World Sport thread

[Groundhog]

The break definitely seems to affect a team or two each year.

On a semi-related note, I'm chuffed that the first page of the google search for my name still has a link to my Aussie Rules division 5 (lowest) stats from my attempt to play the game back in 2011.....

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by 21C

By the way, if you ever get a chance, you must check the AFL's MVP presentation (or Brownlow Medal) for the best and fairest player.

It is strangely compelling viewing. The best players from each game are awarded 3-2-1 points (by the game's umpires) with these results announced at the end of season presentation. The leader board is updated at the same time so the drama grows as the points are announced. A nice part of it, since this is for the best and fairest, is that players are ineligible if they have been suspended during the season for any on-field transgression.

I think that you can find last year's presentation on youtube.

Just looked at this on your advice and you're right, this is compelling viewing even without knowing anyone involved. I doubt it would work here, though people watch the draft for 3 days. So maybe...

2016 AFL Brownlow Medal - YouTube

Honestly, if I ever went back to camp, I'd make them do the best camper award voting like this instead of doing what we did where it was just one meeting at the end of the session. Having people vote daily like this could be better, though you'd have to keep the records somewhere and decide who the selectors would be. But the whole suspense of counting would be fascinating.

Anyway, carry on.

[Young Drachma]

Vimpelin Veto beat Sotkamo Jymy 3 games to 1 to win the 2017 Finnish baseball title. It's the 5th men's title in club history. (1960, 1965, 2010, 2016) and it extra sweet because Sotkamo won 5 straight titles against us from 2011-2015.

Last year, Veto won at home. This year, had to go to Sotkamo to win it on their field.

Here's the final play of the game.

Tähän päättyi upea pesiskesä! @vimpelinveto ja toinen peräkkäinen mestaruus! #pesis pic.twitter.com/tzqYOmgDvi

— Ruutu Urheilu (@RuutuUrheilu) September 23, 2017

The hitter tried to advance the runner with a bunt, the first baseman made tried to throw the runner out at 2nd, 2nd baseman bobbled it trying to stay on the base. Right shortstop chases the errant throw almost into the stands - Sotakmo sent their advancing runner home rather than keeping two men on with 2 outs and the throw home was just on target.

I'm not sure they should've sent the runner, but given it almost worked, it was probably worth the gamble to tie the game.

[tarcone]

This is a quick blurb about my foray back into world sport.
My rugby club is celebrating its 40th anniversary this Fall.
We have an old boys game against the actives Oct. 7 and then a get together afterwards.
Oct 6 is a happy hour.

But the big event is a trip to Mobile, AL for the Battleship rugby tournament. And they have an old boys division. 35 and older. Which sucks, because 35 is still prime time. But I am going to play. We are taking a chartered bus down and it sounds like an amazing time.

Exciting.

[SirFozzie]

Hope you packed plenty of asprin and um.. medicinal alcohol

[tarcone]

Yeah I will. The tourney is Nov 11 and 12.

Will pack much medicine.

[Critch]

To mark this thread's almost-anniversary, it's time for another World Darts Championship. Nothing says Christmas like a lot of fat blokes chucking darts.

First round well underway, quite a few upsets so far. A few seeds are out already.

Top game so far was yesterday's Paul Lim v Mark Webster. Paul Lim (The Singapore Slinger) is 63, first played at the World Championships in 1982 and regularly gets knocked out in the prelim round or first round. Mark Webster is a former world champion, seeded this year, and odds-on favorite:

[AlexB]

One of the greatest exponents of a competitive art bowed out tonight, but without the full fairytale finish.

Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor was darts World Champion 16 times (bear in mind this is an annual thing) and announced he would retire after this world championship. He managed to get to the final, but lost 7-2 to the up and comer Rob Cross, in his first full year of professional darts.

A true pasing of the torch, a legend retires, and maybe, based on thie last 12 months, a new legend is born?

[AlexB]

Phil Taylor: Darts says farewell to sport's unlikely revolutionary - BBC Sport

The second half of this article jumps the shark, but overall it gives an intro into Phil Taylor’s impact

[MIJB#19]

Taylor played well for a 'last game', but Cross was phenomenal tonight.

[AlexB]

Agreed, I think Taylor averaged more than most of his WT wins, or at least was at one point. But Rob Cross was unbelievable.

Cross confirmed that a year ago, he and a partner won an event with a £7 prize each. One year later he’s won £400k!!

