Sir Bobby Robson

Bobby Robson.

What can I say?

I'm not going to draw on his full career today. I'm just going to highlight one of the things he did at the end of it.

This is the guy who saved Newcastle United.

When Kevin Keegan left in 1997, emotion went with it.

Kenny Dalglish and Ruud Gullit didn't have the bond to the club and it was evident with both managers lasting a little over a season each.

And then came Bobby Robson.

Robson was a fan.

He had the passion. And what's more - he kept the club from spiralling into the chaos it had the potential to cause.

There is no coincidence that everything that has befallen the club has happened since they got rid of him.

I'll never forgot that day he had to leave and there were fans literally laying in the road trying to prevent his car from leaving. He had to get out to console them.

That's emotion.

On Second Viewing

I bought the WrestleMania XXV DVD about a month ago but I didn't watch the Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker match until my friend came over and watched it.

When I saw the event live on TV, I thought the match was possibly the best I had ever seen and I promised him that - when I got the DVD - he could come over and watch it. I even said 'I won't watch it 'til you see it'.

So, I spent the past few weeks watching bits and pieces of the show but made sure not to watch the match. I do keep my promises, you know!

Anyway, we watched it and it was great.

We both agreed, however, that it still didn't beat their match at the Badd Blood PPV on October 5th 1997.

That particular fight was the inaugural Hell in a Cell match and I can still recall the following morning both of us talked about the show and how the two tore the house down when everyone was still in shock at the passing of Brian Pillman who had died earlier that morning.

As for the Mania bout - it's not bad when you consider that Michaels v Taker is both one and two on my list of favourite matches.

Have More Money Now

I bought John 'Bradshaw' Layfield's book - Have more money now - a few years ago and leafed through it and put it aside for a rainy day.

Well, it has been a wet summer.

The reason why I bought the book was because I had seen it on either Amazon or Play.com in the sales and didn't read what it contained. I assumed it was an autobiography and - as I make a point of buying most wrestling autobiographies - I bought it.

What it actually is is a self-help book on money management mixed in with biographical anecdotes.

It's not the kind of book I would usually buy - that's why I decided to leave it on its proverbial shelf for two years.

Or more.

I decided that I would give it a go a few days ago and managed to last a chapter before it became monotonous and I made the choice to put it back where I had picked it up from.

It's just not the type of thing I want to read. I don't care about buying stocks and shares so it's not for me.

Ironically, I would guess that this isn't a book for people who would like to read about money management, stocks and shares. I'd hazard a guess that there are thousands of better books out there in that genre.

Even more so - there are better wrestling biographies out there if that's your taste.

So, my suggestion is this. If you really do want to have more money now - save your cash and avoid this book.

NFL & Holland Season Bet

I placed an NFL season bet yesterday.

As you've probably read, I'll be placing a big soccer season bet next week but decided to do one with all the American football divisions on it.

For some reason, bookmakers set a limit to the payout on Dutch soccer so I decided not to pick any teams for the main bet because it will affect how much I could potentially make. I have added Ajax to this bet instead.

As for the selections - I picked eight NFL teams to win their respective divisions along with the already mentioned Dutch team. I placed all nine of these teams into a full cover bet (doubles upwards) at 5p a line thus costing £25.10 in total.

I placed the bet with Blue Square for the simple reason that their minimum stakes are 5p. Bet365 have better odds although their minimum stakes are 10p and I didn't really want to shell out an extra £25 on when I have the main bet being placed next week.

Here are the teams I've backed:

1) Baltimore Ravens to win AFC North
2) Tennessee Titans to win AFC South
3) New England Patriots to win AFC East
4) San Diego Chargers to win AFC West
5) Chicago Bears to win NFC North
6) New Orleans Saints to win NFC South
7) New York Giants to win NFC East
8) San Francisco 49ers to win NFC West
9) Ajax to win Holland Eredivisie

David Beckham : The Greatest Worker In Football

Am I the only one who realises what David Beckham is doing?

Last week, the English footballer made news when he attempted to confront a fan at a Los Angeles Galaxy friendly after he was insulted by the reception he received from the home crowd.

He was fined for his actions.

