No E3 of any kind this year -- online or otherwise. Plans are to try to bring the event back next year in full.
Early events from Wrestlemania Weekend in Dallas:
Jeff Jarrett and his wife Karen are back to terrorize the event they nearly caused a riot at last Wrestlemania-Dallas weekend: Jarrett aided his La Impresa AAA stable to destroy main-event winner Psycho Clown and even stole a fan's cane to aid in the attack. (The cane was returned unharmed.)
Randy Orton went on The Pat McAfee Show today and basically destroyed NXT, stating they don't know what they are doing and are lackadasical at protecting their opponents. Gee, you think cutting William Regal and slamming HHH to the side might have something to do with THAT?
There has apparently been an incident at WrestleCon with former NXT/205 Live wrestler Lince Dorado, possibly involving the father of former Bayley superfan Izzy. Cody Silyagi has apparently become quite the subject of controversy in the pro wrestling community the last 12-24 months - not sure if justified or otherwise.
It appears as if both the controversy and the incident are carryovers to the whole situation with pedophile professional wrestling trainer Chasyn Rance. Apparently, as a result of the friendship between Rance and Dorado, Cody (whose daughter nearly became a student of Rance's before his past was discovered) was talking quite a bit and Dorado challenged him to a public fight -- which has apparently happened at WrestleCon. Stay tuned -- Dorado has said he will give his side of the story in due time.
Jon Moxley retained the GCW World Heavyweight Championship with a pinfall win over AJ Gray.
The annual 10 man Wrestlecon Supershow tag was a complete clusterfuck. PCO (formerly one of the Mounties in WWE) brought four ex-WWE mid and lower-carders: Jimmy Wang Yang, Barry Horowitz, Enzo Amore, and Fandango. Atsushi Onita, who's about 107 and can't bump, brought The Rock and Roll Express, Juice Robinson from NJPW, and Colt Cabana.
Onita is actually 72, the same age as Jerry Lawler. Both have now wrestled this year.
The main event of the Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow at Wrestlecon was ruined when a fan heckled Low Ki for his anti-vaxx stand and, hence, being blackballed from many wrestling federations.
And an online beef over a previous card's pay between a wrestler and promoter has hit the Internet. Good grief, and we're just entering Friday...
The UCLA Director of Race and Equity said the quiet part out loud: He (like any sane person) would like to see another Supreme Court vacancy soon -- by the death of Clarence (Uncle) Thomas.
Bruce Arians stunned everybody Wednesday night by resigning as head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, taking a front-office position, and succeeding Defensive Coordinator Todd Bowles to the job -- stating that was part of the reason he wanted to keep the seat warm, was to pass it directly to Bowles. And when asked why he didn't want a second Brady ring, which might give him a fast-track to Canton, said he didn't give a fuck about the Hall of Fame in that regard -- the loyalty to the likes of Bowles was too important.
Now-former St. Peter's coach Shaheen Holloway has been hired away (by the same athletic director who hired him there) to coach at Seton Hall. To give an idea, however, how amenable the parting is, the entire Elite Eight team showed up to send him off at his Seton Hall press conference, and the team was given three standing ovations at the presser.
Florida Man strikes again, literally. A Black high-school track runner in Florida Knockout Gamed a White runner at a track meet on Saturday.
Several Orange County, CA people were arrested on the charges of running an illegal sports-gambling outfit in Southern California -- one of them an ex-pro baseball player. Wayne Nix, never got about AA in the A's organization, is among several who will plead guilty.
The Forum in Inglewood has a new naming sponsor: Kia.
Staines Town Football Club in England has been forced to immediately shutter due to involvement with the Downing Group and possibly human trafficking violations by the latter, in violation of a 2015 British anti-slavery law. Staines Town had been in an eighth-level English league, to be relegated to ninth-level after the season.
Portugal, Poland, Ghana, Cameroon, Morocco, Tunisia, and Senegal all qualified for World Cup 2022 yesterday.
After Ghana eliminated Nigeria on away goals, the Nigerian fans rioted and trashed their own stadium in the nation's second-largest city.
And the match in Senegal, where they eliminated Egypt on penalties, was a complete damned farce, as the crowd attempted to blind the entire Egyptian team with hundreds of laser pointers throughout the match. I guess that's part of African soccer, and a benefit of hosting the second leg of the two-leg tie, I guess...
Egypt has officially demanded either a replay of the second leg or a disqualification of Senegal. I expect they will get neither, fact is, they should get the DQ of Senegal.
27 of the 32 nations are now determined.
UEFA has to determine what to do with the Ukraine (it's scheduled for June in the UK, against Scotland first, the winner getting Wales).
The United States
and Mexico will qualify tonight unless Costa Rica pastes the USA by about six goals.
Peru has qualified for one interconfederational playoff -- and now waits for a June match between Australia and the United Arab Emirates to determine who they play.
And unless Costa Rica ramrods the USA tonight, they will play New Zealand (winners of the Oceanic Football Confederation tournament, the final in a 5-0 win over the Solomon Islands today in Qatar) in June.
It's Wrestlemania Week, meaning, for a person like me, a lot of the other companies' cards over the course of about four days in Dallas, TX. (My neck of the woods gets next year's Mania.) Not only a Grade One "FUCK VINCE!", but the main WWE cards themselves are quite underwhelming this year...
WWE Hall of Fame class, at least in announcement:
Headlined by the long-overdue (if we're going to make a point of Ric Flair going in "active", then why wasn't this guy put in six years ago or so???) induction of The Undertaker.
The Steiner Brothers go in. Scott will be an interesting speech!
Sharmell, Booker T's wife, is the women's inductee this year. Someone has GOT TO fucking explain to me why she goes in and Miss Elizabeth is still out -- I know there's a "one deceased person a year" quota, it seems, BUT COME THE FUCK ON!!!!
Speaking of said quota: They're FINALLY putting in (Big Van) Vader. Just a damned shame he couldn't get the induction while he was alive!!!
And the annual "Warrior Award" winner -- and many of us who know the award's namesake better as The Ultimate Homophobe agree that the name should be changed to this year's inductee going forward: Shad Gaspard of "Cryme Time", who was killed after saving his son from a Southern California riptide.
No word if any Celebrity Wing or Legacy inductees are on the docket. Batista was to accept an induction this year, but a scheduling conflict took that out. I guess he'll be second-fiddle to The Rock next year???
No full Axxess event this year, due to COVID. A lesser-scale event around their Superstore in Dallas will be held, with some panels.
The WWE is also holding a college-age tryout around Mania -- as it tries to start making it's entry-level roster younger. The new underlings of Fuck Vince want more entries around the age of 25, rather than 35.
Some of the other-company events around Dallas this year include these highlights:
The first look at Ring of Honor under AEW's Tony Khan.
On it: Mark and Jay Briscoe finally get a match with AEW's FTR.
The annual Wrestlecon 10-man tag appears to be a brutal-fest: Atsushi Onita will captain one team. PCO (Pierre Carl Ouillet) will captain the other.
An interesting stipulation in the Wrestlecon Supershow card: The fans will vote on the best match of the night (supposedly -- though, knowing Wrestlecon, it's probably real), and the participants in it will split $5,000.
As part of New Japan's portion of the festivities, the likes of Tomohiro Ishii and Minoru Suzuki will be part of the events.
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences will meet tonight to consider what action it will take against Will Smith for his actions Sunday night. Start the bidding at removal of him as 2022 Best Actor and banishment from the 2023 ceremony, for starters.
AMPAS, however, in a letter condemning Smith's actions and announcing tonight's meeting, does note that, under their by-laws, the process will take several weeks. Smith will probably receive a letter by Monday as to possible sanctions (which could include suspension or expulsion from the Academy), 15 days notice to the Academy's vote on the subject, which could come at a meeting April 18th.
And this has officially gone far enough -- CRIMINAL CHARGES, NOW!!! Will Smith WAS asked to leave the Oscars ceremony and refused, the Academy has announced.. And, in a TIL moment, I was told that the winners actually are notified in advance. So you now have assault AND criminal trespass.
I really hope a lot of people got a good look at last night's Oscar situation for what it is, and not for all the memes and other bullshit.
