#Fitness Sports Championship 2024

[kantorberita]

Binaragawan Bengkulu Raih Peringkat 4 Asian Bodybuilding Championship, Irwan Alwi: Modal Menuju PON XXI Aceh - Sumut

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[fairylando]

i really do admire how lando tries to not give a fuck (that 'whatever' really saddened me so much) but he actually does, and a lot.

guy doesn't even want anything absurd, he just wants the support of his team for the last fucking 4 races but no... let's just get humiliated for one point on international tv💀.

they're really stretching him thin — and i mean it in a emotional and mental wellbeing way. he is obviously inherently selfless and quite literally does not hold self-esteem, but in the last year we've seen him trying to be more sure of himself and trying to be selfish for once. the moment he does that though, he gets accused of being the spawn of satan. and then the team does everything in the world to make it harder for him.

so i really do admire him, because i literally would PERSONALLY leave the sport after this one season.

he's so much stronger than i am.

[bunnytalksf1]

on ferrari politics, strategy and carlos sainz

Just a heads-up / disclaimer, i am a leclerc fan and therefore not unbiased. I did, however, come into the sport as a ferrari fan and tried to give Sainz his dues, and I still want him to, but- oh, well. We'll just get into it.

Ferrari, for a while, has actively suffered due to its own politics. Seb Vettel didn't seem to get on well in the atmosphere. They haven't been able to hold on for a championship since 2007.

There's a little bit of background I think is important for the current setup in ferrari:

Charles Leclerc was the last driver signed by the ex-TP, Arrivabene, and renewed by him also.

Carlos Sainz was the first (major) signing by Mattia Binotto, and was then propped by the management of the team through 2022, influencing car development in a negative direction.

After Silverstone 2022, Leclerc allegedly threatened to leave Ferrari. Binotto was fired and replaced with Fred Vasseur, who worked with Leclerc in his rookie season in F1 in Sauber. It's heavily speculated that this decision was made to please Leclerc and prevent him from leaving.

The 2022 and 2023 cars were influenced by Sainz's feedback predominantly, and his comfort.

Sainz has been beaten in teammate H2H by Hulkenberg, Leclerc and Verstappen. He looked good against a rookie Norris, which earnt him the Ferrari seat in 21.

In 2021, Sainz outscored Leclerc by five points. Leclerc had two dnfs to Sainz's zero, and lost probably about 40-50 points through no fault of his own. 2022, Ferrari started the year with the fastest car, and went backwards throughout because they refused to valorise their faster driver, who lead the championship by a fair distance after the first few races, picking up a grand slam in australia and winning by twenty seconds there, instead aiming to get Sainz "comfortable in the car" (Mekies' words). In 2023, from Carlos Sainz Sr's words, the car was developed in Sainz's direction, and every ferrari fan agrees the sf-23 was a shitbox. Still, Leclerc was the only driver to overtake Verstappen on equal stints (LV23) and picked up a ton of poles, outperforming his teammate and AGAIN losing out to bad luck with the trilogy of DNF, DNS, DSQ in a season. These weren't small points losses, either. all in all, he probably lost forty points alone in the second half of the season.

So, under Vasseur, the team is taking a different direction, being now firmly lead by Leclerc, who signed a contract extension of five+ years with the scuderia. Meanwhile, Sainz struggled to be offered more than a one-year deal, and there were rumours in the press about Ferrari wanting to bring in Albon, Norris in 2025/6. They very clearly wanted to keep that second seat open, regardless of Hamilton - his availability was just a bonus.

The narrative, somehow, has been twisted into Carlos' departure being comparable to Sebastian's: a betrayal. Carlos was offered an extension in 2023, and didn't sign it, and instead his camp decided to start talking about their Audi offers during the Monza 23 weekend, as a way to put pressure on surrounding contracts, and Ferrari basically turned around, and said: fine. Go if you want.

Sainz has had a full season to negotiate. He's not particularly a victim here, in my opinion. He's repeatedly, across the course of his four-year stint with Ferrari, ignored team orders in both quali and the race to serve his own interests, and lies in interviews after. Two recent instances that spring to mind are Bahrain 2024, where he implied to the press he had similar braking issues to Charles' (he didn't) and Barcelona 2024/ Austria 2024, where he went against his own TP to say he never agreed to saving his tyres after overtaking and making contact with his teammate, potentially costing Leclerc and the team a podium / a position.

There's a reason Sainz is leaving. If it weren't for Hamilton, it would be Albon, Norris, or someone else. The two drivers aren't a good fit. Vasseur said he had to calm them down every two GPs. Sainz's camp is reportedly incredibly toxic to be around, in general, and Ferrari is one of the only teams where somewhere in the contracts they can't prioritise upgrades to one driver. they're the only team to consistently bring upgrades to both cars, regardless of how urgent those upgrades are.

The team has been obsessed with giving Sainz and Leclerc equal status. Now its actively harming them. Leclerc has long been faster. In 2019 he outperformed a 4xWDC in the form of Seb Vettel at points. He won his first two races back-to-back. People who know both compare him to Verstappen. After firing Seb in 2020, it was expected Leclerc would lead the team moving forward, but Carlos came in and demanded equal status, and now there's a whole mess as a result. No other top team is this nice. RBR, McLaren, even Mercedes to some extent, make no pretenses about who they prioritise, and it helps them. There's team orders regularly. This doesn't happen at Ferrari, and even if it does, Sainz ignores them anyway. and this isn't just from this year. This is from 23, 22 ("stop inventing!" comes to mind).

Along with this, he lies (or is just delusional) to the media, about pace, damage, strategy. It's exhausting to keep up with. Then, when Leclerc hits back, he's labelled a poor sport (his comments about "that moment in his career" were so cheeky, but in my opinion, not uncalled for), and he also made a comment after imola quali, but it was in french, to canal+. Anyone who follows Leclerc knows these comments aren't out of nowhere, and he can bite back if he needs to.

The issue isn't teammates fighting each other. It's that there's long since been a power imbalance in this team and Ferrari has suffered as a result. And it looks like they're going to continue to suffer in the next few races.

(Just needed to get this off my chest. I think Sainz actually is a pretty decent driver, but his politics just. Rubs me the wrong way and I need him to sign a contract so everyone else can start to move. I'm sick of talking about him).

[breyito]

When you are not, actually, the first

@painlandweek Day 4: Domestic AU

Second entry, little fic explaining this little drawing of mine.

Rating: General Audiences Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: Gen, M/M Fandom: Dead Boy Detectives (TV) Relationship: Edwin Paine | Edwin Payne/Charles Rowland Characters: Edwin Paine | Edwin Payne Charles Rowland (DCU) Crystal Palace (DCU) Additional Tags: Celebrity Crush, Silly, Jealous Charles Rowland

Here on AO3

Summary:

It's the 14 of July of 2024, and both the EURO Championship and the Copa América are about to determine their winner. Amongst teasing and some shit talk about their chosen teams, Charles discovers the reason Edwin got into football in the first place. He's not pleased. He's also not pleased about Edwin and Crystal's discussion about which current player is the most handsome. (When he mentioned them being similar, he did not expect their tastes being this similar.) That may just be the reason he accepts that bet. (Crystal is so done with both of these idiots. Well, at least they are endlessly entertaining.)

