C+H Sports Discussion Thread

LilMissCiara

bluejaymraz wrote: »

Ciara, I think it's Mayo in the football final.

Sound thanks! And who's more likely to win?!

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

LilMissCiara wrote: »

Sound thanks! And who's more likely to win?!

Mayo have the better footballers, but they're disorganized at the moment and not playing to potential at all, so I'd say Roscommon will beat them handy enough.

LilMissCiara

Duffy the Vampire Slayer wrote: »

Mayo have the better footballers, but they're disorganized at the moment and not playing to potential at all, so I'd say Roscommon will beat them handy enough.

Feck it..! Thanks anyway! :P

unknown13

I think Roscommon will beat Mayo. I can't see who ever loses making it through the qualifiers as Connacht football is just terrible.

RHunce

British Open kicked off this morning! Thank god!

McIlroy hasn't got off to the best of starts but some tough conditions and he's still in contention.

Jackobyte

I've it on in the background. Dustin Johnson!

The TDF really got good today. Frank Schleck's attack was perfect. It's too bad Nicholas Roche finished behing the leading bunch.

(Actually, he's moved up in the GC nonetheless, in 10th. Let's hope he stays there.)

Desire.

Does Roche ever go for the stage wins? I don't think I've seen him be up there in any stages.

Correct me if I'm wrong now... Passive interest only.

Aoibheann

Deleted User wrote: »

The TDF really got good today. Frank Schleck's attack was perfect. It's too bad Nicholas Roche finished behing the leading bunch.

(Actually, he's moved up in the GC nonetheless, in 10th. Let's hope he stays there.)

To be fair, the fact that he was dropped with what, 7/8 km to go on that level of a climb and still only lost 1'30 on the likes of Evans and Andy Schleck and a wee bit less to Contador was pretty impressive. He obviously made the decision to go up the climb at his own pace, rather than try to stick with the GC guys and go completely into the red. Clever choice, he really limited his losses and I think the gap was certainly bigger than that on the road at one point so he was clawing it back (in fact, his team-mate Peraud was dropped after him, and finished well behind in the end) .

There's not a lot of guys in the top 10 that I'd expect him to beat (Voeckler excluded, I expect the Alps to be the end of him, if not before. He put so much effort into keeping that jersey that he must be shattered!), unless his TT skills have improved drastically. However, if his form holds or improves, and other guys have a bad day (like Gesink, Velits etc had yesterday) then you never know. 10th would be amazing as is.

Desire. wrote: »

Does Roche ever go for the stage wins? I don't think I've seen him be up there in any stages.

Correct me if I'm wrong now... Passive interest only.

He was in some breakaways in the TDF before, mainly in his debut in 2009. He had a second place, a third and a few other top ten finishes (some of them were in the bunch sprints actually!) as well as a lot of excellent results in various Vueltas. Problem is, he'd less leeway to attack these days in that sort of race because he's a top 10 threat (he did finish 7th in the Vuelta overall this year and he seems to prefer that time of year). Also, if you go in a breakaway one day, you'll find yourself wrecked the next quite frequently - and you lose time. For someone aiming for a top 10 finish in a Grand Tour, they need to be consistent. They don't need stage wins or to go on any crazy attacks, they just need to keep up with the GC guys for as long as they can possibly hold out.

With that said, I think that Roche could turn himself into a puncheur in the future (a lá Gilbert) and start winning stages as opposed to going for top 10/15 in the Tour if he so wished. He can climb rather well (but he's not a naturally good climber) and he also has a pretty decent sprint so I really think he could mould himself into that style of rider.

Aoibheann

Aoibheann wrote: »

To be fair, the fact that he was dropped with what, 7/8 km to go on that level of a climb and still only lost 1'30 on the likes of Evans and Andy Schleck and a wee bit less to Contador was pretty impressive. He obviously made the decision to go up the climb at his own pace, rather than try to stick with the GC guys and go completely into the red. Clever choice, he really limited his losses and I think the gap was certainly bigger than that on the road at one point so he was clawing it back (in fact, his team-mate Peraud was dropped after him, and finished well behind in the end) .

There's not a lot of guys in the top 10 that I'd expect him to beat (Voeckler excluded, I expect the Alps to be the end of him, if not before. He put so much effort into keeping that jersey that he must be shattered!), unless his TT skills have improved drastically. However, if his form holds or improves, and other guys have a bad day (like Gesink, Velits etc had yesterday) then you never know. 10th would be amazing as is.

