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tigermilkboy

Listed below are comments made by tigermilkboy between Monday, 18th May 2009 and Saturday, 17th October 2009.

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Raider Nation is in terminal decline 5:06pm on 17 Oct 2009 Great article!

It is no coincidence that a new stadium is breaking ground in Los Angeles and the Raiders are one of the teams under consideration with the Bills, Vikings, 49ers', Jaguars, Rams and Chargers.
It would seem that Los Angeles might be a better home than Oakland has ever been. The Raiders franchise should be a strong brand, sadly the team has been mismanaged for so long.
Obama magic offers Chicago hope 8:59pm on 28 Sep 2009 Re 4 limbojimbo

The betting markets reflect where the betting money is, not where opinions are leaning within IOC circles. Not only are there the IOC whisperers, but the people of Chicago are not enthusiastic regarding the Olympics.

I would say right now it is neck and neck between Chicago and Rio DJ.

Re 3 The bidding process for the games is certainly better than it used to be, which this blog makes abundantly clear. Better to be won over by visits from 'celebrities and politicians' than bribes.
The bidding process is far from perfect, but it is more transparent than previous games.
Boxing needs a Bolt 5:11pm on 16 Sep 2009 Having lived in the self-proclaimed 'fight capital of the world' in Las Vegas for seven years. I have witnessed the decline of boxing and the upsurge in MMA.
Today in Las Vegas, it is very hard to find a boxing gym but much easier to find MMA gyms. From what I can observe from visiting boxing gyms in Vegas, there are fewer and fewer fighters under twenty years old. But MMA gyms are turning away kids. So boxing seems to be getting badly beat by MMA in the talent pool.

Having attended a lot of boxing and UFC fights in Las Vegas the differences are huge. The biggest disappointment for me with boxing is the fight card. I can remember the Hatton vs Pacquaio/Mayweather fights vividly, but I can't tell you about the under-card. For the most part the MGM Arena was only 10-20% full for the fight directly underneath the main event-and they were world title fights!
Similarly this weekend for Mayweather vs Marquez, my $500 ticket is essentially for the main event and I have little idea on what precedes it. For the upcoming UFC 106 in Las Vegas, I know there is Lesnar vs Carwin AND Ortiz vs Coleman. Both fights are genuine main events. In between there is eye-candy. Anyone who has watched a lot of boxing knows how boring some under-cards get.

So unlike Ben (great article by the way!) I do fear that boxing can't save itself, unless it re-packages itself and genuine great American fighters emerge. Right now I don't see young Americans going in to boxing. However, I also see the inevitable split occurring in UFC, when eventually one fighter gets so huge and big it will be interesting to see what emerges.
Time to say goodbye 7:14pm on 21 Aug 2009 Unless you have actually lived in the US and UK you will not appreciate the perceptions of crime and Justin's article. I was born and raised around the North of England, subsequently moving to London and Brighton before settling in the USA.
I now live in Las Vegas, not the most pleasant of cities in the US with numerous problems. BUT I still feel safer and more secure here than I ever did in the UK.
The threat of violent crime in the US and UK is relatively low and dependent on where you live. However, my seven years of residency in the US, leads me to conclude that lower level, petty crime is very much lower in the US than UK. Breaking and entry, car theft and robbery seem to be less prevalent in the US in my experience-of course there are areas where these things exist.
But for want of an example, my daughter left her bike outside for an whole week whilst we were on holiday this summer. The bike was in full view of a busy street and left on an unfenced lawn. No-one took it. My feeling is if something isn't nailed down in the UK it gets taken.
I see building sites in the US, where machines and materials are left unattended overnight. This would hardly ever occur in the UK.

I put this down to the court system in the US. It is relatively easy to sue through small claims for damages. I think of an instance in Brighton, UK, 10 years ago, where a couple of seven year olds threw stones at my car, leaving some damage.
In the UK there was nothing to be done. If the same instance happened here, I could easily sue the parents (or child) for the damage.

