Crunch?

That (Being business minded) gives security to the players and fans. I'm also hoping that many local businesses who know me will be able to join me and support the team as well." - New Basingstoke Bison Owner Harry Robinson.

Why does an exciting sport that sells out 30 arenas, with an average capacity of 20,000, in the USA fail to attract more than 10,000 people a week in this country?

I've witnessed over a hundred MK Lightning games, all as exciting as the next. A glutton for the goal-fest, I've enjoyed every one. There's just as much of the violence as in the equivalent across the pond to please the masses, and there's the hospitality and fan accountability factor to appease higher class crowds.

Basingstoke Bison, a top division team, regularly got 2,000 fans in the door but a decade ago. They now struggle to get half that, which is resulting in them slowly go bust, a fate which has felled many a club already. They've got a new owner with local business links, so they've got a chance to reverse their fate, but the worrying thing is those dwindling figures.

The most expensive ticket is less than fifteen pounds, so it's no necessarily price that's fending off the punters, and if there's one thing that "Sociology of Sport" lessons have taught me, it's that Sport is pretty much immune to the Credit Crunch (Proven in the Great Depression - and I'm not talking about Henmania).

It's not that they're all going to the football either. Basingstoke FC fail to get more than 500 through the gate on a saturday at the Camrose, and besides, the dwindling attendance applies to Sunday Fixtures just as vociferously.

Let's hope it begins to turn around, results certainly are since coach Ryan Aldridge left under acrimonious circumstances but two weeks ago, slagging of the club and players. I might be going to see the Bison next weekend. Maybe you could too?

Punch 'n Jude Inspire Dons to Victory Over Tranmere

Supersub Kevin Gallen made the difference in a drab 1-0 affair at Stadium:MK yesterday.

In a game with few clear cut chance, but fouls aplenty, the only sparks were MK wingers Jason Puncheon and Luke Chadwick.

Both sides back lines were particularly stingy, Tranmere's Ben Chorley bossing the Dons attack and his opposite number Jude Stirling intercepting everything thrown at the Dons box.

The game started terribly for MK Dons, as Tranmere found their way through a lacklustre defence clearly reeling from the absence of Willy Gueret.

One cross in from the left hand side caused a particularly problem, stand-in goalie Lewis Price caught it, but spilled it after a collision with Sean O' Hanlon. The ball fell to Gareth Edds, who from six yards out, blazed it over when in all honesty it would have been easier to score.

A wake up call for the Dons, they recouped some confidence and started to get at the Rovers defence. Two efforts to feed Sam Baldock had some success, one drawing a terrible tackle from Chorley, the other seeing a great shot from the edge of the area draw a fine save.

The second half followed the dull suit the first played out. An uneventful quarter of an hour was finished by a terrible blunder by Tranmere right-back Ryan Shotton, which saw the ball land to the electric Puncheon. Shotton wasn't done however, and deemed it fit to horrendously tug on Puncheon's shirt and yank him to the ground.

Not five minutes later, Baldock, now on the left, ran at Shotton, and drew a mistimed tackle in the area. Nearly 8,000 fans screamed penalty, but the ref, no more than two yards away, shook his head.

This served as a catalyst though, the driving Belson taken off for Alan Navarro, and the Dons had more of a license to attack. Puncheon and Chadwick exploiting more alleys, and the best chance came from a corner delivered by Puncheon.

O' Hanlon towered above the rest of the mass in the box, and slammed a header down in to the ground. Ali Gerba, in front of the goalie but just two yards out, just had to divert the ball in, but managed to take too long on the ball and squander the shot.

With just ten minutes to go, Puncheon won another corner, and moved to take it. Gerba was taken off for Kevin Gallen, and barely breaking stride, Gallen diverted the low corner in to the net, via a cheeky deflection off the shin of Chorley.

Gallen, barely on the pitch for ten seconds, had give the Dons the lead and Tranmere were reeling.

As they allocated men forward, Chadwick exploited the low numbers in the Tranmere half to break through on goal. He forced a great save from John Achterberg, and from the rebound Baldock hit the bar from twelve yards out.

Time was served up however, and the final whistle hailed a hard-fought three points for the ever-impressive MK Dons, to make it four wins out of five games against Tranmere in their short history.

NHL Preview.

"I went to a fight the other night and a hockey game broke out." Rodney Dangerfield

There's more to it than that.

September saw the start of the NHL season in the states, and as my family only just got back from their yearly trip to New York, I've only just managed to get my mits on the Hockey News Yearbook for this season.

I've persevered for hours now and caught up with whose gone where, and I like to think I've made up my mind about who I expect to make the play-offs, and who I expect to perform. I disagree with THN quite a lot, it's a great book but it's predictions rely on trends and conventions in the NHL that have lasted over a decade being ended, and unless your Nick Howson, you can't break the rules at the click of a finger.

Winners - San Jose Sharks

How do you ensure a star like Joe Thornton prospers? Put two world-class defencemen in the first line with him to give him the freedom to play in the wingplayers, particularly Jonathan Cheechoo.

