phelps

I saw the match and it really looked that there were more than 1000 people, to be honest...maybe they gave away quite a few free tickets, too... by the way, 15000 spectators is the full basketball capacity of the hall (it's the same venue that hosted basketball at the 2008 Olympics), but for hockey they have to remove almost entirely the first ring of seats along the main stand (and behind the nets the first ring it's completely off, like they do on the left side -watching on tv- at the Barclays Center when the NY Islanders play at home in the NHL, just to give an idea), so I guess the capacity goes down to less than 10000 seats... meanwhile, on the ice the Finnish guy Salmela looks the best player of Red Star so far...on the other hand, I'm not so convinced by their goalie, the Finnish Karhunen (but I only saw one of their matches and the highlights of the other, so it's just a quick first impression that may prove wrong during the rest of the season)...

and finally these qualis are over... Italy lost also their last match against Kazakhstan, once again after a generous but ineffective performance...they deserved a bit more luck, I guess...but I hope that at least they can learn the right lesson from this tournament, so to avoid relegation at the upcoming Worlds... and in order to do that, they surely have to be more effective in the offensive end of the rink... and congrats to Germany, Norway and Slovenia for their success...I'm happy especially for our friends from Slovenia and for the great Anze more than anything... it's been a very entertaining weekend of hockey and I just can't wait for the next big events of the most beautiful sport of the World...

I think they want to use the full name of your Country because they want to underline that most players in your team come from Oversea... by the way, the MLB season (but also the NPB's and KBO's, which are the main pro leagues in Japan and South Korea, respectively) goes from the beginning of April to the end of October (and the RS - 162 games long for every team - ends in the first week of October, normally)... so, the only tournament so far in Baseball history which has been played by the MLB stars is the World Baseball Classic (which is held once every 4 years, 2017 is the next time, in March)... and because it's played in pre-season, it also has a few rules about the amount of innings that can be played by each player, especially the pitchers, who are the most delicate and precious assets of their respective teams and need some "protection" not to be pushed over the limits by the coaches of their NTs so early (with the chance of getting dangerous injuries being always very high in such case)...

no, because the MLB season is well under way right now... all teams here must be happy with players coming from European leagues or North American 3rd or lower tier minor leagues (or Central American leagues, if they are over...some of them actually are, like the Mexican Spring/Summer Pro league)... but in general, the Kingdom of the Netherlands (as they officially call it in the world of Baseball) have a lot of MLB/Triple A/Japan PRO Leagues players that could be used if only the European Champs would be held after the MLB/NPB season is over...

Yes, if they play with their best North American (for Italy) and Antillan (for the Netherlands) born players... for what concerns the Europeans 2016, Italy for sure won't show up as good as they could, since we lack almost all of our best pitchers (other than our MLB/Triple A stars, of course...but those were never to be considered for this tournament...they play for Italy only at the World Baseball Classic)... I'm not sure we can put the Dutch title in danger this time...and I wouldn't underestimate Spain...in the right day, they also can be "tricky" for both Italy and the Netherlands (more against Italy, to be honest)... p.s. I also read that unfortunately only the Dutch team's games will be covered by TV (Ziggo will show them live)... I'm not sure even if there will be some streaming available for the other games (according to the Italian federation there won't be any)...

Ultima partita e nuova sconfitta per il Blue Team nelle qualificazioni Olimpiche di Hockey Ghiaccio maschile... Questa volta è stato il Kazakhstan (ormai fuori dai giochi come gli Azzurri) a beffare i nostri ragazzi con un gol fortunoso a 3 minuti dalla fine, portando a casa un successo buono solo per il morale con il risultato finale di 3-2...

if WBSC doesn't change the rules, the only qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games 2020 will be the Premier 12 2019... but if you want to qualify for that, you have to sum up points in the World Ranking in each and every event (youth competitions included) of each and every season from now until the end of the 2019 season (only the top 12 teams of the World Ranking at September 2019 will be invited to the Premier 12 of that year - it will be held in November)... so, these Europeans are not directly useful to qualify, but they are very important in any case, since it's the best chance for Italy and the Kingdom of the Netherlands to earn a lot of points in the World Ranking in just 1 single event...