[Butter]

USA v England in Rugby World Cup on NBCSN in America right now. England favored by something like 30 points, let's see how the Eagles look.

[Critch]

It's the most wonderful time of the year again, World Darts Championship.

Full coverage is on DAZN this year, they seem to have a deal with Sky TV in the UK to pick up all the crap that's popular there but nobody cares about here. So darts and snooker. The darts coverage is worth the subscription on it's own, most of the main tournaments live and on-demand, including every session of the World Championship.

It started on friday, so still a strange mix of no-name qualifiers from exotic places and household names, but already a few seeds knocked out. Rob "Voltage" Cross (no 2 seed), Ian "Diamond" White (no 9 seed) and Michael "Bellend" Smith (no 4 seed) all out already. Also previous 5-time winner Raymond van Barneveld crashed out in the first round, he's been on his fairwell tour this year, this was his last tournament.

Gary "The Flying Scotsman" Anderson starts this afternoon, I'm excited already. Dont think he'll be reaching the final this year though, seems to be on a downward slide.

Once again, Michael van Gerwen is the man to beat.

[AlexB]

Literally made me LOL! Not a fan I take it? Or is it an autocorrect? He’s the Bully Boy, not The Bellend

[Critch]

Not a fan, Bellend just seems to fit him better. Always comes over as an ass in interviews.

No problem for Gary Anderson.

[Butter]

Good looking out on the darts. Worth it for a single month subscription that I can cancel in mid-January.

[Critch]

A few years ago the darts World Championships started inviting two female players straight into the first round rather than making them go through the regular qualifiers, and last night for the first time ever a female player won her match. They've got close in the past (the other female player this year got knocked out in a tiebreaker), but this is the first win.

Fallon Sherrock (dont think she has a nickname) played really well to knock out Super Ted Ellets 3-2. Felt a bit sorry for Ted, he got booed and jeered the whole way through for no real reason (other than the crowd wanting to see a female win), he's not a dickhead that deserves that treatment from the crowd. He's a nice young chap.

Talking of dickheads who deserve that treatment, 8th seed James Wade starts this afternoon.

[AlexB]

They were calling him Stay-In-Bed Ted this morning on the radio, which made me chuckle! He was in a no-win situation, but handled it pretty well considering.

[Butter]

Great final by Peter Wright, MVG just wasn't playing well. Finally got a chance to watch it.

I don't honestly know what people's opinion is of Peter Wright, but I have always enjoyed him and his minor antics.

[Critch]

It was a good final, right til the end I was expecting MVG to come storming back. Good to see Peter Wright finally hold it together in a final.

Wright's popular with the fans, also has a reputation for being a nice guy too, one of the few who gets on with most of the other players. Other than Gerwyn Price I guess, the Wright v Price semifinal got a bit heated.

Looks like DAZN will also be covering the Darts Premier League nights, I'm not sold on carrying on paying for it though. No interest in Boxing or MMA.

[AlexB]

Who says the GB ice hockey league is tinpot?

Peterborough Phantoms v Telford Tigers: Ice hockey game delayed as ref forgets trousers - BBC Sport

[Butter]

Originally Posted by Critch

Looks like DAZN will also be covering the Darts Premier League nights, I'm not sold on carrying on paying for it though. No interest in Boxing or MMA.

I literally canceled right after I watched the final.

They need more content, a LOT more for 20 bucks a month.

[Critch]

Originally Posted by Butter

They need more content, a LOT more for 20 bucks a month.

I'm apparently grandfathered in for $9 per month, but that expires in a couple of months.

Rising to $20 per month makes it an easy decision for me, content is lacking compared to the much cheaper ESPN+

[Critch]

It's time for my annual bumping of this thread, it's World Darts Championship time!

It's not the same without the fans, but it's still the World Championships so I'm watching. Second round has just started, the round where the top seeds enter, so no real big upsets yet, but there's an American chap 2-0 up (first to 3) right now against no21 seed Adrian "Chunk" Lewis.

Once again, Michael van Gerwen is the man to beat along with reigning champion Peter "Snakebite" Wright.

Peter has upped his "look ridiculous" game for the World Championships:

[Young Drachma]

Meanwhile in Finland..

https://twitter.com/superpesis/statu...32779046965250

Diving headfirst into the river is very unusual, guys don't usually dive like that for the ball with the creek there.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by Young Drachma

Meanwhile in Finland..

https://twitter.com/superpesis/statu...32779046965250

Diving headfirst into the river is very unusual, guys don't usually dive like that for the ball with the creek there.

