Monzanator

59 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

There’s a lot to “love.” 
 

I really don’t understand how the fuck the Democratic Party decided Biden was the best candidate. I think this actually says a lot of issues about sexism in African American culture...

Because Obama said the Party shouldn't lean too much to the left? And Obama is the best thing this party has had in XXI century so it's obvious why they chose his ex-VP.

Democratic Party is so divided Trump will laugh his ass off into another tenure. And then the liberals will lose their mind and wonder why on Earth was Trump reelected. Well, the answer lies in plain sight - the divisions among Democrats simply drag the party and the candidate down. If Sanders' voters won't support Biden it will be a landslide win for Trump.

Stirling Moss has passed away at the age of 90.

https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/18375128.british-formula-one-racing-legend-sir-stirling-moss-dies-aged-90/

7 minutes ago, heywoodu said:

 

And Morocco, although it's good a criminal like Badr Hari represents Morocco and not the Netherlands (where he's born and raised like most Moroccan kickboxers)  

Yeah, I never liked Badr Hari either

21 hours ago, heywoodu said:

 

I wouldn't say follower (since I'm so far behind and stay as far away from news about it as I can of course), but I started watching it a little around 2016 I think, and quite a lot in 2017 and 18 when I was having long (one to sometimes even three hours) trainings on my indoor bike and wanted something to watch  

 

Often it was MMA, sometimes a series, but I got to liking MMA and now I don't want to start watching with current events but work my way slowly back from April 2018 to live  

 

I don't even Google anything about it, because I don't know who the current champions are for example and very much want to keep it that way. There's only one fight of which I know the outcome (Khabib vs McGregor) because I watched that one the day after, but the rest is going to be a surprise for me for a long time to come  

Most current mma fans have started out with K-1 & kickboxing rather than boxing. Netherlands (or Surinam & Curacao  ) have always had a strong presence in K-1 so it should be popular with mma now. Alistair Overeem is still in UFC Bonjasky used to be my favorite K-1 fighter back in the vintage days

1 hour ago, heywoodu said:

 

I wouldn't say follower (since I'm so far behind and stay as far away from news about it as I can of course), but I started watching it a little around 2016 I think, and quite a lot in 2017 and 18 when I was having long (one to sometimes even three hours) trainings on my indoor bike and wanted something to watch  

 

Often it was MMA, sometimes a series, but I got to liking MMA and now I don't want to start watching with current events but work my way slowly back from April 2018 to live  

 

I don't even Google anything about it, because I don't know who the current champions are for example and very much want to keep it that way. There's only one fight of which I know the outcome (Khabib vs McGregor) because I watched that one the day after, but the rest is going to be a surprise for me for a long time to come  

Well, you're a long way behind then. I guess you must have heard about Peter Aerts or Remy Bonjasky though?

8 minutes ago, heywoodu said:

 

Great, now I've got some more time to catch up. I'm already at UFC on FOX 29, Poirier vs Gaethje, 14 April 2018  Still within the two years (and still managed to avoid 99,99% of spoilers, such as names of events other than just the number  )

When did you become a MMA follower?

UFC 249 has been cancelled after Disney & ESPN called Dana White and put the hammer down on his ridiculous efforts to stage the event in an Indian reservation in California (hosting the event there would allow to bypass the federal law). Well, if there's no TV cameras then the whole thing doesn't make sense anymore

Switzerland has ethanol shortage problem - two years after they got rid of 10,000 tonnes of reserves   Way to go, morons!

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/switzerland-ethanol-shortage-covid-19-stockpile-12613928

7 minutes ago, heywoodu said:

 

As long as participating nations do, that's all that's needed.

Oh yeah, and some nations wanted to take part in Goodwill Games too! I wonder why isn't that alive anymore?

25 minutes ago, Grassmarket said:

I disagree.  The Commonwealths are a big thing for the small African & Carib nations who have intense local rivalries.  Also a source of great pride for the small nations that make up the UK like the Isle of Man, Jersey etc.  Even large nations like India still love the chance to beat up on England at hockey, archery, shooting etc.  And Australia / New Zealand / England is still one of the greatest rivalries in World Sport in many events.

