YellowHandMan

iPhone in Singapore

As the recognized Mac nut amongst my friends and acquaintances, I've been fielding a lot of questions about using an iPhone in Singapore. I know there are a few people who have bought them overseas and hacked them to work on our local networks, and lots of people are dying to try.

My simple advice: Don't. Buy an iPod touch instead, and use Wireless@SG to access the Internet for free. You'll have to live with a seperate phone for the time being.

Boys against men

Carling Cup 3rd Round (26 Sep 2007)
United 0 Coventry 2

Didn't get to see the game. Not bothered at all about going out of the Consolation Cup, but I think it's high time we acknowledged that our present crop of youngsters are just not good enough. If they were, they'd have made it by now.

At least our first team are all largely young, with apparent replacements for Giggs (Nani) and Scholes (Carrick) already in place.

Four wrongs make a right

EPL 07/38 (23 Sep 2007)
United 2 Chelski 0

It was a pretty disappointing game, if only because Chelski's 'ambition' was simply to grind out a draw or, after they fell behind, to limit the damage. Understandable, perhaps, given their tumultuous week - but hardly the response of championship contenders.

For our part, we came out smelling blood and, if not for Cech's brilliant fingertip save, Rooney might well have started off an avalanche in the first minute. Instead, the game settled into a relative stalemate - with us attacking and Chelski throwing men behind the ball - until Mikel's sending-off turned it.

It's been an absolutely crazy and hectic week at work, so much so that I haven't even gotten around to writing my Chelski match report...

Sigh. It's not going to be any better this coming week. Where's the cavalry?

Ric Flair to retire

Ric Flair to retire next year

Recently, there had been speculation that Ric Flair - The Greatest Wrestler Of All-Time - had walked away from WWE, in disgust at the lack of respect they'd been showing him in storylines. However, Flair has since denied it, and has now also confirmed that he'll be retiring next year. This has also been anticipated for a long time, and will most probably happen at Wrestlemania 24 in March.

It'll be the end of an era - indeed, 'era' is a misnomer, because Flair has been undoubtedly The Man stretching over a period that began in the 1970s. Even now, if WWE were to give him one last run at the title (which is what he'd originally wanted), they'd have an sure-fire money angle. Unfortunately, Triple H's ego would probably never allow it, since in his own world, he is the new Ric Flair.

Ha. Right. With apologies to Buddy Rogers who originally used the nickname, there's only one Nature Boy. And I hope he means it literally when he says his retirement match will be his "finest hour" - Flair is the original "sixty-minute man"!

Whoooo!

Chelski blues

'Turncoat' Terry (from Football Unlimited)

Fascinating, if true. Together with most other football fans, I've always felt that Terry was the wrong choice for England captain. There's something inherently unpleasant about him, and also the feeling that his head has grown disproportionately big compared to his actual abilities.

If this article is accurate, then it may well be club captain Terry that has lost the dressing room, rather than the man whom he apparently stabbed in the back, with the same venom that he puts into his crunching tackles and thumping headers.

However, the best bit of the article is when it reveals the true identity of Chelski's new tactical genius:

As far-fetched as that request might be, Abramovich's actions in the aftermath of the Rosenborg draw were equally bizarre. In front of the entire Chelsea team, but while Mourinho was occupied with press conference duties, the Russian billionaire decided to hand out an impromptu tactics lesson to Michael Essien.

Employing striker Andriy Shevchenko as translator, he instructed midfielder Essien, player of the year last season, to hit passes wide rather than through central areas where the Norwegians had compressed play.

I wonder how Sheva managed to translate Essien's likely response to this unsolicited 'tuition'.

Here's hoping we thump Chelski tonight. Cue "Fall Of The Roman Empire" headlines in tomorrow's papers...

---

Update: FU has now posted a more detailed account of the final days.

Should I buy one of these?

The face is HUGE, but not chunky.

It's from Bell & Ross.

(Click on the pic to see a larger image)

Van Der Star

Champions League Group Stage 1/6 (19 Sep 2007)
Sporting Lisbon 0 United 1

Most of the post-match coverage focused on Ronaldo's sentimental return to his first club, and his touching non-celebration when he scored the winner, but the real man-of-the-match was Edwin. Two brilliant saves were the difference between victory and defeat in this cagey encounter.

As for Ronaldo, he's one of those sportsmen for whom God seems to have written a special script. He had to score on this night. And his emotion was clearly genuine, as was the appreciative standing ovation that the Sporting fans gave him when he was substituted.

Walt Mossberg's iPod touch review

Nothing really new. He likes it as a media player and the wi-fi works well. But like any thinking person, he's not happy about the lack of a Mail app.

Good-bye, Moan-inho!

Perfect timing, just four days before Chelski visit OT. Surprising, but inevitable given Roman's desire for sexier football. I guess having swapped his wife for a newer, more attractive model, he wants to do the same with his manager.

As a rival, I always respected Maureen more than, say, Arsene (whom I despise). Maureen is the closest to being Fergie, in that you know that the mind-games are part of the overall plan, whereas Arsene and Rafa seriously believe their own crap. He's also the only one who truly had the strength of personality to really dominate and shape an entire football club in his image, again unlike Arsene whom you always felt had an Achille's heel where his emotions got the better of him.

But Roman also has a strong personality, and he holds the purse-strings and wanted Chelski to go in a different direction. In the same situation, Fergie would walk, too.

Let the silly season begin - where is Maureen going, and who will replace him?