Cornish Steve

This round, the only person to score zero points was the season leader: Boston Toffee. This has tightened the race for the season with Romey just 3 points behind. For the month of April, three of us are tied on 7 points: MikeO, Romey, and myself.

There needs to be a thorough government audit of the Premier League since it appears to be a hive of corruption, deceit, and double standards. They'll probably plead the same defense as did the NFL in the US, that they're an entertainment organization that can do as they please, but that's not how the fans see it. It's become a complete and utter farce.

I can't help but feel sorry for Burnley's keeper. How must he feel after such a terrible error?

It is a complete farce and fiasco. And still City get away with massive financial violations. The fact that two point deductions are applied in the same season ought to mean a legal challenge is warranted.

If you remember, I suggested that Brentford would struggle when I watched them play Brighton here in Atlanta during the pre-season. It seems that assessment was correct; they are struggling. I do think they'll survive, though. Palace must be a little nervous right now. Burnley and Sheffield United must be certs for relegation at this point. Personally, I'd much rather see Forest face the drop than Luton. If only we had the same team spirit as Luton, who keep pulling rabbits out of the hat.

Just like Dunlop is a tyre company. What's with the double p?

Job done.

Everton 2-0 Burnley DC-L

For round 30, Btay and Matt Tiger both predicted the correct score and lead for the month of April. Surprisingly, not one person predicted DC-L to score. Boston Toffee scored a duck this round, meaning that Romey is gaining ground on him.

So, in essence, a midfield version of Lukaku.

I'm really pleased that Gomes is stepping up. Honestly, I'd written him off.

Just read through all the commentary/comments in this thread. My goodness, our resident chuckle brothers were in fine voice! I'm so glad Young won us the penalty, which happened when we started playing better after timely and appropriate substitutions. Way to go Everton for a gutsy performance and to Sean Dyche for making smart decisions. Can we get out of this negative funk? Sometimes these threads make for depressing reading.

I had to attend conference calls all afternoon and missed the game. The BBC report is interesting, though: "Both sides had chances in an open second half, with substitute Joe Garner hitting the post for Everton within six minutes of his introduction." Did we just recruit a new player?

Nailed on 2-1 loss with Tarkowski scoring from a corner.

I can see why you'd subscribe to this view, but we're still not playing badly and we are generating lots of chances. The issue remains what it's always been: We can't convert those chances. Maybe play both DC-L and Beto up front again, although Newcastle would be a dangerous team against which to try that tactic.

This is a really difficult game to predict. On the one hand, Newcastle are on a high and we're on a low after Saturday's games. On the other hand, I can see our team being resolved to win it for Coleman; plus Newcastle have so many injured players. It could go either way.

Bar codes 2-1 Everton Beto

Boston Toffee is still on a roll, the only one of us to predict the correct score against Bournemouth. He beat Romey for the March title and has extended his lead for the season and per prediction.

B'mouth 1-1 Everton Tarkowski

Four 10-pointers. Way to go! Romey leads for the month of March with one game to go. Boston Toffee retains his lead for the season and per prediction.

No credible suitor will negotiate in public. They'd dot the i's and cross the t's before anything is announced or leaked. I'm still hoping for one of the dynastic families in India to take over.

Shame on the UN for passing this vote. Imagine if the UN had demanded a ceasefire when the Allies were striving to defeat the Nazis. What was needed then was for the Nazi powers to surrender. What's needed now is for Hamas to surrender and an immediate release of all hostages. Until that happens, Israel should strive to defeat them. Yes, the suffering of those living in Gaza is tragic, but don't blame Israel: responsibility lies wholly with Hamas. Incidentally, Hamas is under a Fatwa from the Arab League. Among the many stated reasons is their cynical use of misinformation. In other words, you can't believe anything put out by Hamas. I'm sure the number killed in Gaza numbers in the thousands, just as many died when the Allies strove to defeat the Nazis, but Hamas is inflating numbers and even staging some videos. We shouldn't believe a single word that emanates from Hamas. All numbers need independent confirmation. And antisemitism around the world really must stop.

You made a very sensible point. For the flag of St. George, I really don't see a problem. It's a flag, the English have rightly become proud of it in recent years, many aspects of the country's traditions and heritage are admirable, and there's no harm in waving it or associating with it. There is a similar but different situation in the US with the confederate flag. Decades ago, here in the American South, you'd see it flying all the time. People here associated with the South, there being a healthy rivalry with the North, and the confederate flag made that point. For most people, I would say, it was similar to the English or the Welsh or the Scottish flying their flag. But, in recent years, there's much greater sensitivity to the extreme cruelty of slavery, and the confederate flag came about as a symbol of the South (and of slavery) as it fought a civil war. Over the last three decades, say, flying the confederate flag has became associated more and more with white supremacy, and there's some justification for this. To every African American, especially to the descendants of slaves, the confederate flag is now a graphic reminder of that awful age when their ancestors were treated as less than human. Since the confederate flag is not a national flag, and not a state flag, but more an idea and association from the past, what is the harm in removing it from society? It was removed from the Georgia state flag, for example, and I see very few confederate flags flying today. Some people do fly it as an act of rebellion: As you wrote, "when people feel that their cultures and traditions are being challenged then they will show their colours so to speak." In this case, though, the flag carries too much baggage, and personally I would prefer that it be consigned to the history books. Why choose to deliberately upset millions of friends and neighbours in society just to make a point? (Yes, the extreme right claim that my opinion is "woke", but we should be aware of the feelings of others and not deliberately ride roughshod over them.) Just to reiterate: I'm not at all implying the same is true of the flag of St. George. What matters is our attitude and the reasons we have for supporting a flag.

So where exactly does the flag of St. George come from? The crusaders who rampaged Europe, killing rather indiscriminately. Have you ever read a history of the crusades, the divisions they caused in society, the heartless acts, and how they bankrupted the country? Hmm - maybe that's the link to today's extreme right!

I'm upset that the English took the flag of St. Piran, changed the colours, and flew it all around Wembley stadium!