Tag: sports

Relegation in the USA

This should be fun to watch:

Promotion and relegation is coming to American professional soccer for the first time, according to a report from The Athletic’s Paul Tenorio. The United Soccer Leagues (USL), representing American professional soccer’s second and third tiers, voted to add promotion-relegation to their system. Currently, it is set up with the USL Championship featuring 24 teams and the third-tier USL League One featuring 14 teams. 

Many teams are in non-MLS markets, allowing cities a cheaper point of entry for owners and a separate set-up to the 30-team top division. In February, the USL also applied to U.S. Soccer for first-division status, aiming to establish USL Premier, which would be classified as a first division alongside MLS. 

If the USL Premier becomes a reality, it will likely have promotion and relegation through three divisions in the USL Championship and USL League 1. At the same time, MLS remains a separate single-entity structure.

The European soccer leagues have a lot – and I mean a LOT – to learn from the NFL. But the one thing they do right is promotion and relegation, which adds serious spice to the lower leagues and drives interest in them.

It wouldn’t hurt to apply it to the House and Senate, while we’re at it.

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Where Was God?

Where was God? He was there at the quarterback’s side, as always:

Where was the quarterback’s God Sunday evening while he was getting sacked six times? And where did this mess of a game leave Mahomes and his professed faith?

The answer to both questions is exactly where it all was before the game.

God apparently allowed the Chiefs to take one on the chin. They say setbacks are a set-up for a great comeback. I believe that’s in the Gospels somewhere because Jesus suffered unspeakable punishment on the cross on Friday and died, but didn’t stay that way very long.

Sunday’s grand victory surely came.

Mahomes, meanwhile, thanked God after the Kansas City loss. He thanked God “for every opportunity he has given me.”

That doesn’t change the fact the Eagles were better. It doesn’t change the fact Mahomes went home with an L.

But neither did that loss change the fact Mahomes took the setback like a champion.

Win or lose, God is with us. As far as I can tell, He doesn’t care about who wins and loses. And contra the Calvinists, He does not ordain the results of the game. But He does care about us, and He does care how we comport ourselves, which is why it’s important to see Mahomes and other Christian athletes making it clear that they thank Him when they win and when they lose.

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NFL Pro-Chiefs Bias Confirmed

Three minutes into the first quarter and a nonexistent “offensive pass interference” call negates an Eagles 4th-and-2 conversion with a long pass. Absolutely terrible. Even the announcers are expressing disbelief.

The NFL is absolutely, 100-percent, using the refs to put a thumb on the scale in favor of the Chiefs.

The Eagles are going to have to blow the Chiefs out or they will lose.

UPDATE: And now a phantom false start to take away another Eagles first down.

UPDATE: 24-0 Eagles at halftime.

Now we’ll discover if there is a Superhero Mahomes script in play or not. Personally, I doubt it. He’s not playing poorly, the defensive line is simply running over his protection. The other thing to look for is if the Eagles have been ordered to let things get closer; watch for overtly retarded play-calling, inexplicable fumbles, and, of course, more flags preventing first downs and giving the Chiefs first downs on third-and-long.

UPDATE: 37-6. It’s over. Hopefully this will persuade the NFL of the wisdom of leaving the players to determine the results. Either the Bills or the Ravens would have made for a much better, more competitive game.

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No Trannies in 2028

Mentally disordered foreigners imagining that they are women will not be permitted to participate in the 2028 Olympic Games.

Not only did President Donald Trump sign an executive order effectively banning males from competing in women’s sports at publicly-funded institutions (like schools), but Trump also announced he plans to deny foreign transgender athletes entry into the country for the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Trump says he instructed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to “make [it] clear to the International Olympics Committee that America categorically rejects transgender lunacy. We want them to change everything having to do with the Olympics and having to do with this absolutely ridiculous subject… In Los Angeles in 2028, my administration will not stand by and watch men beat and batter female athletes.”

Men who are US citizens won’t be permitted to compete with the women either. That’s the best way to deal with this wicked madness: call it out for what it is, then ban it.

