Posts Tagged ‘Arsenal’

Posted on February 26, 2008 - by Justin Hartman

YouTube and that horrific Eduardo tackle

Not only did I watch Arsenal drop two points to Man United on Saturday but I also bore witness to a horrific tackle on Arsenal striker Eduardo which saw him fracture his left fibula as well as sustain an open dislocation of his ankle joint in the same leg. During the match Sky Sports refused to show the replay of the tackle claiming it was too gruesome to repeat.

Now I don’t know about you but I hate being censored so, on Sunday afternoon, lazing about at my parents home, I opened the YouTube application on my iPhone and did a search for eduardo tackle to see if someone had posted a video of the full footage.

Amazingly there were well over 100 results and I started to watch some of the gruesome footage uploaded by YouTube users… it was very upsetting.

Over a coffee discussion yesterday I told Gregor to do a similar search on YouTube to watch the unedited video but when he tried to click a video, any video, all he got was a message saying “This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Arsenal Football Club”.

Back in August last year we went through a process, well Gregor did, whereby The Times had a copyright infringement case and it was very interesting to see YouTube’s take on all of this.

It took YouTube about three days to remove the video in question but we were also invited to use their Content Verification Tool which allows content owners to request removal of infringing content by using check boxes and “select all” functions. A very simple interface and a seemingly immediate solution to copyright infringement.

I was just fascinated how quickly these videos of the Eduardo tackle disappeared from YouTube and it would appear that this self-managed solution is really helping all content owners combat the issue of plagiarism. It is clearly a much more efficient way of handling these types of issues than having YouTube moderate everything through a three-day lengthy process.

If you are interested in viewing images of the tackle in question I have uploaded them here and here and if you want to see the live TV footage I have a short video clip of the tackle here. I must warn you it’s not pretty which is why I haven’t embedded it into this post.

 

Posted on August 14, 2007 - by Justin Hartman

Is public opinion really this naive?

I submitted my vote on The Times sports poll this morning and noticed a shocking figure in the results.

Now I know I’m largely in the minority here but I honestly believe that Arsenal have a great chance of winning the league this season. While British press and football pundits have written off Arsenal’s hopes of lifting the title I have no doubt we’re going to be contenders.

It makes me sick to listen to “the experts” talk about how Arsenal are going through a transitional period in our history as this is simply not the case. Seemingly if you bring in a whole string of young, talented players to a big Premiership club you’re immediately cast into the “transition” category and any chance of winning is left to the other big clubs.

Arsenal have had an amazing pre-season warmup and winning the Emirates Cup as well as the Amsterdam Tournament, against some very heavy opposition is surely a show of our character? And yes, even despite the loss of legendary Arsenal skipper Thierry Henry we managed to came back on Sunday in the final 10 minutes of the game to seal a very important victory against Fulham.

As our newly appointed captain, William Gallas says:

Last year was not easy because we had too many injuries but this season everything has changed. And I can tell you it changed in pre-season – how the players train, how they fight on the pitch – and when I saw that I said ‘we will do something’ this season.

While we may not be The Invincibles any longer I think it’s naive of the public to simply discount this very experienced and motivated side.

 

Posted on June 25, 2007 - by Justin Hartman

The end of a football era

I’ve never played in Spain and never will. This is my last contract. It is where I belong.- Thierry Henry, May 2006

I still have to pass a medical on Monday. But yes, I have chosen Barcelona. I am going to sign there for the next four seasons … for the football they play, their history, their stadium. For Frank Rijkaard, who I grew up watching. - Thierry Henry, June 2007

While I’ve tried to intellecualise this as much as possible it’s still a sad day for me to say goodbye to Arsenal striker Thierry Henry. Football is a way of life for me and Thierry, over an eight year period, played a integral part in my teams success and my admiration for the legend is without doubt one of the strongest I’ve felt for a sports celebrity in some time.

That said, Thierry’s commitment to stay at the club last year has turned into somewhat of a farce as evidenced by his decision to leave Arsenal for greener pastures in Spain.

The irony of this all is that I don’t think Thierry ever really thought his decision to stay last year was the right one and during the last 12 months I’ve noticed a lack of commitment and passion from the now ex-Arsenal captain. When I first heard the rumours about a possible move to Barcelona I have to say I wished, on some small level, that he would in fact go.

Don’t get me wrong, losing someone like Thierry Henry is going to impact on our upcoming season however I don’t want someone who’s heart is simply not into it. Last year there was evidence of this and to be fair no one needs a player that isn’t committed 100%.

Henry finds himself in Spain today and he’ll be presented to the fans after a medical examination which is really just a formality so the time has come to say goodbye to a true football legend.