Thursday, August 11, 2005
Bow Valley Wanderers
And in other news...
Dr Robson has been giving the Fantasy Football League some thought too, and has come up with a team of her own. After some initial concern, it seems that Big Roy's League does accept entries from women (one finished 6th last year!!) and so the Bow Valley Wanderers are go! Here is the line-up:
Petr Cech (Chelsea)
Goalkeeper
5.5 million, 201 points last year
Gary Breen (Sunderland)
Defender
1.0 million, 0 points last year
Jamie Clapham (Birmingham)
Defender
1.0 million, 37 points last year
Nyron Nosworthy (Sunderland)
Defender
1.0 million, 0 points last year
Stephen Kelly (Tottenham)
Defender
2.5 million, 0 points last year
Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
Midfielder
8 million, 342 points last year
Dennis Rommedahl (Charlton)
Midfielder
1 million, 40 points last year
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
Midfielder
6 million, 212 points last year
Thierry Henry (Arsenal)
Striker
8 million, 279 points last year
Fernando Morientes (Liverpool)
Striker
4 million, 25 points last year
Bobby Zamora (West Ham)
Striker
2 million, 0 points last year
As you can see, it's a 4-3-3 format and there are a few players in common with Athletica Athabasca, although Manager Robson has held on to Cech and has attracted some more mid-range talent with the extra cash (Morientes is looking especially good value so far). So it's the Wanderers going head-to-head with the Athabascans - watch this space!
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Dr Robson has been giving the Fantasy Football League some thought too, and has come up with a team of her own. After some initial concern, it seems that Big Roy's League does accept entries from women (one finished 6th last year!!) and so the Bow Valley Wanderers are go! Here is the line-up:
Petr Cech (Chelsea)
Goalkeeper
5.5 million, 201 points last year
Gary Breen (Sunderland)
Defender
1.0 million, 0 points last year
Jamie Clapham (Birmingham)
Defender
1.0 million, 37 points last year
Nyron Nosworthy (Sunderland)
Defender
1.0 million, 0 points last year
Stephen Kelly (Tottenham)
Defender
2.5 million, 0 points last year
Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
Midfielder
8 million, 342 points last year
Dennis Rommedahl (Charlton)
Midfielder
1 million, 40 points last year
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
Midfielder
6 million, 212 points last year
Thierry Henry (Arsenal)
Striker
8 million, 279 points last year
Fernando Morientes (Liverpool)
Striker
4 million, 25 points last year
Bobby Zamora (West Ham)
Striker
2 million, 0 points last year
As you can see, it's a 4-3-3 format and there are a few players in common with Athletica Athabasca, although Manager Robson has held on to Cech and has attracted some more mid-range talent with the extra cash (Morientes is looking especially good value so far). So it's the Wanderers going head-to-head with the Athabascans - watch this space!
Athletica Athabasca
It's that time again, as the Premiership kicks off again at the weekend and the deadline for Big Roy's Fantasy Football League 2005/2006 is fast approaching. So I've been going over the stats, juggling my 40 million pound allowance, checking who's injured or about to transfer abroad or up on a charge and deciding who's going to make the cut and who's yesterday's news. Regular readers will remember that last year's team, the Rocky Mountain Rovers, didn't do too well in their debut year, finishing 24th out of 28 teams largely due to injury and bench-warming. From the ashes of the Rovers will now rise a new team, Athletica Athabasca! And here's the line up:
Stuart Taylor (Aston Villa)
Goalkeeper
1.0 million, 0 points last year
Liam Ridgewell (Aston Villa)
Defender
1.0 million, 0 points last year
Jamie Clapham (Birmingham)
Defender
1.0 million, 37 points last year
Danny Mills (Manchester City)
Defender
1.5 million, 55 points last year
John Terry (Chelsea)
Defender
8 million, 368 points last year
Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
Midfielder
8 million, 342 points last year
Kevin Kilbane (Everton)
Midfielder
2 million, 67 points last year
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
Midfielder
6 million, 212 points last year
Thierry Henry (Arsenal)
Striker
8 million, 279 points last year
Henrik Pederson (Bolton)
Striker
2 million, 77 points last year
Daryl Murphy (Sunderland)
Striker
1 million, 0 points last year
As you can tell, the strategy this year is to cough up for some big hitters (Terry, Lampard, Gerrard, Henry) and then fill out the rest of the team with promising newcomers. There's also a bit of an Irish theme, with Ridgewell, Murphy and Kilbane all playing for the Republic.
