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Went to Oxegen once. I prefer to head to festivals on the continant rather than in Ireland. better weather, better craic, better line-ups, less w**kers, cheaper and better beers, better organised festivals, better facilities. Theres a wide choice of festivals to suit your taste.

which ones did you go to juice?
was thinking of giving roskilde a go,maybe next year,you been to it?

as much as I enjoy oxegen, cant see me going back this year. Far to many hoods at it now compared to the early years.
Last year my brother got his car broken in to and all his and his mates clothes stolen, my mate got his tent slashed and his car keys stolen and we got several things taken from the group of tents at our campsite.
So much for the festival spirt! Just seems to have turned into a playground for hoods and thieves.Pity cause the music and bands are usually great

[Rafael Benitez's future in doubt at Liverpool after bookmakers suspend betting]

Rafael Benitez's future in doubt at Liverpool after bookmakers suspend betting


Rafael Benitez's future as manager of Liverpool looks more uncertain than ever after leading bookmakers suspended all bets on him leaving the club.

The news comes hours before his team take on Real Madrid in the last-16 of the Champions League in the Bernabeu with rumours in the Spanish capital suggesting the Liverpool manager will leave Anfield.

The Spaniard has been locked in talks over a new contract in recent months and surprised the club's hierarchy by rejecting a fifth draft of the deal over the weekend. Benitez has less than 18 months left on his contract at Anfield and believes that if he reaches the end of the season without a commitment from Tom Hicks and George Gillett, the Liverpool owners, he would be forced to look for a new job.

The Americans agreed to offer Benitez a new contract before Christmas but the document remains unsigned. Sources close to Benitez have suggested that the Spaniard has reached agreement with the club on a number of occasions, only to find that, when the written contract arrived, it contained different terms than had been agreed verbally.

The owners have bowed to his requests for more control over transfer policy and the youth academy, however, sticking points remain about the job security of his backroom staff and his concern at the delays in the decision-making process, given the dysfunctional relationship between the owners.

Benitez began his career in coaching at the Bernabeu in 1986 and the Liverpool manager has been linked with a return to Madrid, where Juande Ramos is the incumbent. However, Ramos is a short-term appointment and is likely to be replaced in the summer.

Speculation has suggested that Kenny Dalglish, the former manager, has been approached to act in a caretaker capacity in the event of Benitez leaving, but the Scot remains a strong supporter of the Spaniard and would be unlikely to countenance the dismissal of a man who has brought the European Cup to Anfield.

The internal politics of Liverpool have been tortuous since the American owners took over and Benitez has endured a difficult relationship with Rick Parry, the chief executive. The pair have been enbroiled in a power struggle which has worn down the manager. However, Benitez believes he is right and will not depart without a fight.

Rupert Adams, a spokesman for William Hill, said: "We are slightly jumpy after being turned over by the recent Weymouth coup but the level of interest on Rafa getting the sack is unprecedented with over 300 calls logged today alone.

"We would be very surprised if he is still the Liverpool boss by midnight on Sunday."

whata yous make of this, looks like its more than a rumour.enough toscare the bookies anyway

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/liverpool/article5802087.ece

we're headin down from Augher

Midfielder  has put contract talks on hold at Portsmouth and says he wants to join a Champions League team in the summer. (Daily Telegraph)

What is anyones thoughts on the above?  personally i rate Krancjar highly and would like to see Liverpool make a push to sign him.  technically very gifted and dont think he would break the bank if you where to get him.

yeah def think he would be a great buy for liverpool, a bit of quality to the midfield and even though riera has been at least a partial sucess, still thing we need someone like kranjcar with real quality on the left

jesus christ lads, our club are for donegal at the weekend aswell, the place could be 'stand clear' altogether!!

[* See my club in a Championship final.]

I have been to a few sporting occasions, but nothing comes close to the claustrophopic atmosphere of Croke Park for that Tyrone, and Armagh All Ireland semi final. I think there are few things that come close to going to watch your club on a lovely summer's Sunday. Even if it's a mid table Junior clash.

Things I'd like to do;

* Watch the climbers in the Alps on the Tour de France.
* See my club in a Championship final.
* Attend an ashes test match, with the sun shining. Preferance to Lords, or the MCG.
* Visit the San Siro for a Milan derby.
* Watch Ireland in the World Cup (Cricket or Soccer).

Think thats the big one for most people, something really special about the big occasion with your own club.

crossed quite a few things off the list already, but theres still a load more i wanna see:

-cheltenham
-six nations game
-champions league game
-a golf major
- ryder cup
-munster hurling final
-rugby world cup

Let's get this debate going again as I can;t find the old thread.