"Hey, guys-" Crystal started as she entered the office without warning. Interrupting herself, she stopped and stared at the picture the boys presented her. "What is going on?"

Both of them were sitting on their little couch, but at the edge of the seats. Charles' right leg was practically vibrating. Edwin was just in his shirt (which is a state of undress that she had never personally seen him in unless the usage of excessive amounts of energy and magic had been done), and didn't even have his 'braces' on. Charles was in his maroon polo, and didn't have his braces either. 

She turned to see what the hell they were watching and discovered a...TV? A very old one, the square boxy type that she had only seen in old movies. The TV seemed to be floating, somehow. Which was cool, but, you know, didn't explain anything. They looked like they were engrossed in some sport match, which is something she never thought Edwin would be interested in. He always seemed so much....refined than that.

"Oh, hi Crystal." Barely looking at her, Charles waved. "Today it's the finale for both Football Championships!"

"Yeah, and England already lost ours." Edwin stated, eyes not leaving the screen once.

"Give it a rest, mate." Charles complained. "You can't still seriously think-"

"Since David Beckham retired, the England team has been in shambles ."

"It's not like we won anything with him either!" The punk boy complained, making the other one gasp, offended. 

"Beckham? The really hot blonde footballer that owns the Miami team Lionel Messi plays in?" she asked, sitting down on the desk. She was not getting in range of those over-excited boys cheering for a sport.

"Yeah, the very same." Edwin answered, still not looking away.

"Wait, hot one ?" exclaimed Charles, at the same time, turning his head and looking at the other boy, gaping.

Crystal pressed her lips together not to laugh. She really should have brought popcorn (she needed to learn to have some snack on hand whenever she visited the boys, they were just so entertaining.)

There was an awkward pause where the only sound came from the TV narrators (were they speaking Spanish?), until Edwin finally looked back at Charles. 

"What?" he said,  defensive, blushing. "He has always been exceptionally fit." 

Despite Charles' offended face, Crystal couldn't stop poking.

"Edwin...."she started, smirking, jokingly aghast. "Do you have a crush on David Beckham?" 

"...perhaps." he cleared his throat and smoothed down his shirt. He looked like he regretted not having more layers to fuss over in order to avoid looking at them.

"Wait a minute." Charles started. "Is that why you kept taking my magazines, back in the 90's? I thought you were just throwing them away!"

"Charles, you kept cluttering the office." He defended himself. "And they were only red tops. Drivel and sensationalised photographs, little else."

"Well, you still took them, didn't you? And you kept lecturing me about wanting to keep up with the living!"

"Please, I was not about to encourage your crush on this...'Posh Spice Girl'."

"Are you kidding, mate? You also-" Charles started, agitated.

"Are you both kidding me?" Crystal interrupted, standing up. Both boys shut up and looked at her. "You" she pointed at Edwin "had a crush on a playboy athlete and you" she now pointed at Charles "had a crush on his brunette ' posh' girlfriend" she continued "and that didn't give either of you a clue?" she finished, incredulous. 

Both boys just blinked at her, not understanding.

"About what?"Charles asked, gesturing, lost.

" I literally can't with you two sometimes. " she mumbled to herself as she slid her hands across her face. "Nevermind." he told them louder, sighing.

There was an odd silence as the TV announced that the last additional time was about to start.

"So, Edwin." Charles started, tone leading.

"Charles..." the other boy tried to stop him with a look, to no avail.

"I just want to know if you still find him 'exceptionally fit'!" He finished with a winning smile, leaning closer. After a few moments, Edwin caved and finally answered.

"Not as much now, of course. He's aged gracefully, but."

"He has more daddy energy than you're comfortable with?" Crystal finished for him, grinning wide. Charles made a hilarious noise, like a deflating balloon.  

"...I suppose that is not incorrect." Edwin finally said, with a pained expression.  

"So who do you like now? Messi?" The Edwardian made a little moue. Charles seemed to relax slightly at this negative.

"He appears to be a kindhearted individual and is not unattractive. But I find myself drawn in by the more...rakish players." Edwin cleared his throat again, looking at everything but the two of them. 

"Oh, like De Paul, if we keep it to Argentina?" she inquired, more than curious. (Also, Charles' face was a lesson in microexpressions and it urged her to keep prodding).

"Not that rakish" he said, affronted. "Rodrigo De Paul is handsome, but no." A pause, before he reluctantly added. "Agüero, perhaps, although he is retired now. Paredes, from this line-up, then." Crystal hummed, as she looked up pictures of them.

"Ooff, yeah. Those eyes ." she said, dreamily, showing her screen to Edwin.

"Exactly." The older boy smiled. 

"He's just so...pretty." she sighed, sitting on the arm of the couch to keep sharing the photos she found.

"In that we agree." Edwin said, eyes locked on the screen. "He also-"

"No matter how fit they are, they are gonna lose." Charles spat, interrupting, with his arms crossed. Were he a cartoon, Crystal would bet Charles would have had a dark aura surrounding him. Edwin looked baffled at his words.

"They are the World Champions, Charles. You were rooting for them earlier."

"Well, they don't have Messi anymore, do they? They are going down ."

"You really think so?" she asked, amused.

" Yes ." Charles doubled down. "I'll bet you anything: they lose."

"Anything?" questioned Edwin, now interested.

" Anything. "

"I'll take you up on that bet, then." The Edwardian ghost said, extending his hand. Charles swallowed and hesitated, before Edwin's raised eyebrow made the decision for him.

They shook hands and turned back to watch the rest of the match.

Charles had nobody else to blame when he lost.

(And Beckham. He also blamed Beckham.)

[littlemagicalstardust]

Orange Cassidy action figure on display at the Jazwares Comic Con 2024 Booth! He's sporting his jansport backpack with the International Championship belt peaking out of it and wearing his all black denim fit & shades<3

[sgiandubh]

Anon rebelde.

Sam no compitió en su tanda de Hyrox así que yo pondría mi dinero a número ganador y este es que simplemente se inscribió para que el fandom fic siguiese las migas de pan dejadas por el y por la señorita fitness. Ellos residen habitualmente relativamente cerca y nunca hemos tenido insinuaciones ni trolleo en esa dirección, siempre en competiciones deportivas lejos de casa así que cabría preguntarse por qué. Dejar esa "relación amorosa" como afirma cierta chiflada, reducida a un ámbito tan significativo da la razón a tu anon fitness, una cosa son los negocios, en este caso más seguidores y por lo tanto más visibilidad como influencer y otra la verdadera vida privada, esa no entra en la ecuación.

Dear (returning) Anon Rebelde,

En primer lugar, muchas disculpas por llegar tan tarde con mi respuesta. Y sí, estaba esperando tus comentarios. Este fin de semana más que nunca, quizás:

'Sam did not participate in his Hyrox section and so I'd put handsome money on the fact he simply signed up for those competitions for the fandom to follow the breadcrumb trail left by himself and Miss Fitness. Even if they normally do not live very far from each other, we've never had any insinuation or trolling from that direction, only during sports competitions far away from home, so that begs the question as to why it might be so. Reducing that 'love story' to that very telling zone, as that nutcase insists, proves that your Fitness Anon is right: business is one thing (in this case, more followers and at least, more visibility as an influencer) and the real private life, which is completely out of this equation, is something else entirely.'