Ah, I know. Would have been nice to see him finishing up there is all. He would have destroyed himself. Voeckler probably did so too. He put in a hell of a first day in 2004 in the Pyrenees but then crashed (figuratively, not literally) after. Also, his whole team fell away. I don't think they'll be able to keep up the pace.

Incidentally, I have the music from the Skoda TDF ads stuck in my head.

Desire.

Deleted User wrote: »

Incidentally, I have the music from the Skoda TDF ads stuck in my head.

I love those ads! :pac:

UCD 4 - 3 Villarreal.
So proud. :')

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

Yippee!

Screaminmidget

Darren Clarke................

LoonyLovegood

Anyone watching the womens world cup?

soccymonster

Only caught the first 15 minutes of the roscommon-mayo match and all I have to say is that Donie Shine was looking weeeeell....

But yes, thats my sporting contribution for the night.

unknown13

soccymonster wrote: »

Only caught the first 15 minutes of the roscommon-mayo match and all I have to say is that Donie Shine was looking weeeeell....

But yes, thats my sporting contribution for the night.

He wasn't great in the match. The match in general wasn't great at all, which to be totally honest is typical for Connacht football these days.

suitcasepink

As the TV3 man said, which had us all in the stitches at half time.


The wind and rain will dominate, but will Donie Shine?!

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

It was a better game than I expected, especially in such terrible conditions.

unknown13

Mayo are a team that will not make it out of the quarter finals. They are a poor side. Roscommon have a task on their hands to get into the quarter finals and I don't think they will be able to do it.

Bottleopener

Am enjoying seeing Voeckler in yellow in the Tour de France, he'll probably lose it soon - but hopefully its not Contador who gains it :P

If nobody starts attacking in the climbs, Contador might well wear it. He looks really confident at this stage.

EuropeanSon

I think Contador will win it now, but I'm hoping Voeckler can pull off a miracle and hang on.

Any chance of AG2R winning the team classification do you reckon? They only have 2' 32" to make up. I'd love to see them beat the race favourites' teams.

EuropeanSon

Deleted User wrote: »

Any chance of AG2R winning the team classification do you reckon? They only have 2' 32" to make up. I'd love to see them beat the race favourites' teams.

8 minutes 4 seconds behind Garmin-Cervelo right now. 2'37" behind Leopard-Trek, who I think will win it. It's a big ask, I wouldn't rule it out though.

Aoibheann

What about Evans for the overall win, lads? He's closest to yellow atm, and his TTing isn't bad at all. If he can stick with Contador in the mountains, which on his best form he can (he's a wonderful wheel-sucker :P), no way will Contador take two full minutes out of him on that TT circuit. Remember, Evans is the only one of the favourites who was in the Dauphiné.. Considering the circuit is pretty much precisely the same, that's a major advantage.

Evans has grown on me so much over the last few years, and I'd really enjoy seeing him win. I can't stand AC, and I just don't believe the contaminated beef excuse. I'd like to believe in the cleanliness of a Tour winner for once..

Leopard Trek would do really well in that competition if they ever had a third person finishing well. Their problem is that the rest of the team absolutely shatter themselves working for Frandy. By rights, with that standard of a team, they should win. I'd have said Radioshack prior to Brajkovic, Horner, Kloden and Popovych all having to abandon though.

EuropeanSon

EuropeanSon wrote: »

8 minutes 4 seconds behind Garmin-Cervelo right now. 2'37" behind Leopard-Trek, who I think will win it. It's a big ask, I wouldn't rule it out though.

I was looking at figures from stage 14 for some reason. The official tour site is hard enough to get around imo.
On paper, Leopard Trek should be winning it.

Evans looks a good bet actually. I can't bring myself to like him because he never attacks. He's the most boring high-profile rider I can think of.

My outside bet for the overall tour is Sami Sanchez. What a rider! He's shown that he can keep up with the big boys in the mountains, and if Evans can TT well, Sanchez can do it better.

I think we'll see if Contador has what it takes to win it tomorrow when we get to the big mountains.
If the Schlecks want to beat Evans, they'll have to get away from his wheel. A summit finish tomorrow suits them better than the others. They're old-style grimpeurs.

Desire.

Congratulations to the Irish Under 19 side who beat Greece 2-1 at the Under 19 European Championship.

Fair play!

Desire.

Desire. wrote: »

Congratulations to the Irish Under 19 side who beat Greece 2-1 at the Under 19 European Championship.

Fair play!

My granddad coaches them!

Desire.

Deleted User wrote: »

My granddad coaches them!

Really? :eek:

Can you tell him I will be playing under him in a few years time so?