Then, on Saturday, he once again got into a verbal situation with a supporter after the fan was alleged to have made a comment about Victoria Beckham.

There is method to Beckham's madness.

This is a guy who has heard it all before.

He's played in the three biggest leagues in football. So, you're telling me the fans of England, Italy and Spain have given the Beckham family a free pass when he's played in front of them?

What this is is Beckham attempting to get out of his deal at LA Galaxy. A deal he has regretted since he noticed his international career isn't over.

Yet.

He wants away and the only way to do is it to prove to the powers to be that even his own team's supporters hate him.

In a true pro wrestling heel manner, he's drawing more attention to the boos and each reaction will bring on more insults and draw further attention from team owners and the media. He's amplifying the heat, if you will.

And I bet you thought he wasn't that smart.

He's playing this game better than any he's played on the field. It will work as well. Wait and see.

Night Of Champions Predictions

Tonight is the WWE's Night of Champions pay-per-view.

I'm going to lazily phone it in today's post by giving you the card and highlighting the person (or persons) that I think will win.

WWE DIVAS CHAMPIONSHIP
Maryse vs. Mickie James

ECW CHAMPIONSHIP
Tommy Dreamer vs. Christian

WWE UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP
Kofi Kingston vs. MVP vs. Miz vs. Carlito vs. Jack Swagger vs. Big Show

WWE INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Rey Mysterio vs. Dolph Ziggler

WWE CHAMPIONSHIP / TRIPLE THREAT MATCH
Randy Orton vs. Triple H vs. John Cena

There are two other matches that I would like to predict and give reasoning for.

UNIFIED TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Chris Jericho and a mystery partner vs. Legacy

Due to Edge's injury, Chris Jericho gets an opportunity to pick a replacement partner. Word from backstage is Dolph Ziggler was one of the people pencilled in for the role. As Ziggler is already in a match tonight - and I think he is going to win the Intercontinental title - I can see someone else being put in the spot. Bruce Mitchell at the Pro Wrestling Torch newsletter said The Miz would be a good replacement and I can see that happening. It's not my pick, though. I have this funny feeling that the partner will end up being Mark Henry. Jericho and Henry have been feuding on television a lot lately and would be the 'shock' choice. The only shock for me is that I would be shocked no one else saw it coming!

WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy

There has been a lot of confusion over Jeff Hardy's contract status. Some say he is due to leave in a matter of weeks yet some have noticed he has been added to advertising for the UK tour in the Autumn. The result tonight is not dependant on his status. I have a feeling - if he is going - he won't be until after SummerSlam so a win will be good here to carry over to the Summer PPV. I'm not predicting a title win for Hardy, I'm just thinking he will walk away a winner by DQ or a similar finish which will lead to a stipulation match in August.

12 Days To Go

As most of you know, I've been plotting the season soccer bet the past few months. I'm now in the final stages in this preparation.

I could have done it sooner but I vowed to place the bet on the Thursday before the Championship and other leagues kick off their respective seasons.

I wanted to keep an eye on the hirings and firings throughout the summer months and didn't want any late breaking news to make me regret having placed the bet sooner. Of course, it could be seen the other way around with me regretting placing the bet earlier if prices dropped but that's the risk I had to make.

As for the bet - I am looking at selecting twelve teams to win their leagues and I'll be placing these twelve selections into an each-way full cover bet at 1p a line. This means the total cost of the bet will be £81.66.

I'm not going to write which teams I am going to place in this bet as there are a few leagues where I haven't made a final decision on yet.

What I will say is this - I am not sure what to do with the Premier League. I've been asking every football fan I know what they would do and I've been given 'Chelsea', 'Man U' and even 'Manchester City' in the responses I've received.

What ever I do, it will end up being a strategic selection for that league. Read into that comment what you may.

As soon as the bet is placed, I will reveal all of my picks. Stay tuned.

John Terry's New Offer

The press have been constantly going on about John Terry possibly signing for Manchester City and I laughed at their most recent exclusive.

Apparently, the £250,000 a week that the Man City owners have been offering the Chelsea player has been increased to...

Wait for it...

One million pounds a month.

Seriously. That's how it has been reported.