Well, contrary to what those idiots across the street wrote via Anon a couple of days ago, why not remind everyone that there is a wealth of European Hyrox competitions yet to come, until the end of the year. Let it remain here, as an aide-mémoire of sorts:

Gdańsk , 26 May; Rimini, 1-2 June; the World Championships in Nice, 7-9 June; Stuttgart, 28 September; Amsterdam (LOL, don't forget to set an alert, Marple) - 11-23 October; Nice (again) - 12 October; Birmingham, 25-27 October; Madrid, 26-27 October; Hamburg, 2-3 November; Paris, 9-10 November; Dublin, 15-17 November; Valencia, 23-24 November and Stockholm, 7 December.

And this is just the European selection. It happens all over the world, all the time, so people would have to be really #silly to think he booked all of those. Unlike the US, there is no Season Pass for Europe's Hyrox events and he'd have to pay every time to join in.

Transparency is not exactly Hyrox's own, but I managed to have at least an estimate clue, for the UK:

[Source:https://www.thegymrevolution.co.uk/blog/2024/01/07/hyrox-faq/]

On the other hand, this is a cost-effective solution to keep people interested in just about anything else than your real life. Show up, hang around for about five minutes, cheer loudly enough to be picked up by the random able and willing cellphone nearby, leak it on Tumblr. And even have lunch with The Innuendo, in town - shouldn't hurt, once in a while. The trolls will do the rest of the job for some extra heap of opportunistic attention and everything will be just fine, in your world.

PS: if you think an event like the Hyrox does not offer at least a bottle of water and free lockers, you are damn naive:

As I mentioned in a comment, this afternoon: *urv never worries about double standards and/or continuity. Also, she seems to be completely impervious to the farcical dimension of S's ironic take on purse carrying.

But then, that woman never was very subtle, was she?

[ilottthepilot]

ilottthepilot's Motorsport Moments of the Year: 2024

This is a list of events from F1, WEC and Indycar that I either, loved, hated, or was just shook by in general. This is by no means an objective list, you might find that some items are completely irrelevant to you. It is also heavily biased towards my faves. Think of this as a recap in my personal diary. This is also not a ranking, I just tried to find a semi-chronological order that makes sense. Enjoy!💞

1. Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Announcement

Has there ever been a better day to refresh every app 100 times and scroll all day? What started off as just a sketchy rumour grew throughout the day as more and more mysterious leaks surfaced. There were journalists camping out at Mercedes HQ when Toto Wolff scheduled a meeting with the team. And in the end this crazy bit of chatter actually turned out to be true. What a way to start the season! I love Carlos Sainz, but I love plot twists more!

Rating:🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

2. Bus Bros Divorce

Where do I even start with these two? If you are not familiar, I suggest this post, which gives a good summary. TLDR: they were besties with a youtube channel up until 2023, when Josef managed to win the Indy 500, but Scott was ahead in the champioship. In the beginning of 2024 Josef decides to cut out all distractions, so he unfollows everyone on social media, ends the youtube channel, and the two stop talking.

Weeks after the first race of the season, which Josef wins, it is revealed that their team had been cheating with software which illegaly allows the drivers to use push-to-pass on restarts, and they both get disqualified for using it. P2Pgate becomes the topic that won't disappear and everyone is arguing if it is possible that the drivers were not aware. Scott decides to die on the hill that he noticed nothing. Josef gives a tearful press conference admitting that he was aware of the push-to-pass when he pressed the button and it would have been impossible not to.

From there on out the energy between the two stays tense and they mostly avoid each other, including leading up to the Indy 500, when Scott breaks the qualifying record and gets pole and Josef wins the race the second year in a row. Then suddenly, when Josef gives his winner's speech at the Indy 500 banquet, he drops the "i still love you, my bus bro" and everyone goes wild. The season ends with Scott finishing 3rd, losing out on the championship due to the P2Pgate disqualification (if my math is right). Josef is 8th. It seems like the refocusing and cutting out distractions did not work. What version of Josef and Team Penske will we see in 2025? Will they ever be bros again?

Rating: 🤔🤔⁉️❓❓

3. Carlos Sainz Appendicitis and Melbourne Win

Carlos has been one of my favourite drivers ever since I became an F1 fan. Seeing him lose the Ferrari seat was a bit sad and seeing him lose out on one of his last races with the team did not help. Especially considering how painful appendicitis is and how it in theory seems like a huge obstacle to race fitness. So of couse I absolutely lost my mind when Carlos won the first race after getting back into the car.

I will admit right away that I did not actually watch the Australian GP because I was up until like 2am watching the figure skating world championships, particularly the free skate points record being broken (another sporting event I lost my mind over) but the moment I grabbed my phone to look up the results in the morning was like drugs.

Rating: 😱🤩😍🤯🤯

4. Georgina the Mannequin

Some racing moments are memorable because they are joyous, some are memorable because they are devastating. Some are just simply so bizarre that you could not have ever predicted them. If you have somehow gone all year without seeing a mannequin fall onto a racetrack in the middle of an Indycar race, I would suggest you check out the video right now. It's also the souce of some of my favourite silly race commentary of the year. "Imagine if she stuck the landing"

Rating: Tens across the board

5. #12 Wins the 6 Hours of Spa

I will tell you right now that I'm not really a WEC fan. I get fomo when I miss races and I simply do not have time to spend my entire weekend in front of a screen. But after I found out that my favourite driver got a ride in WEC I had to check it out.

The Spa race was a bit strange, as there was a long red flag around two hours before the scheduled end and instead of the timer running out, it was reset to the time of the red flag, allowing for more racing. This was a huge advantage for the #12 Jota, driven by Callum Ilott and Will Stevens, which got its first win and the first ever privateer Hypercar win. While I couldn't watch the end of the race live (I was at a classical concert with my phone off. I was stressed and manifesting), I feel like I have replayed the clip of the final lap 100 times. "Callum Ilott, you superstar" still lives rent free in my mind. It's one thing to become a fan of a driver that many people say is talented, with plenty of wins in his junior career. It's another to actually see that driver get a win and his hard work pay off. Spa 2024, you will always be famous.

Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

6. Pato O'Ward Loses the Indy 500 Win on the Last Lap

This year I had many busy weekends and I missed out on a lot of racing, but the one that I was the most sad about missing was the motorsports super bowl double feature Monaco GP Indy 500 Sunday. While Monaco turned out to be the feel good story of Charles beating his hometown curse, the Indy 500 wrote a much sadder story. Pato O'Ward managed to overtake Josef Newgarden for the lead going into the final lap, ready to cement his place in history, only to lose the the position to the defending Indy 500 champion moments later.

The look on Pato's face after the race, all that sadness and disappointment really captured the fanbase and reminded everyone why we watch sports. How a single overtake can mean the world and change someone's life. I think about the video of Pato and Alexander Rossi, who finished 4th, hugging like every day. Either one could have had fate on their side that day and taken the victory, but it wasn't meant to be.

Rating: 💔💔💔💔💔

7. #12 Car Le Mans Wreck

I'm sure it's fun to be a superfan of an athlete or a team where everything runs smoothly and they win all the time. I wouldn't know.

