phelps

I think they have a new media manager at the IIHF and a new TV contract with more restrictions. it's the Tardif effect. I wonder if they will even go on having at least the live games for free on YT in the next few years?

only if the race would have been full of climbing (in this case, no way Twigg would be 3rd). otherwise, no way Canins would have made the podium. I agree on the men's race.

the wonderful Eighties...

because it was a political vote, Dupont is a way better (and more decisive) player...moreover, only some complicated math keeps IRL ahead of FRA in the WR (at the moment clearly the best rugby Union team in the world). he's only bullying some French league players right now. he's more of a mediatic phenomenon...and his managers are trying all they can to keep him away from any serious challenge to keep the hype as high as they can before the next Draft. I'd really like to see him in a top tier Euroleague team...I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be that decisive even at that level. and if I were a NBA GM, I'd be really scary to pick him as the 1st overall pick, because he could become a superstar as much as being the next Bargnani. with his body, I don't think he will succeed for many years in the NBA, if he can succeed at all. in any case, there's no chance he can even get close to people like Jokic, Doncic, Steph or LeFlop (AKA LeBron). I rather see him as a man that can be dominant once every while, but spending most of the time in the Injury List.

the worst joke, however, is that they have the full games available worldwide on their website (only the ondemand broadcast, live pictures are blocked). their management of the tv coverage of the tournament is really incomprehensible.

no problem... I'm really sorry it doesn't work... back in topic, tonight I'm watching the semifinal match of the Spengler Cup (Hockey, of course) between HC Ambrì Piotta and HC Davos (on the Czech TV ) and later on I'm gonna give a look to some NCAA Football (one of the previous days' Bowls I still have to watch) on the ESPN Player.

