Liverpool Football Club has been such a massive part of my life since I was eight years old and I know how much I’m going to miss it.
It’s been an emotional time for my family and I with my final game at Anfield against Crystal Palace and then my last appearance away to Stoke City.
But I’ve been blown away by the send-off I’ve been given by the supporters and I’d like to thank every one of you.
It’s been very humbling and it’s something I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.
It’s been an absolute privilege to represent this football club for so long.
Of course the pinnacle of my career arrived in Istanbul 10 years ago.
That was the best night of my life.
When I lifted the European Cup, there was no prouder man on the planet.
It meant so much to me to deliver that...
Sport
Dear Angel,
Thank you for your letter. You say football is about maths, but I disagree. Maths is involved when that 12 year old counts up his pocket money for 10 weeks to buy a shirt with "Di Maria" on the back. Maths is involved when ticket prices go up because a club takes 175,000 Euros per week from a bank account to give to an ungrateful player who tries to sabotage the work he is being payed to do, and when that club loses £15 million in a year because they have to sell him.
Maths is involved when you have to count the number of players who have worn the number 7 shirt for Manchester United, and see its rich history mocked by someone who had no pride in it and who wouldn't fight for it. Maths is involved when you count the amount of points United lost last season when you...
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To Manchester United:
I write this note to thank all the Manchester United family for the great support received during the year I've been part of this Club.
When Manchester United chose me as part of their team I felt extremely honoured because I knew what this Club means and how it trusted me.
Nevertheless, I'm aware things didn't work as we all expected and believe me, I feel really sorry about it. However in the career of a football player sometimes the unexpected and unwanted may happen.
I can guarantee you it was not for trying. I did my best but football is not like maths: often a lot of things out of our control affect the way we feel and the way things turn out. I am sorry it did not work out as I would have wished in this amazing huge club.
I want to give...
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Dear Coach Dungy,
My name is Anthony Nicodemo, and I am a high-school basketball coach who happens to be gay. After living in the closet for 35 years, a year ago I opted to be myself, and life has been awesome ever since.
Yesterday I came across your comments regarding Michael Sam and how you would not have drafted him because you "wouldn't want to deal with all of it."
Now, as a coach, I am in a different stratosphere when it comes to success. I have coached high school and college for 18 years, but I like to think that I have positively affected many of my student-athletes' lives.
Why would you not want your players to be themselves? If you had a gay player on your team (and I am sure that at some point you have), wouldn't you want him to be in the best physical and mental...
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Dear Roger Goodell, Esteemed NFL Commissioner:
First and foremost, congratulations on running one of the most successful entertainment franchises in America. I know it must take a tremendous amount of talent and hours to make the NFL run like a well-executed winning Super Bowl touchdown.
Secondly, I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Rick Clemons. I'm 6'4, 280 pounds, built like a linebacker, sport a goatee, shaved head, and an alum of Oklahoma State University. I had the privilege of attending a couple of classes with Thurman Thomas, and while I'm not a raging Monday Night Football fan, I can hold my own watching a game. I'm often asked, "Did you play football?" to which I reply, "Only mud football with my college dorm buddies."
You see, I was never a big sports head. In...
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My Dear Ms. Williams,
First, let me acknowledge what many others have said for a while now: congratulations, Serena, you are the greatest tennis player that has ever lived. Reasonable people are allowed to disagree about such things, of course, but all things considered, I believe it would be very unreasonable to disagree with this assessment.
NOW, as to you and your best friend, your partner in making history, your toughest competitor, your lovely sister, Venus, thank you both for one more “match for the ages.” It is yet another chapter in what is, arguably, the greatest ‘sister act’ is sports history. At the risk of sounding pure fan boy, I must say, simply, “ . . . WoW, ladies, you ROCK!”
No matter what happens tonight, or in the U.S. Open afterwards, the big issue to...
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Dear Teflon Dan,
This is my third and final take-it-or-leave-it open letter to you all written in quick succession. This is despite you telling me in no uncertain terms that you weren’t interested in receiving such a correspondence, something I would have known if I’d penned this at any point over the summer and not left it so close to deadline.
Anyway, here it is. Slightly longer than the one before which was ever-so-slightly longer than the one before that.
There were other outstanding candidates for this letter but I’ve chosen only you Dan. Eggs in one basket and all that.
I could have written to Javier Hernandez or Charlie Austin or James Wilson and better yet it would only have cost me a second class stamp. But firing off missives left, right and centre, well that’s a...
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Sirs:
This message is intended for the individual who recently attended the RedBlacks game on August 31, 2015 and refused to cease and desist from hurling inappropriate comments to the opposing players and personnel.
Since our exchange in the stands this past Sunday, I’ve been thinking about how to respond.
Perhaps you didn’t notice that I’ve been attending games with my 5-year old son and my husband. This year my husband decided to treat the family and buy season tickets. We both really enjoy football. In fact, it was one of our first dates and we want to share that together as a family.
However, rather than fully enjoying the thrill of the game, I spent it responding to my son asking: “Mom, is it funny when that man makes fun of people? …but there are other grown-ups...
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Hello Traitor, I saw a lot of interesting opinions on the internet regarding your move away to the wonderful footballing paradise that is Turkey so let me add my two cents. I think the impact you had on Arsenal with your departure is multifold. You were bought for a pittance (around £2m) at a young age with a reputation for trouble making.
Arsenal spent good money paying a player who couldn’t manage to play more than half a season for the majority of his Arsenal career, renewing his contract and eventually making him club captain and highest earner. No prizes for guessing that I am talking about you. After years of selling players, Arsenal became a by word for a selling club but crucially, Arsenal never had to sell an integral first team player to Manchester United. Manchester City got...
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Dear Magpies.
We have been embroiled in a fair few imbroglios (embarrassing situations) over the years, haven’t we, even if you lot haven’t been relevant for a while, since—well, since 2010 when you went out and won the whole kit ‘n’ kaboodle, winnin’ the—oh. That was the Championship. Well, good on youse for that.
Since then and long before, it’s been a bit of a dry spell since you were anything more than a magpie in the ointment. There was of course that epic comeback in 2011 from 0-4 that still haunts us to this day—bit of a sore spot, that one—but you’ve also played a more welcome role of late, such as the final match of the 2012-13 season when Koscielny netted to secure fourth while we trolled Tottenham.
Thanks for that, by the way. Back to the present, though.
A quick...
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