As previously mentioned, I was on top of the world when my boy Callum won Spa. I was ready for him and the #12 Jota team to take that energy to the next race, the big one. I was so excited, I even followed qualifying. The #12 lucked its way into Hyperpole qualifying, after the #7 had all its lap times deleted. Time to breathe easy, right? Just a bit more practice and then time to throw everything at Hyperpole the next day, right? RIGHT? WRONG! My guy, my fave, my one and only spun during night practice and absolutely totalled the car. The team had to completely rebuild the car around a spare chassis that was provided by a different team. This process is supposed to take 3 weeks. The team did it in 48 hours, just in time to start the 24 hours of Le Mans. As they missed hyperpole and the other practice sessions, Jota got permission to shake down the newly rebuilt car at a nearby airfield, leading to some cool pictures.

While the Le Mans results table doesn't reflect a feel good story about overcoming setbacks, I am not going to forget what those mechanics pulled off.

Rating: 💔💔🥹🥹🥹

8. Lewis Hamilton Wins Silverstone

I have always admired Lewis Hamilton and his accomplishments, but I have always found it hard to root for him, ever since I started watching in 2023. If a guy has over 100 wins, why should I care if he puts his mediocre car in p4 or p3? What I will say is that I was sad that I had never watched a single one of those many wins live.

This win during his last season with Mercedes, after a two year drought, at his home race where he holds the record for most wins, was simply perfect. I don't fault anyone for getting emotional at that.

Rating: 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹

9. Arrow Mclaren #6 Car Saga

I have spent so much time yapping about this all year, so I am not gonna summarize it again. You can read all about it here. As much of a mess as this was, I do think it's time to acknowledge the positive sides. Most importantly, Callum Ilott, my favourite driver, in case anyone has not yet noticed, got to race the Indy 500 in a competitieve car. Did it go completely smoothly? No. He had a problem with the steering wheel during the warm up lap and had to start from the back of the grid, where he had contact at the beginning of the race. All things considered, I really can't complain about a P11 finish. And nothing can compare to the moment Callum teased that he would be doing the 500 in his post win interview in Spa. Lives were changed.

The other great thing to come out of the #6 car mess was Théo Pourchaire's introduction to Indycar. Last year my feelings towards Théo where mostly ambivalent when he was fighting for the F2 championship. I primarily spent most of my time asking everyone why he was so unpopular amongst F2 fans. Well, the same can't be said for Indycar, where he was instantly embraced and given a silly nickname (that honestly got old after about 3 days). Nobody has ever seemed this happy to be driving in Alabama. His excitement was contagious and even famously grumpy Alexander Rossi referred to him as the nicest person he had ever met

Rating: 😢😍🤠🧐🤯

9.b Mclaren's Broken Bones and July 21

Jumping off the previous point, I simply can't make this list without mentioning the comically insane number of broken bone incidents throughout the different Mclaren teams. Of course the Indycar silly season would have gone very differently, had David Malukas not fallen off that bike and broken his hand, which eventually got him fired the same weekend as Sam Bird broke his hand in Formula E, giving Taylor Barnard the chance to shine.

A third broken hand hit Mclaren on July 21, with Alexander Rossi out for the rest of the Toronto Indycar weekend after hitting the wall in qualifying. This of course gave Théo Pourchaire the chance to make a glorious return in form of a mad dash from France to Toronto, just in time to qualify a car he had never driven, with an entirely new type of power unit, on a track he had never seen before with absolutely no practice beforehand. The race is a huge mess of crashes, with Théo not only not finishing last, but also being the only Mclaren driver to not total his car. And if there wasn't enough going on during that race, Joe Biden dropped out of the US presidential race in the middle of it.

Hands are not the only bones Mclaren drivers can break and Oscar Piastri shocked the entire F1 fanbase when he revealed during the summer break that he had been driving with a broken rib, including the day he won his first race.

Rating: 🦴🚫🫠🤪👍

10. Oscar's First Win aka July 21 pt II

Roll the clip back for a moment. A few hours before the crashfest that was the Indycar Toronto GP, while Théo Pourchaire was probably flying over the Atlantic ocean, there was another eventful race. While Lando Norris got pole position, Oscar Piastri showed what he's made of at the start and snatched the lead away from him. As Oscar quickly built a healthy gap, the first win seemed inevitable until a confusing stategy call led to Lando retaking the lead with an undercut. Why am I recapping this, we all watched it. The following laps filled with endless radio messages pleading with lando to give the position back were some of the most excruciating minutes of racing i have ever watched. While I was so hyped for an Oscar win at the start of the race, watching Lando give that position back gave me second hand embarrassment to the highest degree.

What really surprised me after the race was that my opinion (Lando should have absolutely not given that position back, racing sometimes means grabbing every advantage that falls into your lap) was nowhere near as popular as I expected it to be. I saw so many people say that Lando should have given the position back immediately. While the incident as a whole was pretty bizarre, I stand by the fact that the moment you have the best car on the grid and a plausible chance (even if it's a long shot) of winning the championship, you need to smell blood and start biting.

Rating: 🥴🥴🥴🥴🥴

11. Franco Colapinto replacing Logan Sargeant

2024 was an eventful year in motorsports and some people really went through it. Not many people were having as bad of a time as Logan and Williams though. The moment something seems to be going well for he team you already know that they are about to encounter unbelievable horrors a week later. When Logan had to give his car to Alex in Melbourne the tone was set for the rest of the season.

2024 was the year when sweet, soft spoken James Vowles got his claws out and showed the kind of ruthless ambition that gets you into a team principal position. Firing someone mid season is always harsh, but it's not necesarily a bad decision. When Franco Colapinto got in that car he immediately made a splash, outscoring Logan's career points by his second race and winning the hearts of the eintire F1 community.

Unfortunately the euphoria of those first few races quickly wore off and Williams had one of the worst finishes to a season imaginable, with five DNFs and a DNS across the last five races. I hope the mechanics got the most relaxing christmas possible. With a dissappointing end to his year and no seat, things could be better for Franco, but I doubt we have seen the last of him. Ironically, I think he paved the way for many of theyoung drivers on the grid instead of him in 2025.

Rating: literally traumatizing.

12. The Thing With Liam Lawson

I will start this off by saying that I like a villain. It is very unlikely for me to hate an athlete because of his ego or entitlement. You can argue for day if a driver has that dog in him, or is simply an arrogant dick, I don't care. I want to see someone who beliees in his own skills and potential and fights to prove himself.

When Liam got that seat he knew exactly that these six races could catapult his career to new heights or ruin it forever. With Checo on his way out, Liam saw a chance to rip that Red Bull seat out of his hands and he was willing to do so, unafraid to make enemies along the way. Sure, we all know Yuki deserved his shot, but that doesn't mean that I don't want to see Liam give his all next to Max. Who knows, will he be the one to hold his own, or will that seat open up for Yuki after all in six months?

Rating: 🔥🔥🔥

13. Brazilian Grand Prix

I love Max Verstappen, but I coudn't root for him in 2023 because I was so bored of the predictable race results. I only became an F1 fan in 2022, so I was so glad that I finally got to see Max fight for something this year, and oh my god, it is remarkable. I don't think I've ever had this much fun watching F1.

The highlight, of course, was the Brazilian GP, with it's sunday morning qualifying, endless rain and yellow flags, an Alpine double podium (??) and of course Max going 17th to 1st. What. A. Day. (I also choose to ignore everything that happened beween Alpine and Esteban Ocon after this.)

