Tag: sports

UFC women’s champion Ronda Rousey thinks women can enter the male octagon:

Fuel TV’s Ariel Helwani asked Ronda if she thinks we will ever see women fighting in the UFC:

“I think it’s a distinct possibility,” she said. … “Women are tough, women are clever. We’re going to find a way to get everywhere. So, you can’t stop us. We’ll be here at some point.”

I’m over 40. I haven’t done any martial arts training in more than a decade. And I would not only agree to meet Ms Rousey in the Octagon, I would be willing to bet $10,000 that I would either knock her out or force her to quit in the first two minutes.

I very much hope that UFC president Dana White will give into the feminist pressure and permit Anderson Silva to fight Ronda Rousey. That would instantly silence all the ridiculous girl power talk that has been going on ever since the charade of the Riggs-King tennis match.

And did those feet in ancient time.
Walk upon Englands mountains green:
And was the holy Lamb of God,
On Englands pleasant pastures seen!

And did the Countenance Divine,
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here,
Among these dark Satanic Mills?

Bring me my Bow of burning gold;
Bring me my Arrows of desire:
Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold!
Bring me my Chariot of fire!

I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand:
Till we have built Jerusalem,
In Englands green & pleasant Land

The London Olympics site describes tonight’s opening ceremony thusly: “London 2012 gives athletes a magical welcome”. The laudable habit of the enlightened courteously telling everyone exactly what they’re doing is always educational. No doubt the generation will be inspired… by what, exactly, we shall learn tonight.

That totalitarian vibe you were picking up isn’t a product of your imagination:

Triple jumper Voula Papachristou was expelled from Greece’s Olympic team Wednesday for her comments on Twitter mocking African immigrants and expressing support for a far-right party. The Hellenic Olympic Committee said Wednesday that Papachristou is “placed outside the Olympic team for statements contrary to the values and ideas of the Olympic movement.”

I absolutely loathe the Olympics. It’s a corrupt, fraudulent and grotesque celebration of globalism. The idea that Hitler and the Chinese Communists were perfectly acceptable to “the values and ideas of the Olympic movement” but free speech and democracy are not should tell you all that you need to know about the true spirit of the Olympics. Banning an athlete for the “crime” of being a nationalist who doesn’t favor the flooding of her country with foreign criminals is far more troublesome than any race-related comments she may have made. The irony here, given the original rules of the games, is that being a paid professional no longer bars an athlete, but being an open nationalist does.

This is exactly the same totalitarian progressivism that has led to the denial of building permits to companies that do not exhibit “Chicago values”. Strange, isn’t it, how “Chicago values” and “the values and ideas of the Olympic movement” just happen to be exactly the same.

It is in part because of this grotesque political correctness, which is now creeping into European football, that I have no plans to watch the Olympics, except of course in the event that the rumored false flag operation takes place. That might actually be entertaining, certainly more so than the ghastly North Koreanesque opening and closing ceremonies.

The NCAA goes light on Penn State:

The NCAA has hit Penn State with a $60 million sanction, a four-year football postseason ban and a vacation of all wins dating to 1998, the organization said Monday morning. The career record of Joe Paterno will reflect these vacated records, the NCAA said. Penn State must also reduce 10 initial and 20 total scholarships each year for a four-year period.

This is a ridiculous penalty. The problem wasn’t football-related cheating, so vacating the wins makes no sense. This is pure historical revisionism. The postseason ban won’t matter because Penn State isn’t going to compete for any of the serious bowls in the next four years, and while the scholarship limitation will hurt a little, the whole package falls well short of the four-year death penalty that was merited.

This year, we’re not going to leave it until the last minute. So, if you’d like to throw your hat in the ring, please do so. There are only four spots available, as the fixed spots go to last year’s winner, Nate, the White Buffalo, the VP-AFL champion, and me, plus Ender has asked to play for the first time, so I will randomly select from the volunteers with first-timers given precedence.

Whoever is the VP-AFL champion should let me know in the comments who would be the three keepers from their roster and I will attempt to pair them up with an open team from the VPFL with one or more of those players.

I’m not a big tennis fan, but I used to play it competitively when I was young before I switched to track, so with the exception of the exceedingly boring Sampras era, I’ve always enjoyed Wimbledon. It’s both amusing and a little sad to watch the British coverage of the Murray-Federer final. Murray is a good player, and he’s playing his heart out, but I just don’t think he’s good enough to beat the Swiss master. They’re on a rain delay now while they put the roof up and they’re even at one set apiece, but I don’t see how Murray wins this.

Federer has already committed more unforced errors than he usually does in a match, but Murray has needed all of them just to stay even. Federer has also had Murray running all around the court and right before the delay it looked as if Murray was running out of steam. While the delay has given Murray a much-needed break, I’d be surprised to see him take another set, much less win the match. He’s playing well, but I think he’s already blown too many set points to take very seriously.