I've sat here and watched a lot of invective get fired -- whether it's "Brandon", Putin and the Ukraine; Lia Thomas; abortion; or even more trivial matters as... sports!!!
But I really hope last night got something across: The time and place for civility and for "acceptance" and "tolerance" and coexistence... All that is OVER.
It's time for the rights of the aggrieved, disabled, etc. to be enforced on Real American Man (reg tm -- defined as White, cis-male, straight, Christian, conservative landowner!), lest we end up going back 250-300 years at minimum.
Let me make no mistake: One or both of Chris Rock's and Will Smith's Hollywood careers ENDED last night. The Academy has it under review, Rock won't press charges, Smith has finally apologized to Rock.
But the fact is, the damage to the institution is real and done and cannot be undone. The question, now, is what to be done about it.
First, we are going to have to redefine what is "comedy" and "funny" in this country.
The start of this was a joke Rock made about Will Smith's wife Jada. Jada is bald. Now, you don't often know this, because of wigs and the like. Jada has a condition called alopecia. It is an immune condition in which the hair follicles are attacked and neutralized incorrectly by the body, leading to baldness. Jada is not unique in entertainment with the condition -- voice actress Georgia van Cuylenberg, Vanille in the Final Fantasy XIII series -- also has the condition and works for awareness of women with said condition.
It looked very initially like Will was fine with it, but Jada was fuming.
What happened next will be replayed for the remaining (probably short) time the Oscars have left:
That's the entire incident.
The fact is, "comedy", as we've known it, is done. If this is the kind of stuff which has to be done to be "funny" these days (and, trust me, the youth of our country make a lot of societal "bank" on "Prank, Bro!" and "U Mad???"), then maybe Rock and Kathy Griffin and the like need to be out of business -- and that's nothing to say of open bigots like Dave Chappelle. Maybe, Kathy, with people like that shithead Oreo around, maybe some of you need to be looking over your shoulder...
I think a lot of people who watch the likes of BUZZR and Pluto's The Price is Right: The Barker Era channel know this better than many. So much of what WAS funny and accepted is no longer even close. It's actually a small wonder many vintage-based channels are allowed on the air at all, it would appear, because of the cultural differences between then and now.
We also need to get rid of the concept of needing comedy like that if we're going to take The Oscars as seriously as I would think the Academy wants it to.
But the fact is, this gets down to a very simple concept: There's too much societal "bank" being made on those who are not White, Straight, Cis-Male, Christian, Conservative Landowners.
It has become the proverbial "pile", as it were.
You're a woman? You're a baby machine, meant to pop out boys.
You're not a landowner? Waste of food.
Not Christian? Going to Hell.
Not Cis or Straight?? Just ask the whole Lia Thomas situation...
Not Conservative? Done in this country, probably within 1-3 years.
Etc.
The Constitution was taught as a function of the rights many felt God gave human beings.
The problem being what you are seeing today in the "America First" crowd: Women were never meant to be seen as human by the Far Right, Blacks were little more than slaves/farm equipment, and let's not talk about how they view the "others"...
So we had a war -- a war many states in this country still call "The American War of Northern Aggression" to this day.
And in 1868, the "Northern Aggression", who won, dictated terms -- including granting of human rights to all homo sapiens in the country.
In short, to prevent another Civil War (and many parts of this were still fought in the American South over the next 100+ years!), the Constitution had to become a document in which rights were enforced AGAINST the likes of the "What about MY RIGHT not to have to see or live with [women/LGBTQ's/the homeless/the disabled...]?"
Well, guess what the last six years have done, since Orange Man Bad came down the escalator?
We're going back, people.
We already have sitting US Senators openly discussing the repeal of Loving v. Virginia.
We have the wife of a sitting US Supreme Court justice who's all but an enemy of the United States (and, given that said Justice is Clarence Thomas, it's all but certain he is one as well!).
We have a significant portion of the Republican voter base who openly supports Vladimir Putin (and his stands on LGBTQ rights is a major reason why!).
We have at least one state which has now, THREE TIMES, considered making abortion a death-penalty offense.
We've now had two major killing situations (one in NYC and Washington, DC, the other in Seattle where a 24-year old Hispanic man mowed down a homeless encampment, killing four), where people may be finally beginning to make good on that "I'm going to come and start exterminating the homeless..." threats which have permeated major cities for at least 25 years now...
Civility is gone, people -- and I would not be surprised in the least if the finishing up of the Final Four is the last major sporting event allowed to conclude before it completely goes up.
Life is becoming an absolute pressure-cooker at this point -- and, if you don't believe me -- to literally have "Fuck Around And Find Out" or "Talk Shit, Get Hit" at the freaking Oscars should be a full indication that civility is done.
And I hope this is the end of the thought of one Karl Denninger, who believes civil society requires 99% consent. This is complete foolishness, or he better get his gun out of his anus and start Molon Labe-ing those he views irresponsible.
It's gone, motherfucker. What are you going to do about it?
There was a motherfucking throwdown tonight at the Oscars. Will Smith BELTED Chris Rock right on the stage -- and it was clear it was over comments Rock made about Will's wife on a joke Rock told earlier in the evening. Uncensored feeds had "keep my wife's name out of your motherfucking mouth" on it. Smith eventually won Best Actor for his portrayal of Richard Williams (Venus and Serena's father) in King Richard. He tearfully apologized to the Academy for his outburst. And that better be the end of comedians at the Oscars. It's clear that there are enough tensions out there now that what has been funny for a long time won't be.
Saint Peter's' tremendous run hit reality tonight -- and, for the first time in history, Duke and North Carolina will meet in the NCAA Tournament in the national semifinal.
North Carolina's win cost me about 9000 places in the ESPN contest, but I still enter the Final Four (Villanova vs. Duke, Duke winning on that bracket) in the top .15% of all brackets.
You did need to have all four of the Final Four to get in the $100,000 drawing. You had to have at least seven (all but St. Peter's) of the Elite Eight.
Soon-to-be former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and two Ukranian negotiators were poisoned at the recent "peace talks" with Russia. Still want to believe there's a peaceful non-nuclear solution that is not total victory for Putin?
Albert Pujols will finish his career with the Cardinals. He goes back on a one-year contract.
Got a comment, deleted, to one of my posts, talking about me "shouting into the void"...
That's nice. Like the one between your ears???
Major point of the post:
Like the one probably necessary to be a complacent American these days?
Do you realize we have a state in this country (and for over a year now) which not only wants to ban abortion now, but put a March, 2022 bill on the docket (after a 2019 AND 2021 bill failed) subjecting women who get an abortion to the death penalty in the state of Texas, and ...
It is now illegal to be a transgender athlete in the following states: Utah (who passed it over a governor's veto which openly said "What was the point? There are only four in the state!" -- I fully expect that governor to be impeached and perhaps expelled from office over it eventually.), Idaho, Tennessee, West Virginia, South Dakota, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, and I'm sure quite a number of others. Twenty-seven states are eventually to consider it, even though it is completely unconstitutional and is in violation of a Federal Executive Order signed Day One of Biden's Presidency...
Look, we get it. You MAGAtards are complete fucknuts who have given your brains over to some form of Old Testament Jesus which makes white cis-male landowners the only human beings on God's Green Earth!!!!
THIS is what they believe the Founders intended. There's NO WAY we are going to be able to continue with anything in this country without basically splitting this country into two parts. It's that simple.
You now have a situation where no sport can legally proceed in what could be 27 states by the time this is over -- because, get off it, women's sports to you are another pussy farm of baby machines to you Rethuglipig fucks. There is no way there can be a national sanctioning body of sports with this unconstitutional and illegal bullshit going on.
You don't even consider women human beings even IF your bigotry doesn't show otherwise. The two sides of your fucking coins are bigotry and misogyny.
So, kindly do me a favor, get out of my fucking country or I will openly hope that we get nuked soon.
Other Major Point of the Post:
No, skip that. I openly hope we get nuked soon.
Joe Biden (a day after he all but admitted to the 82nd Airborne they WILL eventually have to be involved in the Ukraine) said in a speech today that Putin had to go.
Now the White House is walking it back.
