Anyone still there?

Been a bit quiet around here lately. What's going on in the league these days?

The Onion says it best ...

The classic Onion headline read "Holy Fucking Shit", and never has that phrase been more appropriate. With Aston Villa up 4-1 with 21 minutes to play, Spurs, and Alison, seemed dead and buried. But Spurs, it seems, have some cojones after all, and Alison has ... well, let's just say she has gumption.

The result, then, is that Doc is gone, once again, in the first round, while Alison moves on to the SEMIfinals of the world's greatest CUP competition!!! Here is the box score:

Here goes!

The phony war of words is over. Now it's time for ACTION. Here are this week's PREDICTIONs, courtesy of Doc Goodwin and Downers Grove's AMcD:
Birmingham v Man Utd, G: 0-1, A: 0-2
Chelsea v Fulham, G: 2-1, A: 1-1
Derby v Bolton, G: 1-1, A: 1-1
Man City v Newcastle, G: 2-1, A: 2-1
Portsmouth v Reading , G: 2-0, A:0-0
Sunderland v Blackburn,G: 0-0, A: 1-0
West Ham v Arsenal, G: 1-3, A: 2-2
Wigan v Liverpool, G: 0-2, A: 0-3
Everton v Middlesbrough, G: 1-0, A: 2-0
Tottenham v Aston Villa, G: 0-2, A: 2-2

Amazingly, neither of them predicted the 7-4 result from Fratton Park yesterday. Perhaps even more amazingly, and certainly even more EXCITINGLY, this round will be decided by Monday's game between Spurs and Villa. Hang on to your hats, cos this PREDICTION CUP is about to blow!!!

No WAY Jose

It appears that the blog is LANGUISHING due to lack of enthusiasm of the BOOTROOM stalwarts. I would like to table the motion that we, as a group, pay more attention to the bootroom, and in particular the PREDICTION cup, which did, in fact, fail to kick off this week due to a lack of challengers. I for one would like to step up and challenge Geoff this week to a prediction CLASH OF THE TITANS this week.

All those in favour of the motion?!

PREDICTION CUP -- PREDICTION EXPLOSION!!!

You've signaled your PREDICTION readiness on the poll. But are you all mouse clicks and no PREDICTIONS? It's time to stand up and be counted.

There are 8 of us this year, a nice round number for a knockout -- in every sense of the word -- competition. (Yes, that's right, you're already in the quarterfinals.) So who's up for some early-doors, first-round action??? Who'll be fighting it out on opening weekend? Post here to sign up, then send me email with you predictions for the following games:
Birmingham v Bolton
Chelsea v Blackburn
Everton v Man Utd
Portsmouth v Liverpool
Sunderland v Reading
Tottenham v Arsenal
West Ham v Middlesbrough
Wigan v Fulham
Man City v Aston Villa
Derby v Newcastle

PREDICTION EXPLOSION!!!

Another quote of the day: figure this one out

Commenting on his loss in yesterday's US Open final, Novak Djokovic said: "I think I was mentally weaker today on the important points than he was mentally stronger."
Dr. Goodwin, world expert on reasoning about relations, can you help us out here?

Quote of the day: a tortured metaphor special!

From ESPN.com:
"NEW YORK -- There was a hostage situation inside Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday night. Roger Federer locked the doors, cut the phone lines and wrestled Andy Roddick's highest-caliber tennis to the ground. The problem is that there may not be a ransom amount high enough to free Roddick or any other top player from the rope and duct tape Federer carries in his duffel bag for most of the season."

Quotes of the day: a boast double-header

Charlotte:
"I walked to the station in 25 minutes this morning. I was really motoring."

Geoff:
"I'm pretty happy with my [Boot Room] team. I don't feel any need to change anything right now."

And, as I was typing this just now, another Goodwin classic, as he asked innocently:
"Am I still leading the league?"

This week's password

BULL

We've been duped!

I'm sure that we all hoped that we could play in this Fantasy League (and do a few PREDICTIONS, of course) without really having any association with the right wing news media in the UK.

But, NO!

To transfer players, we have to purchase a Daily Telegraph each Wednesday and get a password for the transfer website.

Oh, capable Chairman, is there another way?!?!

Psychic Had 'Bad Feeling' About Signs

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 17, 2007
Filed at 6:02 p.m. ET

DENVER (AP) -- The owner of the Psychic Experiences shop says she had a feeling something bad was about to happen to the signs outside her store. Monday night, an arsonist set fire to signs that said ''Tarot card reading -- $20'' and ''Open.''

''I kind of had a feeling I needed to do something with the signs but I didn't really do anything,'' Sarina Evans told The Denver Post in a story posted on the paper's Web site Friday. ''Sometimes I have a feeling and don't act on them.''

