#Arkhaven INFOGALACTIC #Castalia House
“A big, big thank you to President Donald Trump for being here tonight. I’m proud to be a great American champion. I’m proud to be a Christian American champion.”
– Jon Jones, UFC heavyweight champion
Don’t tell us how racist President Donald Trump is. Tell Mr. Jones. And notice how Christian nationalism is rising everywhere. Both Christianity and nationalism are, quite literally, for everyone. The satanic globalists are vehemently and viciously opposed to both.
Not even Iron Mike Tyson. He had two rounds to put Jake Paul away, and when he didn’t, the outcome became inevitable. Still, it’s good to see the younger generation showing due respect to their elders, even when they’ve passed them by. Jake Paul may have won a unanimous decision, but he also knows greatness when he sees it.
It took a fair amount of courage for Mike Tyson to get back in the ring, even against a show pony fighter like Jake Paul. Paul, like it or not, is a legitimate boxer now. He’s put in the time, he’s put in the training, and if he’s not about to take on a top-ranked fighter, well, he’s first and foremost an entertainer. But that doesn’t make him any less legitimate or dangerous. He’s got knockout power. And in the ring, anyone can hurt you; there are no guarantees and people get injured even in sparring. I’ve seen ankles broken, noses broken, and was even knocked out myself once in training.
I’m only two years younger than Iron Mike, so I know exactly how much he has slowed down over time. On the soccer field, I’ve been dealing with my inability to reach balls I would have easily gotten to first for the last 23 years; I remember the very practice at which my top gear, upon which I’d always relied, simply vanished. It just wasn’t there anymore. It doesn’t matter how well I keep myself in shape or how smart I play, I’m just a role player now. I don’t worry about scoring goals or providing assists anymore, I just try to keep my wing in order and protect my defender; it’s up to the younger players to win the game now and all I can really expect to do is prevent us from losing it via my side.
It’s certainly painful to watch our youthful sports heroes “embarrass” themselves by showing their age and how their greatness has departed them. But they’ve earned their right to go out there and compete with their successors, and to confirm what they already suspect about their decline. And as Jake Paul demonstrated with his obvious respect for the former world champion, what a thrill it is for the younger men to test themselves, even against the faded shadows of their great elders.
Whether it is the so-called Prevent Defense in the NFL or the various tactics used to waste time in international football, these are counterproductive tactics that serve absolutely no purpose except to allow the other team back in the game.
Have some confidence in yourself! If you’ve dominated the game for 80 minutes, or three-and-a-half quarters, keep doing what you’re doing! Don’t let up the gas and let the other team back into the game!
This season, our team had a problem with this. We’d go up one or two goals and the midfield would go passive while the defense would go to sleep. We lost three games we absolutely should have one before the guys seemed to get the message and keep pressing; we won the next game 10-0. The final game of the season, we were up 3-0 when the defense relaxed again; at one point one attacker went right through three defenders without any of them making a serious effort at stopping him. Fortunately, after going into halftime 4-4, we went back on the attack and ended up winning 8-5.
The key is that the team leaders need to stress the need to keep attacking, and the scorers need to keep taking their shots rather than getting cute and clever with their chances as they often do when the game – or the practice – start to feel easy. The best teams always blow out the bad teams instead of relaxing and playing down to their level. In those two high-scoring wins, our star striker took control and scored 9 goals in the two games.
The problem is that the human psyche doesn’t permit simultaneous passivity and aggression. If you start trying to waste time, you’ve stopped trying to actively win the game. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t practice wise clock management, and sometimes injuries force you to take off a key player and implement more defensive tactics. But the best defense is always a good offense; a team that is constantly rocked back on its heels isn’t one that is likely to get back into the game.
Every sprinter is taught the importance of finishing strong. Run THROUGH the tape. Save the celebrations for after the race. Always focus on finishing strong, never be content to just hang on.
At 2-3, the Jets haven’t been great this year, but I really fail to see how losing 23-17 to an undefeated Vikings team is a reason to fire a man who hasn’t had a functional quarterback situation since he became their head coach:
“This morning, l informed Robert Saleh that he will no longer serve as the Head Coach of the Jets,” team owner Woody Johnson said. “I thanked him for his hard work these past three-and-a-half years and wished him and his family well moving forward. This was not an easy decision, but we are not where we should be given our expectations, and I believe now is the best time for us to move in a different direction.