Fuckers, are you all but admitting what those of us who've paid attention since years before Sochi knew: That Vladimir Putin is the Most Powerful Man in the World, and his willingness to actually use nuclear arms has made you personally his bitch????
You better have the Come To Jesus (and not come to MAGA Jesus) Moment real good and soon. Someone in this country IS getting nuked this year unless you wanna play footsies and tap dance with Putin -- eventually making the United States a Russian vassal under the MAGA Republican Party, perhaps as early as January of 2023!!!
(Don't believe me? We now know Trump has pulled at least one 2022 endorsement off the table because he's been trying to get the election reversed in Congress still to this day. So, assume the Republicans take both houses of Congress in November. How does it not end up with a binding resolution (under the unconstitutionality decisions of states like Pennsylvania of the 2020 election rules) voiding Biden's Presidency and succeeding the Speaker of the House?)
The rank and file of the Republican Party (and largely because of similar-to-Russia LGBTQ bigtory and anti-female misogyny) OPENLY SUPPORTS PUTIN AND HAS CHANTED HIS NAME AT RALLIES!!!
You know, it would be a conspiracy theory to call Trump a Russian asset, except for the fact that, more and more, the FOX News (I'm looking at you, Tucker Carlson!!!) wing of the Republican Party wants Putin to win.
You do realize what the world looks like if he does? He gets Europe, Xi gets Asia, and the Western Hemisphere goes back to about 1350.
Many times, on this blog, I openly state that the rank and file of America have to be irredeemably stupid not to see what's going on.
This is now getting to violently stupid. These Republicans are so stupid, they are committing violence and need to be sanctioned for it.
And two more things:
"... for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." -- Romans 3:23
and
"Then Jesus said to them: 'Give back to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's.'" -- Part of Mark 12:17, to which I think many MAGAts will be as amazed as Mark noted Jesus' audience was!
Team Echo of Germany has won, on the 19th day of the race, the Race to World First for the first Mythic clear of World of Warcraft's Sepulcher of the First Ones 11 boss run. About an hour and a half after USA's Team Liquid finally and irrevocably tapped on the whole mess, Team Echo cleared The Jailer. Look, America... It's time to basically admit that if you want to be in tune with the rest of the world in "professional" video-gaming, it has to be a full-time full-support job -- up to and including governmental oversight. That the USA still plays fast and loose, especially on the latter part, is indicative of why they fall just short.
That said, this run was clearly out of control. I had watched a number of streams over the course of at least ten days of this run. This wasn't a run tuned to the top 1%, 0.1%, 0.01%... This was a FULL-TIME PROFESSIONAL RUN. And when Team Liquid finally tapped out (as a result of logistical problems and complete and utter final player burnout), it was because they could not, even with a full LAN setup and at least a play at full backing, keep the players going for almost three weeks at 16 hours a day at that level.
Sorry, Blizzard. This was too much if you're not going to dip into your money and give a six-figure prize pool for these professional guilds. You offer your professional PvP players $700,000 to prove who's the best. When you tune this that literally one death can wipe a run on several of these bosses -- and often not immediately -- why are you not stepping up? Too hard for just bragging rights.
This is strange. Entering play today, and this is probably the highest percentile I have ever or will ever reach for the end of any round, I am officially at 99.6%ile on the ESPN bracket (on my First Feel bracket - the one where I have Duke being rigged to win the championship).
The fact that, for the first time in history, we have a 15 seed in the Elite Eight (and an 11 besides!) may have a lot to do with that!
Christian Eriksen has returned to his national side, Denmark, a year after his scary heart attack on the pitch at Euro 2021. He scored two minutes after being subbed in against the Netherlands in a friendly.
And now, at the end of the first two games of the Elite Eight, my "Research" bracket is completely drawn out. No further points, and will probably finish in the lowest 15% or so.
My "First Feel" Bracket, however, is now in 14,584th place (that is well within the top ONE-TENTH of one percent). Now that won't be much to anybody (and doesn't matter in the first place -- the only prize is the previously-mentioned drawing prize), except there are over 17 MILLION brackets. Get this down now -- especially if North Carolina wins tomorrow over St. Peter's, I don't expect that to hold.
And this is going to shockwave through the world soccer situation: Italy OUT of the 2022 World Cup. The European power was stunned today at home in the one-game semifinal playoff, 0-1 to North Macedonia, who can now qualify for the World Cup, but they now have to beat Portugal to do it. A goal by Alexandar Trajkovski in 2nd half stoppage time puts Italy out for the first loss in sixty World Cup qualifiers at home for Italy.
Wales, Sweden, and Portugal join Poland on that list as well. A potential Ukranian match with Scotland has been postponed. That pod will potentially be played in June.
Poland and Sweden play next week, as do Portugal and North Macedonia, both on the 29th. Wales will await the situation with Ukraine and Scotland in June.
As such, Scotland and Poland actually played a benefit friendly today, where 10 British pounds of every ticket were sent for Ukranian relief charities.
And tonight, a pivotal CONCACAF match, as second-placed USA go to third-placed Mexico with Panama breathing down both their necks, as the final international window of non-playoff CONCACAF qualifiers begins.
US has a tricky final window for a short-handed team. Azteca tonight, where they've never won, then fourth-place Panama and at fifth-place Costa Rica. Too many results go wrong (with three automatic spots and a playoff spot next week), and...
Seventeen of the thirty-two teams for the final tournament are set. The ten group winners in UEFA, the hosts in Qatar, the four automatic qualifiers in Asia, and Brazil and Argentina as the top two teams in South America.
Africa will name it's five teams next week, with two-legged playoffs determining them tomorrow and on the 29th. World Cup stalwarts Ivory Coast went out early, as did former host South Africa.
Oceania is holding it's tournament in Qatar this week, and, on the 30th, will name the one team which will face the 4th-placed CONCACAF team (could be anyone from USA or Mexico to Panama or Costa Rica) in a playoff there.
A victory by Canada tonight, or a loss by Panama qualifies Canada. It would be Canada's second World Cup appearance, and first since 1986.
The NIT is leaving Madison Square Garden after this season. An 85 year tradition, the secondary men's collegiate basketball tournament has hosted it's final in MSG since the 1930's. It appears that it will now start looking for more glamorous climes.
In fact, for the first forty tournaments, the entire thing was held at MSG.
Logistical problems are now plaguing the World of Warcraft Race to World First, as the two top teams are scrambling as the raid now hits Day 17 with the final boss still not downed. The main American team has lost it's main tank player due to commitments, and the team has had to relocate hotels. It has apparently been in Boston since preparations began for this a month ago!
Today's example of "Trumptards are pigs...": Indiana Senator Mike Brown, in basically saying there's no way he'd vote for a Black woman for the US Supreme Court, went so far as to say that the Court never should've granted the interracial marriage right given in Loving vs. Virginia.
In a stunning move: At the age of 25, 2022 Australian Open champion Ashleigh Barty has retired from tennis. This is her second retirement -- after a retirement from junior tennis, she actually played professional cricket in Australia as a teen.
Norco, CA: Right-wing preschool teacher gets her class to do the "Let's Go Brandon" chant.\
The USFL, supposed to start play in about a month, has revealed some of their rules:
Three PAT options: 15 yard place kick for one, the regular conversion line play for two, or a play from the 10 yard line for three.
The offense can keep the ball after a score: One play from their own 33, 12 yards to gain.
Clock stops last two minutes to reset the chains.
Passes must cross the line of scrimmage for ineligible-receiver or pass interference penalties to apply.
Pass interference is enforced as in college -- 15 unless it's intentional over 15 yards downfield.
Overtime is a 2-point conversion shootout. Three attempts in the base situation, more if needed.
The first season will be played entirely in Birmingham, AL.
Another day, two more UFC arrests... Chad Sonnen has been suspended by ESPN for 11 battery counts against six people (five men and a woman) in Las Vegas in December. That sounds like something people would think I'm capable of, sans the UFC level of skill at it!
Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal had Round 6 of their UFC main event outside a Miami restaurant - then Masvidal went after someone else. Felony battery charges.
The National College Players Association has sued the 350 Division I schools for a racist collusive payment prohibition. They want the end of collegiate amateur football and basketball -- the NCPA has already demanded the Power 5 conferences be forced to view their athletes as employees of the school, rather than students. Given what some players get away with as Football Man, do you REALLY want to go down that path?
facepalm, yet giggle... In an Indiana first-round rout loss, Indiana's best play was probably a Hoosier cheerleader who, when the ball was wedged between the shot clock and the back of the backboard, went on the shoulders of one of her "bases" and got the ball when no one else was prepared with sufficient height to get it.
She now has an official T-shirt to honor the feat.
Jusuf Nurkic has been fined $40,000 by the NBA for a profanity-laced tirade vs. fans and taking one fan's cell phone and chucking it. I smell lawsuit...
Three athletes and an employee have accused Peter Foley, former coach of US Snowboarding, of sexual assault. Waiting to see who, and how many, have abused Chloe Kim. (Damn right I said it!!)
Toronto has unveiled a "third jersey" designed by Justin Beiber.
Just been really tired lately -- eventually want to do that Two Years of COVID thing, but who knows when?
Seven players lead the ESPN Tournament Challenge total (wth 570 out of a possible 640 points -- either 27/32 in R1 and 15/16 Sweet 16 or 29/32 R1 14/16 S16), for what it's worth. It is not known how many players entered the $100,000 drawing by getting the most teams from the Sweet 16 in their bracket, but we DO know the answer is at least 15/16 was required. (Probably all but St. Peter's -- the lowest seed in history at a 15 to make the Sweet 16. They became the third team from the 15 slot to get out of the first weekend -- all in the last decade. Oral Roberts last year, Dunk City Florida-Gulf Coast in 2013.)
The vast majority of the players who will enter that drawing will do so by them getting the correct national champion or both finalists from their bracket.
World of Warcraft has, for the last two weeks, released their newest multi-boss raid, Sepulcher of the First Ones, with guilds around the world struggling to try to kill the hardest-difficulty level of all 11 bosses in succession.
It is so difficult that only today, the fourteenth day of this release, have the two main guilds who constructed LAN parties for the players to have the best chance of winning (Echo E-Sports of Europe and Team Liquid of the United States) at last reached the final of the 11 bosses -- one day short of when Liquid and two short of when Echo will have to reclear all of the bosses to maintain their progress due to weekly resets.
Once again, the Big Ten is exposed as overrated in men's basketball. When in the Hell is the Committee going to realize when they make the field that the Big Ten is not nearly as good as advertised? Every. Damn. Year!!!
Another major incident in Liga MX: Atlas and Chivas Guadalajara brawled near halftime. After VAR, two players got sent off (and at least two more should've!). Eventually, fans were seen fighting in the stadium, after a 1-1 draw and at least a third sending off.
Bizarre Spring Training game today: 14-0 at the end of 2 1/2, 19-5 at the end of 5. 25-12 was the final as Texas beat Cleveland.
In a major indication Phil Mickelson may be just about done with the PGA Tour, Phil will not play in the Masters Tournament for the first time since 1994.
A Federal judge, today, upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit by over 100 fantasy baseball players with DraftKings against the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Houston Astros, and Major League Baseball over how the league handled the sign-stealing scandal of those three teams -- as a function of Daily Fantasy Sports.
This, of itself, is no surprise. Mayer: You have NO LEGAL RIGHT WHATSOEVER to a legal, lawful, or fair contest.
In fact, THIS ALSO EXTENDS TO THE PLAYERS. Mike Bolsinger had HIS lawsuit thrown out, claiming that not only did a large inning due to sign-stealing cause his release from his team, but it eventually ran him out of MLB entirely. (He has never pitched in the bigs since, two years in Japan...)
It's the other part of this which has hit headlines: During the process of the lawsuit, MLB letters to the three teams were made part of discovery during the case -- each side discovers the other's evidence. (It's one of the main reasons many lawyers try to settle cases, because "Discovery is a bitch.")
Two years ago, the letters of the Astros and the Red Sox were made confidential -- and, after an argument by Yankees' counsel, the judge in the case disallowed the release of the letter to the Yankees...
That is, until today.
In the next two weeks, it does appear that the public WILL be able to see MLB's letter to the Yankees, which will indicate the extent MLB had as to knowledge of sign stealing within that organization. The big question here is the public statements of Fuck Rob Manfred vs. what he actually knew in private.
I expect more than one bombshell here, indicating Manfred's continuing efforts to direct Baseball to what I call The Manfred Six: Yankees, Red Sox, Astros, Cubs, Cardinals, Braves.
But AGAIN, I have to state this openly:
It is completely legal for a sports league to rig it's games. No one, not even the players, is entitled to a legal, lawful, or fair contest.
Formula 1 has affirmed Max Verstappen's championship win at Abu Dhabi last year. Human error in the final laps by the race director, under duress of pressure from the drivers and teams to have the finish be under racing conditions -- and acted in good faith to do so.
Fuck Ye. (Kan)Ye (West) has been banned from Instagram and now pulled from performing at the Grammys for online stalking of his ex-wife and her boyfriend. Speaking as an ex-celebrity stalker myself, WHEN IS THAT FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT GOING TO GET ARRESTED????
The women's 100-meter freestyle at the national swimming championships actually featured two transgender athletes -- both from the Ivy League. Lia Thomas finished eighth. Iszac Henig from Yale, an FTM not starting testosterone therapy yet, finished fifth.
Thomas' presence at the nationals was met with some boos, few cheers, and a very awkward silence. Thomas finishes a three-time All-American (freestyle 100m, 200m, and 500m), with the national championship at 500 meters. Some do wonder what will eventually happen (Thomas DOES intend to work toward Paris!) in 2 1/2 years time.
However, before she can, she must go before an independent panel to have them accept she is not competing with unfair advantage (while keeping her testosterone levels below 5 nanomoles per liter) to be allowed to compete under the USA Swimming banner.
About half the Day 1 perfect brackets lost out when Loyola of Chicago, a popular upset pick, fell in the first round.
And about half of what was left fell by the end of the first session.
We have the last CBS pool survivor: "TaylorWChallenge2539", who has Tennessee beating Gonzaga in the national title game, is the final perfect bracket in the CBS contest.
On the four main games the NCAA tracks, we're down to 47 perfect brackets. The official NCAA.com game is down to two. A "Heath" (picking Tennessee, but to beat North Carolina in the final), and a "Lydia" (picking Kansas) are the final two in the official game.
In what should be little surprise, someone has picked up DeShaun Watson. Traded to Cleveland today for a boatload. Great, so both Ohio AFC teams can now go fuck right off. Joe Rapeon in Cincinnati and DeShaun Rapeson in Cleveland.
And isn't the silence by many of the bigots and TERFs on the systematic rape and sexual assault of women in the name and color of sports deafening?
And at 22 games, the last official NCAA.com brackets and the last CBS bracket fell. Yahoo has it's last survivor: "Go Back To Webster Ave.". 17 brackets remain on the ESPN side of things. So now down to 18. Last year, we got to the end of Session 7 (this is the middle/end of Session 6) before we lost out.
There were apparently about 17 million ESPN brackets this year.
And with six games to go in Round One, we have one and only one bracket in the four main games left. "Bekins24", in the ESPN Tournament Challenge, is the final survivor. The sole remaining other bracket in the men's tournament, also in the ESPN TC, fell when Illinois held off Chattanooga by a single point.
His remaining board for tonight: LSU, Arizona, Houston, Davidson over Michigan State, Wisconsin and TCU. He has the one upset left.
And there it is: LSU losing ends the run and we go two fewer games than last year before the last perfect bracket loses.
And, as a final note before I head to bed: 30-2 was the best anyone could do in the ESPN Tournament Challenge, and 15 names go into the hat for the $100,000.
I've sat on this story long enough, frankly, and I'm getting sicker and sicker by the moment that I have to listen to the caterwauling of Republicans and even some Democrats on this subject.
I have friends of mine in the relevant community, and they have to live with targets on their backs because it's clear that there are too many people "made uncomfortable" by the fact that transgenderism exists -- in or outside of sports.
So let's get this right down pat right now: YOU'RE BIGOTS.
You. Are. BIGOTS.
And I think part of the reason why, for a lot of you, is that you want to see transgenderism made illegal, part and parcel, in this country. There have been a number of states which have made moves -- Iowa and South Dakota have both outlawed transgender athletes from the state.
We have a number of states which are trying to outdo each other in trying to become the first state in the nation to outlaw the process entirely.
And now, on Thursday, Lia Thomas, who has become the focal point for transgender athletics across the country, became the first out transgender woman in history to win an NCAA Division I championship when she won the 500 yard freestyle at the national collegiate swimming championships...
... to significant protests from the likes of a group christening themselves as "Save Women's Sports".
Stop.
JUST FUCKING STOP.
You aren't fooling anyone, least of all me.
You want people like Lia Thomas DISAPPEARED, for your own "comfort".
You have zero fucking interest of any goddamned kind to "Save Women's Sports".
Let me put it this simply to destroy your argument as complete fucking farce:
You remember Damon Bruce's bigoted and misogynistic comments (the Olbermann clip has been deleted, apparently) on KNBR about the place of women in sports, if any, back in 2013? That he no less than called sports "his sandbox" that you [as women] were getting into?
It's because, and I know this is going to shock you TERF bigots: Sports is still a man's world and you, as woman, are little more than an invader in it, in most cases!
If a women's sports team or athlete exists, there are going to be some very uncomfortable realities coming with that fact:
* There is going to be limited, IF ANY, interest in the team. This goes from the WNBA and LPGA through Olympic sports and down to the colleges and high schools...
* ... many of the latter two wouldn't even bother with women's sports except that they are REQUIRED to do so under Title IX. And if you want to see how blatant THAT is going to be, watch the real results of the attendance and interest in the first attempt by the NCAA to "equalize" the men's and women's Division I basketball tournaments this year.
* As a large result of that, a disproportionate number of women's sporting events end in clearly uneducational and noncompetitive results, because there's no conceptual way that there are enough women of acceptable caliber to even FIELD a team in a lot of these sports.
* And did you care about the systematic drugging of Valieva, exposed a month or so ago? Of course not!!! Because she was a girl...
And that's before we get to the two big ones:
* Women's sports, as part of the misogyny, exist, in many circles, as a place to abuse women, both physically and sexually, for the gratification of men. Whether it is a direct assault, like the selection of MUCH of the women's Olympic teams in this country (as has been demonstrated for years, with even Mary Lou Retton deciding she wants to throw in in support of the violence against women!), or an indirect assault (like the time I witnessed the entire 7th and 8th grade girls group of my school held in a degree of custody for a locker-room assault on a 7th-grade girl when I was in 8th grande back in 1983), or just to ogle them because they can...
* But here's the more-specifically relevant one here: Women's Sports, as part of the bigotry, exist as a means to attempt to justify the murder and suicide of transgenders across this country.
About half of all transgenders attempt suicide, and, given a lot of this bigotry, many Americans would like to see that number much higher!!
Let me give you bigots an object exercise: Name me ONE truly effeminate female athlete of large-scale renown in this country. ONE...
There's a point to my question, which I am almost certain even people who support Lia Thomas may miss: To be an athlete of a certain level of renown, you are going to have to have a different build than many of these effeminate women.
And this only increases as you go up the ladder. It is almost certain that, as you get to Olympic level, the increase in testosterone is quite pronounced - so much so that you've conflated this to run off an Olympic Champion like Castor Semenya, who was banned from running anymore, not even for being transgender, but for simply have a Difference in Sexual Development and the bigots threw a fit.
It's one of the fucking reasons you slam women's sports at the LPGA and WNBA levels as a bunch of lesbians who look like horses and have no real place nor interest in women's sports unless they're jack-off material like Jan Stephenson or Anna Kournikova (forgetting the latter was not only basically reduced to being a doubles specialist in tennis, but was busted for drugs herself -- meldonium in 2016!!!).
It's one of the fucking reasons we have men like the former head of Russian tennis who actually called Venus and Serena Williams MEN! (If you bigots wanna believe half the shit you're suggesting, maybe a move to a more politically agreeable country like Russia would be in order!!!!!)
It's one of the fucking reasons we can't celebrate Lia Thomas or Amy Schneider or any others who try to make advances for the transgender community. Hell, odds are, Schneider's attack over the Christmas holidays in Oakland was because she is out.
I would be STUNNED if there were not a SIGNIFICANT number of transgender athletes in the Olympic/professional women's ranks of sports all over the world, simply as a function of the skill level and strength required!!
AND IF YOU CAN'T FUCKING HANDLE THAT, DO US ALL A FAVOR AND RELOCATE TO RUSSIA -- because it would probably suit you, and many of you (Democrat or Republican) probably would support Putin at this point if it got you what you wanted...
That Thomas turns out like Professor Vanderbilt of the golf-club fame...
Historic day at the national NCAA swimming championships -- Lia Thomas wins the 500 yard freestyle, becoming the first known out transgender to win a national championship in any NCAA sport or division.
Yes, there were numerous protests. I, eventually, do want to make my feelings clear on the bigotry and all, but I want to do it in a way to disparage them (and the completely warped nature of what women's sports are and how they really exist only as very negative constructs anymore -- and that's high school all the way to Olympic and professional level!) and not the athletes.
According to the current standings, about 2% of the millions of NCAA brackets submitted to ESPN have all of the first eight games correct.
There were three seed upsets: A 9, an 11, and a 12.
And anyone who thinks the Green Bay Packers are winning next year's Super Bowl can please stop right damn now. The Aaron Rodgers sabotage is alive and well. Many thought that keeping him would get the Packers to keep Davante Adams.
Adams has just been traded to Las Vegas for two draft picks.
And it looks like the Perfect Bracket Challenge can be feasibly closed, as St. Peter's College -- the Peacocks -- took down #2 seed Kentucky (in what should be #SucceedAndProceed's last game!) in overtime! Only about 1% of the brackets got to the second half of Day One, but this SHOULD do it.
With four games to go, a 9, an 11, two 12's, and a 15 have won today.
I guess not!!! Even WITH Kentucky losing, however -- perfect brackets are up about a half over last year, according to the NCAA.com blog which monitors them for the balance of the tournament. Last year, there were 121 perfect brackets last year.
This year, with 161 ESPN, 14 Yahoo, 9 CBS, and 8 NCAA.com perfects, there are 192.
No perfect brackets survived more than a day and a half last year, with the last 80 falling when UConn fell to Maryland.
Higher seeds were 10-6 for the day. Two 9's, two 12's, and an 11 and a 15 won today.
And if you feel bad about today, don't. 38 of the 54 ESPN college basketball staff polled said Kentucky would win their regional.
Dick Vitale had them cutting down the nets in New Orleans. I think he has bigger victories to celebrate right now.
Elon Musk is insane. He has challenged Vladimir Putin to one-on-one combat, with the stakes being the country of Ukraine.
The Paralympics (somehow) successfully completed yesterday, and China, much like their summer counterparts, dominated the medals table -- though, this time, it was probably because they had hosted and put some resources behind their Paralympians. China won 61 medals, more than double their nearest competitor. Of the 78 events, they won 18.
Second in both, largely led by their biathletes: The Ukraine. 11 gold, 29 total.
USA was fifth on the table with six gold, fourth in total with 20. Golds were three in biathlon, one in the mixed cross-country relay, one in snowboarding, and a dominant win in sled hockey. Scored 30 goals, gave up one to Korea, and beat Canada 5-0 twice, the second being for the gold. Both semifinals, with Korea and China being the victims, were 11-0!
There was apparently some insider information on Tom Brady's return to the Bucs -- at least three Vegas sportsbooks took five-figure futures bets on them winning SB LVII at 50-1. They quickly adjusted to 25-1, and now 15-2 after Sunday's announcement.
Speaking of legalized gambling, surveys are estimating a handle of over $3 billion for the men's basketball tournament this year.
As a continuing reminder we are nowhere close to where we need to be... Former President Barack Obama has tested positive for COVID.
Even CBS tipped their cap and applauded to this one on the big reveal show at the end... Dick Vitale's cancer is back in remission. He announced today, Selection Sunday, that "his March Madness begins with a W".
And much to the disgust of my anonymous friend, who does think Tom Brady lives rent-free in my head (and, given the blog, is it hard to see why???): The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are now the favorite again to win the Super Bowl. He's coming back. And, knowing circumstances, there'd be about only one reason why!
FOX Bet moved the Patriots from 28-1 to 15-2 -- joint second favorites with the Packers (HA!) -- on the announcement.
I'll get to a "two-year retrospective" at some point, kind of balling up COVID, Ukraine, etc.
No criminal charges for DeShaun Watson. Paid off enough people, and too important to the NFL, I see...
Kent State has had one player banned off the team and three others suspended for at least a half of the conference championship game due to a SnapChat video in which profane language, etc. was pointed at rival (and championship opponent) Akron.
Significant misconduct in the LSU men's basketball program -- head coach Will Wade, fired. LSU is expected, however, to be in the NCAA tournament. Gee, you think it's time for someone to step in down there?
At least one good thing happened in the SEC today. Since Dick Vitale lives in Florida, he was asked to show up today and accept a walk of honor before Saturday's semifinal games began -- and a basketball signed by all 14 head coaches.
Chelsea's credit cards have been frozen by Barclay's, and Abramovich has been formally disqualified by the Premier League. I know there's far too much money involved in especially keeping Chelsea afloat, etc. But one does have to wonder where the line gets drawn here.
It appears six Army football players were overdosed with cocaine laced with fetanyl on Spring Break.
Tentative agreement to salvage a 162-game season starting April 7th.
The bad news for the rest of us: It appears that, between the 30 player reps and the 8 members of MLBPA's committee, the vote to approve was only 26-12! So how much did the players have to give up to play baseball this year?
Owners vote was unanimous. Spring Training effectively starts immediately.
Juwan Howard's coming back from that suspension lasted one Big Ten tournament game -- almost booed out of the building when he was introduced, Indiana ate up a 17-point Michigan lead to win by five in the Big Ten second round.
There is a non-zero chance that Chelsea Football Club will be unable to finish the season. The Russian owner Abramovich is now banned from selling the club and now must either give it over (losing a billion dollars) or risk letting the team rot and killing it.
It looks like the quarterback market is moving. Washington is trading picks for Carson Wentz of Indianapolis.
An altercation in the ACC Tournament has Jim Boeheim's son Buddy under scrutiny for striking a player. No foul was called.
But Buddy has been suspended for the next game Syracuse plays in the ACC Tournament after a blowout win today.
Halfway through the Paralympics, China has a significant edge on the medals table. Ten golds to seven for Canada and six for the Ukraine. The USA has only two, and is seventh on the table as a result.
At least three Twitter accounts purportedly belonging to Philadelphia Eagles fans were reported today on Deadspin to "report" Jalon Reagor to the NFL for gambling. Those three, and perhaps others, see Reagor as a drop-meister who would be better off the Eagles/suspended/etc. and so forth. We'll see if that goes anywhere...
For the record, the Deadspin article believes the allegations to be false. In that case, time to sue...
Gizmodo Media has finally reported on the strike of six of it's (other than Deadspin) websites against Jim Spanfeller (who is and always will be an herb) last week. They apparently got what they asked for -- contingent on returning to work on Monday, which they did.
The second week of the MLB season schedule is now off.
The Northeast Conference is investigating the Wagner-Bryant fan altercation last night -- at least one person has been arrested for it.
Novak Djokovic is banned from all US tennis events until he's vaccinated.
And some idiot has sued Jerry Jones, claiming Jones is her father.
Poland, in a move which might force NATO into the war, now wants to offer the Ukraine two dozen MiG aircraft stationed in US bases in Germany. This would almost certainly be seen as a provocation by Putin...
Poland blindsided the USA with the offer, and I'd have to think it's because they want NATO in this war, whatever the cost -- figuring Putin will wear down Europe, bit by bit, if they don't.
... a Putin who appears to have significant allies in both the Middle East and in China to rebuff American and First World sanctions.
Some experts in the Ukraine believe that the country already has the planes, as arranged, but that all this posturing is a bluff, because of the nature of escalation this would represent.
The list of companies ceasing business in Russia is growing significantly by the day -- Coca-Cola, Starbucks, etc.
So much so that all foreign currency sales in Russia will be stopped for six months, to try to save the ruble.
At least one Russian gymnast was seen on the medal stand of a competition with a Ukranian -- the Russian had put on a shirt with a Z on it -- a war symbol meaning victory.
Nuclear-watchdog supervision over the Chernobyl power plant has been lost -- indicating a very real chance the Russians have either taken the plant or fully scuttled it.
In a mimic of the UK person arrested for attacking the Russian Embassy in one of the UK nations earlier, someone has rammed the Polish Embassy in Washington (probably a right-wing Putin supporter in this country).
Two Patriot missile batteries are headed to Poland.
Artyam Pryimenko, a 16-year-old Ukranian national champion in sambo, was murdered with his entire family in an airstrike today.
What is being called the "Darkest Day in Mexican Football" occurred last Saturday
17 fans died in a soccer riot at the Queretaro-Atlas match. There was basically zero security of any kind at the stadium, and the entire area fell to riot.
As a result:
Atlas is forfeited the match, 3-0.
An absolute one-year closed-door ban on fans for Queretaro home matches remains -- INCLUDING the women's and youth teams.
And they won't be allowed to play at all in their city unless a full security perimeter is around the stadium. Good fucking luck on that one. Much of the current state of the situation doesn't even recognize 17 people died in the riot!
The current ownership group has been thrown out of Liga MX and banned from any further involvement for five years, with a caretaker situation which must be rectified with the team being sold this calendar year.
Anyone found guilty of crimes for this riot will never be allowed at another Liga MX match again.
Team fined about $70,000.
Facial recognition will be forced into all Liga MX stadiums.
The fan group for Queretaro is banned for a year, Atlas', for six months.
The ultra group for Queretaro is banned for one year from all matches, three years from home matches.
There was some discussion of throwing Queretaro out of the league, part and parcel, right now. And why they didn't do so is anyone's guess!!
The home manager has notified the media his players got death threats during the aftermath of all this.
Yeah, I think one Redditor has it right: Raze the stadium, disband the team, fuck ALL OF THIS.
Because, I hate to say this: This is Mexico. They don't give a fuck down there.
Well, that was quick... Within about an hour of Aaron Rodgers re-signing with Green Bay...
Russell Wilson has been traded to Denver. yay...
The PGA Tour Commissioner wants words with Phil Mickelson.
Deion Sanders has blood clots in his feet -- they've cost him two toes.
China tops the Paralympic medal count by a wide margin.
This is interesting, and I'm not surprised in any way it's getting no coverage here: The President of Paris-St. Germain and the President of BeIn Sports (an international sports cable network which has networks in the United States) and a former President of FIFA are being demanded two-year-plus jail sentences for their role in corrupt allocation of soccer television rights! The Swiss government is making the demands.
Interesting story in Championship Week: 2011 Division II men's basketball champion Bellarmine University of Kentucky won the American South Conference tournament championship. However, because it is in the second year of transitioning to Division I, it cannot enter the 2022 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. It is, according to ESPN research, the first men's school in 25 years to win it's conference tournament in such a manner. Usually, when a school is under penalty of postseason ineligibility (instead of Bellarmine's case of non-penalty ineligibility during transition to D1), the school does not participate in the conference tournament.
As a result, Jacksonville State, the team with the best regular-season conference record, will go to the tournament.
Chances are, Bellarmine will participate in the NIT -- if you recall, just last year, a similar situation occurred with California-Riverside in the Big West Conference in the women's tournament.
In a scene reminiscent of the Mexican soccer riot, the NEC Championship Game of Championship Week had to be stopped and the gymnasium cleared with 4 minutes left when a brawl between Bryant fans and Wagner players broke out. Bryant was winning by an insurmountable margin, but who knows what might happen here... Bryant won the game, and, if the result is not reversed by the conference or the NCAA, they will join Longwood as schools making their first NCAA men's D1 tournament appearance.
Reports from the site indicate Bryant fans have been drunk and disorderly the entire time, and objects have been thrown at the Wagner players.
The leader of the Proud Boys was finally arrested and charged for January 6th, 2021.
A Michigan GOP candidate for office this Fall has been condemned by his party due to going the full Bobby Knight quote vis-a-vis rape.
Four days short of both the 2nd anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic declaration and the eleventh anniversary of the Japan earthquake which took out Fukushima power plant, the Killing Stone was found destroyed today -- this basically means that the nine-tailed fox rumored within is about to rampage. Oh, I've been seeing signals it's about to all go up...
It appears as if a teenager and another person were making an attempt at Andrews Air Force Base last night as the Vice President and her party of Cabinet members came home from a weekend event in Alabama... Tick Tock???
Russia's ambassador at the UN has given the proverbial equivalent to that the Ukranians are getting in the way of Russia's fists. Fuck you.
IBM has suspended all work in Russia.
Calvin Ridley took some of his "mental health break" in November of last NFL season and bet on NFL games -- he claims about $1,500. Even though all of his bets included his team, Atlanta, to win, the violation of league rules has had him banned from the league for life -- he can attempt reinstatement in one year.
In a move many felt overdue, the WWE is putting Vader (Leon White) in it's Hall of Fame this year.
There is at least some discussion as to a possible coup in Russia to oust Putin. Yeah, that'll end well...
Some thought Britney Griner may be used as a bargaining/threat chip in all of this.
Anonymous has hacked all the state TV networks and is showing war footage.
I would really watch Friday here. There is some thought that Russia believes it can take Kyiv in the next few days, and March 11th is a rather ominous day on the calendar.
Speaking of "ominous": France is sending doctors to deal with refugees, but those doctors are also taking iodine tablets -- to deal with radiation poisoning!!
Another nuclear facility in the Ukraine is being shelled.
At least two US Senators are trying to defend their aiding and abetting of the enemy. Another thing that I think better concern everyone here is that actual US involvement in the war might just be the final straw to set off Civil War here full-scale.
Polls seem to indicate Joe Biden is pulling (a bit) out of his nosedive of the first 13 months in office. Some are attributing it to the State of the Union -- I think it's actually that a number of these Republicans are being shown as allies of Putin.
Russia, as of Friday, is fully disconnecting itself from the world Internet. All servers serving Russia must be within the country by that date, according to reports.
In another of an increasing list of things which appear to indicate The End of the World may just be nigh: A massive fan brawl in a Liga MX match between Atlas and Queretaro has not only terminated that match, but all other Liga MX play for the weekend. 22 people were injured in the mess.
Murray State is the first team to punch it's ticket to the 2022 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.
Longwood University is the second -- and this is their first NCAA Tournament.
The ESPN Challenge this year has, by varying reports, a $100,000 or $200,000 prize. They're doing it a bit differently this year: The highest-scoring brackets of each of the six rounds are put in a hat, on a round-by-round basis -- one is drawn at the end, that wins the six figures. Meaning: You get the tournament champion, you're in the draw.
The hosts lead the Paralympic medal table by a significant margin after Day Two. China with four golds yesterday to get to six overall and 16 total -- with the Ukraine next at three gold and seven total.
Almost appropo that the first American gold medal of the Paralympics was scored by a Ukranian born para-biathlete.
Another Olympic vote of support for the Ukraine -- by former pole-vault world-record holder Sergey Bubka.
The IPC has been forced to apologize to the hosts -- Andrew Parsons, in his Opening Ceremonies speech, broke protocol by calling Xi the "President of the Republic of China" -- rather than the People's Republic of China.
The "Republic of China" is actually another name for Taiwan -- referred to in the Olympic circles as Chinese Taipei.
Add Olympic boxing, wrestling, bobsled, and skeleton to the list of sports Russia and Belarus are now banned from. How many, if any, are LEFT???
Sun Yang, a three-time Olympic gold medalist for China, now is banned until June of 2024 for drugs -- his final appeal to the CAS, denied. (Of course, that's about a month before the Paris Games, so he's not out of that, per se.)
Medal Count:
As if almost too appropo: The Ukraine tops the medal table, winning three of the first twelve gold medals.
The hosts are second, by winning two, and lead the total, eight medals to Ukraine's seven.
The United States, which won both gold and total in Korea, surprisingly, only got the two medals in the women's sitting para-biathlon to almost start the day.
Partial cease-fire to allow civilians to escape two besieged Ukranian towns from 10 AM Ukraine time tomorrow morning.
Broken within five hours by Russia. WHAT A FUCKING SHOCK!
A broad supermajority of both parties of voters both want the USA to shut off to Russian oil and gas and to get a NATO no-fly zone over the Ukraine -- forgetting that the latter basically means World War, probably including nukes, only question is who gets the first one...
I mean, look... I'm the first person to understand to operate with "what little time I have left". But this is getting out there, people...
City of Sumy is probably the short straw on Night 9/Day 10.
Remington and Richard Childress have each bought one million rounds of ammunition for Ukranian use.
Apparently, we now have the reason why Russia and Belarus were tossed from the Paralympics: The war-related killing of Ukranian biathlete Yevhen Malyshev. Not on the senior team, but working toward Olympic level.
A 21 year-old soccer player from the country also has died in the war.
The BBC has also now been blocked in Russia for "misinformation".
The Israeli Prime Minister visited Putin in the last few hours (prompting some to question whether he broke a major Judaism point by flying during Shabbat (People, I think God understands that there is, sometimes, this little thing called an "EMERGENCY"!)) -- Israel now ordering Israelis to flee Russia.
Guys, process it. Somebody's getting a nuke. It might not be today, tomorrow, or this month. It might not level New York City or the like. But it's clear that someone is going to press the issue and Putin is going to hit The Big Red Button of Zot.
Haas Racing has thrown Russian driver Nikita Mazepin out of Formula 1 and severed ties with title sponsor Uralkali due to the war.
WNBA star Brittney Griner faces ten years in Russian prison for being spotted with hashish oil at customs in Moscow.
Denis Kireyev, one of the Ukranian negotiators in the first round of talks with the Russians in Belarus, has been killed by Ukranian intelligence agencies -- he's now believed to be siding with the Russians and was accused of treason.
One step closer to the first nuke -- and I wish I were joking... Visa and Mastercard will cut off ALL SERVICE to Russia in the next few days.
Paypal has also done so, as well as twenty-four major international fashion brands.
A December 2021 Twitter study of negative Twitter opinions on the NFL found the most hated player in the league -- AND IT'S NOT CLOSE, even Antonio Brown got only half this many "votes" -- was Aaron Rodgers.
Today is Coach K's final home game at Duke. Non-student tickets are going for prices beyond that of Super Bowl LVI. More than a number of students have camped out for "Cameron Crazies" tickets for weeks! (And yes, Duke University has rules on which that can be done!)
The death sentence for the Boston Marathon bomber has been reinstated. It was revoked to life imprisonment by a lower Federal court due to procedural issues.
Shane Warner, cricketing legend, passed from a heart attack today at 52.
With the Lakers reeling, Charles Barkley has called them, last night, "Southern Calfornia Bums" and no longer wants TNT to show them.
It appears martial law is on the horizon in Russia. Here we go -- support the war effort OR DIE!
At least three attempts have now been made on the life of the President of the Ukraine.
It appears at least one nuclear power plant was targeted last night. The situation is being viewed very closely.
Newsweek has spotted at least one MAGAt who is fighting on the Russian side in Ukraine. The only way he'd return to the United States (since he's certain he'd be arrested the moment he came back) would be on a tank to "liberate" the USA.
Sen. Lindsey Graham wants nuclear war -- he's called for the assassination of Putin.
Gymnastics and curling have added their names to the list of sports banning Russia from their events.
I think the world is going to have to confront that someone, somewhere, there's going to be a nuclear conflict over this. The correct sanctions and world-isolation of Putin's Russia will be answered -- and it is also, aggravatingly, increasingly apparent that the fact he not only has a nuclear arsenal, but one he is willing to use is keeping the world at bay for now.
Twitter and Facebook have both been blocked in Russia.
The second gold medal of the 2022 Paralympics goes to the United States on the table, but 6 km sitting Para-Biathlon champion Oksana Masters was born... in the Ukraine!!!
One day before the Opening Ceremonies, the IPC has bowed to the rest of the world -- Russia and Belarus have been COMPLETELY THROWN OUT of the 2022 Beijing Paralympics. Andrew Parsons has said it was the only way to prevent the Games themselves from dissolving into war.
Threats of boycotts and an implied threat of violence in the Paralympic Village have forced the hand.
Parsons directly addressed the athletes themselves, holding them blameless and recognizing not only that the IPC will certainly face a legal challenge at some point, but that the athletes are the victims of their governments' actions.
The termination of the Russian Grand Prix by Formula 1 will be permanent. The contracts have been voided for the holding of the race.
These are the right things to do -- sadly, I think they will also ensure a World War.
It appears the Russian trolls have gotten #IStandWithRussia trending on Twitter this morning.
On the battlefield, it appears the tide is turning to Russia. They finally captured the third-largest Ukranian city, Kherson, last night.
Attention has now turned to the seaports to try to get the Ukranians cut off by the water. Russia is beginning to occupy more and more land on the borders in the eastern half of the country.
There is now belief by some on the ground in Kazakhstan that their country may join the way on Putin's side.
It appears as if world soccer's backchannels have notified Roman Abramovich he has to sell Chelsea -- and the "sources" are saying he is beginning the process of doing so.
CONFIRMED. Chelsea is for sale. It sounds like the FA used backchannels to tell Abramovich he was no longer welcome.
It appears as if the second-largest city of Kharkiv is the current targeting, as the city council building is getting shelled as part of a full-scale effort to force the issue.
At least one district of Mariupol has been completely destroyed.
The UK ambassador to the Ukraine was at the weekly Prime Ministers Questions session of the House of Commons today -- when he was noted by the chamber's Speaker, the entire chamber -- all parties -- stood and cheered. That's a rare occurrence in the Commons.
The Speaker then noted (to the laughter of all sides) that, though applause is generally banned in the House of Commons, he (rightly) said "Screw that!" and allowed openly the demonstration of unified support.
Looks like the continuing alliance of Putin and Trump is becoming more public. The UN Ambassador from Russia has openly announced that he also believes the 2020 US Presidential election a fraud.
A second round of talks, with a ceasefire on the table, are planned for some point soon.
Evina Svitlonia of the Ukraine is giving prize money for at least this week's tournament to the Ukranian Army.
EA Sports is removing all Russian references in both FIFA and NHL games.
Steam is, at minimum, banning all further sales to Russian players.
Twitter is banning two international Russian-based accounts -- RT and Sputnik -- due to the war.
We now have word that China specifically asked Russia to delay the attack of Ukraine until after the Olympic Games. Between that and China's refusal to join world economic sanctions against Russia, one has to begin to wonder if a New Axis is forming for World War III.
The International Paralympic Committee will allow Russians and Belarussians to compete, but only as neutral athletes under the Paralympic flag, and no mention in the medals table. Though most, including I, think it not near enough (and the individual sport associations may render it largely moot), IPC President Andrew Parsons does point out that the Paralympic Games are supposed to remain politically neurtral.
International judo will allow Russians to compete under the association's flag, same dispensation.
Biathlon and luge have joined figure skating in banning Russian athletes, however -- leaving in some question how many athletes may actually be allowed to compete, under individual-association bans.
Track and field, under World Athletics, has banned Russia and Belarus, as has the main shooting association as well.
The UN has condemned the invasion by resolution. Five votes against: Russia, Belarus, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea all voted against it. The real news, though: China and India, who both appear at least friendly to the concept of the Russian invasion (the former probably preparing the final invasion of Taiwan -- probably after the Paralympics), abstained.
A number of former owners in the old USFL are trying to prevent Fox Sports from launching a new USFL this summer.
The first two series of the MLB season have been cancelled, and I have a feeling the urgency to get a deal has gone down manyfold.
Katie Meyer has passed away at age 22. She was the goalkeeper and captain of the Stanford women's soccer team -- won a national championship with the school at that position in 2019. Died on campus, no one knows how.
Everyone's asking for calm at this point -- some are saying mental health, others are positing COVID or Long COVID.
TMZ: Cain Velasquez tried to kill a molester of an underage relative of his. He better have proof. Yes, the guy was arrested, and granted release. At that point, Velasquez allegedly (and I'd say probably more than allegedly) tried to kill that person.
The problem is that Velasquez apparently only succeeded in shooting the alleged molester's stepfather. And THAT will greatly complicate things.
In professional wrestling, a "huge announcement" is almost never what it is claimed to be.
Tonight's Tony Khan had one: He's bought Ring of Honor.
And the Valieva story, barring the CAS situation, is done for now: Russia has been thrown out of all ISU figure-skating events, but for the Ukraine invasion.
And the ice hockey team has also been tossed from all international competition -- the first sanction also to include Putin ally Belarus.
Both taekwondo and judo have rescinded honors given to Putin, who is a huge grappling-arts fan.
The NHL has cut all business interests with the country as well. They have stopped short of Dominic Hasek's call for the expulsion of all Russian players.
The Canadian Paralympic Committee, three days short of the Opening Ceremonies for the Beijing Paralympics, is demanding the expulsion of Russia from the event. There are no pre-Opening competitions in this year's Paralympics, according to NBC's streaming schedule.
Pat Robertson has apparently added his name in support of Putin, saying Putin is fulfilling Biblical prophecy. Unless Robertson is implying Putin's the Antichrist...
A 40-mile supply convoy which Russia hopes will finish the job in Kyiv has stalled - supply issues.
However, it does appear they've hit the main TV tower in the Ukranian capital, according to the Parliament.
After a 16-hour session on Monday, MLB and the players union will have six hours today, starting at 8 AM Pacific, to try to finish a deal. If no deal by 2 PM, the first month of games is off.
And word is, they're nowhere close, at least according to someone on Mike Greenberg's Get Up! program.
MLB is expecting the cancellation of games -- it's not going to start billing annual plans on it's subscription MLB.TV service.
If there is a season, there are negotiations to bring some weekday games to NBC/Peacock and Apple TV.
NO DEAL at the deadline.
WHEN is all this going to finally stick on Dana White Cain Velasquez has been arrested today -- ATTEMPTED MURDER. San Jose shooting.
ESPN was forced to take down a meme picture from the series "Euphoria" glorifying a teenage murderer. I hope someone got fired over that!
At least two men were arrested Sunday night in Las Vegas for getting in the face of the Democratic governor of Nevada, spewing misinformation about COVID, and threatening to hang him. And people wonder why I'm done with COVIDiots. If they want a civil war, Putin may give it to them! One well-placed suitcase nuke would probably do the trick!
Tonight should be a very interesting State of the Union address, between COVID, Putin, and all the political realities of America.
A strange and rather bizarre story from game shows hit the airwaves last month. In a fancy of apparent coincidence, three players on Wheel of Fortune each hit the $100,000 bonus space and solved their puzzles on three consecutive nights. At least one conspiracy theorist believed this was as a result of the show rigging for large-scale winners during the time period. That conspiracy theorist has been banned from a large-scale game-show community as a result.
This is false, because of two things: First, as Pat Sajak had to interject when the theory and the wins went viral, it is a Federal offense to take part in any scheme or artifice to do so -- has been for 65 years or so.
Second, consider the following: The current bonus wheel was put into place in October of 2001, over 20 years ago. Given an average of, say, even 150 episodes a year (which is almost-certainly low, even with a COVID-shortened period), that's 3000 bonus spins. It is believed that there are 24 spaces on the wheel, meaning that the odds of hitting the $100,000 wedge on any night are 1 in 24 (on the bonus wheel, the amounts are not known in advance for any given wedge). That would mean 1 in 13,824 for three such successive occurrences. If you then extrapolate 3000 spins into that, that would mean odds of about 1 in 4 or 1 in 5. And if you even take 1000 3-night blocks (which is not how it works), the odds are still about 7% over the course of this period of time. It's not *THAT* out of the question! It really isn't!!
Again, I try to separate out from a lot of this rabble by showing my work. If I tell you something is rigged, I'll tell you why I believe it is -- and show evidence to that effect.
