Hamilton Saint

When I was a kid I thought that people who talked to their cats or dogs were nuts. But here I am, talking to our dog all the time! My wife is very much a dog-lover. We started off with a cat when we lived in a flat. But eventually got a dog after moving into our own house. It was a Soft-coated Wheaten Terrier. A lovely dog we called Pip. ("What larks, Pip!") At the age of about four it got ill, very wobbly on its feet - eventually it couldn't stand upright any more. We spent a LOT of money having it looked at and treated by a veterinary specialist (including a spinal tap). It had spinal meningitis and we had to put him down. Horrible experience - especially for my wife, who bonds tightly with animals. A while later we got another dog. It's a Brittany Spaniel. Lovely animal. Wonderful disposition and never barks. She's now 11 years old. A tremendous asset to our family - the kids (now in their late teens) have grown up with her. I don't want to even think about her eventual demise. The house will seem empty without her. Best wishes, Gemmel.

That "article" in tribal football is one of the vaguest, most disconnected pieces of prose I've ever read. Not one of the points seems to link to another. It really adds up to nothing.

When the United States government acts unilaterally to advance or "protect" its geopolitical or commercial interests, it declares that it does not recognise the concept of international law, and does not accept the jurisdiction of the international court in the Hague. When the Russian government acts unilaterally to advance or "protect" its own interests, the U.S. government accuses it of violating international law, and appeals to the Hague. What we have here is a continuation of Cold War behaviour, with the use of different nomenclature - dominant nations exercising power in areas they consider to be of "strategic importance". They act with inpunity because they can.

That first statement is somewhat ambiguous for a Canadian audience. In Canada there is soccer, Canadian football and American football. Canadian football is similar to American football, but it has several important differences in its rules, and it is surrounded by a very different culture.

News flash: the season is not over. Still a quarter of the games to go. Check back in early May.

Saying that he "looks jaded and lacklustre" is a very subjective comment - similar to comments elsewhere about Pochettino's "body language". Sometimes we see what we want to see, or are expecting to see - when the reality is often quite different.

1) 59 2) Lawrence of Arabia 3) Haven't seen any of the films nominated for Best Picture this year. Did see Blue Jasmine, though - and Cate Blanchett is nominated as Best Actress for that film. She's likely to win, I hear.

Alpine, you said the season is over. So you can stop posting now. Come back in July.

Good man!

"There would be another song for me; For I will sing it; There would be another dream for me; Someone will bring it ..."

You've been following these Olympics closely, I see!

You're just sore that the Canadians' curling team trounced the Brits in the final, eh?

So quick with the put-down that you can't even read what he actually wrote. He didn't say that the "women's sport was on a par with the men's"; he said that the women's win was as good as the men's team winning. Different point, eh? And it was a really memorable win. The women's team is not packed with millionaire NHL players - it's more like an old-fashioned amateur team. And they've won four gold medals in a row. Not bad, eh?

You, too? Really? Still twelve games left. Does this mean you'll be taking a break from this site for a few months?

Really? Still twelve games left. Does this mean you'll be taking a break from this site for a few months?

Awesome, wasn't it?! In the first couple of minutes of OT it really looked like the US was going to score!

Now we're getting into semantics!! I used parochial to mean "having a limited or narrow view" - which is not the same in my opinion, as being narrow-minded. The latter phrase has a more negative connotation. Put it this way: if ice hockey, for example, is considered your country's national sport, then the Winter Olympics would be of great interest to you; if you go curling regularly at a local arena, you would be interested in the fate of your national team at the Winter Olympics. If you've never seen a live hockey game, or never participated in a curling match, then - of course - you're less likely to find either sport of interest. That's what I mean by parochial - lack of exposure or experience.

I didn't say "small-minded" - you're putting words in my mouth. I said parochial. You're not interested in them; well, that's fine - each to his own. But that doesn't make them "fake Olympics", or of no interest to people outside of Scandinavia - which was the opinion you said you strongly agreed with.

What you say is reasonable. My annoyance is for people who know nothing about the Winter Olympics (thinking, for example, that only Scandinavian countries care about them) and who then call it a "fake Olympics". It's like Brits putting down baseball as "glorified rounders"; or Yanks putting down cricket because of all the strange terminology and arcane rituals. If you participate in the sport, or if you understand how it's played, you'll find it of interest. Pretty basic concept.

Jamaica? Dominica? Bermuda? Virgin Islands? India? Philippines? Thailand? Greece? Cyprus? Togo? Zimbabwe? Etc?

"A good laugh" ...? Why? It doesn't have to be at the same "scale" as the "proper Olympics". It's different. But it is of immense interest to those who participate passionately in those sports: ice hockey, curling, downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, free-style skating, ice dancing, etc. As usual [and the point I made before], one's interest is often prompted by one's familiarity or participation in the sport - and a difference in culture and climate!

I agree with you. It's not just that they invariably adopt a knee-jerk negative attitude to so many things about the Club, but that they feel it's OK to dominate most of the threads. On and on and on. Back and forth. On and on and on. The same handful of posters. All day; every day. Let the forum breathe. Let others have more of a say. Stop trying to dominate. Consider why these complaints keep coming up again and again.

For you, it's a "total non event". Do you realize how parochial you sound? "Does anyone really care much for it outside of Scandinavia"? Err ... Canadians, Americans, French, Italians, Czechs, Austrians, Swiss, Germans, etc., etc.

Note to self: avoid this place like the plague - for at least 48 hours - when Saints suffer a bad loss. OTT melodrama at its best.

"... bigger than a bread box; smaller than an elephant ..."