Scooter

I read Mick Foley's debut novel, Tietam Brown, in the summer of 2003 and thought it was good.

Sure, it was a bit gruesome and the characters had dark flaws, but I thought to myself that it was Foley's first work of fiction so I gave him a pass.

He released his second novel - Scooter - in the summer of 2005 and I didn't bother buying it at first. One reason was because it had a baseball theme and I didn't know too much about the sport. Then, a few days ago, I was looking for something to read and decided I would give it a go.

I'm surprised I am going to say this about Foley.

I hated it.

The darkness from Tietam Brown is back here. This time it is a lot worse.

Tietam Brown was handicapped with an injured hand and a missing ear, Scooter Reilly is similar in ways as he carries a limp, loses an eye and gets a scarred cheek in this book.

What is it with Foley and his title characters being scarred emotionally and physically?

It's not only the title characters in Scooter. I'd say that ninety-nine percent of the cast in this book have something wrong with them and it's quite disturbing. It's as if Foley enjoys harming his own creations.

The only positive thing I can offer about this book is it is well researched. He captures New York from the 60's to 70's. I'm obviously not that up on American history but I have this feeling everything he writes about are close if not spot on in its accuracy.

It's definitely not a nice book and I would only recommend it to people who would get a kick out of reading something based around New York during these times.

So, if you live in New York and like baseball it's for you. If not - look elsewhere.

The 'Karen' Angle

It appears as if there is a major political problem going on behind the scenes of TNA Wrestling and I have a feeling it has the potential to change the entire company.

I don't really know where to begin so what I will do is a quick refresher course to bring everyone up to speed and to introduce the key players in this major story.

* Jeff Jarrett creates TNA Wrestling in 2002.

* Dixie Carter, heiress to the Panda Energy refuse company, bails out Jarrett when TNA is a proven failure by becoming a part-owner near the close of 2002.

* In 2006, after a tumultuous final few years in WWE, Kurt Angle signs with TNA. He brings along his wife who also becomes an on-air character.

* Jill Jarrett, wife of Jeff, dies of cancer on May 23rd 2007.

* Karen Angle, wife of Kurt, files for divorce in September 2008.

* Last week, a wrestler - while masking his voice - appears on the Bubba The Love Sponge radio show in Florida and makes a claim that Karen Angle has moved in with Jeff Jarrett.

* It is announced that Jeff Jarrett will be taking time away from the company.

It appears that it was Dixie Carter that made the call for Jarrett to be taken out of the picture. One can only speculate on the main reason why she would do such a thing but I'd hazard a guess that it's because this friction could cause the entire locker-room to turn on Jarrett.

What happens now is anyone's guess but there is definitely going to be a shift in power coming and there will be some major people angling to be in Carter's ear when she decides the next course of action.

What now for Jeff Jarrett? Will he come back to the company he built from scratch or will he be forced to walk away?

What now for Kurt Angle? He has sent out feelers to WWE seeing if they want him back. I wouldn't want to stay in that environment if I were him.

Of course, this could also be an elaborate work but I'd say the chances of this are highly unlikely due to the way the news came out and the way the company has acted in its aftermath.

Or even more possible is that it may be turned into a work when the people involved will realise a TV feud could draw money (see Edge/Lita/Matt Hardy circa 2005).

It's interesting times at TNA.

It could be the start of something new.

Or the beginning of the end.

Zzzzzz Top

ZZ Top's appearance as guest general managers of last night's WWE Monday Night Raw was fun to begin with before it became tired and unfunny.

The stars were the most recent guests to appear on the new format where celebrities are brought in to WWE storylines in an attempt to generate curiosity viewers. The problem with this is, what kind of viewers will tune in to see an act that is not as popular as it once was?

As I said - it started off well with Santino Marella introducing himself to the duo. He was then given a fake beard, hat and sunglasses and spent the entire evening with them doing skits with other wrestlers on the show.

Santino - to me is like a chocolate bar - you can enjoy it but too much can make you ill.

He's an hysterical character but he was given too much air time last night. This ultimately led me to tire of ZZ Top.