When Jumbo Joe switched from the Bruins, the world was shaken. Well, America, though it hit the news here, such was the rarity of trades as big-time as Jumbo Trade swapping the Big B for the California Strip. In all honesty, for all his ability he's not settled in San Jose, and in fact the once-impressive Sharks lost their way for a while.

GM Doug Wilson ran out of patience. Dan Boyle and Rob Blake are capable of giving Line One, Penalty Kill Lines and even PP's the toughest backbone possible. Both came from the Lightning, and their experience of the 03-04 Stanley Cup win will surely help them prosper. Add Brad Lukowich into the acquired pot, and the defensive cover stretches as far as the eye can see, despite losing top quality journeyman Sandis Ozolinsh.

Eastern Conference Winners - Washington Capitals

If you read a blog I did a while back, I mention Bury. A one man team. They are prospering now though. The Capitals are all about this approach. Alex Ovechkin is a phenomenon. Taking the world by storm in his rookie season, and repeating his success the next two years, the left-winger, if you can categorize the free-scoring floating hitman as that, has gone from strength to strenth but never let his success get to him and still celebrates every goal as though it was in OT in the 7th game of the Stanley Cup Final.

But Washington have both compliments and depth to support them this time round. Marcus Nylander returns from a long injury and can only support Ovechkin, grinding along and playing the Russian in. The fact that Victor Kozlov sits in the second line and Stanley Cup finalist Sergiy Fedorov sits in the third line speaks volumes for the depth in the squad.

The best bit of business for The Caps though is quite simply the addition of Jose Theodore, a keeper who has been around for a long time, and rejuvenated himself in the second half of last season with a stint at Colorado. He'll need to be a father figure to the young defence in front of him, and thus they will succeed.

West

1. San Jose
2. Dallas
3. Minnesota
4. Detroit (THN's pick)
5. Anaheim
6. Edmonton
7. Chicago
8. Calgary
9. Colorado
10. Nashville
11. Phoenix
12. Vancouver
13. Colombus
14. St. Louis
15. L.A Kings

East

1. Washington
2. Pittsburgh Penguins
3. Montreal Canadiens
4. Philly Fliers
5. Rangers
6. NJ Devils
7. Ottawaaaa
8. Tampa Bay
9. Boston
10. Carolina
11. Buffalo
12. Florida
13. Atlanta
14. Toronto
15. NY Islanders
    

Yanks do it again.

"America still top the medal table"

All those medal tables you've seen are wrong I'm afraid.

Apparently medal tables are based on who has the most bronze medals.

You can see the true medal table here. Right at the end of the clip.

It really is a poor attempt from America to hang on to it's fine Olympic tradition, but are the American public really foolish enough to take it seriously.

The rest of the world has had a laugh at least.

25 Predictions That Will Happen In Lower League This Season...

"Why they've picked on little Luton is beyond me" Nick Owen

1 - One of Bournemouth and Rotherham and will stay up, and their manager will be lauded for staying up against the odds. Despite the fact Luton have had even more points deducted and there are only two relegation spots in League Two.

2 - Barnet will go on a run of six games without a goal, then win a game 4-1 and gain a cult hero.

3 - Dave Penney will be deemed to have underachieved with Darlington.

4 - Stockport will hit form in March after a mediocre season and overachieve again.

5 - Crewe will stick with their gaffer (and good on them!)

6 - Accrington will fail to get a gate over 2,000 people through the gates unless they face a team chasing promotion, when the away aggregate will be higher than the home aggregate.

7 - Whenever Hartlepool play in a midweek game, the Sky Sports News Presenter will be more bothered about Jeff Stelling than the result.

8 - Brighton's new ground will be delayed.

9 - Oxford will fail to get promotion despite being the biggest club in the BSP by miles.

10 - No Team will take the Johnstone's Paint Trophy seriously despite the potential half-million paycheck and great day out.

11 - MK Dons will play on telly, but the coverage will be Winkelman, Winkelman, Winkelman.

12 - Some idiots will post on forums about "Winkleman", acting as they know everything about the move when in truth they can't even spell his name.

13 - Darragh MacAnthony will cheat the 60% of turnover as wages rule by sponsoring Peterborough himself.

14 - Darragh MacAnthony will cheat the Johnstone's Paint Trophy first-team players rule because he has a mate at the Football League.

15 - Graham Turner will field a team of almost all loan players. Prompting Hereford to be dubbed Championship Loan Rovers.

16 - Colchester will fail to sell out their new 10,000 seater stadium apart from when they play Leeds, Leicester and Southend.

17 - Chester will only stay up because of the Point deductions in League Two.

18 - Whenever Torquay United are mentioned on Sky the presenter won't get through the sentence without mention Helen Chamberlain.

19 -Helen Chamberlain won't get through an episode of Soccer AM without mentioning Martin Gritton.

20 - Cheltenham Town will beat the odds again, purely based on other teams underestimating them.

21 - The form team will win the Play-offs in League One and Two.

22 - A club Drewe Broughton plays for will get relegated.

23 - A team will run away with the Blue Square Premier.

