phelps

wow! that's quite a "bomb"... I didn't really expext that... I hope it's just because he wanted to and not because he had to (for any reason)...

yeah, he's playing for the Hawks...and he took quite a beating last Sunday in game #2... Dutch players have a long history of playing in the Japanese leagues (Balentien was one of the top HR hitters also in this season, for instance)...

I don't think it's idealistic...it's about extreme measures for an extreme problem (for those who would like to save this sport and, above all, the athletes who train hard to fulfill their dream to take part into the Olympic Games)... otherwise, if nobody cares about a minimum standard of seriousness in the Olympic boxing competition, just throw them out and go on with the other disciplines...

no, because of their nature, pro boxing and Olympic boxing actually are 2 different sports...that's why I'd give this kind of boxing (and only to this kind of boxing) a chance...

the Major League Baseball is over for this year, but we still have a few important leagues running their playoffs/final series... one of those is the Japanese NPB, which is in the middle of their final series, the Nippon Series 2018... the 2 teams that are fighting for this year's crown are the Hiroshima Toyo Carp (winners of the Central League and with the home field advantage in the NS) and the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (Pacific League champions)... game #1 was played last Saturday...and ended in an unconventional tie (2-2 after 12 innings...yes, Japanese rules allow games to end with a tie)... game #2 was played last sunday...and this time the home team (Hiroshima) got an easy win (5-1)... game #3 was played earlier today...and the SoftBank Hawks took advantage of the home ground and won after a hard (and crazy) battle with the final score of 9-8... game #4 is scheduled for tomorrow in Fukuoka @ 6.30 p.m. local time (10.30 a.m. CET)...

to give the athletes a chance, they still need to throw AIBA and their people away... I'm in favor of keeping boxing into the Tokyo 2020 schedule only if IOC are brave enough to cancel AIBA from their recognized organizations, declare all the until now AIBA officials (at any level) "not entitled to cover any role in the new Boxing World Governing Body" and create this new governing body for the Olympic Boxing, finding new faces to run the organization and, above all, new people, mainly former athletes themselves, to form a new jury/refs panel... that's the only acceptable compromise to save the fighters... p.s. and they should throw the pros out of that, too...

it's all live on the BBC website (with VPN, I guess) and for those who prefer the "traditional" way, it's on their TV channels, too... https://www.bbc.com/sport/gymnastics/45905964

Suzhou hosted the 2018 Vans Park Series Finals, with all the best specialists in the world... Among the men, the American superstar Alex Sorgente won the title, beating in a thrilling finale Pedro Barros. 3rd place went to Tom Schaar. 7 out of 8 finalists are from the USA. In the women's event, it was Brighton Zeuner to take the top prize home, meanwhile Yndiara Asp ended up in 2nd place and Jordyn Barratt was 3rd. Full news, details, results and all you need to know... http://www.vansparkseries.com/

the problem with ski races is not about audience... the most important thing that many people don't know (or want to forget) is the fact that the sport (especially in the Alpine regions) is mainly a form of advertising for the tourism industry and in all the other days (before and after the original schedule) those villages have all the hotel rooms booked by tourists and the pistes themselves must be open to the public audience... that's why most of those places never give FIS the chance to race in the immediately following days (and it's also the reason why sometimes, especially in the vacation high season, it's so difficult to find a place that really wants to host those extra races)...

it was a steal by the Austrian Federation ($$$) that goes against any logical scheduling and cost saving (both the previous and following weekends' races are located in Italy...why having a midweek trip in another Country in between? )... but to be honest, it's also fair to say that the cancelled race was to be held in Austria, so I think it's also a correct decision to host the race that replaces it in the same Country...

not the full status, but they still have to follow those "gender equality" rules, so they want to put into the schedule more and more "mixed" events or try to replace some of the men's only classes with women's ones until the number of events and athletes is the same for the 2 main genders (they're so idiot that they don't even know nowadays the genders are not only 2 anymore...at least in some Countries )... it's always all about that idiot policy the "new" IOC is pursuing, not looking at the actual sport outcome but at some not better specified interests...

