How to LiveBlog the CL
By: Isaiah | March 9th, 2009So it appears from the comment and a couple of emails that the CoverItLive thing was a smashing success. And now the Barça Offside community appears to be clamoring for more. Ever more, with you crazy cules, huh? I was afraid this would happen. And now I’ve opened this door and there’s no going back.
The problem is that I do not generally watch the league games from the comfort of my home as I tend to go to Nevada Smiths and I’m usually working during the CL games so I don’t get to see them until I get home in the evening. That means I can’t run a liveblog, of course.
And that, dearest reader, is where you come in. I need a list of people willing to run the liveblog for me when I’m not able to do it myself. Before you agree to do it, please read the following list of things that it requires you to do:
1. Launch the liveblog about 15-30 minutes before the match begins to get some prematch warm up time and make sure everyone knows what’s going on. It will also help you because as people begin to comment, you can do….
2. Approve comments and/or commenters. If you were there for the first liveblog, you noticed that I began to approve comments by those who I know from the blog itself who I “trust” to not devolve into name-calling or diverge too much from the topic at hand. That means that the person/people I’m going to approve for adminship are going to be regular commenters from this site, just so I feel more comfortable handing over the reins. You have to be willing to wield power if the situation calls for it (there wasn’t such a situation last time), like if there are inappropriate comments (I made the most inappropriate one this last time, I think, kudos to all you mature humans who deal with me without getting mad).
3. Keep up with the action in the blog. You have to make sure you’re approving comments as they come in (or permanently approving commenters) You also have to put up quick polls (preferably of a humorous nature) and keep up with the latest/newest meme (for example: this past week it was Natalie Portman, who appeared in most polls, and then Puyol’s shorts were added).
4. End the liveblog whenever you feel like it. I ended the first one about 5 minutes after the final whistle so that people could get a few final words in.
If you’re interested in being an admin (and it’s not that easy because you miss what’s going on in the game sometimes — note that “watch the game” is not in steps 1-4), please email me at barcelona[at]theoffside[dot]com. You can say that you’re only interested in league games or just generally interested in learning more about perhaps maybe kinda sorta becoming an admin. Please note that this means you’ll be an admin for the liveblogging only and not the Barça Offside in general.
I will run training sessions for those interested (we can work something out because it appears that CoverItLive works from my job), so don’t worry, you’ll be ready when you’re called upon. Looks likely that I’m going to run the Lyon one, but I’d like to get people trained just in case. So email me. Now.
Category: Nonsense
Subscribe
|
Print
|
Share
      |
Comments
-
AHAHHAHA 4-0
U should see the smile on my face
Posted from
Kuwait
-
3 minutes of injury time seems too much. Just let Madrid go hide lol.
Posted from
United States -
Almost became 5!! Ouch. And Real Madrid is getting crazy with the fouls. Cowards.
Posted from
United States -
5-0 on aggregate, ouch.
Posted from
United States -
Honestly, villareal did spain proud. But cmon madrdid, losing 5-0 on aggretate? Wow.
Posted from
Kuwait -
Bayern winning 12-1 on aggregate. Do you think they are a serious contender for the CL-title?
Posted from
Germany -
If it was ANY GK except for Casillas, RM would’ve lost by at least 7. Just pure domination. We HAVE to bring the intensity on all of our CL matches.
I was bitching about how annoyingly OMG EPL RULEZ!!! the commentators were but then I told myself “scoreboard”. You beat a team by a 5-0 aggregate and you deserve to have your butt kissed.
DAMN YOU MADRID!!!! You could have at least made it close. We better win tomorrow.
Posted from
United States -
Yep and unfortunately they can’t cite refereeing mistakes today because Liverpool had already won the game 5 minutes in.
It was just 100% clear that Liverpool was going to win that game and the only question was ‘by how much?’
Benitez brought in the kids and STILL scored another goal. Very few words can describe this.
Posted from
United States -
As much as i love watching Real lose this is just an embarrassment to Spanish football. They are supposed to be the Spanish champions right? How can they lose 5-0 on aggregate to any team? What a joke. Never gona hear the end of “EPL dominance” now!! At least put up a fight ffs, score a goal or something. Lets hope this at least dents their confidence and rubs off them in the league cos now they have nothing else to fight for….
Posted from
United States -
The only thing that can top this is an embarrassment at the Bernabeu at the hands of their fierce rivals, FC Barcelona.
Really hope it happens this season.Posted from
United States -
sorry, i wasnt part of this community back in the summer, and i dont mean to bash on you kxevin, but some excerpts from the hleb signing post:
“I’m going to blaspheme here, but I would play Hleb over SPF 45 on many occasions. He has better possession control than Iniesta, particularly when being battered by a defender, and is bigger and stronger.”
