phelps

the new hockey season starts today with the 2020/2021 Champions Hockey League Draw... because of the covid-19 emergency, we have a new format, with the competition starting later than usual (October rather than August) and playing all the competition rounds with the direct elimination head-to-head matchups over 2 legs (Home & Away, aggregate score counting, as usual) until the Final, which will be played as always over one single game (February 9th, 2021...if everything goes well )...

Men's Ice Hockey IIHF European Champions League 2020 - 2021 Multi-Stage Event - 6 October 2020 - 9 February 2021  Official Website

hope she gets well soon...

another big sh*tstorm coming up in the Cycling world... https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/anti-doping-samples-from-2017-tour-de-france-retested-in-light-of-operation-aderlass-information/

for what concerns the Raiders, the goal of this season is: tanking, tanking, tanking again, tanking big time...hope for a 0-16 (or 1-15 at best) season, so not to miss out on Lawrence... the future is now...but we have to speculate a bit on that!

actually, they should also add all of their Olympic Replays to the Apple TV / Android TV apps, because it's not acceptable to me that I have to watch them only on my PC/smartphone or I have to go with the limited picture quality of the chromecast... I want to watch all the Olympic replays with the best picture quality available on my crystal clear 4K TV screen!!!

well, considering that they want to restart the Italian Cup on June 13th and 14th (semis, 2nd leg) and June 17th (final), and according to the health rules they put in place, it's really optimistic to say that the championship will start on June 20th...most likely, they will be quarantined again by that day...

wonderful! thanks to all those who made it possible first and available for all of us then...

I don't like this format at all...

the cheaters' gang strikes again... https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2020/05/22/olympics/wada-finds-no-link-therapeutic-exemptions-olympic-medals/#.Xsz8q2gzZaQ how can you still trust this bunch of ***??? it's clear that they're just a political instrument and they don't have any intention to fight for a clean sport...

I call it mediatic terrorism... https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2020/05/22/olympics/summer-olympics/ioc-exec-john-coates-says-tokyo-games-may-not-go-ahead-even-vaccine/#.Xsz8sGgzZaQ

It's quite obvious that certain authorities have infos that we don't know... p.s. tbh, I can understand them thinking there's no chance to have a full audience event in the next 9/12 months here in Italy...and I also understand why the organizers are opting for this strategy (they already lost a big amount of money with the world cup finals cancellation earlier this year and they want to be absolutely sure they're not going to lose money again in 2021)...

some skiers are starting to show their disappointment for the Italian Ski federation's decision to postpone the 2021 Worlds... Federica Brignone is the first among the top class skiers to get loud against this chance, especially if they really want to hold that event just a few weeks after the Olympics... I expect many more to come in the next few days... p.s. the final decision about the 2021 Worlds being delayed to March 2022 is expected to be taken next July, 1st at the next FIS Meet...

Carlo Durante, Paralympic Marathon Gold Medallist in Barcelona (1992), Silver Medallist in Atlanta (1996) and Bronze Medallist in Sydney (2000)... he also won 1 World and 3 European Paralympic titles and many more silver and bronze medals on the global stage... he was 73 years old and died because of a heart attack while climbing the Montello hill on a tandem with his best friend and driver (he was blind)... the news in Italian language: https://www.repubblica.it/speciali/sportsenzabarriere/storie/2020/05/24/news/addio_a_carlo_durante_campione_paralimpico_di_maratona-257537980/?ref=RHPPBT-VS-I0-C4-P9-S1.4-T1

it should be something like this: world cup ends by January, Olympics in February, Worlds in March... basically, they're admitting that there's no chance to host an event in Italy with full access to the audience early next year...

earlier this morning and right now...live Korean KBO Baseball, switching between Kiwoom Heroes @ Lotte Giants and KIA Tigers @ SK Wyverns (all on Naver TV cast) later today...Soccer, German Bundesliga (the socalled "Konferenzschaltung" -the multi-games broadcast) on some sky Italia sport channel... p.s. from today on, also the paid OTT service ESPN Player makes Korean Baseball games available...they show 1 game per day live (and ondemand, I guess) from Tuesday through Sunday in the European mornings (TUE through FRI at 11.30 a.m. CET, SAT at 10 a.m. CET, SUN at 7 a.m. CET)...

I read also Free Sports UK (FTA TV channel on satellite @ 28.2 East) bought the tv rights for the Polish Ekstraklasa...

ops...I think I made a bit of confusion between the section "starting from the top 16 of the qualification" and the "2-run question"... unfortunately, Snowboard has not changed their unfair system... maybe I was the one who got a little drunk last night...

you know, summer is coming, weather is getting hotter and alchool is not a true comfort drink under this circumstance...

yeah, now the format will feature 16 skiers qualifying to the knockout stage, which is contested over 2 runs in each round from 1/8 finals to the Big Final... from FIS website: "In terms of rule changes, the Parallel format has been adapted also taking into consideration the athletes’ recommendations. The Parallel race will have a run and re-run format to ensure a fair competition. To keep the format short and interesting, the parallel race will start from the round of 16 (not 32 as until now) with the 16 fastest athletes from the qualification race. When both gender are present, the losing competitors in the quarter finals will be ranked from 5 to 8 according to their total time (run and re-run), without having to race for their position. Finally, in terms of Parallel quota, for the season 2020/21, the nation’s higher quota, whether from WCSL or PWSL, will be valid. All the proposals mentioned above are subject to the approval of the Council." EDIT: fixed the wrong comparison with the Snowboard PSL and PGS...

do you know that this escape attempt sounds like you're admitting your misdemeanors, right?

did you get a new tattoo? just to be part of the restart...

just to show what's happening here... https://video.repubblica.it/dossier/coronavirus-wuhan-2020/fase-2-riprende-la-movida-folla-di-giovani-senza-mascherina-durante-l-aperitivo/360631/361187?ref=RHPPTP-BS-I253430426-C12-P11-S3.4-T1&refresh_ce

top tier German Basketball League BBL resumes on June 6th, with a 10-team tournament* in a single location (Munich, Audi Dome) to determine the German Champions for this season... *2 groups of 5 teams, top 4 in each group advancing to quarterfinals, then semis and final

meanwhile, after dating a Finnish girl for about a week, I didn't learn a single word in that language...even a simple "yes" or "no"... but it was quite some time ago, back to the glory days of May 1994 (during the Ice Hockey Worlds finals in Milan)...and at that time I wasn't really interested in learning a new language, rather doing some new experiences... p.s. at least I still remember her name, Kristiina