Amanda. I'm a big supporter of what you are trying to do and very impressed with how you are going about it. However, so you don't upset some of the locals could you keep your updates (which, unlike some around here, I'm very interested in reading) to this thread (because it then saves somebody the job of merging them together). Going back to the topic in hand (rather than bitchin' about wether we care) Rovers are in a somewhat unique position to trial this idea because. a. We have more seats than fans. b. We have a stand the is due development c. We've had a very noticable loss of atmosphere d. We need an initiative to bring fans back to the ground. e. Our catchment area includes a greater proportion of working class to prawn sandwich than many. Turning part of the Riverside (E04, where we don't have ST holders and do the £15 tickets that nobody knows about) into a safe standing area would be fantastic and hopefully address some of the attendance and atmosphere problem. Even occasional standing seems to be getting less acceptable. I was somewhat amazed that just before half time at Boro away I received a tap on the shoulder asking me to politely but firmly sit down. The problem was I had stood up three times, not to make some silly point about standing, or to join in some daft "stand up if you .... " song,. Nope I had stood up for no more than 4 seconds at a time, to berate the ref ! Now being someone that doesn't like to inpinge on others enjoyment of the game I stayed firmly rooted to my seat fro the second half. But it did make me realise just WHY the amosphere at games is dying !

I'm assuming you actualy work for that site (if not thats a very odd first post), so I should be giving you grief about commercial trading, but far more important is the feedback/email form on your site, it's horribly insecure and can easily be abused by spammers. See http://securitytracker.com/alerts/2001/Mar/1001108.html for more info. As an aside, your site looks horribly dated, I'm sure if you wanted a funky modern site there are a few people around here who could provide you with a reasonable quote

You're flying it wrong ! When you nick one for a mission it explains how to use it. The plane has two modes, VTOL and normal. VTOL mode is for landing and taking off and only allow slow movement, but in ANY direction (including up and down). In normal mode it flys like a normal plane (and pretty mast too). To switch to normal mode push the right analogue stick up for a second or so, for VTOL pull it down for a second or so. Hope that helps.

You're all gits by the way. You convinced me the last level was hard. So I eventually got bored trying to get as close to 100% as I could before doing it, so I tried it, and finished it ........ ON MY FIRST ATTEMPT. I imagine it would be a little more challenging if you're not fireproof (fire missions are something I normally do early on, they are a good way to learn the map and make some quick bucks), but still, I'd have expected more of a challenge. I'm still working towards 100% though.

Harrier Jump Jets can be obtained from the aircraft carrier in San Fiero (although after a certain point in the game you get one of your own too). Area 69 has an array of military vehicles, including the Apache helicopter (and tanks). You'll not get them out without s stuggle though. My highest vigilante mission is 78 It's very easy when you know how (and I don't mean the cheating way).

Any game that lets you beat a cop to death with a double ended dildo whilst listening to Tupac's "I don't give a ####" during which Shaun Ryder is knocking one off the wrist and braging of taking 23 Es in one go, probably deserves an 18 ! Seriously, just because it's a game doesn't mean it's suitable for kids.

We went in The Arkles near Anfield last time and it was pretty good. In fact, I think you were there as well!! If I remember rightly you spent most of the time "playing" with Waggy jnr. Normally it's either the Arkles (which is a bit of a trek). The place on the corner right opposite the ground whos name escapes me (which is a bit rough and a bit crap, but I've seen you in there before) and the Thomas Frost (a wetherspoons, so nor atmosphere but no agro and cheap ale. A couple of roads behind the last pub, near an aldi/netto/iceland or something.

You really should listen a little closer before you join in. The third line is "You're Interbred" not "You're #####" (although the orignal Adams Family, "Father is your cousin, your sister is your lover" version makes much more sense anyways). Which reminds me ....... To the muppet who sits behind me (row 24/25 ish, seat 88-92 ish). If you took a few minutes to learn a little Rovers history, you wouldn't have three rows wetting themselves when you repeatedly started a one man chorus of "One Simon Gardener

Except I wouldn't reset it. Just like the penalty counter I'd simply remove it

Just had it confirmed tonight the ground WILL be serving ale...... which is nice.

are these pubs easy to find? i'm not from blackburn and rarely venture there (except for matches), but gotta wait around for an hour or so after the match to get a lift home so need somewhere warm to hide out. The Brown Cow and White Bull are both on this map.

Not many. See the Blues Bar thread for a few clues.

Where is Freddy Adu ? Press 1 (as soon as you hear "Press 1") then press 9 (as soon as you here anything). Straight into the queue, no 4 mins of ticket info. I'm sure this has been mentioned before I'm now going to have to make thequeue busier because the tickets I ordered Tuesday haven't arrived yet.

The reminds me, is anyone sat somewhere where flags can easily be displayed (without covering advertising). The BBE lower is surprisingly lacking such places. If so, and you don't mind taking custody of the site flag then drop me a PM.

