St Landrew

So it was you who screwed up the phrase: It's one small step for [a] man. One giant leap for mankind. BTW, I didn't see you in the Invisible Man remake..!

Bloody hell MB, you're really scraping the bottom of the barrel today. I can just imagine you sat at your computer, bored out of your skull thinking... I must post something on TMS, I must post something on TMS..! Can't you get away from your PC or are you chained to it..? Now you've got me responding to this too. Oh well, here's my contribution: [I always lie [this is true]this isn't true] Blimey I think that's worth another...

Hmm, despite having dropped in value, my house is still worth between 7 to 8 times what I paid for it. However, it you take in the fact that I have a mortgage [what a twerp I was not to pay cash way back then], it's only worth 2 and 1/2 times. Oops, off topic. Answer this question: What are investors queueing up to buy Newcastle, for lots of money, yet stay away from a relative bargain at SFC..? Is it really the stadium debt..?

Yep, same here. I've watched it so many times, yet it still draws me. I can also watch the original The Thing very easily too. Great b/w film and very well acted by a cast of B-film and TV actors.

I appreciate all your points guys, and although my told you so is a weak response to Lowe/Wilde, I think it may be all we have. None of us is in a position to alter things. The lack of attendances is not down to people who have better things to do, or have to work on matchdays, because that has always been the case. The lack of attendance is down to disenchanted supporters, with the current state of the club and where it has gone - I totally see that. But I fail to see where we can make a change in its fortunes. Realistic suggestions please form a short orderly queue.

Indeed. RIP fellow supporter.

Have we actually found an England manager who doesn't include strikers who just have a big reputation on their abilities and form from about 1997 to 2003, and have been sussed out by decent international defenders or is Owen just injured again..? And how can Bridgey be included..? He never gets a game.

A bigger, and thoroughly more enjoyable story would be 3 from Arsenal, Liverpool, Man U and Chelsea being relegated. For my money, Chelsea could stay as they've always been an alsoran club, a kind of London based Aston Villa [but without Villa's successful heritage] apart from recent years. Arsenal have always been in the top division, so they'ed be the dream bottom club, followed by the smug certs Man U, and the just failing to survive on the last day, Liverpool. It would be so good for the Premiership, and superb for professional football.

The thing I don't like about cruiser style bikes is the lower height and weight distribution that is biased towards the rear. It's fine if you intend to potter around, but if you want to open the taps slightly, then it's just safer to have the weight distribution much more central. I never took much notice of it for years, just being an instinctive rider and vaguely looking for the limits. But since watching MotoGP for the last few seasons, and doing some research otherwise, I have become more more aware of what is going on between the wheels of a bike, and it has made me a better rider. It also means I am able to experiment much more with different approaches and exits from corners, lean angles, braking limits, and other little things; all of which contribute to the enjoyment of motorcycle riding. Another relative of mine, an older cousin, also has a cruiser style bike, of which he's had front end slides on two occasions. Now, anyone who rides a bike will shudder at the thought of a front wheel washout. It's the one you really don't want because once the front wheel is gone, it's almost always gone. A rear wheel break away can be recovered from, but the front wheel slide is buttock clenchingly bad. He didn't know why this was happening, and on riding his bike I was able to explain to him how the lack of relative weight on the front wheel, when compared to a conventional bike, was encouraging slides, even in the dry. Under braking, weight distribution shifts to the front of a bike, pushing the front tyre into the tarmac, and encouraging grip. On a cruiser bike, the weight distribution is still quite light on the front wheel under braking. His front brake was quite powerful, even for a traditional bike, but on his cruiser, it was positively dangerous. He now uses his back brake much more, and more powerfully, as it will hardly ever break away with all the relative weight sat over it. BTW, anyone who doesn't understand how weight can be distributed unequally between wheels just needs to think of when they last shared the task of moving furniture or an appliance. We've all lifted the light end or the heavy end. It's the same thing.

Jan Poortvliet and Mark Wotte are hardly untested in Holland, but I take SaintRichmond's point. However, this is the cheap option, and Saints have always gone for the cheap option. Time to get over it and support the Club. We can always say told you so, if it all goes pear shaped.