terminano con la seconda sconfitta in 2 giorni (1-2 all'OT contro i Francesi giovedì e 1-4 contro la Norvegia ieri) le speranze Azzurre di qualificarsi ai Giochi Invernali 2018 nell'Hockey Ghiaccio maschile... e l'astinenza nel nuovo Millennio continua (l'ultima apparizione "meritata sul campo" risale a Nagano 1998, cui fece seguito solo la presenza "di diritto", in qualità di Paese ospitante, a Torino 2006)...

unfortunately, no... I only read an official statement from our NF on their website when the facts occurred... as usual, when it comes to things like that, there was no detailed explanation, just the final decision about it... in the meantime, last night I really appreciated the effort of our guys...but it was clear that they couldn't do anything but trying to shut the Norwegian offense down, without any real chance to put their netminder under consistent pressure... no comment about Bernard's stupid spearing that costed us the last goal and the disparity of treatment with a couple of dirty checks from behind by the hosts, which also deserved a 5-minute major penalty, but weren't even sanctioned at all...

by the way, I really don't understand Austria...they're just disrespecting their Flag...in all sports you can always lose, but you have to perform with dignity...and they're not doing that by any mean... now I can't wait for Sunday's showdowns between GER and LAT + BLR and SLO (always hoping that Anze and co. can do it...c'mon, guys!)... p.s. tonight, no chance for our youngsters against Norway...

he's been dismissed by the coaching staff because of "indiscipline" and "lack of respect for his teammates and the coaching staff", so I guess that his time with our NT is over at least until this staff is in place... I don't have any idea if he's still available should we hire new officials in the next future...

highlights from that historical game... http://video.khl.ru/quotes/363091

yes, of course I immediately thought about her... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prapawadee_Jaroenrattanatarakoon about Italy...well, it's already quite a while that we don't use many North American born Italians...after our championships' decline, we simply can't afford them anymore (to be honest, it's also a political decision by the new officials of our federation, but I'm sure that if we could still call up a few of the best NHL/AHL player with Italian descent, we would do it despite all the the announces in the opposite direction)... so, the only thing we could do, it was to start sending our best youngsters in a better youth system (junior Swiss league or junior EBEL) so to give them a chance to play at a higher level day in and day out and be useful to our National team one day... now these politics start to pay their prize and we have a good bunch of youngsters playing in Bozen (EBEL) and/or around good European leagues, like SUI/GER and also some Finnish and KHL teams (even Slovan Bratislava have 1 of our former Canadian born Italian from the last generation, Nick Plastino...I saw him last night against Sochi spending quite a few minutes on the penalty bench...his real strenght...), where we can call them up from... by the way, we still have 4 players not raised in Italy in our team (Cloutier, who's naturlized because of wedding, Trivellato, who's a German-born Italian and Di Casimirro and Scandella, who are North American born Italians)... all the others (including Thomas Larkin, who was born in London and raised here in Italy, despite his name could suggest a different story) are Italian born and raised players (even Zanatta and Gellert, whose fathers were "outside Italy born" Italians playing in our championships in the 80's and 90's)... that's the full genesis of our current team...

naaa...that's not so difficult...Thai weighlifters have a lot more complicated names...by far... by the way, wow! what a day 1 of Olympic quali we're having! I'm happy for Anze and his Slovenia...I hope they can do it... and, despite the bitter loss, I'm also happy that Italy weren't blown out by the French... meanwhile I guess that my former girlfriend (who's from Innsbruck, AUT) is not that happy...

and yesterday we also had another amazing game between SKA and AK Bars... in 2 days I just watched 2 matches that have been better than all of last season's... highlights from SKA-AK Bars http://video.khl.ru/events/464943

From Today until next Sunday, Wrestling Junior World Championships 2016 in Macon (FRA)... Infos, Results and Live Streaming here: https://unitedworldwrestling.org/event/world-championship-8 p.s. the picture quality of the Live Streaming is quite good, absolutely better than our usual UWW broadcasts...

yeah, I also watched a few minutes of that game (I was alternating the Football Champions League matches Rostov-Ajax, Salzburg-Dinamo Zagreb and the Hockey match)... not bad for an August warm up... and yes, I also remember the 2014 qualis (there was the Italian team, too)...but I think this time GER won't waste the chance (even if they have to take care not only of the arch-rivals from AUT, but also of the hosts from LAT, who are always boosted when they are at home in front of their very hot fans)...

