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Hi Guys,
Comments to the following would be much appreciated before the semi's matches commence or better still before this evenings AGM. ( Short time, I know )
As I understand it, Semi finals in the team Knockout competitions whether it be main or plate are supposed to be played at neutral venue.
Why is it that this is not the case on this occassion ?
I'm not entirely sure who are the sponsers of the KO competions anymore, whether it be The Thomas Farley or The Hurricane Rooms or both in joint. But I only see The Hurricane Rooms posted on mail shots as a sponsor.
This is my question,
Why are the Farley Eden playing their semi final at their home venue ?
And why are The Untouchables playing their Plate semi final at their home venue ?
Does'nt sound very fair to me. Not from a skill play point of view but from a neutral venue point of view.
Simple to resolve. Both venues are next door to each other, so simly swap it around or take it to a venue out of Thorton Heath where neither of the teams play out of.
What would you guys think ? Or should I just shut my mouth and leave it be as it is ?
Might be good for some of the veues that have been a part of the League for many many years but never see anything coming to them.
I shall look out anxiously for your posts.

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Do I think we should swap, yes! Do I want to swap? Not fussed, we played from the farley for the last few seasons and know the tables well :) if I were the better halves or the untouchables opponent then a swap would be the sensible outcome. Don't really give a flying either way, roll on Monday :)

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The competitions are played the sponsor's venue. IC Cool sponsor the knockout cup to be played from the Farley. Hurricane Room sponsor the knockout cup plate to be played from the Hurricane room

The matches can be made neutral by the Farley Eden playing on one of the side tables in the Farley, as the middle table is their home table

Likewise the table furthest from the bar can be used by the Untouchables for the plate semi final - they normally use the table closest to the bar.

A semi final or final cannot be moved to a different venue just because a team who gets to the final rounds plays from there, as it would not be fair on the sponsorship deals

Other venues are welcome to apply to sponsor competitions which would then allow later rounds of their competition to be played at their venue

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thanks for clearing up Paul.

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Fully understood now Paul. Thanks for that mate.
Yep, roll on Monday and let the fun begin.

" We're init ta winit and refuse ta loos "

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Fully understood now Paul. Thanks for that mate.
Yep, roll on Monday and let the fun begin.

" We're init ta winit and refuse ta loos "

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I don't really give a monkeys but I do think its a valid point.

I admit I don't know anything about sponsorships but from the previous post:

"IC Cool sponsor the knockout cup to be played from the Farley. Hurricane Room sponsor the knockout cup plate to be played from the Hurricane room"

If you swapped the semis around in both the main and plate comps then each semi final would still be played in the Farley and Hurricane rooms respectively so I can't see what difference it makes; both venues would still have 2 teams playing there on Monday.

Or am I missing something?

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Since sponsership came in it has always been at the venue of the sponsers choice. However it was all fine and groovy when playing best of 7 etc etc. When the Eagles were from the Farley it wasn;t an advantage to play there as we were simply allocated a table that we didnt play on. The same went with Frames.

Playing two semi finals on one venue with 3 tables makes not a lot off sense to me. I would prefer it even if at one venue that one match was played on a Monday and one on a Wednesday.

If both semis went to 21 frames we wont be rolling out of the Farley til 4 in the morning.

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Ignore my previous post. I've just realised that both knock out cup semis are at the Farley. I was under the impression one was at the Farley and the other one was at Hurricane rooms (which would have made more sense to me from a time point of view), as Shaggy above mentions

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No ....
Top Side you are absolutely correct in you first post and Shaggy is wrong.
Untouchables are playing their semi final Plate against The Maple Tree in their home venue, The Hurricane rooms.
Farley Eden are playing their main semi final in their home venue, The Thomas Farley.
Yep ... Switch it around which is what I was suggesting and it would not be a finacial deficit to any venue whatsoever. But it may be to the Farley having all thier teams at the hurricane supprting the Eden. But oh no, it's all about the money sponsors and not those who have been contributing to the Croydon League for years. I for one have been in this League for double figures and have seen and learned much.
As mentioned tonight at the AGM and many AGM's gone by, the Croydon League is becoming smaller.
I wonder why that may be ? And it's not just because of Pubs closing when we have places like Riley's and other outlets offering such excitable deals for the teams to join them.
It was my intention to bring this into question at tonights Agm and ask the floor of their opinion but what would have been the point when it was a micky mouse meeting as was the last and nothing could be set in concrete apart from the stop watch issue.
It was clear to me if not all of us that not even the commitee were afluent with the Constitution with regard to our buddies, The Beech Tree & The Waddon Wizards.
A few questions to Mr. Saxonator before match commences and in reference to his reply earlier this morning.
As the visiting team to a knock out competition on neutral venue to face our competitors who are playing from their home venue,
1. Will we be allowed pre-match table time ?
2. Will we have choice of table ?
3.Will it be as per usual that the home Team fill out the score card before the visiting Team ?
Or are we going to treat this as if it were a neutral venue condition ?
Nevertheless and taking all into consideration,
We're init ta win it and refuse ta loos .
Also, I've heard that the Farley tables have more rolls than Greg's the baker and The Duke of York is never to be seen.
I guess after all this, it's show time so Lets Bring In The Passion The Better Halfs.
Taken the best, now lets take the rest.
Posts, comments and banter will be much appreciated.

