blonde poker forum

I have no idea how much interest this will get but hey poker players tend to like sport!

I think it is fair to say my biggest passion life is sport, mainly watching due to being distinctly mediocre at pretty much every sport. Played football and cricket for school/ local clubs but never was going to make it to any kind of competitive level.

It is probably easier to name the sports I don't like and even then I am prepared to go to an event for the "experience", nba basketball springs to mind.

This combined with my love for travelling I have been fortunate to attend and go to a lot of sport around the world.

To give you an idea of what this diary may contain of the top of my head the sporting events I have attended in the last few years include.

Football in uk, Australia and USA
Cricket - Domestic and test include the whole England tour to New Zealand in 2013.
Rugby union - super 15 game in Australia.
Rugby league- Super league, NRL and World Cup.
Aussie rules football.
Ice hockey - NHL
Basketball - NBA and college.
Baseball- Major league in the us.
American football- NFL (in uk and us), college.
Boxing- Carl froch fights.
Horse racing
Darts - Premier league
The dogs
Cycling - tour of Britain


I think the direction I am going to take with this diary is to do a post whenever I attend a sporting event of interest.

So my first sporting event for the diary was yesterday. I am bit pressed for time so will just leave a photo as a tease


(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/845/57jwv.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/nh57jwvj)

I think this fits neatly with the thread title! Where was I?

first

Would also add that as a sports fan, I am looking forward to this!!!!

great stuff


are you at the Hong Kong sevens football? or the Toulon U21 championships?

(wild guesses)

third

Would also add that as a sports fan, I am looking forward to this!!!!

I'm hoping to get out to the Giro next weekend for

(http://cyclingtips.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/giro-stage14-12.jpg)

the Zonclan.

The crowds for the Tour in Britain will be massive. I'll likely to be on Jenkins Road in Sheffield, not quite matching the scenery of the Alps!

I won't answer where you were, because I saw it on fb. Looking forward to the thread though.

late night trans world sports was fking incred. this diary best be half as good!

So I was at this

(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/843/qbef0.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/nfqbef0j)

Still confused? It was an Icelandic premier league game between two Reykjavik clubs, fram and breidablik.

Got to be honest when I decided to go to iceland, sport wasn't really a top priority! When in doubt, assume the country loves football. In fact Icelanders are the 2nd biggest attenders of football matches anywhere in the world per % of population http://www.sportingintelligence.com/2012/04/02/revealed-the-most-dedicated-football-nations-the-faroes-iceland-cyprus-scotland-and-england-020403/.

My research revealed that this game was the easiest to get to from Central Reykjavik, and that frams home ground according to Wikipedia was the national stadium. To be honest after that there was little else to be found about the fixture.

I bowled up the game about 15 mins before ko, to a deserted national stadium hmmmm. After a walk around there appeared to be some activity at what would be a ground suited to a 7th tier English team next door. Yep this was where the game was.

One entrance to the ground with a couple of young girls with credit card machine in their hands, everyone pays for everything by credit card here! After a typical awkward conversation that I specialise in, 1500 iceland krona to get in which is about £8.

(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/844/kpp1.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/ngkpp1j)

View from the stand you can see the arch of the national stadium in the background!

I chose a nice concrete slab in the sun for the 1st half and retired when the sun went in to the wooden park benches further back for the 2nd.

The standard was fitting for the ground I doubt any the players would be able to play in the conference in the uk. I don't think I saw the next eidur gudjohnson, though I thought the fram goalie was pretty useful.

The locals were pretty into it though, chants and plenty of exasperation at players/ officials etc. I would guess there were about a 1000 there, and a a very mixed crowd plenty of women and kids wearing various big European football team shirts.

The game finished 1 each both goals in the last 15 minutes, with the away team deservedly equalising with the most blatant penalty ever which then led to a 22 man squabble where handbags were definitely out.

In on page 1 of epic diary.

I intend to be in Sheffield for the tour, in fact a couple of mates are going to Belgium for the stages later that week. Unfortunately I can't go as the Trent bridge test match is on that week.

Would be awesome to attend a big mountain stage on the giro or the tour, mini report in the cycling thread? Definitely a bucket lister for me.

Thanks for the interest people should have something else to post over the weekend but not from iceland!

Picture of tickets nice, ground photos very good. No Icelandic girl pics ........if only carlsberg did Icelandic football!

Subscribed tho!

glad you said sports fan and not sports player.

looking forward to hearing your exploits

Ha I can't possibly promise that, love trans world sport obviously. The in depth interviews with the French boule champion followed by some husky pulling race from Alaska is hard to match. Showing my age but i always remember it being on in the morning in channel 4, if you were lucky there would be some kabbadi on afterwards.


