phelps

NRL Rugby (XIII or Rugby League, if you prefer) is still goin' on, while Aussie Rules Football (AFL) has stopped every activity at least until the end of April... https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/03/22/nrl-reaffirms-commitment-to-play-on-as-afl-suspends-competition/

basically, they will set it up on an elevated platform, keeping the new first ring of seats below the level of the athletics track (capacity should go down to around 70,000 for the Games, while it's around 90,000 for American Football)... here you can find renderings and a whole discussion thread about how it will look at the end of the Olympic set up... https://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=145445659 p.s. if the really build a new modern arena beside the new Football Stadium, it finally lead to rethink of having the main swimming pool outdoor at the USC Baseball Field...they could set that pool inside the new arena (I definitely don't like outdoor swimming competitions, they are often problematic in terms of weather conditions -wind is capable of making a race unfair- and the sunny outdoor environment is always a problem when it comes to tv pictures production)...

https://boxing.athlete365.org/rules-and-references/

yeah, and it was a real tough one...5.4 followed by another at 4.6, very early in the morning... right now, they say there's 1 dead man and a few severely hurt people... an entire palace in the city center went down and damages are consisted in the old historical part of the city... the virus troubles were not enough...now also this disaster...Nature might be really angry for the lack of respect and the stupidity of human beings to hit that hard... one last, but probably the most important thing to say...I feel very sorry for all our Croatian friends, especially those who we always read here on the forum @dcro @prso1000 @Crolympic @crovitlaci and all the others...

not that Australia is seriously trying to avoid mass spreading of the virus... https://video.repubblica.it/dossier/coronavirus-wuhan-2020/coronavirus-il-governo-dice-di-mantenere-le-distanze-ma-le-spiagge-di-sydney-sono-affollate/356479/357044?ref=RHPPRB-BS-I0-C4-P1-S1.4-T1 I mean, I know your beaches are among the most beautiful in the world, but at least for now a bit more discipline would be appreciated, I guess... I normally expect pictures like ythis from the Italian, Spanish or South American people, not from your Countrymen...

yopu mean "Delucop", the Robocop governor of Campania? the same "man" who asked for the "Therapeutical Shooting" for those idiots still violating the quarantine? he's even a better comedian than his burlesque version played by Maurizio Crozza...

Lombardy and Piedmont have already announced a stricter lockdown (until april 15th and april 3rd respectively)... here in Lombardy only pharmacies, supermarkets and newsstands will continue to be available to the audience (but with stricter norms about the distance between the people in line waiting their turn to buy what they need)... full stop for any outdoor sport activity (even if you're alone)...

it's not so obvious... someone might well have found a vaccine, but the real problem is that normally 12/18 months are needed to have all the necessary tests to be completed before it's made available to the public... so, even if they already found a vaccine, we won't have any chance to use it at least until mid-/late 2021, which is what is more scary about the next months p.s. it looks that the German group CureVacc has actually found something that might lead to an effective vaccine, otherwise it wouldn't make sense all the attempt of most of the "big pharma" companies to get access to those studies... luckily, the EU optioned those studies for 80 millions € to make them public for free, not to have any risk that any speculator from those pharma companies would try to buy and sell the final product at a scandalous price...

yeah, actually my problems didn't come originally (only) because of stressful situations...it's more complicated... luckily I could at least improve my situation with treatments and medicines, but first my mom's health troubles (breast cancer in 2011 and leukemia in 2015, then she died in 2017) and now this experience for sure are not helping me at all...

yes, their archive is amazing... I always enjoy watching those super-classic from the past Century they often show... this afternoon for instance they did show a wonderful recap of the 1983 Athletics World Champs...it was quite some time I didn't watch those GDR "girls"...it's been impressive, I must say...

no, here the lockdown isn't even close to the Chinese method...and in any case, here a total lockdown like Wuhan's wouldn't work... different Countries, different culture, different attitude even toward an emergency like this one and above all, Italian people are a lot more indisciplined than people from the Far East... by the way, we should start separating the bad situation in Italy from the dramatic, awful situation in Lombardy... of today's 4800+ new positive tests, 3251 are here in Lombardy... and also 546 new deaths out of 793 are here in Lombardy (the most of them in Bergamo province, today's worst in the Country)... frankly, if this virus doesn't kill me in the next few weeks, my "regular" gastric problems will do it...thanks to this stressful situation, they have started to get worse and worse...it looks I'm going back to the very difficult days of the early 2000' when I was really in trouble because of them...

this morning I couldn't resist anymore without watching some sport... so, I opted for the Czech Public TV CT Sport: 1994 Hockey Extraliga semifinal series between Olomouc and Kladno (they broadcasted game #1 in full and then a recap of the remaining games)...

some of them are, others don't... it depends on sports (no outdoor activity is allowed anymore, so, cyclists for instance can't train) and sometimes on single location...some of our top swimmers are allowed to use (all alone, I mean, the small group under the same coach) the national training pools in Rome and Verona, but those who have to rely on public infrastructures in other cities have their facilities closed... however, the official POV from almost every Italian athlete and sports federation is to postpone the Games to 2021 (at least)... I think no one of them would eventually go to Tokyo fully trained and focused if the Games are held this July/August...

