#manifesting getting out the group and winning champions league

[pernillecfcw]

Our group could have been worse tbh 💙 cmon you blues

[traveltrainsandcoffee]

THE EURO FFL 2024 REVIEW

Picking the teams was a big challenge this time, in the old days it was easier to tell players positions, but much harder now. Confusion over who were forwards, Midfielders and even defenders. Newbie Team Aroma barista Tilda tried to pick Newcastle midfielder Bruno Guimaraes, but he wasn’t in the Euros, because he’s from Brazil. To add to the mix we had a general election going on at the same time. Good news Rishi, the euros are on BBC and ITV, so you don’t need Sky. As the Euro’s got closer the sad news broke that Liverpool and Scotland Legend Alan Hansen was seriously ill in hospital. Former Arsenal and Everton striker Kevin Campbell was also seriously ill in hospital. He sadly died on the first weekend of the euros.

So who were the favourites? The current Euro FFL champion was Steve Tatham, but he hadn’t really challenged much since winning it. Colin Fenwick was a contender, back in April he won the FA Cup. Could Kieron Mullin win the only FFL title he’d never won before? Jon Thomson had come very close in the main league before coming second to Kieron. Before the kick off most of Scotland seemed to go to Munich. I got a text from a German friend saying ‘I saw a drunken Scotsman in a kilt in the street at 6am.’ The news seemed to be full of my favourite places full of drunken Scott’s, from The Augustiner Keller to swimming in the fountains in Marienplatz. Oh yes sir, the Scotts were boogieing all over Germany. Then there was the English in their campervans. One family on the BBC news had just been to Lidls. How strange, they have Lidl and Aldi in Germany, whatever next.

With all the teams in I sat in the mailbox with Team Aroma’s Olivia and Shann to watch the mighty Deutschland completely destroy Scotland 5v1. Sorry Liv. After game one Chris Geoghegan was top. Senol Durmush then proved he didn’t know his Hawks from his Grimsby Romas. Spain, Portugal and the Dutch made good starts. England in a slightly under par performance beat Serbia with a Bellingham goal. VAR disallowed 2 Lukaku goals, costing Belgium, meanwhile Austria were knocking hell out of the French players. Lots of kicking, Griezmann was pushed into the advertising board, cutting his face. Then Mbappe had his nose broken and would miss the next game. Christian Eriksen had pretty much died on the field at the last Euro’s. Amazingly after those horrible scenes he made a full recovery and scored for Denmark at these Euro’s. Tuesday morning and Team Aroma got a mention on BBC Radio 5Live, ooohh Kolsch. The first full league table of the Euros saw Colin Fenwick top, with Paul Taylor 2nd, Jon Thomson 3rd and Senol Durmush 4th. Team Aroma were bottom.

Round 2 started with a bit of controversy. Scotland scored what look very much like an own goal, but the UEFA goals committee gave it to McTomiany, Pleasing Blessing who had picked him. These dodgy goals committees once gave Crespo a goal, which he didn’t really touch, resulting in Kieron Mullin winning the 2006 World cup by just 1 point. Thursday night, in the Mailbox, with a few members of Team Aroma. Kane scored, but Denmark battled back for a poor draw. England were very poor and the folks back home weren’t sticking by them. All across England fans got very angry, even Shearer and Lineker were having a go, like a pair of angry uncles at a wedding.. Even in our FFL group chat people were saying how boring England were and should Southgate be sacked right now. Then things got a bit weird, Barista Sarah called for Positivity. Manifest a win, align our Chakras. Chakra? Didn’t they sing, I feel for you and I’m every woman? Well you cant say Manifest without thinking of succulent Chinese meals. In the end the call was to ‘get your hands off my portico pizza’. All this fun couldn’t takeaway how poor England had been and how unhappy England fans were. Another unhappy person was Dutch Manager Ronald Koeman. A very dodgy bit of VAR stopped the dutch beating Mbappeless French, get used to that Ronny. Turkey scored a terrible own goal in their 3 nil defeat to Portugal. The match will also be remembered for loads of Ronaldo selfie hunting pitch invaders running on the pitch during the game. At the end of round two Paul Taylor was top, 3 points ahead of Jon Thomson, with Senol 3rd ,Our Grimsby Roma 4th and Danny Lawson 5th.

Round 3 and Germany were through, but the Scotts were out. Austria won the group of Death and amazingly Georgia beat Portugal. A poor performance by England and a draw resulted in them winning the group unbeaten and in the easier looking half of the knock out draw. All good news, well the England fans didn’t see it that way. Boos, gestures, abuse, calls for Southgate’s sacking and some even started throwing things at Southgate and the team. Whatever happened to backing and supporting your country? In Euro FFL, Jon Thomson was still top, but facing a strong challenge from Colin Fenwick, Paul Taylor and Pam Taylor. Team Aroma were off the bottom at the expense of Holly Shakeshaft. Good news as Alan Hansen was now out of Hospital and recovering.