24 - A team in League Two will heavily invest in non-league players, and prosper as a result.

25 - Lincoln will come close but not quite make it.

They Just Don't Get It...

"His name is Darren... Huckerby, and he is a legend, a LEGEND of soccer". Silly Yank.

I came across an interesting video earlier today that I felt obliged to share.

You can find it here.

After failing to get a new contract at Norwich, Darren Huckerby has gone to the MLS to get some first-team football.

The San Jose Earthquakes his destination, and so he came to do an interview on American News network KRON. 

The expression on Huckerby's face when being asked questions from an American reporter who clearly hasn't done his research is stark. Then again, its to be expected, and if the former Lincoln man can help the MLS's quest for credibility then good luck to him.

I don't think it'll ever gain credibility in the eyes of Europe however. Let's face it, most of David Beckham's wages are paid for by the MLS itself, in an attempt to gain attendances for the flagging L.A Galaxy.

That said, I'll be keeping an eye for how Darren Huckerby and other ex-English League "legends" get on. Paulo Wanchope, Abel Xavier, Laurent Robert, and of course Danny Dichio!

An interesting thought has come up at that, I'm crossing my fingers that over the coming weeks The Earthquakes will sign Drewe Broughton, and the KRON can interview him.

"He is a legend of the English League, known as the Journeyman, he won the league and cup last season with Milton Keynes, and was the man who scored the penalty that won the Football League South Division Finals."

Well, he's been sent off on Boston Goals, that's a start!

Milton Keynes Dons 1-0 Northampton Town

"There is no way I will be going into the boardroom and condoning what they did. I will not be shaking Mr Winkelman's hand, I will be cheering on my team from the away end, but that is it. " Anthony Collet.

I always like to start my articles with a quote, but today I had a bucket load to choose from.

Over the past week Northampton fans had decided to use the medium of the internet to bombard Dons' websites with jibes about supporting a real club, with history.

Well, based on my experience yesterday, if that's what a real club is like, count me right out.

The Cobbler's fans (pictured), were a disgrace to their team. With more chants aimed at "The Peterborough Scum" than encouraging their own team, they did little to provide the catalyst their team dearly needed.

Northampton started the better side and had the better of the first 15 minutes, Adebayo Akinfenwa having one effort deflected and looping just over the crossbar.

This kicked the Dons into shape, Alan Navarro and Peter Leven particularly impressing in the middle of the park. Meanwhile Town begun to flail, right back Jason Crowe seemingly unable to make a foward pass whilst under pressure from the imposing Austrian winger Florian Sturm. 

Dean Lewington at left-back for the Dons was excellent, every pass he made finding a white shirt, even if the pass was 60 yards-long. Lewington created two chances with zipping crosses, both met by Aaron Wilbraham at the far post, and both missing by the narrowest of margins.

As the half hour mark approached, a goal kick from Cobblers keeper Mark Bunn bounced over both Dons centre-backs and fell to Akinfenwa, who from 8 yards out, completely missed the ball, only to get another stab, screw wide from just 4 yards out.

The Cobblers took the game by the scruff of the neck and it was Akinfenwa who came close again, forcing a save from Dons keeper Willy Gueret from just outside the penalty area. The Dons held on until half-time, but it was clear that Northampton Town were beginning to gain an advantage on the pitch.

The second half was a quiet affair to begin with, but the right-hand side partnership of full-back Carl Regan and last season's top scorer Mark Wright began to find holes in the Cobbler's defence. 

On the hour mark, the best opportunity of the match came. Wright blitzed Town's Jackman down the right-hand side, and a great ball in was nodded wide by Florian Sturm, when in reality it would have been easier to score.

The pressure was beginning to tell and on 66 minutes the breakthrough came. An old-fashioned goalmouth scramble ensued after another top quality ball in from Wright, and Wilbraham was on stand to stab the ball into the goal-mouth. Mark Bunn felt he had got the ball away before it crossed the line, but the referee's assistant disagreed and the goal was given.

The Cobbler's fans weren't happy, and so the disgrace started. The linesman who had given the goal was pelted with bottles and coins, and the game stopped for several minutes while the matter was dealt with.

The Dons moved in for the kill, Kevin Gallen, on for Sam Baldock, looked like he had never been injured as he twice defied the Cobbler's defence and forced quality saves from Bunn.

Northampton were desperate and threw on Colin Larkin and Giles Coke in an attempt to find an equalizer, and they so nearly did in stoppage time.

Larkin ran at late substitute Jude Stirling, squared to Constantine, who tricked O' Hanlon and himself squared to Akinfenwa, who was one-on-one with Gueret. The French keeper came off his line, Akinfenwa tried to dink the ball over him, but Gueret stayed big and the ball bounced off his chest.

The final whistle promplty blew, and The Dons fans celebrated a great win, underlined by steely determination. The Cobbler's fans? They had a fight amongst their fans and barraged Dons fans on their way out of the ground. 

One Town fan shouted "Why don't you support a real club!?"

Because my friend, if your club is anything to go by, "Real Clubs" are brutes and vandals.