WKF Karate Senior World Championships The 24th Karate World Championships are Karate's biggest event. Held every two years, the Karate Senior World Championships gather athletes from over a hundred countries in a thrilling quest to sports greatness. The tournament will take place at the WiZink Center sports hall in Madrid (Spain). The competition acquires even greater importance since the Spanish capital will host the last World Championships to be held before Karate's debut at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The 24th World Championships will be the competition providing the highest number of points for athletes to qualify for the Olympic Games. The appeal of this spectacular sport is showcased in its three modalities: the action and speed of Kumite, the power and spirit of Kata, and the courage and resilience of Para-Karate. Official Website http://karate2018.com/ WKF dedicated page, with all the links you need to know (Schedule, Entries, Results, TV/Streaming Coverage) https://www.wkf.net/world-championships-main/senior/

Karate WKF World Championships 2018 Madrid (ESP) - 6 November 2018 - 11 November 2018 Totallympics Results Thread

2018 WBSC Baseball U-23 World Cup Final Standings Gold: Mexico Silver: Japan Bronze: Venezuela 4th, South Korea 5th, Chinese Taipei 6th, Dominican Republic 7th, Colombia 8th, Puerto Rico 9th, Australia 10th, Netherlands 11th, South Africa 12th, Czech Republic

Arriba, Mexico! Beats Japan, wins U-23 Baseball World Cup Mexico makes history. With a 2-1 win in a dramatic ten-inning final, Mariachis win the U-23 Baseball World Cup. It’s the first ever baseball title for the Country. The final, played in front of 6,500 fans in Edgar Renteria stadium in Barranquilla, Colombia, may go to the history books as the epitome of the World Title game. Starting pitchers Hiroki Kondo and Carlos Morales took a no score into the tenth and Mexico got the last out in a bases loaded situation. “It’s easy to say it now” commented Mexico’s manager Josè Reyes “But we did come here to win. Of course it wasn’t easy. This tournament was very competitive”. Mexico had the best chances to score, in the regular nine innings. With two outs in the top of the second, Alan Garcia singled. Orlando Piña and Bernardo Heras followed with back to back base hits. Heras’ hit went to right field, patrolled by phenom outfielder Ukyo Shuto. Shuto came up with a perfect throw home and catcher Hariuchi Kengo tagged Garcia for the out. It was the sixth assist by Shuto in the tournament. Mexico’s starter Carlos Morales no hit Japan, a team that entered the World Title Game with a .357 team batting average, for five innings. In the sixth, first baseman Julian Ornelas helped him with an outstanding catch on a hard-hit liner by Shuto himself. With two outs, Taiga Matsuo singled to left field. Japan won’t get another hit. “I relied very much on my fastball,” said Mexico’s starting pitcher Carlos Morales “And I mixed it with a lot of change ups and the occasional slider. The strategy worked.” Your control was outstanding: “If you play a team as good as Japan, you’re not going to accomplish much if you can’t locate your pitches. I was fortunate enough to throw a lot of strikes tonight.” Josè Ureña led off the top of the seventh with a double, but Mexico couldn’t advance him any farther. Marco Jaime led off the top of the eighth with a single. Norberto Obeso failed to bunt him to second and another opportunity expired. Both teams went to the bullpen in the ninth. Kakeru Narita relieved Hiroki Kondo. Japan’s hurler was not as phenomenal al Morales, but allowed no runs on seven hits, 99 pitches, issuing only a walk. Narita got started with a walk, then got away with it with a little help from shortstop Matsuo. Japan’s defense hasn’t committed an error in the whole tournament. Mexico scored all the runs needed to win in the top of the tenth. Bernardo Heras bunted the tie break runners to second and third. Fabricio Macias looked at a ball, then singled up the middle to score both. “I’m very happy. Baseball gives you another chance. In previous games I had good at bats, but couldn’t get the hit” said Fabricio Macias at the end of the game “I had a feeling that something good was going to happen, I felt very well in this game and had to focus a lot in this at bat, that was the key to the title.” Rafael Ordaz had relieved in the top of the ninth Morales who, in his own words, had given “all he had” (99 pitches). After Yasuhito Uchida bunted the tie break runners to second and third, Ordaz retired Hisanori Yasuda on a grounder, but couldn’t prevent Japan’s first run. Then he walked Kento Harasawa. Mexico called Sergio Alvarado from the bullpen, but the newcomer walked the bases loaded. The ball went then to Erick Casillas, who got started with two balls. On a 2-2 count, Kenji Nishimaki flied out to right field to end the game. “It’s baseball” commented José Reyes “I knew that a swing of the bat could change everything. I also knew I had my most experienced pitcher on the mound.” On a final note, Fabricio Macias added: “I’m happy to be World Champion. I’m proud of myself, I’m proud of my family, and the people who supported me. It’s one more triumph in my carreer.” Gold Medal Match Mexico b. Japan 2-1 (10 Innings) Boxscore https://u23bwc.wbsc.org/en/2018/schedule-and-results/box-score/3629 Game Highlights

