38 replies to this topic

[WashingtonBlue]

quote:

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Originally posted by EdgwareRoad

"The ones we invented, American football, baseball and basketball, I assume." I've nothing personal against America nor American sports... I very much like basketball. However, to Imply that American football, baseball and basketball were invented in American is a bit misleading. For American football is just an offshoot of rugby, baseball an offshoot of rounders, and basketball an offshoot of netball. All older British sports, without which none of the American adaptations would exist. In fact as far as I know the only real American sport is lacrosse. Though I might be wrong.

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(sigh). Soon we'll be back to who really invented the telephone and is it really fair to say "America landed on the moon" when there were German and Canadian scientists that whose contributions were critical to the effort.

If you want to take the attitude that something that is as distinct from Rugby as American football is and something that is as distinct from netball as American basketball is and that something that is as distinct from rounders as American baseball is was not "invented" because it evolved from provable antecedents, then there is no arguing with you. But if that's the standard, then the word "invented" should be taken out of the dictionary because nobody ever came up with anything out of whole cloth. Even a caveman noticed that fire was started by lightning striking a dry surface and worked out a way to adapt that fact to his own purposes. Every nobel prize winner in history (including the 5 Americans this year) made their innovations on the basis of someone else's work so its misleading to give anybody credit for anything.

[PhilH930]

The fact Americans do it should not discourage retiring a squad number. As already mentioned, I thought we had already done this with Zola's number.

Then turning on American sports shows a lack of knowledge of what really goes on over here. Having recently moved back to the USA from the UK I plan on writing about my first NFL experience in the OT Forum.

[Liverpool Red]

excuse me but can you tell me who is this Bogarde.I have never heard of such a player.

[We Hate Scouse]

Liverpool Red, on May 10 2007, 18:40, said:

excuse me but can you tell me who is this Bogarde.I have never heard of such a player.

http://en.wikipedia....Winston_Bogarde
Quote from wikipedia:
"He signed for Chelsea FC in the 2000/2001 season, after following the advice of compatriot Mario Melchiot to join him at the London club.

His career at Chelsea is notable because, only weeks after signing his contract with the club, the newly-appointed manager Claudio Ranieri wanted him to leave. According to Bogarde it would be next to impossible to find a team that would offer him a contract comparable to the one he had at Chelsea with reference to his biography Deze neger buigt voor niemand (This Negro Bows for Nobody), he was astounded at the salary Chelsea had agreed on since it is a fact that his value has depreciated severely due to lack of first-team action. Bogarde decided to stay at Chelsea honouring his contract to the letter (as he could not get a similar salary anwhere else), as a result Bogarde played only sparingly for Chelsea again. In the end, he only appeared eleven times during his four-year contract, reportedly earning £40,000 a week during this period. Worse still, Chelsea won a domestic trophy during this period triggering a bonus payment in agreement with his contract, despite Bogarde not featuring at all for Chelsea that season. His contract ended in 2004.

During his period at Chelsea, they repeated tried to offload him because of his inflated wages, then when there were no takers, Chelsea demoted him to their reserves and youth team in an effort to force Bogarde to leave, however, he stuck to his contract, turning up every day and attending whatever training he was assigned to. Bogarde claims to have be placed in suspiciously comprimising situations involving drugs (Similar to what happened with Chelsea players Mark Bosnich and Adrian Mutu), soon after he refused to leave Chelsea or sign a new contract for a reduced wage. Bogarde then became a figure of ridicule in the English press for his alleged selfishness, all the while he was merely sticking to his contract and working every day.

On November 8, 2005, he announced his retirement from professional football, having failed to reach an agreement with a club since leaving Chelsea. Bogarde was capped twenty times for the Dutch national team and appeared in the 1998 World Cup in France"

[hatebreed_cfc]

The tradition should be continued, forever, don't belive in retiring shirt nos. We'll remember him more when someone else wears it.

[youthy]

When a new player signs for the club and are given a shirt number they should be told about the history of the shirt and the great players who have worn the number, in this case the number 9. Dixon, Osgood, Hasselbaink etc and how lucky they are to be given this particular number. This should inspire any new player to try and match the performances of players before them and become legends themselves. But the synic in me tells me that todays players would rather count the zeros on their payslip.

And before you all start, I also know that some rubbish players have worn the number 9 as well. But we won't mention them.

[miniphil]

Sidwell will leave soon anyway. Chelsea shouldn't allow someone like Sidwell to wear no.9 anyway.

[Osgood 9]

No.We couldnt retire such a common number.

[jamie.macgregor@irwinmitch]

signed