Monzanator

Handing the Olympics to Brisbane won't stop the Gulf sheiks from chasing that Doha ticket. Unless IOC openly says Qatar is banned from hosting the SOG in the future, that one won't be denied.

Arizona Cardinals beat LA Rams 37-20 to suggest they are maybe the team to watch in NFC (4-0 start). Tom Brady's homecoming game vs New England starts in ca. 60 minutes.

All over. Red Sox vs Yankees in the AL wild card. Blue Jays will rue those late two losses vs Twins in particular.

Red Sox hit a two-run HR in top of the 9th to lead Nationals 7-5! Blue Jays will be sick if this is the decider.

Aryna Sabalenka tested positived for covid and won't take part in Indian Wells where she was supposed to be #1 seed.

1 hour ago, phelps said:

if there's a game #163 for the Dodgers, it's Buehler all the time...especially if Urias starts tonight's game as expected...

 

by the way, the Yankees (or the Rays, depending on the point of view) are making the AL wild card race really, really interesting...

right now, the Rays are 7-2 up in today's matchup against the Evil Empire...

I assume Scherzer gets the wild card start then?

I haven't paid too much attention to Rays this season, after letting Snell walk and trading Adames at the deadline I thought they won't be a viable WS contender anymore. Guess they are still doing something right

Clayton Kershaw left the game last night with an arm issue but given his post-season struggles over the years it's perhaps not bad for the Dodgers he might be limited in October? He wasn't supposed to pitch in the probable wild card game anyway.

So, UK lacks lorry drivers to deliver fuel? Good luck in those intended three month visas for drivers from Europe Brexit kicked out solving the problem. Guess Brits don't want to drive lorries after all

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-58766648

Karolina Piton said she will retire after the upcoming season. She was merely depth member of the squad in the last decade, never scored a single point at the World Cup level (PB is 44th in Nove Mesto pursuit back in 2015).

Cincinnati Bengals beat Jacksonville Jaguars 24-21 on Thursday night and go 3-1 in what is their best start since 2015 IIRC. Meanwhile Jaguars suffer their 19th defeat in a row dating back to Week 2 of last season

Red Sox lost two of three vs Orioles and drop to a tie with Mariners for the second AL wild card. Three game series left, Red Sox vs Nationals and Mariners vs Angels!

Because FIFA wants money. However if UEFA and CONMEBOL are against it, that will never happen.

Osaka has no business playing tennis right now as she rides the mental health martyr train, Barty pulled out due to crazy COVID protocols at home, if she played IW, her preparations for Australian Open would be affected. The real mystery is Sofia Kenin who has hardly played this season as well.

Cardinals won 17th game in a row and eliminated Cincinnati Reds from NL wild card competition. Meanwhile Red Sox lost to the lowly Orioles and suddenly Mariners vs Athletics series looms very large indeed.

14 minutes ago, heywoodu said:

That would be a dick move, to be fair. Decide this 1 year or more before the Olympics or don't decide it, but not when the Olympics are right around the corner. Plus, 'based on the result', how exactly is that going to be determined? Will there be a set value of scores they have to stay within or will it be a matter of some expert saying "Hmm yeah...no....yeah alright"?

Hmm.. I wonder if this decision was influenced by NHL approving return of their players to WOG? I mean IOC could be fine with China playing against non-NHL rosters but now that the best guys are set to come, this could get ugly.

@phelps I kinda know Italians still didn't forget about that OG final where Cammarelle should have won?

Yeah, I was fearing a decision shade in favor of Joshua but thankfully it didn't happen. Terrible gameplan from him, he was never going to outbox Usyk, maybe they thought Usyk will run out of gas and be an easy target in the latter rounds but it was Usyk was won the last three in convincing fashion. 8:4 in rounds was the fair split. AJ won rounds 5-6, 8-9 and even if you gave him the 4th it was never good enough.

Our Greek friend is silent so you probably can guess Anett Kontaveit won the Ostrava tournament

14 minutes ago, Makedonas said:

^Stosur losing a match in Australia? How shocking! 

At the time Stosur had 0 WTA MD wins herself Her first came two weeks later in Australian Open R1 vs Conchita Martinez.

Yankees won two in a row vs Red Sox. The Rays series at the end of the season might not matter even if Rays won't have anything to play for.  Mariners are 1-11 down to Angels (sic!) while Dodgers could drop one to D-backs. If NL wild card turns out to be Dodgers vs Cardinals that would be quite a game! LAD pitching staff is something else when Kershaw is basically #4 guy on the depth chart!

Oleksandr Usyk beats Anthony Joshua on points (117:112, 116:112, 115:113) and becomes new WBO, IBF & WBA heavyweight world champion. Really impressive and well deserved victory.

12 minutes ago, Makedonas said:

Was it then or 2013/14? I remember her being in the top 100 around that time period

It was from Casablanca quals in March 2003 until Boca Raton ITF in January 2004. It was at the start of her career (2003 was the first time she won a WTA MD match). She obviously did a lot better in the late 00s and even won WTA title in 2011.

Scheepers' first WTA MD win was vs a certain wild card named Samantha Stosur in Gold Coast: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Uncle_Tobys_Hardcourts_–_Singles