In which the fundamentally fraudulent nature of the Olympic Games is revealed:

In what some might consider a predictable incident, the Olympic flame was extinguished today as the torch relay took to the water on a raft through the canoe slalom venue in Essex. Day 50 was a difficult one for the torch relay, after a crash between two motorcycles earlier forced a delay and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s turn carrying the flame was marred by pouring rain. In the first setback for the day, the torch convoy was held up for 20 minutes after two motorbike riders collided near Chelmsford around 7.40am,and had to be rushed to hospital with suspected broken bones….

It isn’t the first time the Olympic flame has gone out as it makes its way through the UK. Back on May 21, just three days into the relay, the flame on a torch attached to para-badminton star David Follett’s wheelchair burned out while in Devon. In another early hitch to proceedings, the flame was blown out by a gust of wind as it was being lit for the first time in Greece. It had to be relit before being handed to a torchbearer.

Symbols and traditions are important and worthy of respect, but the Olympic symbolism is simply fake through and through. It’s a pity the torch isn’t genuinely some sort of augury, or we could hope that the games would be cancelled as a result of all these bad omens.

Spain 4 Italy 0

I thought Italy actually played fairly well and they were successful in keeping Spain from dominating the ball in the first thirty minutes, but their defense was just half a step too slow at just the wrong time and they couldn’t capitalize on the rare half-chances that they got. I thought Casillas was the player of the game when it was still in doubt, of course, once Thiago Motta pulled his hamstring not long after coming in as the third substitute, the game was over.

To me, the assist from Torres at the end said it all. Whereas most players on most teams, especially a substitute, would take that shot, he didn’t hesitate to make the perfect soccer play and give up a high percentage shot in order to allow his teammmate to make an even higher one. There may be some discussion about the Brazil 1970 team being better, but to only give up one goal in the entire tournament, then win by the biggest margin of victory in championship game history in clinching their third straight major title should be sufficient to cement this Spanish team’s claim on greatness.

As Ender said: “I’m not happy, but how could they beat THAT team?”

I’m not sure which I enjoy more about the Euros and World Cup. The irrational English pre-tournament optimism, followed inevitably by equally ludicrous despair, or the overexuberance with which the Italians always greet success in international calcio. Keep in mind that despite their great joy over the nominal upset, the Italians have NEVER lost to the Germans in a major tournament.

“It was a masterpiece of a game. One perfect first half, which even everyone who claimed that Balotelli could not be a center forward or that Prandelli had some problems could see. And instead, the manager got nothing wrong: for example, the move of Balzaretti to the right was inspired. The thing that left everyone amazed was in what little time Prandelli succeeded to make a team out of a group of excellent players with four stars, Balotelli, Pirlo, De Rossi and Buffon. In this brief period, he put Italy on display with an aggressive and intelligent soccer that has produced great games. The difference with Spain-Portugal was before the eyes of everyone: Italy-Germany was enthusiastic and beautiful, played by the Azzurri against a mighty squad that was nevertheless annihilated by the play of Italy. The work of the manager, the intelligence of the players, and the brilliance of Pirlo and Balotelli created an extraordinary miracle. Only Italy has displayed the true soccer to the Europeans: the victory against Ireland was mitigated by the modest skills of the adversary, but the test of the Germans has silenced everyone. The final with Spain will obviously be a very difficult game, but one can say that Prandelli and the players have already won Euro 2012. An even more enthusiastic success cannot be anticipated by anyone: no one thought the manager had the capability to make the national team play this way.

A discourse on the obvious merits of the absolute protagonist of the semifinal with Germany: what can one say about Balotelli? One way is to think about his problematic attitude, another puts him in discussion as a player. Ballotelli is a player can do anything and play in any role, from the midfield to striker: aside from his goals, he plays well, he is unpredictable and concrete, he has everything to be a man of grand destiny. And also – I repeat – Pirlo, De Rossi, and Buffon always merit mention, even though it is necessary to name everyone. However, I mention these names in particular to repeat that Italy is a grand team with four players that have made the difference.

One note in this game against the Germans that merits mention is also Cassano, for his play, for the extraordinary assist on the occasion of the first goal: Antonio held onto the ball beautifully and Prandelli did well to put him on the point. The real surprise is truly the manager, who did not put a foot wrong, and above all, showed us the human rapport he installed in the players while succeeding by making all the right player selections and winning moves.”

His story is a touching tribute to humanity regardless of how one looks at it, but Mario Balotelli also illustrates that true integration into a foreign culture is at least partially possible in some circumstances, as the first thing that “the Italian boy with the dark skin”, as La Repubblica calls him, did after his match of a lifetime was to run into the stands to the mother who adopted him at the age of two.

“The most beautiful joy was to embrace Mamma Silvia. I scored the two goals for her,” said Mario after the game. “Those goals were for her. In the final, Papa Franco will come too. And then for goals, I will score four.”

Spain 1 Portugal 0 (4-2)

Spain was again pretty poor on the night and missed their first penalty, but then made four straight to go through to the finals. I don’t understand why Torres is on the bench when the Spanish can’t score, but then, Spain’s tactics are meant to be confusing.