Nor mine. I like my bikes to be a bit sportier, but it'll be great to see one less car on the road, even temporarily. Can't wait to see her ride it to work. I do like the power delivery of V-Twins though, and at the moment I'm looking for a nice Honda 650cc NTV.

Isn't this wonderful..? Newcastle are setting a deadline for potential investors to make up their minds. Nobody queues up for us. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/newcastle_united/7653198.stm

Thought I'd encourage a few people back onto motorcycles with this bit of news. Just a few days ago, an elder relative of mine bought her first bike since passing her test, at 61. She rode a 50cc Gilera motorcycle [don't ever mention moped, it didn't have pedals] back in the 70's and 80's, and occasionally I'd nick it when my transport had broken down. I mention that because the little Gilera handled brilliantly [and was great fun despite being only 50cc], and allowed my sister to gain considerable bike control. Anyway, this is the model she bought for £1600 and 14500 miles. Her bike has a rear carrier and provision for panniers, and pillion seat back, but no screen. It's this colour though. The condition is pretty good too, and it's now going to have a very easy life. Lucky bike - a 535cc Yamaha Virago: At the moment it's restricted to 33bhp, but is about 44bhp unrestricted. Not fast, but a torquey, comfy cruiser, that'll be good for 90mph once the restriction is removed, but'll do 70 all day. Not that you would, as this is for trips to the New Forest, via the B-Roads, with a picnic hamper on the back. I always take up an offer to ride a different bike, however unusual, and frankly, I can't wait to have a go. Cute..!

Bloody hell, look at these lean angles. That's modern race tyres for you. JT is about 30-35 degrees off the horizontal, and Rossi and Lorenzo are around 35-40 degrees. All are probably doing close to 100mph. I call that OUCH..!

I dig out the 4-0 win over Spurs occasionally, but that is starting to wear very thin as it reminds me of the hill we've tumbled down. Only Micheal Svensson survives those heights. Dare I show the line-up..? Yep.. now get the tissues out and wipe your eyes: ------------------Niemi-------------------- Telfer-----Lundekvam---Svensson----Bridge Fernandes-----Delap-----Oakley----Marsden ----------Beattie----------Tessum--------- Used Subs: A.Svensson, K.Davies, Ormerod BTW, the gate was just over 25,000, as it was LIVE on the BBC. And everyone was up-in-arms about it too.

