phelps

I already wrote many very long pamphletes against all the "judged sports" at the Olympics... but in some cases, like Artistic Swimming, Rhythmic Gymnastics, those freestyle freaks and above all breakdance, to me they are just NOT sports at all...they are just entertaining shows which have nothing to do with real competition (which to me it's almost only man vs man or man vs time)... Olympic Motto is "Altius, Citius, Fortius"...and those activities don't match any of these criteria to elect their "champions", therefore they shouldn't even be recognized as true sports by the IOC... that's my point of view about this question (to make it short...don't want to get anybody "bored to death" )... obviously, I don't expect everybody to agree with me, but at the same time, it would take a miracle to make me change my mind on that...

Turkey and Jordan dominating the field among the cadets in the Kumite events... and behind them, very widely spread range of medallists, coming from all over the world, confirming once again the universality and great participation of the sport of Karate... but better have at the Olympics "things" like breakdancing, BMX freestyle, 3x3 basketball and so on...

Day #2 Medallists Individual Kumite women's Cadet, -47kg Gold: Muserref Ozdemir Silver: Fatma Sorour Bronze: Asegul Yerdaulet & Leen Mansour women's Cadet, -54kg Gold: Basmala Hassan Silver: Adela Vlasakova Bronze: Sawsane Benchbab & Iona Lobato Sanchez women's Cadet, +54kg Gold: Aya Ouhra Silver: Konstantina Chrysopoulou Bronze: Laura Lisic & Sudenur Aksoy men's Cadet, -52kg Gold: Saeed Al Najjar Silver: Muhammed Oezdemir Bronze: Bojan Kostov & Amine Hellal men's Cadet, -57kg Gold: Dominik Dziuda Silver: Enes Fatih Kurt Bronze: Ivan Carrasco & Nemanja Mikulic men's Cadet, -63kg Gold: Omer Faruk Yurur Silver: Arturs Stepanovs Bronze: Aidos Mukhat & Ahmed Rayane Tlili men's Cadet, -70kg Gold: Mohammad Aljafari Silver: Hossam Ghonem Bronze: Vasco Melo & Viktor Schevchenko men's Cadet, +70kg Gold: Ethan Small Silver: Ibrahim Shamoun Bronze: Kadir Furkan Genc & Konstantin Kokovurov

@hckosice Slovakia has 1 young girl fighting for the Gold Medal! Adela Vlasakova is in the girls cadets -54kg final (against Basmala Hassan)... now I have a doubt... I don't know if Slovakia has a finalist because the live streaming has been cancelled or if the streaming has been cancelled because Slovakia has a finalist?

Grand Slam (Abu Dhabi, UAE) Day #1 Recap First day of action in Abu Dhabi with many important names at the start and some surprising results... 5 weight classes were on the mat today and 5 different Nations won the available Gold Medals, with Italy topping the provisional Medal Table thanks to Manuel Lombardo's success in the men's -66kg class and to the Silver Medal won by Odette Giuffrida in the women's -52kg class, where we had a very tough final between the Italian and the eventual winner Majlinda Kelmendi, who needed 8 minutes and 40 seconds to find the way to beat her opponent (after getting 2 shido in the regulation time and being highly at risk of taking also the 3rd sanction more than once)... the remaining Gold Medals went to Gusman Kyrgyzbayev (men's -60kg), Daria Bilodid (women's -48kg) and Kim Jin A (women's -57kg) Full Results, here: http://www.ippon.org/gs_uae2019.php

