$150 return trip to World Cup stadiums, and they’ve made walking to it (an hour) literally illegal.
People can witter on about GDP per capita but I think a large majority of people in the UK would reject the kind of racketeering that goes on in the US. A broken country.
they deserve to have empty stadiums , teach FIFA grifters a lesson
It looks like it’s going to be a real mess in some places.
The $150 train ride is to the New York / New Jersey Stadium, normally known as the MetLife Stadium. It’s where the NY Giants NFL team plays. It’s located literally in the middle of a motorway junction, and is only accessible by motorway or train.
There’s a 30,000 capacity car park which FIFA have demanded closed, for security and other event reasons (which are mostly to stop the Amercian tradition of ‘tailgating’, consuming one’s own non-sponsor-friendly food and drink for several hours before the game, to avoid ripoff stadium prices).
It’s the venue for eight matches, including the final.
The cost of sports / gig tickets in the US have gone mental since COVID. I went to an ice hockey match the other week, ticket face value $450, not in TSE prawn sandwich suite.
The place where I booked my ticket for last year's Las Vegas Grand Prix (which i didn't go to) sent me an email for this year's Superbowl.
$18,000 for a bog standard ticket with no corporate hospitality.
$90,000 for the top of the range ticket.
For one of the college games they had basic tickets were north of $2,000
The world is a lovely place for the millionaires.
Everybody else? Get fucked.
I just hope they don't get interested in cricket and qualify for Test matches. Imagine what they'd (try and) charge for a five day game!
$150 return trip to World Cup stadiums, and they’ve made walking to it (an hour) literally illegal.
People can witter on about GDP per capita but I think a large majority of people in the UK would reject the kind of racketeering that goes on in the US. A broken country.
they deserve to have empty stadiums , teach FIFA grifters a lesson
It looks like it’s going to be a real mess in some places.
The $150 train ride is to the New York / New Jersey Stadium, normally known as the MetLife Stadium. It’s where the NY Giants NFL team plays. It’s located literally in the middle of a motorway junction, and is only accessible by motorway or train.
There’s a 30,000 capacity car park which FIFA have demanded closed, for security and other event reasons (which are mostly to stop the Amercian tradition of ‘tailgating’, consuming one’s own non-sponsor-friendly food and drink for several hours before the game, to avoid ripoff stadium prices).
It’s the venue for eight matches, including the final.
The cost of sports / gig tickets in the US have gone mental since COVID. I went to an ice hockey match the other week, ticket face value $450, no in TSE prawn sandwich suite.
Do people really have prawn sandwiches? Yuk. Spoils a piece of bread.
Rare bad AnneJGP opinion.
A prawn baguette in a mediocre pub is a thing of beauty. Second only to a sausage baguette.
I'd give that a Like but I loathe prawns. Yuk to me.
$150 return trip to World Cup stadiums, and they’ve made walking to it (an hour) literally illegal.
People can witter on about GDP per capita but I think a large majority of people in the UK would reject the kind of racketeering that goes on in the US. A broken country.
they deserve to have empty stadiums , teach FIFA grifters a lesson
It looks like it’s going to be a real mess in some places.
The $150 train ride is to the New York / New Jersey Stadium, normally known as the MetLife Stadium. It’s where the NY Giants NFL team plays. It’s located literally in the middle of a motorway junction, and is only accessible by motorway or train.
There’s a 30,000 capacity car park which FIFA have demanded closed, for security and other event reasons (which are mostly to stop the Amercian tradition of ‘tailgating’, consuming one’s own non-sponsor-friendly food and drink for several hours before the game, to avoid ripoff stadium prices).
It’s the venue for eight matches, including the final.
The cost of sports / gig tickets in the US have gone mental since COVID. I went to an ice hockey match the other week, ticket face value $450, no in TSE prawn sandwich suite.
Do people really have prawn sandwiches? Yuk. Spoils a piece of bread.
Rare bad AnneJGP opinion.
A prawn baguette in a mediocre pub is a thing of beauty. Second only to a sausage baguette.
Greggs is the place to go for a sausage baguette.
Street food.
If it was Johnny Foreigner's street food, some foodie twat on the telly would be raving about it.
$150 return trip to World Cup stadiums, and they’ve made walking to it (an hour) literally illegal.
People can witter on about GDP per capita but I think a large majority of people in the UK would reject the kind of racketeering that goes on in the US. A broken country.
they deserve to have empty stadiums , teach FIFA grifters a lesson
I think the cost issue is a specific to New Jersey. Part of the FIFA conditions is free transport to venues (it was at the 2018 Russia WC), but while the ticket money goes to FIFA, the cost of providing transport falls on the local authority, in this case the State of New Jersey.
From the Guardian "The Ministry of Defence has lost track of military veterans they intend to recall at a time of national danger, according to a key government adviser."
One of my uncles, now sadly deceased, was severely injured in Normandy, shortly after D Day, and lost a leg.100% Disability pension. However as the Suez campaign loomed he was called up for a medical. He just removed his artificial leg, pinned up his trousers, and went on crutches to his medical. Said afterwards you could hear the sergeant in charge of the reception swearing 100 yards away.
$150 return trip to World Cup stadiums, and they’ve made walking to it (an hour) literally illegal.
People can witter on about GDP per capita but I think a large majority of people in the UK would reject the kind of racketeering that goes on in the US. A broken country.
they deserve to have empty stadiums , teach FIFA grifters a lesson
It looks like it’s going to be a real mess in some places.
The $150 train ride is to the New York / New Jersey Stadium, normally known as the MetLife Stadium. It’s where the NY Giants NFL team plays. It’s located literally in the middle of a motorway junction, and is only accessible by motorway or train.
There’s a 30,000 capacity car park which FIFA have demanded closed, for security and other event reasons (which are mostly to stop the Amercian tradition of ‘tailgating’, consuming one’s own non-sponsor-friendly food and drink for several hours before the game, to avoid ripoff stadium prices).
It’s the venue for eight matches, including the final.
The cost of sports / gig tickets in the US have gone mental since COVID. I went to an ice hockey match the other week, ticket face value $450, no in TSE prawn sandwich suite.
Do people really have prawn sandwiches? Yuk. Spoils a piece of bread.
Rare bad AnneJGP opinion.