Saw a list from the writers, i'll post it later when I find it again, of their top-10, included some stinkers.

Lisa on Ice the best for me.

The baseball one was on the other night, fantastic.

one of my favourites is Stampy the Elephant.

He took Bart too, that wasnt part of the deal Blackhart that wasnt part

yeah have to agree, I love the stampy the elephant episode

'I'll be honest with you Mister Simpson, I need an African elephant and i need one today, but this isnt quite what im looking for'

i think any sports man that comes back from serious injury to play at the top level deserves great credit.takes a great determination and mental strength. they are a few  in our own sport i can think off

Brian mc guigan (twice)
Barry owens
martin mcgrath
conor gormley

as well as people like henrik larson

just the ones that come to mind at the min

been to a few soccer matches,(PL &SPL) but the atmosphere has never really impressed me, maybe the big games or european nights would be different.
have to say the ozzies are great at organising big sporting ocassions, was at melbourne cup, australian open, australian grand prix, bledisloe cup,& AFL semi final.
All superbly organsised and great days, but never realy was taken by the atmosphere at any of them.dont seem to have the passion of croker in full flow, but this is probably down to how much your bothered about the result!!

biased i know, but croke park was really rockin for the first dublin game 2005 & armagh games in 03 & 05

Cheltenham is hard to beat too, particularly paddys day, great roar for an irish horse coming up cheltenham hill

I thought the new rules would have been the perfect way to deal with this, yellow card for ricey for the galvin incident (although galvin didnt exactly cover himself in glory and rightly go the black book for it)
Ricey probably would have deserved a yellow for the incident with gooch aswell.(think i remember mcmahon gettin a yellow in the old rules for something similar in the all ireland final.)
That would have been the thing dealt with.

All this chat of six month suspensions & 'worse i have ever seen' and sexual assualt charges is pure nonsense.
Fair play to O'se for his reactionat the end, pity his manager and o'sullivan wern't as restrained.
By the way, thought there was decent match for other 70 mins, not many seemed to have noticed that amongst the ricey bashing

he touched leather twice today- puttin on his two boots

think that could be applied to colm cavanagh or mulligan yesterday!!

As some scamp said in the crowd well into the second half, i think they should throw mugsy on !!

There is no other county in Ireland that would go to such lengths to defend the actions of a thug on their team. And you wonder why nobody likes Tyrone. (Before you mention any of your all irelands this feeling was long before your success).

which is why galvin recieved such an ovation from the kerry support when introduced in last years all ireland  final?

[McMenamins actions towards Galvin was unacceptable, there is no doubt about that. He cant complain if gets suspended from it. Still don't think there was any need for the personal attacks and language used towards him on a gaa forum. Not too bothered about his mouthing on the pitch, doesnt do anyone any harm and in some cases you can actually see the opposition laughing. Guys like Cooper are well able to mouth back at him. He always gives a 100% on the pitch and off the pitch puts a lot back into the gaa. He does need to look at some of his actions though and realise when he's crossing the line]

McMenamins actions towards Galvin was unacceptable, there is no doubt about that. He cant complain if gets suspended from it. Still don't think there was any need for the personal attacks and language used towards him on a gaa forum. Not too bothered about his mouthing on the pitch, doesnt do anyone any harm and in some cases you can actually see the opposition laughing. Guys like Cooper are well able to mouth back at him. He always gives a 100% on the pitch and off the pitch puts a lot back into the gaa. He does need to look at some of his actions though and realise when he's crossing the line.

Watched the 2nd half. Some off the stuff posted by Armagh supporters earlier in the thread about Jordan is nonsenes and laughable unless the "dives" took place in the 1st half. Jordan was excellent in the 2nd half. He likes to run the ball and this can result in him being pulled down. Today he won 4 free's in the 2nd half and there is no evidence from the tv footage that in any one of these occasions he dived. All four looked like clear fouls.

McGinley is a machine and hugely important to Tyrone. Hub still has something to offer to Tyrone but shouldnt be allowed to shoot. There was a period in the 2nd half when Tyrone still could have got something from the game. At a crucial time though McCullagh missed an easy free and gave away possesion on Kerry's 21 cheaply. The ref also missed a clear foul on Harte which resulted in a Kerry point. We missed O'Neill today and hopefully for his and Tyrone's sake his knee injury isnt bad. Tyrone got a great backing from the crowd in the 2nd half today and after the game.

at last someone with a balanced view of todays game instead getting up on their high horse abou certain players/incidents

thats how i expect people to react