Round 4 and it was the weather that was making the headlines. I’ve never seen so much rain in Germany, not in all my visits. It poured down, even thunder and Lightning. It got so bad that the Germany Denmark game had to be suspended for 20 minutes. When they returned back to the field Germany beat Denmark. Defending champions Italy had been very disappointing and were now out. Also on that Saturday night Chris Geoghegan posted some very strange photos of Tattoos and urinals, no idea why, but he seemed to be “loving it, loving it, loving it”. England were terrible against Slovakia. Even Bellingham was poor, somehow Southgate had turned him into Carlton Palmer. Slovakia were winning and England looked out, but with seconds to go, Bellingham scored an amazing overhead kick goal. Kane scored in extra time and somehow England had turned things around. Belgium were out, while France and Portugal were through. Several FFL managers had picked Ronaldo, but he couldn’t score. To try and cheer the England team up and improve the mood, Ed Sheeran turned up at the England camp. I’m not sure that helped much. In our league Jon Thomson was still top and 3 points clear of the Hawk, with Danny Lawson 3rd, Our Grimsby Roma 4th.

Round 5 and in one of the best games of the Euros, so far, Spain beat Germany. So as Rishi was being kicked out of number 10, the hosts were being knocked out of the Euros. After a great game, followed a terrible game. France beat Portugal in a bore draw. Was this the end of Ronaldo and FFL??? Mbappe or Batman as I like to call him seemed very out of sorts, who knew that a broken nose would have such an affect. England took on Switzerland and went behind, but a great Saka goal took the game to penalties. England won and Saka got his penalty redemption like Stuart Pearce did in Euro96, was it coming home? Jon Thomson who had led for most of the Euro’s was still top and 5 points clear. After leading the FFL back in April and letting it slip he wasn’t counting any chickens, even quoting A Tribe call quest. The main competition for the title was coming from Danny Lawson and Sally Sands. England would play the Netherlands in the semi finals.

Round 6 and with only 3 games to go Jon was top of the league, but not that confident of victory. France who had been terrible and broken nose Batman couldn’t save them. Spain were through to the final and 16 year old rising start Yamal was shining. Remember those pitch invaders from the earlier rounds? Well another one ran onto the pitch to celebrate victory, chased by security men. One of which lost his footing and two footed crashed into Morata, hurting him. Would he be fit for the final. The England semi and I was in The mailbox with some of Team Aroma. Many went to Lincoln castle including Our Grimsby Roma, who even made the BBC. Blessing said that England were always getting away with it. Yet another 90s song reference. Netherlands took the lead, but a controversial VAR penalty from Kane got England level. In a tight game it was Super sub Watkins who scored a winner right at the end. Amazing scenes as England made the final again. Jon Thomson top and 5 points clear of Sally Sands. All the 90s references and Jon and Sally top, it felt like the old days of 90s Tesco Lincoln 1. Oh the memories of England Spain penalty shootout on the radio in the staff canteen, while the shop floor was left empty. 1 point behind Sally stood Kieron Mullin, Danny Lawson, The Hawk and Ashton Lawson. At the bottom Holly was still adrift , 7 points behind Ollie Taylor Yassin and 13 behind Lee Ritchie.

So just the final to go. Off to Germany I went. Saturday morning and lots of England fans getting the Eurostar to Brussels, then Cologne. I spent the night in Cologne even saw the fan zone. Sunday morning and as I was getting the I.C.E to Munich the Spanish were getting the I.C.E to Berlin. Me and Ducklan Rice went to the Augustiner Keller very early and got a great seat. Caught the end of the tennis, but it was the football that matters. Having to explain to the Germans why I had a small yellow duck next to my beer was funny.

The final kicked off and the beer garden was packed, well over a thousand there. England had plenty of the ball, but couldn’t really do much with it. Few chances. In the FFL Jon was still clear and closing in on his first trophy since winning the champions league in 2002. Spain scored and lots of Spanish and Spanish supporting Germans cheered. England scored and lots of English and English supporting Germans cheered. Unfortunately for England, Spain were just too good and scored again. The side which had beaten Germany and France, had now beaten England. Back to back euro final defeats. Spain won their 4th major title in 16 years. Jon Thomson won Euro FFL 2024. He was 5 points better than the man who had snatched the FFL title from him in the final weeks of last season Kieron Mullin. Then came a couple of Lawsons, Sally Sands, the Hawk and our Grimsby Roma. The wooden spoon went to Holly Shakeshaft.

So that’s it, the Euros are over. I’m on holiday across Europe for the next 2 weeks and when I return we’ll be starting to think about the next season of FFL. Thank you for being part of Euro FFL 2024, I hope you’ve all enjoyed it as much as I have.

Final thought

60 years of hurt

MT

[luckylq61-blog]

Kaepernick told NFL Media in an interview

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[ibatreviews]

Why these 5 MLB playoff groups from 2019 might miss the 2020 postseason

With Opening Day 2020 simply three weeks away, we have reached the a part of the spring when prognostication turns into the baseball media's second faith. There isn't a scarcity of inquiries to reply with guesses at this level. Who would be the fifth starter? What concerning the final participant on the bench? What are the chances this or that harm is healed in time for the season?

At minimal, these workouts are a great way to run down the clock. Typically, although, they show to be greater than filler, and might spur some attention-grabbing ideas. As an illustration, this week we intend to reply two inquiries to one of the best of our capacity: 1) what sub-.500 groups will ascend and develop into contenders?; and a couple of) which playoff groups from final season will miss this yr's dance? We answered the primary query yesterday, so as we speak let's deal with the second inquiry.