Next week's host is Shaquille O'Neal. He's sort of still in the mainstream consciousness so it will be interesting to see how he is in his guest GM role.

The Dark Side

What is it with people?

I wanted to watch the Amir Khan fight on the weekend. I refuse to pay Sky for boxing so I found a website that was illegally playing the event.

I managed to catch it from the fourth round and thought it was the best performance I had seen from Khan.

I've never been a fan of him as I think he is a flash in a pan and has been over-hyped since his silver medal in the Olympic games.

Judging from what I saw on Saturday night, there are a lot of people who dislike him because of his race rather than the way he has been promoted.

The website I was watching this feed on had a chat function on the right of the video and - from the moment I opened the browser to the final bell - all I saw was racial hatred towards the fighter.

It made me sick.

I like using the Internet but Saturday night tested my patience with people. It's a sad state of affairs when there are folks out there with so much anger and hatred for people that they would do their best to communicate this emotion to other people who are trying to enjoy a fight.

I was thinking about saving some of the comments that stood out but decided against having that stuff anywhere on my computer. There was no way it was going to be posted here just in case it was taken out of context and used as a quote from myself rather than these despicable individuals.

Sick. Sick. Sick.

The Newcastle United Hologram

You'll have to bear with me on this one. My camera couldn't get a good enough picture due to there being a lack of light above the image I wanted to capture.

Back in 1993 or 1994, I bought Premier League stickers and there was a hologram of a Newcastle United shirt in the book. Luckily for me, I got a 'double' and decided not to do 'swapsies' with it and put the sticker on the headboard of my bed.

It has been there ever since.

I was laying on my bed the other day and looked up at it and noticed the kit is disappearing and it reminded me of the picture in Back to the Future.

In the movie, Marty McFly needs to realign events of 1955 so his parents fall in love and him and his siblings are born.

As things aren't going the way they should, the three children are vanishing from the photograph and Marty must prevail in order to save his family's future.

The hologram losing the Newcastle strip is symbolic of the trouble Newcastle United FC are currently in.

The demotion from the Premier League, the lack of news on a sale, the oohing and aahing over the reappointment of Alan Shearer as manager all with three weeks to go before the season kicks off is wearing thing on everyone.

Newcastle needs a Marty McFly.

Pronto.

No House Party Here

It used to be fun having the house to myself.

I was never the house party host. Trust me, you wouldn't blame me if you saw some of the house parties I went to and the mess which was made.

I would have just a few friends over and we'd have a number of drinks and then go into town. I'm not saying it was boring - it was conservative and I never got into trouble when the folks arrived home two - or sometimes three - weeks later.

I'm older now. No more mini-parties. Just me.

Real Nightmares

I've read that there was a pilot episode filmed for a reality game show starring Robert Englund as Freddy Kruegar where he gets contestants to come face-to-face with their real nightmares.

The series was meant to have been called A Nightmare on Elm Street : Real Nightmares and was filmed in 2005 but wasn't given the green light by the people who had made it.

Wow.

It must have been dreadful. Especially if you consider how lame the ones that do get past the decision makers are.

I'd have watched it.

It had the potential to be a train wreck of a TV show. Damn producers.

Revisiting RoboCop

I'll always remember reading the book based on the RoboCop movie.

I must have been eight or nine and I asked my mother to buy it for me when we were in WHSmiths. I was too young to read it but I managed to sweet talk her into buying it for me.

Then, I got home, opened it up and one of the first words on the initial page read 'Mother Fucker'.

It was the first time I had ever read a swear word in a book. I can't really explain how I felt but it was like an adrenaline rush knowing I was reading a book I wasn't supposed to be.

A few months later, I saw the movie itself.

It became one of my favourite films.

This must have been 1987 or 1988 and I can still remember recording it on Sky Movies and watching it a lot of times during my first year of high school in 1990.

I hadn't seen it for years but I bought the DVD trilogy a few months ago and vowed to watch it on a day when I had nothing better to do.

And that day came.

The film has aged over the years. This is ironic considering the film was set in the future. I'm not sure if we've actually reached the year it is meant to be set in. I should have done more research!