It would appear that expressing support for a certain countries and organizations is now grounds for being fired. Which is why it is imperative for everyone to immediately alert Roger Gooden about the support that Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur has been seen expressing for Hamas.
UPDATE: Even Mike Florio is wondering what’s going on. But, of course, no one dares to observe the obvious.
Timing of firing of Robert Saleh makes no sense
Apparently it is now a “huge controversy” to display your nationality:
New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh sparked controversy during the team’s NFL game against the Minnesota Vikings in London on Sunday. The 45-year-old was spotted on the sidelines at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium wearing a Lebanese flag below the Nike logo on the sleeve of his team hoodie.
The night before Sunday’s game – the first of the NFL’s international fixtures this season – Israeli bombing continued on Beirut, the Lebanese capital, amid the Israel-Hezbollah war. The Hezbollah stronghold in south Beirut was hit by more than 30 strikes overnight, which were heard across the city, with smoke still seen billowing from the site after dawn, Lebanon’s official National News Agency said.
Saleh, who is of Lebanese heritage, previously wore a similar patch last October but his decision to bear the flag Sunday raised eyebrows as the anniversary of the beginning of the war in Gaza approaches.
Saleh is Lebanese. Naturally, he doesn’t support Israel invading and attacking his homeland. But he’s not doing anything more than EVERY SINGLE NFL PLAYER is doing; look at the back of their helmets. Most players have US flag stickers because they are US citizens, but foreign players wear the flags of their countries; there is a German tight end – I don’t recall which team – but he has a German flag on the back of his helmet.
If the NFL is smart, they’ll leave this one alone. Because you know Robert Kraft is just itching to turn every Sunday into a massive advertisement for supporting Israel’s wars against a) Palestine, b) Syria, c) Lebanon, d) Iran, and now e) Pakistan? I have to admit, I’m lost on the latter.
It’s too bad Martin van Creveld felt the need to suspend his blog in August, as it would be very good to get his thoughts on the matter as a military historian. I’ve been reading his intriguing history of Israel, The Land of Blood and Honey, and I suspect he might not be very optimistic about the way in which the Netanyahu regime has gone about waging its wars, which appears to be based upon a strategy of escalate, then escalate again.
24 Minnesota
17 USC (#11)
So that was fun. Minnesota hasn’t beaten USC since 1955. I was a Gophers fan when I was a kid, Tony Dungy was the quarterback, and upsetting a #1 Michigan team 16-0 in 1977 was the most exciting thing about growing up in Minnesota prior to The Miracle on Ice in 1980. I even went to a few games at the old Memorial Stadium, including the 1976 season opener that was a win over Indiana.
But too many seasons of losing 45-0 to Big Ten rivals and 73-0 to Nebraska, in company with the incredibly stupid move to the horrible Metrodome, caused me to lose all interest in college football, except for keeping an eye on future NFL players. They didn’t even make it to a single bowl game, no matter how lowly, between 1987 and 1998.
However, the new stadium is really cool – the Vikings played there in Brett Favre’s last year – and the expansion of the Big 10 means that the Gophers are now getting the chance to play teams like USC and UCLA that they seldom played without getting to the Rose Bowl, which hadn’t happened since 1962. In fact, this was only the sixth time the two maroon-and-gold teams had ever played in my lifetime… and the first time was the year I was born.
Because my mother is a football fan who grew up in Pasadena and attended USC, I spent many a late Saturday afternoon watching USC play, although I tended to prefer UCLA. PAC-8 football always seemed a little exotic compared to Big 10 football, although SWC football, with its tearaway jerseys, was the most exciting. I was a bit of a Texas fan, mostly because my parents’ friends, who were huge Arkansas boosters, were so annoying, with their “Pig-sueey” nonsense. The Michigan upset notwithstanding, 1977 was a tough year.
Most people think the development of NIL-related professionalism is a terrible thing for college football, and I certainly have my doubts about the evolution of the Big 10 and the SEC into superconferences. The disappearance of the PAC-12 is certainly to be regretted and I wonder if USC will one day regret its move to the Big 10 for the same reason Arkansas misses the now-defunct SWC. But it is at least possible that the money-related dispersal of talent across dozens of universities may end up having a very positive effect on the general level of competitiveness across the NCAA. After all, it’s a lot easier for teams like Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio State to stockpile talent when all it costs them is a scholarship.