Slovenia (if Kopi is there and in decent shape), otherwise Denmark + Germany + Norway are my picks...

since the IOC will never take our opinions in consideration, I take it as a game/joke and nothing more than that... so this is just my "dream version" of the Olympics without making any serious count of quotas to keep the limit of 10500 athletes (and actually one of my goals would be going over those numbers in any case) nor trying to be politically correct or particularly "realistic" in compiling my program... My key points: Get rid of those sports where the rankings are determined only ed exclusively by a bunch of corrupted judges (and of those judges themselves) as much as possible... Back to tradition in those "old" sports almost destroyed by the recent changes... Go over the current limit of 10500 competitors...more athletes (and les judges and officials) and no more events with 6/7/8 starters only... Get rid of the stupid idea that men and women must have the same number of events in each sports...there are a lot less women having access to sports activity in the World (and sports where women have always been marginal)...there's no need to have all of them exactly equal... Sport by Sport notes: Archery: nothing to be changed (though personally I used to like more the old format for the single matches - and not this new tennis-alike system)...but the Ranking Round event should have live tv coverage, too... Athletics: With all the love I have for it, get rid of Race Walking, since it's no longer a serious thing...real doping cheaters who win medals, innocents excluded with conspiracies and corrupted judges allowing runners to to run, instead of "walking"... and get rid of the 10000m on the track in favor of a Cross-Country event over 10 or 12 kms...same Countries dominating, but at least a different landscape and possibly a different time slot (maybe in the first day of the Games...I like the idea of having an Athletics event as the first medal awarded and also one - the men's Marathon - being the last big moment)... Badminton: no more doubles...only a 64 athletes singles' table draw for men and one for women (so to make space also for another racket sport like squash)...and absolutely no groups...only direct elimination rounds... Basketball: as for all team sports, since there are only 12 places available, get rid of continental protection for those associations with very few teams or for those without a really competitive team (so, no Oceania, Asia, Africa, North and South America as different entities, but just 3 main zones: Europe, Pan-America and "rest of the World" getting 1 team each...then the Hosts - only if they can reach good results in previous international events - and finally, the best 8 teams of the world overall)... I'm tired of having just 3 or 4 even matches per edition because of geo-politics... Beach volleyball: Expand to 32 teams per gender... Boxing: With my heart bleeding, remove the sport in its entirety, because right now, it's just a farce... Canoeing: Sprint canoeing needs more competitive boats in each event, it's really depressing watching heats and semis with 4 or 5 boats, 1 or 2 of them coming to the finish line with 10+ seconds deficit...and all the program must be reviewed...they have to choose only 1 representative distance - my choice, 1000m - and have all the races over this "Olympic distance"...at the moment, I'd take only 10 events - K1, K2, K4 for men and women; C1, C2, C4 for men and C1 for women - but of course in the next years, following a natural development, I'd add the C2 and C4 for women, too, so to have 12 events - all with a reasonable number of boats - in this sport)... Slalom: just too expensive. Once again, with my heart bleeding (I love this sport), remove slalom events from the Games... Cycling: a few more riders in the Road Race and no more Time Trial events... BMX is spectacular...but it's just like Slalom Canoeing...building such a specific venue for 2 (4 doesn't changes anything) titles is way too expensive...so, remove this discipline from the Games... to replace BMX, just put in the Elimination race in the MTB section (the Cross-Country event is fine as it is)... Track: the key word is "restoration": get rid of those insignificant new events and bring back the old exciting ones...the program should include: individual sprint, keirin (for sprint specialists), individual and team pursuit (for middle distance/time trial specialists) and Points Race and Elimination Race (for longer distance/road specialists) for both genders plus the Madison Race (men's only) because that's the symbol, the queen and king race of all the track cycling sport... Diving: get rid of the Synchro events...individual springboard and platform for both men and women are enough, since this sport is basically a 1-Country show and stop... Equestrian: get rid of Dressage and Eventing, at least...but I'd remove it completely because of costs and logistic troubles (mainly) and health issues for the horses (not to be underestimated)... Fencing: this