The effects are not as great through thirty-year old eyes. The version I have here is a director's cut and I didn't recognise anything different - it may have been gorier than before but it was full of bloody shootouts without the director's cut being... cut.

There is a reason why I decided to revisit the RoboCop story.

Darren Aronofsky - director of The Wrestler - is currently working on a remake.

Yes - another remake!

It will be interesting to see how new technology will tell the tale.

It will be even more interesting to see how it will also age twenty-two years from its release.

This 'N That

There's nothing going on in wrestling and I didn't want to write another single post about mixed martial arts or football so I'm going to just throw a few things out in today's post.

- I've been reading a lot of articles on the UFC 100 show and word is, it will be one of the most bought pay-per-views in the history of PPV. That's amazing. Certain analysts compared this event to WrestleMania III which was the event that launched the WWF in the PPV universe.

- Oh, and it wasn't the one hundredth UFC event. There's been many more that weren't numbered!

- Manchester City have done it again. Carlos Tevez signed for them yesterday after a lengthy 'will he won't he?' for the last month. I've said it before and I'll say it again - what about their defence? They're looking at having a brilliant cast of attacking options but whats the point of scoring three goals a game when your opponent can get in four? Anyone remember images of Kevin Keegan with his head in the advertising boards during THAT Liverpool game?

- And that OTHER Liverpool game!

- In the 'just when I think I have all the answers, someone changes the questions' department - I found out yesterday that the Las Vegas Hilton are changing the times of entries for their pro football handicapping contests. The new time has been moved from Friday evening to Saturday morning (11am in Vegas). This is bad news for me as I often check their website to see which teams the sharp sports bettors are picking for the contest and use this consensus to decide whether what I have pencilled in to bet on are worth the risk. As I intend to have Saturday soccer matches in my combination bets, I won't be able to use this guideline as the picks won't be on the site until late Saturday night UK time.

- I'll be okay, though. I have a game plan this year and I'm quietly confident that I can prove this system can work. Hell, it worked well in 2005 and 2006. I took a season off in 2007 and was about thirty pounds down in 2008 so it has potential now that I have spent the past five months preparing new spreadsheets to aid me.

Sunday The 13th

A few weeks ago, I dedicated a post to the Cardiff City vs. Newcastle United game which will take place in the upcoming 2009/10 season. There has now been a change in the date of the fixture.

It was originally pencilled in for Saturday September 12th but has now been moved to the following day so that the game can air live on Sky Sports.

What a result.

I noted that this game would be the first bet in my American Football & Soccer Betting system as the fixture falls on the weekend I relaunch these posts. As I intend to place two Saturday games in these bets, it won't be the first bet placed this season.

It will surely be the third or fourth, though.

Roll on September.

Pretty Ricky

Ron Killings debuted a new character on Smackdown this past Friday night.

Pretty Ricky.

I'm not sure what to make of this new gimmick. He wore fake teeth and they recorded him outside the arena, walking into the foyer, jumping the merchandise booth and then getting escorted out from the building by security. Throughout the filming he would say 'I'm Pretty Ricky'.

In the late-nineties one of the WWF's advertising slogans was 'Get It'. In 2009, watching the Pretty Ricky skit, I don't 'Get It'.

Was it meant to have been funny? I didn't laugh.

Was it meant to play on racial stereotypes? If so, I didn't understand the context.

The only thing I thought it may have been was a parody of the Mr Pregnant guy who has a plethora of videos up on Youtube. I wrote about him on here over a year ago.

So, in closing, Pretty Ricky didn't work.

It was a confusing gimmick that made no sense to one member of the WWE audience. All I think it is is a rip-off of a Youtube 'celebrity'.

The UFC 100 Realisation

After yesterdays post, I realised that the UFC 100 event was available to people in the UK via the UFC website.

They had made it possible for those without access to Sky Channel 433 to watch it so good for them.

I went to sleep early intending to wake up at three to watch it.

I woke at 1am.

And went back to sleep.

I didn't wake again until 5am so I came online and the introductions for the Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir match was underway. So, I managed to see the fight I wanted to see the most.

It was the result I wanted, as well.

A lot of posters on a Las Vegas message board I look at had Mir to win. He beaten Lesnar in his opponent's UFC debut and that was one of the angles all the bettors had on why Lesnar was going to lose again.