This is a sport diary unfortunately the ladies might be a bit thin on the ground! Though I can confirm icelandic girls are stunning and have a fell in love about 20 times in the last 2 days, not sure the feeling is mutual.

Showing my age too but still remember them shows on channel 4,
No MMA on the list Mark?

Got to be honest the whole mma has kind of passed me by. Have seen the odd fight when hanging about in a sportsbook or a bar in the us, didn't mind it but not really into it. Would I go to a UFC event most definitely but wouldn't pay a fortune to do so.

Best/most interesting event you've seen live?

Anything left on the sporting bucket list?

Anything you thought would have been incred but was disappointing and vice versa?

A mate of mine wanted to go to watch Anderson Silva vs Chael Sonnen in Vegas on July 4th weekend 2012. I bought 4 tickets for about £1200, and then he decided he didn't actually fancy going to Vegas that year, nevermind the UFC :D

Worked out alright in the end, because my bosses and one of their sons wanted to go anyway. We had a good time, but the highlight of the evening for me was Ramsay Steak.

It was good for the experience, but I would sooner watch it in a bar, and then donk the £300 off on strippers and sambuca!

Wow this is tough! I reserve the right to change my mind about once an hour about my answers.

From a purely personal point of view, the "best" would have to be Norwich's UEFA cup tie with bayern Munich in 1993, I was at the home leg which was the 2nd leg after we won in Germany 2-1 jerry goss goal and all that. We drew 1-1, lothar Mattheus acted like a complete prima donna it was certainly the high point in the history of the club and certainly the most famous.

Sporting bucket list is growing instead of shrinking! The fun of attending lots of sports is that you learn the history and culture round the sport, which make you want to go to certain events. Stuff like going to watch the state of origin rugby league game in Australia or to watch one of the college bowl games in the us.

I thought going to the darts would be awesome, looks loads fun on the TV. I went 3 straight years mainly as an annual thing to do with old uni mates who I didn't see as much of anymore. The problem was you ended up watching the TV screens as you couldn't see the action, you then had some chavs who wanted to get in a fight because the couldn't handle their beer, screw that I would rather sit in the pub.

As for something that pleasantly surprised that is tricky because I am like a 5 year old at Christmas inside when going to a new sporting event or venue. In fact my answer is probably related to what I am attending tomorrow, which I am super excited about. Clue it is somewhere between iceland and Vegas, it is the most I have paid to watch a sporting event (I am a nit so this isn't a vast amount of money)

Between Iceland and Vegas? Guaranteed to be husky racing or similar ;)

Great answers though :)

Actually, the Indy 500 is between Vegas and Iceland?

Ha good guess but no didn't know it was on this weekend. Quite fancy going now!

Cost is ridic for some MMA now. When I first went to Vegas in 2005 it was $50 for a ticket, front rows were $200

Pretty psyched for you if its Game 4 at MSG

I went to the play off final today as a neutral and actually thoroughly enjoyed it.  Great atmosphere generated by both sets of supporters.  The fact it was sunny probably helped but would recommend even if you support a team that didn't get there like I do.

I went to the play off final today as well.
I wasn't a neutral and didn't enjoy it much.  :(

Ouch. Unlucly Paul.

Great thread btw

We have a winner! I am in New York for (amongst other things) game 4 of the Eastern conference playoffs between New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens at Madison square garden. That is the NHL ice hockey semi final best of 7 series for the uninitiated.

Had a pretty cool experience earlier, not quite sport but its close! I had a game of chess in Washington square park with a proper hustler. I got a beat out of $5 despite having a good opening but it was great fun getting a running commentary on the position by my opponent. It was fun being the fish and was well worth the money. The park is famous in New York for chess Bobby Fischer et al played here.

The atmosphere is gunna be pretty intense, so much bad blood in this series already. I don't think how closely you've been following it but Derek Stepan had better keep his head up if he gets medical clearance to play!

Live sport is fantastic. Will follow with interest.

Fantastic!

You might enjoy this article and the comments underneath:

http://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2008/05/31/chess-at-washington-square-park/

Sounds like a fun experience as a true neutral. I have been to 4 playoff finals but always had a rooting interest, Norwich, Peterborough (where I spent my teen years) and Exeter twice who are my 2nd club and all my dad's side of the family support.

I really enjoy ice hockey but I am not an expert by any means. Watched the highlights of all the games and am aware of the story of the series.

Ha great stuff. I think some of these guys had they been a bit younger would have discovered poker. Seem them as somewhat kindred spirits.

Just back from the game and it is fair to say if I could chosen a way for the game to go that was pretty much it.