Day #1 Medallists Individual Kata women's Cadets Gold: Sonia Inzoli Silver: Damla Su Turemen Bronze: Azahara Perez Alvez & Isra Celo women's Juniors Gold: Ayse Yilmaz Silver: Damayanti Marzella Sekar Bronze: Sakura Alforte & Funda Celo women's U-21 Gold: Marta Garcia Lozano Silver: Carola Casale Bronze: Aya En-Nesyry & Helvetia Taly men's Cadets Gold: Furkan Kaynar Silver: Mohamed Hussein Hussein Bronze: Rauan Amantaiuly & Fernando Zambrano men's Juniors Gold: Alessandro Ghinami Silver: Enes Ozdemir Bronze: Karim Waleed Ghaly & Oscar Garcia Cuadrado men's U-21 Gold: Rey Chinen Silver: Kutluhan Duran Bronze: Konstantin Sutiagin & San Hong Ooi

Shame on them! If they couldn't provide an excellent media coverage of the tournament because of the environmental conditions, they should have moved it to another place or date or, if necessary, even cancel this year's championship! and then they still cry because they've been thrown out of the Olympics!

Live streaming of World Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships cancelled The World Karate Federation announced today that the live streaming of the World Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships being held in Santiago (Chile) has been cancelled due to the unusual circumstances in the country. Karate’s international governing body decided to cancel the live streaming of the event due to the special conditions affecting the country in the past days. The Chilean government declared a state of emergency in Santiago early Saturday after riots broke around the capital. The protests began on Monday and spread over different areas of the city and other regions of the country. Due to the difficulties in securing the connections and logistics that are required to produce the trade-mark high-quality live streaming of WKF events, the World Karate Federation decided to abandon its plans to broadcast the event live on its YouTube channel. The WKF regrets the inconveniences caused by this decision and encourage fans to follow the event on WKF social media channels. The WKF will provide timely information on the championships on its Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages.

World Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships competition calendar modified Due to the special circumstances in Chile, the World Karate Federation has announced that the competition calendar of the upcoming World Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships has been amended. The modification aims at adapting the event to the unusual situation in the country as well as guaranteeing the well-being of competitors and staff members, and ensuring the normal progress of the competition. Following the decision taken by the WKF Executive Committee today, each competition day will be centred on only one category, with finals and medal ceremonies being held on the same day. Therefore, the competition will be organised as follows: - Wednesday: Individual Kata - Thursday: Cadet Kumite - Friday: Junior Kumite - Saturday: U21 Male Kumite - Sunday: U21 Female Kumite and Team Kata HERE is the modified competition calendar: https://wkf.net/imagenes/campeonatos/juniorofficial_programe-2019-xi-wkf-junior-cadet-u21-championships-october-23-27-santiago-chile-chile-001.pdf Additionally, the World Karate Federation confirmed today that due to the special circumstances in the country, the opening ceremony of the event is also being cancelled.

Karate World Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships to be held as planned despite unrest The World Karate Federation has announced that the 2019 World Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships in Santiago (Chile) will be celebrated as scheduled despite the situation of social unrest in the country. Karate’s international governing body will be hosting the most important underage competition of the sport as planned after receiving confirmation from the Chilean authorities that conditions for the normal progress of the tournament were assured. The 2019 World Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships are scheduled to take place in Santiago from Wednesday, October 23 to Sunday, October 27. The Chilean National Karate federation, in constant communication with top sports authorities in the country, received official confirmation from their government that participants and staff members’ safety ahead of the event was guaranteed. “The wellbeing of all the members of the Karate family taking part at the World Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships in Santiago is our main concern. Since the Chilean government has made clear that the event could be held as expected, we will continue with the anticipated celebration of underage sport that is our World Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships,” said WKF President Antonio Espinós. The Chilean government declared a state of emergency in parts of Santiago early Saturday after riots broke around the capital. The protests began on Monday over an increase in metro fares but morphed into extended protests.

normally I'm not following 3x3 basketball...but reading about this farce almost made me interested... c'mon, men! are they serious? really? what the hell of a qualification system is this??? is this a joke or what? I just can't believe the IOC allowed FIBA to put on this thing...I knew they like complicated and unfair qualification procedures in order to manipulate them at their will, but this is something beyond imagination... and we're still wasting our time with these fuc*in' cheaters???

here I am...as a Dodger hardcore fan, I just can't cheer for a team that just threw us out of the playoffs (and in that fashion)... so, despite not cheering for the Astros, I'm not cheering for the Nats, too... just focusing more on the Asian finals (especially the Japan Series)...and enjoying them a lot, as I'm not involved at all...