Let's start with some pertinent data. The 10-team postseason has been round since 2012, when Main League Baseball launched the Wild Card Sport as a way of making extra drama. Within the seven postseasons since that inaugural version, at least three groups have fallen out of the bracket on a year-to-year foundation. The common turnover is 5, or half the sector.

Which groups sail over their Vegas win totals? And what number of wins will each single MLB staff have this season? Go to SportsLine now to get the highest 10 season win complete bets, and see each staff's projected file, all from a pc mannequin that went 14-5 on win complete picks final yr.

The previous does not all the time guarantee the long run, however on this occasion it makes for a helpful framing machine. Under you may discover final yr's playoff groups cut up into two tiers: "secure" and "dangerous," or the 5 groups we predict are likeliest to return and the 5 we predict are likeliest to fall out. We have ranked the groups inside every tier as effectively, as a way of displaying our confidence degree in every membership.

Now, let's get to it.

The secure groups

1. Los Angeles Dodgers

This is how safe the Dodgers are: PECOTA, Baseball Prospectus' storied projection system, provides them a 100 p.c probability at making the playoffs. That is based mostly on their simulations of the common season, which have the Dodgers averaging 23 wins greater than the second-place finisher within the Nationwide League West. For some extent of reference, contemplate that PECOTA thinks the hole between first and final within the Nationwide League Central can be 16 video games.

You do not have to know diddly squat about PECOTA to understand the stacked nature of this Dodgers membership. They received 106 video games final season, after which added the second-best participant within the recreation (Mookie Betts) and a veteran starter (David Value) with out giving up a lot. They did lose Hyun-Jin Ryu and Wealthy Hill to free company, however there's important room for inside progress, relying on the progress of Will Smith, Dustin Might, and Gavin Lux, amongst others.

With most groups, you'll be able to envision them lacking the postseason. Not right here, not even if you happen to're N.Ok. Jemisin. Andrew Friedman builds depth charts resembling spider webs, with protection and contingency plans in all places. Possibly the Dodgers win solely 100 video games as an alternative of 110 or extra, however they've an excessive amount of expertise and an excessive amount of depth to examine them failing to qualify for October.

2. New York Yankees

The chance with the Yankees is harm. New York modified its power and conditioning workers after main the league final season in days missed as a result of harm, however to this point it hasn't paid off. Luis Severino is out for the yr; James Paxton will miss the beginning of the season; and each Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Choose are coping with health-related issues of their very own. Woof.

Assuming the Yankees do not have key contributors drop like flies all season, once more, they're about as secure as an American League staff can get. PECOTA has them successful the East by greater than 10 video games, thanks partially to the Boston Crimson Sox prioritizing income to wins. Possibly the Tampa Bay Rays can provide the Yankees extra of a scare than projected, however that is to be seen.

3. Minnesota Twins

The chance with the Twins is regression, as their roster loved quite a lot of profession seasons in 2019. It is modern today to credit score these banner years to expert teaching, subsequently suggesting real adjustments of the true-talent selection. Possibly that proves to be the case for a couple of Twins gamers, however do not forget that their teaching workers was raided by the remainder of the league. The instructors in place now will be pretty much as good as their predecessors with out getting the identical outcomes.

The excellent news for the Twins is that they do not seem complacent. The entrance workplace added the second-best free-agent hitter accessible, in Josh Donaldson, and restocked the rotation by buying Kenta Maeda, Wealthy Hill, Homer Bailey, and Jhoulys Chacin, in addition to retaining Jake Odorizzi and Michael Pineda. That the Twins nonetheless have some items of observe on their farm system ought to afford them the potential to enhance in-season, ought to the necessity or alternative come up.

It does not damage the Twins' probabilities that they play in a reasonably weak division. The Detroit Tigers and Kansas Metropolis Royals serve no risk; Cleveland needs to be respectable regardless of doing little to assist its trigger; and the Chicago White Sox did lots to assist their trigger, however is perhaps solely a contender for a wild card spot. PECOTA has the Twins successful the Central by seven video games. Although the hole is perhaps smaller when all is alleged and completed, we agree with the algorithm that the Twins can be on prime.

4. Houston Astros

PECOTA has the Astros down for one of the best file within the American League, and second within the majors solely to the Dodgers. Why do we've them fourth? As a result of we predict there's extra crater potential right here than meets the attention -- and we're not speaking concerning the manifestation of dangerous karma from their dishonest scandal. Somewhat, we've considerations about Houston's rotation.

Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke are a mixed 73 years previous and have almost 6,000 regular-season innings below their belts. Each are super abilities who will find yourself in Cooperstown sometime, however accidents and age-related slippage can (and sometimes do) occur to everybody -- even one of the best of one of the best, even when neither appears to be on the desk.

The Astros appear particularly weak to that risk now that Gerrit Cole is elsewhere. The remainder of Houston's projected rotation consists of Lance McCullers Jr., Jose Urquidy, and Josh James. McCullers missed all of final season as a result of harm, and in 4 big-league seasons has topped out shy of 130 innings every time. Urquidy, Houston's breakout star final October, set a brand new career-high by tossing 144 innings between the majors and minors in 2019. In the meantime James, the Urquidy of the postseason earlier than final, had a 4.70 ERA in reduction final yr.