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The matches are neutral

Practice time will be down to the teams to organise

Just out of interest, Steve, I notice several comments in your posts about teams playing from their home venue, even though I clearly stated earlier that in your case the Eden A can play on either side table to make it neutral, how would propose dealing with this situation in a larger venue such as Rileys?

You seem to have an objection to a team playing from the venue that the sponsor requests they play from if that team normally plays from there.

So if we take that further, when Rileys have sponsored the league in the past a lot of teams play from there and have reached the final stages of their competitions. Using your theory above, i.e. "competitors who are playing from their home venue should not be allowed to play the final stages of a competition there as well", then the following teams would not be able to play in the final stages of a competition at Rileys because they would be in their home venue, even though in all the time I have reffed matches, they have not been played on the team's home table

Propellor
Eagles
Foreign Legion
Pond Qs
Suzies Floozies
Imperials
Unpredictables
Goodfellas
SAS
The Rack Pack

So in the above situation how would you suggest resolving this?

What about if the Eagles drew the Propellor? They both play from Rileys, I assume then that you would be suggesting the matches be played at a different venue

We could even take this further (theortical but possible, and assuming that Rileys are sponsoring the competitions at the time, again possible)

Example 1:

What about this situation occuring in the Knock Out Cup Semi Finals (plate and main comp)?

Main Comp
Propellor vs Eagles
Unpredictables vs Foreign Legion

Plate
Goodfellas vs Imperials
Pond Qs vs Foreign Legion

Example 2:

On a smaller scale, lets take the league cup semi final stages:

Propellor vs Eagles
Unpredictables vs Foreign Legion

Using your logic, even though Rileys would have paid sponsorship they are now not allowed to get any benefit from that sponsorship because their own teams have qualified and so they must play from another venue the other venue will then get all the benefits even though they have not contributed in sponsorship.

Yes the league is sponsorship driven, we need to get money from somewhere. Teams make valuable contributions, but additional money is still useful for trophies etc.

It is very easy to say that venues that have contributed over the years, of which there are many, have been left out of final stages of competitions. However, several venues have initially been left out until they then decided that they would get involved and appreciating the extra revenue that would be obtained from more custom, sponsored a competition.

If the league allowed the finals of competitions to be played at any venue, then there would be no point in sponsoring competitions, which would then lead to the league struggling to finance the trophies and other running costs.

It seems as though you are suggesting that if a venue has been in the league for many years, that it should automatically host the final stages of a competition without sponsorship being required, just because of this fact.

As you have been in this league for "double figures" I would be very interested in your views for improving the league, as I am sure many other people would be. You have been in the league for many more years than me, I joined in March 2005.

Perhaps as you have so many ideas you should consider standing for the committee as well?

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The bottom line is the venue is selected by the sponsor, end of. In terms of it being neutral, yes in every way; as mentioned above as long as the farley dont play on the middle table it will be. As for the card each team will be asked to submit your line ups to the league adjudictor so no preference their either.

It really is impossible to simply swap the venues as in the plate you have the untouchbles and patriots playing at their home venue but the patriots opponents are the Farley loyalists...further added into the mix is that both the untouchables and patriots have previously called the farley their home. Over in the real semi-finals we used to play from the farley, as did a few of the rack pack for the eagles.....best left as it is :)

As for the tables, they are fast and true...fact. simply turn up and dish the eden, they are wilting big time......:bite:

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Only has a team mate Paul.
I could never handle the positions of you guys up there and niether do I have the time to do it.

