Sports general discussion thread

[ZedClampet]

Where's he agonnago?

I just watched a true slogfest in my home town, the premier local rugby derby in the country, always a Christmas special. Driving rain all thru, and the ref had ongoing trouble with the cold biting wind accompanying it.

I got to credit both teams for keeping it mostly together and not making a ton of errors. Champagne stuff it was not—but enthralling? Oh yeah, in spades. Sadly, the better team on the night won 9-3.

I love watching teams play through cold weather...as long as I'm watching from home, although sometimes it can be fun to bundle up, grab some hand warmers and head to the stadium. The only bad weather we get down here anymore, though, are thunder storms and tornados. We did get an actual blizzard in 1993, but we rarely get snow anymore.

But the thunder storms are a real pain during football season. After a lightning strike within a certain distance they have to wait until it's been 30 minutes without another lightning strike. It can go on forever.

And back when I was a NASCAR fan, it wasn't too unusual to delay a race until the next day.

 

[Zloth]

@Zloth what the heck is wrong with KC?

Turnovers. SO MANY turnovers..... Marty Schottenheimer, our old coach from the `90's, has got to be rolling in his grave. Defense is doing great, though!

 

[ZedClampet]

Our superstar freshman QB had a better debut than I expected. Usually players struggle in their first QB start, but he accounted for 4 TD's (running and passing) and didn't throw any interceptions. That's especially good since Iowa, who was ranked 17th, has a national top 5 defense. Anyway, we beat them 35 to 0, so that should make the off-season more fun. We have a lot of holes to fill, though, before next year. Our wide receivers and offensive line leave a lot to be desired.

 

[Brian Boru]

I always wanted a dart set as a child

Damn, that kid made the final!

Talk about set to dominate the sport for a couple of decades.

 

[Zloth]

Where's the championship lawn dart competition!?

 

[Brian Boru]

Where's the championship lawn dart competition!?

Outside. Brr.

 

[Brian Boru]

Two icons of world sport have passed.

JPR Williams
One of the 3 best full backs in rugby I've seen, a towering stalwart for Wales and the Lions.

Franz Beckenbauer
Germany's greatest ever footballer, one of only 3 to win the World Cup as player and manager. Sheer class.

RIP both.

 

[Zloth]

Outside. Brr.

Gonna get brrrr'er.

This weekend is the start of the football playoffs. Miami is coming up to Arrowhead to play on Saturday night. Temps on Saturday are expected to have a high of 8F and a low of -8F (-13C to -22C). Having a ticket to that game would be a curse!

 

[Zloth]

Tickets for 'view level' (i.e. the upper parts of the stadium) are going for as low as $40 right now. They are letting people bring in batteries for heated socks/blankets and a LITTLE cardboard to put your feet on instead of the cold concrete.

 

[Brian Boru]

Netflix rugby series "premieres on January 24th and will feature eight episodes", about last years 6 Nations Championship. Presumably timed to run beside this year's Championship which kicks off first weekend of February—shame this year's winner will probably be decided in Paris on the first weekend.

Watch Six Nations: Full Contact | Netflix Official Site

Round by round, match by match, the best rugby teams in Europe battle it out to take home the trophy in the 2023 Guinness Six Nations Championship.

www.netflix.com

 

[ZedClampet]

@Zloth congrats on trouncing Miami. They had quite an offense this year. Baltimore is going to be tough going in the AFC this year, but maybe KC is getting it all together at the right time.

*****

Tennessee's Dalton Knecht now has the school's 3 game scoring record at 103 points. The last Rick Barnes coached player to score that much over 3 games was Kevin Durant, and the last player to score 35 plus in two straight games was Shaquille O'Neal, so Knecht is in pretty good company. As the song says, "pretty fly for a white guy".

 

[Zloth]

@Zloth congrats on trouncing Miami. They had quite an offense this year. Baltimore is going to be tough going in the AFC this year, but maybe KC is getting it all together at the right time.

Shut the door!

 

[ZedClampet]

Shut the door!

I very briefly lived in Miami, and it doesn't take long before you become incapable of surviving 50 degree temps. On average, it's warmer in Miami in January than it is in London in July. But let's not talk about July in Miami.

 

[DeanFlames]

Who needs a playbook when you've got swagger like that? 🕺🍻

 

[Zloth]

Quoth the Chiefs

✂️ Quoth the raven

5 seconds · Clipped by ZlothZloth · Original video "The Simpsons - Edgar Allan Poe: The Raven" by Nika Gongadze

youtube.com

 

[Brian Boru]

Quoth the Chiefs

Grats!

 

[ZedClampet]

The University of Tennessee is under investigation by the NCAA again. It's rather complicated. The US Supreme Court has basically already ruled in the university's favor, and the state of Tennessee has started an anti-trust lawsuit against the NCAA that's been joined by the state of Virginia and will probably be joined by others before it's over. Will be interesting to watch, but there's no way the NCAA will win. You can't stop adults from being paid for work. In fact, the NCAA is being investigated and sued by a government agency (I can't remember which one) right now over it, and this is what the Supreme Court already ruled. The interesting thing is whether the NCAA can survive. The majority of opinion in the sports commentary world is that this is the beginning of the end of the NCAA.

 

[Zloth]

Sued for what?? Not paying student athletes?

 

[ZedClampet]

Sued for what?? Not paying student athletes?

Basically, student-athletes took the NCAA to court because of NCAA rules not allowing them to get paid for NIL (name, image, likeness). The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the students, so Tennessee started paying them, but the NCAA said they weren't paying them according to new NCAA rules and opened an investigation in order to punish the university. The university basically said "come get some" and filed an anti-trust lawsuit that has now been joined by others.

 

[Zloth]

If they split up the NCAA... that will be.... what would that be!? I can see how to break up a company, but the NCAA? "Join the NCBB, we let sponsors pay for student athlete housing!" "Oh, but here in the NCCC, we'll let you name your arenas after sponsors." "HA! The NCDD lets you name your athletes after sponsors!"

 

[ZedClampet]

If they split up the NCAA... that will be.... what would that be!? I can see how to break up a company, but the NCAA? "Join the NCBB, we let sponsors pay for student athlete housing!" "Oh, but here in the NCCC, we'll let you name your arenas after sponsors." "HA! The NCDD lets you name your athletes after sponsors!"

They aren't going to split it up. They are going to replace it. At least, that's what people are speculating.

 

[Brian Boru]

No
Commerce
Allowed
Anywhere

 

[Brian Boru]

Six Nations rugby championship 2024 kicks off today in little over an hour—on Peacock in USA, yay!—with a ~90% chance of being decided in the very first game. The teams which made clean sweeps in the last 2 years meet, France v Ireland in Marseille. Aka the World Cup final everyone wanted but didn't get.

Hope it lives up to the promise.

Six Nations 2024: Favourites France & Ireland renew rivalry in unmissable tournament opener

France and reigning Grand Slam champions Ireland seek to move past World Cup hurt as they meet in an unmissable Six Nations opener in Marseille.

www.bbc.com

 

[ZedClampet]

Tennessee went to Kentucky and beat them (basketball) 103 - 92 last night. Was a good outing after the baffling loss to South Carolina on Tuesday. I think maybe they were ignoring SC and looking forward to the Kentucky game.

 

[Brian Boru]

I entered through the heavenly gate;
I heard the heavenly band.
And there was John the Baptist,
on Barry John's right hand
—Max Boyce

Barry John: Legendary Wales and Lions fly-half dies aged 79​

The greatest 10 I've ever seen play, and part of the greatest-ever half back partnership with Gareth Edwards.