathway that makes all the steroid hormones (of which there are many). This means a female, 46XX, can have this enzyme defect and her adrenal glands throw out a whole lot of the wrong sort of hormones, like testosterone. This then acts on body parts to make things look more male. The flip side to this is partial androgen insensitivity, where a boy has 46XY, but the receptors on cells don't work as well as they should, so the testosterone doesn't have it's full effect, so they look more "feminine". And there are a whole load of other things that can have these effects too.

And that is why things like this are not a simple case of her dropping her shorts.

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