Winter Transfer Deadline Day!

[the4thjuliek.livejournal.com]

So today (February 2) is the day that winter transfer window closes. And let's face it, summers transfers are way more fun and worrying.

But anyway, what are your thoughts about this window? Has your club signed someone useful (or useless)? Have they missed out on any special player that you had your eye on? Any news/hopes/dreams about summer transfers? And while we're on the subject, what were the best transfers made by your club? Any shocking ones? Ones that made you weep or cheer or laugh?

There are tissues for tears and champagne for celebration available (silly, I know.)




Something worth reading (and I agree):

How much does the January transfer deadline day matter?

To keep track of things:

The Telegraph's live thread for deadline day.

The Independent's live thread.

The Guardian's live thread.

The BBC's live thread.

Also, if you're bored, let's make this a regular FFA.

Comments

RE: OT.

[ms-geekette.livejournal.com]

Well, when I said major league baseball, I actually meant the MLB. Toronto and Montreal have pro baseball teams in the league (oops, well, just Toronto now...Montreal moved to Washington)...and actually I think at least Toronto has won a "world series." But really other than some Asian countries and Central America/Caribbean, I think that's about the only other people who play baseball at a pro level...I don't think there are a ton of teams. And some of those players come to play in North America (especially Caribbean players).

The Little League World Series (for kids) is actually more of a world-wide competition. According to wikipedia, South Korea won it last.

North America: the land of games people don't really play in tons of other countries. XD

RE: OT.

[the4thjuliek.livejournal.com]

Lol, it goes for cricket that only Commonwealth countries play it. Hardly a world sport though it being the most popular sport in a country of more than 1 billion people does help its cause.

As for baseball, I know that there's a league in Japan but I'm not sure with Korea. It's surprising that it hasn't caught on here in India though. I think it's part snobbery, part money.

But apparently, there was talk about trying to re-introduce baseball at the Olympics which didn't go down well in the cricket world.

RE: OT.

[ms-geekette.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't know about Korea either. I think it's pretty popular in Japan...possibly more popular than it is in the US now. I don't think Canada has ever really cared about baseball that much.

I can see why the cricket folks are not thrilled about baseball, though. But it would be shorter games, haha.

RE: OT.

[the4thjuliek.livejournal.com]

How long are baseball matches? For cricket, it goes something like this:

Test matches: Played 8 hours over the course of 5 days.
One Day International (ODI): Played 8 hours over one day.
20/20: Twenty overs (120 ball throws) which last for about two hours.

RE: OT.

[ms-geekette.livejournal.com]

Man, I haven't watched baseball in ages, but games are generally longer than a 20/20. Maybe 3 hours? There are generally 9 innings with 3 strikes for each team. It's not a set number of pitches.

RE: OT.

[the4thjuliek.livejournal.com]

Ah! Do you guys have points or runs? (I know nothing about baseball, lol).

RE: OT.

[ms-geekette.livejournal.com]

Well, you see, they score points, but they call them runs, haha. Their "runs" are just one point. Except for a "grand slam," which is a home run with the bases loaded. That would be 4 points since 4 different players would score. And regular home runs (hitting the ball "out of the park"...out of the legal field of play in the outfield) or just hauling ass around the bases can end up getting more than one point if there are player(s) already on base(s).

I know pretty much nothing about cricket, so we are even!

RE: OT.

[the4thjuliek.livejournal.com]

Hey, it's very similar to cricket! Instead of rotating players, there are 2 batsmen who score until they both get out (through various ways) and are replaced by new ones. So if you don't get out, you can stay on the pitch and score 100, 200 runs and stuff. And in cricket, they don't run around the pitch to get the run, they run up and down a rectangular section in the middle of the pitch.

And if you hit it 'out of the park' = 6 runs
And if you hit the boundary of the pitch = 4 runs

RE: OT.

[ms-geekette.livejournal.com]

One day I'll have to dig into cricket more, but today is not that day. :-D

Baseball does have a "mercy killing" rule. I can't remember the specifics exactly, but if a team is way, way ahead of the other team by a certain inning (or maybe also a certain number of points/runs), they will call the game early. No hundreds of runs in baseball, for sure!