suityousir comments

Ten out of ten for the headline. Well played!

One of the cleverest headlines this year!

Indeed–although not, perhaps, too hard to come by.

I don't get how they are raising this as an issue..

Something not to be raised,

Definitely.

The fact that Terry, Barton, and Gerard (sic) are paid ridiculous amounts of money is not the fault of the players concerned. Like them, Nakamura is paid what the market will bear. According to the Spanish press (e.g. Marca), his wife was the one pushing for him to make the move; furthermore, once Espanyol started to bid for his services in mid June, Yokohama did not really make any real effort to up the ante.

As for the fans, well, yes, sad for them, but as a career choice, Espanyol is a far better one than Yokohama. Riotous adulation from fans is not a practical substitute for a useful amount of lolly and playing in a world-class league. Oh, and not all fans are "loyal"; it just takes a couple of unflattering headlines in the sports section of the Sun or the Daily Mirror for the cheers to turn rapidly into boos (and much worse).

If fans choose to pay through the nose to watch players like Gerrard or Rooney then that's their lookout. I admire and respect Nakamura for having spent a good chunk of his career at Celtic. Scottish football has little of the glamour of the prima donna strewn leagues south of the border (and south of gay paree); it's tough, gritty, and these conditions, along with the weather (not to mention Mars bars in batter), bear little resemblance to cushier alternatives. It took courage to go to Parkhead and now he deserves his chance at Espanyol.

more men are taking their coworkers home

No wonder their wives aren't pleased.

In terms of time difference, perhaps so (this knuckle head can't be bothered to check actual times of matches), but in terms of the results for Match Day 8 (6 June, 2009), Japan, Australia and South Korea were the first teams to qualify for the 2010 WC.

Japan became the first country to join hosts South Africa at soccer’s showcase event after a gutsy 1-0 win away to Uzbekistan...

The Socceroos secured the other berth after they got the point they needed in a 0-0 draw in Doha.

The first country?

I must be one of those solitary ignoramuses who does not know that:

We all know that after entrance into any Japan university, you are virtually guaranteed to graduate, as long as you pay your tuition...

Luckily for me, my students are generally bright and have to work pretty hard to graduate.

Why don't they just save everyone the hassle and mail the diploma's along with their acceptance letter... Don't these teacher's take attendance...? What a joke...

Furthermore, they know when an apostrophe should be used to distinguish between the possessive and the plural.