Illuminati-R-Us

I would have fucked that up by only counting it as one game. Defoe down injured just after we sign him? Bastard.

Brexit or no, IRU counts go on with

Hertha BSC 0 - 0 Schalke 04

in a game that must have been a terrible drag to watch.

Played 118, won 59, drawn 22, lost 37. Par.

I must confess that I have one of those footbally irrational soft spots for Schalke, I think from randomly choosing them to manage in old football manager games many years ago. Does... does that make me some kind of arsehole?

No, no, it's OK Schalke v Dortmund is one of our few hot derbies, and I am ususally on Dortmund's side, but... ah forget it. From this side of the Elbe, you somewhat shrug at the rivalry. Schalke seems to have the same inborn error of footballism my Hertha has: They ususally play above us,yes, but like us on a different level, they will always fuck up when cruch time comes, always, reliably, irretrievably. Already burdened with two fuck-up artist bands in my own fan existence, I can't really abide this. Google "Meister der Herzen" ("Champion of hearts"), and you'll know. Also, they wear blue like my Hertha, and they are Gazprom, meh. And they usually beat us.

BTW, there was a notable exception, when in 1997, they managed to win the venerable UEFA Cup (in the same year Dortmund won CL) on penalties, against Inter, no less. I was a raving fan at the time. The word "Eurofighter" was coined for their team, which, you can imagine, did not consist of Messis, Guardiolas and Xavis, and not even of Gullits, Bergkamps or Zidanes, but of Eigenrauch, Büskens, and Anderbrügge. OK, Jens Lehmann, too. Their Dutch coach, Huub Stevens, coined the maxim, "the Zero has to stand" for their robust, fast, and physical defence-oriented football. How'st that, out-catenaccioing Inter? I loved it. It fit the place they come from, the tough, dirty, grimey coal-and steel Ruhrgebiet from the days of yore.

I also have a soft spot for Nul Vier since I saw them play Hearts at Murrayfield about sixteen years ago. Good fans and a great night. Hearts had a player sent off for two daft fouls and Schalke won by a couple of goals. I think, but I should check.

I didn't notice there was another match last night:

SV.Jahn Regensburg 0 - 2 SpVgg Greuther Fürth

So it has to be the green-white team with a shamrock that snatches us from the jaws of subparity. Dear, what has the world come to?

Played 119, won 60, drawn 22, lost 37. One better.

Newly Brexited Scotland play a mostly still-in-the-EU Ireland at 12:45am my time, or 4:45pm Brexit-land time, about four hours from now.

Wales 21 - 0 Italy at the half.

But that’s only two Welsh tries, for bonus point purposes.

Fourth try for Wales, they have a bonus point now.

Or maybe not. Try disallowed.

Bonus point victory for Wales 42 - 0 Italy. No Italian bonus point.

Ireland 10 - 6 Scotland at the half.

The quality of this match is very much improved by the three young ladies in formal dress seated in a row directly in front of me.

Ireland 19 - 12 Scotland.

Bonus point for Scotland. (I think.)

Jesus H Fuck. If we’re not relegated at the end of this season I’ll eat my hat.

Kilmarnock 3 - 1 Ross County

Played 120, won 60, drawn 22, lost 38.

And we’ll not really challenge for the league now.

Rangers 0 - 0 Sheep shagging bastards

Played 121, won 60, drawn 23, lost 38. Fuerth the high point of our weekend? Blimey.

France 17 - 0 England at the half.

It’s been as high as France 24 - 0 England, but now, with about 15 minutes left, it’s France 24 - 14 England. This isn’t over yet.

With an English kick at game end, the final score is France 24 - 17 England. Bonus point for England, none for France.

So 20% of the way through the tournament, the table points are:

Wales - 5
France - 4
Ireland - 4
England - 1
Scotland - 1
Italy - 0

Next week brings us Ireland v Wales, Scotland v England, and France v Italy, in that order.

Just to poke my head in the door...

We just had our Superbowl over here. And Kansas City Chiefs won. The team being the personal faves of the Enzo/Wenzo household.

and let's not forget that Donald J. Trump tweeted (then deleted) congrats to the Kansas City Chiefs, and how well they represented the State of Kansas....


Yeah, I have historically not given a shit about football (which is not the same as not knowing about it), but meh, who cares. Until last season (as opposed to last year), I happened to catch a game w/the Chiefs. I've seen talented football players before, quarterbacks of course included. But Mahomes still has that joyful exuberance where he seems to actually have fun. As opposed to the rest of them who are doing a job. (yeah, it's their job, career, but would it be so bad if you actually seemed to enjoy it?). Anyhow, we're glad his parents let him stay up late enough to win the game.

wring wrote:and let's not forget that Donald J. Trump tweeted (then deleted) congrats to the Kansas City Chiefs, and how well they represented the State of Kansas....

Well, there is one . . . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_City,_Kansas

Congrats to the great Kansas Cityans from the Greatest of all Kansases then!


I watched the first half until I went to bed way too late. I can appreciate the strategic aspect as well as the gladiatorial one, but the format of seconds-long action bursts intermixed with minutes of blather, walking around on the field or 'short' commercials kills me. Whenever I pick one up, I find a game of Rugby more entertaining.

Btw, your President isn't the only one hazy on U.S. geography. This one is from one of our most respected news and commentary broadcasts.

Arneb wrote:Whenever I pick one up, I find a game of Rugby more entertaining.

France defeated England a few hours before

Sure, but that wasn't on my TV.