sport is one of the 5 most ancient of the Games (and now it's become one of the most global, one of the very few able to give medals to all continents)...it needs a lot more respect...so, no more rotation between team events...all 12 events must be part of the program and the table draws must be taken to 64 athletes in the individual events and at least 12 - but 16 would be better - in the team events, where the stupid rule of the reserve athlete not getting the medal if he doesn't play at least a bout - but if he does he can't be replaced anymore by one of the starters - must be cancelled immediately)... Field hockey: great sport, OK as it is... Football: get rid of it...there's no place for a youth tournament a t the Games...it should be replaced by Futsal (but only when the women's game gets more developed than today), which is also less expensive (it can be hosted in 1 single arena) and it doesn't require sites far away from the actual Olympic city... Golf: it's a great sport...now we only have to get the best male players in... Gymnastics: Get rid of rhythmic and trampoline (it's good in a circus, not at the Games for sure)...bring in the Aerobics (men's and women's singles, mixed pair and mixed gorups - 3 men + 3 women) to replace them... Handball: see basketball (and volleyball)... Judo: OK as it is (The leg rule needs to go)... Modern pentathlon: if they keep it, frankly there's no need at all for the fencing bonus round...but I'd remove it completely, since horses are involved in it... Rowing: more competitive boats in each discipline, especially the long boats... Rugby sevens: get rid of this farce...this is not the sport of Rugby nor it does give any idea of what it is... Sailing: No changes needed... Shooting: I'd like to replace the prone rifle for men with the Running Targets event, which in my opinion is a lot more exciting...and qualifications should have live tv coverage, too... Swimming: women's 800m free out, women's 1500m free (+ 50m breast, back and fly for both genders) in...the Swimming Marathon should be taken to 15kms...now the 1500m Pool specialists still have too many chances to win in both disciplines... Synchronized Swimming: get rid of that non-sport activity (and its corrupted judges)... Table tennis: see Badminton...get rid of team events (which is just a gift to China) and set up only men's and women's singles with a 64-athlete direct elimination table draw... Taekwondo: expand it to 10 weight classes (5 men + 5 women, clearly) and enlarge the starting field to 32-player table draws (or at least 24, but it's not recommended)... Tennis: see Badminton and Table Tennis...get rid of the doubles and set up only men's and women's singles with a 64-athlete direct elimination table draw (and allow just a 3-player contingent for each Country)... Triathlon: no changes... Volleyball: see Basketball and Handball... Water polo: again, see Basketball, Handball and Volleyball (and take the women's tournament to 12 teams)... Weightlifting: with my heart bleeding, get rid of it (no results are reliable, despite all the efforts by IWF)... Wrestling: events are good as they are...but I want more athletes in each event (32-man draw sheets would be ideal, but 24 would be acceptable, too...any different number of participants make the competition unfair because of the odd recovery time between athletes facing each other in the same session)... and among the new (or returning) Sports: Baseball/Softball: same teams and principles of the other team sports...12 teams, 2 groups of 6 then quartrfinals, semis and medal matches and really reduced geo-political considerations to make up the starting field... Karate: the full kumite program must be in place...5 weight classes for both men and women (1 player per Country in each class allowed) with 32-athlete table draws...technically, women's bouts should be expanded from first round to gold medal fight to at least 3 minutes and men's bouts to 4 minutes (but 4 and 5 minutes respectively would be even better)... Squash: dropping doubles and team events in Badminton, Tennis and Table Tennis makes place also for this exciting sport (also here, men's and women's singles 64-athlete table draws with max 3 players per Country)... Sport Climbing: the traditional Lead and the new fast & furious Speed events (for both genders, of course) should be included, and not that farce of the combined event they want to add for the Tokyo Games... Futsal: see Football (format and quotas would be the same as the other team sports, of course)... Roller Speedskating: finally, instead of those judgment craps of surfing and skateboarding, I'd like to get back to the original idea of having this wondewrful and exciting sport at the Games...my ideal program would include track races (300m sprint individual time trial, 500m mass sprint, 5000m elimination race, 10000m points race, 5000m Madison - 3-man teams - race...to be held on ice speedskating-alike - or athletics-alike - 400m tracks) and the Marathon races (the classic 42.195kms) on the streets...

