athinaios

Will happily do. I realize I spend too much time here, so I'll take a leave for a long while. If I come back, I'll see if anybody or the system recognizes me. So long.. :whistle:

Today, UEFA rejected Volos' appeal and their ban stands. Good. But, the team they beat twice is going through. I do understand that Greece's losing out, but what do you do at this late stage? You can't send another Greek team past the one Volos played. Can they? If any of out teams lost, say to another team that was eventually thrown out, then we'd expect OUR team to be going through, not some other one.... I don't think they can replay this round with new teams. I more angry at the Greek side (EPO, etc) that they're f@ked up.

I've suggested it before, if a team is caught cheating, it should be removed as if it didn't exist. The team that's a runner up should take its place. PLUS, all the money the cheaters made, say, by playing in the Europa league. Point-wise, it doesn't matter how many teams you've got in Europe for UEFA's standings, but the progress. In other words, it's better to have 1 team that goes to the semis, instead of 6 that don't make the first round. Points are divided by the number of teams from a particular country.

I thought Volos was relegated and that UEAFA would kick them out. This is weird. If a team was caught cheating (yes, the owner, etc) that gave it an advantage over other teams, then why is it allowed to continue? It now has financial benefits from playing in europe. no?

I read that UEFA threw out Volos and is waiting for EPO to declare another team. Also, that Oly is 50-50 to play in the CL next season!

I think the most important person is Zeljko O. He's built this team. Of course, the owners have provided not only the money but also a professional model of a modern & successful sports team. I'm sure that PAO doesn't have the highest budget, but this proves that money isn't the most important element of success. When I think that this team, from this small country, is arguably the best/most successful Euro team in the last couple decades I have to pinch myself that I'm not dreaming.Wow! How rare it is to be in a position to say (and feel) that no matter what the team does in the next many years, I won't have any complaints. I loved the reaction of our fans that welcomed the team "home" after it lost the cup to gavroi! What a terrific feeling :)

Just for the record, PAO won the series 3-1. Great 4th game at OAKA June 5th, and PAO beats gavroi in OT for the 9th consecutive and 32nd championship title. I think this season was the most successful for PAO. Obviously winning the first euro championship was huge (the first Greek team to do so) but this past season no one believed PAO could do well in Europe and many thought Oly, finally, would break PAO's dominance. Congrats. This team and the way is run should be an example to be followed by others in Greece.

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa WE GOT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Number 6.... PANATHA--the most successful team in basketballs and football..... 6 euro trophies in 15 years!!!!!!!

4 points.... 20 secs :unsure:

Dimitris Diamantidis is taking care of this ..... Great pass to Batiste for score and then steals the ball and wins the foul... Wow!!! MVP

big mistake by PAO, couldnt inbound the ball, then Maccabi scores.... Down to 5 points with PAO having the ball now.... Geesh...

up by 7 with 1.3 min to play... Nail biter now....

Woooooooooooooooow! PAO up by 11 with 3.5 minutes to play. GOOOOOOOOOOOOO PANAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATHA!!!!!!!! It's almost ours.... Com'on guys... :rolleyes:

Thanks Irlande, I'm watching this exciting game, PAO is in control. THey led most of the game, but 3rd qurter was big.. Now it's some 5' to play and PAO is up by 7, but it's tight...

This is an amazing team, getting to the Final Four after beating the favorite Barca!! Today, PAO beat Siena and will play in the final game on Sunday against Makabi. Goooooooooooooooooo PAO for the 6th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :tup: Can't wait for the final game. No matter what happens there or in Greece (playoffs for the domestic title), no other Greek team has ever done what Panatha has done, and I'm grateful to see my team being a dominant powerhouse in whole Europe! I know basketball is a different domain but this model should be copied by the football club.