A prawn baguette in a mediocre pub is a thing of beauty. Second only to a sausage baguette.
Greggs is the place to go for a sausage baguette.
Street food.
If it was Johnny Foreigner's street food, some foodie twat on the telly would be raving about it.
YouTube went through a phase of showing me loads of street-food (omelettes & other things) in the making. Now I no longer wonder why people get gastrointestinal issues when they're away.
$150 return trip to World Cup stadiums, and they’ve made walking to it (an hour) literally illegal.
People can witter on about GDP per capita but I think a large majority of people in the UK would reject the kind of racketeering that goes on in the US. A broken country.
they deserve to have empty stadiums , teach FIFA grifters a lesson
It looks like it’s going to be a real mess in some places.
The $150 train ride is to the New York / New Jersey Stadium, normally known as the MetLife Stadium. It’s where the NY Giants NFL team plays. It’s located literally in the middle of a motorway junction, and is only accessible by motorway or train.
There’s a 30,000 capacity car park which FIFA have demanded closed, for security and other event reasons (which are mostly to stop the Amercian tradition of ‘tailgating’, consuming one’s own non-sponsor-friendly food and drink for several hours before the game, to avoid ripoff stadium prices).
It’s the venue for eight matches, including the final.
The cost of sports / gig tickets in the US have gone mental since COVID. I went to an ice hockey match the other week, ticket face value $450, no in TSE prawn sandwich suite.
Do people really have prawn sandwiches? Yuk. Spoils a piece of bread.
Rare bad AnneJGP opinion.
A prawn baguette in a mediocre pub is a thing of beauty. Second only to a sausage baguette.
Greggs is the place to go for a sausage baguette.
Street food.
If it was Johnny Foreigner's street food, some foodie twat on the telly would be raving about it.
Chinese students love Spoons. And not for the alcohol.
$150 return trip to World Cup stadiums, and they’ve made walking to it (an hour) literally illegal.
People can witter on about GDP per capita but I think a large majority of people in the UK would reject the kind of racketeering that goes on in the US. A broken country.
they deserve to have empty stadiums , teach FIFA grifters a lesson
It looks like it’s going to be a real mess in some places.
The $150 train ride is to the New York / New Jersey Stadium, normally known as the MetLife Stadium. It’s where the NY Giants NFL team plays. It’s located literally in the middle of a motorway junction, and is only accessible by motorway or train.
There’s a 30,000 capacity car park which FIFA have demanded closed, for security and other event reasons (which are mostly to stop the Amercian tradition of ‘tailgating’, consuming one’s own non-sponsor-friendly food and drink for several hours before the game, to avoid ripoff stadium prices).
It’s the venue for eight matches, including the final.
The cost of sports / gig tickets in the US have gone mental since COVID. I went to an ice hockey match the other week, ticket face value $450, no in TSE prawn sandwich suite.
Do people really have prawn sandwiches? Yuk. Spoils a piece of bread.
Rare bad AnneJGP opinion.
A prawn baguette in a mediocre pub is a thing of beauty. Second only to a sausage baguette.
Greggs is the place to go for a sausage baguette.
Street food.
If it was Johnny Foreigner's street food, some foodie twat on the telly would be raving about it.
YouTube went through a phase of showing me loads of street-food (omelettes & other things) in the making. Now I no longer wonder why people get gastrointestinal issues when they're away.
I went on a cricket tour to India once. There was some delicious street food on sale around the ground, but I made sure to eat what had actually been cooked, rather than salads and the like. The rest of the tour regarded me with some awe.
So, to be clear, Andy's cunning plan is that as Mayor of Manchester, he is going to take control of the NEC from the PM and leader of the party so they let him stand as an MP? Well, good luck with that.
$150 return trip to World Cup stadiums, and they’ve made walking to it (an hour) literally illegal.
People can witter on about GDP per capita but I think a large majority of people in the UK would reject the kind of racketeering that goes on in the US. A broken country.
they deserve to have empty stadiums , teach FIFA grifters a lesson
It looks like it’s going to be a real mess in some places.
The $150 train ride is to the New York / New Jersey Stadium, normally known as the MetLife Stadium. It’s where the NY Giants NFL team plays. It’s located literally in the middle of a motorway junction, and is only accessible by motorway or train.
There’s a 30,000 capacity car park which FIFA have demanded closed, for security and other event reasons (which are mostly to stop the Amercian tradition of ‘tailgating’, consuming one’s own non-sponsor-friendly food and drink for several hours before the game, to avoid ripoff stadium prices).
It’s the venue for eight matches, including the final.
The cost of sports / gig tickets in the US have gone mental since COVID. I went to an ice hockey match the other week, ticket face value $450, no in TSE prawn sandwich suite.
Do people really have prawn sandwiches? Yuk. Spoils a piece of bread.
Rare bad AnneJGP opinion.
A prawn baguette in a mediocre pub is a thing of beauty. Second only to a sausage baguette.
Greggs is the place to go for a sausage baguette.
Street food.
If it was Johnny Foreigner's street food, some foodie twat on the telly would be raving about it.
YouTube went through a phase of showing me loads of street-food (omelettes & other things) in the making. Now I no longer wonder why people get gastrointestinal issues when they're away.
I went on a cricket tour to India once. There was some delicious street food on sale around the ground, but I made sure to eat what had actually been cooked, rather than salads and the like. The rest of the tour regarded me with some awe.
One reason for my suspicion of prawns is that a colleague ate a prawn cocktail on a flight home from Sweden and he was off sick for months, it made him so ill. Not allergy related.
From the Guardian "The Ministry of Defence has lost track of military veterans they intend to recall at a time of national danger, according to a key government adviser."
One of my uncles, now sadly deceased, was severely injured in Normandy, shortly after D Day, and lost a leg.100% Disability pension. However as the Suez campaign loomed he was called up for a medical. He just removed his artificial leg, pinned up his trousers, and went on crutches to his medical. Said afterwards you could hear the sergeant in charge of the reception swearing 100 yards away.
Sadly that isn't a surprise. I gather that all too many veterans end up homeless.
For the World Cup, the *cheapest* tickets I can buy, for a game no-one wants to go to, are like $2,000.
It's absurd.