my 2 cents... BEST FEMALE ATHLETE for sportswomen in Olympic sports #1: Therese Johaug (Cross-Country Skiing) #2: Annemiek Van Vleuten (Cycling) #3: Sydney McLaughlin (Athletics) #4: Sofia Goggia (Alpine Skiing) #5: Suzanne Schulting (Short Track Speedskating) #6: Marte Olsbu-Roeiseland (Biathlon) BEST MALE ATHLETE for sportsmen in Olympic sports #1: David Popovici (Swimming) #2: Nils Van Der Poel (Speedskating) #3: Marco Odermatt (Alpine Skiing) #4: Armand Duplantis (Athletics) #5: Quentin Fillon-Maillet (Biathlon) #6: Nino Schurter (Mountain Bike) BEST PARALYMPIC ATHLETE for athletes in Paralympic sports #1: Diede De Groot (Tennis) #2: Brian McKeever (Nordic Skiing) #3: Jesper Pedersen (Alpine Skiing) #4: Oksana Masters (Biathlon & Nordic Skiing) #5: Simone Barlaam (Swimming) #6: Marcel Hug (Athletics) BEST NON-OLYMPIC ATHLETE for athletes in Non-Olympic sports #1: Oleksandr Usyk (Pro Boxing) #2: Antoine Dupont (Rugby Union) #3: Alexander Volkanovski (Mixed Martial Arts) #4: Ronnie O'Sullivan (Billiards, Snooker) #5: Cooper Kupp (NFL Football) #6: Justin Verlander (MLB Baseball) & Munetaka Murakami (NPB Baseball) BEST YOUTH ATHLETE for any athlete up to 18 years old (including Olympic, Paralympic and Non-Olympic sports) #1: Juraj Slafkovsky (Ice Hockey) #2: Sofia Raffaeli (Rhythmic Gymnastics) #3: Summer McIntosh (Swimming) #4: Mollie O'Callaghan (Swimming) #5: Eileen Gu (Ski Freestyle) #6: Jordan Stolz (Speedskating) BEST MEN'S TEAM for men's teams or groups (including Olympic, Paralympic and Non-Olympic sports) #1: Finland (Ice Hockey), winning both the Olympic Games and the World Championships (on home soil, and it's only the 3rd time that happens in 35 years) in the same season #2: Italy (Volleyball), winning the senior World Championship, but also sweeping all the youth categories' events (World and/or European Champs) of the year #3: Argentina (Football), World Cup Champions #4: China (Artistic Gymnastics), World Champions #5: France (Rugby Union), winner of the Six Nations tournament #6: Sweden (Equestrian Sports, Show Jumping), World Champions 12 months after the Olympic Gold Medal BEST WOMEN'S TEAM for women's teams or groups (including Olympic, Paralympic and Non-Olympic sports) #1: Canada (Hockey), Olympic and World Champions in 2022 #2: United States (Basketball), once again World Champions in such a dominant style as no other team & sport #3: Serbia (Volleyball), World Champions #4: United States (Waterpolo), once again World Champions, continuing a 4-title / 7-year unbeaten streak #5: England (Soccer), European Champions #6: Norway (Handball), European Champions BEST DOUBLES OR PAIR for doubles or pairs (including Olympic, Paralympic and Non-Olympic sports) #1: Ruggero Tita & Caterina Banti (Sailing), World Champions, European Champions, World Cup winners (dominating all the single stages), unbeaten since February 2020 #2: Germany, Francesco Friedrich & Thorsten Margis, the absolute owners of Bobsleigh sport #3: Anders Mol & Christian Sørum (Beach Volleyball), World Champions among the men #4: Eduarda "Duda" Santos Lisboa & Ana Patricia Ramos (Beach Volleyball), World Champions among the women #5: Kateřina Siniaková & Barbora Krejčíková (Tennis), winners of 3 Grand Slam tournaments in 2022 #6: Hugo Boucheron & Matthieu Androdias (Rowing), World Champions in the men's Double Sculls BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR for the most improved athlete or team (including Olympic, Paralympic and Non-Olympic sports) NO Vote SPORT MOMENT OF THE YEAR for any sport moment from 2022 (including Olympic, Paralympic and Non-Olympic sports) #1: Italy, Stefania Constantini & Amos Mosaner (Curling), the most surprising Gold Medal in the recent history of the Winter Olympics #2: Ireen Wust last skate in Heerenveen, after winning Gold in 5 consecutive Olympics in Speedskating in Beijing #3: Kamila Valieva's affair and drama in Beijing (Figure Skating) #4: Argentina winning the men's Football World Cup at the penalty-shootout #5: the Colorado Avalanche winning the Stanley Cup (Hockey) #6: Aaron Judge (Baseball) breaking the NY Yankees' team HR record in the MLB and Munetaka Murakami (Baseball) breaking Sadaru Oh's HR record of a Japanese player in the NPB OLYMPIC SPIRIT AWARD for any athlete or team that took part in the 2022 Winter Olympics #1: Sofia Goggia (Alpine Skiing), winning Silver in the women's Downhill with basically a broken knee #2: Irene Schouten (Speedskating) #3: Gu Aileen (Ski Freestyle) #4: the Aigner family (Johannes, Veronika, Barbara, Elisabeth), all winning (multiple) medals at the Paralympic Games (Para-Alpine Skiing) #5: Slovakia National Team (Hockey) #6: Oleksandr Abramenko (Silver) and Ilia Burov (Bronze) embracing after the men's Aerials Final (Freestyle)

yes, but you can also share them here with all of us...

motorcycling (Moto3) world champion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izan_Guevara

because I haven't posted my vote, yet... ________________________________________________ p.s. I wrote earlier that I'd have done it after the end of the balloting period, but since I don't know if I have time tomorrow, I'm gonna do it right now...

with a German VPN https://www.zdf.de/sport/zdf-sportextra/livestream-live-biathlon-world-team-challenge-auf-schalke-100.html

not really an athlete, but his work was deeply concerned with sport. Arata Isozaki, one of the greatest architects in the contemporary age, died earlier Today at the age of 91. among his art works, 2 iconic venues like the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona and the Olympic Arena in Turin (host of the 2006 Ice Hockey Olympic Gold Medal matches, among the many events). https://www.usanews.net/breaking/the-architect-arata-isozaki-author-of-palau-sant-jordi-dies-h40521.html

please, all I want for Christmas is... this thing at the next Olympics!!!