Did they have a camera in the river just in case that might happen?

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Did they have a camera in the river just in case that might happen?

Yeah, it's always there because this is Vimpeli and balls always go into the creek. This one was wild because he dove head-first and that never really happens.

[Critch]

It's World Darts Championship time again. It's starting to feel a lot like Christmas because the darts is on tv.

Star of the day was Cameron "Cammy" Menzies. Worked his proper job all day (he's a plumber) then turned up at the Ally Pally in the evening to handily win his first round game 3-0. He supports the same soccer team as me, so hope he does well.

Non-Star was the Professional Darts Corporation, they've told first time qualifier Owen Bates that he has to change his nickname. No more Owen "The Master" Bates, too racy for TV.

Today's highlights:

[Critch]

Darts still going on, but on a sadder "World Sport" theme GCN+ officially ceased to exist today.

For a few years it's been a top class and not very expensive legal source for streaming World Tour road cycling races and documentaries, but Discovery Plus have decided they can close it down, provide less content and try to ring more money out of the viewers elsewhere.

So F*** Discovery Plus.

[AlexB]

Newbury boy Luke Humphries putting on a clinic in the World Darts SF, after 16 year-old (not a typo) Luke littler booked his place in the final earlier.

If Humphries gets the 6th set he needs (currently 5-0 up) this could be one of the best finals ever

[AlexB]

Scott Williams has just bust from 126. I'm not sure I’ve ever seen that before

[miami_fan]

If darts were a youth sport in the U.S., parents would be demanding to see Luke Littler's birth certificate. Are we sure he is 16?

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

If darts were a youth sport in the U.S., parents would be demanding to see Luke Littler's birth certificate. Are we sure he is 16?

Hehe

Luke Littler's birth certificate revealed as fans get proof World Darts Championship wonderkid really is 16 years old | The Sun

[miami_fan]

HA!

[Critch]

Great final, high quality all the way through. The 16-year old was 4-2 up and had a chance for 5-2 but it slipped away.

[AlexB]

Newbury has a world champion!

Littler is a very likeable young lad though - showed great respect during the game to good shots, finishes, etc: a mature head on young shoulders

[Ghost Econ]

Kabbadi is fancy Indian tag and is a completely stupid sport but I want a pro league in America, or at least a competition made of players from each major sport.

[Butter]

I quite enjoy the Kabaddi.

[Senator]

My son’s school was teaching about things outside of the US and drew Sumo out of the hat for his project. He asked I watch it with him to help learn it and it was during Hakuho Sho’s dominance. At first I was a little bored, then I learned the system of levels that make you perform or be relegated into several smaller levels. Then I did the historical research and found it’s basically been the same sport forever and they have all the historical stats online and you can compare. Then I learned the accepted moves to win. I thought it was push fat guy backwards, but there are nuances and holds and moves that are allowed which makes rare ones that show up special. Then I learned about the how they are recruited and how they are trained and who are famous grandkids of past champs and it really becomes immersive and deep. There is currently a YouTube guy named Leo not Bruce Dickinson that shows every match, even at the lowest level where you have 46 year old guys still trying to move up the system.

I had some friends give it a shot but it takes patience and a little side reading to understand it but it’s a very deep sport that we make fun of out of ignorance and a cheap laugh. I’ve watched it now for 6 years and still feel I’ve only got a general understanding of it but you begin to get favorites and guys you root against and it’s a blast.

I’ve got the Grand Sumo app and there are some English websites that update news and injury reports. It’s one of mid life sports I seemed to take to because of the tradition and hard road it takes to be a Yokozuna.

YMMV because after the assignment my son hasn’t watched it one time with me.

[SirFozzie]

There's a guy (MidnightSumo) who airs all the bashos on twitch (and in between does past tournaments, and stuff like Japanese cuisine.

https://www.twitch.tv/midnightsumo

[Critch]

I'm a fairly recent but regular sumo watcher myself. For about the last four years I've been making a point of catching the 30min highlight show on the NHK app each night during a basho. So too late for Hakuho Sho's dominance period, he was injured and on the way out by the time I started watching, just checked his record on wiki though and it definitely qualifies as domination. NHK app is as far as I've ventured, most of the youtube channels seem to get closed down too often for me to keep up with.

