c4countdown

It's the semi finals! (NB I thought it was de rigeur to start these things by stating the bleedin' obvious.)

I wasn't here for this so I'm strung like a sharp Stradivarius!

The questions we really want answering:
Does Rory annoy Susie?
Are all the letters the right way up, all present and correct?
When will Dinos's pants reach saturation point?
Will our favourite non-contender conundrum-a-bot Kirk get on TV again?

Tune in or drop out! (or something like that).

Am I biased, or is that a far more imaginative opener than normal?

So it's Ryan versus Andrew in the first semi final.
Will it be to Ryans advantage to play 2 games in succession or will the extra rest have rejuvinated Andrew?

We had lunch before this game, it was a deciding factor.

Alec Rivers wrote:Am I biased, or is that a far more imaginative opener than normal?

Probably is. When I start these spoilers, I just go with the obvious, obviously. It tends to work to some degree.
Like the work, Lesley.

Lesley Hines wrote:It's the semi finals! (NB I thought it was de rigeur to start these things by stating the bleedin' obvious.)

I wasn't here for this so I'm strung like a sharp Stradivarius!

The questions we really want answering:
Does Rory annoy Susie?
Are all the letters the right way up, all present and correct?
When will Dinos's pants reach saturation point?
Will our favourite non-contender conundrum-a-bot Kirk get on TV again?

Tune in or drop out! (or something like that).

An excellent opening to the thread. No bullshit, biased opinions, nastiness or padding. Make my day & set your alarm early for Fridays final spoiler Lesley (and possibly ruin somebody elses)

Davy Affleck wrote:No bullshit, biased opinions, nastiness or padding.

What a refreshing change.

Can you ease up a bit on the James-bashing guys?

Jon Corby wrote:Can you ease up a bit on the James-bashing guys?

IAWTP

Jon Corby wrote:Can you ease up a bit on the James-bashing guys?

I think James is lovely - he's always been very charming with me

Davy Affleck wrote:Make my day & set your alarm early for Fridays final spoiler Lesley (and possibly ruin somebody elses)

Isn't this exactly the kind of vindictiveness that I get berated for?

Charlie Reams wrote:

Davy Affleck wrote:Make my day & set your alarm early for Fridays final spoiler Lesley (and possibly ruin somebody elses)

Isn't this exactly the kind of vindictiveness that I get berated for?

True, although James must have the skin of a Rhino not to be offended.

Marc Meakin wrote:True, although James must have the skin of a Rhino not to be offended.

TBH I think he deals with the piss-taking much better than I would. I know I've made the odd joke at his expense in the past, which is pretty par for the course round here, but now it's just getting a bit nasty and I don't see the point. I mean he got a weight problem. What's the brother gonna do he autistic?

D Eadie wrote:

Davy Affleck wrote:No bullshit, biased opinions, nastiness or padding.

What a refreshing change.

Jon Corby wrote:Can you ease up a bit on the James-bashing guys?

Not James bashing, i'm merely agreeing that it's nice to read something without any barbs in it, which it is. Doesn't matter to me who posts the recaps or reviews, whatever they are called, but it's nice to see them free of bullshit.

Jon Corby wrote:Can you ease up a bit on the James-bashing guys?

I PM'd my original response to this to Jon, because I wasn't posting. But just to say, James does two recaps every week, and we now no longer have a Friday recapper. With not one person stepping up to volunteer so far, if people drive James away as well we will end up with only Monday and Tuesday recaps every week. I don't think anybody wants that, so James is more valuable than you may have realised.

Also, if he doesn't start the spoilers threads, it only means someone else has to every single day. I for one prefer spoilers and recaps with some personality to them, whether you like that personality or not, to dull, bare-bones ones.

Edit; Didn't see your post there Damian, but it's all just opinion innit, yeah.

Davy Affleck wrote:An excellent opening to the thread. No bullshit, biased opinions, nastiness or padding. Make my day & set your alarm early for Fridays final spoiler Lesley (and possibly ruin somebody elses)

It doesn't make any difference to me who starts the final spoilers thread. Whether it'd be me, Lesley, or anyone else. It's not like I have some divine right to start the spoilers

I just like to.

Derek Hazell wrote: Didn't see your post there Damian, but it's all just opinion innit, yeah.