 

People outside the UK generally do not understand how intense & how alive our little historic internal sporting battles still are, especially in areas where outsiders see absolutely no difference - like small villages only about four miles apart, or neighbouring islands with populations of about 500 each, or two towns whose regional accents differ only by a single vowel sound.  

Oh, I can understand how the former colonies absolutely hate England and rightfully so. But I see no point in keeping relics like Commonwealth Games alive.

Let's see if Birmingham doesn't go bankrupt over this next edition

23 minutes ago, heywoodu said:

And then the whole thing will likely restart again and again. It's sad, but removing people like Khadaffi in countries like Libya leads to seemingly perpetual civil war, conflict and other such violent things.

Yep, it's exactly why USA has backed away from doing anything in Syria. Looks like they finally learned a lesson that removing a dictator only opens a can of worms.

9 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

I’d just like to take a moment to point out that there is a Polish curler on forum 

@Vojthas can give us really good incites into Curling in “non-competitive” countries.

It doesn't take a curler to know that Polish Curling Federation is currently suspended by WCF. We could be kicked out of the sport alltogether, the decision was supposed to happen in September. So, not only Poland isn't really competitive but actually on the verge of extinction

22 minutes ago, intoronto said:

I respectfully disagree on this one. 

 

Just looking at the last Olympic results, mixed doubles etc. there is diversity in the sport. Maybe usual suspects winning, but not just competing.

That's the thing though, just competing isn't gonna create a lot of buzz around the event. Poland's women team was in Division B at the last Euro Champs and we had a grand total of 7 teams at the national champs (33 for men). We have like two women teams we can send on the international stage without getting embarrassed. So that's like 8 curlers in a country of 38 million. I bet you can find more curlers at your local pub every night The teams from Far East invested a ton of money in coaching & facilities but no way countries like Romania, Poland or Spain will follow suit. Everyone invests money in their strong disciplines rather than building one from the scratch. The next big thing in curling will probably come from Qatar or another Gulf state

9 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

Even with only nations from the Commonwealth, I believe the ICC has more registered members, but I could be wrong. Curling is sport where I think non-winter nations could make an impact in winter sports. Yes, it would take years of programs and practice, but I do think with the right resources it would be possible one day.

China, Japan and Korea already did that because they could afford to.

You can just naturalise Canadian players right away and skip the waiting period while saving tons of money. Hell, they can train in Canada but just represent some other nation in global events. That's a much easier way to expand the nations pool, in table tennis they have these Chinese playing for every country there is so why not Canadians in curling? I mean France should be a powerhouse in curling but they're not. I bet the Quebec's 30th best team would still be France's #1 team with ease

1 minute ago, Olympian1010 said:

No doubt. Do they have Curling at Canadian High Schools?

 

There’s definitely more competitiveness than Cricket. However, I’d say Cricket is more diverse because more nations play it (even if they’re not competitive). I’d say Rugby is more competitive and diverse, but even then it’s close.

Cricket just reduced the number of World Cup participants to 10! They still had 14 back in 2015. Everyone expands the number of participants in the global events but cricket actually does the opposite. Curling has more teams in WChamps than cricket and it's actually more diverse because cricket only has nations from the Commonwealth so another relic of the colonial era & the defunct British Empire.

Over in the NFL, Tyreek Hill broke his son's arm and got away with it. I can't wait for the classic "settled out of court" article

4 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

There’s been some recent growth though. Ukraine open its first purpose-built Curling center this winter. Sure it’s the probably the saddest thing you’ve ever seen, but it’s better than nothing 

 

I do agree that the sport is still marked by terrible lack of diversity. I’m really hoping to see some new faces in Beijing. Hopefully Mixed Doubles actually gives us some new faces this time.

