Pedro Martínez: Confederations Cup is pretty much the second highest level where those teams could meet up in a competitive match. And semifinal of such a tournament seems like game of importance to me.

Of course Spain is much better team and has lots of more talent. But they always seem to find ways to lose to a weaker opponent. As long as i remember Spain has been one of the favourites in World cup, eventhough their best result is fourth place finish in 1950!

puupia:

you claim that Spain always find ways to lose to a weaker opponent ? How did they set an international record with 15 straight victories and tie Brazil’s record unbeaten streak of 35 games ?

puupia: It might well be the second highest level indeed, but still I don't view the tournament as being recognized as an important event. By teams and by fans, that is. I am pretty sure we wouldn't see such a result at the World Cup.

Don't forget Spain is the reigning European Champion. :)

awesome: Of course thats a bit of exaggeration from me. But then again nobody expected them to lose against US now, but they managed to do it. I really would have liked to see Spain play Brazil in the final..

Of course they are a great team and have been on a nice streak since Euro 2008 qualification. But their success in World Cup has never been as good as expected and thats the reason i stated they find strange ways to lose. I hope they keep up the good form they have been in the recent years and do well in WC 2010.

It seems like in sports in general, that any team or individual on a great win streak, the expectation is when are they gonna finally lose..... and often it seems like it usually happens against a weaker opponent?

Its easier to grind it out against what appears to be a more formidable opponent, and to maybe have a let down against a weaker one.

I dont follow soccer much, but from the highlights I saw on this game, it looked like it was clear mistakes made by Spain, compared to great plays by the US that caused the two goals scored. I did not see much about chances on the other end, if Spain got unlucky any times there, but most times this game should have been at least nil nil?

You're now A Phillie!! help us repeat!!! and please tell the Blue Jays to send Roy Halladay to us

GTCharlie: Well, not from the disabled list!

The annual Mind Sports Olympiad is being hosted in London, United Kingdom from August 21-31, 2009. Many events that are played on brainking.com are being played there, including several World Championships. Some of the games played (which are also played here):

Lines of Action
Chess
Go
Backgammon
Poker
Chinese Chess
Draughts


Its a virtually unique tournament and a great experience. The standard of play and variety of games on offer are usually at very high standard. It would be great if at least some BK-ers could make it to London for this event.

Information and entry forms can be found here:
http://hakvago.sweb.cz/program2009.html

Email:
MSOentries@hotmail.co.uk (Entries)
mindsportsol@gmail.com (General Enquiries)

Alain: Do they have Dark Chess as one of the games?

Walter Montego: Hi Walter. No thet do not. The MSO concentrates on the main varients of several classic games like Chess, Go, Backgammon, etc. They do offer Exchange Chess and then Chess at various time controls. There is also scope for getting together impromptu mini-tournaments while at the MSO. I've pesonally played in several such events (eg. Hexdame) in recent years. You could try and get a Dark Chess mini-tournament going, and if I'm available I'll definitely give it a go.

Alain: Hi have let Fencer know about this, hopefully we may be able to get someone to attend

Website now up and running with loads of information including player profiles and rules:

http://hakvago.sweb.cz/program2009.html
http://www.boardability.com/

Hope some BK-ers can come. If anyone from BK does go, please send me a message here or at abdekker <at> gmail [dot] com. Getting together for impromptu tournaments is always feasible.

Imsoaddicted: Such a sad loss He looked so well last week(even though in a wheel chair) at the England V Germany charity match where he was presented with an award.

WCh 2009 Gomoku (Five in Line) & Renju

http://www.piskvorky.cz/wc/main/

aaru:
Five in Line World Champion -> http://www.piskvorky.cz/wc/results/gomoku-a-tournament/ -> arczi
Renju World Champion -> http://www.piskvorky.cz/wc/results/renju-a-tournament/ -> Vladimir Sushkov

aaru: Fotogalery -> http://www.piskvorky.cz/fotogalerie/index.php?album=2009/wc_2009

only a few weeks into the football seasons and we have pictures like this
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8222301.stm

POLAND - European Champion 2009 in Volleyball
http://www.cev.lu/mmp/online/website/news/news_online/755/1712/15664_EN.html

aaru: Congrats, Poland. The next CEV European Championships will be in the Czech Republic, so I hope our team will finish in a better place than this year (I guess that will be quite easy to do...).

Pedro Martínez: Thanks
We'll see ;)

CONGRATULATIONS to Jenson Button on becoming would Formula 1 Champion

Brilliant Button clinches title

MadMonkey: Congrats
I wish that Robert Kubica will be the best in 2010.

aaru: I am glad Jenson won, be nice to go to last race though

Myself, i have been a fan of Rubens for years

Even funnier, who saw this goal against Liverpool yesterday.

Sunderland player shoots, the FOOTBALL, hit a BEACH BALL and GOALLLLL

oh no..! oh no..there is no hope evil prevails

History
1. The team's inaugural game was played April 7, 1977, against the Chicago White Sox. It wasn't until 1983, however, that the Blue Jays compiled their first winning record, 89-73. They finished in 4th place, nine games behind the Baltimore Orioles, who became World Series champions.