Ok, thats all settled now. I'm justified and fully understand everything that has been said. Thats's all that I was really after in the first instance.

May I request the match to be played on the table on the left as viewed from the stair well ?

So now I guess it's time to concentrate on the match to hand.

Good luck to the Eden.

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oh dear you Never know what will crawl from underneath the wood work
Until their team gets to a semi full of uneducated no marks who have more
Time to argue about sponsorship than get on with the task in hand let's be fair after Monday this thread will seem like a distant dream the better halfs have been bashed up by the Eden all year in the Croydon open in the doubles. So you want banter this ties all over by the fukcing hand shake see you Monday lads where is it again... Oh yea were at home :fishing:

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Last post on this subject because it's boring me to death.
Who the hell is Faz Da Fisher ?
Guess you're taking it a bit personal and to describe people unknown to you as uneducated is a little below the belt.
I would suggest that you read back upon your post and see if you can make any grammatical sense of your own input.
Check your spelling and punctuation.
Yes ... lets get on with the task to hand and lets have the Gentleman's hand shake. The rest can follow upon the outcome.
Oh and yes, I remember now, we're coming to The Thomas Farley.
Lets have fun and lets see who talks the walk and who walks the talk.
See you Monday guys.

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to be honest i think its a bit of a joke it doesnt matter if they dont play on there match table they no all the tables der so its a joke.

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Thank you Terror Tower who ever you may be.
If you are able to make it there late this evening, I'm sure you'll be in for a few rolls and if you get pissed enough, I hope they will excuse you for the broken dish .

GAME ON.

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Lol

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rack pack 11* - 10 Oakie Cokies, lost on the play off 2-0, Battled well and rue our chances in the middle of the match. Well played the rack pack who will meet the Better Halfs in the final who dished a somewhat subdued Eden.

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Farley Eden 8 Better Halfs 11

I would just like to say well played to the teams in the semi-finals, On behalf of my team mates i would like to apologise for the level of noise we brought to the farley and i hope we never put you guys off at any time.

Yes uneducated was not the words to be using faz da fisher so i think you need to review your last post and this thread is now a distant memory only for the farley eden and reality for the better halfs as we are in the finals i think the pool did the talking for the better half's on the night as we had no point to prove and we are happy to get as far as we have being the lowest divison team still remaining in the fight for the knock out cup.

We are looking forward to playing in the finals the fight continues see you soon guys

I GOT BIT....! AND IT'S A GNAT BITE :bite:

:violin:

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Untouchables 11 - Maple Tree 10............(Untouchables won the best of 3....... 2-0)

Wow... There wasn't great pool on show here tonight, But just some real serious grinding matches.
Maple led the first set 4-1 then we won the second set 4-1 making it 5-5. We then knew this would goto the wire, Or if not then atleast very close to it.
Then every frame from then saw Maple tree get that one frame in front.
A massive fluke for maple tree saw them 10-8 up and from there i belived it was over, But then stepped up Nelio to play a nail bitting game, and winning.... JUST (Dean missing an easy black in the middle to kill the game off but misses).
Then steps up Tony... I blinked and it was 10-10.
Best of 3 saw us win it 2-0....
Very happy to be in a Final being that we are a division 5 team.

On the final note.... maple tree should have won but from the fluke they didnt get the run of the balls.
Cant remember the score but i belive its us vs Patriots, But i think they won 11-9 ?

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well played the untouchables last night! pretty well summed up by sly on the above post!
was a very tough game through out and every time we looked like pulling away they done well to peg us back so credit where due! felt sorry for dean tho missing the black that would have won it for us but under pressure these things can happen to anyone.
i have to say tho the decision to play best of 21 or really as it turned out 23 on a single table is utter madness! we had no problem with the venue last night but if semi-finals and finals are to be played over this distance then 2 tables have to be in force!
getting home at 1.30 am on a tuesday morning is not much fun! and surely the organisers must realise this point!
i hope in the future that if semis & finals are to be played on 1 table then this is cut to best of 15?
well played again tho lads and good luck in the final.

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[quote]Faz Da Fisher wrote:
better halfs have been bashed up by the Eden all year in the Croydon open in the doubles. So you want banter this ties all over by the fukcing hand shake

all over by the HAND SHAKE, it is NOW L.O.L :D:

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what was the score then?

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11 8 to better halfs

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Watching from the other table I can honestly say that the Eden are a shadow of the team that played no more than a few weeks ago. Quiet, disjointed and uncommitted are three words that could never have been thrown at them, but in all honestly last night, their was only one team up for it and that was the Better Halfs.