There were a few things that really appealed to me about going to this. Firstly I have really enjoyed going to the NHL games I have attended before I really think it is a much underrated sport pretty much everywhere outside of Canada and some European countries. I would definitely have it as my 2nd favourite out of the North American big 4 sports, American football > Ice Hockey > Baseball > Basketball is the clear order in my opinion.

It also was a massive match up between 2 of the biggest franchises in the sport both members of the "original 6" who were the NHL up until expansion in late 60s. New Yorkers love( and hate)their sports teams with a passion and Canadians are probably more into hockey than we are into football.

The biggest draw though was going to the iconic sporting venue that is Madison square garden.

(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/844/wq60n.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/ngwq60nj)
Very much a bucket list venue for me, would have it in my top 10 (possibly top 5) venues to go and see a sporting event at.

I had a few beers near the venue which I like to do beforehand, get to speak to fans about erm err....sport and it adds to the fun of the day. I also like to get in the venue about half an hour before the start so i can have a look around and satisfy my inner geek, see if there is cool memorabilia etc. I also got a free towel, if you ever watch a hockey or baseball playoff match the whole stadium waves these towels above their heads at certain points it does create quite a scene.


(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/843/igh9c.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/nfigh9cj)

This was the view from my seat, as you can see hardly the best seat in the house. The gantry above seemed to be used for TV/ radio broadcasts, probably a case that the MSG is old in us stadia terms and that things got added a later date.

The atmosphere was really good including the bloke next to me who was with his son, who yelled in a thick New York accent pretty much the whole game. I think some would find this annoying, I don't know why but I found it quite authentic! In fact he cuddled me when the rangers scored the winner then asked me if "I was friend of bobbys", I am going to presume bobby was kind gentlemen who sold me my ticket for x times face value.

Thanks Bobby it was worth it!

Video highlights of the game, Rangers won a very tightly contested game 3 2 in overtime.

http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?intcmpid=nav-video-main


More sport planned for tomorrow (now later today)

One of the highlights of my life was catching a T-shirt fired from a cannon by a cheerleader at MSG. Knicks vs Heat. I couldn't believe that rival fans all sat next to each other. It kicked off between a miami gangsta type and a Bronx type father and son.Loved it. Great stadium, great Tequila cocktails, would love to watch boxing there!

Enjoying the diary lots.

I doubt I was close enough to the ice to catch a shirt, actually come to think of it they only did this once last night. Normally you all kinds of family entertainment at us sport games but there was very little at this game. I think a case of the game being so big that they saw little need for it.

Ha yeah all American sports allow opposition fans to sit wherever and have been in a couple of spots where it got a little heated. Would never work at football in Europe!

They were advertising Cotto vs Martinez last night in a fortnights time there. I think boxing would be the real authentic msg experience. The Rangers original owner was a big boxing promoter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tex_Rickard. Interesting guy.

Yesterday's sporting activity was a trip to here.

(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/836/uew4.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/n8uew4j)

For a Major League Baseball game between the New York Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates. This is my 2nd visit to Citi field, ironically I went on Memorial Day (Bank holiday Monday at the end of May) 5 years ago.

It was a gorgeous day in New York yesterday so great for going to the ball game. I think going to baseball is a bit like going to cricket at home, it is a nice event to go to be social, have a drink, some food and a chat to friends. There is no real need to watch the game intently as it moves at a leisurely pace. I really like it, though not much as cricket which I will no doubt bore you with later in this diary!

(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/837/mdt7.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/n9mdt7j)

View from my seat pretty good for $15, baseball tends to be excellent value to go to. Though they do you get you on the food/ drink. I think I had 3 large craft beers and a hot dog for about $40 but hey the beer was really good!

As a stats geek, baseball is great. They just love a stat, I went to baseball hall of fame a couple of years ago in Cooperstown, and it was just a complete overload of records set in the game. Here is the scoreboard at the game

(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/834/uuys.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/n6uuysj)

Anyone want to have a go at what they all mean?

The game itself was scoreless until the 5 th innings, the mets scored 2 runs then but the pirates rallied to score 2 in the 8th and 3 in the 9th to run out 5 3 winners. Both teams are struggling 5 games behind below an even amount of losses and wins, going into the game. I expect the pirates to improve they were pretty good last year the mets not so much.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?categoryId=2521705&id=10986931

Highlights of the game

I am off to Vegas for 15 days later today, no sport planned  :(. If I bust a donkaments earlier I might take a trip to watch the Vegas minor league baseball team as I haven't been before. There are no big fights on which is annoying.

If not the next entry will probably be from lords for the 1st test between England and Sri Lanka when I get back home.

Might just see you there - am going to watch ther 51-ers NEXT Monday, June 2nd.

It's "small-town America" personified, & I loved it when I attended last year, with his Camel-Ness.