Venezuela earns historical bronze medal in the U-23 Baseball World Cup Venezuela earned a historical bronze medal in the U-23 Baseball World Cup with a 5-4 win against Korea. Korea came a long way to tie the game in the top of the seventh, but in the bottom of the eighth Venezuela scored the go ahead run thanks to some good, old fashioned hustle along the base path. Anthony Concepcion ran all the way from first to third on a single by Leandro Cedeño and Jorma Rodriguez beat a throw to first that would have ended the inning on a double play, allowing Concepcion to score the winning run. Venezuela’s starter Nivaldo Rodriguez (a prospect at class for the Houston Astros) threw five, very strong innings. He allowed only one hit and left with a solid 3-1 lead. “I had a plan and it worked beautifully” said Nivaldo Rodriguez at the end of the game “I knew them, because I had pitched against Korea in Monteria.” Rodriguez added: “We shared the same record with Mexico, but this wasn’t enough to make the final. We went after it like warriors, day after day. This medal is our reward. I want to tell to our fans: keep fighting with us, despite all the problems of our Country” Venezuela had scored all of the runs against Yoon Joong Hyun, picked as a starter despite not getting an out in the rest of the tournament. With four at bats left, Korea was not ready to give up and managed to tie it in the top of the seventh. Venezuela had built a 4-1 lead and used four pitchers to defend it. Maiker Pinto, who had relieved Nivaldo Rodriguez in the sixth, gave up a single to Ko Seong Min and then left. Miguel Burgos got started with back to back strike outs, but then was hit hard along the right field line by Kim Chan Hyung, whose speed turned the hit into a triple and cut Venezuela’s lead to 4-2. Luis Garcia allowed a base hit to Han Dong Hui for the third run and a double off the wall in right field to Choe Tae Seong that tied the game. Christian Mejias picked off Choe Tae Seong to end the inning. Venezuela wasted a chance to win back the lead in the bottom of the seventh against Kim Ho Jun. With one out, Jesus Lujiano doubled. He then became the second out trying to steal third. Yonni Hermandez followed with a double that would have easily scored him from second. In the bottom of the eighth, with Anthony Concepcion (walk) at first, Korea gave the call to Lee Won Joon. Leandro Cedeño came up with his second hit of the game, bringing Concepcion to third. Then he left for pinch hitter Joscar Alvarez. Jorma Rodriguez grounded to shortstop. Korea got the force out at second, but Jorma Rodriguez beat the throw to first, allowing Concepcion to score the winning run from third. “I wanted that at bat” said Leandro Cedeño through an interpreter “I wanted that chance, because I know I’m good in those situations. I felt really calm. I prepared mentally in the dugout. They changed the pitcher, and I felt even calmer, because I was intimidating them. And thank God I could hit, and run with all I had to reach safe and put the runner in scoring position.” Also Cedeño has a message for his fans: “To all the fans, to all the people who followed us through social media and television, thank you for all the positive feedback. Thank you, you kept supporting and trusting us.” In the top of the ninth Ivan Andueza, who had taken over for Mejias with one out in the bottom of the eighth, gave up a lead off single to Yen Jinwon. Korea than failed to advance the runner in scoring position as Choi Ji Hoon bunted into a force out at second. Andueza faced only two more hitters and picked the win. Bronze Medal Match Venezuela b. South Korea 5-4 Boxscore https://u23bwc.wbsc.org/en/2018/schedule-and-results/box-score/3628 Game Highlights

