Limoux or Rioja?
As regular commenter, Handsmile advised me,today is Zinedine Zidane’s birthday.
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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.
Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.
Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.
A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals
There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.
“woke” is the new caravan.
Republicans do not trust women.
Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.
American history and black history cannot be separated.
If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.
Just because you believe it, that does not make it true.
Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”
Shut up, hissy kitty!
These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.
Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.
Every decision we make has lots of baggage with it, known or unknown.
He really is that stupid.
I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.
The worst democrat is better than the best republican.
Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.
Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.
Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.
The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.
At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.
MattR
Anyone else having trouble with the HD feed of ESPN2?
(EDIT: ESPN in HD just came back to life so hopefully ESPN2 is close behind.)
(EDIT 2: And there it is. All is well.)
CW in LA
Zidane’s birthday? That explain my headache. :p
burnspbesq
Allez les Bleus!
Leeds man
The two best anthems, if not the two best teams. Rioja by a goal.
pseudonymous in nc
The Graun’s team lineups made me laugh out loud:
Randinho
@Leeds man: And of course we know what is distinctive about the Spainish anthem
pete
The Grauniad tips their hand by listing the teams thus:
I’d love to see three goals, heck I’d settle for two, but I’m betting one. By Spain.
pete
@pseudonymous in nc: No, no, you’re supposed to flaff around being clever, not just post too quickly for me …
Valdivia
I know, I know, a very girly comment to make but boy was Zidane ever the sexiest player ever. Ahem.
ok, carry on.
Randinho
That should have been a penalty.
burnspbesq
@Randinho:
Good no-call. Cesc had no chance to play the ball.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@Randinho:
Nah. Good non-call. Fabregas wouldn’t have caught up with that ball.
burnspbesq
This pace can’t hold for 90 minutes, but it sure is fun for now.
pseudonymous in nc
I think it was borderline, but the fact that Fabregas buckled with light contact while the ball was high in the air convinced the ref not to give it.
Amir Khalid
It’s not only Zizou’s birthday; it’s also Jean Tigana’s and Paddy Vieira’s. Per the Graun, Tigana was the engine of France’s Euro 84 winning side; and Arsenal legend Vieira was the engine of France’s victorious teams at the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.
Leeds man
@Randinho: I thought intent was required, and there certainly wasn’t any. Legs tangled.
Randinho
Clichy was all over him like a cheap suit. At least his arms were.
burnspbesq
@Randinho:
Who was on whom?
The notion that it’s ALWAYS the defender at fault when two players running side-by-side in pursuit of a ball get their legs tangled up is ridiculous.
Randinho
@burnspbesq: Look at Clichy’s arms. Whatever. We’re in dead horse terrotory and t looks like it’s going to be a ong day for Les Bleus
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
Beauty!
burnspbesq
Nifty little shove there. Should be no goal. At least we know that this referee isn’t going to call anything that’s not a felony, and the players can adjust to it.
Randinho
@burnspbesq:i only saw one guy go to ground and he wasn’t shoved. He was beaten.
burnspbesq
@Randinho:
Bullshit. Alba extended his arm, hit the defender in the chest with his hand, and the defender lost his balance. Alba gained an obvious advantage through contact. Unless the rule is “offensive players can do whatever the fuck they want,” that’s a foul.
Alison
I do not like these weird collared jerseys the French have.
The prophet Nostradumbass
The wave? Really?
Randinho
@burnspbesq: he went to ground well after Alba put his arm out. He wasn’t off balance at first. He was beaten and lunged. I’ve gone to the commenatry on Goal.com, ESPN’s Soccernet and Guardian MBM. None of them saw it The way you saw it. Not one.
Leeds man
Speaking of questionable calls (and I agree with Randinho on the goal), Ramos was just standing his ground against Benzema. Don’t see a yellow card there.
Amir Khalid
Well, well. France show signs of having turned up for the match at last.
Alison
@The prophet Nostradumbass: Right? Another embarrassing American export :P
(I assume the stupid thing started here…yeah?)