The full re-run is at 4pm today. As it happens it is longer than the Live show, so perhaps they've added extra interviews and analysis. I might watch, although I've already seen my recording. Great race too. It was a mouth watering prospect to see Rossi starting back in 12th position. The GOAT is such a racer, but he got a bit of a bonus when Pedrosa binned it on the first lap. That has pretty much cemented Stoner in second place in the Championship. I also can't help thinking that Honda, who have built their bike around Pedrosa, have scored an own goal, because teammate Nicky Hayden was easily faster yet again. Next season he joins Stoner at Ducati, and that should make a hell of a team. At least they get along. No doubt, Pedrosa will be competitive again next season. Back to the race. Stoner stormed off, with Hayden on his rear wheel. For a while it looked as though Hayden might get by, but then his Michelin tyres began to fade a bit, and Stoner, on Bridgestones, began to sneak out a defensible lead. All the time, Rossi was gaining places, until he came up behind our James Toseland. For a few laps there was JT, Rossi, and Lorenzo, all on Yamahas, and all fairly close on performance. Rossi inevitably went by JT, and we all breathed in and out again. But JT hadn't read the script. Astonishingly, he outbraked Rossi at the end of the start-finish straight and passed him. Rossi got back in front, and then JT did it to him again..! But Rossi had a tiny trump card. His bike was wearing a harder rear tyre than everyone else, and so when he got back in front, he stayed there and set about chasing down Hayden. Behind Rossi was a real race for 4th place between 4 riders, JT, Lorenzo, Dovizioso, and Nakano. There were some toe curling moments as riders were diving into corners, outbraking each other, and getting bloody close. They were right on the limit, and it was nice to see the TV director concentrating on them, rather than following the home boy Stoner around. With a few laps to go, tyres were really beginning to go off for everybody, except Rossi of course, and the potential 4th placers were swapping around faster than you could work out who was who. In front of them, Rossi was reeling Hayden in, and camera shots of Hayden's rear tyre were showing it to be decidedly iffy. He was running on treacle, and Rossi was able to smell it with two laps to go. Up the start-finish straight and the inevitable pass happened. Nicky tried to put up a fight, but it was all over after the first corner. Stoner delivered a massive wheelie to finish first, with Rossi second and Hayden in third. Behind them the 4x4 riders still hadn't decided who was going to be 4th. Nakano, the 4th of the 4 eventually finished at number 2, if you get my drift, behind Lorenzo, with the guy I thought would be at the head of the pack, i.e. Dovizioso, at the back, with JT in the sandwich. Once again, James had managed to come 6th. That position is starting to become annoying - will he ever get higher..? So a great show, even though there is no championship to win now, and a few more nuggets from Charlie Cox and Steve Parrish. My personal favourite was CC's reference to JT's steely edge, i.e. if he was any tougher, he'd rust. Everyone was happy, and the most popular of podiums had resulted. Australian MotoGP results: 1. Casey Stoner (Australia) Ducati 40:56.643 2. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha 41:03.147 3. Nicky Hayden (U.S.) Honda 41:03.848 4. Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha 41:08.143 5. Shinya Nakano (Japan) Honda 41:08.557 6. James Toseland (Britain) Yamaha 41:08.886 7. Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Honda 41:09.423 8. Colin Edwards (U.S.) Yamaha 41:22.563 9. Randy de Puniet (France) Honda 41:22.680 10. Loris Capirossi (Italy) Suzuki 41:23.442 11. Toni Elias (Spain) Ducati 41:23.670 12. Anthony West (Australia) Kawasaki 41:44.451 13. John Hopkins (U.S.) Kawasaki 41:44.976 14. Sylvain Guintoli (France) Ducati 41:45.542 15. Chris Vermeulen (Australia) Suzuki 41:45.578 World championship standings: 1. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha 332 2. Casey Stoner (Australia) Ducati 245 3. Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 209 4. Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha 182 5. Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Honda 145 6. Nicky Hayden (U.S.) Honda 131 7. Colin Edwards (U.S.) Yamaha 126 8. Chris Vermeulen (Australia) Suzuki 118 9. Shinya Nakano (Japan) Honda 106 10. Loris Capirossi (Italy) Suzuki 102 Other: 11. James Toseland (Britain) Yamaha 100 Thanks Auntie Beeb. The Suzi reference was just a joke. Like the last time, I haven't a clue why she wasn't presenting the race today. Perhaps there's another dodgy reality TV series around the corner, or she's making that Gadget Show series for CH5. Tbh, I don't know. Anyway, it doesn't matter, just remember 4pm BBC2 today.

Once again, another race for the ultra keen. 0245-0515 BST - 125cc & 250cc races on the Beeb website. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/7614322.stm 0545-0700 BST - MotoGP on BBC1 with Matt Roberts presenting. Juicy Suzi must be gearing herself up for boring F1 [her words] for next season. These night time races are making my HDD recorder get near its limit.

Well hopefully you have a waterproof arse for your winter games.

Whenever I sort out an internet connection problem involving AOL my rates go up by £20 an hour because I don't want the job.

Watched The Core earlier on CH4. Completely forgettable. At this moment, I'm watching X-Men - The Last Stand. Again totally forgettable, but much more like fun.

Let's have this in the appropriate forum please people.

I've read this from the top post only, and was about to register my utter disgust to someone who could joke about such things, and then close the thread. But Baj has already done so. But I'm still going to let you know how I feel about this. You need to have a re-think Saint Stevo. Some things are not for joking about. An apology to all wouldn't go amiss.

And this thread is going to Buy and Sell, where it should be.

Another non-Saints related thread. Please remember to post threads apporopriately. Thanks.

Even the last post didn't make this Saints related. But as it has a serious note, I'll transfer it to The Lounge.