The True Meaning of Winterval

Sometimes, the People's Republic gets it wrong. One of these times, and the one that has caused the most damaged to my beloved Birmingham, is a tongue-in-cheek write-up about the politically correct Brummie creation (myth) that is known as Winterval. Back when I started this blog in 2005, I pointed out that if we were to set aside a day for Winterval, it should be the 28th December, which was in 1998 a Bank Holiday Monday in place of the Boxing Day which fell over the weekend, and was based on an Ed Doolan show joke back then where people were moaning about their bins not being collected. Sadly, I have to report that some people have quoted this post (on a forum no less!) as proof that Birmingham did abolish Christmas back in 1998 and replaced it with a Winter Festival - Winterval if you like - so as not to offend the Brummie ethnic minorities (of which I am one). Repeat after me:

Birmingham City Council never - I repeat never - abolished Christmas in favour of a new festival called Winterval in an act of political correctness gone mad.

Here are some posts testifying to this truth:

http://pigsonthewing.wordpress.com/2008/10/30/winterval-the-truth/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winterval
http://www.mattwardman.com/blog/2008/12/28/debunking-the-winterval-myth-a-creed-for-christmas/
http://humanistsforlabour.typepad.com/labour_humanists/2007/10/its-early-octob.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/dec/08/religion.communities

Happy belated Winterval everyone!

'Pool Romp to Title Win

It remains to be seen whether Manchester United's World Club Cup jolly will end up costing them the Premier League, but it certainly ended their Promroiship chances as they failed to play and take advantage of Liverpool's below average 32 point haul yesterday, handing the Reds the Promroiship title for 08/09 (for the rules and the reason we finish at Christmas, see here). Every winner of the Promroiship so far has gone on to win the Premier League in the same season. Will Liverpool's 18 year title famine come to an end with a Premier League and Promroiship double?

If so, the signs may not be so good for Arsenal's Champions League quest, as they blew a top four Promroiship finish on the final day after their one-nil win over Portsmouth featured as the penultimate match last night. Will the Promroiship table top five be indicative of their final Premier League positions this season?

With Liverpool and Manchester United finishing in the top two in the Promroiship this season, it looks like the Beeb, like the ITV Champions League crew, have lost their camera crews somewhere around the M62. Everton and Manchester City finished 10th and 11th respectively, although the latter's position may be undermined by the fact that in 20 rounds they only appeared on MOTD seven times - my instinct is that their needs to be at least 10 appearances on Match of the Day to be confident about the position of the team in the table, as it was generally after this number of games that the table tended to settle down.

At the bottom Steve Bruce made a prophetic comment about being last on Match of the Day last night (or was it a self-fulfilling prophecy?) which was apt as Wigan ended bottom of the Promroiship by a clear three points. In fact Wigan were in the bottom two for the entire season, and were placed bottom of the Promroiship table in 16 weeks out of the 20. The teams beginning with W took three of the bottom four places this season, with Middlesbrough ending second bottom for the second season running. Of course, as Motty might say, 'M' is a 'W' upside down, so it may not be unrelated.

There will be a full analysis of these results later in the week, but ProBrum congratulates the scousers on their maiden Promroiship win. Go out and paint the town red Stevie G... oh sorry, I see you already did.

Promroiship Results December 28th 2008 (Match of the Day Running Order)

Newcastle v Liverpool.......32
Fulham v Chelsea............40
West Brom v Tottenham.......48
Blackburn v Manchester City.24
West Ham v Stoke ...........24
Everton v Sunderland........16
Arsenal v Portsmouth........24
Bolton v Wigan..............16

The Promroiship - FINAL TABLE 08/09

Team..................Total...Apps..Average
Liverpool..............667.....15....44.5
Manchester United......484.....13....37.2
Chelsea................371.....10....37.1
Aston Villa............363.....10....36.3
Arsenal................614.....17....36.1
Tottenham Hotspur......309......9....34.3
Hull City..............493.....15....32.9
Portsmouth.............327.....11....29.7
Stoke City.............455.....16....28.4
Everton................331.....12....27.6
Manchester City........193......7....27.6
Fulham.................463.....17....27.2
Sunderland.............454.....17....26.7
Bolton Wanderers.......448.....17....26.4
Newcastle United.......334.....13....25.7
Blackburn Rovers.......420.....17....24.7
West Bromwich Albion...416.....17....24.5
West Ham United........278.....12....23.2
Middlesbrough..........381.....17....22.4
Wigan Athletic.........271.....14....19.4

