ASNL77

I don't know if the "you" that you mention in your post is always referring to me. I note for the record that you don't counter any of my comments about bloody faces, diving, and poor reffing as being part of the "beautiful game", so I take it you are admitting those points? Am I allowed to make any comments? Hey, why do you assume I don't care for soccer, as I said I watched quite a few games, even taking some vacation time to watch them and I don't feel it is an inferior sport. I have attended several professional soccer games, though not in the US. My point was that I think there are certain elements of the game that are not appealing to many Americans- the diving, the fouling, the inconsistent reffing. And I take your point about the stretcher being used to quickly speed off a play, but hey once these guys get to the sideline they are miraculously hopping around. My point here is that in soccer many injuries seemed faked or at least overdramatized in a way that does not occur in the NFL and several European and South American soccer fans who were watching the World Cup with me did not disagree with that point. My post wasn't directed toward you really. You hear these complaints all the time about soccer. Certainly, the diving and faking are too big a part of the game. Which is why I don't care the French and Italian leagues that much. The Premier League doesn't quite have as much diving except for the young master Ronaldo who is known for diving and is pretty much hated for it. The refs handle him pretty well though and sometimes allow legitimate fouls because he exaggerates them. I was also very disappointed with the refs at the World Cup and thought they took a lot of enjoyment away. Again the refs in the Premier League do a much better job IMHO and even the MLS refs don't seem so bad after watching the World Cup. I guess my point is that although the World Cup should be soccer at its best, it surely wasn't this time around but let's not go trashing the whole thing over one event. The French league may noy be the most exciting league to watch but comparing it to the Italian league in terms of diving is inappropriate, I believe. Italy are world champions but they are also world champion when it comes to dive, cheat or fix games and no other league in Europe (apart from the Spanish League maybe) can compete! The English League used to be 'clean' but if you follow it very closely, you may have noticed that there is not a weekend without a polemic, bad refereeing, coaches complaining about a penalty etc..... Don't forget that they are fewer and fewer British players in the Premier League. It has become as 'dirty' as the other European leagues. Look at the number of times Rooney uses the 'f...' word every weekend when talking to the ref or another player on the pitch for example

Nobody is denying that the trophy is in Italy! I am afraid ' winning at all cost' is not my motto. If winning is everything to you and if you are happy with this scenario, whatever Materazzi said, I don't envy your life and your world cup! I am sure I won't be the only board member to feel like this. Anyway, we are going to know much more about the virtues of Italian football in the coming weeks and a lot of the guys who won last night are very likely to be implicated in this scandal. But who cares? The trophy is in Italy!!

Shall we do the same here??

I assume that with a name like this, nobody would expect you to defend Zidane. I have a slightly different view on that matter. If the guy really said that Zidane is a terrorist or said something really offensive, I would regard his words as MUCH MORE serious than what Zidane did. I'd even say that I wish Zidane had really done him more damage....

You didn't miss much, my friend... Sad [and almost unbelievably so] performance from the Brazilian team. FWIW, I was wearing the number 9 yellow and green Brazii t-shirt today, and after the game ended and I went out for a bit, a couple of strangers came up to me on the street on 2 different occasions and expressed the opinion that money changed hands. I assume that nobody is entitled to beat the great Brazil in a fair way. In 1998 Ronaldo was supposedly ill or France bought the world cup. Yesterday was the same.... By the way, Ronaldo played better in the 1998 final than yesterday The drink he had before the game must have been spiked by a French dwarf hidden under his bench in the brazilian changing room! If no team has the right to beat Brazil without being accused of things like these, why bother? Shall we give a permanent world cup to Brazil and let the other teams have a tournament for second class football players! Brazil is like any other team. It has its strengths and its weaknesses. We all know its strengths but it seems that a lot brazilian fans haven't realised yet that Brazil is incredibly weak on corner kicks or free kicks and that the Brazilian defence is often shocking. What France did yesterday was to frustrate their opponent for 20-25 minutes, before starting moving forward and put pressure on the Brazilian team with an excellent Zidane delivering some great balls to his forwards. Brazil started to doubt and played without any depth. The French goal had to come and it did. Brazil have only got themselves to blame but they also have the right to admit (like Juninho did) that the better team won last night.

You didn't miss much, my friend...Sad [and almost unbelievably so] performance from the Brazilian team. FWIW, I was wearing the number 9 yellow and green Brazii t-shirt today, and after the game ended and I went out for a bit, a couple of strangers came up to me on the street on 2 different occasions and expressed the opinion that money changed hands. You are very harsh. Football is not only about scoring fantastic goals every ten minutes, wonderful passes etc.... This game was a good game of football and France managed to neutralise Brazil and its stars. The French defended very well and managed to close down the Brazilian players for 90 minutes. This is also what football is about. Guys like Gallas, Makelele and Thuram had a great game last night. I am sure that anybody who likes football enjoyed the second half of France last night watching Zidane having one of the best games of his career. We have seen a lot of worse games in this world cup.

