Bitesize: #2

Hey everyone, just a quick few things that I'll sum up in a quick blog.

I've just hit 4000 page views on this site, in under 4 months, I'm flabbergasted yet chuffed to bits with that statistic. I've been talking about different forms of media, which makes it more remarkable, I don't have one topic to juggle, I have about four. So to keep people interested in my writing about four different forms of media is going to be difficult, but I'm going to do my best to talk about these, and keep myself busy, and hopefully interest you further! I also broke my daily pageview record when I revealed the Top 10 in my Top 50 Greatest Catchphrases, Past and Present listing, when I hit 217 pageviews two days ago. That's just ridiculous for me, but once again, thanks for showing the interest I want you to show in my work!

In wrestling news Smackdown sounded similar to previous weeks, which is average to slightly above average. The Kane/Edge feud started off intriguing, with the "monster" being tamed by Edge by taking the only thing Kane loves in his life away from him, that being Paul Bearer. It started off quite fresh in terms of WWE storylines of late, but every week has been the same, Kane runs after Edge and Paul Bearer and when Kane thinks he's got Paul back it's a dummy. It's been this way for weeks and weeks now though and it's boring. But it seems like it's come to an end now that Kane has accidentally "killed" Paul Bearer for mistaking him for a dummy again, but it wasn't this time. Hopefully that's the end of it, although I'm disappointed Paul Bearer didn't get used properly, he's a great manager, one of the best of all time, and deserved to be used better than he way. Nay'mind.

The other big news really in wrestling was the great match between Tara and Mickie James on TNA. Not only is it rare for the women to main event a show, but these women put their (very nice) bodies on the line in a cage match. Neither made it out of the cage injury free but put on a great match. Tara has ligament damage in her elbow, she did it roughly half way through the match and continued. What a woman. Anyone who says wrestling is fake is stupid. It's just frustrating that a match as good as this won't happen now for a good 3 years or so, the last time I can remember a match being considered as good as this in the women's division was probably Trish/Mickie or Trish/Lita. They were ages ago.

In football, Liverpool produced an inconsistent display yesterday which has pretty much summed our season so far. We got off to a bad start, went a goal down, then made up for it with some decent football, got a goal back, then lost concentration and conceded two. But Liverpool never make it easy for themselves do they? It's a shame, we were actually on a decent run as well. We need to recuperate and give it another bash. It's frustrating that we can't get a longer period of momentum at the moment, we always have to slip on a banana skin, it's happened so many times this season its frustrating. Let's hope we can give a decent display midweek in the Europa League, and maybe get a few kids to have a good run out as well. Come on Pacheco, score a goal!

In video games, well Laguna has been announced on the new Dissidia game, which is awesome, but the PSP is broked. Bummer. I'm really disappointed that Dissidia is remaining on the PSP because it's a great game, I was hoping they would port it to the PS2, or at least the PS3/Xbox 360, but there's no news on that so far.

Site news, I'm also doing a review on Peggle, that should be up soon. I'm also doing a review on the soundtrack for the second series of True Blood, that should be up this week too. I'm also doing another listing, a short one this time, which will also be on GameFAQs, which is the "Top 10 Underappreciated Games in Major Franchises". Should be interesting. I'm also working on a massive project long term, but I don't want to reveal much about that yet, but it should be very interesting that's for sure.

That's it from me today, I hope your weekends have been good, and that you're all ready for the week ahead. Take care.

 

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The Mercy Side: Post Match Thoughts (Liverpool 2-2 Northampton, 2-4 on penalties) 22/9/10

Hey people, I'm at a local library writing this, I should be back online properly next week. Here's my thoughts on the Northampton match last night. Enjoy.

Catastrophe? No, it’s a disappointment.

