On the Eve of the new Season...

[godsshoeshine]

i now love the festive season fixture madness

[vansmack]

Does anybody know what Suarez said? I assume it started with N and ended with gger

They released the report (mind you, this is the English, translation.  In Spanish he said "negro"):

One of the key passages of the report centres on what was said between the two players during the flashpoint.

It reads: "Our findings of fact which are directly relevant to the Charge are as follows: (1) In response to Mr Evra's question 'F*****g hell, why did you kick me,' Mr Suarez said 'Because you are black'.

"(2) In response to Mr Evra's comment 'Say it to me again, I'm going to punch you,' Mr Suarez said 'I don't speak to blacks'.

"(3) In response to Mr Evra's comment: 'Okay, now I think I'm going to punch you,' Mr Suarez said 'Okay, blackie, blackie, blackie'."

Suarez originally denied the charge and said he "used the word 'negro' in a way with which he was familiar from his upbringing in Uruguay".

[sweetcell]

in case this interests anyone here: i tossed a football* with rafa marquez on a beach in mexico over the holidays.  he throws a decent spiral.  nice guy.

*an american football.  he didn't want to play soccer b/c of risk of injury.

[godsshoeshine]

what a statement

[sweetcell]

Soccer Star Diagnosed With Chronic MLS
http://www.theonion.com/articles/soccer-star-diagnosed-with-chronic-mls,26415/

[vansmack]

götze is unreal. dortmund play breathtaking football and he's their crown jewel. kind of surprised they are only asking £20m. twice as good as henderson even with the english up charge

Out two months with a stress fracture on the pubic bone.

Ouch.

[hutch]

I know its hard for people to understand other cultures but in Latin America  people use the word "negro" in a totally different way..For example I have a friend who calls me "negro" as a term of affection..I don't really care for it cause i'm so americanized I have trouble with it... now if you say "Negro de mierda" thats different..


I'm not defending Suarez just saying in Uruguay/Argentina I can vouch for fact that white people use the word "negro" all the time even when speaking of white people and its not necessarily done in a pejorative way.. there just isn't that history of deep racism down there so it doesn't have the same weight/impact....

[vansmack]

You can search this thread for a similar defense/conversation I had with boardie barcelona about the way Spaniards handled a similar situation in the UCL a couple years back (I believe it centered around gorilla noises every time a player from Africa touched the ball).  We agreed to disagree and moved on.

[hutch]

You can search this thread for a similar defense/conversation I had with boardie barcelona about the way Spaniards handled a similar situation in the UCL a couple years back (I believe it centered around gorilla noises every time a player from Africa touched the ball).  We agreed to disagree and moved on.

hmm... gorilla noises? that seems like a different league...


well it ain't nothing to me anyways.. i'm sure suarez got his just deserts

[godsshoeshine]

apparently the toon had no business winning today. i say apparently because espn doesn't want me to watch programming they paid millions of dollars for

in any case, 5th in february. take that all day

[brennser]

as always, smackie is right 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/feb/03/david-pizarro-owen-hargreaves-manchester-city

Let them have him.  He offered to play for free for United and they were smart enough to know that his medical bills alone will cost £35k per week.

He was fine in training multiple times and couldn't go more 20 mins in real competition.

(though, if he is healthy, Spurs is a better fit and I'm taking down the poster that hangs above my bed)

[vansmack]

as always, smackie is right 

I didn't throw away the poster, but I'm not putting it back up.  I was lucky enough to get one of the new H&M David Beckham posters.  Yummy...and his name is on my underwear again, without me having to steal his this time!

[godsshoeshine]

never change england

[hutch]

They should have fired him after South Africa.. that was embarrassing... Was only Capello to blame? Of course not but it seemed he could not get any response from his team.. it just seemed like he had lost them..


Anyways, its kind of funny because I always want England to do poorly and they do under perform but the other team that has really under performed the past two decades is unfortunately Argentina!

[vansmack]

never change england

Remarkable, ain't it?