In 1985, the Blue Jays won their first championship--the first of their eventual five American League East Division titles. In 1992 and 1993, the Toronto Blue Jays won the World Series titles. In game 6 of the 1993 World Series at the Skydome, the Philadelphia Phillies took a 6-5 lead into the bottom of the ninth. With two men on base, Joe Carter launched a Mitch Williams pitch into the left-field bullpen to give the Jays their second world championship. Carter's was only the second World Series-ending home run in Major League Baseball history.
The Facts
2. The Toronto Blue Jays' uniforms feature a blue jay's head coming out of a capital "J". They are black, blue, silver, white and graphite in color. The alternate logo design is a "T" in the uniform colors. The team motto is "It's always game time." The team mascot is an anthropomorphized blue jay named Ace. The team's theme song is "OK Blue Jays," released by Canadian pop singer Keith Hampshire in 1983.
Hall of Fame
3. Although there have been no players inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame based solely upon service with the Toronto Blue Jays, three inducted players have worn the uniform. Phil Neikro, number 35, pitched for the Blue Jays in 1987. Dave Winfield, number 32, was the designated hitter/outfielder for the Blue Jays in 1992. Paul Molitor, number 19, was designated hitter for the Blue Jays from 1993 to 1995.
Records
4. The record for the most home runs by the Toronto Blue Jays was 244 in 2000. The team record for strikeouts was 1,142 in 2002. The Blue Jay's RBI record was set in 1999 at 856. The record for the most wins was 99 in 1985. The Jays suffered their most losses, 109, in 1979.
Level of Excellence
5. The Toronto Blue Jays have created a "Level of Excellence" where various Blue Jays personnel are honored. It is on the 500 level of Rogers Centre.

Shortstop Tony Fernandez, left fielder George Bell, second baseman Roberto Alomar, right fielder Joe Carter, pitcher Dave Stieb, manager Cito Gaston, broadcaster Tom Cheek, Vice President Paul Beeston and General Manager Pat Gillick are all represented in the Blue Jay's Level of Excellence.

How can someone validate Henry´s goal?????? It´s not only bad luck with the coach... Platini rules...

The irish deserved to be at South Africa...

Andre Faria: Such things just happen. This wasn't the first time, and it wasn't the last time either. The refs are just human beings. Fallible and prone to mistakes.

Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France

Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, Greece

Group C: ENGLAND, United States, Algeria, Slovenia

Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana (Group of Death?)

Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon

Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia

Group G: Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast, Portugal (New Group of Death)

Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile

Well, look here, we are playing our friends across the pond

will Beckham play for the U.S. , England or Spain ?

awesome: i thought you were only allowed to play for country you were born in
or have they changed the rules

awesome: England, i dont really rate him as a footballer. He is great at dead ball situations, but thats about it, we have much better players than him.

snoopy: well yes & no, you can change your citizenship, like that Almunia of Arsenal can play for England soon as Goalie....don't know all the ins & outs of it though

awesome: Why on Earth would he play for Spain or the United States?

One can play for a country one is a citizen of. Once you play for a country, you will only be able to represent that country in the future also, even if you have multiple citizenship. (there are exceptions when your nationality changes involuntarily, for example like in the former Yogoslavias case).

So England is stuck with Beckham :) I think he most likely will be selected to the team.

But I don't really know how this new nationality would work in UK's case. If you gain UK citizenship, which one of the four associations (England, Scotland, Wales, N-I) you will be eligible to play for? Maybe all of them? Or none? I don't even know how it works for the people originally from Britain. Atleast one could play for the team UK that will probably play in 2012 olympics :)

For some reason Almunia has never played for Spain, maybe he should have been given a chance at some point. But Spain has plenty of good keepers to choose from. If he becomes eligible to play for England, in my opinion he would be the very good choice for them (if we leave team chemistry and moral issues out of the picture).

MadMonkey: i agree with you on that point
Beckham is well past it and should'nt be picked
my only fear is that he will get the oh it be his last world cup so must play vote

Subject: Ole and Sven have a snowmobiling accident

Ole and Sven have a snowmobiling accident, drunker than skunks, both die, and go to Hell. The Devil observes that they are really enjoying themselves.

He says to them, 'Doesn't the heat and smoke bother you?'

Ole replies, 'Vell, ya know, ve're from nordern Minnesooota, da land of snow an ice, an ve're yust happy fer a chance ta varm up a little bit, ya know.'

The devil decides that these two aren't miserable enough and turns up the heat even more. When he returns to the room of the two from Minnesota, the devil finds them in light jackets and hats, grilling
Walleye and drinking beer.

The devil is astonished and exclaims, 'Everyone down here is in misery, and you two seem to be enjoying yourselves!'

Sven replies, 'Vell, ya know, ve don't git too much varm veather up dere at da Falls, so ve've yust got ta haff a fish fry vhen da veather's dis nice.'

The devil is absolutely furious. He can hardly see straight. Finally he comes up with the answer. The two guys love the heat because they have been cold all their lives. The devil decides to turn all the heat off.

The next morning, the temperature is 60 below zero, icicles are hanging everywhere, and people are shivering so bad that they are unable to wail, moan, or gnash their teeth. The devil smiles and heads
for the room with Ole and Sven. He gets there and finds them back in their parkas, bomber hats, and mittens. They are jumping up and down, cheering, yelling and screaming like mad men.

The devil is dumbfounded, 'I don't understand, when I turn up the heat you're happy. Now it’s freezing cold and you're still happy. What is wrong with you two?'

They both look at the devil in surprise and say, 'Vell, don't ya know, if hell iss froze over, dat must mean da Vikings von da Super Bowl.'

Artful Dodger:

Artful Dodger: made me laugh

to a game of rugby on the BBC will always remember this man
the voice of rugby for so many years

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/8468319.stm

Tuesday:


There’s one record of Jack Nicklaus that Tiger won’t be able to break. Being married to the same woman for 50+ years.

Tuesday: Let me remind you that the topic of this board is sports.

Tuesday: Plushenko should have won. Quite ridiculous that the winner did not do any quadruple jumps.

And mostly the sports where judges decide who wins are ridiculous to begin with.

Tuesday: You were talking about golf? I must have missed that…