Sunday Night Thought(s) 02/08

First off- the Ashes; crickets most interesting and exciting set of tests. Though there's a major flaw. The games are being stopped more often than not due to England's dismal so called summer, which results in a draw too many. It's not only boring but also slightly unfair. I have two relatively obvious solutions for this flaw.

a. Play during the rain- it'll make everything far more exciting and bring a new dimension to the sport. Perhaps this idea will do more bad than good, but it's surely better than paying to watch rain fall down on a field the whole day.

b. My second idea is slightly more practical and it seems so daft that it hasn't already been introduced. Why not play an extra day, if a whole day has been wasted? Seems logical, no?

Secondly (moving onto music) I'd like to express my sheer disappointment over the new Arctic Monkeys album, Humbug (to be released 24/08). On my first listen to the Sheffield quartets latest offering, I turned it off after only eight out of ten tracks; it pains me to say it, because I thoroughly enjoyed their first two albums, but 'Humbug' is awfully boring. Kudos to the indie band for trying something new out, but why fix something that isn't broken? The album moves along at a slow pace and apart from lead single, Crying Lightning, it's difficult to to tell one song from the next. Seeing as though I've only listened to eight of the tunes once, I'm willing to give it another chance, though I'm not expecting a miracle to change my opinions.

I'll finish off on a mini rant about the sad state of football; the sport I thought I loved is fast turning into a joke. It doesn't take a genius to see that the game is being taken over by money- it's a business, not a sport. And the sad thing is, many players aren't helping the situation. Salary caps are needed, smaller clubs hottest prospects need to be protected and perhaps even a maximum expenditure on transfers should be introduced.
It saddens me greatly that the club I support, Crystal Palace, are going to have to sell their young starlets to keep the club running. These players aren't going to learn their trade at Arsenal or Manchester United, they're more likely to go to the mighty Wigan Athletic or Sunderland. It seems obvious that these teenagers will start far more at Palace, they may even want to stay at the club but Mr Jordan (chairman) cannot afford to turn down a few million quid for an 18 year old. If we could afford to keep these 18 year olds, we'd have a greater chance in promotion. The sad reality is that Palace is nothing but a vicious cycle. We produce top quality players, see them for a year off the subs bench, see them for a year playing 75% of the games and then see them bugger off just to keep the club going. This is no fault of the player; it's the fault of the governing bodies of football, and sadly, I cant see it changing anytime soon.