Most of these curlers start at age 5-6? If you start at 11-12 you're already way behind. I bet every single Canadian high-school team would beat 80% of the world senior teams 8 times out of 10

Curling is equally as top-heavy as cricket or rugby. There's like zero chance someone new comes up IMO, we had the Asians rising over the last decade or so and that would be it.

21 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

This affects Olympic qualification then right? I wonder what the WCF will do about that?

Probably nothing. The qualification points will be based on 2021 WCH alone most likely. Curling is one of the least diverse sports anyway with always the usual suspects competing all the time. It won't be a problem.

7 hours ago, heywoodu said:

I would have been surprised with Brun-Lie in it, but Lien over Erdal? Didn't really see that coming, interesting.

 

And yeah, Birkeland is done for. There's easily five guys who could get a World Cup chance ahead of him who aren't in this list yet.

The men's B team is:

Aleksander Fjeld Andersen

Sivert Guttorm Bakken

Sindre Fjellheim Soils

Sindre Pettersen

Endre Stroemsheim

Vebjoern Soerum

Fredrik Gjesbakk & Haavard Bogetveit along with Birkeland didn't even make the second squad.

Women's B team:

June Arnekleiv

Marthe Krakstad Johansen

Asne Skrede

Anne Bunemann De Besche

Jenny Enodd

Karoline Erdal

Brun-Lie is missing so I guess we won't be seeing her again anytime soon either.

21 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

I wouldn’t say that’s true. While it may be easier to consolidate resources in a smaller nation, it may also be harder to put bid larger ones. Larger ones also have a larger population base to keep the economy afloat during rough times. 

European Union is big enough to help their members like Slovakia   This will be a big test for these bozos in Brussels! If EU refuses to help its members get out of this economical jam, it will be hundreds times worse than Brexit campaign of lies.

10 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

Yeah...I have a sneaking suspicion they’re not worried about that...

If CG were cancelled alltogether I bet nobody would notice it's gone. Totally irrelevant event and one of the last relics of the colonial era.

10 minutes ago, Quaker2001 said:

World track and field championships moved to July 2022 in Oregon

 

New dates - July 15th through July 24th, 2022.  So it will finish a few days before the start of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.  Not sure when the athletics competition beings there.

I'm pretty sure the Commonwealth Games will be moved back, England hosts the UEFA Women's Euro which is set to overlap with the CG already,

announced the A-Team squads for the upcoming season:

Men:

J.T. Boe

Tarjei Boe

V.S. Christiansen

Erlend Bjoentegaard

Johannes Dale

Sturla Holm Laegreid

Women:

Tiril Eckhoff

Marte Olsbu Roeiseland

Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold

Emilie Aagheim Kalkenberg

Karoline Offigstad Knotten

Ida Lien

Looks like the end of the World Cup road for Lars Helge Birkeland who didn't compete individually after Ruhpolding last season already. I don't see him grinding on the IBU Cup for too long at age 32. Sturla Laegreid takes his place on full-time basis.

Following Solemdal's retirement her spot is taken by Ida Lien rather than the more experienced Thekla Brun-Lie and Karoline Erdal. This is a bit of a surprise.

These lists won't solve anything without vaccine. USA can be ranked #1 in gazillion indicators but common sense suggests a country with 330m population will struggle more than a country with 5 million population. I don't need any list to say that USA will struggle more with COVID than let's say Slovakia.

11 minutes ago, up and down said:

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/global-pandemic-preparedness-ranked/

 

Countries who are the most prepared to face the pandemic according to ranking.

 

Rank / Country

#1      United States

#2      United Kingdom

#3      Netherlands

#4      Australia

#5      Canada

#6      Thailand

#7      Sweden

#8      Denmark

#9      South Korea

#10    Finland

#11    France
#12    Slovenia   
#13    Switzerland   
#14    Germany   
#15    Spain    
#16    Norway   
#17    Latvia   
#18    Malaysia   
#19    Belgium    
#20    Portugal    

This is from three weeks ago. Very irrelevant now. Just throw it in the trash. The Swedish non-isolation method seems to be bottoming out hard since last week.