Naughty calling an in off the black at 200 decibels in my honest opinion but there you go.

Would make the Rack Pack favourites for the final, purely because of the level of experience of finals that their players have had, but anything can happen.

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No point in speculating shaggy.

I think the Eden were quiet, disjointed and uncomitted due to the fact that we were 7 - 2 up on them.
We were the better team on the night, hence our name, The Better Halfs.
If you read back on the post here you will see that they certainly were'nt quiet beforehand.
I agree that the decibels of my team mates were a bit loud at times and I tried my best to control that but it proved very difficult to contain when they were all full of excitement.
Being the underdog from the word go and having to play a semi on our opponents home turf and arriving to find that we have no official ref and no stop watch was not an ideal situation. Being hurried along aswell did'nt go down well.
I guess you would have to give us 10 out of 10 for wining under these condition.

As for experience of finals, I guess you would be better to check the history of my team mates and see what they have achieved and been involved in over the years.

The Rack Pack are a very good team but so are we and you for one will know that having just lost to them.
In our history we have beaten them twice at Riley's and have never been beaten by them although I can see that they are a very different team.
I think it would br fair to say that we are joint favourites and at this stage one has to win and one has to loose. Thats the beauty of competion.
We have achieved much to reach this stage in the KO competion and it is really not going to dampen us should we become the runner up.
We're just going to go there and play as per normal and have another fun night out. What will be will be.

Best wishes and luck to both teams on Final Night.

Bytheway, another good win for us tonight will secure us the division title and at 2 weeks early.

All in all we are a nice team, full of skill, character, determination and unity. I guess no one can grumble at that.

Thank you.

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Disappointing to read Shaggy, and having spoke to a few of the boys this morning it appears you are spot on. You could add words such as 'lack of support', 'constant internal team politics on the team selection' to those mentioned above and you will be a bit clearer to understanding why there has been a catalogue of losses in recent weeks. I have not been a part of the A team set up this summer and handed the Captaincy to Barry, I think he has had to endure a rough time these last few weeks.

The disappointing aspect from a pool front last night is was the match was effectively a 'home draw' against what is at best, average opponents, and this represented a real opportunity to clinch a spot in the final. But it appears the Better Halfs wanted it more and as the Eden should know only too well themselves that is half the battle won before you have hit a ball.

Three games left in the league and it's still on. I just hope for the A's sake that playing for the Eden will mean a little bit more than just playing for your own pride. They are a Winter 1st Division side playing in a micky mouse third division summer league and it should have been done and dusted by now. I've always said you can learn so much more from a defeat, and lets hope the boys will learn tonight from yesterday's loss.

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It wasn't intended to belittle some of your players that I know played for the Coach and Horses when they won it a couple of years ago, it was more to do with the fact that between, Potter, Telford, Esgrove, Nuttman and Pope (if selected) alone, their must be best part of 100 final appearances.

Thats all.

Good luck to both teams.

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Awful last night 8-2 down then eventually losing 11-8 let's put that behinD us get on with the task in hand

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"...a 'home draw' against what is at best, average opponents...":blah:

Its that kind of attitude that got the Eden knocked out, and they're not the only ones.

Don't ever think you're unbeatable; no-one is (against anyone)

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What a fantastic night of pool! Great atmosphere, laughs, twitches, nerves and comebacks included... I for one really enjoyed it...

As for the game itself, the Oakie Cokies started off well going 4-2 up only for us to string a run of frames to go ahead 5-4. Then pulling even further in front 10-7 and only needing 1 to win I thought it was only a matter of time... but to their credit won the next 3 to force the play-off! What drama!

Thankfully Hughie manage to win his first frame of the night to clinch the marathon tie... It was a shame there had to be a loser...

I hope the final is just as eventful...

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I think its that kind of 'attitude' the Eden missed last night!

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Well done lads.
Shame I couldn't be there, but I guess you are getting used to that this season lol

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Yeh I have to agree with Paul, it's the most exciting game of pool i've ever played in and, as he said, there's a shame there had to be a loser :handshake:

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have to agree with all the comments here,shame there had to be a loser but it was a great exhibition of pool by both teams,reagarding the other tie i've never seen a team with so much bark melt under pressure,with all the prematch posts by the eden it was a classic example of shooting yourself in the foot and your words coming back to haunt you,they seem to have done the same regarding the league and i seem to remember 1 post saying how "we're gonna wrap the league up with a week to spare".surely they couldnt shoot theirselves in the foot again could they?

funniest question of the night was when an eden player asked jason cook to have a word with the better halfs about the noise they were making,funny considering said player used to be part of the famous eden roar we've all come to know and love,if you cant take it,dont give it!!!

