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?

Another video of the day.

Just to keep things ticking along.

Video of the day.

Check it out.

Who even knew NZ had a soccer team?

A gem from a team well known for being good losers...

Who the hell is Juninho anyway?

Affirmative action

So, since it seems that people are less interested in football and more interested in taking the piss out of Nick/England, I thought I might add this to the fray...

First ashes test

For those of you new to the game, just remember that whatever England is doing is not what you should do.

I love a good cardigan myself

To continue my well worn but well loved theme of posts tangentially related to football, and still encompassing my other interests, I bring you this:
spot the footballer

A little something for Syl...

remember you asked for it

P.S.

A little something to cheer up Geoff and his compatriots ....

GAME on!

Inspired by Al's heartfelt POST at the weekend, and spurred into action by Sissoko's tragic injury last night, I have finally got around to checking how my team is doing. LO! and BEHOLD! They have been keeping it real in my mental absence from them.








much like this pelican.





But, despite the JOY of midtable obscurity, and unfortunately for NICK, my newly configured team is much more like the pelican than THE pigeon.



If my evil plan comes to fruition I will be sitting pretty.





like this, perhaps?

That is all. As you were.

A Panorama-rama, or 61 minutes, of FACTs

After a weekend of investigative journalism in London -- a weekend spent shaking people down and then roughing them right back up again -- I can reveal a painful FACT. This is a TRUTH so inconvenient that it would have even Al Gore (or should that be George Bush?) squirming in his seat.

Here is the FACT I have learnt: That there are people out there who read the Boot Room regularly, for example who revel in intimate details about the PREDICTION CUP, but who do not post on the blog.

I do not want to name names, but the TRUTH demands it, so I can reveal here that one of those people is Alison McDowell. When asked whether she would like to comment on these FACTs, she said, "No, that's the point, isn't it?", adding with a sneer "and that's off the record".

FACT!

Back to basics.

After the glitz and glamour of the PREDICTION CUP, we can now return to the bread and butter of the fantasy league. Since I last looked, Joe Simmons -- boaster in chief -- has slipped to 3rd in the league. He has been overtaken by stealth: Jonnie Belfield and Carl Sillett now top the league. So who/what has been behind their rapid rise, and what has hamstrung Joe? I'm quite happy with my early selection of Andy Johnson (67 pts for 5 million), and reckon that Dirk Kuyt (4.5 million) is a good bargain. Pepe Reina, on the other hand ...

Inevitability.

The results of the WOODEN SPOON!!! competition are in. The winner (loser) is Adam, who collected a massive 72 pts in a correct-prediction frenzy that lasted the whole weekend. CT finished in the middle, with a creditable 52 pts. And, of course, Geoff was the loser (winner), taking home the WOODEN SPOON with a surprisingly good score of 34 pts.

It occurred to me just now that the blog is more about this EXCITING COMPETITION than the fantasy league itself. Normal service will resume soon, but first we'll have the FINAL-TASTIC! FINAL!! FINALE!!! next weekend, in which I'll take on the mighty Frenchman, Sylvain.

In the meantime, what's going on in the actual league? All I've heard about it is Joe's horrendous boasting. Any other thoughts?

PREDICTION CUP -- WOODEN SPOON!!!

The World Cup has its embarrassing, unnecessary third-place playoff. England has its embarrassing, unnecessary Carling Cup. The Boot Room has its proud, essential PREDICTION CUP -- WOODEN SPOON!!! Yep, it's a second chance for the also-rans, those who didn't quite cut the mustard or make the grade. A repechage, if you like. Although I certainly don't.

Right, so I think a good place to start is by nominating the players. Geoff is of course going to be one of them. I've already carved his name in stone, with a permanent marker, in the tournament list. But who dares give the little fella a good hiding this weekend? Maybe Riis, who in his round failed to predict a single correct result (which, by the new scoring system, would have given him a record score of -52)? Or maybe CT, who lost to a Frenchman? Please feel free to nominate somebody else, or yourself. And if you want to play this weekend, just email me your predictions for the following games:

Arsenal v Watford, 15:00
Aston Villa v Tottenham, 15:00
Liverpool v Blackburn, 15:00
Man City v Sheff Utd, 15:00
Middlesbrough v Everton, 15:00
Portsmouth v West Ham, 15:00
Reading v Chelsea, 17:15
Wigan v Man Utd, 12:45
Newcastle v Bolton, 16:00

And don't forget to include a first-goal predictions in case of a draw.

Yes, it sure is an EXCITING COMPETITION!!!

PREDICTION CUP -- BATTLE OF THE SEXES!!!

The first leg of the exciting BATTLE OF THE SEXES will explode! this weekend. It's Syl vs. Helen, and here are their predictions:

Arsenal v Sheff Utd, S: 3-1, H: 2-0
Aston Villa v Charlton, S: 2-0, H: 2-1
Fulham v Chelsea, S: 1-2, H: 0-3
Liverpool v Tottenham, S: 1-0, H: 2-1
Man City v West Ham, S: 1-1, H: 0-1
Middlesbrough v Blackburn, S: 1-0, H: 2-2
Reading v Man Utd, S: 0-1, H: 1-3
Wigan v Watford, S: 2-2, H: 1-0
Newcastle v Everton, S: 2-1, H: 1-3
First goal: S: 4 mins, H: 17 mins

Who will be our first PREDICTION CUP finalist? You'll find out first here!

PREDICTION CUP -- SUPERNOVA!!!

This week it's a CSBMBSBMB all-stars, three-way, play-off spectacular for the last semi-final spot -- Riis vs. Alan vs. me. And, yes, regardless of what my spell-checker says, his name is really spelled R.I.I.S..

Jesus H. Christ, it could not be more exciting.

So here are the PREDICTIONs:

Bolton v Middlesbrough, R: 2-0, A: 1-1, N: 1-1
Charlton v Portsmouth, R: 1-1, A: 1-1, N: 1-2
Everton v Wigan, R: 2-0, A: 1-0, N: 1-1
Sheff Utd v Reading, R: 1-0, A: 0-0, N: 1-2
Watford v Aston Villa, R: 0-2, A: 1-2, N: 0-1
Blackburn v Man City, R: 1-1, A: 1-2, N: 1-0
Chelsea v Liverpool, R: 0-5, A: 1-1, N: 0-1
Man Utd v Arsenal, R: 2-0, A: 2-0, N: 2-0
Tottenham v Fulham, R: 2-0, A: 3-0, N: 1-0
West Ham v Newcastle, R: 1-1, A: 1-1, N: 3-1

1st goal PREDICTIONs: Riis - 8 minutes; Alan - 6 minutes; Nick - 18 minutes

LET'S ROCK!!! AND ROLL!!!

The battle of 2-S-13!!!

Was won by Dena 12-11. Congrats to Dena on the double whammy of advancing to the next round and winning office bragging rights. A sad farewell to Adam, and a bad week all round for the Australian male.

There's one more semi-final place up for grabs. I can't remember who else wanted to enter this EXCITING COMPETITION as it limps painfully onwards. The games to be predicted are:
Bolton v Middlesbrough, 15:00
Charlton v Portsmouth, 12:45
Everton v Wigan, 15:00
Sheff Utd v Reading, 15:00
Watford v Aston Villa, 17:15
Blackburn v Man City, 15:00
Chelsea v Liverpool, 13:30
Man Utd v Arsenal, 16:00
Tottenham v Fulham, 15:00
West Ham v Newcastle, 15:00

Email your predictions to me if you want to play. Oh, and in case there's a draw/tie, the winner will be the player who most accurately predicts the time of the first goal scored, so add that to your prediction list please.

Spot the difference.

Uncanny, eh?