actually it's an inquiry by the Italian newspaper "la Repubblica", which can be seen also here (there are both the Italian and the English version)... http://video.repubblica.it/sport/operation-schwazer-the-plot-of-the-dukes-of-doping/248471/248603?ref=HRESS-27 but the main problem is that all the Italian Institutions are part of this conspiracy and they will do all they can to deny any attempt of defence by Schwazer and humiliate him... you should watch yesterday's Italian broadcast of the 50km Race Walk competition...it was simply disgusting, totally unacceptable... by the way, all the documents taken by the Italian police at the Italian federation headquarter, now are being used by the Italian trial court...and when it all ends up, all the world will have the proof that IAAF had already been knowing the Russian illegal blood values since 3 years (at least), as it appears from data stored in dr. Giuseppe Fischetto's hard drives... p.s. dr. Fischetto is responsible for IAAF's anti-doping commission since many years and he's also the former doctor of the Italian federation when they used to co-operate with dr. Conconi and dr. Ferrari at the University Hospital in Ferrara in the early Ninety's (and later)...

che giornata, ieri! ho rischiato più volte l'infarto, ma ne è valsa la pena... peccato solo per il suicidio della Sartori nella semifinale dell'Arco...altrimenti sarebbe arrivato un gran bell'argento anche lì (e invece è arrivata anche la beffa del quarto posto)... oggi purtroppo abbiamo solo 2 possibilità con Campriani nella Carabina e con il duo Pellielo/Fabbrizi nel Trap...speriamo però di farle fruttare bene entrambe... personalmente, dopo i primi 2 giorni di "full immersion" sono già abbastanza cotto...chissà se riuscirò ad arrivare vivo al termine, continuando così...

better not to make any comment about the Italian performance from yesterday... I never so such a bad attitude in an OLympic quarterfinal match... what the fu*k they were thinking?

most of those who swam both heats and final were quicker in the morning (early afternoon, I should say)...including Cate Campbell, Ledecky and Pellegrini (actually she swam very slowly in the final, but Italy was already out of any battle and in the waves of the best teams)... the only one who repeated herself (among the main candidates to the medals in the individual races) is Sjostrom (and Bronte Campbell, who just joked in the heats and obviously improved a lot in the final)... for Italy, good result by Detti (we've been waiting for that medal for 16 years, since Rosolino's Silver in Sydney) in terms of final placing, but he was much slower than expected... meanwhile, all the other swimmers (and not only the youngsters at their first Olympic experience) were just a disaster, as always happens at the Olympics...they were well outside the target and the times they swam all year long (at the Italian Nationals, at the Europeans and even at Settecolli meet in June)...shame on them...

as expected, Epee always ends with a lot of surprises... not that Szasz and Fiamingo are generally considered underdogs, but at least in this season they haven't been in their best shape... but when it really mattered, experience and class made the difference... Rembi and the third Chinese (on paper), instead, were really the surprising package of the day... pity also for my Nathalie Moellhausen...she's been just a fraction away from giving Brazil one of the most unexpected joy of the Games... but, mainly, congrats to Szasz and her great career...and also to Rossella, because it was really difficult to deliver in these conditions, but she still managed to bring home a precious medal... today I don't have great feelings about the men's individual foil, but who knows? mayb Cassarà's class will finally come out as well...

BBC website, all the way (but you need a VPN, better if a "serious" paid one...but it works also with Hola, which is free but not advisable for your privacy and security)...