 

So here we are, in September, and it’s the end of the season already.  Oh, how I love the optimism in the air at the moment. The press have spoken, papers have took the mickey, fans are annoyed and what for? Because we “crashed” out of the Carling Cup at the first hurdle. But there’s not as many headlines explaining that only 3 of the top 8 teams from last season are still left in the competition and that only Everton were ranked lower than us from those 5 teams. Granted, the team we lost to were 69 places lower than we are, and that it definitely is the worst defeat of all the Carling Cup matches, but I just love the words that are being used. It’s a catastrophe, it’s a disaster. No, it’s a disappointment you fools.

 

Here’s what we have, “It’s a shambles,” says the Telegraph. The word “Cobblers” is written everywhere. The funniest is on Yahoo, where it says that “ Liverpool 's season reaching crisis point”. If a quick exit from the Carling Cup is the crisis point then that would suggest we will do the treble this season. What annoys me is that this is the least prestigious of the 4 trophies, and only 6% of LFC fans wanted this as the top cup priority. It’s a shame that 6% of Liverpool fans, we were let down.

 

Now everyone is saying that The Hodge is being close to the sack. All along, despite his clarity, his humbleness, his frank approach to the fact that this club is in a transition period, is all ignored. A paper mentioned that we won the trophy more than anyone else – correct – however we are still in transition. Does anyone in the media know the meaning of the word transition? He said before the match, if we lose, we’ll be slated, and we’ll accept it and move on. And that’s exactly what happened, it’s not a catastrophe, it’s a disappointment. Rafa was so reserved, always keeping his cards to his chest, The Hodge has brought clarity between fan and staff member at Liverpool Football Club.

 

I honestly don’t think this is Roy ’s fault. Steven Gerrard did a post match interview and he makes the best point, he says “The amount of ability and talent in that squad was good enough to roll Northampton over and I'm sure nine times out of ten it would have, but in cup football sometimes a shock happens and you slip on the banana”. He is absolutely spot on. Roy chose a very talented squad; this is the best batch of youngsters to come through the Reserves and Academy than the nineties I personally think. If this was the FA Cup, and we drew, and we’d play a reply back at Northampton and chose the exact same team, I reckon we would have won. Hodgson was right to put faith in the kids, they will shin, or at least I believe they will. But he didn’t hide his disappointment, his frustration, they let him down. And they did, they are responsible for the loss, not The Hodge. Roy should continue to use the youth sparsely, the same way he has done so far this season. These players need to learn in the cameo appearances that they make.

 

And they will learn. It’s a minor set back I think in a group of players that should play a lot this season, and play well. Gerrard’s words are absolutely true, I’m really happy he hasn’t slated the team, these players ARE still good players, one match doesn’t make or break a player unless he, the manager, and/or the media let them. Psychology is so important in football, you need to have a good state of mind, not let defeats affect you too hard for too long. I hate him with a passion, but it’s that ego that makes Cristiano Ronaldo a world-class player, he doesn’t let set backs affect him a great deal and in football it’s required. These players need to believe in themselves, believe they can make it sooner rather than later because we can see their individual qualities, they just need to make these qualities affect matches in a great way. A decisive tackle avoiding a goal scoring opportunity, a 25 yard strike hitting the back of the net, a brilliant through ball, something. Then people will believe them.

As I’ve said, this season for me is a transition period, we are with a new manager with a new philosophy, and in the next few months hopefully we will have new owners with new cash available. That to me means that results matter, but it’s not the end of the world. I want us to finish in the top 4 this season, but if we don’t, if we finish in a Europa League spot, then that’s fine, as long as these youngsters have had a dozen or two appearances. They need to blend in the first team and learn their craft. It’s quite funny, because if this season for me represented one of the competitions, I’d actually compare it to the Carling Cup – the time when youngsters are given a chance to shine. Let’s hope that they learn from this lapse and show their mettle on the pitch more this season.

 

This is a setback; this is a disappointing and frustrating one at that. But it’s not a catastrophe, it’s not a crisis and The Hodge doesn’t deserve to be sacked over this. Have patience, have faith, and let’s concentrate on the long-term plan not the 120-minute match that has just gone passed us.


Date: 23/9/10