The Lair

I couldn’t resist invoking a Canadian artist (I use that term loosely) lyrics here; considering her large fanbase and all. No, not really.

It was billed as The Biggest Sporting Weekend for Britain; so in the grand tradition of looking dejected and woebegone on the Monday after, let’s just take stock, shall we?

1. Pre weekend teaser. Russia vs England, Euro 2008 qualifier. Result: England lost 2 - 1. Because looking good (or somewhat decent at least) on paper doesn’t really mean jack when you draw at home to Macedonia. For my next party trick, ask how Spain have been doing in recent football World Cups.

2. South Africa vs England, RWC. Result: England lost 6 - 15. Both teams executed their gameplan to a greater or lesser degree. The vaunted England pack didn’t really make a massive impact (guess that makes the Aussie forwards look even sillier, eh?), the Saffers won incredible amounts of lineout ball, England conceded too many penalties and … crucially, England had Jonny’s boot. The Saffers had Percy “lookit ma hair” Montgomery and the fricking fantastic Francois Steyn to do their kicking. Fair result, I’d reckon. For my money, I thought the Cueto disallowed try was legit, though the replays later indicated otherwise.

3. Lewis got pipped to the title. That lil crybaby Alonso got pipped too, but that’s a separate matter. After all the hype, the championship lead of several months - well, he didn’t make it. I suppose I could rumble on about the endless soap opera of “Why did he three stop? Why didn’t the team call him in sooner in the Shanghai Grand Prix? How did his engine cut out? Was it sabotage?”. I really like the Anthony Hamilton response about no one being unhappy in the Hamilton camp though. It is his rookie year, after all. And the commentator speculation about Alonso possibly stepping aside and retiring from the race if Hamilton had muscled his way into 6th place was all sorts of fun. (“Considering he’s going to leave the team as soon as this race is finished, you think he’ll listen? I think he’ll have some radio trouble if the team boss tells him to retire”).

4. Ronnie O’Sullivan loses to Marco Fu in the Snooker Grand Prix. O’Sullivan? An English name? Well, I never. But anyway. What it said. Perhaps one of the lesser known sporting calamities of the weekend, but there we are.

So, that’s umm.. 0 for 3 then. And on a somewhat related note, I got a new monster TV handmedown last night from my landlord. It’s so fricking large (ok, just 30 or so inches) that it dwarfs even my generously proportioned room. Thus, I am now forever scarred by seeing Graham Norton’s head at roughly double the size that makes for safe viewing. And capping off a thoroughly marvellous sporting weekend, Les Bleus lost, again, to the Argies. Yeah, the Argies play a bit fast and loose with the rules at times, they slow the ball down, prevent teams from running (which I personally hate to see in Union games) - but it’s not really like the French had anyone else to blame but themselves. Not that they will, of course - if the linked article is any indicator. The Argies had the French number from day one. End of story.

Feds in 5. Bet you not many people could have called that. I actually thought Nads would grab the Championship by the short and curlies, considering how Feds nearly imploded in the 4th set. I think the manufacturers of Hawkeye must be pleased, at least.

Predictably, Venus over Bartoli. I had the completely unchallenging task of calling this one early and I did.

Bakary Sagna to the Emirates. Too little, too late? I’d be happier if Babel was signed too - but that seems unlikely now. And although I’ve resisted commenting on the Henry saga thus far, let me just say that he could have fetched a few million more at the start of last season - maybe more than 20.

this comic really works for me right now.

And surprise, surprise, I’m not talking about the weather. Yet.

Alt Search Engines wants everyone to stop using “the five major search engines”, just for tomorrow. Actually, I intend to follow that - I think my Google usage is fairly low and I’m looking forward to giving Clusty and a few other contenders a go.

This will also help me determine my stage of Google addiction. Place it accurately on a scale of coffee, watching pointless television, heroin, Warcraft 3 and mindless coding procrastination. I’ll be able to find out tomorrow. I’m not looking forward to a day of cold turkey though.

Vaguely Goog related, an interview with their search quality team.

Oh and I’m now wondering if the hype about that boy Hamilton is justified. Just a thought. Oh and mad mad props to CY for calling the result [ok, not too hard, but still a 50-50 chance] and predicting the number of sets to take the win in the French Open men’s singles. woo. I thought Feds would take Nads to 5 sets meself. And err. this is article gives the Nads butt grabbing wedgie theory a bum’s rush.