Yes Lee they are. I've only seen it a couple of times "live" as I don't live in an area with a pro sports team. What happens is that if the crowd is a certain size the game is shown, if the crowd doesn't meet the limit you get a black screen on your TV if you live in that city. But I think there are exceptions. American might know more.

I'm leaning toward those who support the ruling. People who want to go to games will do so, the casual fan who would prefer to spend their money in the boozer instead of the ground would probably not go anyway. Football is now more social for some; they can feel proud to watch a game in the pub on dodgy TV as it gives them some kudos. I have reason to believe that showing all games live at 3pm would help matters. Sky could still get their Sunday game as midweek European nights have a lag or they could be allowed 1 promotional fixture a week to be billed as such. As usual on TV matters I'll defer to the NFL; Sky's model for making as much cash as possible. American Football clubs make oodles from TV who show all games at the same time (there's two times actually to account for time zones - not a UK problem). Depending on where you live determines the game you see. There is one game late on Sunday for TV and one on Monday night; that's it. Stadiums are full up every week too. Why don't Sky show 9 games on Saturday at 3pm, one per Sky channel set aside for it, then they build up the Sunday game. There are enough cup competitions/midweek/ football league games to keep Sky ticking over before the weekend starts again. I also like the idea that home game is blacked out within home areas but that could cause problems. If BRFC are at home anyone within a, say, 20 mile radius of the ground has their Sky box shut off for the channel showing the game. When they are away the box will show the game. What would happen in cities with more than 1 prem team though (eg. Manchester)? Also, would the Football League kick up a fuss? Could they get a bit extra from the Sky money to keep them happy? Something has just struck me. The Premier League started in 1992. Since then Sky has bombarded us with football match after football match. People who are 18-22 (the new drinkers/fans who can go on their own) grew up with live football all the time on TV. I'm not much older than them but can remember the days where there was only the odd game on a Sunday. It started to change when Elton Welsby fronted "The Match" on ITV. The new fans that clubs are trying to attract have had a far greater access to TV football their whole lives. Anyone 30 and over grew up with not as much football and as such went to stadiums to see a game. This is not the norm nor is it thought about by the up and comers. In order to keep the game alive TV needs to take over, evetually fans will start going back if it is promoted well enough and priced properly.

This day was probably one of the greatest I've had so far. Played football and won in the morning. Saw an absolutely fantastic game in the afternoon, and was still drinking at 5am the next morning. Great. The buzz around the ground was fantastic. I remember no Nuttall Street stand and all the Rovers subs standing there gettig cold. I was in the BB upper right behind the goal.

I'm having a boring Friday and am reminiscing about this board over the previous two campaigns. Relegation worries, panic stations and the sheer relief of that 4-3 Fulham win have been replaced with Champs Leauge optimism. It is an amazing turnaround, and looks to be here to stay for a while. But crowds are gonig down.

Ozzie, good article. Not for the correctness of it but for showing the stupidity of the woman. I agree that Shearer made a ba!!s up when he went home to play. But at the time Newcastle were on the up, with Keegan signing anybody and everybody. But as we all know it went pear shaped for him trophy wise. He should have joined Man U, he would have played less, scored more and may have still had another year in him. Although I'm not a Man U fan, I enjoy watching them play, especially when they were winning everything in the late 90's. Shearer scored bundles with Ripley and Wilcox providing the ammo, I shudder to think what Beckham would have done for him week in week out. If this would have happened though he would not be remembered by us as the legend that he is but as a traitor who left us for the red scum. Going to Newcastle and winning bugger all helped cement his status with our fans, snubbing Man U helps him with the Geordies. Shearer did have an ability to batter defenders and get free kicks, and I do wonder what the FA was thinking when they let him off for booting that Leicester player in the head, but overall the man was absolutely fantastic and I had the pleasure of watching him in his prime regardless of what the Geordies think.

Joe

Not the best Rovers performance, certainly nowhere near the game at the JJB. I can see why Wigan are good away from home, they are very compact and organized, and wasted as much time as they could. De Zeeuw played very well. We never looked like scoring, the got an equalliser and could have won it. Neill had a dodgy game, Dickov was non-existent, Kuqi isn't up to it but does a good job as a battering ram in the air. If we never pass to his feet he will be a world beater. The attempted cross from the left was his funniest moment.

Ray-Von and Exiled; I don't quite understand why "tossers at club level" mean that you can't cheer for your country. The Rovers interest is also a bit strange too. It is your country you should stick up for them whoever plays. I'll wager that 2 short years ago Craig Bellamy and Robbie Savage were two of the league's biggest "tossers" in your eyes. Maybe because I live abroad I have an enhanced sense of patriotism toward my country but your views confuse me.

If you are not English I understand it, if you are English WTF?

Just had a quick look at the remaining fixtures for us, Arsenal, Spurs, and Bolton. We have by far the easiest run-in with Bolton having the hardest. Our unfortunates are two away days at relegation battling Pompey and Brum. Spurs have to play Arsenal and Bolton so points dropped there for someone. It could be very good for us. I hope WBA can keep it up.