The Astros are going to should depend upon their bullpen, and can possible should dig into their beginning depth. These might show to be dicey propositions. The Astros misplaced Will Harris with out changing him, and their assortment of near-ready starters have blemishes of their very own. Forrest Whitley had a horrible 2019, ravaged by underperformance and harm; Cionel Perez's yr wasn't a lot better; and it might be in Houston's greatest curiosity to keep away from relying upon Rogelio Armenteros, Cristian Javier, and Cy Sneed for important contributions.

Houston will most likely determine it out and be wonderful, but it surely's simple to think about stretches the place the staff appears to be like uncovered as a result of a rotation that is not as robust or deep because it was.

5. Atlanta Braves

We thought the Braves had a strong offseason regardless of shedding Josh Donaldson, as they landed Marcell Ozuna, Cole Hamels, and Travis d'Arnaud, and rebuilt their bullpen by securing Will Smith and Chris Martin. Might they've completed extra? Most likely, however they've Cristian Pache and Drew Waters coming, they usually nonetheless have the potential to consolidate a few of their pitching on the deadline. For these causes, we put the Braves right here over the groups beneath.

There is a honest probability we find yourself trying silly for it, too.

The East options three different potential postseason golf equipment, together with the defending World Collection champions, giving the Braves probably the most divisional competitors of any staff on this tier. That is notable contemplating the Braves had the worst run differential of those 5 groups. Whereas the opposite 4 golf equipment posted the 4 greatest run differentials, the Braves had been tied for eighth. (Their run differential suggests they overachieved by six video games in notching 97 wins.)

Our reservations concerning the Braves are supported by PECOTA, which has them ending third within the East with 83 wins. We're not keen to go that far, however we will see the logic to it.

The dangerous groups

1. Tampa Bay Rays

We're amenable to the concept the Rays ought to've been the fifth "secure" staff. They've a strong roster, honest depth, and the power to deal and promote from a top-notch farm system. Additionally they simply noticed their closest risk deal the second-best participant in baseball to avoid wasting coin. If we needed to identify one staff in baseball the likeliest to win a wild card spot, it is the Rays.

Ultimately, that designation landed the Rays right here as an alternative of within the above tier. They had been a rung down from the Yankees final season, once they completed seven again, and this winter hasn't modified that. The Rays did not do a lot to handle their pitching workers, as each one in all their projected 13 was a member of the group final season.

As an alternative, the Rays prioritized their lineup, and particularly including platoon items of the right-handed selection. Slugger Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, who came visiting from the Yokohama Bay Stars, is the one new left-handed addition to the roster. In any other case, the Rays are banking on the likes of Hunter Renfroe, Jose Martinez, and Manuel Margot to fight lefties and supply depth.

That ought to work out wonderful, however most likely no higher than wonderful. Sadly for the Rays, scaling the AL East would appear to require greater than wonderful.

2. Oakland Athletics

The A's had been a a lot better staff final season than folks notice. To wit, they completed the common season with the fifth-best run differential in baseball. That is with Khris Davis having an terrible season; with their catchers giving them little on the plate; with their prime high-leverage relievers falling aside; and with Frankie Montas, Sean Manaea, A.J. Puk, and Jesus Luzardo combining for 21 begins. That is quite a lot of dangerous stuff for a staff to beat, however they did it.

So, why are they on the dangerous facet? It has extra to do with probabilistic considering and the power to improve than any expertise deficiency. The A's already seem capped out, and do not have a Rays-like farm system to advertise and deal from throughout the season. If that leaves the A's behind the Rays within the standings, which means they're going to be duking it out for one playoff spot with the Los Angeles Angels, Cleveland, the White Sox, and others. Their danger of shedding out is way increased.

The A's, then, might discover themselves in an uncommon place of being one of many higher groups within the recreation, based mostly on their expertise and efficiency ranges, with out being concerned within the playoffs.

3. Washington Nationals

We imply no disrespect to the defending champions, who will possible be aggressive once more inside the division and maybe inside the league. We simply suppose there's quite a lot of draw back in D.C.

The Nationals primarily introduced again their roster from final season, minus Anthony Rendon, plus Starlin Castro, Eric Thames, and Will Harris. Sounds wonderful ... besides it means the Nationals have 1) much less impact-level expertise and a couple of) a higher reliance on getting old veterans. Put one other means, six of the Nationals' 13 projected place gamers are a minimum of 33 years previous. That is a ton of attrition danger for a staff that doesn't have a lot minor-league depth to its credit score.

We will not ignore the likelihood that the heavy workload from final October will affect Stephen Strasburg, Max Scherzer, and Patrick Corbin, both. These three mixed for 93 begins final season. What occurs in 2020 if they begin solely 85 instances? Or 80? Once more, the Nationals simply do not have the depth to make up for a major decline or absence.

Baseball hasn't had a repeat champion because the 1998-2000 New York Yankees. We do not suppose that is altering this yr.

