Dear Ronda,
With all deserved sensitivity to the happenings all over the world, I’m writing this because I saw my hero get knocked out cold yesterday.
Like most of your fans, I was stunned to see you crumple on the floor after that vicious head kick from Holly Holm, unable to defend yourself on your way to losing the UFC women’s bantamweight title.
Like you, I didn’t see that one coming.
To tell you the truth, I wasn’t planning to watch the fight. That’s how confident I was that you’d handle your business faster than it would’ve taken me to do my usual bathroom routine. I was wrong, like everybody was when we prematurely dismissed Holm’s chances against you.
She came to fight, and fight she did.
She bloodied you up in the first round. I was a bit worried but I continue...
Sport
Respected King Louis,
Watching Manchester United beat West Bromwich Albion on Saturday was a pleasant surprise – I was actually enjoying the match! The side-passes no longer seemed an excuse to keep possession, rather appeared to be a calculated ploy to open up the congested midfield; Rooney’s lack of shooting at goal did not trouble me as long as he linked up with Carrick, Mata and Martial; passing back to the goalkeeper was not a sign of unwillingness to play forward. In fact, it meant the birth of a new attack.
Maybe, just maybe, I’m starting to get the philosophy – something of an acquired taste. Having Daley Blind at centre-back now makes sense. He is, after all, the modern-day playmaker in your book. Rooney not racking up goals should not be a worry as long as he is not breaking...
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Dear Coach,
Let me start by saying that I am thankful you are giving your time to coach my child’s team. Parents often don’t act very grateful, and so I want to assure you that even when we get testy, we are still glad that you are out there doing the job. Maybe some day I will be doing the coaching, but until then, I’m glad I can just watch!
If you are a parent, then you will understand everything that I am about to say to you. But because you are a coach, I know that it is tough to wear the parent and coach hat at the same time. If you are not a parent, these are things you need to understand as we start the season:
I’m not out to get you; I just love my child. If it seems at times that I have a personal vendetta against you, please know that this is not true. I just love my...
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Dear Fabian,
We have deliberately taken our time before writing you this letter because we are loathe to make any rash statements that we may later regret, even once, let alone twice.
It's been a while now since you completed your messy, faith-destroying move to Manchester City and ensured your new status as Villa Park's public enemy No.1.
But those 'Delph You Snake!' banners, those Facebook clips of fans burning replica shirts bearing your name, those mocking memes on social media all could have been avoided if only you had not laid it on so thick.
If only you had not tried to trumpet yourself as the second coming of commitment, if only you had not awarded yourself the loyal seal of approval.
You could have gone to Manchester City with your reputation intact had you not...
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My name is Brian. I am a 2006 graduate of the University of Georgia and life-long Georgia Football fan. I grew up during the Ray Goff era, and my first memories of Georgia football were listening to Larry Munson on a portable radio, and eating a bbq sandwich from a road-side stand on the way out to the dove fields. I had no emotional expectations of winning all of our football games as a child. I relished in the underdog role that our Dawgs often wore during that time, and I sat on the edge of my seat waiting for Larry to lose his composure over the next implausible play.
When it came time to apply for college, there is no doubt where my heart was. But there was an expectation that when I graduated I would go to work. And so I turned down an offer to attend Georgia and instead...
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Dear Eden,
We fans, know you’re going through a tough phase at the moment. But hey, which professional footballer hasn't been there? All footballer’s have a bad phase in their career. That doesn’t mean the fans will stop believing in them. There is no reason as to why the player should stop believing in himself as well. It’s how you, as a player, back yourself and don't lose hope. It’s how the fans stand by the player and cheer him through the good and the bad. Not only footballer’s, every person has a tough time and it’s all about how that person fights back to overcome it.
Well, that’s what we fans are doing Hazard. We still believe in you. We are still waiting for that old Hazard to be back. We miss that Hazard who would single-handedly dribble past player after player and create...
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Dear Misses Layhoon Chan (President FC Valencia),
Dear Mister Joan Ribó i Canut (Mayor Valencia),
Dear board of the Champions League,
As a tourist, I’m always happy to come to Spain to enjoy the hospitality of the Spanish people.
I really love Spain as a country, for his atmosphere, for his people.
So, I was super excited when I saw the draw and we could come to Valencia for the Champions League.
Up to there, my enthusiasm...
Last Tuesday, I really was and I’m still really shocked.
The first hours in Valencia (as a tourist) were great - except the weather :-) - until the ‘police of Valencia’ showed up in large numbers.
The hospitality was suddenly gone.
There was only time to provoke us, to jeer at us, to knock on us without any reason!!
We were really...
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Steve McClaren is yet to win a game since taking charge this summer, and the midweek cup exit has done nothing to improve the atmosphere around the club.
In the wake of Newcastle 's disappointing defeat by Sheffield Wednesday in the Capital One Cup, the club's managing director has reached out to fans.
Steve McClaren is yet to win a game since taking charge this summer, and the midweek cup exit has done nothing to improve the atmosphere around the club.
But Lee Charnley, in an open letter to supporters, has called for unity.
Charnley wrote: "We made a pledge to communicate more effectively with you and when we did so, we were aware this must be the case through thick and thin, in the bad times as well as the good."
He added: "There is no hiding from the fact that this has...
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Dear fans of MS Dhoni,
I’m writing you this letter to show my appreciation to you. No, not the ‘fans’ who were abusing him yesterday and are cheering him today; I’m not talking to you lot. And if you are the type of person who will worship the ground he walks on today and stone his house after a failure tomorrow, I urge you to stop reading right now. READ: MS Dhoni: What makes him such a successful batsman?
I’m talking to you, the fans who actually had faith; the ones who stuck by a man who is, in all probability, in the twilight of his international career. This letter is addressed to the ones who knew, deep down, that despite his recent shortcomings Dhoni is not past his prime. The ones who realised that while Dhoni is not the finisher he once was, he still has an integral role to...
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A winning Wales team in a fantastic World Cup gives every one of us the resolve and incentive to push forward to a bright future for the game here.
Warren Gatland has moulded a rugby force at international level which truly inspires us to follow their pathway to success.
The gritty performance against Fiji just four days after an epic win over England shows the rest of us just what can be achieved when expertise and preparation are complemented by pride, determination and courage.
It is timely that tomorrow (Sunday) our clubs will gather at the Vale Resort near Cardiff for the WRU Annual General Meeting where I will call on them to grasp the opportunities ahead.
Hard work across the past year has helped us deliver a record turnover of £64.2m which enabled us to allocate...
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