Eh ? I can't see them NOT allowing it (although the school itself often chooses not to open for midweek games). If it's NOT open the Dingles that drive are going to be parking all over, at least at the schools its quite easy for the police to marshall them into the ground. It'll be much harder if they end up taking up spaces all over Blackburn. As for the traffic, they'll just hold it on there until after the coaches pass, just as they always do. Roversyoyo, since a second car park (and sometime third) has opened opposite Albion Mill I've never seen any of them get anywhere near full.

At the moment, with 50+ lines going, they probably are. To get that they will have to be getting over 800hrs of calls per month, I can't see them hitting that when there isn't a Burnley/Celtic/Cup Final to sell. The club (and BT) should also make more of a point that 0870 is NOT a premium rate number (as many think), it charged at national rate.

Intresting. Up to press they have only every had 50 lines (i.e. 50 slots in the queue) on the TO queue. So I'm guessing they've added some more capacity to the queue (unless you miss heard and it was position 49). Also, this gets mentioned on every ticket thread but ..... Postal Applications (before the tickets go on sales where possible) are the easiest way of doing things without queing. They can be handed in at the TO before tickets go on sales to allow you to jump the queue a little (and save the postage). and ..... You don't HAVE to listen to the ticket info (only to find the queue is full). As soon as the recorded message gets to "For The Ticket Office, Press 1" Press 1. Then as soon as the TO message starts playing PRESS 9. That will take you staright to the same point as if you'd listened to the message.

So what's the answer, employ additional staff all year round just on the off chance we have to sell tickets for such a desirable game at such short notice again ? Do they get a bunch of agency staff in who will not only be slow, inefficient and prone to error but also cost the club a fortune ? Or do they do the best they can with the resources they've got ? Now, I admit the whole online side of things should be sorted, which in turn would have eased the burden. For all those "3rd division administration" muppets. Talking about this to people at work reminds me just how good our ticket office is. Have you ever had to send a blank cheque so you can be allocated any seat in any part of the ground ? No ? United fans have to do it regulary. Fancy watching the Arsenal vs Sheff Utd ? Personal applications only, meaning to get a ticket for a game at Sheffield my mate has to drive to London and back to get a ticket. The ticket office comes in for a lot of stick, but I think other than the odd cock-up, they seem to get it as right as possible most of the time.

I wouldn't worry, I'm going to "do a Gav" and predict we won't sell out either.

I'm normally a big advoate of people taking what enjoyment from football they choose too, even if they want to sit down, make no noise other than to moan, complain when people pass the to go to the bar and then leave 10 minutes early. If thats what they want then so be it. The way I see it is we can't fill Ewood even with them, so at least make them feel welcome so we can keep taking their £20 every game. However, I feel than Dec 2000 went of too well in some ways, many of the Bovril Brigade who were scared away last time, turned up this time and diluted the normal away support ("It's just like being at home"). Hence the somewhat flat atmosphere. That said, for every bovril drinking, tartan rug wearing fan we seemed to find balance by taking a 16 year old, drunken arsehole chav. Ripping down the bar sign ? Nice move lads, well classy. Ripping up seats ? good move. Launching stuff onto the field ? you are bright aren't you ? Thankfully these little f'wits turn up away as regulary as the bovril brigade do. But whats the answer ? There isn't one. The days of us taking 3000 "hardcore" fans away have long since gone and as I said at the top, I'd rather be sat next to the bovril brigade rather than an empty seat. ... and for those that think Ewood will be better, your having a laugh aren't you ? Our home crowd has become so diltuted that even the BBE has massive silent sections now, let alone the JW and WS stands. It's mid-week, we can't fill it normally and I'd imagine half of those that got last minute tickets to boro to ensure a ticket for the turf will suddenly feel they have earn't enough "bragging rights" by being at the turf to miss this one. Sorry to be negative, but thats the way I see it.

Having made the Yorkshire -> Lancashire -> Yorkshire -> Lancashire -> Yorkshire journey and then re-watched it on TV I'm not going to spend any more time thinking about the football. It was dreadful, lets leave it at that. As for coin chucking, something everyone missed was a missile (coin or lighter) being chucked from the Longside at the linesman that a steward then went and retrieved AND PASSED IT BACK TO THE FANS ! I was hoping the beeb had captured that, but sadly not. As for the crowd, it was obvious the Longside was singing (from the body motions), but we often couldn't hear you because of our own noise. I'm guessing you were exactly the same. On the beeb coverge I've just watched I'd have said the number of audible songs per side was pretty even, but then, you did have three sides of the ground. ..... and just what did your little clone island army hope to achieve by refusing to leave at the end ? It was nice to keep us company and getting repeatedly slapped by the OB was quite funny, but honestly ? Why bother ?

Bugger, I forgot about that, thats the one where Mike Landers is representing the Dingles isn't it ?

This is probably a good time to remind people about the "Spell Check" button. It's not 100% accurate, but it is worth a click (especially if, like me, spelling isn't your strong point).

I know I'm going to pay for this, but ...... Isn't everyone bigger than Gav ?

I think Debs should go. We're likely to be stood up for the entire 90 minutes and therefore the ticket would be wasted on Gav who wouldn't be able to see anyway