It sure is. I've read so much b/s on here though during the last few months that it's getting to the point whereby you start to wish people weren't entitled to opinions. It's easy to sit there and post a message, but often if you look beyond what is on the screen there can be quite a bit of aftershock to them. If i were an Octochamp in a current series, i'd be loathe to come on here and read about how poorly i ranked in terms of Octochamp history down the years and effectively have some people pissing on my parade. A few days after Chris Davies played his 8 games, somebody posted a message saying how unpopular he was on Digital Spy's forums. There's been no-end of ill-judged, badly-timed, needless and crass comments from people. Brian Selway got a few pelters the other day also. Kirk had a bit of a digging with Phil Reynolds about being over-picky with correcting spelling and facts etc, then posts something so trivial as to be ridiculous about Jeff commenting on winning the toss in the QF's. I guess it comes with the territory.

It's true, it's all about opinions. That's probably part of the problem, in posters choosing when to voice them and when to keep them to themselves, but i guess it'll never fix itself.

James Robinson wrote:

Alec Rivers wrote:Am I biased, or is that a far more imaginative opener than normal?

Probably is. When I start these spoilers, I just go with the obvious, obviously. It tends to work to some degree.

Despite how it might look, I wasn't trying to have a dig at you personally. I thought that many different people started the spoiler topics and this one just happened to make me laugh. Sorry if I've caused any upset.

This forum would be kinda dull if people weren't posting their opinions. (IMO.)

James Robinson wrote:

Davy Affleck wrote:An excellent opening to the thread. No bullshit, biased opinions, nastiness or padding. Make my day & set your alarm early for Fridays final spoiler Lesley (and possibly ruin somebody elses)

It doesn't make any difference to me who starts the final spoilers thread. Whether it'd be me, Lesley, or anyone else. It's not like I have some divine right to start the spoilers

I just like to.

If anything, we should have one of the finalists starting the final's spoilers thread. All 4 semi-finalists are on the forum, so it won't be too much hassle.

D Eadie wrote:

Derek Hazell wrote: Didn't see your post there Damian, but it's all just opinion innit, yeah.

It sure is. I've read so much b/s on here though during the last few months that it's getting to the point whereby you start to wish people weren't entitled to opinions. It's easy to sit there and post a message, but often if you look beyond what is on the screen there can be quite a bit of aftershock to them. If i were an Octochamp in a current series, i'd be loathe to come on here and read about how poorly i ranked in terms of Octochamp history down the years and effectively have some people pissing on my parade. A few days after Chris Davies played his 8 games, somebody posted a message saying how unpopular he was on Digital Spy's forums. There's been no-end of ill-judged, badly-timed, needless and crass comments from people. Brian Selway got a few pelters the other day also. Kirk had a bit of a digging with Phil Reynolds about being over-picky with correcting spelling and facts etc, then posts something so trivial as to be ridiculous about Jeff commenting on winning the toss in the QF's. I guess it comes with the territory.

It's true, it's all about opinions. That's probably part of the problem, in posters choosing when to voice them and when to keep them to themselves, but i guess it'll never fix itself.

I agree Damian - I posted as much on the whole Chris Davies/DS thing that it wasn't necessary to draw his attention to it. I do think it's stretching it a bit to claim that James's posts are "barbed" or full of criticism, they're just not. On the odd occasion he's maybe gone into a little too much detail, but I genuinely don't think anything approaching malice has ever been his motivation. I've been as guilty as anyone with regards to 'teasing' him, but it's always been relevant and I don't think I've ever just out-and-out slagged him as some seem to every day.

Still, you'll not be surprised to know that I've had to "justify" myself to people (usually away from the public forums) for something I've written, and I always maintain that I utterly (well, 99.99%) stand by my posting history. If something's been badly received by someone, then it was either intended that way so I don't care (0.5% of cases) or they've misunderstood the tone (99.5%) and it's therefore their problem. But then I guess probably most others stand back and view their own posts in the same way, so, well, that's that. And that's what makes a discussion forum, I guess. Personally, there was nothing exceptional about Lesley's opener. If James had posted exactly the same thing then the same few people who popped up praising it would have popped up slagging it instead.

(Edited to change Lesley's gender. Oops)

Charlie Reams wrote:This forum would be kinda dull if people weren't posting their opinions. (IMO.)

Opinions, or veiled digs deliberately designed to piss people off

Alec Rivers wrote:

James Robinson wrote:

Alec Rivers wrote:Am I biased, or is that a far more imaginative opener than normal?