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

14. George and Max Beef

If you have followed me for a while, you have probably seen me daydream about a Max/George title fight. There is just something about the way they have opposite personalities but still match each other's energies that is so compelling to me, that, with the right cars, I think would lead to the most toxic but entertaining championship battle.

Well, turns out that such a title fight is not even necessary to to create the type of toxic mess I was predicting. I refuse to pick a side between "I have never seen somene try to scew another driver over like that" and "max is a bully", because I love them both equally. I did however have so much fun watching them trow insults at each other. And what coulld be a better time for a pregnancy announcement?

Rating: i love mess

[ummick]

Schumacher To Leave Mercedes F1 Reserve Role At End of 2024

The German driver is keen to pursue other opportunities in racing

Mick Schumacher will depart from his reserve driver position at Mercedes at the end of the season, as Valtteri Bottas looks set to assume the role for 2025. The German joined the team as reserve at the start of 2023, after losing his Haas Formula 1 seat to Nico Hulkenberg at the end of 2022. Schumacher, who also left the Ferrari Driver Academy, linked up with Mercedes, whom his father Michael had driven for between 2010 and 2012. After two years at the team Schumacher has elected to depart in order to pursue other opportunities, although this will not be a race drive in F1 next year, as there are no realistic options left. Schumacher had been in the conversation for the second Sauber seat alongside Hulkenberg, but this went to F2 championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto. He stated that his focus was "100% on racing" in 2025; Schumacher dovetailed his Mercedes reserve role with an Alpine drive in the World Endurance Championship. "I am grateful to Toto and the entire Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team for the insight I have gained over these two years," Schumacher said. "They have undoubtedly made me a more experienced racing driver, because I have got to know the engineering side better. But watching these cars race and not sitting in the cockpit myself is tough. I want to get back to focusing 100% on racing. I want to be fully committed to the sporting side of motorsport. Ultimately, it is racing that you want to do as a driver. It is racing that gives you that feeling you love." Team principal and CEO Toto Wolff thanked Schumacher for his efforts and accepted the 25-year-old's explanation that he wished to pursue a full racing programme in 2025. "Mick's hard work, diligence, and determination in his role as reserve driver has been vital for the team over the past two years," said Wolf. "From his work in the simulator, testing of various cars, and being part of the trackside team, we couldn't have asked for any more from him. From day one he fitted into the team with ease and has become an incredibly well-liked colleague for everyone at Brackley and Brixworth. However, Mick is first and foremost a racing driver. We have seen from both his time in F1 and this year with his performances in the World Endurance Championship that he is a racer of an incredibly high calibre and one that deserves to be competing in the very best championships. As he moves on to his next challenge, I would like to thank Mick personally for his contribution to our team and we all wish him the very best in his future endeavours." It is unknown where Schumacher will race in 2025, but he may be one of many drivers with F1 experience in contention for a Cadillac drive when the team enters the championship in 2026.

[steddieas-shegoes]

first off i just wanna say im loving everything youve written for ppls requests! how do u feel abt jock el? i feel like she maybe wouldnt understand sports at first and might struggle w the rules and fair play, but ends up really loving physical activity that has nothing to do w her powers, just her own hard work and sweat and skills she’s honed through practice all by herself, and the experience of being on a team. i can totally imagine her getting super competitive too, and being a super aggressive player in literally every sport. also, hopper is definitely the parent who yells at the referee and coaches during his kids games.

also i hope your day is going well whenever you see this!

Okay this was cuuuuuute. I really love the idea of El fitting in so well with sports people, but still never leaving her little group of nerds and badasses. I also love her just naturally being so good at every sport she tries because she is deeply in touch with what her body is capable of because of her powers, but never once using them. I maybe threw Wayne in a bit more than anyone would expect because I will always find a reason to do that. Also, this is a weird coincidence, but the Olympic swim trials for 2024 will take place in Indianapolis.- Mickala ❤️

-------------------------------------------------------

When things settle down, El goes back to school with everyone.

It’s hard at first. She never really fit in before, and she definitely doesn’t fit in now that people have seen official government security pretty much standing guard over her.

Even after they left, people still whispered when she ran errands with Joyce or Hop and went out with the rest of the party.

But she was determined to have as normal a life as she could, and that meant going to school.

High school here was better, even with the weird looks and silent bullies.

She had her friends.

She also had gym.

In California, she’d hated gym. She didn’t like getting dressed in front of everyone so she always got in trouble for taking too long. The girls in her class usually found ways to be lazy and she didn’t want to make herself more of an outcast, so she just didn’t participate most of the time.

But here, Lucas was in her gym class. So was Will, though he was a little hopeless when it came to anything beyond walking the mile.

Max was excused from gym for the rest of high school if she wanted.

Hard to argue with a letter from the literal President.

Mike and Dustin had a different period, but that was fine since they hated gym.

El didn’t hesitate to participate here.

She ran the fastest mile, always had the most push ups and pull ups, won every tetherball game. Her team always won volleyball and softball. She won every category in swimming.

The only sport she didn’t play was basketball, much to Steve’s disappointment and Lucas’ secret delight.

The coach recruited her for every sport he could, insisted that she could be the type of player that brings them championship wins.

Hopper was ecstatic, of course, especially when he saw how much El loved it.

She knew better than to use any powers, especially in competitions, but she was so naturally good, it didn’t even cross her mind that she could.

She was physically stronger than most other girls her age, and had already had so much done to her body that she could easily push through a little exhaustion during the 500 meter butterfly race or playing the entire soccer game with only one break.

She watched baseball games with Wayne and Hopper, asked if she could play.

Hopper had her signed up for softball the next day.

She saw a beach volleyball match during the Olympics and asked to play.

Hopper took her to tryouts for the school team as soon as he possibly could.

She made the swim team, made captain within a month. Steve was ecstatic, especially when she won against him every time they did a practice race. Eddie and Will were judges, and El was pretty sure it was just to see Steve shirtless, but she didn’t really mind.

She was having fun.

She was using her natural abilities to get out some of her aggression in a safe way according to Dustin.

Everyone came to her games and meets, but no one was as loud as her dad.

He was on his feet more than he was in his seat, usually pacing and yelling at refs and judges from the stands. Most people didn’t seem to care, or at least didn’t want to say anything to the reinstated police chief.

Steve was always there to remind him that El was learning, and that that was actually a penalty or that the judge was being fair on her tie with another girl in the butterfly.

Even as good as she was at just about every sport she tried, she struggled with some rules. Once they were explained in a way she understood, she was careful, but it cost her volleyball team a win in the process.

Steve helped her understand what he could, or took her to the library to look things up if he didn’t know. Wayne helped her understand the differences between softball and baseball while Eddie tried to take notes in the corner.

Actual notes.

“It’s so I know if she does good!” He explained when Wayne raised his brow at him showing interest in a sport.

To his credit, he immediately lost the notes he took and still had to ask Steve a bunch of questions at her next game.

She earned the MVP awards for every sport she played, gaining more positive attention than she’d expected. It was welcome, especially since it made a lot of people forget about the negative attention surrounding her the last few years.

Will designed shirts for everyone for her games and had Eddie get them printed at the same place he got the Hellfire Club ones made. They all wore them happily, too proud of her to not show all their support.

——————

Her senior year was when it hit that she had decisions to make.