Chose Takayasu as "my guy" as the first basho I watched he was the only one who smiled when he was interviewed. As good a reason as any, and he's not been a bad choice, he's been fairly competitive when not injured.

Biggest hold up for my enjoyment is that I cant keep all the names straight.

[Edward64]

(Could fall under the other thread of athletes doing good things)

Check out the video. I wonder how much the 3 African runners got to "take the dive". Not going to blame them, I'm sure it was worth it for them personally but man, couldn't they make it look less suspicious?

Chinese runner He Jie’s win invites suspicion after rivals appear to step aside in Beijing Half Marathon | CNN

Chinese runner He Jie’s victory Sunday in the Beijing Half Marathon is facing a probe after his win was called into question by Chinese internet users because a trio of African runners appeared to deliberately slow down to let him win.

A video clip of the finish to the race shows Kenya’s Willy Mnangat turn toward He and gesture him to move ahead as the four men run neck and neck just meters from the finish line.

[SirFozzie]

Saw another story that said they were hired as pacemakers for the Chinese runner, in an attempt to get him to a half-marathon record for a Chinese runner

[Senator]

Originally Posted by Critch

Biggest hold up for my enjoyment is that I cant keep all the names straight.

I had the same issue. It helped me early on to give them nicknames. Like Terunofuji was TerrorFuji and a guy named Ichinojo we called Big Baby from Toy Story, Terutsuyoshi was the salt shaker because he did the over dramatic salt throw, Endo was Pretty Boy because the women fans loved him, Tobizara is the flying monkey due to his name translation and unorthodox style, and Aoiyama was infinity D because of his rather large up tops. Made it easier with nicknames and then over time you get used to the real names and it clicks.

Sumo Jason and Sumo Stew on YouTube taught me a lot.

Best website for daily news in English. https://tachiai.org/
And stat nerds like me go to.

https://fredpink.com/

https://sumodb.sumogames.de/Default.aspx

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Saw another story that said they were hired as pacemakers for the Chinese runner, in an attempt to get him to a half-marathon record for a Chinese runner

I'm not sure I believe the pacemaker story. Seems like a way to "save face". I do wonder if the 3 "pacemakers" ran the whole race? If so, that would be unusual, wouldn't it?

All four runners’ results have been revoked and their trophies, medals and bonuses will be withdrawn, it said.

The three African runners were invited to join the race as pacemakers by Chinese sports company Xtep, which sponsored both He and the Beijing Half Marathon, according to the committee.

But Xtep failed to note the trio as pacemakers to the race operator, Zhong’ao Lupao Beijing Sports Management company, the committee said.

The committee disqualified the operator from hosting the Beijing Half Marathon and banned Xtep from sponsoring any more races this season.

[Edward64]

I guess its only a matter of time before we are Cricket world champions?

jk. India & Ireland next.

The US cricket team orchestrated a shocking defeat of powerhouse Pakistan following a dramatic Super Over victory at the Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup on Thursday in Dallas.

The thrilling win was the biggest in US cricket history and is already being regarded as one of the biggest upsets in the sport.

Pakistan is ranked No. 6 in the world while the US team is No. 18.

Surprised we are even ranked that high at 18.

[Edward64]

Watch clips of Indias cricket win over Pakistan. Don’t understand the game but congrats to India.

[AlexB]

Watching the USA v India game, and USA are doing OK!

But this is the first game I’ve seen through being away, and the pitch is godawful, and not helping showcase the game at all

[Edward64]

No idea how "bad" the loss was but hey, the US is still alive.

I wonder how many of the US cricket players are first Gen immigrants. Wouldn't be surprised if it was the vast majority.

India, which advanced to the next round of the competition with the victory, won by seven wickets — meaning they eclipsed the 110-run total put up by the U.S. team and still had seven more players who didn’t have to bat.

The Americans still have one more Group A match to play on Friday against Ireland in Florida. With a victory, they could still advance to next stage, known as the Super 8 for the top eight teams after the initial group stage.

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by Edward64

No idea how "bad" the loss was but hey, the US is still alive.

I wonder how many of the US cricket players are first Gen immigrants. Wouldn't be surprised if it was the vast majority.

It ended up being a relatively comfortable win for India, but at the start of the Indian innings the US had them in real trouble, and even when the third wicket went down, the US were still in it.

But then India took the game away from the US, and it was never really in doubt from then on.

India will beat higher ranked countries more easily than that though.