Day 518

• UEFA has banned all away fans from the September rounds of the World Cup qualifiers.
• The WBA has suspended from all judging for six months (and may ban permanently, for a separate issue of her racist tweets) Gloria Martinez Rizzo.  There was a very questionable decision in the Mykal Fox-Gabriel Maestre interim title fight.  Maestre, in his fourth professional fight, won a questionable unanimous decision in which he was knocked down in the second round.  The two other judges, 115-112 and 114-113...  The WBA let slide (somewhat, see below).  Rizzo's 117-110, on the other hand...
• An immediate rematch has been ordered -- no champions' advantage.  The title is vacated on a draw or if the match cannot take place as the next fight the two have.
• Though Joe Biden has intimated at a possible boycott of the Beijing Winter Games for Uyghur Muslim genocide in China, no one else seems to be taking the lead of removing the US Olympic team from the Winter Games.
• Buried in the Mikey Takeover:  Matt Amodio has now become the third-highest winner (despite one of the worst UltraChampion records in Final Jeopardy, only 11-6) in the history of Jeopardy! with over $547,000 -- next...  Pack a lunch, he'd have to get to $2.2 million to get to the other two.
• On the flip side, today was the first game in over two weeks he did not have a Lock Out in Final Jeopardy.
• There is a good-news story about the new NIL stuff.  Built Bar, a nutrition bar, has had their company pay the full tuition for all 36 walk-ons at Brigham Young University's football program.  You know, it's one thing to talk about ONE STUDENT getting that tuition paid.  Let's hope this starts a trend back toward full scholarships.  Yes, this means they would have their Names, Images, and Likenesses tied to the company, but...

New rules interpretations for the opening of the English Premier League this weekend:

• The EPL will put the benefit of the doubt back on the attacking player for offside.  Over half of the 32 goals ruled out for offside last year under the lack of such benefit would stand this year, as the "toenails over the line" calls will no longer be enforced through VAR.
• After European penalties went up almost across the board and almost by a factor of 50% last year, the EPL will instruct the referees to be more lenient on incidental contact.  I do wonder, however, how they would've called the Canada-USA penalty from the Olympics...   
• The "attacking handball" rules will be somewhat relaxed.  A goal will still be disallowed if even an inadvertent handball is scored upon immediately.

More news:

• Vaccination or negative COVID test will be required to attend any New Orleans Saints game at the Superdome this season.
• And a vaccination proof will be required to set foot in any San Francisco indoor establishment.\
• The Pac-12 is joining the SEC:  Any COVID cancellations are forfeits this year.
• A pair of parents sent a COVID-positive child to school on the first day of school this year in Reno.  And now, they have to contact-trace EIGHTY students as a result.  In-person school is a GREAT IDEA this year...  If you want to see kids drop to the floor...   
• Part Deux:  Hundreds of Florida students now must quarantine after 51 positive tests in a school for COVID-19 in two days.  Over 400 now have to quarantine.  Nice.  Job.  IDIOTS....