She’d done fine in school; not straight A’s but never failed a class.

Sports are where she excelled.

But senior year was hard, and schedules were difficult enough without having to balance two sports at once immediately followed by two more.

The coaches did their best to offer accommodations since she was their star, but she didn’t like that. She didn’t want to be treated as “other.” That wasn’t why she did this.

So she dropped softball, much to Wayne’s heartbreak. He still smiled at her and said he was proud of everything she’d accomplished and hoped she’d still find time to come throw the ball with him.

She dropped volleyball in the spring, used the excuse that she needed to focus on swimming because she had scouts interested in giving her scholarships and the Olympic committee showed interest in recruiting her for Team USA.

Steve let her use his pool for extra practice, and usually joined her on the weekends for a morning swim, even on the still too cold mornings in February and March.

She held the Hawkins High and Indiana state records in most categories, and Midwest and National records in a few of those.

The olympic committee invited her to trials, and of course she’d enlisted Steve as her personal coach.

She trained for hours every day, Steve pushed her just enough using his new knowledge of the requirements she would have to meet to make the team and her competition.

She didn’t want everyone there, only Steve and Hopper.

She was worried having them there would put too much pressure on her and now wasn’t the time to perform poorly.

The morning of the trials, Steve let her cuddle up to his side on the couch.

“You’re ready.”

“That is not a question.”

“No, because I’m not asking. I know you’re ready,” he smiled when she rolled her eyes.

“I am ready.”

She was.

She outdid herself, actually. She ended up breaking her own record in her first event, and tied her own record in the second event.

She not only made the team, but was named captain almost immediately, the rest of her teammates incredibly excited to be on her team.

Hawkins had a parade for her, Hawkins High had a pep rally, the family had a huge party for her.

She still had to graduate high school, still competed on the high school swim team, even found time to be a lifeguard at the city pool every Friday and Saturday afternoon.

El had found her place.

—------------------------------

When USA won gold in every event for swimming, no one was surprised.

It’s hard to beat a team led by El.

She accepted a full ride scholarship to Purdue University, where she broke all their school records and got her degree in Physical Therapy so that she could work with athletes.

She competed in the Olympics again, winning gold in four events, silver in one.

But she always had her family there. They came from all over the country to watch, to support, wearing the same shirts that Will made years ago.

[ikram1909]

a new article on a sports newspaper today with an update on gavi: https://www.lesportiudecatalunya.cat/barca/article/2425850-gavi-a-tota-maquina.html

There are only eight days left until the start of the European Championship in Germany, but Pablo Martín Páez Gavira missed this train months ago, when on November 19, at José Zorrilla in Valladolid, the Barça footballer's knee said enough in that fateful match against Georgia, a qualifier for the European Championship, Gavi tore the cruciate ligament in his right knee, an injury that also affected the external meniscus. Six and a half months have passed since then, and on June 6, Gavi is completely focused on one thing: the return. It's getting closer every day. Its evolution is very good.

Yesterday, Barça published a video on its social media where you can see Gavi working at maximum intensity in the sports city's facilities, doing high-intensity exercises in the gym to strengthen the muscles in the affected area. The recovery is going very well, even better than expected at the start, but it is also known that with this type of injury you have to be careful. Unhurried positivism. This is the motto. But it is also true that Gavi's attitude infects anyone with optimism. His character makes him unique, and the intensity and passion he transmits in the field is the same attitude with which this recovery work has been undertaken from day one. Hansi Flick fell in love with Gavi's engagement in the first contact they both had a few days ago in the sports city. Flick also met at the Barça facilities with other injured players, such as Frenkie de Jong and Alejandro Balde, but in the specific case of Gavi he was fascinated by his positivity and his attitude towards work. It is the discipline and fighting spirit that Flick imposed on Bayern and that he will now try to instill in Barça. Gavi already has this built in as standard and is destined to be an important figure in Flick's plans when he becomes available again.

This last season 2023/24, the one from Los Palacios was only able to play a total of 15 games with the Blaugrana shirt (12 in the league and 3 in the Champions League). Xavi and Barça have missed him. Neither the player nor Flick set a date for their return, but Hansi already knows that Gavi's signing will be the big signing of the 2024/25 season. The forecasts are, if all goes well, that the culer midfielder will join training with his teammates in the month of August, and he is expected to play again around the month of October. The president Joan Laporta already warned on Tuesday that this summer the club does not intend to carry out major market operations, only the strictly necessary ones, specifically he said that there would be no major sales or major signings, and in this scenario of minimums, the return from Gavi will be the best reinforcement.

Gavi's profile fits well into Flick's football idea of ​​pressing high up. Flick's football is intensity, and Gavi's virtues fit in the advanced midfielder within the 4-2-3-1 system that Flick has always used. He would also fit in the double pivot, although in this position Flick knows that he would see one of his great virtues diminished, which is the arrival in the opponent's area.

Xavi Hernández has always described Gavi as "a heart with legs". His passion and temperament, never giving up a split ball, make him a treasure for any manager, and everything suggests he will end up being an important figure for Flick as well, even if the player starts at the clear disadvantage to miss the pre-season and the start of the season and lag behind his teammates in terms of pace of competition in the goal of securing a position in the starting eleven. The good feelings that the footballer has at the moment of his recovery phase is the best news for Hansi Flick.

As a curiosity, this coming season Gavi will have the opportunity to set foot again in the José Zorrilla, the stadium of the misfortune of his injury. Valladolid's confirmed promotion to the first division makes it possible. Everything will depend on the calendar, on which day Valladolid-Barça is set and on which Gavi's return date ends up being.

Thank you so much anon you're the best ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

So they're still insisting flick did meet Gavi already and they talked.

I love how this article is basically a live letter about Gavi and his character they're so real for that 😭😭 he's really amazing and I can't wait for him to come back ☹️

[thommi-tomate]

Hello everyone

and welcome to my monthly round.

Home European Championships, Champions League atmosphere, record players and a stumble in training - 2024 was full of stories. Here's my brief review of the year plus tips for a fit start to 2025 🚀

That was 2024 - real highlights, real laughs

The home European Championship was of course the absolute highlight. For me, the best thing about it was that German football fans were really excited about the national team again. In sporting terms, there would definitely have been more to come, but the football festival that we celebrated together - that was simply awesome (couldn't find a more appropriate adjective) 🙌

Another thing that will stay with me forever: Our Champions League home game against Real Madrid. Not the game itself, but a moment before the game when we arrived at the Allianz Arena. When we arrived with our team bus, there must have been 300 Ultras there, getting us in the mood for the game in an impressive way. The sound, the atmosphere, the energy - it was amazing, it still gives me goosebumps. The video above captures the moment wonderfully.

Speaking of special moments: becoming a record FCB player was really a special milestone for someone like me who has dreamed of playing for FC Bayern since childhood.

And then there was this one training moment when I tripped over a string 😅 Well, sometimes things just don't go as smoothly as planned. But most of the time, I can have a good laugh at myself.

2025 - Now more than ever 💪

The championship trophy must return to Munich. That is our clearly stated sporting goal. And then there's the Champions League final there ... you already know where the journey is going 😉

Physically, I feel really good and I want to keep it that way. I'll keep at it and take you with me on my personal journey as usual.

