phelps

by the way, it's really a weird thing...tbh, I don't like it at all...I'm just too old and too conservative...gimme the good old Bislett Games back!

blocked in Italy (and no TV has the broadcasting rights here)...

naaa...Greek clubs (and Maccabi tel Aviv) already were on FIBA's side when they tried to run their old format's Champions League attempt in direct competition against Euroleague... it was such a flop in terms of revenues that they quickly joined Euroleague... they're only trying to get more money and more guarantees to be part of the Euroleague even if they leave the Greek championship from Bartomeu, but they know there's no way to change Euroleague's supremacy and if they leave it, it's only because they don't want to invest big money in Basketball anymore...

this season's CEV competitions were cancelled already almost 2 months ago... https://volleytimes.com/2020/04/23/cev-cancel-all-european-competitions-for-the-season-2019-2020/

my 2 cents...

right now, Josef Odlozil Memorial meet from Prague (CZE) live on the Czech public TV CT Sport HD and streaming on their website... unfortunately, a VPN is required for those outside the Czech territory... https://sport.ceskatelevize.cz/clanek/atletika/zive-memorial-josefa-odlozila-juska-po-dvou-letech-prekonal-osm-metru/5ede7ca7611d942f049b73a9

@hckosice right now I'm watching on Nova Sports 1 HD a NHL true "classic"... it's Pittsburgh @ Buffalo from the late Nineties...among others, Jaromir Jagr and Martin Straka with PIT and "the Dominator" and Miro Satan with BUF...what a show! p.s. every time I have a chance to re-watch Dominik Hasek I'm always stunned...how could he make those saves? he was just not human...

according to Urso, also the German TV aren't that transparent, as he called them many times in these last years, but they decided to make something against Ajan only when he was already partially in disgrace... until 2016 (and earlier) also the mighty ARD didn't have the bravery to go against the mega-president of weightlifting, which means, if true, that his power was really enormous and did go well beyond a simple sport federation...

Softball: Women's Basketball: Women's Field Hockey: (but I hope with all of my heart finally take Gold) Men's Field Hockey: Women's Volleyball: Men's Volleyball: ( in case are excluded from the Games)

a few details revealed by Antonio Urso (current Italian and European Federation's president, the only man who in the last 10 years tried togo against Ajan, but got beaten big time all the times) speaking with Italian media... the photo of the voting paper reported in the McLaren book was taken by him at the latest IWF Board elections (when he got beaten once again by the Hungarian "devil")... and he explained that all the voting members were given an anonymous cellular phone with an unregistered Kazakh sim and after the vote they had to make a photo of the voting paper with the preference given to Ajan and send it to a phone number not associated to any known people... after doing so, they received a sms with the instructions to deposit the amount of money they were promised in exchange for voting for Ajan... moreover, he added that right now he and a few other IWF members not involved with Ajan's interests are writing a new "Constitution" for the IWF and they hope it will be ready by the end of this year, so to replace all the people and the rules that favoured Ajan's tenure... by the way, he also looks convinced that despite any effort to fix the IWF's troubles, Paris 2024 will be the last appearance of this sport at the Olympic Games...and actually he wouldn't be surprised if the IOC comes back on their decisions and get Weightlifting out of the Games already in 2024...

morning with Korean KBO Baseball (Samsung Lions @ SK Wyverns first, then, as the first game ended quite quickly, right now it's time for the last couple of innings of KIA Tigers @ Doosan Bears)... all of this on Naver TV cast... later on, some Soccer from all around Europe (German Bundesliga, mainly)...

basically there's an endless fight between the greedy players' association (that wants at least 114 games + playoffs to be played in order to save at least 67% of their yearly salaries) and the super-greedy owners of the teams, who want no more than 82 (first proposal, rejected by the players asking for 114) and now no more than 50 games + playoffs season (counter-proposal to the players' 114), in order not to pay more than 30% of the yearly salary to each player... so, instead of meeting in the middle of their initial request (as normally happens in any "supposed to be even" dispute), the more the owners ask for shortening the season (and pay less to the players), the more the players want to add games to the season, so to save the most possible of their yearly income... all of this means that no agreement has been reached between the 2 counterparts and the chances of having any kind of 2020 MLB season get slimmer day after day...

but no Francesco Molinari... he decided to stay at home (he lives mainly in Great Britain) at least for now, claiming he has to stay with his family through this difficult period...

once again, Korean KBO Baseball (Samsung Lions @ SK Wyverns) and German Football, 1.Bundesliga (Freiburg vs Borussia Moenchengladbach)...

what a surprise! I didn't really expect that from her!

tbh, I'm more disgusted by the fact that all the weightlifting world is still considered a sport and has full Olympic status than by the things revealed here (which were well known even without this report)... and if we have to consider the fact that Ajan was one of the founding members of WADA and the Cologne Laboratory history, how can we still trust this bunch of cheaters???