4. St. Louis Cardinals

By run differential, the Cardinals had been the weakest division winner in 2019. They did not do a lot to enhance their membership this winter, both, save for signing Kwang-Hyun Kim and a few bit items.

St. Louis let Marcell Ozuna stroll and did not make an addition to counter his loss. Additionally they traded Jose Martinez and Randy Arozarena for an A-ball pitcher, albeit in a deal that might work out effectively for them over the lengthy haul. On the harm entrance, they're more likely to be with out Miles Mikolas and Jordan Hicks for a piece of the season. That is not an ideal set of developments.

Dylan Carlson's arrival will assist, and the Cardinals all the time appear to discover a three-win contributor within the sofa cushions. For now, although, they appear like probably the most weak division winner.

5. Milwaukee Brewers

We lined the Brewers intimately when naming their offseason one of many worst in baseball. The brief model is that they bought cheaper however not higher, and that they arguably lowered their ceiling as a staff. We might nonetheless see the Brewers competing for a wild card spot, however there's quite a lot of draw back right here and it should not shock anybody in the event that they end third or fourth within the NL Central.

[feelbadorgan-blog]

Journal Entry #1: Draw My Life

           I would like to think that I’ve always been a reflective person even my childhood memories are full of solitary moments, me left alone to my perceptions and creations. I find it almost addicting going back to my childhood memory of playing in our sandy garden alone. This reflective peculiarity will prove valuable to me in the later years up to the present. It helped me grow and develop my definition of my identity, although more of identities. It brought me to the world of self-help books, journaling and constant self-evaluation. My days are full of questions and ambiguous answers to life. This time a year ago, I have decided to write them into journals. My journal typically starts with a question and continues freely, most of the time irrelevantly, to where writing takes me and it may be observable in this entry. I hope not. It is also written as if it is someone else’s so I can be more objective and harsh on myself.   

           Ever since I arrived here in NCR, I haven’t written anything yet so this will serve as my first entry. I literally write in journal notebooks, but I have discovered that I can use technology, prove myself as a gen-Z and use the softcopy format a.k.a. “.docx” and even “.txt”.

           I have filled three different journal notebooks ever since I started a year ago. Although majority of my writing are on my laptop now, I still write on paper and my fourth journal notebook is almost halfway filled with whatever this mind encounters. Journaling is a very soothing and liberating process for me.

           This is how I journal now, and I’d like to call it “E-journal” as if putting an E in the beginning of any word makes it sound better. I typically write anything I can think of and anything that intrigues me. Although, my writings are hindered by my writing skills because I don’t know a lot about forming sentences, using punctuation and selecting words from a narrow and shallow vocabulary. I love English because I think it is a very creative and inclusive language but sadly, I’m not that good yet to create and enjoy it to its fullness.  

I think I am exposing myself too much already but what’s life without a little vulnerability. I personally have struggled with vulnerability and insecurity. This basically became the story of my high school life and pretty much of my life because I can hardly remember events before high school. Peer pressure got the best of me and it made me do things I would regret but I can do nothing about so let’s move on.  

This is the grade 7 me, too naïve about the world around him and on the things about to come. He feels very insignificant and is peer pressured a lot. He has grown and he’s very different now but it humbles him to know where he started. Reminiscing how we grow through time always lead to smiles. 

“Beast”

In high school is where you find inevitable to be grouped to the same people with the same interests. For our group named “BST”, we found each other through sports and cutting classes to play sports. They saw and guided my growth from the one on the picture above to who I am today. The day after graduation transforms high school friends to lifelong family.

“Megs”

           Megs is the Bisaya term for friends. This my wholesome and nerdy squad. It may seem contradicting belonging to two squads with different nature but it’s not. I found that one squad completes and balances the other so that I stay right in between my academics and my passion. I am not swallowed by academics nor do I sacrifice my future for playing sports.

“Do your thingsss”

I have loved a few things and formed a few passions in my life and this picture shows it all.

The Wipcap, official cap of Fliptop which is the Philippines’ Rap Battle League and is the last Rap Battle League in the world, for my love of the hip-hop and culture.

The rifle for my love of service and to my three years membership of our school’s CAT.

Kyrie 5 “Husky” shoes for my passion in The Game and my homage to passionate players.

“Orchid in a bottle” for my love of biology, laboratory work and simple science.

The Innovators book for my love of technology, great people, great work and cooperation.

 This is the product of my six years in high school. When I heard we were allowed one creative shot for our yearbook, this image of me popped into my mind. I have unconsciously viewed myself this way and I can say this has been my self-image as a product of my high school life. High school has been productively transformative for me. It gave me the chance to redefine myself through reflection. I have known myself deeper. This probably is the most “me” picture of my life.

 I believe that a man is defined by how he uses much of his time. This is where majority of my time goes and majority of where my self-concept comes from. These are my mentors and my hobbies.

THE HIP-HOP CULTURE

“BLKD”

A UP-Diliman graduate Fliptop pioneer who is considered now a Legend and the best lyricist of the game. He takes pride in his timeless content, intricate flow and crafty use of rap elements like anagrams, personals, quadruple meanings, metaphors and bars. These are a few of his lines.