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NFL Referees Confirm Suspicions

The NFL referees practically confirm that certain games are being rigged on the orders of the league office in their very suspicious non-denial denial of their own corruption.

On Monday, Commissioner Roger Goodell pushed back on the suggestion that game officials favor the Chiefs. On Tuesday, the union representing game officials issued a statement expressing appreciation for the Commissioner’s remarks.

“Commissioner Goodell’s comments that it is ‘ridiculous’ to presume that NFL Officials are not doing everything possible to make the right call on every play is spot on,” NFL Referees Association executive director Scott Green said. “Officiating crews do not work the same team more than twice each regular season. It is insulting and preposterous to hear conspiracy theories that somehow 17 officiating crews consisting of 138 officials are colluding to assist one team.”

That’s a bit strong. And it teeters on the possibility of protesting too much.

It doesn’t teeter on the possibility of protesting too much, it’s an obvious non-denial denial. When someone suspected of robbing a specific liquor store at a specific time pompously declares that it is insulting and preposterous to hear conspiracy theories that somehow 17 different criminal organizations are colluding to rob 138 different liquor stores and gas stations, instead of directly addressing the actual accusation, that’s such an obvious evasion that it serves as a practical confession.

We all know that the NFL puts the thumb on the scale when one team is blowing out another team at halftime. We can all see when a coach and quarterback have been instructed to lose a game. And it’s absolutely and entirely obvious when a head referee has been told which team should get the important calls. The NFL and the NFL Referees Association is insulting our intelligence when they try to pretend that they are a completely honest and organic sporting association when we all know that they are a for-profit entertainment organization that has the legal right to put on a show in any way it deems most entertaining.

The more they protest in such stupid and obvious ways, the more they confirm our suspicions. And if the Vikings bring back Sam Darnold, that will serve as strong support for the hypothesis that the last two games of the 2024 season were intentionally thrown by the Vikings on the orders of the NFL.

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CDAN Calls Out NFL

After the dollars and eyes on last year’s event, this organization was always intending to make sure the fix was in. They aren’t going to give up all that new money and new viewers from last time. Whether or not it’s obvious that it’s rigged no longer matters. 

NFL/Kansas City Chiefs/Super Bowl

The NFL may not realize it yet, but it has a budding crisis on its hands concerning its legitimacy. The price of capturing new viewers is capturing the attention of people who aren’t fans and aren’t inclined to accept the official explanations. And the way the NBA is forcing teams to move players around against their own interests definitely isn’t helping, so blanket denials that simply assume the argument won’t cut it.

CDAN had another NFL-related one.

Plantation Khaleesi is the one leaking stories that she is going to be in the suite next week with the A+ list singer. That isn’t going to happen.

The answer, of course, is Blake Lively and Taylor Swift. I’m paying attention to the whole Reynolds v Baldoni thing since it may have some eventual fallout in the English football world.

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A Desperation Move

Talk about a thumb on the scale. The NBA doesn’t just script game results, it literally moves its players around to its favored franchises. The only reason Luka Dončić is being traded to Los Angeles is because the league’s television ratings are free-falling and league officials know they need a white star in their signature franchise:

Utter disbelief fell across waves of NBA followers as a league-altering trade hit their screens in the hush of the night. Luka Dončić is headed to the Los Angeles Lakers, while Anthony Davis is on his way to the Dallas Mavericks in an unexpected blockbuster days before the NBA’s Feb. 6 trade deadline. ESPN’s Shams Charania first reported the trade which shook the whole league.

In full, the Mavericks sent Dončić, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Lakers for Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick. The Utah Jazz were also in the deal and received Jalen Hood-Schifino, a 2025 Clippers second-round pick (via the Lakers) and a 2025 Mavericks second-round pick.

The move was so unbelievable, Charania had to ensure the many NBA fans who get his posts straight to their phones that the deal was, in fact, real.

