Messages

Tragic.

http://www.stickybottle.com/latest-news/irish-cyclist-who-died-was-riding-his-14th-tour-flanders-sportive/

I was rereading a few old discussions on this thread. I think this is one of, if not the, best threads on the board for debate and discussion. It rarely gets personal or defensive, and I suppose a lot of that is because a lot of people are interested, but not a whole lot are emotionally invested the way we are with our GAA teams etc. Mind you, I would put my allegiance to the Cardinals up quite high

MLB season is just around the corner as well as March Madness Final Four. We actually have a 10 seed (Syracuse) in the final four as 3 of the 4 #1 seeds were knocked out at the elite 8 stage. Kansas fell to #2 Villanova, Oregon were handled by #2 Oklahoma, and Syracuse took care of Virginia. Only North Carolina remain as a #1 seed, having beaten Notre Dame in the elite 8.

UNC play Syracuse and Oklahoma play Villanova in the final four, and the championship game will be on Monday. My money's on Oklahoma at this stage I think.

Baseball spring training is drawing to a close, and Opening Day is officially April 3rd, with the Cardinals playing the Pirates, the Rays and the Blue Jays, and the champion Royals against the runner up from 2015, the New York Mets.

It's always a nice feeling when Baseball starts up, as it's a real sign of summer coming down the road, so go Diamondbacks!

I think im going to give the fantasy baseball a go this year, I can barely name any players outside of the Blue Jays so it'll be a difficult learning experience.
Has anyone else done it before? Any tips?

I've done it. Bit of a slog but it depends how involved you want to be. Constantly waiting for players to become available to trade is a pain. Good points as well. Gives you an interest in other teams that you may not have had.

Can't wait for the new season. Contemplating buying mlb.tv as most streams are brutal. Go Cubs Go!

Do you read the secret pro, Gerry?

http://cyclingtips.com/2016/03/the-secret-pro-processing-death-race-motos-terrorism-extreme-weather-and-more/

Good piece on the deaths of the young cyclists. He's usually bang on about most topics.

[I'm surprised you haven't been screaming about the big case in Chicago were the cop was indicted today on first degree murder and the video is about to hit the public.]

So you are arguing and even spitting at people for arguments that 'you wouldn't put it past them to make' but that nonetheless you don't know and don't care whether they made them or not?

I don't care much for springsteen. It's not like you and your lefty pals haven't defended these crims being heralded before.

I'm surprised you haven't been screaming about the big case in Chicago were the cop was indicted today on first degree murder and the video is about to hit the public.

It's pretty bad J70.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/24/laquan-mcdonald-police-killing-chicago-video-released

Police statement at the time...

On the night of October 20, a squad car responded to a call that someone was trying to break into cars in an industrial area on the southwest side. The officers found a boy with a knife in the street. He ignored their orders to drop the knife. A police spokesman described the boy in terms that suggest he was emotionally disturbed. ("He's got a 100-yard stare. He's staring blankly.") The responding officers didn't have a Taser. Waiting for one to arrive, they followed the boy in their squad car, as he walked a block to 41st and Pulaski.

A second squad car arrived. The boy again refused to drop the knife. The police tried to use the two vehicles to box him in against a construction fence on Pulaski. He punctured a tire and damaged the front windshield of one of the police cars. Officers got out of their vehicles. The boy approached them with the knife in his hand. One of the officers shot him in the chest. He was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital.

What the video shows...

The video, which last six minutes and 54 seconds, captures the final moments of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald's life on 20 October 2014 as he is confronted by two armed police officers in the middle of a Chicago street. The teenager is seen striding down the center of a two-way street and appears to be carrying a knife when the dashboard camera of a police patrol vehicle captures the moment that two officers point handguns at him.

He turns briefly toward one of the officers and is then shot, the impact of the first bullet apparently spinning him around before he collapses on the street. A puff of smoke or dust can be seen rising from his body apparently as a bullet hits the ground. The camera continues to focus on his prone body as the officers, now out of frame, shoot him multiple times. An autopsy report from the Cook County medical examiner's office showed that McDonald was shot 16 times.

Documents filed in court describing the video's contents say for 14 to 15 seconds, the officer – Jason Van Dyke– unloads his entire gun into the teen, who is laying face down on the ground with his arms and legs jerking from the impact of the shots. Of the eight or more officers on the scene, Van Dyke is the only one to have discharged his weapon, although a colleague can be seen with his gun drawn and pointed at McDonald.

The video ends shortly after a final puff of smoke rises from the ground and one of the officers moves forward and appears to kick an object from McDonald's right hand.

After missing out on buying one of those turbo trainers in Aldi I started looking to buy one online.
Found out you can actually buy virtual trainers that let you 'ride' any route in the world by inputting the GPS data or by pre made videos and the turbo trainer automatically adjusts the resistance to simulate going up hills etc. You can have virtual races against other riders who have the same software also. I think that's pretty f**king cool to be honest!
As someone who loves their gadgets I took the plunge and ordered one yesterday!
This is the one I ordered
http://www.bkool.com/
It's expensive on the site but I got it for around €200 less on eBay brand new from a store in Italy.

Looks class! Enjoy.

Great win for Nico today. Smiling the whole way home during the sprint.

http://www.stickybottle.com/races-results/video-missed-nicolas-roches-vuelta-stage-win-here-it-is/

What exactly happened here, I'm not 100% sure! Did the guy to go down first just lose it or was he clipped by the rider going past him to his right?  Who is at fault?

Looked like he was clipped by the passer. Or maybe he jumped on the breaks after the guy passed too close but that is less likely. Some sudocrem needed for those burns tonight!

Nasty smash on The Tour today

https://vine.co/v/enbPM0QQF11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMGahKyAlv0

My Dutch isn't great. What was happening at the end with the official car and the guy doing a bird impression?

They stopped the race for ten minutes, Orior. That's the referee in the red car so he was telling them to go at a controlled pace until the doctor has seen to everyone in the crash.

Some of them (Astana in light blue) seemed to be keen to keep going but the other lad (Movistar in darker blue) was telling him to slow the fcuk down. That's my take on it anyway.

Good interview with Kimmage and N Roche here. Interesting stuff around the weight problems. Kimmage loves a good rant about drugs though 

http://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/cycling/paul-kimmage-on-why-nicolas-roche-is-determined-to-be-his-own-man-in-the-peloton-and-off-the-bike-31085204.html

Are you in any way IT savvy? These guys pride themselves in being an easy to use website design company and advertise on podcasts etc. Could be worth a shot.

http://www.squarespace.com/

both

Finished Boardwalk Empire recently. Excellent viewing although the final season was a bit rushed as they had to trim the episode count.

The Tale of Gatti-Ward

Documentary on the Arturo Thunder Gatti/Irish Micky Ward trilogy. Reckoned to contain some of the best rounds of boxing ever witnessed.
Excellent documentary, covering the fights and the aftermath. Very sad at the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UViOdXG7eGc&feature=youtu.be

Agree BBB. Fascinating stuff with a very sad ending.

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/doconone/2014/1107/657531-con-carey-brosna-kerry-twelve-apostles/

Amazing story.

Brilliant Sams. Must check the back catalogue for other gems like this one.

Not sure if this should be on the WTF thread ?

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/essax-shark-finned-saddle-hits-uk-shores-144066

Christ Almighty.

JJ Watt got another touchdown today the big calve.