“Tanggap ko kung wala ako sa top 5 niyo, nasa Top 5 ako ng nasa top 5 niyo”

He may not always be the fan favorite, but he surely is feared among fellow emcees.

“Kaya kong magpaka-street, magsalit ng pa-slang

Kasi pen-game ko perfect, sa iyo pass lang

Puro galaw wala namang puntos, puro pass lang

Ako puro tirang sharpshooter na pumapaslang”

A quadruple meaning of the homophones paslang/pass lang with street, school, basketball and battle references.

“Hindi titulong pangdakila tinutukoy ko pangratrat

kapag sinabi kong si Bonifacio ay ginamitan ko ng Gat”

Personals spat in a game against Marshall Bonifacio referencing the Bonifacio vs Rizal argument through the “gat” double meaning as a pistol and as Jose Rizal.

 BASKETBALL

“The Alchemists”

This was taken after our exhibition game. I have only known basketball in high school and from that day onward I still have the same passion from when I started. The summer after my first year, I then enlisted to a basketball camp. All the free time I have after that we then spent playing the game. I am very passionate about the game. Although I don’t play as often as I once did, deep inside is the same fire.

DOTA

“The Internationals 2019 bracket”

The internationals more commonly known as “TI” is the most prestigious and largest tournament in e-sports. It’s prize pool is crowdfunded by the Dota 2 community and is now at US$33 million. Today is actually the first day of the main event. I have played Dota 2 for 4000 hours already, all on the internet cafe. I know I shouldn’t be “that’ proud about it but it’s not all negative. I know that I have developed some of my skills and besides, I don’t play anymore in fact I only had 30 games last year. The best part about ti9,The Internationals 2019, is that there is an all-Filipino team in the upper bracket, TNC. They are representing the Philippines and all the Filipino players. They have cemented their name along with the best teams worldwide and now they have the chance to win The Aegis of the Immortal, the trophy of the champions ever since 2010.

“TNC Predator”

This is our team fighting for the Aegis of the Immortal.

The SCIENCE of LEADERSHIP            

“The Golden Circle”

This is a concept by Simon Sinek in his book “Start with Why”, one of the first books I have read and reread. I love the book as much as the man who wrote it. It demonstrates the difference between good and great leaders based on their conduct. Good leaders lead from the outside in starting from what they do, how they do it and why they do it making the “what” aspect clearest for their followers. Great leaders do the opposite, they talk most of the time about why they do it and they assure that this be the clearest aspect for their disciples. It is even manifested in their advertisements. TiVo is a good television company with good leaders. One of their advertisement says “We can pause, forward and rewind your favorite shows for you”, focusing more on the what. Apple, a great company with a great leader - Steve Jobs, would have an advertisement that would sound like “The ones crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who actually do”. This advertisement doesn’t even mention any of their products but it does mention why they make their products and it being clear to their followers is one of the reasons why people line up for hours in Apple stores to get their new Iphones even if they can buy it without hassle the week after. 

I love leadership and cooperation especially the the value they bring to the world. It has brought us movements to question what the world is doing, great products and most of all it bring faith back into humanity. This interest in leadership forced me to read leadership, business, self-help and personal development books. You’ll find a lot of these people in these.

Another fascinating aspect of this circle is its accordance to the layers and structures inside our brain. The “what” represents the prefrontal cortex which is responsible for, you guessed it, what we do. The “how” is where the limbic brain starts representing the basal ganglia - responsible more on how we conduct thing. Lastly, the “why” represents the primitive amygdala which answers all the question to why we do and it sets out our priorities from food, reproduction and finding meaning. 

SERVICE of the CAT

 “Legions of Pisay”

We are the Legions of Pisay, a club created and organized by students. Our advocacy is the Citizenship Advancement Training. We trained volunteers, we serve the student body as manpower for events and we are directly under the disciplinary officer in imposing the laws of the school. My three years of service in the CAT is all about service. We arrange the venues, direct the audience and clean up after the event. We are the first to prepare and the last to clean. All of this for service. In three years, we have created a bonding from all the sacrifices we’ve made together for the student body. I have served and I hope soon I will be able to serve again. 

INTERSECTION OF TECHNOLOGY and PASSION

“Steve Jobs”

Steve Jobs. The great man Steve who founded apple at his parents’ garage with Woz, brought great products to the world, exiled by the very company he founded, created another company “NeXT”, created Pixar, sold NeXT and himself to Apple and saved apple from oblivion. This is how I simplify the life of Steve. He founded Apple, Apple kicked him, out but Apple bought him back just to save themselves and to bring back their visionary. I am a total fanboy. He has nothing but passion. He gave his all even his health for the world to enjoy great products and to bring us great experience. He placed a thousand songs in our pocket when all there was is a Walkman through iPod. He didn’t commercialize his software. He created the best animation movies. He thought he can change the world, he did. Apple is now US$1Trillion in valuation and in fact if it were a country it would’ve been the 27th richest. We don’t know when we will get another Steve or another Apple but I’m sure it’s trying to change the world with passion.  

