Wetten, dass..?

Wetten, dass..? (German for "Wanna Bet..?") is a German language game and entertainment TV show. It is the most successful television show in Europe.

The shows are broadcast live six to seven times a year from different cities in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and can easily attract 50% and more of all German speaking viewers on that evening. It's rubbish.

Snooker 147 Ronnie O'Sullivan

Ronnie O'Sullivan completes his third Crucible break at the 888.com World Championship on April 28 2008. Read more about Ronnie at Betfair Snooker.

Referee cost Arsenal a place in the next round

I wouldn't normally quote from the Times with Murdoch primarily being responsible for the death of English football (from a working class spectating point of view) but I found the following comment left on one of their stories highly quotable.

Arsene Wenger (The Goat) and multitudes of Arsenal fans have been complaining about the penalty decision. They fail to see important stuff like Liverpool totally dominated their team in the second half and that a 2-2 result would have been a travesty.

Anyway, here is a comment left after a biased Times article.

I totally agree that the referee cost Arsenal a place in the next round because :
a. He should have done a better job marking Hyppia for the first goal
b. He gave Torres too much time and space for the second goal
c. He got nowhere near the penalty strike from Gerrard
d. Showed no bottle in holding off Babel ( who apparently falls over easily ! ) for the fourth

Don't get me started on his team selection (especially at he heart of Arsenal's defense) or his inability to beat Reina from point blank range.

With referees like this, no wonder the game is going to the dogs

P.S. While I am at it, I would also like to pin the lack of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, the Credit Crisis on Wall Street and the oppression of Tibetan monks on the bloody referee.

P.P.S. Is it ironic that the same people crying about the "better" team going out are also complaining about Liverpool's automatic right to win the CL?

P.P.P.S. The best team DID progress to the next round... 5-3 over 2 legs says so!

4. Liga, Essen ist dabei!

It showed how much attention I've been paying to Rot Weiss Essen when I discovered they had sacked their trainer a couple of wekks ago and I did not even notice.

The change has not had the expected positive effect. First a 4-0 defeat against Rot Weiss Erfurt and then a 3-0 home defeat - ironically against Union Berlin (the team I should be watching now I'm in the German capital).

The depressing thing for fans of the club is that the result leaves them seven points adrift from 10th position. Finishing 10th would mean Essen would play in the new Bundesliga 3. A finish outside the top ten would mean a season in the regional 4th division -and with only one team per season getting promotion from that league it is a very dangerous position for the club. Sponsors will leave and it is possible it could be the start of the end for the former German Champions.

It's all very depressing and I'll do anything to change things around.