How late will they leave it to reduce ticket prices, or will they instead ship in tens of thousands of schoolkids and local ‘soccer club’ members to avoid the embarrassment of half-empty stadia and the lawsuits from full-price ticket-holders?
They will end up shipping in loads of kids
It's completely ridiculous.
They could have a competition to let in only the best looking kids, and Trump could judge it.
For the World Cup, the *cheapest* tickets I can buy, for a game no-one wants to go to, are like $2,000.
It's absurd.
How late will they leave it to reduce ticket prices, or will they instead ship in tens of thousands of schoolkids and local ‘soccer club’ members to avoid the embarrassment of half-empty stadia and the lawsuits from full-price ticket-holders?
They will end up shipping in loads of kids
It's completely ridiculous.
They could have a competition to let in only the best looking kids, and Trump could judge it.
So, to be clear, Andy's cunning plan is that as Mayor of Manchester, he is going to take control of the NEC from the PM and leader of the party so they let him stand as an MP? Well, good luck with that.
If nothing else, it requires Starmer to survive until the Autumn. Otherwise, the leadership election still happens without Andy Capp-in-the-ring.
If this is the quality of thinking that Burnham plans to bring to the job of PM, I think it's a no from me.
So, to be clear, Andy's cunning plan is that as Mayor of Manchester, he is going to take control of the NEC from the PM and leader of the party so they let him stand as an MP? Well, good luck with that.
And part one of his cunning plan seems to be to tell someone who goes and blabs it to the nearest journalist.
So, to be clear, Andy's cunning plan is that as Mayor of Manchester, he is going to take control of the NEC from the PM and leader of the party so they let him stand as an MP? Well, good luck with that.
And part one of his cunning plan seems to be to tell someone who goes and blabs it to the nearest journalist.
That actually makes sense to me. He needs Starmer's position to seem hopeless and himself to appear to be the only possible option, lest the party go for the easier option of someone already in the Cabinet.
So he needs his plan to be out there in the open for everyone to see, even as he cannot be officially attached to it, so that (hopefully) an effort to get public support behind him is not scuppered by stories about how he cannot find a path to achieve it.
$150 return trip to World Cup stadiums, and they’ve made walking to it (an hour) literally illegal.
People can witter on about GDP per capita but I think a large majority of people in the UK would reject the kind of racketeering that goes on in the US. A broken country.
they deserve to have empty stadiums , teach FIFA grifters a lesson
It looks like it’s going to be a real mess in some places.
The $150 train ride is to the New York / New Jersey Stadium, normally known as the MetLife Stadium. It’s where the NY Giants NFL team plays. It’s located literally in the middle of a motorway junction, and is only accessible by motorway or train.
There’s a 30,000 capacity car park which FIFA have demanded closed, for security and other event reasons (which are mostly to stop the Amercian tradition of ‘tailgating’, consuming one’s own non-sponsor-friendly food and drink for several hours before the game, to avoid ripoff stadium prices).
It’s the venue for eight matches, including the final.
The cost of sports / gig tickets in the US have gone mental since COVID. I went to an ice hockey match the other week, ticket face value $450, not in TSE prawn sandwich suite.
The place where I booked my ticket for last year's Las Vegas Grand Prix (which i didn't go to) sent me an email for this year's Superbowl.
$18,000 for a bog standard ticket with no corporate hospitality.
$90,000 for the top of the range ticket.
For one of the college games they had basic tickets were north of $2,000
Seriously??!
$20,000 for a standard ticket???
I’m not accusing you of lying I’m just finding it hard to believe. Americans are a lot richer than us but they are not 50-100 times richer - which you need to be to afford 20k for a seat at a sports event (and not even a very exciting one)
$150 return trip to World Cup stadiums, and they’ve made walking to it (an hour) literally illegal.
People can witter on about GDP per capita but I think a large majority of people in the UK would reject the kind of racketeering that goes on in the US. A broken country.
they deserve to have empty stadiums , teach FIFA grifters a lesson
It looks like it’s going to be a real mess in some places.
The $150 train ride is to the New York / New Jersey Stadium, normally known as the MetLife Stadium. It’s where the NY Giants NFL team plays. It’s located literally in the middle of a motorway junction, and is only accessible by motorway or train.
There’s a 30,000 capacity car park which FIFA have demanded closed, for security and other event reasons (which are mostly to stop the Amercian tradition of ‘tailgating’, consuming one’s own non-sponsor-friendly food and drink for several hours before the game, to avoid ripoff stadium prices).
It’s the venue for eight matches, including the final.
The cost of sports / gig tickets in the US have gone mental since COVID. I went to an ice hockey match the other week, ticket face value $450, not in TSE prawn sandwich suite.
The place where I booked my ticket for last year's Las Vegas Grand Prix (which i didn't go to) sent me an email for this year's Superbowl.
$18,000 for a bog standard ticket with no corporate hospitality.
$90,000 for the top of the range ticket.
For one of the college games they had basic tickets were north of $2,000
Seriously??!
$20,000 for a standard ticket???
I’m not accusing you of lying I’m just finding it hard to believe. Americans are a lot richer than us but they are not 50-100 times richer - which you need to be to afford 20k for a seat at a sports event (and not even a very exciting one)
EDIT
Ah wait. I misread you. It’s the superbowl
Then I can believe it. STILL nuts. But believable
It's the sheer numbers of rich Americans. A couple of hundred thousand lawyers on $500k plus here, a couple of hundred thousand doctors on $500k there...
$150 return trip to World Cup stadiums, and they’ve made walking to it (an hour) literally illegal.
People can witter on about GDP per capita but I think a large majority of people in the UK would reject the kind of racketeering that goes on in the US. A broken country.
they deserve to have empty stadiums , teach FIFA grifters a lesson
It looks like it’s going to be a real mess in some places.
The $150 train ride is to the New York / New Jersey Stadium, normally known as the MetLife Stadium. It’s where the NY Giants NFL team plays. It’s located literally in the middle of a motorway junction, and is only accessible by motorway or train.
There’s a 30,000 capacity car park which FIFA have demanded closed, for security and other event reasons (which are mostly to stop the Amercian tradition of ‘tailgating’, consuming one’s own non-sponsor-friendly food and drink for several hours before the game, to avoid ripoff stadium prices).
It’s the venue for eight matches, including the final.