Probably is. When I start these spoilers, I just go with the obvious, obviously. It tends to work to some degree.

Despite how it might look, I wasn't trying to have a dig at you personally. I thought that many different people started the spoiler topics and this one just happened to make me laugh. Sorry if I've caused any upset.

That's no problem at all my friend.
By the way, we haven't played each other on Apterous recently. I'd quite to play you sometime in the near future. Up for it?

Alec Rivers wrote:

James Robinson wrote:

Alec Rivers wrote:Am I biased, or is that a far more imaginative opener than normal?

Probably is. When I start these spoilers, I just go with the obvious, obviously. It tends to work to some degree.

Despite how it might look, I wasn't trying to have a dig at you personally.

That's just pathetic, and highlights what I said in my post (about standing by my posting history) - of course it was a dig at James. What else could it possibly be? As I said, had James posted the exact same thing you wouldn't be fawning over it.

Jon Corby wrote:What else could it possibly be?

A harmless tease.

JC - i've never claimed James does reviews / recaps that are always full of criticism, i don't read enough of them to know how often this happens, but sometimes there are barbs. You read along nicely, then suddenly go 'ouch - that was a bit needless'. Whether or not this is deliberate isn't the point. I'm certainly not all about joining some clique who want to have a dig at James, i've nothing against him at all, god knows he's been on the show enough to prove that, but i still think it's nice to read a preview that doesn't have any foot-in-mouth moments.

People need to be nice about each other.

Alec Rivers wrote:

Jon Corby wrote:What else could it possibly be?

A harmless tease.

So it was a dig at him, personally, then.



FFS.

Lesley Hines wrote:......The questions we really want answering:
Does Rory annoy Susie?........

Yes, at times, (and me and wife) when he interrupts her explaining about origins of words with his own very clever knowledge - which reflects sadly on his personality.
I like him and his sense of humour and his knowledgeability, but not his overly 'look-at-me-ness'. Susie is brilliant and polite and has to put up with quite a lot one way and another over the years.

D Eadie wrote:JC - i've never claimed James does reviews / recaps that are always full of criticism, i don't read enough of them to know how often this happens, but sometimes there are barbs. You read along nicely, then suddenly go 'ouch - that was a bit needless'. Whether or not this is deliberate isn't the point.

Sure. Hey, we probably all do this though from time to time, although perhaps James is a little more prone to it than others. Personally I think "whether it is deliberate" is important in how you decide to deal with it. If James (for example) is going around bad-mouthing people willy-nilly on purpose, then sure, be as insulting as you like. I'd join in. If he isn't (which I don't believe he is) a gentle questioning of what he's written seems to be enough, and he'll explain what he really meant. I don't see that sniping at him for the sake of it (e.g. in this thread when he hadn't even written anything) is necessary, nice or productive.

D Eadie wrote:People need to be nice about each other.

Agreed. Merry Christmas one and all.

(Edit to add that this isn't just directed at you Damian even though you're the only one quoted)

John Bosley wrote:

Lesley Hines wrote:......The questions we really want answering:
Does Rory annoy Susie?........

Yes, at times, (and me and wife) when he interrupts her explaining about origins of words with his own very clever knowledge - which reflects sadly on his personality.
I like him and his sense of humour and his knowledgeability, but not his overly 'look-at-me-ness'. Susie is brilliant and polite and has to put up with quite a lot one way and another over the years.

Oh good lord here we go again. I give up.

Jon Corby wrote:

D Eadie wrote:People need to be nice about each other.

Agreed. Merry Christmas one and all.

Fuck off you smackhead.

D Eadie wrote:

Jon Corby wrote:

D Eadie wrote:People need to be nice about each other.

Agreed. Merry Christmas one and all.

Fuck off you smackhead.

That's the last straw, I'm leaving the forum. Say 'bye' to Kate Horton for me.

Jon Corby wrote: That's the last straw, I'm leaving the forum. Say 'bye' to David Williams for me.

Thank god he's gone. What a jerk. And Southampton FC? Laughable. I mean, he was lucky to get to the semi-finals in Series 54, probably one of the wors..............................Jon................oh yes, Merry Xmas also, i was just saying what a nice bloke etc etc.

Jon Corby wrote:Can you ease up a bit on the James-bashing guys?

I've just come back to say IAWTP to this (got distracted earlier). Late as usual.

Since this thread is now full of stuff which has nothing to do with today's game, I think we need a new spoilers thread. James?