Randinho
Look at how much room Pique just had on that corner.
Amir Khalid
@Alison:
If I recall correctly, the first association-football crowds to do the wave were at the 1994 World Cup; so yes, it does seem to be an American thing. Only, outside America it’s often called the “Mexican wave”. So that confuses things a bit.
Leeds man
@Alison: Another embarrassing American export
Not as annoying as the recent(last decade or so?) obsession with meaningless statistics, which I assume is also somehow blameable on the Murkans.
Amir Khalid
BBC live-blog commenter Sir Robin:
Randinho
@Amir Khalid: In the 1991 Pan Am Games at a basketball game you could see Fidel Castro doing the wave. God how I hate the wave.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@Alison:
I don’t think so. It seems to have originated in Canada in the mid-70s and crossed the border in the early-80s.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@Amir Khalid:
Following up on my previous comment: There’s a good chance that it originated with the Vancouver Whitecaps of the NASL.
So it’s roots are probably in Canada and soccer.
pseudonymous in nc
@Amir Khalid:
Nah, it was the 1986 World Cup… in Mexico.
SRW1
@Amir Khalid:
I think it’s older and the US is entirely without culpability.
Yahoo answers dates ‘La ola’ to WC 1986 in Mexico, which presumably explain the name ‘Mexican wave’.
ETA: Corrected for wrong year of WC.
Amir Khalid
@pseudonymous in nc:
@SRW1:
I stand corrected.
The prophet Nostradumbass
@Amir Khalid: From what I just read about it, the “Mexican wave” name came about because most people outside North America first saw it at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. Also, too, it appears it might be an awful Canadian export, from the NHL.
Alison
@Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again): Damn Canadians! What about my liberal desires to move there should Romney win the election? Humph.
Randinho
In that instance, Alba went down pretty easily with minimal contact.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@Alison:
Why would you want to move there with the PM Canada’s got now?
And musically, we win any and every day.
Alison
@Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again): Eh, you know. It’s the default location. Plus I wouldn’t have to fly to get there. There’s only the tiniest bit of sincerity to the whinging :P
The prophet Nostradumbass
There’s an epidemic of shirt-grabbing, apparently.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@Alison:
Heehee…I get it. I’m not too far from the border myself.
My mom’s plan, dating back to the ’70s, is to invoke her right of return to the Republic of Ireland.
MikeJ
Spain have not given up to scoring again so Torres doesn’t go in yet.
Leeds man
@Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again): Harper would be considered a socialist (or at least a RINO) in the USA. Anyway, there is an actual opposition here.
Amir Khalid
The match has gone flat. It desperately needs another goal — either from Spain to finish it off, or from France to wake it up.
pseudonymous in nc
This Graun comment says it all:
I’d like the ref to blow the whistle and put France out of their misery.
The prophet Nostradumbass
Well, that ought to take care of it.
Randinho
It’s not so much that Spain parks th e bus as it is they grab the ball, put in the bus and drive it all over the pitch.
SRW1
@pseudonymous in nc:
The Spanish Rasenschach has become kind of boring to watch. Maybe Ronaldo & friends can do something about it.
Leeds man
@SRW1: Maybe Ronaldo & friends can do something about it.
Well, there will be a lot of whining, and looking to the heavens.
Amir Khalid
Well, there was a second goal — eventually. So Spain are through to the semifinal against Portugal. But this has been a disappointing match, in terms of football.
SRW1
@Leeds man:
That’s not quite the kind of entertainment I had in mind.
Amir Khalid
BBC live-blog posts reader comments under the heading GET INVOLVED. The latest such comment:
Thomas Jones
Hey, its also alan turing’s birthday everybody.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@Leeds man:
I’m sure Harper would take the governor off if he had a base of enablers who were still seeking revenge for their ancestors’ loss in a civil war in which they fought on behalf of the worst cause ever.
You folks have nothing close to comparable, so it follows that you can’t really make the RINO comparison- which is very good for you.