[k00317355]

In Adobe Photoshop workshop at the beginning of the semester around the 7th of October we covered a little bit of animation fundamentals and since then I have wanted to incorporate an animation into my project. Over the past month I have worked on the following animation showing a Cork hurler scoring a goal against Tipperary. I used Alan Connelys second goal against Tipp in the 2024 Intercounty Senior Hurling championship as a reference because I think it captures some key elements of the sport.

The speed at which the goal happens and how fast the player collects and strikes the ball.

The physicality of the game as we see a defender tracking back trying to tackle the forward.

The skill as we see the player at full stretch trying to strike the ball without getting hooked.

The importance of the game as we see the goalkeepers reaction to conceding the goal.

Overall the animation is very jittery and a lot of the movements look very strange but I am happy with how it turned out overall.

Since I dont have Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Animation on my iPad I used a free app called 'Animation Desk'

After completing this animation I realise I need to make it apply more closely to my project.

Considering my Assemble project revolves around my team in a dressing room BEFORE a match, an animation of an inter-county team in the middle of a match doesnt really fit.

After brainstorming for a while I realised I should make an animation of the team using the Audio-clip I made as a guideline.

[laresearchette]

Tuesday, October 29, 2024 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES? THE FIRM (Paramount+ Canada) RULES OF ENGAGEMENT (Paramount+ Canada) AN UNFINISHED LIFE (Paramount+ Canada) WIZARDS BEYOND WAVERLY PLACE (Disney Channel Canada) 8:00pm/8:30pm

NEW TO AMAZON PRIME CANADA/CBC GEM/CRAVE TV/DISNEY + STAR/NETFLIX CANADA:

AMAZON PRIME CANADA ONE SHOT: OVERTIME ELITE (Season 2)

NETFLIX CANADA OLIVIA RODRIGO: GUTS WORLD TOUR TOM PAPA: HOME FREE VANDERPUMP RULES (Seasons 3-4)

MLS SOCCER (TSN3) 6:45pm: Columbus vs. New York Red Bulls (TSN3) 8:50pm: Real Salt Lake vs. Minnesota

NHL HOCKEY (SN1) 7:00pm: Flyers vs. Bruins (TSN2) 7:00pm: Kraken vs. Habs (TSN5) 7:00pm: Blues vs. Sens (SN1) 10:00pm: Kings vs. Sharks

MLB BASEBALL (SN) 7:30pm: Dodgers vs. Yankees - Game 4

NBA BASKETBALL (TSN/TSN4) 7:30pm: Mavericks vs. Timberwolves (TSN/TSN4) 10:00pm: Pelicans vs. Warriors

CHUCK AND THE FIRST PEOPLES' KITCHEN (APTN) 7:00pm: Chuck visits the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation in Manitoba where bison are being reintroduced after millions were slaughtered during colonization.

THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES (CBC) 8:00pm

TODD TALBOT BUILDS: THE PASSIVE HOUSE PROJECT (Cottage Life) 8:00pm

THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE (Makeful) 8:00pm: It’s Week 2, and there are three challenges inspired by sport. The sewers are asked to create a half zip fleece, an outfit from cricket kit and a national strip fit for the world stage.

STILL STANDING (CBC) 8:30pm: Windsor, NS: When Nova Scotia Textiles Ltd closed its doors after 106 years in operation, Windsor, NS embraced its reputation as the home of massive pumpkins and its claim as "the birthplace of hockey."

CHURCHY (BET Canada) 8:30pm/9:00pm/9:30pm (SEASON PREMIERE): Corey Carr Jr. faces a major setback when he's passed over for a leadership role in his dad's church, and he boldly announces his departure and plans to lead a ministry in Lubbock, Texas. In Episode Two, Corey adjusts to his new role at Bethlehem Temple, consulting an elderly couple on intimate issues and a young man about lust, while also processing his grandmother's declining health. In Episode Three, with Pastor Stinney on vacation, Corey struggles with preaching and managing a chaotic funeral; Keisha's career success and her sister's advice cause her to doubt her relationship.

LITTLE BIG COMMUNITY (APTN) 9:00pm: On the Island of Hawai'i, Kānaka Maoli have revived an ancient way of life, where caring for the land brings mutual benefit. Meet Alika and Lacyann, who have renewed family traditions, creating a meaningful legacy for future generations.

THE NEW WAVE OF STANDUP (CBC) 9:30pm: Canada's new comics gather for one night of standup at the Just For Laughs Vancouver festival; featuring Faris Hytiaa, Sam Sferrazza, Jordanne Brown.

A GOOD GAME (APTN) 10:30pm: Nathan Shirley coached teenagers in Bosnia for Hockey Without Borders. Today, these players are living the dream of representing their country at the IIHF's under twenty world championships being held in Istanbul, Turkey.

[ivoryebonymoissanite]

BEST MOISSANITE RINGS 2024

Are you looking for trendsetter designs that are glazing everywhere with their charm? Here is our list of the top 10 trending Ring designs in Moissanite.

Cuban Band Rings: Cuban Band Rings in sterling silver offer a stylish blend of durability and timeless design. Crafted from high-quality sterling silver, these rings are perfect for those seeking bold, statement jewelry pieces that last

2. Signet Rings: Sterling silver signet rings are timeless pieces of jewelry, perfect for adding a personalized touch with engraved initials or designs. These handcrafted rings in durable sterling silver offer a classic, elegant style, ideal for both men and women looking to make a bold statement.

3. Tennis Eternity Rings: Sterling silver tennis eternity rings offer a timeless blend of elegance and durability, featuring a continuous band of shimmering stones. These beautifully crafted rings make perfect gifts and timeless additions to any jewelry collection.

4. Twisted Shank Rings: Twisted Shark Rings in sterling silver feature bold, ocean-inspired designs that capture the essence of adventure and strength. Crafted with precision, these unique shark rings offer a durable, stylish accessory perfect for ocean lovers.

5. Flower Rings: Discover elegant flower rings in sterling silver, crafted with intricate floral designs for a timeless, nature-inspired look. Perfect for adding a touch of sophistication to your jewelry collection, these sterling silver flower rings offer beauty and durability.

6. Wrap Rings: Wrap rings in sterling silver offer a stylish, adjustable fit, perfect for everyday wear. Handcrafted with high-quality sterling silver, these unique wrap rings add a touch of elegance to any outfit.

7. Championship Rings:  Championship rings in sterling silver are premium, custom-designed pieces that celebrate sports victories and achievements. These high-quality rings offer durability, shine, and a stylish way to commemorate team championships and individual milestones.

8. Cross Iced Out Rings: Iced out rings in sterling silver offer a stunning combination of luxury and affordability, featuring dazzling moissanite. Perfect for adding a touch of elegance to any outfit, these bling rings are durable and tarnish-resistant, making them ideal for everyday wear.

9. Multi layer Band Rings: Discover stunning multi-layer band rings in sterling silver, offering a blend of elegance and durability. Perfect for those seeking versatile, high-quality silver rings that make a bold fashion statement.

10. Lab Grown Gemstone Rings: Discover stunning multi-layer band rings in sterling silver, offering a blend of elegance and durability. Perfect for those seeking versatile, high-quality silver rings that make a bold fashion statement.

[bopinion]

2024 / 16

Aperçu of the Week

"You can't knock on opportunity's door and not be ready."