Clive Brooker wrote:I think we need a new spoilers thread. James?

Are you kidding?! Totally off-topic spoilers threads are the best!

John Bosley wrote:Yes, at times, (and me and wife) when he interrupts her explaining about origins of words with his own very clever knowledge - which reflects sadly on his personality.
I like him and his sense of humour and his knowledgeability, but not his overly 'look-at-me-ness'. Susie is brilliant and polite and has to put up with quite a lot one way and another over the years.

Although I don't detect a "'look-at-me-ness'" about Rory McGrath, I wouldn't hold that against any entertainer. I also think Rory is a brilliant DC guest, and probably my favourite. I know he's only been on twice but he's already carved out his own niche (I can't think of any other DC guest who posesses his subtle wit) and proven himself to be an all round classy guy.

I want him to be my uncle

John Bosley wrote:

Lesley Hines wrote:......The questions we really want answering:
Does Rory annoy Susie?........

Yes, at times, (and me and wife) when he interrupts her explaining about origins of words with his own very clever knowledge - which reflects sadly on his personality.

Didn't she say 'No please do' when he apologised for interrupting initially. Having been in the studio for the recordings, i thought he was great and they seemed to get on fine, even though Susie was obviously under the weather.

Charlie Reams wrote:

Clive Brooker wrote:I think we need a new spoilers thread. James?

Are you kidding?! Totally off-topic spoilers threads are the best!

I actually agree. Sorry, Clive.

Jon Corby wrote:

Alec Rivers wrote:

Jon Corby wrote:What else could it possibly be?

A harmless tease.

So it was a dig at him, personally, then.



FFS.

Ah, I see the problem. It's a question of scale. Maybe my first post on this topic should have included the statement: "Attack Level: < 5%".

"Personal dig" and "harmless tease" may be synonymous to someone who thinks only in black and white, but in real life there is a significant difference in sentiment. Hope that explains it.

Who are Huddersfield playing again?

Jon Corby wrote:

D Eadie wrote:JC - i've never claimed James does reviews / recaps that are always full of criticism, i don't read enough of them to know how often this happens, but sometimes there are barbs. You read along nicely, then suddenly go 'ouch - that was a bit needless'. Whether or not this is deliberate isn't the point.

Sure. Hey, we probably all do this though from time to time, although perhaps James is a little more prone to it than others. Personally I think "whether it is deliberate" is important in how you decide to deal with it. If James (for example) is going around bad-mouthing people willy-nilly on purpose, then sure, be as insulting as you like. I'd join in. If he isn't (which I don't believe he is) a gentle questioning of what he's written seems to be enough, and he'll explain what he really meant. I don't see that sniping at him for the sake of it (e.g. in this thread when he hadn't even written anything) is necessary, nice or productive.

Just to clear things up once and for all, I think we'd better bury the hatchet. I never deliberately bad-mouth anybody, even people I don't particularly like that I see on the show. The whole Jackie Baker thing last week was just me getting into finals mood. I never said that Jackie should never have turned up, I just suggested that if I wanted to be a heartless b*****d, that's what I would have said. If it came out the wrong way, which it could easily have done, then I apologise.

Damian and Jon (for once) are definitely correct, I definitely have foot-in-mouth problems. It's something I definitely need to work on in the future. I just like to enjoy in the fun of the show, and talking about it is just fantastic. I personally have no problems about people sniping at me all the time, it's just one of those things. I just deal with it. It's the same with football, I support Huddersfield (as you might have read), and supporters of Leeds, Man Utd and even Halifax at my workplace just hound me all the time about it. It's no different. It just washes over me.

By the way, good luck to Andrew & Ryan today. It sounds like a cracker of a semi-final might be in store.

I definitely hope it will be, since I'm recapping it later.

Marc Meakin wrote:Who are Huddersfield playing again?

Just for you, Marc. Town are at Norwich on Saturday.

Group hug?

Alec Rivers wrote:Ah, I see the problem. It's a question of scale. Maybe my first post on this topic should have included the statement: "Attack Level: < 5%".

"Personal dig" and "harmless tease" may be synonymous in the world of a person who thinks only in black and white, but in real life there is a significant difference in sentiment. Hope that explains it.

Nice try, but of course the rest of your post in full reads

Alec Rivers wrote:Despite how it might look, I wasn't trying to have a dig at you personally. I thought that many different people started the spoiler topics and this one just happened to make me laugh. Sorry if I've caused any upset.

which is trying to squirm out of saying it was directed at James. Which, of course, you later conceded it was.