Because this certainly wasn’t happening before the NIL era. In fact, it’s been 118 years since Vanderbilt scored this many points on Alabama.
40 Vanderbilt
35 Alabama (#1)
Mike Florio takes a very serious and very public shot at Panthers’ owner David Tepper:
And the incoming quarterbacks have more power than ever before. Their money is the source of it. They have earned plenty. They have (or should have) banked a lot of it. They can make it clear to the Panthers, privately or if need be publicly, that they won’t sign a contract with the Panthers. That whoever is drafted by Tepper’s team will sit out for a year, live off his NIL money (and possibly earn more of it), and re-enter the draft the next time around. That’s how it works. If a player is drafted and doesn’t sign a contract, he re-enters the next draft. If he does it again, he can pick whichever team he wants after the next draft…
It’s high time for incoming quarterbacks to take a stand when it comes to being forced to play for an inept organization. And there’s always strength in numbers. The Panthers should be the first target for a collective “no thanks” by the top prospects.
Florio tends to be a little too inclined to tell other people what they should do for my liking. But for once, his inclination toward interference in the business of others is both justified and sound. David Tepper always looked like he’d be a disaster as an NFL team owner and a disaster is exactly what he’s turned out to be. In fact, it wouldn’t be surprising if there are more influential NFL figures speaking through Florio’s voice here.
Dorking Wanderers Football Club – of whom Castalia Library is a sponsor – has announced a new ownership program called 25 for 25, which involves the sale of 25 shares of the club plus a special limited edition retro jersey. Here’s a video of Marc White himself announcing the program and here is the link if you’d like to join the ownership club and join what I can attest is truly an absolutely fascinating ride.
I can also announce something that will not yet be apparent, since it was only settled this morning, but the limited edition 25th Anniversary retro jerseys will, like the three 2024-25 season jerseys, sport the Castalia Library logo on the back. It’s a smaller logo above the number, since there is no need to leave that space for the players names.
It would certainly make for a very cool and unusual Christmas gift, even if you’re not into English soccer. The price of the shares and shirt is around $460 at current exchange rates, which is a very good price for being able to genuinely tell people that you own a real English football team with short, but already legendary history.
Forget Wrexham. Imagine when DWFC makes it to the Premiership in 15 years or so…
UPDATE: Here is the retro jersey. The logo on the back signifies that it is truly elite.
To the surprise of absolutely no one who has been there in the last ten years, Paris has completely flopped as a host of the Olympic Games. The news that immigrants, filth, and crime are not tourist attractions appears to have somehow been missed by the organizers, who were too occupied with figuring out how to alienate Christians with their satanic little rituals and ushering in the Mark of the Beast with a cashless payment system to bother with catering to potential attendees.
Paris is an easy trip, even easier than going from Minneapolis to Chicago. And literally no one I know even considered going there, not even athletes and coaches who are involved in some of the relevant sports at an international level. In fact, no one ever discussed the Olympics at all, very much unlike the recent Euros.
But one good thing did come out of the Olympics. This meme.
The sporting world will be fortunate if the Summer Olympics ends without losing an athlete or two to the vaxx:
Slovakian athlete Tamara Potocká collapsed after completing a swim at the Olympic Games this morning, leaving spectators at the Paris Aquatics Centre shocked as she was hurriedly carried away on a stretcher. The 21-year-old competed in a heat of the women’s 200-meter individual medley at 10:30am BST this morning and clambered out of the pool having come in seventh, missing out on qualification for the later rounds.
But moments later her legs buckled and she tumbled to the ground, managing to sit down for a few seconds before falling backwards. Potocká was seen in distress at the side of the pool even as another eight swimmers lined up in preparation for the next heat, until organisers realised something was wrong and medical staff descended on the scene.
I’m not saying it’s the vaxx, but…
Speaking of the Olympics, Andrei Martynov is enjoying the spectacle of the ongoing collapse of the subverted West:
This is the triumph of post-modernism. As I stated not for once–remove all limitations on doping, proclaim transgenderism a virtue in sports and let the third wave feminists and their cuckold admirers with male genitalia enjoy the spectacle. Let the fires rise high and illuminate the remnants of the Western Civilization being consumed by insanity and perversion. For those who didn’t get the news–Olympic Movement is dead, as are or nearing death most of the so called Western “institutions” ranging from financial to military.