Alph

1 hour ago, Jubbs said:

https://twitter.com/MikeCoppinger/status/1768315305850196135?t=q5PVuPByT_UKuDpUyvM9Sg&s=19

ffs! Argh!

If you need a plasterer when it goes wrong...

It's really boring. More so than last season isn't it? 

Last season it seemed like every driver was unhappy. This year they're mostly celebrating slight improvements in their car but I'm not sure why. Nobody has really made a step forward from the mid/end of last season on their rivals? In fact, there seems to be quite a cushion between each team or each driver. 

Perez won't touch Verstappen. Hamilton is being held back by his bottom lip. McLaren, Mercedes and Aston don't look serious about challenging Ferrari. Russell seems to be comfortably clear of his teammate, Alonso just picking up the pieces and pouncing on opportunities but again, no threat to podiums. 

When the top 5 all drive around on their own and we're watching Piastri get stuck behind Hamilton for 8th or whatever it was. 

Last year it was the battle for second best. 

Now we're not even looking at podium battles. 

Thrilling stuff! Who will get their cars between Russell and Hamilton who are half a lap behind Leclerc who's not seen Perez since lap 4!!! Tune in next week to find out!!! Woooohoooo

1 hour ago, GboroRam said:

It's a terrible tragedy. 

Such a great talent, wasted.  Could have been one of England's greats. 

Took me ages 🤣

3 hours ago, Archied said:

Ok , I’ve tried to steer clear of the politics of this situation because frankly I don’t believe it’s helpful at this point but let me make it plain , anyone of my age , from my political background/ upbringing, with half a brain cell could not fail to know that the Palestinian people have been treated despicably by the western world for many many years ,at this point though I only care about how the hell we stop this ducking killing , since the 7 th there have been countless needless heartbreaking deaths on both sides,,, the numbers of deaths on either side are totally uneven because Isreal has the upper hand in the power balance , if hammas had the upper hand then that would be different again , still just adds up to innocent deaths

you get to my age and you just get sick of the bloody madness 🤷🏻‍♂️
I don’t feel the need to convince anybody of anything or think I’m anymore right or wrong than anybody else , I’m just giving an opinion on what I see 

Ceasefire. It's been the logical and correct stance for a while. Forever actually. 

Why can't they say Ceasefire? "Because we want a ceasefire that lasts". 

Er... Wtf? It makes zero sense. Because Hamas or at least a version of Hamas will rise again.

So whatever side of the argument you are on or whatever solution you think you have, you are pissing in the wind if you think a brutal military campaign leads to peace. (From either side)

A temporary ceasefire stands more chance of leading to a long term ceasefire. It just does. Knowing Hamas will repeat their actions so instead supporting Israel's ethnic cleansing is putting Israeli lives a priority over Arabs. It's a lie the government has told us about why we need to continue this war. So either they're stupid or they think people are. 

Obviously the steps taken to keep extending the ceasefire do become complex and contentious. But supporting a ceasefire is a no brainer. I have a hard time accepting the view that with just a bit more killing we'll see the benefits in the long run. 

Ngannou has a tasty left hook and his feet move well when he's coming forward. Just that defence... 

I'm still sticking by that I think Joshua can beat Usyk. I was fuming with both his performances. Don't me wrong, I'm not criticising Usyk as a fighter. But his size... Chisora roughed him a bit. He took a few shots off Joshua and Dubois where you think he's feeling the power off these guys. I just think there's an opportunity in the early rounds before fatigue sets in to get at Usyk. You have to take a few shots but I still think you can bully him. 

We'll see, I guess. Fury is a nightmare for Usyk. If Usyk wins I might change my tune but I really think Fury will put it on him. 

So, nothing gained really. Hearn will dine out on comparing the Fury/AJ matches but in a couple of months it will count for nothing. 

Ngannou should find an opponent that won't punish him for the rookie errors. Build back up. There are huge fights out there for him. 

I'm not sure that tops the Wilder win does it? 

He was punch perfect Vs Wilder who might have been inactive but I'm not sure that was a great performance tonight! 

Am I being harsh? He took over eventually but he left the ball in Zhangs court a lot, no?

3 minutes ago, Henrycav81 said:

These pair seem about as interested as the crowd.i know the money is in Saudi but I find these events sterile and can’t be doing with all the arse kissing round his excellency whatever his name is 

For Zhang I think he's just conscious of the plan to drag him into the latter rounds so he's just holding back. 

For Parker it's just poor imo. He might even win on points but he's let a 6 round fighter carry his energy 

He started that round well and then gets caught when he stops working ffs

I thought Parker would be busier. Not to win early but go draw the work out of Zhang. 

5 minutes ago, Comrade 86 said:

Classy from Vargas' trainer too when asked about a re-match. Yeah, if they pay me three or four times as much as tonight, his answer. Bit of a throbber with some decidedly dodgy understanding of geography too.