game over... the Boston Red Sox are the World Series champions 2018... congrats to them, they really deserved the title, as they dominated the season from the beginning to the end, leading all the offensive stats through the entire season and brilliantly overcoming the pitching troubles they had to face once every while... game #5 was just routine...a 2-run shot by the MVP of the WS Steve Pierce in the top of the 1st inning basically closed the game even befopre it really started... the only sign of life from the Dodgers came immediately in the bottom of the 1st, when David Freese answered Pierce with a solo homer... but that was it, LA's bats didn't make anything for the rest of the game (thanks above all to an excellent outing from David Price, who in these WS redeemed himself from his past post-season losing efforts) and Boston could eventually even break away in the score with 3 solo shots in the 6th, 7th and 8th inning, modelling the score up to the final 5-1... and in the bottom of the 9th the great rookie manager Alex Cora (what a difference with Mr. Roberts, who was once again outclassed by his direct counterpart) called on the mound his best starter, Chris Sale to act as the closer, since the designated one, Craig Kimbrell, was only taking hit after hit in the final part of the season... and Sale only needed 3 quick K...then the party started... meanwhile on the other side, another chance has been wasted...the now full 30 years long drought continues...and I fear it gonna take a long time before it ends, unless they fire Mr. Roberts (and the hitting instructor and some of those players, too) as soon as possible... so, also this season is over...and I'm sure I'm gonna miss MLB Baseball very soon... but then a new season will begin next April... so, see you in 2019...I hope...

don't worry...when you get to play Italy, points will come for sure... Italy are very, very weak...weaker than ever...

men's GS cancelled earlier today in Soelden will be contested on the Gran Risa piste in Alta Badia on Tuesday, December 18th (the official statement by FIS will be published tomorrow, but the Italian press and NF are already sure of that)... therefore we're going to have 3 races on the famous South Tyrolean piste (the traditional GS on Dec, 16th and a Parallel Slalom on Dec, 17th)...

2018 Wrestling Championships Overall Final Medal Table RUS, 10 / 1 / 2 JPN, 5 / 1 / 4 USA, 4 / 3 / 5 TUR, 1 / 4 / 4 AZE, 1 / 2 / 2 BUL, 1 / 2 / 1 HUN, 1 / 2 / 1 CHN, 1 / 1 / 5 GEO, 1 / 1 / 4 UKR, 1 / 1 / 3 CAN, 1 / 1 / 2 CUB, 1 / 0 / 4 GER, 1 / 0 / 0 FIN, 1 / 0 / 0 BLR, 0 / 2 / 2 KAZ, 0 / 1 / 2 MGL, 0 / 1 / 2 SRB, 0 / 1 / 2 IND, 0 / 1 / 1 UZB, 0 / 1 / 1 BRN, 0 / 1 / 0 FRA, 0 / 1 / 0 KGZ, 0 / 1 / 0 MDA, 0 / 1 / 0 IRI, 0 / 0 / 4 ARM, 0 / 0 / 2 KOR, 0 / 0 / 2 AUT, 0 / 0 / 1 ESP, 0 / 0 / 1 ITA, 0 / 0 / 1 PRK, 0 / 0 / 1 POL, 0 / 0 / 1

Men's Greco-Roman Wrestling Medallists Recap Men's GR -55kg Gold: Eldaniz Azizli Silver: Zholaman Sharshenbekov Bronze: Ekrem Ozturk & Nugzari Tsurtsumia Men's GR -60kg Gold: Sergey Emelin Silver: Victor Ciobanu Bronze: Walihan Sailike & Aidos Sultangali Men's GR -63kg Gold: Stepan Maryanyan Silver: Elmurat Tasmuradov Bronze: Lenur Temirov & Rahman Bilici Men's GR -67kg Gold: Artem Surkov Silver: Davor Stefanek Bronze: Meiirzhan Shermakhanbet & Gevorg Sahakyan Men's GR -72kg Gold: Frank Staebler Silver: Balint Korpasi Bronze: Aik Mnatsakanian & Rasul Chunayev Men's GR -77kg Gold: Aleksandr Chekhirkin Silver: Tamas Lorincz Bronze: Kim Hyeon Woo & Viktor Nemes Men's GR -82kg Gold: Peter Bacsi Silver: Emrah Kus Bronze: Maksim Manukyan & Viktar Sasunouski Men's GR -87kg Gold: Metehan Basar Silver: Zhan Beleniuk Bronze: Artur Shahinyan & Roberti Kobliashvili Men's GR -97kg Gold: Musa Evloev Silver: Kiril Milov Bronze: Mahdi Aliyari & Mihail Kajaja Men's GR -130kg Gold: Semen Semenov Silver: Adam Jacob Coon Bronze: Kim Min Seok & Oscar Pino Hinds Men's Greco-Roman Final Medal Table RUS, 6 / 0 / 0 HUN, 1 / 2 / 0 TUR, 1 / 1 / 2 AZE, 1 / 0 / 1 GER, 1 / 0 / 0 SRB, 0 / 1 / 2 BUL, 0 / 1 / 1 UKR, 0 / 1 / 1 KGZ, 0 / 1 / 0 MDA, 0 / 1 / 0 USA, 0 / 1 / 0 UZB, 0 / 1 / 0 ARM, 0 / 0 / 2 GEO, 0 / 0 / 2 KAZ, 0 / 0 / 2 KOR, 0 / 0 / 2 BLR, 0 / 0 / 1 CHN, 0 / 0 / 1 CUB, 0 / 0 / 1 IRI, 0 / 0 / 1 POL, 0 / 0 / 1