Korean series, game #2 AKA Kiwoom Heroes's disaster... despite an awful outing by the Bears' starting pitcher Lee Young-Ha (who gave up 5 runs in 5 innings), the Heroes couldn't take advantage of that and blew a 5-2 lead after 7 innings, with the supposed best part of their bullpen giving up 1 run in the 8th and the decisive 3 runs in the 9th... final score: Kiwoom Heroes, 5; Doosan Bears, 6 with this win, now the Bears also lead the series 2-0, before switching to the Gocheok Skydome (home of the Heroes) in the upcoming weekend... game #3 is scheduled for Friday @ 6.30 p.m. local time (11.30 a.m. CET)... game #2 Boxscore: https://mykbostats.com/games/7441-Kiwoom-vs-Doosan-20191023 game #2 Highlights: https://sports.news.naver.com/kbaseball/vod/index.nhn?category=kbo&id=600720&gameId=77771023WOOB02019&listType=game&date=20191023 game #2 Full Replay: https://sports.news.naver.com/kbaseball/vod/index.nhn?category=kbo&id=600724&gameId=77771023WOOB02019&listType=game&date=20191023

2019 Japan Series, game #3 once again, we had an illusive first couple of innings, with the Yomiuri Giants taking an early lead thanks to a solo shot by Kamei against the Hawks starter, @heywoodu the Dutch Van Den Hurk (who didn't have his best outing...pitching only 4 innings and giving up 4 hits, 2 walks and 2 earned runs)... the second and third innings saw the teams exchanging the lead and finally getting a transitory tie at 2 apiece...but when the Giants' starting pitcher got some early troubles, the Hawks, like the real birds of prey their nickname suggest, jumped on their rivals and in the 4th inning scored 4 runs that proved decisive for the outcome of the entire match... in fact, in the last 5 innings nothing happened, with the Hawks bullpen dominating the Giants bats and shutting them down with no mercy... final score: Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 6, Tokyo Yomiuri Giants, 2 now the Hawks lead the series 3-0 and are just a win away from their 3rd consecutive championship (it would be also the 5th in 6 years...they are the real powerhouse of the Japanese Pro Baseball in these last 8/10 years)... the possible clincher, game #4, is scheduled for Today in Tokyo @ 6.15 p.m. local time (11.15 a.m. CET)... game #3 boxscore: http://npb.jp/bis/eng/2019/games/s2019102201840.html

looking at this year's results, other than KOR and RUS, the only Countries with legitimate chances are FRA, SUI and IRL, with IRI having an outside chance among the men... https://www.theuiaa.org/ice-climbing-resultscentre/ p.s. at least, UIAA's website looks very well organized... by the way, as Italy's star Angelika Rainer is not even competing anymore, I don't see any reason why Milano-Cortina 2026 should push for this new sport to be added in the Olympic schedule (apart from having the event on the most amazing landscape in the world on the Dolomites)... on the other hand, it's absolutely necessary that they do whatever it takes to push for Natural Track Luge for national interests...

2019 Korean Series, game #1 amazing first episode of the Korean Series... the Doosan Bears started strong and got a 6-1 lead after 4 innings, thanks to their big bats and their starting pitcher, Josh Lindblom, who kept the Heroes at bay for quite a while... but when he was replaced after 5 innings, the Heroes started to hit hard against the Bears bullpen guys and came back, getting the game tied in the top of the 7th. finally, in a very dramatic 9th, the Bears loaded the bases and after a couple of winning hits denied by the video replay, the eventually hit a long ball to the center field that gave them the winning run... final score: Kiwoom Heroes 6, Doosan Bears, 7 boxscore (includes links to Highlights & Full Game Replay)... https://mykbostats.com/games/7440-Kiwoom-vs-Doosan-20191022

you've been very kind to them...actually, it sounds "completely hopeless"...just like those vote-baiting boutades of many Italian politicians, who once every while start talking of the Olympics in their city/region whenever the local elections are getting closer...