I disagreed. I figured the loss would have played more on Brock and he would have gone in there with seventeen months more experience and a number of key wins under his belt. And when I say 'under his belt' I mean it - he is the UFC heavyweight champion.

I was right, Vegas insiders were wrong. Lesnar won in the second round.

The UFC 100 Letdown

UFC 100 takes place in the early hours of tomorrow morning.

And I won't be watching.

I wrote on here a few days ago that the people working for the UFC were in negotiations to find a channel that will air the event live after their regular home - Setanta - went into administration over two weeks ago.

My wait was fruitless as the company secured a nine-hour run on Sky channel 433.

Here's the problem - I subscribe to Virgin Media.

The event is set to be the biggest mixed martial arts in the history of the sport and there is an incredible buzz in the build-up.

The buzz was a waste of time. For me, anyway.

The Big Brother Mathematical Problem

And you all thought I was going to ignore this show didn't you?

Well, I am and have.

Sort of.

I haven't watched it, don't even want to watch it but I read an article that informed me that Nikki Grahame, a former - annoying -housemate, will be placed into the house this weekend to celebrate the shows' tenth anniversary.

Do I have to explain this anniversary concept to the Big Brother producers like I tried to the WWE and their WrestleMania XXV celebration?

This is the tenth series of Big Brother. Therefore, the programme was launched in 2000. The actual tenth anniversary will be in 2010.

If it makes it past 2009.

I was always told to pay attention in maths class. I'm not sure if getting annoyed at little things like anniversaries was worth it, though!

The Farewell

I had a mixture of emotions on Tuesday when watching the memorial concert for Michael Jackson. I purposely waited a day to write about it because I wanted everything to sink before I offered my opinion on it.

On one hand, it was a classy send-off yet - on the other - it was 'Hollywood'.

If you get what I mean.

It was very sad in parts and - just like the episodes of Monday Night Raw dedicated to Owen Hart and Eddie Guerrero - tears were welling up.

I'm pretty sure the world will never see an event dedicated to someone in this way ever again. I spent the day thinking about which current star or person could get similar treatment and I could only think of one possible name but even then I am not so sure whether this person's passing will top what happened in Los Angeles.

The moment that really moved me was when his coffin was being wheeled away and they had the the opening bit to 'Man in the Mirror' playing.

Michael Jackson and his music was a part of my childhood and, as he was being moved out of the arena, I realised that this was definitely it.

What's The Deal?

There are two deals that are in the works that have begun to bother me.

One is the sale of Newcastle United and the second is about the UFC programming in the UK.

I keep leafing through the paper or clicking on news sites to see whether the sale of Newcastle United has gone through and I am seeing no progress.

This lack of movement is getting quite worrying when you consider the new season kicks off in a few weeks and an entire team needs to be rebuilt.

And they need to appoint a proper manager to do this rebuilding.

The UFC TV situation in the UK is even more worrying.

I was led to believe that the Ultimate Fighting Championship has secured a place to air this Saturday's pay-per-view on these shores and nothing has been revealed yet. It's Wednesday now - we have days to go and there has been no confirmation.

I really want to see this event, it's looking like I won't get to see it if nothing is resolved soon.

I wish people would pull their fingers out. Time is of the essence.

A New JD Gift

I wrote on here a few weeks ago that Jack Daniel's send me a gift every few months. I was sent a new item yesterday.

A brush.

I thought it was a paintbrush at first but I later found out it was a brush that you can use to wipe the dust from inside a computer keyboard.

I usually keep these gifts in their packets but the brush broke through so I thought 'what the hell?' and used it.

It worked well.

Is this the most boring post you've ever read or what?

Man U's Owen Goal

I am completely surprised with Alex Ferguson and Manchester United for signing Michael Owen.

The player is a proven failure.

What good has he done since leaving Real Madrid?

- He's constantly injured.

- He hasn't been picked for the England squad in a long time.

- He was on a Newcastle team which failed to stay in the Premier League.

All three of these points are valid. The first one being the most important.