If there is any observation I can make about the UK and US, it is the pettiness of crime and misbehavior in the UK that makes life less than satisfactory. Most of it is caused by the anarchy of weekend city-centers and drinking culture. It seems people in the US have to take more responsibility for their behavior.
Is F1 heading back to North America? 9:58pm on 06 Aug 2009 If you want a glamorous street in the USA, Las Vegas would be a major spectator draw. Las Vegas has hosted a street race before, and in the present climate I can see the casinos willing to close the Strip to do F1.
Pubs aren't dying - they are evolving 03:27am on 06 Aug 2009 The decline in pubs isn't a one issue cause i.e. the ban on smoking. The decline has been happening for many years. People are more mobile than 20-30 years ago and thus more adventurous in their tastes.
Another factor is the decline in profitability and increased costs associated with running a pub. Thirty years ago my father looked at owning a pub, the costs were relatively low. Nowadays it is at least 100K to buy most pubs. Banks won't lend you that kind of money unless you can prove business acumen and experience.
Pub management is a time-consuming business-you don't get holidays and you work unsociable hours for very little reward. It is comparable to owning and work a corner shop. This I believe is a huge factor! Owning a pub involves investing a lot of capital with an unpredictable turnover. As an accountant/financial advisor I have always advised friends and clients that the returns from owning a pub are not worth the risk.
Working in a warehouse at 40 hours a week, gives you a better living and life-style than owning a pub.

The changes in pubs and bars are pretty much evident in the US. The pub is discouraged, whereas the family friendly restaurant bar is encouraged via local licensing laws.
People want something new. Most pubs are dated and unwelcoming-smoke screen windows. Regulars are one thing, but replacing the regulars is a major problem. A pub that has had the same clients for 30 years will struggle as the clients slowly shuffle away.
The point is pubs and places to drink are evolving to reflect consumers tastes-it is the consumer that is causing the change. I can testify that pubs were closing 20 years ago and accelerated further in the nineties. A pub is an expensive business and not as desirable as years ago. Hence why most new pubs are owned by chains who can exercise economies of scale to make profit!
Getting away with it 07:44am on 13 Jul 2009 For some reason, prior to the start of the 1st Test, I had some serious doubts about Collingwood's selection. Once again he proved himself and the doubters wrong again.
However, I shall continue my doubts about Collingwood's position. I find when I entertain such thoughts he plays a blinder to prove me wrong! So I shall persist and hopefully Collingwood will too.
Experience matters in management stakes 4:49pm on 20 May 2009 The key to management is the ability to affect change and how to do carry out change. Change usually involves upsetting people from what they previously did.
This means a manager must have a strong personality and a degree of intuition about people and how to manage individuals.

However, possessing these traits does not guarantee success. The organization which the manager operates in needs to accept the need for change. For example, Sir Alex Ferguson is universally agreed to be a great football manager. But would he have achieved anything different if he had been at Newcastle Utd at the start of the season? Would the players and supporters responded to the change positively? I think we could assume that regardlessly Newcastle Utd wouldn't win the Premier League.

This I find is the most baffling thing about football management is the resistance to change within a failing club. Many clubs bring in 'new' managers because the 'old' management wasn't working. That means something must change either in the personnel or working conditions. It is amazing how many chairmen and directors then resist change and do not support the new man.
Also clubs hiring and firing lots of managers should be asking if the person doing the hiring and firing needs to change.

One other thing, is that relegation from the Premiership is seen as a huge failure for a manager-and usually results in the sack. But three teams have to be relegated and for teams like West Brom and Hull City it is no disgrace. I think it is an achievement that some West Brom and Hull City have fought for so long. Certainly most Hull City fans at the start of the season would have been glad to be in this position on the last game.
England player ratings 7:46pm on 18 May 2009 Re: NoMoreSweeping,

Totally share your concern and argument about Prior and his keeping. Right now I don't see how England can not select him due to his batting-his career average is close to 50. Part of me wishes he would give up the gloves and just bat, then we would have real competition in the batting line-up.

"IF" Flintoff gets fit, lets hope there isn't any tinkering or tweaking of the batting line-up. Let Flintoff bowl and bat at 7, Broad 8, Swann 9 would give England plenty of depth. Feeling we will need every run and wicket against Australia.
England player ratings 6:02pm on 18 May 2009 To fedupwithelves,

How is the jury still out on Pietersen? Pietersen averages 50.49 with the bat. He has made just as many runs as H.Sutcliffe in as many Tests. Sutcliffe played 54, made 4,555 for average of 60.73, Pietersen has played 52, scored 4,494 average 50.49.
In English Test cricket Pietersen is no.15 in terms of batting average-and is no. 7 if you discount anyone who played less than 20 Tests. In modern times Pietersen is on his own easily out-scoring Thorpe, Gooch, Boycott et al. What more does the guy have to do? I feel if Pietersen averaged 99.00, the nay-sayers would still say 'well he is not averaging 100'.
I just don't get it! You don't have to like the guy, but surely you can see his average is up there with the best in English cricket.

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