(Peter Gene Hernandez, better known as Bruno Mars and my sons favorite soundtrack while he's cooking)

Bad News of the Week

Sport actually has nothing to do with politics. Because the competition is carried out by individuals who (can) stand outside of systems. Nevertheless, sport is often instrumentalized by politics by stylizing successful athletes as symbolic figures for the strength of a system. I can still remember the Olympic Games in the 70s and 80s very well, in which the athletes of the USA and the Soviet Union competed against each other in many ways as a priority. And Rocky IV, of course.

It is fitting that sports organizations have always been suspected of being corrupt - often rightly so, see FIFA. It is therefore clear that it is almost always not the athletes who are the problem, but the officials. Do you need proof? How about China and doping? Because there was a big boom this week, as a journalistic investigative team from ARD (the BBC of Germany) found out.

At a national swimming competition in China at the beginning of 2021, 23 swimmers tested positive in the mandatory doping tests - which means negative in this context. This was then covered up. With the knowledge of WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency). The agency did not consider it worth investigating the banned substance trimetazidine, for which the Russian figure skating prodigy Kamila Valiyeva was banned for four years in the same year. The Chinese swimmers, however, were not. In the following Summer Olympics in Tokyo, three of them won gold and two silver.

We can see that China today is what the Soviet Union (and to some extent the GDR) used to be - a regime that abuses even its top performers to score points at international level. The staff looking after athletes (including doctors who have long since thrown the Hippocratic Oath overboard) still have more say than the athletes themselves. An institution that was set up to prevent malpractice can also be corrupt. At the major sporting events this summer, first the European Men's Football Championships and then the Olympic Games in Paris, spectators will not know whether they are cheering on a fake. And the athletes themselves won't know whether the competition was fair at all.

Good News of the Week

At last, US weapons are back in Ukraine. For months, the Republican “Freedom caucus” in the House of Representatives had been standing on the brakes. And Ukraine lost. Because, as is generally the case in the NATO context, all other members cannot compensate for the loss of by far the most capable partner country. It is therefore a great relief that the rationalists in the USA have regained the upper hand. And are now giving the badly shaken Ukraine hope again.

The following still applies: if Putin can subjugate Ukraine or impose a dictated peace on it, he will not sit back contentedly in his armchair in the Kremlin and enjoy the day of victory. He will continue in his quest to bring the Soviet Union back from the dead. Even if the Baltic states are members of NATO, they would be his next victims (not to mention Moldova, for example). Because apparently he could simply allow himself to do this without being stopped. The democracy of the whole of Europe is being defended in Ukraine, that must not be forgotten. So my heartfelt thanks to the US Congress.

A positive side effect of all this is that the same financial package, which Joe Biden will undoubtedly sign as soon as possible, contains even more. Namely 26 billion US dollars for the suffering population in Gaza - in your face, Benjamin Netanyahu! And 8 billion for Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific region - in your face, Xi Jinping! The USA are back on the world stage where they belong. I would not have thought it, but I must now pay tribute to a member of the Republican establishment. So thank you, Speaker of the House James Michael “Mike” Johnson. Hopefully I'll get over it...

Personal happy moment of the week

My son was in trouble with a teacher. A misunderstanding - that had developed into a solid crisis due to a certain stubbornness on both sides - was now threatening to cost him his participation in a project that is important to him. I took his side and was called in for a “clarifying discussion”. This was then canceled because the teacher (probably looking for reinforcement and arguments) consulted with other teachers. And “received very positive feedback on his behavior”. Disciplinary measures were not taken “because he is so committed and keeps the group together.” So a serious accusation suddenly turned into high praise.

I couldn't care less...

...that a Belgian court acquitted a driver who was driving with a blood alcohol level of 2.1. Because he suffers from the extremely rare “home-brew syndrome”: the body produces alcohol itself, which leads to the usual symptoms such as reduced responsiveness etc. Anyone who is a danger to themselves and, above all, to others on the road should not be allowed to drive - for whatever reason. After all, the disability of no blind person is their own fault. But no court in the world would allow him to drive.

It's fine with me...

...that for the first time in the history of the USA a criminal trial is taking place against a (former) president. I don't care whether or not you can plead guilty to election interference by falsifying business records because of hush money payments to a porn star. I just wish that a proven notorious liar and cheat, who is also a sexist, racist, homophobe and incidentally “unfit for office”, would finally have to take responsibility for his actions in court.

As I write this...

...April lives up to its name: first you can go swimming and two days later it's snowing. Candles are set up in the vineyards to warm the tender buds. And the hedgehog that has been hibernating on the terrace under our barbecue probably thinks it has woken up too early. Allergy sufferers are happy about the abrupt end of the pollen season. But everyone misses spring.

Post Scriptum

Everyone gets their life from their mother. She is the primary caregiver that all humans have in their first perceptions. That's why I've never understood why so many men simply devalue this in the course of their lives - and grant women fewer rights than themselves. Poverty, discrimination and a lack of equal rights cost lives, according to the latest UN World Population Report.

Not only is there no progress towards equality, there is actually a decline. The rights of “women, girls and gender-diverse people are being pushed back more and more,” says Dr. Natalia Kanem (head of the United Nations Population Fund). Lack of representation and limited self-determination force one in four women under a male-dominated yoke. And sexual violence is a problem in almost every country in the world. No man can want that. Not for his mother, not for his sister, not for his daughter. And not for his wife either. Shame on you!

[deckledswing489]

legends say they're still frothing at their mouths

(see Disclaimer)

DISCLAIMER

This comic addresses the treatment of trans people and women who don't fit society's beauty standards and "feminine enough" criteria in general. As for the Olympics boxing controversy, I do not watch sports myself. But notably after taking time to read I confirmed a few things.

Imane Khelif was assigned female at birth (afab), as her government documents and her father (as well as the fact that being queer at all is illegal in her country) confirm. Lin Yu-ting was also afab. Neither of them are trans nor intersex.

The only primary source for either of them "having XY chromosomes and high levels of testosterone" is the Russian-run International Boxing Association (IBA), who promptly disqualified both of them for the 2023 IBA World Championships due to "failing" their gender eligibility test. How they arrived at this "result" was sketchy at best because the test requirements were never specified and the IBA also says they never underwent a testosterone examination. The IBA has also been banned from governing Olympics boxing since 2019 due to nontransparency and corruption. (Sources below)

Even if they did actually have XY chromosomes and/or high testosterone levels does not mean that they are not women. The claims of "unfair advantage" is a whole other problem altogether. And the people calling them "men" and spreading anti-trans bs (especially rowling and musk) based off of this are disgusting and evil.

Sources:

Beacham, G. (2024, August 2). Who is Olympian Imane Khelif? An Algerian woman boxer is facing gender backlash.

Dobkin, R. (2024, August 2). Who Is Lin Yu-Ting? Olympic Boxer Who Failed Gender Eligibility Test.

GLAAD (2024, August 2). FACT SHEET: OLYMPIC BOXERS AND ACCURATE INFORMATION ABOUT PARTICIPATION AND ELIGIBILITY.

Grohmann, K. (2019, June 26). Tokyo 2020 Olympics: IOC officially bans AIBA from amateur boxing due to finance and government issues.

IBA (2024, July 31). Statement made by the International Boxing Association regarding Athletes Disqualifications in World Boxing Championships 2023.