The LA ownership is not that much smarter than every other franchise, it just happens to be a more important team. It’s not an accident that so many of the league’s biggest stars somehow find a way to end up there. The only real surprise here is that it was Dončić who was sent to LA to rescue the league, although perhaps they’re still planning to move Nikola Jokic to Boston and Victor Wembanyama to New York to create a three-way rivalry that might spark sufficient fan interest to get them watching the NBA again.

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Wruh-Wroh, Wrexham

Those Hollywood millions may be flowing out of Wales even more quickly than they flowed in after Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought the team. Lady C, who usually knows what’s going on behind the scenes, explains why Reynolds and Lively appear to be heading for defeat in court, as well as, she suspects, a divorce.

Here’s the story. Reynolds has form in hijacking movies from their originators and not only taking credit for them, but taking the profitability as well. When he and Lively realised that “It Ends With Us” was going to become a huge hit – and Baldoni, who was not only the male lead but also the brains behind the film, the producer, director, script writer and held the option to a sequel, had control of the project – they set about wresting control of the movie frmom him.

However, to achieve their objective of supplanting Baldoni, they had to obtain the rushes and edit the movie themselves. And that’s where things derailed… Ryan Reynolds became increasingly unsettled (to be polite) when he witnessed the unbridled attraction his wife was displaying towards Baldoni… So what does Lively do? Ever the pastmistress of deflection, she denies behing attracted to Baldoni, spins her overt acts of attraction into victimhod, and blames her co-star for taking advantage of her. Remember, at this point, neither Lively nor Reynolds appreciated that Baldoni had footage with sound which could disprove her accusations.

Now, it all made sense to me except one thing. How could publicly destroying the man guarantee them the control over the sequel that they were allegedly pursuing? Did they think he would grant it to them in a settlement, when the movie did $350 million globally? That seemed… improbable.

Well, it’s been reported that there was a clause in his original purchase of the IP that would strip him of the right to use them for the sequel if he was accused of sexual harassment. Which, to me, tends to tie the whole thing together.

It’s entirely possible that this scenario isn’t exactly correct, and even if it is, it’s at least theoretically possible that everyone involved takes a deep breath, steps back, and realizes that letting bygones by bygones and making nice in public would be a win-win-win for everyone. But where sex, pride, and lawyers are involved, people are seldom rational about their interests.

Anyhow, I hope for the sake of the town and team of Wrexham that the vagaries of celebrity ownership don’t wreck what has been a very good thing for everyone, including our community and our FC.

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Boxing Itself In

Mike Florio will tell you that he doesn’t believe that NFL games are scripted. Unless, of course, he does.

When the Superdome last hosted the Super Bowl 12 years ago, the game between the 49ers and Ravens was marred by an in-stadium blackout. Officials in New Orleans have confidence that it won’t happen again.

Given that it already happened once during a Super Bowl, the powers-that-be are on even greater notice about the importance of making sure it doesn’t happen again.

Unless, of course, the script calls for it.

Look, everyone with a three-digit IQ who pays regular attention to NFL football knows the score. And we can’t even complain that it’s not, to a certain extent, justified. One calculation by a SGer estimated that the NFL lost $16 million in revenue due to the 13 million fewer viewers who watched the NFC Championship blowout this year than either a) the year before or b) the AFC Championship game.

Can you honestly say that if you were the NFL Commissioner, you wouldn’t keep a ready thumb to put on the scale, just to keep the games close enough to keep the viewers involved for that kind of money? I wouldn’t seek to alter the outcomes, but once the outcomes were settled organically, I can’t honestly say that I wouldn’t permit some level of interference in order to prevent viewer disinterest.

After all, the fans are literally voting with their eyeballs. If they prefer intervention and close games to honest blowouts, that’s on them. The NFL is merely honoring a very respectable service-provider philosophy: the customer is always right.

The problem, of course, is that the seeds of failure are sewn by the harvest of success. The temptation to ensure that a large market team makes it to the Super Bowl, or that Taylor Swift will be there cheering on her ostensible romantic interest, is more difficult to resist once the league is already intervening in the games.

Anyhow, it appears the greater scrutiny the NFL is under is methodically removing some of the methods for their manipulations.

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