MOVIES and The NERDWRITER

Evan Pushack aka “The Nerdwriter” creates videos about everything he can think of but mostly about people, art and movies. We share the same interest and his youtube channel has become a haven for me. I indulge in his content. With this platform he tries to help people. His K.I.N.D. “Kids In Need of Desks” video raised US$3 million for the school children of Africa. That’s worth 62 000 desks in 4 000 classrooms. He himself is struggling to make money from his videos but he never forgets to help. The world needs more of these people and those who can’t be them can at least support their causes.

I really talk a lot and mostly not about myself as much as my self-concept which is hugely not about me at all. I like talking about topics I love and consequently they become intertwined with my self-concept.

I don’t remember much before my high school life and I don’t rely on them so much for my self-image.  As far as I can remember these are where my personal life revolves around, outside the relationships I’m keeping and building. These are where most of my time is spent. I like that I have a lot of mentors and passions. I can and have tried doing these for consecutive hours without getting even bothered. I hope that I would be able to keep most of these. 

I have probably crafted, maybe stolen, my self-image around these people and activities. If they crumble, so as my self-image. They have contributed a lot to my ever-expanding self-concept as well as to the self I strive to be. 

Knowing about people is my thing. Writing about them fuels me. I like to write more about people especially those who touch me. If I’d be given another chance to draw my life, I would still make this kind of piece.  

credits/follow:@dotesports @startwithwhy​ @cultofmac @nerdwriter1@danicamarie

 p.s. reading this entry proves how much i need to improve on the canon of disposition

[dujeu]

Sous-estimer l'ordre à vos risques et périls, Kevy insouciant avertit MSI Rivals G2 Esports, génies maléfiques

"Ce qui doit arriver arrivera."

Star ORDER jungler ~~Spike Spiegel~~ Shane “Kevy” Allen has just lost a League of Legends solo queue game when he joins our Discord call. He quickly laughs the loss off⁠—“You know, what can you do?”—and immediately starts talking MSI hopes.

Now, League pros have lost more ranked games than most players have queued up to play, so it’s no surprise, but that’s Kevy to a note. Like anime’s enigmatic Space Cowboy Spike Spiegel, the Aussie star is happy to roll with the punches. He tells me, again: “I just think, whatever happens, happens.”

This time, he’s talking about the Mid-Season Invitational.

Next week, starting 8pm Tuesday, May 10 (AEST, this is), Kevy and ORDER begin their international campaign. It’s a tricky challenge first up. G2 Esports, reigning European champs and 2019 MSI victors, await in game 1. The LEC heavyweights are dripping with League royalty, including Rasmus “Caps” Winther and Kevy’s personal pick of the litter, Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski, among others.

The going doesn’t get any easier for ORDER on their Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday play-days either. In fact, Riot short-changed Group C due to an odd number of League representatives traveling to Busan, Korea. That leaves the aforementioned G2 powerhouse, ORDER, and first-time LCS champions Evil Geniuses to duke it out across a four-time round robin. Plenty of chances for spankings, say the pundits. “Plenty of time for upsets,” says Kevy.

Underestimate ORDER at your peril, the LCO jungler warns.

“Our whole run [this split], even back in Oceania, everyone keeps thinking we can’t or won’t win,” Kevy tells Dot Esports. “And look, we came out and ended up winning. It takes the pressure off us, being expected to lose.”

Kevy has enjoyed a certain underdog status with ORDER throughout his fledgling League career thus far. He burst onto the Oceanic scene in 2021 as the Melbourne org’s replacement jungler after short-gasp stints with Dire Wolves and Peace to start the year. By the end of Split Two, the 21-year-old had been crowned Rookie of the Year, First All-Pro Jungler, and the region’s Most Valuable Player.

And now, he’s got another chance to push the League envelope all over again. Riot Games, via the MSI 2022 draw, have handed him G2 and EG on a silver platter.

“I couldn’t have dreamed a better draw,” he admits.

“Like, obviously we could have gotten easier teams to play against, an easier group, but really I’m happy with this. I’ve been wanting to come to international events for so long, now that we’re here I want to show what I can do. Even just in terms of entertainment value, the chance to dish out some salt too.”

The pressure, Kevy adds, is entirely on G2 Esports and Evil Geniuses.

“Honestly, if either of the two even drop a game to us… damn, they’re going to get roasted. It’s really nice to be in this position. We’ve not played a game yet and everyone is writing us off. No one expects anything from us.

“Forget the standings—I just see EG and G2. If we win, that would be absolutely crazy, so there’s that. And then if we lose, then we know that we tried our best.”

Kevy’s ever-cool mentality certainly worked in LCO 2022 Split One. Eventual champs ORDER lifted from a staggered 11–10 record to sweep Dire Wolves, Peace, Pentanet, and Chiefs—four of Oceania’s six historic representatives. Even on the eve of the grand finals, fans, players, and pundits were tipping against ORDER.

No one gave ORDER a chance in Oceania. Will they now in Busan?

“We’re all going to just give it our best,” Kevy promised. "Ce qui doit arriver arrivera. We have confidence. Let’s just get everyone in Oceanic manifesting our victories.”

[artificialqueens]

Soccer Punch - Chapter 1 (Shalaska) - Ty5000

A/N : I’m back back back again with a Shalaska sports rivalry fic that nobody asked for but i’m writing her anyway. I got this insperation from Alaska’s look from the Come to Brazil video. 

