Cletus, It seems like a good time to send your shy neighbour a Chrimbo card and say "hello." You never know, he might just turn out to be a hot water engineer! Nice talking with you All the best. have a good Christmas Colin

Brilliant, do a win a "Grooby?"

Interesting take on this from the usually perspicatious John Nicholson here

I think you may be wanting to eat your cake & have it at the same time. The only reason you feel safe travelling to matches is because of the Taylor Report & recommendations. Similarly the the only reason the Times columnist can take her son to games is because of Taylor. The alternative it that all three of you would be subject to a flow of urine down the stands, no toilet facilities, being penned in like animals, not a hope in hell of seeing the game unless you are six foot tall, crushed up against a barrier and a mesh fence which stops you seeing the game anyway, and then probabably bottled on the way out by drunk opposition fans. Oh Joy!

I don't know if we are yet doing nominations for "Posts Of The Year Awards" but if there is a catagory for "Most Insensitive & Tasteless" then I'd like to nominate this one.

Ha! Does anyone take this farrago of an event seriously anymore? Lineker making "jokes." Sue Barker perspiring sweetly in the background? St Helens RLFC very nicely organising a mass voting campaign (good on them.) Just out of interest I learned today that when Zara's mare won it all those years ago it was to knock George Best into second place. Now that's a real chin-stroker. Finally, as one wag wrote in The Gaurniad today - "Don't knock Zara, it shows what can be done when you have been raised by a single Mum living on state hand-outs." Amazing!

I don't think I've been *that* close to falling asleep at Ewood before. We were bobbins, but luckily, so were Nancy. Tummy-rubbish all round.

I think it's some kind of addiction. The feeling that I am there surrounded by people who are all feeling the same elation/depression as me. It's a tribal thing?

No, as soon as you get back we are going to break your other arm. That'll really give you an arse-wiping problem.

It's not just an Ewood "thing," it's a society "thing." If I get the hosepipe out and wash my car in front of my house I will I be stopped by some old bloke or dear and have a chat with them. It's the same when I get the hedge clippers out. Younger people just walk past. It's not Ewood that has changed, it's society, we don't talk to each other anymore. We don't talk to strangers, we no longer say "Good morning" to people on the streets where we live. We no longer chat to "strangers" sat next to us at Ewood. Enormous "Group hug?"

The problem with a list like this is that, as it approaches the last place , it gets progressively more difficult. Putting Pele & Maradonna in is the easy bit. It's justifying why Darren Peacock is at 100 which Christian Dailly is out of the running at 101. Sounds like someone else is bored shirtless at work today.

Mmm Anyone looked at the league table Rovers: played 15 won 4 drawn 4 lost 7 goal diff -5 points 16 Barcodes: exactly the same I'll go for a draw.

That Damien Rice fellow sounds pretty good to me. Anyone else?

He's been mentioned briefly, but we have this 36 year old Turkish gonk called Tugay Kerimoglu. As a sop to us impoverished Rovers' fans he wears "Tugay" on his shirt. He has a face that could launch a thousand ships, in fact in the shipyards of Turkey they used to use his head in leui of a bottle of champagne. In fact he is so bloody ugly that in our recent match against Spurs, Phil Dowd probably sent him off to make the game look good for the TV cameras. But he has always had an "antennae" for spotting where his fellow players will be at least five seconds before anyone else (including his fellow players) know. He is the master of the trap, the touch, and the accurate pass. He can also do one of those quick shoulder drops which leave opposition players half his age wondering what the hell is going on. Plus he scores the occasional goal. If he does, it's usually worth watching. Now you may be wondering why a 37 year old has performed above expectations: it's because he used to have this invisible friend that he used to pass to on a regular basis. But as he gets older he gets better and his little friend is fading away. Don't pass this on to that nice Mr Coppell, there's a good chap. More power to your collective elbow. Keep storming the league and challenge the hegemony of the usual "big clubs." "Half Man Half Biscuit?" Huntley & Palmers were based in Reading, hence the name.

Now without seeming to be a completely insensitive person I had no idea who Darren Clarke is. So I had a look at wikipedia Then I read That word "reported" is a big one.

Mike Jackman has him scoring no goals with his time with us 1990 - 1995 so it's probably my imagination.

Oooooh! SteB said "Gray" which is not a colour (except in the US where it is a variant spelling.) "Grey" is. I'd go for Richard Brown who was both black and had a name the same as a colour. He was rubbish, but he did once score an absolute screamer for 30 yards. Darned if I can remember the game.

That really is a good idea USA, I'll be happy to chip in a few quid. First thought: is that two adjacent tickets need to bought so that whoever gets one isn't sitting on their lonesome - that might be pretty lonely & daunting for a youngster, it would be better if they were with a school mate. Second thought: what is needed is someone on here who is a teacher in a school in a run-down area, or knows someone who does the job, so that they can contact the Head to ask the question "Who would like to go to see Rovers, but can't afford it?" Third thought: won't the parents/guardians of the kids have to give their consent for them to go to Ewood? Will there be problems with this? If some kid gets a ticket to a game then surely a parent will have to sign a "release clause" or something similar. We have to do this every time the daughter goes away with The Guides. Who will do this? Sorry about all the negativity. Anyhow, hope it gets off the ground.

ok, "they played them off the park" How many "Parks" are there for football grounds in England Scotland & Wales. And...don't. Everyone else will think you are really stupid.

I'd just like to take a different slant on this: I wish we had scored three more goals in any of these matches 7-1 Norwich 4-10-1992 7-0 v Forest 18-11-1995 7-2 v Wednesday 25-8-1997 Then we would have top bragging rights over scoring more goals in a prem match than anyone else. As it is....some blooming Scum team.......

More great stuff Bob, For heaven's sake, don't retire after one year, none of the rest of us have a hope in hell of equalling your posts. If you do decide to throw in the damp sponge then all the best and thanks. But please don't

American, I think you rather do a disservice to the average scientist. If he/she is being funded by a tobacco company then they may just come up with the answer that "there is no link between smoking and cancer." I'll go with that one. Why do you beleive that "the vast majority of the time these scientists have come to the wrong conclusions?" If you are not going to beleive them, then who are you going to beleive? The PR division of Exxon Oil telling you that there is no such thing as global warning? However there does seem to be an increasing amount of evidence that global warming is here, that it is serious, and that we need to do something about it. Is the global scientific community being funded by someone to promote the pro - global warming message? I don't think that they are. It is just telling like it sees it. There is still a "Flat Earth Society here

Theno, The complete and utter reason for placing parks in urban areas is so that people who live in towns and cities have some green space in which to have a wander and look at trees and flowers, feed the ducks and generally have a change from the urban environment. It is why Local Authorities and central Government are against any of our parks being destroyed either in part or in whole and all have been for about 100 years. They are a valuable asset and need to be treasured. Corporation Park is not "wasted in it's location." It's in the best location it could possibly be, slap bang next to the centre of an urban centre. Parks like it are one of the better things the Victorians left us. If it was situated in Wasdale in the Lake District it would be wasted in it's location. That OK?

I asked my Mum So there you go.

Not forgetting that in this fixture last season we saw goals of the season Nos 2 & 3 with MGP's volley from Shefi Kuqi's cross and then Toog's wonder strike from MGP's corner. So, it's a scrappy one-nil, ball goes in from someone's arse. Not even sure in which end.