Liverpool Lead with One Round to Go

Tonight we will find out who will win the 2008/9 Promroiship title after a full fixture list on Boxing day sorted the men from the boys. Manchester United closed the gap slightly on leaders Liverpool but it looks as if the scousers have sown up the Promroiship title, remaining over seven points ahead of their North West rivals. The week's big movers were Manchester City, who moved up four places after appearing first in only their sixth Match of the Day appearance of the season, although being involved in a six goal match meant they only bagged 40 points. Chelsea and West Brom picked up a huge 60 points each after appearing third on MOTD, moving Chelsea into the top four and West Brom up a place to 18th. Arsenal and Aston Villa consolidated their top five positions after appearing second on the Beebs flagship footie show, capturing 50 points in their exciting 2-2 draw. Tottenham dropped three places to seventh after their goalless draw against Fulham appeared last on Match of the Day, netting only 10 points. Wigan remain bottom after their 2-1 win over Newcastle appeared fourth-last on the Beebs flagship footie show, after two matches where less goals were scored, and bagging the teams only 10 points each. Surprisingly given a full fixture list, all teams managed to gain a positive number of points this weekend.

Promroiship Results December 26th 2008 (Match of the Day Running Order)

Manchester City v Hull City....40
Aston Vila v Arsenal...........50
Chelsea v West Bromwich Albion.60
Liverpool v Bolton Wanderers...40
Portsmouth v West Ham United...10
Stoke City v Manchester United.40
Wigan Athletic v Newcastle.....10
Middlesbrough v Everton........20
Sunderland v Blackburn Rovers..20
Tottenham Hotspur v Fulham.....10

The Promroiship Table after Round 19 (08/9)

Team..................Total...Apps..Average
Liverpool..............635.....14....45.4
Manchester United......484.....13....37.2
Arsenal................590.....16....36.9
Chelsea................331......9....36.8
Aston Villa............363.....10....36.3
Hull City..............493.....15....32.9
Tottenham Hotspur......261......8....32.6
Portsmouth.............303.....10....30.3
Stoke City.............431.....15....28.7
Everton................315.....11....28.6
Manchester City........169......6....28.2
Sunderland.............438.....16....27.4
Bolton Wanderers.......432.....16....27.0
Fulham.................423.....16....26.4
Newcastle United.......302.....12....25.2
Blackburn Rovers.......396.....16....24.8
West Ham United........254.....11....23.1
West Bromwich Albion...368.....16....23.0
Middlesbrough..........381.....17....22.4
Wigan Athletic.........255.....13....19.6

Play it Again, Sam

With only two rounds of the Promroiship to go with one tonight and one on Sunday, I can barely contain my excitement. Just like Kevin Keegan last year, big Sam made an immediate impact in the Promroiship as well as the Premier League with Blackburn's match against Stoke City featuring first and bagging joint maximum points. It did not raise them from fifth bottom, however, unlike Stoke who were the weeks big movers up two to tenth. The Claret and Blue derby solidified both Villa and West Ham's fifth and fourth bottom places respectively, but failed to move them up. Fulham dropped two places after their 2-1 victory over Boro was deemed worthy of last on Match of the Day. With all 20 teams playing on Boxing day, and 16 in Sunday, Promroiship-wise, there is still plenty to play for over the Christmas break.

Promroiship Results December 20th 2008 (Match of the Day Running Order)

Blackburn Rovers v Stoke City...35
Hull City v Sunderland..........20
West Ham United v Aston Villa...35
Bolton Wanderers v Portsmouth...20
Fulham v Middlesbrough..........15

The Promroiship Table after Round 18 (08/9)

Team..................Total...Apps..Average
Liverpool..............595.....13....45.8
Manchester United......444.....12....37.0
Arsenal................540.....15....36.0
Tottenham Hotspur......251......7....35.9
Aston Villa............313......9....34.8
Chelsea................271......8....33.9
Portsmouth.............293......9....32.6
Hull City..............453.....14....32.4
Everton................295.....10....29.5
Stoke City.............391.....14....27.9
Sunderland.............418.....15....27.9
Fulham.................413.....15....27.5
Newcastle United.......292.....11....26.5
Bolton Wanderers.......392.....15....26.1
Manchester City........129......5....25.8
Blackburn Rovers.......376.....15....25.1
West Ham United........244.....10....24.4
Middlesbrough..........361.....16....22.6
West Bromwich Albion...308.....15....20.5
Wigan Athletic.........245.....12....20.4

Merry Christmas 2008

ProBrum wishes all his readers a very happy Christmas. Enjoy yourselves!