The cost of sports / gig tickets in the US have gone mental since COVID. I went to an ice hockey match the other week, ticket face value $450, not in TSE prawn sandwich suite.
The place where I booked my ticket for last year's Las Vegas Grand Prix (which i didn't go to) sent me an email for this year's Superbowl.
$18,000 for a bog standard ticket with no corporate hospitality.
$90,000 for the top of the range ticket.
For one of the college games they had basic tickets were north of $2,000
Seriously??!
$20,000 for a standard ticket???
I’m not accusing you of lying I’m just finding it hard to believe. Americans are a lot richer than us but they are not 50-100 times richer - which you need to be to afford 20k for a seat at a sports event (and not even a very exciting one)
EDIT
Ah wait. I misread you. It’s the superbowl
Then I can believe it. STILL nuts. But believable
It's the sheer numbers of rich Americans. A couple of hundred thousand lawyers on $500k plus here, a couple of hundred thousand doctors on $500k there...
Indeed, no wonder they love holidaying in Europe - everything must seem insanely good value
There are squillions of them in Northern Ireland. Big coach tours, family groups, students - all kinds. Everywhere I’ve been I’ve encountered them
I overheard a classic bit of plastic paddy chat today. I was scrolling Google maps by a pub in Carlingford. Tables outside were thronged with yanks and Irish drinking together. All men of a certain age
The Americans seemed quite drunk. One went ranting on about the awfulness of the English and yay Irish freedom and all that, and the Irish sort of looked at him and said nothing. But their faces said “shut the fuck up you twat it’s a lot more complex than that, we lived through it”
$150 return trip to World Cup stadiums, and they’ve made walking to it (an hour) literally illegal.
People can witter on about GDP per capita but I think a large majority of people in the UK would reject the kind of racketeering that goes on in the US. A broken country.
they deserve to have empty stadiums , teach FIFA grifters a lesson
It looks like it’s going to be a real mess in some places.
The $150 train ride is to the New York / New Jersey Stadium, normally known as the MetLife Stadium. It’s where the NY Giants NFL team plays. It’s located literally in the middle of a motorway junction, and is only accessible by motorway or train.
There’s a 30,000 capacity car park which FIFA have demanded closed, for security and other event reasons (which are mostly to stop the Amercian tradition of ‘tailgating’, consuming one’s own non-sponsor-friendly food and drink for several hours before the game, to avoid ripoff stadium prices).
It’s the venue for eight matches, including the final.
The cost of sports / gig tickets in the US have gone mental since COVID. I went to an ice hockey match the other week, ticket face value $450, not in TSE prawn sandwich suite.
The place where I booked my ticket for last year's Las Vegas Grand Prix (which i didn't go to) sent me an email for this year's Superbowl.
$18,000 for a bog standard ticket with no corporate hospitality.
$90,000 for the top of the range ticket.
For one of the college games they had basic tickets were north of $2,000
Seriously??!
$20,000 for a standard ticket???
I’m not accusing you of lying I’m just finding it hard to believe. Americans are a lot richer than us but they are not 50-100 times richer - which you need to be to afford 20k for a seat at a sports event (and not even a very exciting one)
EDIT
Ah wait. I misread you. It’s the superbowl
Then I can believe it. STILL nuts. But believable
It's the sheer numbers of rich Americans. A couple of hundred thousand lawyers on $500k plus here, a couple of hundred thousand doctors on $500k there...
Indeed, no wonder they love holidaying in Europe - everything must seem insanely good value
There are squillions of them in Northern Ireland. Big coach tours, family groups, students - all kinds. Everywhere I’ve been I’ve encountered them
I overheard a classic bit of plastic paddy chat today. I was scrolling Google maps by a pub in Carlingford. Tables outside were thronged with yanks and Irish drinking together. All men of a certain age
The Americans seemed quite drunk. One went ranting on about the awfulness of the English and yay Irish freedom and all that, and the Irish sort of looked at him and said nothing. But their faces said “shut the fuck up you twat it’s a lot more complex than that, we lived through it”
Awkward moment
Now that ROI is independent and richer than the UK they don't need to be performatively anti-English like some Irish Americans.
$150 return trip to World Cup stadiums, and they’ve made walking to it (an hour) literally illegal.
People can witter on about GDP per capita but I think a large majority of people in the UK would reject the kind of racketeering that goes on in the US. A broken country.
they deserve to have empty stadiums , teach FIFA grifters a lesson
It looks like it’s going to be a real mess in some places.
The $150 train ride is to the New York / New Jersey Stadium, normally known as the MetLife Stadium. It’s where the NY Giants NFL team plays. It’s located literally in the middle of a motorway junction, and is only accessible by motorway or train.
There’s a 30,000 capacity car park which FIFA have demanded closed, for security and other event reasons (which are mostly to stop the Amercian tradition of ‘tailgating’, consuming one’s own non-sponsor-friendly food and drink for several hours before the game, to avoid ripoff stadium prices).
It’s the venue for eight matches, including the final.
The cost of sports / gig tickets in the US have gone mental since COVID. I went to an ice hockey match the other week, ticket face value $450, not in TSE prawn sandwich suite.
The place where I booked my ticket for last year's Las Vegas Grand Prix (which i didn't go to) sent me an email for this year's Superbowl.
$18,000 for a bog standard ticket with no corporate hospitality.
$90,000 for the top of the range ticket.
For one of the college games they had basic tickets were north of $2,000
Seriously??!
$20,000 for a standard ticket???
I’m not accusing you of lying I’m just finding it hard to believe. Americans are a lot richer than us but they are not 50-100 times richer - which you need to be to afford 20k for a seat at a sports event (and not even a very exciting one)
EDIT
Ah wait. I misread you. It’s the superbowl
Then I can believe it. STILL nuts. But believable
It's the sheer numbers of rich Americans. A couple of hundred thousand lawyers on $500k plus here, a couple of hundred thousand doctors on $500k there...
I saw a very interesting chart the other day showing ranges of salaries for various categories of jobs in the UK, the range for basically every job was very tight and the upper bound capped in a way US salaries aren't.
$150 return trip to World Cup stadiums, and they’ve made walking to it (an hour) literally illegal.
People can witter on about GDP per capita but I think a large majority of people in the UK would reject the kind of racketeering that goes on in the US. A broken country.
they deserve to have empty stadiums , teach FIFA grifters a lesson
It looks like it’s going to be a real mess in some places.
