I think people are inferring their own criteria for the raison d'etre of the MM weekend - it isn't to spread the word or evangalise about the sport, nor is to pave the way for future expansion...they have only ever been mentioned by people like us a bonus, but not a reason.

Cardiff had a 2 year agreement with an option for another year, as does Edinburgh. It'll be there next year and if it's there for the 3rd...well, thats down to how well the Scots support and promote it. Completely consistent with the rationale for taking it away from Cardiff. It's not about supporting SL franchises and Celtic now having one has nowt to do with it.

There aren't enough blue ribbon events in the game and this concept has no chance of devaluing anything else we have in our calendar. We need MORE of these events not less.

Personally, if it was a choice, I'd plump for a weekend away, enjoying the craic and watching 7 games rather than spending a single afternoon watching 1 game on an industrial estate in North London. I believe - and this is just my opinion - that MM is the best social event on our calendar, in the sense it's also the only one we have in our calendar! No other sport has this concept and most couldn't even support it. Lets shout about it! The CC gets a 1/10 page somewhere on a Sunday edition of a rag, if we're lucky. On the other hand the Sunday Times had a full page on this event. That sort of coverage doesn't detract from the CC. How can it? IN fact it may even support it!

I went up there and saw 5 out of 7 games. I wish I could have seen all 7 but flight timings prevented that. I went to Cardiff last year only for the one day and left half way through the Saints v Wigan hammering (once agin travel timetables!) and didn't stay overnight so my two experiences aren't really comparable but it's fair to say I absolutely enjoyed it in Edinburgh. The party I was with are planning next years already and our number has already swollen from 3 to 4! (ok, from small acorns..)

The whole idea of the concept is so you can dip in and out so people shouldn't expect to see sell-out crowds each time. Its not the nature of it - its not a GF or a CC - ITS NOT THE NATURE OF IT. No point comparing them all the time. RU gets the HK 7's or a Barbarians (without hurting their suporters or competitions) for a jolly up for their supporters and the competition is still serious - why shouldn't we have one event like this? Soccer has the charity shield as a jolly up for their supporters and I dareasy their are heaps of other examples (though of course quite different so a direct comparison is difficult) of other sports....why shouldn't we have this in our calendar? I afraid that just because some people dont like it, doesn't mean it's a bad idea.

those who don't like it - don't go. Those who like it - go. It's simple. My bet is this will stay in the calendar and I would be disappointed if it didn't. It's great fun, good exposure for the game in the press and takes place in a virgin area. I believe it has better atmosphere than a CC or GF - not in the stadium necessarily but we are comparing 7 games, 2 days and (at least)one night versus an afternoon, 1 game and maybe a night tacked on to the end of it.

But for me, the main positive about this whoe thing, is that the game gets paid for it. As the mans say - Show Me The Money!!

for those who haven't been - go. you might find yourself liking it! If you like watching RL you cant go wrong! Of course, if you dont want to go that is fine, it's your choice. But don't expect others to follow your choice, especially when they've been and decided they like it......

Heh, I must admit, you've got me there

Couldn't agree with you more

What do i win ,

the wooden spoon?

obviously the magic weekend is so important to the SL set up, the web site has not been updated since the event, and thats 2 weeks!! strange approach