So here is the formal 4-3-3 line-up:
Up the Athabasca!
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Stuart Taylor (Aston Villa)
Goalkeeper
1.0 million, 0 points last year
Liam Ridgewell (Aston Villa)
Defender
1.0 million, 0 points last year
Jamie Clapham (Birmingham)
Defender
1.0 million, 37 points last year
Danny Mills (Manchester City)
Defender
1.5 million, 55 points last year
John Terry (Chelsea)
Defender
8 million, 368 points last year
Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
Midfielder
8 million, 342 points last year
Kevin Kilbane (Everton)
Midfielder
2 million, 67 points last year
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
Midfielder
6 million, 212 points last year
Thierry Henry (Arsenal)
Striker
8 million, 279 points last year
Henrik Pederson (Bolton)
Striker
2 million, 77 points last year
Daryl Murphy (Sunderland)
Striker
1 million, 0 points last year
As you can tell, the strategy this year is to cough up for some big hitters (Terry, Lampard, Gerrard, Henry) and then fill out the rest of the team with promising newcomers. There's also a bit of an Irish theme, with Ridgewell, Murphy and Kilbane all playing for the Republic.
So here is the formal 4-3-3 line-up:
Up the Athabasca!
Sunday, August 07, 2005
Powderface Trail Adventure (Lawless Britain)
Monday lunchtime here, getting back in the saddle at work. Quite a warm weekend, Saturday the better day while Sunday was cloudier. Headed off to Kananaskis on Saturday, for a hike along the Jumpingpound Creek near to Sibbald Flats.
The Hiker
Where is it that we are now?
We headed west on the road that leads to Highway 40, but ended up taking a detour south on the 'Road That is Not Recommended for Travel', the Powderface Trail which hooks up the Sibbald Creek Trail with the Elbow River Trail. We'd been past this Trail before and chickened out of taking it, as it is a 36 kilometre gravel road with an effective speed limit of 40 kph, which means almost an hour of small-roads (on-road / off-road) driving. The road itself also looks highly dodgy, is miles from anywhere, is not well-maintained and is well-signed with notices saying 'Not a Road' and 'Drive at Your Own Risk'. We'd decided that the Honda wasn't fit the this trail, but on Saturday we were in the Jeep, so we decided to give it a whirl!
It turned out to be not too bad at all, more like a long single lane track with frequent passing places, winding through dense forests in the middle of the mountains. There were a few other cars coming the other way, and the driving conditions were fine except for a few places where the June floods had washed the road out or undermined a bridge a wee bit. We made it down to the Elbow River in under an hour, and took this photo to prove we made it:
Sunday was much more sedate, with the Farmer's Market and walking in Bowness. We cooked up a storm with some scallops and lobster we got at Bearspaw: scallops wrapped in bacon and done on the BBQ, and lobster korma ready for tonight. I also spent a lot of time getting my Dream Team ready for Big Roy's Fantasy Football League 05/06, about which much more in an upcoming post.
Two more photos before the end:
We've been picking up fridge magnets wherever we go this year, and are amassing quite a collection:
(Tiger Mask appears courtesy of Megan White)
Also brought a copy of The Sun home with me last week for Dream Team purposes (as it lists all the players) and couldn't help but admire the headline, LAWLESS BRITAIN. You just can't get papers like The Sun in Canada. This front page is just a classic - the title in huge type, the map made up of frightening pictures (riot cops, terrorist suspects, a knife, a blown-up bus, a paedophile) and 18 phrases which are aimed at telling us all what a scary place Britain is (I especially like 'Paedophiles living next door', 'Legal aid for the undeserving', 'Gypsies' rights over your land' and 'Free holidays for juvenile offenders'). And then the classic kicker about our MPs being on holiday! And then, just while you're in a state of utter shock about the parlous state of the country, don't worry because we have a picture of David Beckham's new tattoo inside the paper! It's a lot of right-wing tosh, but nobody does it like The Sun!