The $150 train ride is to the New York / New Jersey Stadium, normally known as the MetLife Stadium. It’s where the NY Giants NFL team plays. It’s located literally in the middle of a motorway junction, and is only accessible by motorway or train.
There’s a 30,000 capacity car park which FIFA have demanded closed, for security and other event reasons (which are mostly to stop the Amercian tradition of ‘tailgating’, consuming one’s own non-sponsor-friendly food and drink for several hours before the game, to avoid ripoff stadium prices).
It’s the venue for eight matches, including the final.
The cost of sports / gig tickets in the US have gone mental since COVID. I went to an ice hockey match the other week, ticket face value $450, not in TSE prawn sandwich suite.
The place where I booked my ticket for last year's Las Vegas Grand Prix (which i didn't go to) sent me an email for this year's Superbowl.
$18,000 for a bog standard ticket with no corporate hospitality.
$90,000 for the top of the range ticket.
For one of the college games they had basic tickets were north of $2,000
Seriously??!
$20,000 for a standard ticket???
I’m not accusing you of lying I’m just finding it hard to believe. Americans are a lot richer than us but they are not 50-100 times richer - which you need to be to afford 20k for a seat at a sports event (and not even a very exciting one)
EDIT
Ah wait. I misread you. It’s the superbowl
Then I can believe it. STILL nuts. But believable
It's the sheer numbers of rich Americans. A couple of hundred thousand lawyers on $500k plus here, a couple of hundred thousand doctors on $500k there...
Indeed, no wonder they love holidaying in Europe - everything must seem insanely good value
There are squillions of them in Northern Ireland. Big coach tours, family groups, students - all kinds. Everywhere I’ve been I’ve encountered them
I overheard a classic bit of plastic paddy chat today. I was scrolling Google maps by a pub in Carlingford. Tables outside were thronged with yanks and Irish drinking together. All men of a certain age
The Americans seemed quite drunk. One went ranting on about the awfulness of the English and yay Irish freedom and all that, and the Irish sort of looked at him and said nothing. But their faces said “shut the fuck up you twat it’s a lot more complex than that, we lived through it”
Awkward moment
Now that ROI is independent and richer than the UK they don't need to be performatively anti-English like some Irish Americans.
There are few things wankier than the fake 5th generation Irish American banging on about the evil Brits and praising the IRA
Happily you don’t hear it very much any more. But it exists - as I heard today
$150 return trip to World Cup stadiums, and they’ve made walking to it (an hour) literally illegal.
People can witter on about GDP per capita but I think a large majority of people in the UK would reject the kind of racketeering that goes on in the US. A broken country.
they deserve to have empty stadiums , teach FIFA grifters a lesson
It looks like it’s going to be a real mess in some places.
The $150 train ride is to the New York / New Jersey Stadium, normally known as the MetLife Stadium. It’s where the NY Giants NFL team plays. It’s located literally in the middle of a motorway junction, and is only accessible by motorway or train.
There’s a 30,000 capacity car park which FIFA have demanded closed, for security and other event reasons (which are mostly to stop the Amercian tradition of ‘tailgating’, consuming one’s own non-sponsor-friendly food and drink for several hours before the game, to avoid ripoff stadium prices).
It’s the venue for eight matches, including the final.
The cost of sports / gig tickets in the US have gone mental since COVID. I went to an ice hockey match the other week, ticket face value $450, not in TSE prawn sandwich suite.
The place where I booked my ticket for last year's Las Vegas Grand Prix (which i didn't go to) sent me an email for this year's Superbowl.
$18,000 for a bog standard ticket with no corporate hospitality.
$90,000 for the top of the range ticket.
For one of the college games they had basic tickets were north of $2,000
College hand-egg ball games are incomprehensibly popular. The crowd sizes are enormous.
$150 return trip to World Cup stadiums, and they’ve made walking to it (an hour) literally illegal.
People can witter on about GDP per capita but I think a large majority of people in the UK would reject the kind of racketeering that goes on in the US. A broken country.
they deserve to have empty stadiums , teach FIFA grifters a lesson
It looks like it’s going to be a real mess in some places.
The $150 train ride is to the New York / New Jersey Stadium, normally known as the MetLife Stadium. It’s where the NY Giants NFL team plays. It’s located literally in the middle of a motorway junction, and is only accessible by motorway or train.
There’s a 30,000 capacity car park which FIFA have demanded closed, for security and other event reasons (which are mostly to stop the Amercian tradition of ‘tailgating’, consuming one’s own non-sponsor-friendly food and drink for several hours before the game, to avoid ripoff stadium prices).
It’s the venue for eight matches, including the final.
The cost of sports / gig tickets in the US have gone mental since COVID. I went to an ice hockey match the other week, ticket face value $450, not in TSE prawn sandwich suite.
The place where I booked my ticket for last year's Las Vegas Grand Prix (which i didn't go to) sent me an email for this year's Superbowl.
$18,000 for a bog standard ticket with no corporate hospitality.
$90,000 for the top of the range ticket.
For one of the college games they had basic tickets were north of $2,000
College egg-ball games are incomprehensibly popular. The crowd sizes are enormous.
Its because its the social event to be at, the games are really wild, lots of trick plays, mistakes and generally high scoring, and a lot of big colleges exist in the arse end of nowhere, so there isn't any other option anyway.
Also other college sports, the very best players at most play 1 year e.g. basketball. In order to get into the NFL, you have to play 3 years of college to be eligible, so you also get to watch top class talent.
$150 return trip to World Cup stadiums, and they’ve made walking to it (an hour) literally illegal.
People can witter on about GDP per capita but I think a large majority of people in the UK would reject the kind of racketeering that goes on in the US. A broken country.
they deserve to have empty stadiums , teach FIFA grifters a lesson
It looks like it’s going to be a real mess in some places.
The $150 train ride is to the New York / New Jersey Stadium, normally known as the MetLife Stadium. It’s where the NY Giants NFL team plays. It’s located literally in the middle of a motorway junction, and is only accessible by motorway or train.
There’s a 30,000 capacity car park which FIFA have demanded closed, for security and other event reasons (which are mostly to stop the Amercian tradition of ‘tailgating’, consuming one’s own non-sponsor-friendly food and drink for several hours before the game, to avoid ripoff stadium prices).
