heywoodu

There is a nice large gap in the calendar.

Whereas we still disagree on the Pinot/Niizoe situation, where I think the correct decision was made (opinions I've seen and heard elsewhere as well), I gotta give you credits for the criticism on the Riner/Tasoev situation, which IJF has now issued an official apology for. https://www.ijf.org/news/show/ijf-refereeing-commission-communication

It's a shame, but to be fair: for a semi-decapitated stage, it's still pretty damn hard

No Emilia Romagna Grand Prix this weekend, due to the heavy flooding in the area around Imola. Unfortunate, but absolutely the only right choice of course. https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.breaking-update-on-the-emilia-romagna-grand-prix-at-imola.14xk8GLh2Lr8wBGdJqhxnO.html Apart from the difficulties to even get there, local authorities and emergency services have a lot higher priorities on their minds right now.

Or the "let's delay the sports program for a few hours because the president hasn't arrived yet" in the Africa Games or some other big event in Africa (it certainly wasn't Rabat 2019 but I feel Brazzaville 2015 is too long ago, so I'm not entirely sure which event it was)

And Almeida is feeling sick, but not yet out. Daan Hoole will gain at least 10 places today!

Another four COVIDed out of the race. These three + Bystrom. Aan Taaramae is out with stomach problems.

Without plastic surfboards, to be more exact.. She definitely doesn't say it should be without surfboards Edit: Sorry, I think I took your post a bit too serious and didn't see the sarcasm, my bad

Is that an actual enforceable rule? Curious about the other do's and don'ts now

Seems like there's some luck and overall happiness here? Meanwhile on a Dutch forum, it's basically been just a show of disappointment everywhere, with someone payable tickets only available for sports people weren't interested in, nothing at all avaiable for things they were interested in and only massively expensive (yet still regular) tickets for somewhat ok events... Reading all that, I am very glad I didn't throw myself in the mix for tickets Is it always like this? Imagine in September 2021 I decided I want to go to the Paris Olympics, but am only interested in seeing the men's table tennis final and the BMX (cross) finals...was that even possible, or would I still have had to pray and hope for those two exact sessions to appear in my list of possibilities in between first rounds of breakdancing and air rifle shooting and stuff?

Who says it's optimism? The fact is the technology is growing ever faster, even the current AI models are far better and more sophisticated than the ones that appeared last year and that's only been a matter of months. As every single expert will tell, the 'AI' of 15 years ago (if one can even call that AI) is absolutely nothing compared to what's around free to use nowadays, not even a fraction of 1%. That's not a matter of optimism or pessimism or "I have been around longer, so I know better", it is simply what it is right now. The big question is what's going to happen with it, because it 100% will keep developing and that's not going to slow down by any stretch in the next few years. One can either try to stop it, which is just not going to happen (the billionaire tech companies are developing it after all, they're not going to stop), or somehow try to incorporate it in one's technology, learning and so on. I am not optimistic about that entire situation at all, for what it's worth. I don't see it as a majorly good development, but it is a development nonetheless.

Although the level was obviously far, far, far behind what it is now, and it's improving not year by year, but day by day nowadays. Taking a strong stance against the use of it might have been a thing 15 years ago, nowadays that's more or less the equivalent of an old man shouting at a cloud. Best thing is to learn and find ways how to use it, because it is absolutely not going to be stopped.

To be fair, it is the Eurovision Song Contest, an event by the European Broadcasting Union It would absolutely be cool to have a worldwide event of this, with say the top-8 or so of every continent's own continental song contest going to the worldwide event, but I doubt that would gain as much traction nowadays as the ESC has built up throughout the decades..

Then they should change the rule, but in this case it was pretty clear (in the replay one can see she went for the leg during the move, not just accidentally touched it). Although I think we'll debate endlessly without agreeing about it anyway

Right, I knew there was an actual explanation instead of just "it's a conspiracy/it's biased refereeing!" and those kind of things....found/received it Someone with quite close knowledge of judo on another forum answered my question and now that I saw the replay, it is clear: Pinot grabbed/touched Niizoe's leg during that move, which is not allowed and results in a shido, which was indeed awarded after the ippon was waved off (her second shido of the fight). No conspiracy, no referee mistake, no referee deciding to 'correct' another result, just a judoka making an unallowed move and so not getting the ippon. All good.

Both sides did though, the Erdogan-side usually starts of with a certain result which then in the end drops 15-20% when they're eventually forced to also count the stations where they didn't win. Still, Erdogan winning would show having unfair elections works as it always does I mean, it's of course easy when you control the state media and make sure your opponent gets literally about five times of airtime on the main TV channels during the entire campaign, and he gets dragged to court whenever he says something slightly unfavourable to you. Not saying it's surprising, since we all know that of course that's what dictators do, it's the whole point after all. Anyhow, the big question now is what Sinan Ogan's supporters will do in the second round and where that roughly 5% goes. It's also both sad and entirely unsurprising to see a large majority of Dutch Turks (70% or so) voting for Erdogan. Being born and living nice and safe and relatively rich in the West, and voting for a dictator in a country far away

But there most likely won't be enough to bring him (or Kemal) past 50%, which is needed for a first round victory. There's the other guy who got nearly 5%, and he is probably going to be crucial for 28 May, when the second round is held.

To be fair, riders did have the option to ride down by bike (and in some cases, by car). The cable cars were plan A, but the organizers didn't manage to book them for the Giro only (as they were planning to do). Not an issue for Evenepoel though (and a few his teammates, and the Bahrain team), as he was picked up by helicopter - much to the chagrin of the UCI, which found it unfair.

It's not really a DQ, but a decision to pull out. And rightfully so, since doing endurance exercise while having COVID has been shown to be rather dangerous and just definitely not worth the risk. It's not without reason doctors have been telling people not to do intensive exercise when they're having COVID..

News from more and more polling stations (of course those where Kemal did well) saying AKP is delaying the results badly. As in, asking for recounts literally dozens of times in a single station. Polling workers have been told to guard the ballots carefully, fear is growing of AKP people stealing them.

Top favourite Evenepoel is out. Sadly it's to the surprise of absolutely nobody after today's time trial, where he was way off the pace that was expected from him and he looked very much 'down' after the finish, plus sounded pretty bad in the interview.

Sure, conspiracies etc etc, but I'm sure there is an actual explanation as well

73.5% RTE: 48.26% KK: 45.96% Keeping in mind the 73.5 is the percentage of polling stations, not the percentage of votes. Most votes that still have to come in are from major cities like Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir, where Kemal seems to be winning (almost 70% in Izmir). RTE winning it today seems highly unlikely, KK winning it seems vaguely possible, but unlikely as well, so second round incoming it seems.

A lot of polling stations where Kemal wins are being protested by Erdogan's party, which demands another count and in doing so delays the results.

Erdogan has taken the lead. 55% RTE: 47.69% KK: 46.55%