Get rid of Gippos/Asylum Seekers/Yobbos/Muslims etc.
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The Hiker
Where is it that we are now?
We headed west on the road that leads to Highway 40, but ended up taking a detour south on the 'Road That is Not Recommended for Travel', the Powderface Trail which hooks up the Sibbald Creek Trail with the Elbow River Trail. We'd been past this Trail before and chickened out of taking it, as it is a 36 kilometre gravel road with an effective speed limit of 40 kph, which means almost an hour of small-roads (on-road / off-road) driving. The road itself also looks highly dodgy, is miles from anywhere, is not well-maintained and is well-signed with notices saying 'Not a Road' and 'Drive at Your Own Risk'. We'd decided that the Honda wasn't fit the this trail, but on Saturday we were in the Jeep, so we decided to give it a whirl!
It turned out to be not too bad at all, more like a long single lane track with frequent passing places, winding through dense forests in the middle of the mountains. There were a few other cars coming the other way, and the driving conditions were fine except for a few places where the June floods had washed the road out or undermined a bridge a wee bit. We made it down to the Elbow River in under an hour, and took this photo to prove we made it:
Sunday was much more sedate, with the Farmer's Market and walking in Bowness. We cooked up a storm with some scallops and lobster we got at Bearspaw: scallops wrapped in bacon and done on the BBQ, and lobster korma ready for tonight. I also spent a lot of time getting my Dream Team ready for Big Roy's Fantasy Football League 05/06, about which much more in an upcoming post.
Two more photos before the end:
We've been picking up fridge magnets wherever we go this year, and are amassing quite a collection:
(Tiger Mask appears courtesy of Megan White)
Also brought a copy of The Sun home with me last week for Dream Team purposes (as it lists all the players) and couldn't help but admire the headline, LAWLESS BRITAIN. You just can't get papers like The Sun in Canada. This front page is just a classic - the title in huge type, the map made up of frightening pictures (riot cops, terrorist suspects, a knife, a blown-up bus, a paedophile) and 18 phrases which are aimed at telling us all what a scary place Britain is (I especially like 'Paedophiles living next door', 'Legal aid for the undeserving', 'Gypsies' rights over your land' and 'Free holidays for juvenile offenders'). And then the classic kicker about our MPs being on holiday! And then, just while you're in a state of utter shock about the parlous state of the country, don't worry because we have a picture of David Beckham's new tattoo inside the paper! It's a lot of right-wing tosh, but nobody does it like The Sun!
Get rid of Gippos/Asylum Seekers/Yobbos/Muslims etc.
Saturday, August 06, 2005
For a Few Photos More
Just while we're on this massive outpouring of photos, here are a few more from my first visit home to Carrickfergus:
Granny Brown in a Cowboy Hat
Melissa gets a bit Country & Western (Yee-HA!)
The White Family, July 2005
(Back row: Stephen McAlister, Greg White, Sam White, Jonathan White, Paula White, Simon White; Middle row: Blaina White, Vanessa McAlister, Melissa McAlister, Elizabeth Brown, Dorothy White, Sandhya White; Front row: Connor White, Sebastian White, Megan White)
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Granny Brown in a Cowboy Hat
Melissa gets a bit Country & Western (Yee-HA!)
The White Family, July 2005
(Back row: Stephen McAlister, Greg White, Sam White, Jonathan White, Paula White, Simon White; Middle row: Blaina White, Vanessa McAlister, Melissa McAlister, Elizabeth Brown, Dorothy White, Sandhya White; Front row: Connor White, Sebastian White, Megan White)