It’s the venue for eight matches, including the final.
The cost of sports / gig tickets in the US have gone mental since COVID. I went to an ice hockey match the other week, ticket face value $450, not in TSE prawn sandwich suite.
The place where I booked my ticket for last year's Las Vegas Grand Prix (which i didn't go to) sent me an email for this year's Superbowl.
$18,000 for a bog standard ticket with no corporate hospitality.
$90,000 for the top of the range ticket.
For one of the college games they had basic tickets were north of $2,000
College egg-ball games are incomprehensibly popular. The crowd sizes are enormous.
I went to one in Ann Arbor over a decade ago, over 100,000 fans in the stadium.
Seven people from an activist group calling for higher taxes on the super-rich have been arrested by police on suspicion of conspiracy to steal.
Police confirmed that six women and one man were detained in Salford, Greater Manchester, on Sunday over what they said was a coordinated plan to steal from high-end stores.
Take Back Power, a civil resistance activist group, confirmed its supporters had been arrested. All members of the group remained in police custody for questioning, it said.
Police in Manchester said the group were believed to have been training for a mass shoplifting campaign, intending to steal from high-value stores and supermarkets and redistribute the stolen goods.
Ron Filipkowski @RonFilipkowski · 31m So we get multiple conflicting reports, including from Trump himself, that Vance is or is not leading the US delegation for peace talks on Tuesday, then we get multiple reports from Iran state media that they have no plans to attend peace talks on Tues & didn’t know about it.
Crossing the invisible border into Ireland and it is noticeably richer. Not a crazy difference - but little things. Roads slightly better kept. Superior street lights. Newer cars
Like crossing the non frontier from Germany into Luxembourg
Worth noting that there's a flow of patients across the border for a variety of routine operations: eyes, hips, etc. As far as I know it's all in one direction, one side of the border having notably worse healthcare provision to the other.
Here's the official government position on the Mandelson vetting scandal this morning, according to Liz Kendall:
* Olly Robbins was 'wrong' not to tell the PM that Mandelson had failed security vetting, he was 'wrong' again not to do so when the PM repeatedly claimed in public - incorrectly - that due process had been followed
* The PM would not have given Mandelson clearance if he knew that he had failed UK Security Vetting
* No 10 asked 'repeated questions' about Mandelson's vetting and was told 'due process' had been followed. These questions, and the responses, are now key
* Starmer allies are warning allies that changing leaders now - at a time of global and economic instability - would be reckless
*********
Does not hold up. If he would have not given clearance why did he not ask if UK Security Vetting had failed or passed? If X then I cannot grant Y, you have to know X. But, of course, all he was interested in was 'due process' having been followed. The eggs had been broken, therefore there must be an omelette
Good Morning one and all! And a fine and bright one it is here, if a little breezy. I've posted before, and hold to the view, that appointing Mandelson to deal with a slippery (at best) customer like Trump could have turned out to be a good idea. However, clearly Mandelson was even dodgier than Starmer thought (?knew) he was. After all, he had a significantly suspicion-arousing background. But I really, really do not understand why, if someone fails a vetting procedure, the person who is likely to need the information isn't told. And if the person appointing isn't told, why on earth was the question not asked: if X has gone through the vetting process, was everything satisfactory? What, otherwise, is the point of the 'vetting procedure'; if the result of such procedure is that the subject is found to be totally unsuitable, surely then the candidate should be ruled out?
The point of procedures is:
To allow the important people to say that procedures have been followed. To enable the people carrying out the procedures to get paid
The whole Mandelson disaster is a clear advertisement why it's important to follow procedure to get OK outcomes most of the time. People who think procedure can only be performative have no idea, not just of what works but also of the modern workplace.
More so that it's important to have clearly comprehensible, open procedures which actually contribute to doing what they're supposed to.
In this case, ministers - and pretty well everyone else including opposition, journalists and all of us - seem to have been unaware of the apparently longstanding FCO powers to override vetting conclusions without telling anyone they have done so.
And, as much if not more to the point, WHY!
Possible answer: Mandy’s China links wrote via his consultancy.
The reason he wanted the Ambassadorship was for prestige, to be back in the thick of it (and how) but also to promote himself. Making his consultancy worth more - higher rates…
That his vehicle for converting his brownie points, favours and stolen info into money.
So telling Mandy to dump his biggest clients or not get the job would be tantamount to telling Mandy he couldn’t have the job.
So he’d have to resign, embarrassing the PM.
So instead, he was cleared.
The 'mitigations' that were in place are not something I think the public will ever understand.
'So, he's not allowed to be alone with his clients because he'd betray the country - so, why's he being made the ambassador in the first place?'
If you need mitigation like that, basic logic would suggest you shouldn't be given the role.
To be fair, it’s common for politicians and people appointed into political positions to have to give up outside business links.
Even Trump has. Oh, maybe wait.....
Trump has probably made an order of magnitude more profit since his second inauguration than in the whole of the rest of his life.
Curious if the Trump regime is the most corrupt there has ever been in absolute terms - reflecting that the United States is an exceptionally wealthy country
Not yet. Putin is thought to have expropriated about $300bn in his time as President of Russia. Given his age, Trump would really have to put some effort in to catch up.
Ron Filipkowski @RonFilipkowski · 31m So we get multiple conflicting reports, including from Trump himself, that Vance is or is not leading the US delegation for peace talks on Tuesday, then we get multiple reports from Iran state media that they have no plans to attend peace talks on Tues & didn’t know about it.
It sounded awfully like the B52s were flying overhead again this afternoon, heading out to sea.
Don't be too surprised if Trump uses the pretext "They were never serious about peace talks" to launch his civilization-ending onslaught in the coming hours.
Ron Filipkowski @RonFilipkowski · 31m So we get multiple conflicting reports, including from Trump himself, that Vance is or is not leading the US delegation for peace talks on Tuesday, then we get multiple reports from Iran state media that they have no plans to attend peace talks on Tues & didn’t know about it.
It sounded awfully like the B52s were flying overhead again this afternoon, heading out to sea.
Don't be too surprised if Trump uses the pretext "They were never serious about peace talks" to launch his civilization-ending onslaught in the coming hours.