Charlie Reams wrote:Group hug?

Yay! That's what we all could use.

James Robinson wrote: I personally have no problems about people sniping at me all the time, it's just one of those things.

You'll get used to it, i've had to I just pity the Huddersfield Town bit. Our production accountant is a season ticket holder there. He's still gutted about Taylor-Fletcher coming to the Seasiders.

Charlie Reams wrote:Group hug?

Only if you treat yourself to a shower first.

Jon Corby wrote:

Alec Rivers wrote:Ah, I see the problem. It's a question of scale. Maybe my first post on this topic should have included the statement: "Attack Level: < 5%".

"Personal dig" and "harmless tease" may be synonymous in the world of a person who thinks only in black and white, but in real life there is a significant difference in sentiment. Hope that explains it.

Nice try, but of course the rest of your post in full reads

Alec Rivers wrote:Despite how it might look, I wasn't trying to have a dig at you personally. I thought that many different people started the spoiler topics and this one just happened to make me laugh. Sorry if I've caused any upset.

which is trying to squirm out of saying it was directed at James. Which, of course, you later conceded it was.

Strewth, okay, I missed out the words "much of a" before the word "dig". Happy now?

James Robinson wrote:
I personally have no problems about people sniping at me all the time, it's just one of those things.

You've got broad shoulders James.

Alec Rivers wrote:

Jon Corby wrote:What else could it possibly be?

A harmless tease.

Releases asthma ?

D Eadie wrote:

Charlie Reams wrote:Group hug?

Only if you treat yourself to a shower first.

I really should remove those stench lines from my avatar.

Alec Rivers wrote:Strewth, okay, I missed out the words "much of a" before the word "dig". Happy now?

Meh.


Has a spoiler thread ever reached the second page before the broadcast has even started before?

D Eadie wrote:

Alec Rivers wrote:

Jon Corby wrote:What else could it possibly be?

A harmless tease.

Releases asthma ?

lol.

Shame, stale arse.

D Eadie wrote: Oh good lord here we go again. I give up.

Don't. You of all people should know that you get people who agree with something and then people that disagree with the same thing. I was quite impressed with Rory interrupting Susie with his knowledge and then he apologised to her and even Jeff commented on how polite they were. Other people may not agree but they're entitled to their opinion and I read it and generally ignore it.

Jon Corby wrote:(Edited to change Lesley's gender. Oops)

Oops? OOPS? If my gender gets changed by accident, it'll be more than "Oops", I can tell you! I've only just recovered from Charlie giving me the snip!

James Robinson wrote:

Charlie Reams wrote:

Clive Brooker wrote:I think we need a new spoilers thread. James?

Are you kidding?! Totally off-topic spoilers threads are the best!

I actually agree. Sorry, Clive.

In case it wasn't obvious, I was saying that I like your intros to spoiler threads.

Lesley Hines wrote:

Jon Corby wrote:(Edited to change Lesley's gender. Oops)

Oops? OOPS? If my gender gets changed by accident, it'll be more than "Oops", I can tell you! I've only just recovered from Charlie giving me the snip!

Yeah, looks like Charlie will need to get his surgical scissors out for Brenda Vaughn and Betty Power (both are dudes on Apterous)

John Bosley wrote:

Lesley Hines wrote:......The questions we really want answering:
Does Rory annoy Susie?........

Yes, at times, (and me and wife) when he interrupts her explaining about origins of words with his own very clever knowledge - which reflects sadly on his personality.
I like him and his sense of humour and his knowledgeability, but not his overly 'look-at-me-ness'. Susie is brilliant and polite and has to put up with quite a lot one way and another over the years.

Just give him some time to settle in. Most of the shows Rory's been a panellist on are a little more robust, so it's a question of interrupt or get overlooked. I think it's good to have a DC guest with as good a word knowledge as Rory.

Marc Meakin wrote: Yeah, looks like Charlie will need to get his surgical scissors out for Brenda Vaughn and Betty Power (both are dudes on Apterous)

They clicked the "dude" box when they registered, don't blame me!

Kirk Bevins wrote:

D Eadie wrote: Oh good lord here we go again. I give up.

Don't

It was meant metaphorically. Susie loved Rory McGrath and was happy to have a fellow wordsmith alongside her to share in one of her passions.