The guy's fitness has been questionable for years. I cannot understand how he managed to pass his medical to secure a contract with the Red Devils.

Time will prove me right on this - Michael Owen is nothing but yesterday's news.

A Team To Follow For 2009/10

Now that Newcastle United are going to spending a season away from the Premier League, I have been thinking which team should I support as my 'Premier Team'.

It's only going to be for a season because I know Newcastle will be back.

I hope.

I don't want to be boring and go for Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal or Chelsea. It must be a team I think will play the cavalier style of football that used to attract me to Newcastle when I was younger.

The team I think that may be the most fun to watch in the Premier League from August is Manchester City.

They've been spending a lot on the midfield and up front and I'm not so sure their defence is being looked at by those with the chequebooks, camels or whatever the Arab owners are using to pay for players nowadays.

I am even contemplating backing them to win the league on my season bet. That may be one of the foolish things to do in the bet; it sure will make things fun, though.

Guernica

Pablo Picasso's 'Guernica' is one of the few paintings I can remember from Art and History classes at school. I think the reason why I have remembered it more than any other is because of the story it tells.

There's a novel by Dave Boling with the same title and it also tells the tale of the devastation of the Spanish town.

Guernica is centred around three generations of a Basque family. The book is structured to build up to the bombings by showing the strength of the Basque people. Then - three quarters in - the reader is exposed to the carnage that is made once the German planes attack the town. The aftermath and beyond makes up the final piece of the novel.

It's obviously hard creating fiction from a historic event but I think Boling did okay in this attempt. There's obvious parts in the story where his 'American' comes out but that's really just a minor nitpick.

I'd recommend this book to people who are currently learning about the painting or studying about the Spanish Civil War and the lead-up to World War II.

It's obviously not a 'real' story but it can be used as a portrait of the Basque people and of the devastation war had on the town just like Picasso conveyed in his piece.

A Ticket Or A Refund?

This Michael Jackson 'This Is It' concert fiasco is laughable because the organisers are coming across - to me - like wrestling promoters.

Let me explain.

The fans paid their money and are not getting what they wanted. The fifty events at the O2 in London sold out and, by law, each person should be refunded.

And so they will.

Unless they would like a souvenir ticket instead.

But, it's not just a souvenir ticket. It has a hologram on it which Michael Jackson designed himself.

Please.

There are a lot of fans out there who will now be clamouring for these tickets and decide to take these holographic pieces of paper instead of the monetary kind.

The promoters know exactly where to bargain with the marks. By making them believe that they are getting something special.

Let's be realistic here. These tickets may only cost a few pence to make. They're mass produced and to charge between fifty and seventy-five pounds for them is daylight robbery. Speaking of daylight robbery - I'm not even taking into account the fans that paid up to and possibly over a thousand pounds on the black market.

It's a shame that everyone will miss out on going to the concerts. It's even more of a shame that a lot of people will be conned into accepting this ridiculous offer so AEG manage to keep some of the money they had made from the events.

On The Clock At The Hall Of Fame

I've finally seen this year's WWE Hall of Fame ceremony.

It wasn't good. The entire thing seemed rushed.

Don't get me wrong - previous years have felt rushed as well. This time, however, you could tell each person was given a specific amount of time to say what they needed to say and then exit stage left.

This timing thing took away my enjoyment of the occasion.

I blame The Rock.

Last year - while inducting his father and grandfather - he took over an hour and a half and made the show run long. He even ate into Ric Flair's speech. Flair said a lot but he could have said a lot more and I would have liked to have listened to him more than to Dwayne Johnson.

Don't get me wrong on this either - I like The Rock, I just don't think he should have spent that time talking when he wasn't even being inducted.

I've always said the WWE should do the Hall of Fame on the Friday night and then they have all of Saturday to edit it and air it on television that night. Usually, the editing is being done while the show is being recorded as the it airs on US TV on a delay.

It's the last chance of recognition some of these wrestlers will ever get. I think they should have as much time as they need to thank the people that helped them in their career. Is that too much to ask?

Half-Way

July 1st means one thing.

We're half-way through the year already.

I don't know whether the year is flying by or not. Sometimes it feels like it is - other times it's not.

Right now, it's flying.