 

I can translate for you.

"I'm going to run an absolute mile because I was beaten physically and mentally which is why I was complaining constantly. If you offer me what I ask then I'll ask for more and say you're refusing to pay up. Get me on a flight out of this nightmare"

Oh my God. There is no way you could have Vargas winning that fight comfortably as one judge did. 

Let's be generous and give him the first 6 rounds. Find him a couple more. 

He lost 6 in a row and two knock-downs. But a judge had him winning. 

This sport really f**** me off. 

Mike Tyson still intimidating as ever. 

I wonder how many opponents had lost before the first bell. He's an animal. I hope he lets loose on Paul and doesn't play his part in the show. Probably got about 5 good minutes in him but 5 mins with THAT?!

Is Mike Tyson going to parade around touching Paul up or his he going to edge in level the t*****? 

If he just goes in looking for one big bang then I'll pay for it. But I imagine it's an entertainment gig where we put a few rounds on for the fans, Mike Tyson gets tired and then Paul wins rounds. Everyone goes home rich saying Paul is actually a talented boxer when he's not

Toto irons those tighty whites too. 

23 minutes ago, Comrade 86 said:

I can't see it going the distance to be honest, as I don't see Ngannou doing anything other than what he always does and that is taking the fight to his opponent. Folk don't know this and seemed surprised that Ngannou was fairly proficient in his first pro fight, but it was always his intention to box. When he first pitched up in France, he was penniless and homeless and couldn't even afford his gym fees, but Didier Carmont saw his potential and let him sleep in the gym. For over two years, that's where he slept. He only turned to MMA as he couldn't get licensed to box in France as at the time, as he was effectively an illegal immigrant.

Moreover, I'm not convinced he'll be overly frightened of AJ's power, even if he ought to be. My gut is that AJ will be under pressure from Hearn to put on a show, but that Ben Davison will be telling him to work behind the jab and not get carried away with making Fury look bad. I hope AJ listens to his trainer. If he does, it might go the distance, but my hunch is one of them will stop the other. Whilst I've banged on about Ngannou, they both have frightening power, far more so than Fury, despite the latter's size. I just hope we get the fight we think it might be, as I don't think I've looked forward to a fight this much in years, especially in the HW division.

As for the Parker fight, honestly, I'm not sure. Zhang can bang a bit, but Parker is durable so I think your suggestion is the most likely outcome, but it's a tricky fight to call. Interestingly the oddsmakers price Zhang as 1/2 shot, versus parker at 2/1. Not sure I'll get involved but I think Parker looks the value as things stand. Parker  is around 4s on the exchanges to win by decision or technical and that looks a fair price to me.

Sorry, lots of words without much meaningful content there! 😂

I might have to search out an Ngannou documentary. Never took an interest in UFC but it sounds like he's got just a great human story

16 minutes ago, Comrade 86 said:

Nailed it. I think after the Wallin fight, he was already positioned to meet the winner of the Fury - Usyk fight. I mean really, who else is there right now?

Hearn is a greedy t*** who has taken a fight with no upside as presumably the £60 million he's accrued is insufficient. The recent love-in with Warren too is as surprising as it is nauseating. It seems that now that Warren is happy to top up Hearn's bank account too means that all else is forgotten. Absolute w***** IMO.

Perhaps I'm being unfair, but I do think that many so-called promoters are in fact little more than parasites who take liberties with men of lesser financial standing and acumen. I want AJ to win, but if he doesn't, seeing that smug smirk of Hearn's wiped off his face when he realises he's just dropped more than his entire current net worth in lost future earnings will certainly assuage any disappointment. 

Haha, I don't mind Hearn but I like him in the way you would like a car salesman who's got so much in common with you. Imagine.

The Saudis have sent them all mad. They're all fluttering their eyelashes aren't they. De La Hoya wants to join the Warren/Hearn love affair. Bob Arum says it's the new Vegas now. Changed his tune. 

Turki? Turkey? Turkeh? "His excellency" could say "I want to put your man in with a grizzly bear" and these promoters would chuck them in. "Nah AJ, it's a great idea. Bears usually fight southpaw in the wild so you've got this". 

Oh. "Knockout Chaos" 

AJ and Parker will go to points, what do you think??

But 3 big punchers in 2 events but I can see AJ, Ngannou and Parker being cautious. AJ and Parker have too much to lose after working their way back up. Ngannou is going to let AJ lead the fight and try to be smart. Zhang will come swinging and Parker will know he gasses. 

AJ v Ngannou is a 10 rounder?!?

I think it's naive of Hearn to go for this fight. If AJ wins then nobody will really care. The idea is to put pressure on Fury with a dominant performance. But these things never really materialise like that because boxing is so long winded. 