“But Hleb will work far better for us than he did for Arsenal”
“I’m putting aside my heart in this one. And when you watch Hleb match in and match out, he’s the goods. First team all the time? No way. But neither is Iniesta”
“That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. The season will tell, gents. The season will tell. You’ll certainly see Iniesta more often than Hleb, but mark my words:
At this time next year, I expect a lot of ‘You were right, Kxevin.’ And this is what I will do: ”Quote from John from the E.E.’s Offside
“halfway through the season I expect you to be saying something like “What the hell is Pep thinking? There’s no way that lanky belarussian should even be allowed anywhere near the bench, let alone on the pitch.”
again, not to bash on you Kxevin, but you were very sure about this man. John, it seems you were right. I dont think Hleb is good enough to be a ball boy.
of course, in hindsight, everything seems obvious. Good thing i wasnt around back there… cuz anyone who suggests that Iniesta isnt one of the the thrid best players in the world, has a bone to pick with me!
Posted from
United States -
you are completely right jason,there were a lot of guys like ramzi who was thinking iniesta is not a good enough player and say(on pep blog) he is a player that must come in the pitch from bench after half_time or something like this
Posted from
United States -
dont get me wrong ramzi, i am a big fan of u and i realy love your coments
Posted from
United States -
peyman, with all respect but I hope you get me one comment I said about iniesta that is even close to that
I was -if not the only one- probably one of the minority who opposed the super sub label for Iniesta. And while every one was looking for a left wing, I can claim being the only commenter who kept repeating again and again that Iniesta is the best left back we can get.
No doubt I have been wrong about lot of things, but this is definitely not one of it. Its not appropriate to post here old links about my comments on pep blog, or else I would do so.
For the record, I was equally optimist about Hleb signing back then.
Posted from
Germany -
Pepe=garbage
Posted from
United States -
Jason, great minds… About a week ago I went searching for that post and it did indeed make interesting reading. I remember a quote from an Arsenal fan being very negative but not too sure his exact words.
I was fairly negative too because I didn’t like him when he was with Arsenal.
There are defensive midfielders that create more chances than he does so I never saw the appeal of a forward who poses no scoring threat.
If you look at the amount of chances that Dani Alves creates from rightback by being decisive and daring you wonder why Txiki and Pep thought that a mouse like Hleb was put into the pressure cooker that is being a Barca player.Posted from
Ireland -
God bless Google:)
Here are two of so many samples one from this blog and one from peps:http://fcbtransfers.blogspot.com/2008/07/looking-for-left-winger-and-centre.html
http://barcelona.theoffside.com/team-news/coming-january-the-great-thierry-henry-sale.html
More are available upon request
Posted from
Germany -
http://barcelona.theoffside.com/la-liga/welcome-alex-hleb-aka-a-little-taste-of-belarus.html
“Good riddance, he was a worthless cunt who only played well when he was about to get benched. Nasri will be 100x the player he is” – AJR, a one-time poster and Arsenal fan one assumes.
I wonder if we had spent €5million less on the third midfielder (Keita) and added it to the winger transfer and got Arshavin how we would be doing now? Thats what I had been suggesting at the time.
Posted from
Ireland -
http://barcelona.theoffside.com/la-liga/welcome-alex-hleb-aka-a-little-taste-of-belarus.html
makes interesting reading…“Good riddance, he was a worthless cunt who only played well when he was about to get benched. Nasri will be 100x the player he is” – AJR, a one time post and Arsenal fan, one assumes
Last summer I had the idea of spending €5million less on 3rd midfielder (Keita) and €5million extra on the transfer of the winger (Hleb) in order to get Arshavin. I wonder how that would have worked?
Posted from
Ireland -
Why didn’t Txiki and company saw Ribery as a solution instead of Hleb for the left since they are both so versatile.But I’m hoping we keep Hleb for 1 more season to see his development into the Spanish game and u know through out our history we have had many talents who left because of 1 unsuccessful season…Quersma and Riquleme as a few.I just don’t wanna see him leave and we all know he is talented enough.His situation is a common theme to us when new players join.
Posted from
United States -
I truly do feel sorry for Casillas, though. A legend like him does not deserve a beating like that.
Posted from
United States -
Well, I’ll start by saying most emphatically that Iniesta is NOT one of the three best players in the world. Period. He isn’t even one of the three best players on Barcelona, never mind the world.
Yes, he’s valuable to our attack, and works very well with Xavi, but don’t let that delude you. You can have fun calling me out for opinions made when you weren’t even around, but do not let good play make you think that Iniesta is one of the world’s three best players.
As for Hleb, based on his play at Arsenal, those were sound statements. I still believe that he keeps possession and controls better than any player on the side except for Xavi and Messi. But if a player doesn’t come in and start scoring 413 goals, he’s shit. It was true of Henry last season, it’s true of Hleb this season, who will it be true of next season? Ribery? Benzema?
And yes, you DO mean to bash on me. Just own up to it. If Hleb were coming here from the level of play that he had at Arsenal, I’d write the exact same things all over again. Because they were true then.