I just gave a look...and there are all the eurosport streams as far I can see... on the main menu, just click on "Sport", then choose "Eurosport Extra" and finally, "See Schedule" and you'll be redirected to the daily schedule with all the available streams (E1, E2 and all the other feeds, marked only with "E"). it's only a question of getting used to the messy user interface, but all content is still available as usual, more than usual... p.s. of course you have to have a subscription...if you still have the Eurosport Player sub active, you can use your old credentials (and even if it's not active anymore, just use them to create your new account). it should work.

I really like your Breakthrough of the Year choices (it's the only category I decided not to vote).

I think we can just get rid of the Breakthrough category...we already have enough of them (and some are quite complicated to be filled properly -meanwhile some others would need more than just 6 option, I fear). for next year, instead of "best doubles or pair", I'd enlarge the category to "best mixed pair/team" (leaving the same gender doubles to the same gender team category), so not to have to force a (potentially) mixed team in the men or women's categories.

thanks... I'm gonna share my 2 cents after the end of the first ballot, however...I don't want to have a bad influence on anybody...

Odermatt just on another level, Today (and not only Today, btw)... Matthias Meyer suddenly announced his "no màs" just after the track inspection earlier this morning the new generation of owners of the speed disciplines is pushing through retirement all the greats of the last decade... Paris coming next?

however, to get back in topic, in these days I'm completely lost between American Football (NFL & NCAA) and Hockey (NHL, World Juniors, Spengler Cup, European National leagues). with a few notable exceptions, like the Alpine Skiing races in Semmering and Bormio (and Yesterday & Today, the Dutch Allround and Sprint* Nationals in Speedskating, too). *you know...Jutta

I fear you have to give up any ideology and go with the discovery plus app. try to see if you can find some promotional discount, at least.

Arianna Errigo is going to give birth to a couple of twins next March, she announced on her social media. she won the individual silver and the team gold medal at the 2022 world champs when she was already pregnant she also said that she already got pregnant just after Tokyo 2020, but she lost the baby after 3 (very difficult) months, causing her a lot of mental troubles. coming back to the gym and practicing the sport she loves was the only reason she could recover from that tragedy and look ahead. (in Italian) https://www.oasport.it/2022/12/scherma-arianna-errigo-aspetta-due-gemelli-partoriro-a-marzo-ho-vinto-i-mondiali-da-incinta/

Japan already announced the team for the 2023 World Championships (Doha, May 2023) most likely, for the 4 weight classes where they decided to put 2 players (every team can only enter 9 men and 9 women, which means that a Country can have max 2 classes per gender with 2 players) it's already the beginning of a tough selection battle looking at Paris 2024. Women -48kg: Natsumi Tsunoda & Wakana Koga -52kg: Uta Abe -57kg: Haruka Funakubo -63kg: Megumi Horikawa & Miku Takaichi -70kg: Saki Niizoe -78kg: Shori Hamada +78 kg: Akira Sone Men -60kg: Naohisa Takato -66kg: Hifumi Abe & Joshiro Maruyama -73kg: Soichi Hashimoto -81kg: Takanori Nagase -90kg: Kosuke Mashiyama & Sanshiro Murao -100kg: Kentaro Iida +100 kg: Tatsuru Saito

https://swimswam.com/belarusian-olympic-medalist-herasimenia-sentenced-to-12-year-prison-term-in-absentia/

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/alberto-contador-undergoes-surgery-to-remove-over-100-benign-tumours/