He will have played the markets accordingly.
Logs on to Polymarket to check for $100k bets on events in Iran....
Ron Filipkowski @RonFilipkowski · 31m So we get multiple conflicting reports, including from Trump himself, that Vance is or is not leading the US delegation for peace talks on Tuesday, then we get multiple reports from Iran state media that they have no plans to attend peace talks on Tues & didn’t know about it.
Ron Filipkowski @RonFilipkowski · 31m So we get multiple conflicting reports, including from Trump himself, that Vance is or is not leading the US delegation for peace talks on Tuesday, then we get multiple reports from Iran state media that they have no plans to attend peace talks on Tues & didn’t know about it.
It sounded awfully like the B52s were flying overhead again this afternoon, heading out to sea.
Don't be too surprised if Trump uses the pretext "They were never serious about peace talks" to launch his civilization-ending onslaught in the coming hours.
He will have played the markets accordingly.
WarMonitor🇺🇦🇬🇧 @WarMonitor3 · 1h A well informed Iranian source has told Al Jazeera that they believe the US is imminently about to escalate and is waging a deception campaign.
From the Guardian "The Ministry of Defence has lost track of military veterans they intend to recall at a time of national danger, according to a key government adviser."
One of my uncles, now sadly deceased, was severely injured in Normandy, shortly after D Day, and lost a leg.100% Disability pension. However as the Suez campaign loomed he was called up for a medical. He just removed his artificial leg, pinned up his trousers, and went on crutches to his medical. Said afterwards you could hear the sergeant in charge of the reception swearing 100 yards away.
Sadly that isn't a surprise. I gather that all too many veterans end up homeless.
From the Guardian "The Ministry of Defence has lost track of military veterans they intend to recall at a time of national danger, according to a key government adviser."
One of my uncles, now sadly deceased, was severely injured in Normandy, shortly after D Day, and lost a leg.100% Disability pension. However as the Suez campaign loomed he was called up for a medical. He just removed his artificial leg, pinned up his trousers, and went on crutches to his medical. Said afterwards you could hear the sergeant in charge of the reception swearing 100 yards away.
Sadly that isn't a surprise. I gather that all too many veterans end up homeless.
Veterans sleeping in shop doorways.
Illegal migrants sleeping in four-star hotels.
I have no idea why Reform top the polls.
Perhaps the homeless should pretend they are foreign and claim asylum.
Crossing the invisible border into Ireland and it is noticeably richer. Not a crazy difference - but little things. Roads slightly better kept. Superior street lights. Newer cars
Like crossing the non frontier from Germany into Luxembourg
The Republic has benefited from decades of letting the UK pay to defend their country.
Recent evidence suggests that if the shit had ever hit the fan (which it didn’t), any defence of Ireland by the UK might have been sub optimal.
Under most US presidents I imagine the US would step in to help Ireland if things were bad for them, good for the “Irish”vote.
Not at all sure that’s true any more. Americans of all stripes have had enough of Europeans who freeload. And that very definitely includes Ireland
I suspect Biden will turn out to be the last obviously pro Irish president
The Irish have made most of their recent military procurement orders from France. I think we're relying on the French, God love us. It never worked for the place in the past, but maybe next time will be different.
$150 return trip to World Cup stadiums, and they’ve made walking to it (an hour) literally illegal.
People can witter on about GDP per capita but I think a large majority of people in the UK would reject the kind of racketeering that goes on in the US. A broken country.
they deserve to have empty stadiums , teach FIFA grifters a lesson
It looks like it’s going to be a real mess in some places.
The $150 train ride is to the New York / New Jersey Stadium, normally known as the MetLife Stadium. It’s where the NY Giants NFL team plays. It’s located literally in the middle of a motorway junction, and is only accessible by motorway or train.
There’s a 30,000 capacity car park which FIFA have demanded closed, for security and other event reasons (which are mostly to stop the Amercian tradition of ‘tailgating’, consuming one’s own non-sponsor-friendly food and drink for several hours before the game, to avoid ripoff stadium prices).
It’s the venue for eight matches, including the final.
The cost of sports / gig tickets in the US have gone mental since COVID. I went to an ice hockey match the other week, ticket face value $450, no in TSE prawn sandwich suite.
Do people really have prawn sandwiches? Yuk. Spoils a piece of bread.
Rare bad AnneJGP opinion.
A prawn baguette in a mediocre pub is a thing of beauty. Second only to a sausage baguette.
Greggs is the place to go for a sausage baguette.
Street food.
If it was Johnny Foreigner's street food, some foodie twat on the telly would be raving about it.
YouTube went through a phase of showing me loads of street-food (omelettes & other things) in the making. Now I no longer wonder why people get gastrointestinal issues when they're away.
I went on a cricket tour to India once. There was some delicious street food on sale around the ground, but I made sure to eat what had actually been cooked, rather than salads and the like. The rest of the tour regarded me with some awe.
Anything that has recently been subjected to great heat is fine, samosas straight out of the pan are sublime.
Malaysia is the place to go, there are 24-hour curry restaurants, durian shops, and curry mee at a kopitiam (mini food court) is aweaome
$150 return trip to World Cup stadiums, and they’ve made walking to it (an hour) literally illegal.
People can witter on about GDP per capita but I think a large majority of people in the UK would reject the kind of racketeering that goes on in the US. A broken country.
they deserve to have empty stadiums , teach FIFA grifters a lesson
It looks like it’s going to be a real mess in some places.
The $150 train ride is to the New York / New Jersey Stadium, normally known as the MetLife Stadium. It’s where the NY Giants NFL team plays. It’s located literally in the middle of a motorway junction, and is only accessible by motorway or train.
There’s a 30,000 capacity car park which FIFA have demanded closed, for security and other event reasons (which are mostly to stop the Amercian tradition of ‘tailgating’, consuming one’s own non-sponsor-friendly food and drink for several hours before the game, to avoid ripoff stadium prices).
It’s the venue for eight matches, including the final.
The cost of sports / gig tickets in the US have gone mental since COVID. I went to an ice hockey match the other week, ticket face value $450, not in TSE prawn sandwich suite.
The place where I booked my ticket for last year's Las Vegas Grand Prix (which i didn't go to) sent me an email for this year's Superbowl.
$18,000 for a bog standard ticket with no corporate hospitality.
