Sunday, 9 December 2012

West Ham 2 Liverpool 3



It can only be described with one word: gutwrenching. After coming back from a Glen Johnson wonder goal and taking the lead with a Mark  Noble penalty West Ham lost their star man and transfer target, Momo Diame, to injury in the second half as it all fell apart with Joe Cole and Jonjo Shelvey putting the match to rest.

Friday, 7 December 2012

FNF: Manny Pacquiao versus Marco Antonio Barrera I

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It can sometimes be lost in all the hype and celebrity that has become part of anything attached to Manny Pacquiao nowadays that every bit of his stardom has come from his displays in the ring. He is the type of fighter who put his name on the map by having fight after hellacious fight with the likes on Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales and of special note on this weekend, Juan Manuel Marquez. Although the trilogy, soon to become a quadrilogy, with Marquez might come to define his career we wanted to go back to the fight which was the start of the Pacquiao legend. Going into their showdown in November 2003 Pacquiao was a bit of an unknown quantity. Barrera was certainly the bigger attraction, as the pre fight coverage would make clear. Most of it went to the fact Barrera had brain surgery six years prior, meant to fix irregular blood vessels in his brain. Pacquaio was an after thought. It's not hard to understand why at the time as Pacquaio had been toiling in some of the sports least followed weight divisions, the fight with Barrera coming as a big step up in quality. It took until the third round for Pacquaio to gain the boxing worlds attention. By the end everyone had witnessed the birth of the superstar millions around the world have become familiar with.

Monday, 3 December 2012

Momo Can't Go

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The Daily Mail reported today that one of West Ham's standouts so far this season, Senegal international Momo Diame, has a "trigger" clause built into his contract which would allow him to leave the club for another of his choice providing the buyer meets the "trigger" price. One doesn't need to elaborate too extensively to understand why this would be calamitous for the club and its ambitions were it to happen.

Sunday, 2 December 2012

For The Suits Label Guide: Unity, Part 2

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Last week when we begun this musical journey we were, in all honesty, overwhelmed by the amount of quality releases on the Unity label. What was initially going to be one article quickly turned into something that needed to be broken down into two parts. The quality of the label in 1969 alone was staggering, a prolific output which most labels would be blessed to have over the entire course of the labels lifetime. Things didn't slow down in 1970.

First Cut: Big Shot

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The roll continues! Big Shot was a Trojan subsidiary label, first releasing tunes in 1968. They started with an stone cold classic: "Reggae Girl" by The Tennors. Produced by Tennors founder George "Clive" Murphy it was the start of a run of big tunes for the Tennors in the early days of reggae. The B side is also a winner "Donkey Trot" by Clive's All Stars, a solid instrumental. Nothing mind blowing mind you but certainly far from boring. The sort of tune you'd listen to on a Sunday afternoon, not the sort of thing you'd want to hear on Saturday night. "Reggae Girl" you most certainly would. It was the start of a number of high quality releases on the label, as one might expect when production credits are split between the likes of Bunny Lee, Derrick Harriot, George Murphy and Winston Riley. The sort of label well worth your time to search out releases on.

Saturday, 1 December 2012

Brutus Grimfit?

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Well it hasn't taken Brutus too long to completely lose the plot. They posted their Spring/Summer 2013 lineup earlier this week and it's, well, special. Apparently they've given up on making the quality shirts they were pumping out when the company first made a return a couple of years ago. We're still not entirely sure this isn't just an early April Fools joke, at least we're hoping it's a joke of some kind. The sight of some of their great button downs having been butchered down and used to make these new terrible shirts may be too much for those with a weak heart. We all got a couple of great shirts out of 'em though, right?

West Ham 3 Chelsea 1

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In a season that has been quite remarkable so far, today's derby win over Chelsea has to be the defining moment of it. Few supporters and even fewer commentators would have thought it at all likely West Ham were capable of beating Chelsea. Beating Chelsea 3-1 was surely out of the question. But everything came together today for a truly memorable win in our return season to the EPL. After going down to a Juan Mata strike set up by fellow Spaniard Fernando Torres, just a few minutes after Winston Reid came close to nodding home after a James Collins free kick, Kevin Nolan, always reliable, had a goal in the 33rd minute denied. Where have we seen that happen before? Certainly wasn't good for the nerves after Man City's frustrating let down. Nolan came close again near the end of the first half, nearly converting from a free kick. Petr Cech barely got his fingers to it to knock it clear.