No, he hasn’t fit into the Barca system. Neither did Henry last season, and he still had a pretty healthy pile of goals last season. He’s even better this season, and yet people still say he sucks. And the fact that some allege that I have an “ex-Arsenal” bias is just so much festering bullshit.
What I have is a bias against players being tossed on the woodpile before they have the opportunity to prove themselves, and work into a very difficult system. What if Henry had been sold (or shot, as some advocated) at the end of last season? Find me somebody who can get us 18 goals from that wing, single-handedly beat Valencia, play trackback defense and is still the fastest attacker on the pitch. He’s also the reason that we’re looking good against Lyon.
I won’t hold my breath while you search.
And even now I would play Hleb over Iniesta against physical, midfield attacking, ball chasing teams. We’ve all seen him take a battering and retain possession. I’d take his control and ability to retain possession over Iniesta. And yes, he is still bigger and stronger.
Can he work better for us than with Arsenal? Dunno. Play him as Arsenal did, and let’s see. Probably won’t happen, though, because we don’t have that kind of a system. I always forget that our system never adapts to a player’s skills.
But everyone knew coming in that Hleb wasn’t going to be a goal-scoring attacker. He wasn’t at Arsenal, and he isn’t here. What he was supposed to be was a midfield passer and controller to facilitate our possession game. Period. He looked good at the start, got injured and hasn’t been the same since.
Is it reps? I dunno. People say that Krkic deserves reps to build his confidence. But Hleb is shit and should be sold. So you tell me.
And he isn’t first team all the time. That’s also true. But tell me that when Busquets is off, you’d rather have him kicking balls to the other side, or Hleb holding a pass, circling and distributing. I know what my choice is.
Hindsight is always 20/20. Who knew he’d be injured. Who knew he’d have a hard time fitting in. Who knew he wouldn’t get playing time. We were expecting good things from he and Keita. Neither has panned out. But this was supposed to be a good year for Krkic, and that didn’t pan out, either.
As for my “Iniesta isn’t first team all the time” statement, I stick to that one, as well. He isn’t. He is now because people haven’t panned out. Period.
–As for the EPL dominance, they took a team that we struggled with and finally beat 2-0 at home, that has turned the Liga title race into something of a chase, and destroyed them. They had both teams in the CL final last season, and look to have their representatives moving along to the next round.
At present, it ain’t bragging, because they’re backing it up, and it will be true until someone (us) proves otherwise. Lyon is the best opponent for us right now, given the state of our wounded back line.
When we get past Lyon, we’ll have about a month before the quarters. Unfortunately, that won’t be sufficient time for Abidal (another “he sucks, kill him” player whom I also stuck up for….find those posts) to return and make our defense as strong as it’s going to need to be to advance.
The EE’s departure means that they only have the Liga to focus on. It might work for them, it might not. But we have to be stronger than ever to prevail.
Posted from
United States -
Wohohohoah…. taken TOO literal there..
Like all good American Sports fans, I say that my favorite team is the best regardless of whther it is ture or not, and i say that my favorite players are the best, whether they are or not. I know that Iniesta is not the in the top 3. Hell, their are some Real madrid players that are better than him. I meant that in a joking, and Barca-centric tone. cuz we all love Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, and everyone else, just like a madrid fan will tell you that the best players in the world are Robben, Casillas, and Ramos.
Secondly, theres a difference between a playfull jab, and Bashing. I wasnt going around the interweb trying to discredit you. The reason i used your quotes, was because your words tend to hold credibility in this here site, and that would best show how wrong EVERYONE was about Hleb.
If you read most of my posts, you know that i never try to undermine someone else’s opinion, even if i disagree, and frequently state (in your defense) that you “grade everyone harshly” when you are accused of bias toward one player or another, even though i always tend to disagree on alot of ratings.
Also, the quotes were really meant to show the immense difference in perception of Iniesta and Hleb from then til now. Because yes, i will own up to it, i think Iniesta is an awesome player, and i think Hleb is terribly unfit for this club. I am probably guilty, althouh not sorry, about the Hleb bashing. As i’ve said before he has ALOT of ability, but he belongs no where near are squad.
With great power comes great responsibilty, as an administrator, and publisher of about 50% of the publications here, what you say has weight, and you need to be ready to take some criticism without feeling like your journalistic integrity is being questioned, espicially by a half-serious comment.
So, like im sure Yaya tells Busi every day, “Man up son.”
Posted from
United States -
Thank you Tajh-
Posted from
United States -
I’m all good with criticism. I take it after every match review. But though some of us publish and some don’t, we’re all equals here. Anybody who can’t take a response to criticism should reconsider offering it.
Right now, my joy about the signing of Hleb was wrong as hell. True. But who knows about the future, if he’s still here.
Posted from
United States
Read the rest of the comments
Comments are closed
Home 