Too late indeed, but thank you for your input...!

Muse: Origin of symmetry.

A few months ago, I bought myself a turntable to rediscover the world of vinyl. I have recently acquired quite a few Mosaic sets and I'd like now to buy a few albums either on Ebay or on the True Blue Mosaic website. Yet, I don't want to go for some bad quality LPs and I am not quite sure where to start.... Are the Riverside reissues (the Sonny Rollins sessions for exemple) that True Blue sell any good? (they are so cheap!! $10.98) What about the Fantasy and the OJCs? Another question: What is the best place to buy some BN King LPs in the UK or in Europe? Thanks.

This is a brilliant typing error Brad. A lot of French people would agree with your spelling. I hope you are right about South Korea helping France but I am expecting the worst for the French now. We are having a bad run, luck does not seem to be on our side, the coach is very confusing and the players have lost the spark they had in 1998 and 2000. It is the end of an era. Hopefully, it won't end on a humiliation inflicted by Togo. I could live with crashing out of the tournament having lost to Spain or the Ukraine in the second round but Togo...... (No disrespect to Togo)

I am still fuming.... The 2nd goal for France was so obvious. Only the referees didn't see that the ball had crossed the line by a yard. I can't believe we have blown it again. The booking for Zidane was a bad joke and so was the South Korean goal.... What a disappointment.

Another disappointing performance by England but another victory. Rooney seems to have boosted the spirit of his mates as the last 30 minutes of the game were played at a higher tempo with more opportunities to score. Another fantastic goal for Gerrard. He does not seem to be interested in scoring average quality goals. All his goals are crackers!

Couldn't agree more. This was a very disappointing performance by France. Everything went wrong. Lack of support for Henry, lack of imagination and creativity. I can not see this team go far in this tournament. Seeing France play so badly may be a shock to a lot of board members, it is not a surprise to me.France have not played a convincing game since 2000! It will be a struggle to qualify for the second round.

I'll give it another spin this week, Bob. Just to make sure!

I have got about 75 Mosaic sets including most of the selects and I do not regret any of my purchases. The only one I am not so keen on is the Illinois Jacquet. I am a bit surprised to read a few negative comments about the Moncur set. It is one of my favourite selects. My only regret is to have discovered Mosaic too late!

Let's hope that this is the only reason. They started off so well then seemed to lose it completely. Why did that overpaid serial bonker/manager take Owen off after only 50-odd minutes? Still, it's 3 vital points. He said after the game that he took Owen off because England couldn't hold onto the ball. Well, it didn't prove to be a successfull move. England struggled a lot in the second half and created very few chances.

Funny game! England seem to have suffered a lot from the heat. They had a very promising start and looked on their way to an easy victory. They found it difficult to keep possession of the ball. But with three points, they are looking very good to make it to the next stage. What is the mood in France regarding the French team, Brownie? I saw them play versus China and they were abysmal. An obvious lack of pace and creativity.

I feel the same as you, Bob. I am really fed up with these guys. It is the same every single time. England are way better than anybody else and they are going to win!! Where does this arrogance come from? I really can't stand it. Every year at the start of a competition I feel like making an effort and support the England team as well as France (where I am from), but as soon as coverage starts, I can't help wishing the England team to get stuffed. Sad but true. I wish I could support the country I live in, but this shitty attitude always puts me off! After 40 years of failures, you would assume that these guys would have learnt their lesson and be a bit less sure of themselves) Allez la France!

I passed my order on Saturday. Naim Nait 5i with the Dynaudio 52. They sound great with the Rega P3. I hope they will sound as good in my lounge as they did in the shop! I will have to wait a bit more to upgrade my CD player. The Rega Apollo is a hot favourite. Can't wait for the whole system to be up and running. Thanks to all of you for your help.

Same here! I have never listened to a Mosaic CD in my car. No Mosaic LP either! Every CD or LP in my collection are handled with care but I must admit than my Mosaic sets are particularly looked after.

I have just received the LP set I bought on Ebay. It is going to be a J.J weekend here!

It took a long time but this set is now officially OOP. Bye Bye J.J! What a great set this is.

I am about to buy the Dynaudio Audience 52 speakers. Has anybody got these? I listened to them with a Rega Mira 3 amplifier and I was very pleased with what I heard. Have you got any other suggestions? Budget: £800.( $1500).

I hope this helps! http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Hank-Mobley-A-Slice-...1QQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Hank-Mobley-A-Slice-...1QQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Hank-Mobley-A-Slice-...1QQcmdZViewItem