I'm happy to see this. Greek teams need more stadia like that. Capacity is good too--if they can fill it close to capacity during SL games, great! They don't need more than that for the occasional bigger game (and big teams fans can't travel nowadays anyway). Better to have a smaller filled stadium than a half-filled bigger one. I just hope hooligans don't destroy it. :angry:

I wonder sometimes whether Gekas could have sustained this kind of effectiveness in the Greek league.... We got Salpi and we told him to go to PAOK, and he refused. Good move on his part. I think we should have kept him (and Salpi). Good to see Greeks doing well in Europe

So, when do you think Valverde's chair will break a leg? I reckon before the end of the year. :P

Valverde would be a fool to return.... Unless he does it just for the money. He got the club 2 titles and he was let go. How can he work long-term if he knows that he may be shown the door at any point? But, Kokalis thinks he's a football genius. whatever. It's in the interest of all to have a competitive league, with good officiating, appropriate fields, etc.

I'm not a violent person, but if I see Biscan and Zutautas I'll deck them too! :box: Oh, the amount of brain cells I wasted here talking about their horrible PAO tourist vacation....

I don't think in the 4 years since Athens 04, Greece produced any NEW Olympics winner. Those who got the medals were veterans. So, what does this tell you?... :tdown: But, honestly I've lost lots of interest in the Olympics. I don't think after the 1960s (maybe early 70s) there's been a true sportsmanlike Olympics. Doping, politics, money (lots of it), and lots of waste in investing for a venue that saddles the many with debts while a few make $$$$. As for the medals, I think it's an overblown ad campaign. Except for a few exceptional athletes (and you never know who is trully legit) that make the news, very few people remember what country did what. Well, perhaps they'll remember for a few years that Greece got the white gold medal for most dopped "athletes" in the Beijing games. The IOC is corrupt, the athletes take chances with drugs, others are officially abused (ie., underage Chinese gymnasts), and everybody wants to believe in the purity of the sport... Like, I want to believe there's Santa Claus. :la: As for Fannie Halkia, come on folks, she was a "journalist" not an athlete just 2 years prior to showing up to win the gold in Athens! Same with Kenteris, Thanou, and, and.... Those who know how super athletes develop know that they are not comets--come out of nowhere, shine, and disappear. And, don't tell me this "secret" was not known to the Greek officials. Same thing goes with countries that win medals consistently. They have a program, they show up and do well with rather small variations. They're not unknown and in 1 Olympiad they get 20 medals only to disappear the next. Any reasonable person would question this! ;) Anyway, it's nationalism and big business (with big ad budgets) that keep the Olympics going, but I don't think for much too long. They'll become like ..Eurovision :LOL: mostly a big deal in Greece and other eastern-euro countries, oh, and Turkey. In closing, I'd like to include a modest statement of the winner of the women's 400 hurdles in Athens:

Greece:16 Bulgaria: 12 Russia:10 We're first!!!! :LOL: :( :( For those who didn't get it, Greece leads with the most dopped athletes. That's a feat considering the number of the whole "team" sent to Beijing!

I just read that Fannie Halkia was found dopped. Today, her second sample was positive too. What a shame. Halkia was the one that was sent to Beijing even though Hadji (what's her name) who had better time this year and had asked for 1 play-off meeting with Halkia??!!! But, the officials didn't listen. I guess they're sorry now. :angry: The "funny" thing is that 15 Greek athletes were found to be using the same illegal substance! Organized crime? PS>I don't understand why both could not go? Doesn't every country have the chance to send 3 athletes for a sport with 3 medals?

Loup makes great points. That's why I personally don't get too wrapped up about these things. It's a big business above all now. Not so long ago, it was politics above all with the different block trying to prove their superiority. Whatever.

I don't know whether a situation like this should drag until the Olympics have started. It's BS. On the other hand, Thanou isn't clean. Disappearing before a dopping test in Athens 2004 shows guilt. She has damaged the sport & Greece. But the IOC is full of crap, as usual. So, can Greece sub another runner? Or, is it too late? It shouldn't be if the IOC just decided...