Make sure you check they're playing at home on the day you plan to go - would be a shame to spend time on a wasted trip.

Batting average

Home runs

runs batted in

on base percentage

slugging percentage

on base plus slugging percentage, combining OBP and SLG. A moneyball/sabermetrics stat


funnily enough, i manage to overload on baseball stats too


which other ball parks have you been to? any of the iconic ones like wrigley or fenway?

Do you NEVER forget?

Bugger.

Ooooh would be nice to get some poker celebrities in the thread. Obviously will depend on how Vegas tournaments are going but would be nice to meet and catch a game or whatever they say over here.


Ha checking the schedule as a I type!

Obviously correct with the stats. I do feel a little sorry for you on TFT as the tumbleweed goes past with the baseball updates, but I am guessing you probably enjoy it anyway!

I have been to 9 major league stadiums if my counting is accurate

Wrigley field, Chicago
Rodgers Centre, Toronto
Citi field, New York
Petco park, San Diego
Dodger stadium, Los Angeles
AT&T park, San Francisco
Safeco park, Seattle
Fenway park, Boston
Oakland coliseum, Oakland

My favourite is wrigley field, I am biased as a consider the cubs my team. The whole history of the place is just awesome and they keep to the old traditions only organ music, getting someone to sing take me out to the ballpark during the 7th inning stretch etc. Fenway is a close 2nd for very similar reasons. I have done the tours of both parks as well as go to a game, to get the full of history of the stadia.

It is fair to say I needed a break from the grind. So last night I went here

(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/842/tza9.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/netza9j)

Home of the Las Vegas 51s, who are the triple A affiliate of the New York mets. This basically means that this is the mets 2nd team and a few of these players will get sent to New York at some point if they perform well. They were playing interstate rivals Reno Aces who are affiliated to the Arizona diamondbacks major league team.

The ticket prices were very reasonable, so I took the highest priced one for a massive $25. Which gave me this view
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/841/zwvd5.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/ndzwvd5j)

The first row right behind the catcher. This would cost you well in excess of $100 at a major league, so I was excited to have the opportunity to be so close. It is quite something when the batter fouls the ball off and it nearly hits you in the face but the netting saves you!

Unfortunately they were letting all sorts into this area and I did ask someone working from the 51s to remove him.
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/838/6c895.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/na6c895j)

The game was a lot of fun and a real slice of Americana which isn't really that common in somewhere as ridiculous as Vegas. The home side ran out 6-4 winners and they even managed to remove the gentlemen after the 7th innings, though he might just have left after a disappointing rendition of "take me out to ball game" which is always sang during the 7th inning stretch.

(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/845/xjukv.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/nhxjukvj)
A view from the cheap seats!

I am sorely tempted to take a trip to la on Saturday for more sport but will probably try and be sensible!

About time we had some domestic sport in this thread. This weekend I was here

(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/834/4aj9f.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/n64aj9fj)

for day 4 and a last minute decision to go to 5 of the 1st test between England and Sri Lanka.

If pushed I would say cricket is probably my favourite sport now, it always used to be football but I am somewhat disillusioned by a lot of things going on in football at the moment (cheating, diving, disrepect towards officials, FIFA....) and cricket has always been my default 2nd love.

This was only my 2nd visit to Lords and my first trip was only last year to watch Nottinghshire win the CB40 trophy, was very much a blind spot in my sporting cv, having been to all the other traditional test venues in the past before lords. There is a certain atmosphere about the place that is unique in world sport, it really couldn't be more reserved middle class England if it tried.

I was there with a friend who I met in New Zealand watching the England tour there and she brought this Sri Lankan Whiskey (http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/855/ldhy.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/nrldhyj).

We managed to polish the bottle off before Lunch so my recollections of the afternoons play and onwards are slightly hazy. Though I am pretty sure it was a good days play and it was great to catch up with a few other people who I had previously met watching cricket in various places round the world.

I stayed over in London last night admittedly with an eye on going to day 5 and what an excellent choice that was! Just the chance to watch Kumar Sangakarra bat on what is bound to be his last tour to the UK was worth the £20 admission. His record really is amazing http://www.espncricinfo.com/srilanka/content/player/50710.html and in the two thirds of his test career when he wasn't wicketkeeper he averages over 70 which no one but Don Bradman has achieved in cricket history.

I also got to watch an amazing final session, with England falling one wicket short of victory as they managed to get the ball to reverse swing later on in  the day (http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/823/wadg.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/mvwadgj).

 rotflmfao

More posts coming ITT soon.

Tour de France today.
4 days at the Trent bridge test match.
A week in Glasgow for the commonwealth games, via 2020 game at Chester le street.

Looking forward to 'em ;) ;) ;)