and for 2018 that's all, folks... see you next season...I hope...

and at the end of the season, also some "minor" awards have been given... the first one, is the Overall World Cup, which was won by Jakob Schubert among the men and by Janja Garnbret among the women... here you can find the complete rankings... Women: http://www.ifsc-climbing.org/index.php?option=com_ifsc&view=ranking2018 Men: http://www.ifsc-climbing.org/index.php?option=com_ifsc&view=ranking2018 meanwhile the Nations Ranking in the 3 special disciplines went to: Lead: Slovenia Full Ranking: http://www.ifsc-climbing.org/index.php/world-competition#!type=nat_team_ranking&cup=17_wc&cat=1,2 Boulder: Japan Full Ranking: http://www.ifsc-climbing.org/index.php/world-competition#!type=nat_team_ranking&cup=18_wc&cat=5,6 Speed: Russia Full Ranking: http://www.ifsc-climbing.org/index.php/world-competition#!type=nat_team_ranking&cup=18_wc&cat=23,24

and after this last stage, we have the final World Cup Ranking for this season also in the Lead and Speed disciplines... 2018/2019 Lead Final World Cup Ranking Women 1st, Janja Garnbret (SLO), 550 Pts 2nd, Jessica Pilz (AUT), 505 Pts 3rd, Kim Ja In (KOR), 354 Pts Full Ranking here: http://www.ifsc-climbing.org/index.php/world-competition#!type=ranking&cat=ICC_F&cup=18_WC Men 1st, Jakob Schubert (AUT), 495 Pts 2nd, Stefano Ghisolfi (ITA), 466 Pts 3rd, Romain Desgranges (FRA), 356 Pts Full Ranking here: http://www.ifsc-climbing.org/index.php/world-competition#!type=ranking&cat=ICC_M&cup=18_WC 2018/2019 Speed Final World Cup Ranking Women 1st, Anouck Jaubert (FRA), 550 Pts 2nd, Aries Susanti Rahayu (INA), 420 Pts 3rd, Iuliia Kaplina (RUS), 414 Pts Full Ranking here: http://www.ifsc-climbing.org/index.php/world-competition#!type=ranking&cat=ICC_FS&cup=18_WC Men 1st, Danyil Boldyrev (UKR), 413 Pts 2nd, Dmitrii Timofeev (RUS), 396 Pts 3rd, Reza Alipour (IRI), 350 Pts Full Ranking here: http://www.ifsc-climbing.org/index.php/world-competition#!type=ranking&cat=ICC_MS&cup=18_WC

IFSC World Cup, Stage #14 (Xiamen, CHN) Women's Speed (Final) 1st, Aries Susanti Rahayu (INA) 2nd, Iuliia Kaplina (RUS) 3rd, Anouck Jaubert (FRA) Men's Speed (Final) 1st, Bassa Mawem (FRA) 2nd, Aspar Jaelolo (INA) 3rd, Reza Alipour (IRI) Women's Lead (Final) 1st, Jessica Pilz (AUT) 2nd, Janja Garnbret (SLO) 3rd, Akiyo Noguchi (JPN) Men's Lead (Final) 1st, Domen Skofic (SLO) 2nd, Stefano Ghisolfi (ITA) 3rd, Min Hyun Bin (KOR)