Police said they have no suspects. Evans said she doesn't, either.

''Sometimes I have an inclination'' about who is responsible for events, she said. But this time, ''I just think it was some kids.''


FOR REALS DUDES. FRONT PAGE OF NYTIMES WEBSITE!!

The Boot Room brings you sport from around the world.

Check out this series of boasts from Tiger Woods after yesterday's USPGA victory:

"If you would have told me 12 years ago that I would have this many wins and this many majors I would have said 'There is no way',"

"I have exceeded my own expectations and I'm certainly not against that."

"Other guys have gotten tired. You see their shoulders slumping and dragging. I feel fine,"

"You should always train hard and bust your butt. Not everyone considers golf a sport and they don't treat it as such. You pay the price."

"You outwork everybody and days like today it showed."

"When I was walking up 18 I felt the same way I did going off the first tee."

"Staying in shape is a huge advantage - at home all the miles I log on the road and run in the heat."

"These guys made a run at me but I got it done somehow down the stretch,"

"You start to get a feel for how to do it," Woods said. "There is an art to winning and I certainly believe that."

"I have more shots than I did back then. I am more experienced and I have learned how to make adjustments on the fly. I am sure I will say the same things about myself seven years from now."

All in one interview! Fantastic stuff!

Random SILLINESS, pt2

Passenger 'hid monkey under hat'

The monkey was said to have been well-behaved on the flight

A man has been questioned by police at LaGuardia airport in New York after smuggling a monkey onto a flight from Florida by hiding it under his hat.
Passengers spotted the animal when it climbed out and perched on the man's ponytail, Spirit Airlines spokeswoman Alison Russell told reporters.

Ms Russell said the monkey - a marmoset - spent the remainder of the flight in the man's seat and was well-behaved.

It is unclear whether the unnamed man will face any criminal charges.

The man's journey originated in Lima, Peru. Ms Russell said it was not known how the man avoided detection there, and during a several-hour stopover in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

When passengers noticed the fist-sized primate on the flight, they asked the man "if he knew he had a monkey on him", Ms Russell said.

New York animal control officials said the monkey appeared to be healthy, the Associated Press news agency reported.

It said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was planning to quarantine the animal for a month.

After that, the monkey could be sent to a zoo, AP said.

Open Letter

Dear All,

to celebrate the onset of a new season and the updating of our COMPETITION to the torygraph from the times (could we not find a more right wing rabid, yet respected paper to run our competition? I think not), Nick has redesigned the banner and layout of the blog. In his typical humble way he has requested feedback on the poll, which is currently located to the right of this post. For some reason the voting is restricted to positive affirmations of the layout, and one vote each. I, for one, would like to vote for all three options, however this is not possible.

I'm sure that Nick would like to better his web skillz by getting feedback from all of you, both positive and negative. Please leave comments below with any feedback you'd like to give him.

Kind regards,

Charlotte

PREDICTION CUP

Yay! I made it into the Boot Room. Never realised it would be so exclusive.

Here's to a great season and to some real nail-biters in the MLS PREDICTION Cup.

First piece of randon silliness

You're Catch-22!

by Joseph Heller

Incredibly witty and funny, you have a taste for irony in all that you
see. It seems that life has put you in perpetually untenable situations, and your sense
of humor is all that gets you through them. These experiences have also made you an
ardent pacifist, though you present your message with tongue sewn into cheek. You
could coin a phrase that replaces the word "paradox" for millions of
people.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

The Boot Room: A New Dawn!

Welcome back!
I trust that you're feeling limber, rested, and ready for the new season. More soon ...

Guess who else has been winning in the cricket??

Blackwash in your drink? I sure did!

Blog update.

Hi all -- sorry if the (Google) blog update causes you any problems.

Btw, anyone see this Federer shot?

Football story of the day.

From the Fiver: 'An Argentinian teenager is suing a River Plate-supporting tattooist who inked a big phallus on his back instead of the Boca Juniors logo he asked for. "I could not see what he was tattooing because he didn't have a mirror. I only saw it when I got home and showed it to my parents," sobbed the unfortunate young man.'

Opinion!

Look, it's fine for Australians to be good at Australian things. Things like wearing stubbies, saying "G'day" without embarrassment, working short hours, avoiding books, barbecuing in the middle of the January winter, and drinking weak beer. But it's really not on for them to succeed at English things like cricket and football; and not just football, but fantasy football. I blame Home Office incompetence for this outrage.

Opinion!

"Oh Beautiful..."

Now that the MLS is the new BLACK, do you think we should start working on a Prediction Cup for the opening games in April?