Incredible Hull Boost Reds Title Chances

Liverpool extended their lead at the top of the Promroiship thanks to a thrilling four goal draw with Hull City that was deemed worthy of featuring first of Match of the Day. Rafa Benitez believes Liverpool have an 80% chance of winning the Premier League if they are top after Christmas; ProBrum gives the Reds a 95% chance of winning the Promroiship given how far they are ahead now. Manchester United had an entertaining no score draw with Harry Redknapp's new club Tottenham which only featured fifth but bagged the same amount of points, lifting the Red Devils into second and Tottenham up three places to fifth. At the bottom, Blackburn's result may have threatened their Premier League survival hopes, but losing 3-0 to relegation rivals Wigan gave them more exposure on Match of the Day and lifted them above West Ham who did not play. The result was not enough to lift Wigan of the bottom, however, but they did close the gap to West Brom to 0.1 points.

Promroiship Results December 13th 2008 (Match of the Day Running Order)
Liverpool v Hull City.........48
Aston Villa v Bolton .........24
Wigan v Blackburn Rovers......40
Sunderland v West Brom........24
Tottenham v Manchester United.48
Middlesbrough v Arsenal.......24
Manchester City v Everton.....24
Stoke City v Fulham...........14

The Promroiship Table after Round 17 (08/9)

Team..................Total...Apps..Average
Liverpool..............595.....13....45.8
Manchester United......444.....12....37.0
Arsenal................540.....15....36.0
Tottenham Hotspur......251......7....35.9
Aston Villa............278......8....34.8
Portsmouth.............273......8....34.1
Chelsea................271......8....33.9
Hull City..............433.....13....33.3
Everton................295.....10....29.5
Fulham.................398.....14....28.4
Sunderland.............398.....14....28.4
Stoke City.............356.....13....27.4
Bolton Wanderers.......372.....14....26.6
Newcastle United.......292.....11....26.5
Manchester City........129......5....25.8
Blackburn Rovers.......341.....14....24.4
West Ham United........209......9....23.2
Middlesbrough..........346.....15....23.1
West Bromwich Albion...308.....15....20.5
Wigan Athletic.........245.....12....20.4

Rovers Return for Reds

Have Liverpool effectively won the Promroiship? Although with the scoring system we use and the fact that it is averages rather than total points we rank by, the Reds have been leading since Round 7 up to a lead of just over 10 points in week 12 and while the gap has narrowed somewhat recently they have been leading by around 5 points (and usually significantly more) since Round 9. Another first on Match of the Day saw them extend their lead at the top, although Manchester United and Sunderland received the most points this week after featuring second with a one goal match, a result that sees the Red Devils move up two places and Sunderland four. The big losers were Manchester City, whose fourth appearance on Match of the Day saw them feature last and resulted in them dropping six places to 15th.

Promroiship Results December 6th 2008 (Match of the Day Running Order)
Blackburn Rovers v Liverpool....42
Manchester United v Sunderland..56
Hull City v Middlesbrough.......35
Newcastle United v Stoke City...21
Bolton Wanderers v Chelsea......28
Arsenal v Wigan Athletic........28
Fulham v Manchester City........14

The Promroiship Table after Round 16 (08/9)
Team..................Total...Apps..Average
Liverpool..............547.....12....45.6
Arsenal................516.....14....36.9
Aston Villa............254......7....36.3
Manchester United......396.....11....36.0
Portsmouth.............273......8....34.1
Chelsea................271......8....33.9
Tottenham Hotspur......203......6....33.8
Hull City..............385.....12....32.1
Everton................271......9....30.1
Fulham.................374.....13....28.8
Sunderland.............374.....13....28.8
Stoke City.............332.....12....27.7
Bolton Wanderers.......348.....13....26.8
Newcastle United.......292.....11....26.5
Manchester City........105......4....26.3
West Ham United........209......9....23.2
Blackburn Rovers.......301.....13....23.2
Middlesbrough..........322.....14....23.0
West Bromwich Albion...284.....14....20.3
Wigan Athletic.........205.....11....18.6

The Thatcher-Blair Endgame?

The government owns 58% of RBS, and 100% of Northern Rock, both previously private banks.

Meanwhile, we pay water rates to a private monopoly. Six private energy firms control the market for gas and electricity. The railways are run as essentially private monopoly enterprises. Air Traffic control and defence research is part privatised. There has been increasing privatisation of schools and the NHS, including PFI where money for capital projects is borrowed from the private sector (at rates higher than we would have been able to borrow from the government). The telecommunication industry is completely in private hands, despite BT's dominance stifling competition.

It's a funny old world.