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talk to me,talk to me, talk to me,talk to me, talk to me,talk to me, yeeesssssssss black & cue ball in, talk to me, talk to me, talk to me, talk to me.All I can remember from last night not surprising I am very old.

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Are you a Nutt called Meg ? Or are you just a spicey chick ?
I'm talkin ta ya, I'm takin ta ya, I'm talkin ta ya.
Bet you remembered less from last night after we finished the session in the Hurricanes. And at 3am was that.
Surprised we all made it to this evenings match but has I said in an earlier post, We are all united and will go on to win in unity.
Big it up for The Better Halfs.
We're init ta win it and Refuse ta loos
Excellent game play and well done for tonight Mr. ...........

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I do hope that's not having a pop at my good mate Tony!

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Certainly not Mark.
If I am correct and I certainly hope so, he's a player on my team who is just pure nuts.
I'm sure if it is him and he reads this then he will return with another post proving me correct. Or atleast I hope so.

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Very good week for the Untouchables. Showed a lot of character on Monday to hang in there when the going was tough (Billy ocean would be proud):band:. Would like to say a special big up to Stacey n Alan for their heroics on Monday. They pulled out massive frames when needed against quality opposition.:clap: Needless to say that the real hero was myself. I lost my first three frames, and at 10 - 9 down had to play. I wasn't playing on the level needed to compete so everyone was expecting the worst (including myself). My opponent potted the black b4 time on his second visit to hand us a chance to bring in our strong trio for the best of three playoff(which included Andy). The rest is history. I have checked my shoes but there's no sign of any brown stuff so luck is out of the question. I reckon that deep down I'm a tactical genius but am yet to realise this in myself:idea:. Any other suggestions would be welcome.:hand:

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Sorry this thread has nothin to do with me but what are you talking about lol

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Certainly not Mark.
If I am correct and I certainly hope so, he's a player on my team who is just pure nuts.
I'm sure if it is him and he reads this then he will return with another post proving me correct. Or atleast I hope so.

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yeah thats explained it...

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I'm pretty sure it was a foul break by me and now wish it had been called. I was just trying to get the balls opened up and the black whistled in. It summed my night up, I had 2 quite easy break and dish chances and another one off a dry break, but managed to snooker myself each time. Very poor.

I agree with Shark about the format though. 21 games on one table is a joke.

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Who's Mark anyway?

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sorry,its only me, I am not the man you think, purly a interested bystander who woke up at 3am with talk to me still ringing in my ears. :lol: and Harrys real name is Richard.Good luck in the final.

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my point exactly mate

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Sorry guys,
My mistake. I'm getting well confused here with all these names. Guess I should leave whilst the going is good.
Thanks anyway for you good wishes.

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Just to confuse matters more :snigger:

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TALK TO ME TALK TO!! nutsmeg you been dreaming about me?? wanna go on a date?? talk to me talk to me!!!....................choob asilias bebe groshwalie!!!!!

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Thank god we don't have to put up with these muppets week in week out in DIvision One.....

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Hmm...give it time ;)

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thats coming from someone self titled the power!! drop me out numnut

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haha power the reason u dont want us der cos we would kick ur ass every time. so do me a favour and talk to me hahahahahahah

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haha power the reason u dont want us der cos we would kick ur ass every time. so do me a favour and talk to me hahahahahahah

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soooooooo true talk to me!!!!!!!

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Who's the Italian babe ? Can she play pool ? Or would she like me to wisper the sweetness of success in her ear so that, The Power (which sounds like an advert for a power company) Topside ( which sounds like the local butcher) Talktome ( which sounds like an ad for 118 118 ) and Terror Tower (who sounds like a ride at Thorpe Park) can hear what we're getting up to.

Who's the Muppets ? Have'nt got a clue on this one. Thought they had long done their sell-by-date.
Don't tell me that Ms. Piggy is back on the scene in disguise. Is she the Italian chick ? Or could she be the Italian Stallion ?
Talk to me, Talk to me, Talk to me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tamian Batcha Bebe Groshwali !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mwah

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Nice to see posts on the site making complete sense :eek2: