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What are you following this week? Weekly sports round-up thread
OK, let's give this a shot.
Feel free to share your thoughts about anything going on this week in the world of sports - an event you're looking forward to, a great game you watched that you recommend, a story that you're keeping tabs on, whatever tickles your fancy. Also, if you have any ideas/suggestions about this thread itself, feel free to chime in. My one suggestion is to please keep spoilers out of top-level comments.
Edit: We don't have a theme tune (yet) but just imagine this is the intro (other brands are available).
The first legitimate rumors to fill the D.C. United coaching gig have dropped. Among the more interesting prospects: United States Women's National Team coach (and two time World Cup winner) Jill Ellis. Ellis would be the first woman head coach in league history if hired on, and I believe even the first woman coach in the league period.
Hmm. The women's team players have not been very complimentary of her in the past, not sure she's the one to turn around a struggling franchise.
She's also never coached at the club level. Would be quite the flyer.
Looking forward to the next UFC Fight Night. Rooting for Korean Zombie as Ortega has really turned heel recently. KZ’s looked really crisp in his last couple of fights and I’d love to see him in championship discussions.
Also, Khabib v. Gaethje. I suspect Khabib does what he does and gets the win, but it’s always exciting when a new challenger steps up to a dominant fighter. “Will he be the one to get it done??” (“Probably not.”)
Is this the first UFC event post-corona? Is UFC doing anything interesting to engage fans in the face of the pandemic? Will there even be any in attendance?
I could obviously look this stuff up myself, but that's no fun for you.
No, they've had quite a few events during the pandemic. None with fans, though.[0] I don't know that they're necessarily doing anything interesting to engage fans. Nothing more than they usually do, anyhow. Mostly a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff leading up to major events and fighters doing interviews. They do seem to be experiencing a lot more fan engagement during the pandemic, though. I believe metrics like...uh, Youtube views and re-tweets of stuff related to current fights are breaking records, so 🤷. As far as safety...well, they're doing a lot of testing and mandatory quarantining and generally doing a good show of wearing masks and what have you. Quite a few fighters (or associated personnel (i.e. trainers/coaches)) have contracted Covid-19 (though not as a direct result of any of the events, I believe) and of course they get dropped from their fights. A few fighters have recovered from Covid-19 and have gone on to fight, too. This CNBC article has some details.
[0] : They are looking to have some fans at UFC 254, which is on October 24th in Abu Dhabi.
I wonder what the Toronto Raptors will be doing with their roster during the offseason. They have some nice young players, but a number of the old guard will be leaving, either this off season or very soon after, due to free agency or age. Ibaka, Lowry, Gasol and Van Vleet. Management will need to play their cards well in order to replace what gets lost there, or Toronto will be headed for a few years of playoff mediocrity, waiting for their next blockbuster trade, a-la Kawhi Leonard.
As far as the Toronto Blue Jays goes, the young stars on the roster already (and maybe even some of the late 20s players like Hernandez) look very good, and should mature very nicely into well-above-average players available for years to come. Realistically, a deep playoff run is still a couple years away at best, but they're a team still worth watching, just to see how the youth develops.
Speaking of the Jays, if you're a fan of theirs you may enjoy this recent video from Secret Base:
This legendary World Series walkoff home run demands a deep rewind | 1993 Blue Jays vs. Phillies
p.s. I was a huge Jays fan back then too, since I was playing Rep Ball in Ontario during those years, and was even lucky enough to get to meet a decent amount of the players and coaching staff from the '92-93 Seasons via the Jays Youth Camp. My Father and Godfather were also both higher up Execs in Labatt at the time too, so brought me to watch a bunch of Jays games in their Skydome Box (though not during the actual World Serieses unfortunately). And I even still have a John Olerud (my favorite player at the time) signed ball tucked away somewhere safe, which I got from him when someone somehow managed to convince him to come visit the box while I was there for a game (which was a highlight of younger me's life!). :)
Sumo isn't until next month, so right now I'm gathering motorsport documentaries and books, while watching the NFL (Dallas and Washington). Dallas' quarterback Dak Prescott just had surgery after a terrible ankle injury this past Sunday. I won't link it, but you can find it if you want to see it, just know that it ended with his ankle pointing the wrong direction.
What's interesting with the NFL is seeing how much worse they can handle the pandemic.
Yeah, following how poorly the NFL is handling COVID has really shown how the league operates. A lot of it is on wishful thinking. Normally during times like this when something is going badly, the owners shove Goodell out to the press and let him take the heat for them, but I've noticed that's not the strategy this time.
By far the biggest reveal of their priorities was when the league suspended Ian Rapoport within hours after he posted sponsored content from a shaving company different than the official league brand but still remains tight lipped on the Titans, who created a virtual COVID colony over the last three weeks.
How did you get into sumo in the first place? Also, which of those documentaries do you recommend? I saw one once about the Isle of Man TT that was decent for a newcomer, but I don't remember the name.
Since birth I've been taller and overall larger than average, the average height/length for a full term child in the US is 20 inches, I was 26. Add in genetics and environment and I was never a small kid growing up. Being in the US and Texan (where football is a religion on par with Christianity) I of course played football, starting as center before moving to other lineman positions. I still appreciate and pay close attention to the offensive and defensive line in professional handegg, often more than the high profile positions or even where the actual ball is in play. I was never going to have a professional swimmer's or runner's body and, as I'm sure many do, I gravitated towards sports that reflected me. This was football, powerlifting, strong man contests, highland games, and of course sumo. These also mirrored my overall preferences in most of my life for function over form. I won't disparage someone's choice of sport, but I don't see the allure of things like body building for example.
So those were the sports and athletes I looked upon with awe. Sumo wrestlers have the the flexibility and balance that (not to toot my own horn) I share, to an extent, despite what would be expected of their stature. It's truly a sight to behold watching a 6' 300lb man dance on the toes of one foot at the edge of the ring to keep from falling while throwing his opponent out. The sheer athleticism of individuals that don't look like they should be as strong, nimble, or coordinated as they are has great magnetism. They are immensely strong, showing considerable underlying musculature disguised behind their bulk (in this clip watch to around the 5:25 mark to see Takayasu's trademark flex to witness the utterly massive trapezius muscles he's hiding). In fact it's been one of the things that the sumo joshi we discussed prior say they find so attractive; with a general stance of finding their physique appealing and how hard their abdomens are compared to the expectation of softness of someone their size. Of course size isn't all of it and I'm a fan of rooting for an underdog as well.
Add in a beautiful history of traditions, heroes, honor, as well as legendary stories and people and I just find it to be a wonderful sport overall.
Nothing yet, but will let you know what I find to be good as I go through them. Just started to acquire them in bulk.
The NFL's paucity of leadership has been painfully apparent since at least 2016.
Do you follow both the Cowboys and the athletes-formerly-known-as? I always thought there was quite a bit of bad blood between the two.
Assuming you mean Cowboys vs Washington Football Team: Yes, I follow both. There is undoubtedly a huge rivalry between the teams/fans, however I am a child of two worlds. I am a Dallasite and therefore by the rules of "go local ports team" I am a Cowboys fan and yet that clashes with my father who is from DC and a lifelong diehard WFT fan; so I grew surrounded by burgundy/gold on one side and blue/white on the other. As a result I cheer for both throughout the season and when it's the two yearly Dallas vs Washington games I rib him about his team while he does the same about mine. Allows some father/son bonding and rivalry which is fun.
He's lived in Dallas so long that he's about to the same point as I am and cheers for the Cowboys so long as they aren't playing Washington or the game isn't going to change Washington's division standing.
Really looking forward to the Lomachenko vs. Teofimo Lopez fight tomorrow. I love seeing masters at work in any field, and Loma is definitely a master of his craft, with near-flawless technique and a cerebral, highlight-worthy style. Far and away he's the most enjoyable watch I've had in boxing in years, probably since Mike Tyson. Lopez is the exciting young talent with the physical advantages: taller, longer reach, loaded with speed and undeniable power. He (and his father) have had beef with Lomachenko for something like 2 years, and he misses no opportunity to talk major shit about him. As much as Loma always remains calm and collected, it looks like Teofimo has gotten under his skin a bit. He's said his plan is to take Teofimo deep and drown him, so I fully expect Loma to make a statement with this fight. The winner will be the undisputed lightweight champ and we don't even have to buy it on PPV; I can't wait.
We'll start off with a question for the group. Do people who frequent here consider eSports to be sports? To show my hand: I follow a number of eSports closely. IMO eSports are as much of sports as anything else, and discussion/articles about the League of Legends Worlds tournament are about as related to ~sports as an article about the NFL playoffs. But! My opinion isn't a general consensus. So before I write a 20 page essay about all the storylines that I think are interesting that have come from this worlds, I want to make sure people are OK with that genre of content.
Its a big weekend in the Bichael household this weekend, as the Cleveland Browns play their rivals in the Pittsburgh Steelers. Its been a long, hard life as a Browns fan. The Browns have long been the laughing stock of the NFL, but it wasn't until back-to-back 1-15 and winless seasons that people were reminded just how fucking bad we are. The browns have qualified for the playoffs twice since I've been alive, and this weekends game has big playoff implications. The Steelers are undefeated and at the top of the AFC North. With a Browns win, there becomes a 3-way tie for first in the AFC North, with the Ravens holding a W over the Browns and the Browns having a W over the Steelers. A Steelers win gives them a 2-win lead over second in the AFC North. I will be glued to the couch trying not to get excited about the Browns, and making increasingly stupid bets with my friends in my Cle vs Pitt groupchat.
While there is some hockey news, I think its too early to speculate on team strengths right now. Lots of guesses about where players are going to end up, lots of rumors, a couple trades. Too many unknowns for me to want to begin guessing what will happen in 2021.
Hmm. My inclination is to say no. I think sports need to have a meaningful physical component to them in terms of both athleticism and (ideally) skill, and I don't see that with eSports. If you were to call video games sports, then why not chess, or backgammon, or poker? Having said that, I do recognize the mental athleticism of pro gamers.
I'd heard talk before of the Browns actually being good this year and I had to do a double take, lol. What kind of relationship does the ownership have with Browns fans?
How are Las Vegas doing since their almost-fairytale in 2018? Was that a fluke or are they building into a real force?
I'm somewhat torn between my urge to root against the lying cheating Houston Astros and my desire to see their manager Dusty Baker (one of the coolest dudes in baseball) finally win the big one. I'm not following it too closely, but I guess that's the most interesting storyline in the playoffs for me.
Other than that, just waiting for the winter ownership meetings so the sale of the Mets can go through.
Update: the Astros lost. Good riddance. Sorry Dusty.
Here's a pretty funny MLB.com article/clip about a play in Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League that has been making the rounds, but probably doesn't deserve it's own post:
He thought he had a HR, but this happened
Direct link CPBL's tweet with the video:
https://twitter.com/CPBL/status/1317081633418211329?s=20