tbh, I don't like this logo that much...I still prefer the old bidding logo with the Tour Eiffel... by the way, imho they should have chosen a picture of a very young guy breakdancing with a smoking big city on the backdrop...it would have been more "youth and urban", like the Olympics they want to promote...

now I guess they have to keep going, instead...if they still want to have a good swimmer taking part into their main meets (Olympics included), as basically all the top swimmers in the world have already competed in at least once in the ISL meets... by the way, while nobody cares of the teams and their scores and the not-so-clear and fair rules of the competition itself, the single races are quite interesting (and we've already seen quite a few very fast times here and there)...

2019 Japan Series, game #2 it all started with 6 very quick scoreless innings, where the starting pitchers (R.Takahashi for Fukuoka, Chris Mercedes for the Giants) had their opposing linups totally under control... then, the Yomiuri Giants went to their bullpen...and the drama began almost immediately... first a 3-run blast in the 7th, followed by a solo-homer and a 3-run shot in the 8th opened up a 6-0 gap in favour of the Hawks, which basically killed any hope for the visiting team... so, despite a disgraceful 9th inning by the Hawks' relievers (first J.Takahashi, then the closer Mori), who allowed the Giants to score 3 runs and bring the tying run at the plate, the home team saved their asses and won the match by a score of 6-3... now they lead the series 2-0, with the 3rd game scheduled for Tomorrow (6.15 p.m. local time, 11.15 a.m. CET) at the Tokyo Dome in the Japanese Capital... Game #2 boxscore: http://npb.jp/bis/eng/2019/games/s2019102001839.html

List of Satellite Tournaments' winners updated... 1 weekend left...and then it's the real World Cup...

naaa...it's more complicated than that... for sure, offense sells tickets and defense wins championships...this unwritten rule is always good... but HOU is not (only) about a great pitching staff...they still won most of their games (last night's included) thanks to their HR power... and WSH is a great team, good but not the top in any department...they're just living the most classic "Cinderella story"...the pitching staff is basically the 3 big names (Scherzer, Strasburg and Corbin)...their bullpen is more than suspect, when not really stinky...and they have a guy like Rendon (this year's MVP in my opinion) in the lineup... Harper, instead, is the classic superstar with great skills, but at the same time having the natural tendency to mess the locker room chemistry up wherever they go (just look at this year's Phillies)... but despite that, if it wasn't for the Dodgers having a manager named Dave Roberts, the Nats wouldn't be ready to make their first WS appearance ever... the fact is that the MLB baseball has completely turned to be mono-dimensional game...all the batsmen always and only go for the big shots, the socalled small ball play is dead and gone in the Majors (and not only in the Majors...I'd rather say in all the North American leagues)...and if you still want to see it, you have to watch the Japanese NPB or the Korean KBO, a different world under any aspect...

last day of competition in Marrakech...and, as written before, Mixed Teams were on the stage today... as expected, Japan won the Gold Medal, beating Russia 4-2 in the final... Mixed Team Event Gold: Japan Silver: Russia Bronze: Georgia & France Full Results: http://www.ippon.org/wc_jun_teams2019.php

with today's wins, both Seo Chae Hyun (women) and Adam Ondra (men) won the 2019 Lead World Cup with 1 event still left in the calendar... congrats to them!

2019 Sport Climbing World Cup, Stage #11 (Xiamen, CHN) Women's Lead Gold: Seo Chae Hyun Silver: Akiyo Noguchi Bronze: Kim Ja In Men's Lead Gold: Adam Ondra Silver: Taisei Homma Bronze: Tomoa Narasaki