it was Muniz (Repechage Round #5 - Heat #29 loser) who finished 4th... Usuna instead advanced to the GM match after beating first Muniz and then in the following round Perez, who ended up in 3rd place (then Usuna lost to Mesinas in the final and won the Silver medal, while the man from won Gold)... yeah, the double elimination format can be quite complicated at first sight...

earlier today...Korean KBO Baseball and 2020/2021 Champions Hockey League Draw... later tonight, a lot of Football (Soccer), German Bundesliga first and Portuguese League then...

under an Italian perspective, not the luckiest draw for Bolzano Foxes... despite being in the Pot #1 (with all the top 16 european clubs), they have to face already in round #1 a team from the Swiss League...and nothing less than the revelation of the last couple of seasons in that tournament, a team that could also make the CHL quarterfinals last year, where they lost only in the OT to the eventual champions Frölunda Indians... and should they make a miracle and win the series against Biel/Bienne, the second round could end up being a clash against the CHL reigning champions from Sweden...

very, very sad news...especially when considering that Slovakia is a true Hockey Nation, if there's one... I hope this is only a period of a certain kind, with all the troubles related to the covid-19 emergency and everything gets back to usual enthusiasm as soon as possible...

Full Tournament Bracket is available here: https://www.championshockeyleague.com/en/news/draw-complete-all-set-for-2020-21

2020/2021 Champions Hockey League - 1st Round Pairings Bílí Tygři Liberec vs GKS Tychy Luleå Hockey vs Eisbären Berlin ZSC Lions Zurich vs Sønderjykse Vojens Lukko Rauma vs Sparta Prague Red Bull Salzburg vs Tappara Tampere Bolzano Foxes vs EHC Biel-Bienne Färjestad Karlstad vs Cardiff Devils Straubing Tigers vs Genève-Servette Kärpät Oulu vs Aalborg Pirates Adler Mannheim vs Grenoble EV Zug vs Skellefteå AIK Red Bull Munich vs Ilves Tampere Oceláři Třinec vs Yunost Minsk Frölunda Indians vs Neman Grodno HC Davos vs Vienna Capitals Rögle Ängelholm vs Stavanger Oilers The opening games are scheduled to take place on 6 and 7 October 2020, with the return legs a week later on the 13 and 14.

so, the Draw has been completed... and now we know the 1st round pairings and the full bracket of the 2020/2021 Champions Hockey League...

2020/21 CHL DRAW - LIVESTREAM Join us live from 18.00 CET as we find out who the 32 teams will play in the 2020/21 Champions Hockey League! Teams from Pot 1 will be drawn against those in Pot 2 to decide the Round of 32 match-ups - however, in this round, no clashes between teams from the same league will be allowed. After the draw has been made, we'll have the bracket all the way to the final!

CHL Draw: Frölunda, Luleå and Zürich enter as top seeds The 2020/21 Champions Hockey League season will be launched later today with the Draw to establish the Round of 32 matchups and the path to the Final. Follow all the action via our livestream on Wednesday at 18:00 CEST on the CHL’s official digital platforms. The live show, which will be broadcast on both the CHL website and on the league’s official social media channels, will be presented by Jann Billeter, anchor and reporter for Swiss national broadcaster SRF. He will be joined on stage by CHL President Peter Zahner and CHL CEO Martin Baumann who will draw the 32 teams randomly to create the 16 pairings that will battle it out to start the season. Ahead of the CHL Draw, all qualified teams have been allocated into two pots according to their achievements in their national leagues and the respective league’s standing in the CHL League Ranking. Reigning CHL champions Frölunda Indians (SWE) sit atop the rankings, and are therefore the highest-seeded team, followed by the regular season winners of the six Shareholder Leagues: Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Finland, the Czech Republic and Austria. Draw Rules There will be two pots containing 16 teams each. Pot 1: Teams ranked 1-16 Pot 2: Teams ranked 17-32 The seedings are based upon the CHL Ranking Tool. Draw order: Teams from Pot 1 will be drawn alternately at random against teams from Pot 2. The Draw will provide the Round of 32 pairings. As the pairings are drawn, they are placed in the Playoff Tree, starting with the top-left bracket, followed by the top-right bracket, the third pairing will be placed in the bottom-right bracket and the fourth in the bottom-left bracket. Clubs from the same league cannot be drawn into a Round of 32 pairing. Should a league conflict occur, then the club in question will be placed in the next possible pairing available, determined by the help of software. No further Draws will take place; the Playoff Tree leads the teams from the Round of 32 through the Round of 16, the Quarter-Finals, the Semi-Finals and all the way to the Final. 2020/2021 CHL Draw explained 2020/21 Playing format In the 2020/21 Champions Hockey League season, a total of 61 games will be played over the course of nine game days between October and February. The season will start with an immediate knockout Round of 32, which will comprise two-game, home-and-away, aggregate score series up to the Semi-Finals. The season culminates on 9 February 2021 with the ultimate one-game Final to determine the European club champions.