I think the odd relegation haunted player will do us good. There are good players playing down there even though their team'soverall standard is not up to it. Pennant is a good player but the lad is a complete head the ball. He doesn't have all his marbles and is liable to go bananas if he ever ends up in East Lancs: too much of a fishbowl for him. I'm afraid he will go down as one of many who had great potential but couldn't cope with it. I seem to remember after his drink drive case that Steve Bruce was pulling at the public's heartstrings saying that he (Pennant not Bruce) grew up in a broken home and can barely read. This type of upbringing added to a pot of hero worship and money can only have disasterous results. We don't need Upson, even though he isn't bad. Haskey is a carthorse these days. 5 years ago we should have snatched him, but not now. Pompey is full of cast offs, maybe's, contract wanting players, and the odd home grown player who could do a job; Davis and the bloke who scored the free kick against us in January. Ellington could be Dickov's replacement if he is cheap enough. But if the rumours are true and Neill is going to AC Milan in a mega money move we could snap up Albrectson (sic?) from West Brom. When I have seen him he has been great. As for the misfit Euro league players; No chance. Rovers got their fingers well and truly burnt with "Junior" Grabbi, the bad taste is still there from De Pedro, and Gresko will wind a few up too. Lecce strikers? Balkan Players? Please.

Plase enlighten us as to why.

I too view the FA cup with suspicion. It started a few years ago when I was regailed with tales of officials putting balls in the microwave before the draw to ensure top notch ties. Since the time media types starting writing that the FA cup "has lost some of its lustre" these dodgy draws have become commonplace. Everyone on here was not surprised last year when we got Arsenal in the semi. I was not surprised to see us playing Burnley also after they won a few. I know that during the latter stages the good teams will still be there and as such the probability of them playing each other will increase but Man U Burton smells. If I had longer I would recant more dodgy draws. Chelsea playing Man U every round guarantees the FA money and exposure; a 5th round tie of Colchester v. Hull does not, but they have to be played so they make sure every round has a super tie to keep interest.

I have also been waiting for a while for G14 to get some stick. It is in international interest to shut these clubs up. Yes, they are the most wealthy, but thay have gotten that way by beating the rest over the years. UEFA is the governing body and they are finally doing something that was needed a long time ago. Let the big clubs make their money in our league, if they want to make more let them go and be greedy, but ban them from anything worthwhile.

Don't forget the Super Sunday drinking because of the Bank Holiday. Nice weather will mean that the pubs will be full of people drinking it up watching the game

Ste, I'm in the US and they always show the 5:15pm game live. The Sky Super Sunday game is per per view so I may lose out.

A bit of a ba!!s up if you ask me. Reduced prices for Rovers fans would give them a lift, but most, if not all will have already been bought. From my perspective I just hope that it is on TV still as I had my saturday lunchtime organized around it. We'll get short shrift in the media too no doubt.

Will, who is the chick in your signature?

Some bright spark should make a video showing plenty of incidents of diving/play-acting and incidents of genuine fouls/injuries and then report the findings to the FA and referees giving them a concise report on what to look for with fouls/cheating. Experienced ref's should be able to to this already but it may be a nice thing to do. The papers would like it. For example: in my experiences playing and watching someone who is fouled does not have ther knees buckle, kick their legs back, and go up in the air before hitting the ground. They tend to fall or try to play on as they are concentrating on the ball not the acting. Also when a player is genuinely injured they do not roll around like they are putting out a fire on their back. Not much movement is key here. Really injured players stay still as movement may cause further injury. I hate all the cheating that goes on but it is just a part of today's game; the only thing that matters is winning. I played for a team once and the boss was very anti-diving. We won a cup semi final 2-1 thanks to a blatent penalty. The boss was ecstatic, then he watched a video of the game. The camera angle caught our winger's swan dive perfectly; the defender was 3 yards away, but the ref couldn't see. Was the boss p!ssed off? Not a chance, cup final here we come. Quashie's sending off was funny. He deserved to go as there was intent in the kick. Frustration maybe but he still planted Boateng in the back. Boateng's Oscar performance reaction should have got a booking also.

I've just had a chance to read this thread; quite amusing I might add. Aggy and Theno must still be using old money and even own one of those new fangled wireless machines judging from their comments. Some great words of wisdom from those two. Football advances, it appears that some want the game to be the kick fest it was in the 1940's. I'm not condoning diving, shirt pulling, cheating, or all the other things that get my goat about football, but come on fellas move on.

When I broke my leg they took the boot off right there. The sock was cut off from what I remember, I was in shock. The worst bit was having x-rays with my lower leg at a cock eyed angle.

To translate US sports parlance: Depth chart = pecking order Mikel and Messi were streets ahead of Adu at the u-20's but both are older, Messi plays for Barca and Mikel is built like a brick wall.

My honest opinion of him is that he has all the talent in the world but right now isn't using it right. As has been said he has been sent home from the US camp, but he's no chance of going as he is streets behind Donovan and McBride, plus the crop of decent MLS strikers. It wouldn't make sense to take him to Germany as it would be a waste of a slot; they are the USA not Brazil. His league performances have been up and down; one game he is great then he will fade away into nothing and get taken off after an hour. He isn't the biggest so tends to get knocked off the ball easily, but unlike Michael Owen, Adu likes dribbling so he gets caught out alot. The MLS is not that bad; granted it's a bit boring to watch but I think that most sides would hold their own in the Championship, which wasn't the case for the first few years of the league. The U-20 tournament was a good opportunity to see him and he failed to impress there. He is still not 17 so time is on his side, but his main aim right now is to improve the profile of the sport over here. The fact that the USA have some decent players seems lost on the money men as they are focusing on him and him alone.

The usual suspects are being touted, and have been so since Sven was put in charge. There is nothing new with Curbishley, McClaren, Allardyce. I have no idea who we should get but it isn't any one of these. Top level football management is quickly turning into a two man approach; a coach who does training and a motivator who is the top man. Rovers had it with Dalglish and Harford, Sven doesn't do much coaching, so why not get a spot on coach in and a master motivator with a bit of respect.

Ste, does that still mean though that they can get into trouble? What if the rumour is true? What would happen then. Example: If someone on this site reported that politician X had a fling with politician Y. would the site be in trouble, even if it came out shortly thereafter that it was true?