but honestly, what if they announce right now the postponement of the Games and let's say by the end of May we run into a drastic slowdown of new positive cases and by the end of June we don't have almost any sick people in the world? the damage in such case would be incomparable... so, I understand their POV and their attempt to gain as much time as they can, even if this is a stressful situation (and of course I hope they have a plan B well underway, even if they keep saying they don't have it and that they still have to analyze the less favourable options)...

that's what I meant when I wrote that we have to look deeper... it doesn't change for the Tokyo Games, but do you really think that the Olympic brand would keep the same value if the Olympics are held in the original date and work perfect under any aspect rather than they are postponed/cancelled/experiencing something tragic? no way... the IOC would lose billions if something goes wrong (and having a conflict with some sports federations/nocs/sponsors means that something went wrong)... p.s. moreover, do you really think that IOC takes any decision in the interest of Japan and in general of the organizing committee of the Games? then, tell me why do we have the swimming finals late at night (Rio 2016) and/or in the morning (Beijing 2008 and Tokyo 2020)? why in Tokyo do we have the men's Basketball Bronze Medal match scheduled after the Gold Medal match? why do we have things like Skateboarding, Surfing, BMX Freestyle, so many events in Swimming and Gymnastics, next time round Break Dance and so on in the Olympic schedule? c'mon! as I wrote, I'm not blaming anybody, but the US being the main sports politics powerhouse and the US TV Networks' interest being more protected than any other because they are the main contributors of IOC and some international federations is a fact... and because of that, it's one of the main factors to be taken into account when analyzing pros and cons of taking any decision...

sure, now he's the owner of the brand through his sports marketing agency (and they are those who invented the new format)...

my guess... our friend is blaming him because he destroyed the Davis Cup we've always known and loved... now it's more or less like a normal tournament (and not even a major one) in terms of hype and overall entertainment, thanks to the new format... p.s. it's the 4th day without watching any sport event for me...right now I just can't watch "old" events thinking that for a long while I won't be able to find anything "fresh"...it's too painful...

I don't have any solution, unfortunately... and no, I'm not blaming the USA for defending their interests... we all know that the USA are the strongest political powerhouse in the sports world and that the US TV Networks are those who pay the highest amount of money for the tv rights of almost every event... therefore we have to keep in mind what's easy to adjust and what might be complicated and make all the required adjusments very difficult if not impossible... it's not a question of blaming someone or not, it's only a question of analyzing every situation in depth, without stopping on the surface (which could lead to wrong conclusions or excessive semplification of any question)...

her first commercial for Huawei...

you are forgetting where the 2021 worlds are scheduled... it's not world athletics itself (which would easily change dates for their crown juwel event), the real problem is the US environment (federation, sponsors and, above all, tv networks)... I mean, sponsorship agreements have already been signed, TV schedule has just been fixed (even if not released to the public yet), corporation tickets have already been sold, hotel rooms have already been reserved, the new "athletes' village", which is part of the new Oregon University Campus, is already booked by the students for the following semesters and once they enter that structure, they can't be thrown off because of the Athletics Worlds have changed schedule... there are a lot of problems that can't be solved just by moving a couple of dates on a calendar... and more or less it's the same for all the other events already scheduled for 2021, even those not having the US TV as such a strong stakeholder (we all know that NBC Universal is basically the owner of the IOC and consequently of many International Sports Federations by virtue of all the money they spend for the TV rights of those events, especially the Olympic Games...but not only them)...

a few days ago, Dorothea Wierer signed a new sponsorship agreement with Huawei... so, even if she keeps saying that she will decide if she's going to retire or not only in late Spring before the new season's training camp starts, I guess this is a good proof that she's going to continue her career at least until Beijing 2022 (always if this fuckin' coronavirus stagnation is over and she's still fully healthy by that time, of course)...

let's say that he doesn't have a good reputation...on and off the playing court... he was involved in many controversial cases wherever he has played (last notable misbehaviour, a few months ago he was charged for sexual harrassment in Brazil where he was playing the club world championships with his Russian team)...

the article clearly says that they were full test kits (and the US Ambassador here confirmed that)... moreover, the article also talks of the biggest field hospital in Europe and many more medical supplies which are stocked near the Aviano US Military Base that could be used also for the host Nation needs but they are "untouchable" despite the official agreement between USA and Italy (in this case, but I'm sure that they have similar situations also in Germany with all the US Bases located there)...

considering the global warming, I'd say that Tokyo could well host the Games in that period of the year, even if I think it could be a little too cold for some outdoor sports like open water swimming or even athletics (sprint races and explosive jumps/throws events especially)... however, late April/May/June is the monsoon season, so it's impossible to host the Games in those months, as there's a high risk of having a full week of torrential rain and very strong winds...