$90,000 for the top of the range ticket.
For one of the college games they had basic tickets were north of $2,000
Seriously??!
$20,000 for a standard ticket???
I’m not accusing you of lying I’m just finding it hard to believe. Americans are a lot richer than us but they are not 50-100 times richer - which you need to be to afford 20k for a seat at a sports event (and not even a very exciting one)
EDIT
Ah wait. I misread you. It’s the superbowl
Then I can believe it. STILL nuts. But believable
It's the sheer numbers of rich Americans. A couple of hundred thousand lawyers on $500k plus here, a couple of hundred thousand doctors on $500k there...
Indeed, no wonder they love holidaying in Europe - everything must seem insanely good value
There are squillions of them in Northern Ireland. Big coach tours, family groups, students - all kinds. Everywhere I’ve been I’ve encountered them
I overheard a classic bit of plastic paddy chat today. I was scrolling Google maps by a pub in Carlingford. Tables outside were thronged with yanks and Irish drinking together. All men of a certain age
The Americans seemed quite drunk. One went ranting on about the awfulness of the English and yay Irish freedom and all that, and the Irish sort of looked at him and said nothing. But their faces said “shut the fuck up you twat it’s a lot more complex than that, we lived through it”
Awkward moment
Ireland does seem to be more welcoming to English people than Scotland, but perhaps that's what a century of independence from the Union achieves.
For the record: I think that constitutions should fit nations, not the other way around. There are nations where constitutional monarchies make sense, for example. The very federal system in Canada suits that nation better than the US or UK systems would, and so on.
One key often missed by politics geeks: Every democratic system relies on informed voters -- and that can not always be counted on.
Comments
Street food.
If it was Johnny Foreigner's street food, some foodie twat on the telly would be raving about it.
From the Guardian "The Ministry of Defence has lost track of military veterans they intend to recall at a time of national danger, according to a key government adviser."
One of my uncles, now sadly deceased, was severely injured in Normandy, shortly after D Day, and lost a leg.100% Disability pension.
However as the Suez campaign loomed he was called up for a medical. He just removed his artificial leg, pinned up his trousers, and went on crutches to his medical.
Said afterwards you could hear the sergeant in charge of the reception swearing 100 yards away.
https://youtu.be/lau6sqyRku0?si=4iNToG_mlf-9rZZJ
If this is the quality of thinking that Burnham plans to bring to the job of PM, I think it's a no from me.
So he needs his plan to be out there in the open for everyone to see, even as he cannot be officially attached to it, so that (hopefully) an effort to get public support behind him is not scuppered by stories about how he cannot find a path to achieve it.
$20,000 for a standard ticket???
I’m not accusing you of lying I’m just finding it hard to believe. Americans are a lot richer than us but they are not 50-100 times richer - which you need to be to afford 20k for a seat at a sports event (and not even a very exciting one)
EDIT
Ah wait. I misread you. It’s the superbowl
Then I can believe it. STILL nuts. But believable
They were all extremely fucking boring. Also the food and booze were shite
The only exciting moment was getting my first ever Waymo back to my hotel from the NFL match in LA
There are squillions of them in Northern Ireland. Big coach tours, family groups, students - all kinds. Everywhere I’ve been I’ve encountered them
I overheard a classic bit of plastic paddy chat today. I was scrolling Google maps by a pub in Carlingford. Tables outside were thronged with yanks and Irish drinking together. All men of a certain age
The Americans seemed quite drunk. One went ranting on about the awfulness of the English and yay Irish freedom and all that, and the Irish sort of looked at him and said nothing. But their faces said “shut the fuck up you twat it’s a lot more complex than that, we lived through it”
Awkward moment
On the plus side Spurs getting relegated.
Happily you don’t hear it very much any more. But it exists - as I heard today
Relegation contenders v title contenders
Also other college sports, the very best players at most play 1 year e.g. basketball. In order to get into the NFL, you have to play 3 years of college to be eligible, so you also get to watch top class talent.
He’s got no excuses the title wasn’t likely lost today but with some poor performances in very winnable games earlier in the season .
Very disappointed but you don’t give Man City an opening and expect to get away with it .
They would be so up for it.
Police confirmed that six women and one man were detained in Salford, Greater Manchester, on Sunday over what they said was a coordinated plan to steal from high-end stores.
Take Back Power, a civil resistance activist group, confirmed its supporters had been arrested. All members of the group remained in police custody for questioning, it said.
Police in Manchester said the group were believed to have been training for a mass shoplifting campaign, intending to steal from high-value stores and supermarkets and redistribute the stolen goods.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/19/civil-resistance-activists-detained-in-manchester-over-alleged-plan-to-raid-high-end-stores
This mob love the posho stuff, the art galleries no normies go in, West End Theatre, Twickers, Lords, Fortnum and Masons etc.
@RonFilipkowski
·
31m
So we get multiple conflicting reports, including from Trump himself, that Vance is or is not leading the US delegation for peace talks on Tuesday, then we get multiple reports from Iran state media that they have no plans to attend peace talks on Tues & didn’t know about it.
https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/2045918751397175795
Don't be too surprised if Trump uses the pretext "They were never serious about peace talks" to launch his civilization-ending onslaught in the coming hours.
He will have played the markets accordingly.
The Kobeissi Letter
@KobeissiLetter
·
39m
BREAKING: New data shows that zero oil tankers have passed through the Strait of Hormuz today.
It appears that the Strait of Hormuz is now completely closed for the first time in history.
The US “blockade” and Iran’s closure are in full force.
https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2045918356482453751
WarMonitor🇺🇦🇬🇧
@WarMonitor3
·
1h
A well informed Iranian source has told Al Jazeera that they believe the US is imminently about to escalate and is waging a deception campaign.
Wow...
Illegal migrants sleeping in four-star hotels.
I have no idea why Reform top the polls.
NEW THREAD
Malaysia is the place to go, there are 24-hour curry restaurants, durian shops, and curry mee at a kopitiam (mini food court) is aweaome
For the record: I think that constitutions should fit nations, not the other way around. There are nations where constitutional monarchies make sense, for example. The very federal system in Canada suits that nation better than the US or UK systems would, and so on.
One key often missed by politics geeks: Every democratic system relies on informed voters -- and that can not always be counted on.