Tag: sports

From the transcript of the Darkstream:

This big lead column on Monday Morning Quarterback is written by Jenny Vrentas. Now there are women who know about football, there are female sports writers who understand the game, but one thing that you’ll notice about SJWs in general, and female SJWs in particular, is that they have no interest in the actual topic that they’re supposed to be covering. All they want to do is either talk about politics or people, because that’s the only thing that they’re interested in….

There’s a whole section on NYC Pride and NFL pride, how this is the first time that the NFL has sponsored the Pride Parade in New York City. So it’s not enough it’s not enough that they are attempting to push migration, and they’re attempting to push social activism and support the flag protests, but now they’re also trying to push homosexuality, using the league to do this, and so what we’re seeing here is that SJWs in the media are shameless about using any organization with influence, with power, with the microphone to push their own social justice agenda.

Now there is no planet on which you can claim that this is going to be good for the NFL now, and so we can blame the NFL, we can blame FIFA, for all the idiot SJW BS they’ve been pushing, but what’s astonishing is the way in which the NFL and other organizations allow SJWs in the media to push this. They allow themselves to be used by outside organizations, to push those outside organizations’ social justice ideals to their own detriment. There is absolutely no question that the more they push migrants, the more they push gays, the more they push flag protests, the more people that are going to abandon the NFL.

What’s killing the NFL is not so much the people who are turning it off, although that is definitely hurting them, what’s absolutely killing them is people like me just dialing it down a few notches, you know, because I don’t follow it as closely as I used to as when I had the NFL Game Pass. Because I’d always watch every Vikings game and I wasn’t the only one in the house who would do so. Now, you know, if there’s a free game on the TV, I’ll watch that. I’m not a fanatic about about this stuff, I’m just not willing to spend 100 bucks or 120 bucks or whatever it is. I’m just not willing to do that anymore, and if you look at other people who are doing the same thing – and many many other people are doing the same thing – the net effect of that is tremendously negative.

You can already tell the NFL is not going to make it’s 10-year growth goals because they lost so much traction last year, and that’s assuming that they’re able to start recovering this year, but based on what we’re seeing from the media, I very much doubt that’s going to happen. When NASCAR first went SJW, it lost about the same 10-15 percent the first year, and of course they doubled down, and they were certain that they were going to come back from it, but NASCAR television ratings and track attendance is now down as much as 50 percent. It might even be more than 50 percent this year,
and so I think the same thing is going to happen to the NFL. I think it’s going to be a shock to a lot of people, especially people in the media who have been denying that their SJW infestation is the cause of their problems.

In light of this, consider this “let’s you and him fight” piece written by a particularly stupid SJW at Sports Illustrated.

The NFL has a choice. It can continue to fashion its responses to the whims of a president whose appetite for conflict and controversy is so limitless that the NFL will be forced into embarrassing concession after embarrassing concession while alienating its highest-profile employees, who have every right to believe themselves jerked around on an issue that is of paramount importance to them.

Or it can follow the example set a century ago by the GAA. It can resist.

It can rescind its failed policy, which only will continue to fail in embarrassing ways. It can return to the status quo ante—basically, just allowing players to do what they will and then stand the gaff no matter what the origin of said gaff. The problems the NFL is having with its TV ratings have little or nothing to do with what the players do while half the stadium is under the stands, loading up for the first quarter, no matter what the talking points of the day say.

NN Taleb is right. Never pay any attention to the advice given by anyone without material skin in the game.

England is the better team, but Sweden is solid at the back. Russia shouldn’t be able to play with Croatia, but given all the upsets in this World Cup, who can say anymore.

At the end of the first half, England is up 1-0 and controlling the game easily. They could have had a second goal if Sterling could either a) finish one-on-ones or b) pass the ball to his open teammates.

And it’s over. 2-0 England. Gareth Southgate has clearly had his team working hard on penalties and set plays.

France had no trouble at all with Uruguay. Belgium-Brazil promises to be a better game.

Wow! 30 minutes in, it’s 2-0 Belgium. The Belgian attack is just destroying the Brazilian defense.

Sweden beat Switzerland in a game of two teams without a single true striker between them. It was a boring affair settled by an own goal on a deflection of a shot that would have been easily saved, Sweden 1-0.

Precisely no one is surprised that Brazil beat Mexico, 2-0. But the Belgian defeat of Japan, 3-2, in the 94th minute was heartbreaking for Japan, given that they led 2-0 at the 55th minute. But, as Didier Drogba presciently observed during the group stage, Asian teams tend to overwhelm their opponents with their extreme effort for the first 60 minutes, then flag a bit, which allows the game to open up. This game was an almost textbook example of that.

I don’t see the hosts surviving a vastly superior Spanish team, or even keeping it close. As for Croatia vs Denmark, both teams are tough and disciplined, but the Croats have more skill than the Danes.

UPDATE: Holy cow, Russia winning on penalties after holding Spain to 1-1 through extra time. I did NOT see that coming.

France vs Argentina is approaching the half. Ugly, stupid late challenge and an obvious penalty vs a beautiful, flawless shot from well outside the box. 1-1 and it could easily go either way.

UPDATE: France won a very entertaining game 4-3. Next up is Portugal-Uruguay, and it’s hard to imagine Uruguay stopping Cristiano Ronaldo and his 10 merry men.

A pair of upsets in Group F. Sweden beat Mexico 3-0 to top the group, while Korea upset Germany 2-0 to hand second-place to the Mexicans.

I watched the Korean game. Germany had their chances, but the Koreans deserved the victory.

And yet, so appropriate.

Football is a simple game, 22 men chase the ball for 82 minutes and the Germans get a player sent off so 21 men chase the ball for 13 minutes and at the end the Germans somehow fucking win.
Gary Lineker

In fairness, the Germans deserved to win. Sweden simply didn’t take control of the game when they had a man advantage, but continued to sit in their defensive shell and allowed the 10-man Germans to dictate the action. Sweden also made the mistake of putting in their half-Arab, whose lack of Swedish discipline led to two unnecessary fouls, the second of which cost them the game.

Mexico is still looking formidable, as is Belgium. Both are very aggressive on the counterattack, but Belgium’s attacks are considerably more efficient, as Mexico doesn’t always make the final pass that is required for the optimal shot.

I was surprised that Argentina melted down in the second half, but not that they lost. They did NOT impress in their first game, and Messi didn’t exactly dominate in the previous World Cup either. Croatia is a tough, well-balanced team and looked better throughout most of the first half.

Hell of a finish by Rebic on the keeper’s mistake, though. That was nowhere nearly as easy as he made it look. Especially in light of how an Argentine missed an open net with a straightforward sidefoot in the first half.