Fighting a guy who's famously tough,  who's realistically got no credibility in boxing and yet (unofficially) beat Fury (so what if he wasn't at his sharpest. He's still elite) 

Who wants fights with high risk/low reward. They're obviously seeing it as low risk. But the reward is still low! You get to tell Fury that you beat the guy he struggled with. Big wow. Fury is fighting Usyk. If he wins then Ngannou will be a blip. If he loses then AJ won't need that W over Ngannou. 

Parker and Zhang are in a real rewarding fight though. I imagine Zhang will gas and Parker just needs to win the second half of the fight while being sensible in the begining 

15 minutes ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

It's another Saturday race this weekend, so free practice tomorrow, qualifying at 5PM on Friday and Race 5PM on Saturday.

Verstappen should start on Sunday to make it fair. 

34 minutes ago, Archied said:

You get less angry if your lucky ,, the downside is you get more cynical, don’t worry about falling out , im never gonna storm off, get abusive and call you names , we are both obviously sensible enough to stand our ground , give our opinion but most importantly be able to agree to disagree on points , it’s that quality that gives a little bit of hope in what can often seem like a cess pit of a world at times 😀👍

Very true. Especially online. It's hard to reason with people online and we end up just shouting at each other. 

Also what's good is that we get our news from outside the mainstream but at the same time it's really easy to only get news from the bias you want to hear. End up with 'news' that reinforces our views. You can switch off opposing views. Get to be correct 100% of the time. Then we take to (anti) social media to bombard the opposition with our convenient facts. 

I need to try to switch off to this conflict tbh. It's been OTT since October 7th. Quite unhealthy. I see it as one of the great injustices. Maybe it would do some good if I just worried about whether Joshua will beat Ngannou or if I can cut my grass this weekend. Not spending hours I don't have to spare clicking constant updates! 

18 minutes ago, Archied said:

Definitely don’t want to fall out and chances are we are 90  % in agreement, just had a look on your profile as I was interested in your age because it often has a bearing on how we see things , I’ve got a quarter of a century on you and if you had got me into a debate over the PLO when I was your age I may have come across very differently to you , age and life can tire you out a bit to the point that you find these constantly repeating horrors sickening and you just want to say duck the past , duck the old rights and wrongs , just ducking stop now 🤷🏻‍♂️

I'm 38 and angry enough already. If I get more fed up over the years.... Oh god. 

It's a heated subject so naturally small disagreements can get heated. But I don't actually like falling out with people! 

Cheers Archied. Messed my day at work up though. Got nothing done! 

11 minutes ago, Archied said:

Can you repost the original that I replied to with the above quote from me and I will check what it was that I felt was divisive , it seems a long while back and you have posted so much since then simply because there’s some bits I don’t see the same as you that it feels like being snowed under and I don’t remember the post I replied to or the one you were replying to ,

fact is in my opinion waving flags of one side or the other and arguing back and forth on who did what to who first is divisive and partisan in the current situation as I’ve stated you are welcome to your view 🤷🏻‍♂️

To be honest would it actually resolve anything? I'm not wanting to fall out and I don't think we'll agree on this!! 🤣

4 minutes ago, Archied said:

Who is it on here that you speak of who claim to be balanced and neutral yet struggle with criticism of Israel’s action s ? 

I mean I'm not naming names it's all in the thread. But we did get into this conversation after bcn said enough is enough when Hamas return hostages and stop voting a terrorist organisation to run their country. 

My response was to tell him that basically it's nothing like that simple or one sided. 

To which you said "Whilst I agree and understand your post I do question whether it does anything other than perpetuate division and a partisan feel ( I’m sure you don’t do this purposely)"... then applied that to the protests. 

I thought it interesting you pulled me up and have issue with the protests. I'd say the division is created by the governments position when the public opinion is to demand an immediate ceasefire. 

The Palestinian flags are waved by many to show support for the Palestinian people and a Palestinian State. As the Ukrainian flag is waved to show support for Ukrainian people. Not for Azov or the right wing nutcases. 

I don't know, I can't speak for every protester but I can speak for myself. 

And I still maintain that we are continuing to be critical of the messengers rather than the message. As is always the case when somebody is critical of Israel. Which is what Sunak and Co want. 

It's like calling for Ukraine and Russia to just stop shooting each other. One side can turn around and go home. One has no choice. It's not exactly the same. But you get my point. You're asking for people to stop picking sides but the sides aren't equal. 

I'm not even supporting the idea that they should be equal because if Palestine had the firepower to use on Israel then they would. Yet look at the box I'm placed in for being critical of Israel and demanding Palestinian rights. I'm antagonistic, partisan etc. Again, not offended. Just showing how those who claim to be balanced and neutral struggle with criticism of Israel.