PSA I am from the UK, we play football and I’m not sure how similar the terms are so I home you understand the little terminology I actually used.

enjoy- Ty

If you are a Teenager in middle of nowhere northern Pennsylvania then you are likely to fit into one of the following two groups: Part of an average lower to middle class family and a student at Knoxville High or you are lucky enough to be blessed with some kind of talent and parents rich enough to send you to Castle North Private School.

Now along with the natural rivalry that comes with the territory of being the only two schools in a thirty-mile radius it also so happens that their female soccer teams are two of the best in the entire state. That’s right for the past ten years The Knoxville High Queens and The Castle North Elites have beaten out every other team in the high school soccer league and fought head to head at the state championships.

This is where our story begins but this isn’t as it appears for this isn’t a story about soccer but about a rival romance developing through time; a Modern day Romeo and Juliet if you will, hopefully you’ll prefer this ending.

 April 2013 -  The week of the state championships.

The final weeks before your first ever state championship can be a scary time, there’s a lot of pressure on the entire team to succeed but even more so on Alaska Thunder, the only Castle North freshman chosen to play on the competitive team this year. She’s good, really good in fact she has basically been raised on soccer, both her parents are huge soccer fans and her mother was even on the same team as a teenager; until she got pregnant at the start of her senior year. Alaska knows she’s ready, she was one of the best players all season scoring nine goals and she really felt like a valuable member of the team but this is the first time she would be up against their infamous rivals from Knoxville high and she knew too well that she couldn’t let them win.

Across the city Knoxville were also preparing for the big game however freshman player Sharon Needles didn’t seem to be feeling the pressure in the same way as the others. You see Sharon wasn’t soccer crazy like everyone else, in fact she hated everything about the sport, she hated running, she hated being told what to do , she hated waking up early to train , she hated spending her weekends at games and she hated how the black uniform shorts rode up her legs with every step and made her feel uncomfortable. At this point you might be wondering why she is on the team…

Well you see Sharon Needles is what you might call a rebellious teen, perhaps not as rebellious as the ones portrayed on television, she wasn’t an alcoholic or addicted to hard drugs or anything like that but let’s just say that the fifteen-year-old was certainly no stranger to the substances either. Instead Sharon was often found skipping class, smoking, staying out past curfew or not coming home at all and on the rare occasion she showed up to class she was boisterous, disruptive and didn’t turn in any work. Needless to say, it only took three months of this behaviour before the school councillor stepped in and declared Sharon’s life to be lacking structure and discipline and secured her a place in the team expecting her life to suddenly have a positive goal. Spoiler Alert: It didn’t …at least not right away.

Game day is always the last Saturday of April and traditionally it is also the first day that any manifestation of summer descends the north side of the state, so when the Knoxville girls troop off the bus outside the main entrance of Castle North at 11am with skin already sticky from the heat and leather seats and their moods suitably lowered for that reason they knew it was going to be a long day.

The game kicks off at noon as it has every year previously all polite smiles and handshakes forgotten as soon as the piercing note of the starting whistle breaks the air.

“Goal! 0-1 to Castle North”

“1 all!”

“Yellow card Sharon! penalty kick to Castle North!.”

“Goal! Good job Alaska, 1-2 to Castle North!”

“Willam Yellow card! Penalty to Knoxville”

“Half time.”

When the half time whistle sounds throughout the field the players head robotically to the locker rooms where a refreshing drink of water and a towel awaits their tiring bodies.

“Okay ladies, good job out there!” Castle North captain Naomi begins. “We might be ahead but don’t get ahead of yourselves, Knoxville have been putting the work in if we relax for even a second they will pummel us.” The Junior states confidently and for a minute it’s clear to see why the tall beauty was voted captain this year, other than being one of their best players, she’s tall, all legs and oozes confidence.  

“So, what’s the game plan captain?” Willam, a sophomore pipes up.

“For starters you are going to hang back a bit you’ve already been warned, and we can’t do this with ten players, so play it safe.” Willam nods begrudgingly.

“Courtney and Manila, I need you both to up your defence, poor Jinkx is wide open all the time we’ve already had some near misses.” She continued glancing over at the goalie whose knees and arms were already dirt stained from diving for the ball.

“…And Alaska, good job on that goal but don’t hog the ball so much okay?”

Alaska smiled sheepishly, she did have a problem with keeping the ball to herself and shooting from riskier spots than others might dare, but she only did it if she was sure she’d make the goal, and she did was what was their problem. “Sorry.”

Next door a similar conversation was taking place…

“Sharon what were you thinking out there, are you trying to get benched?” Captain Raven screamed the minute everyone had shuffled into the small locker room.

“Anything would be better than running about on that field, my tits are sweating.” Came her nonchalant response. The rest of the team remained silent, no one else ever dared to talk back to Raven, in fact the elder player may only have been voted captain on the reasoning that everyone else on the team is scared of her yet here this freshman was talking back and picking dirt from her nails seemingly unbothered.

“Well that’s just great Needles it really is but maybe for once you could try and be a team player because this game is actually important to some of us.”

“Well considering I don’t even want to be part of this team in the first place.”

“Well like it or not you are part of this team so start acting like it.” And with that Raven turned on her heel and walked out.

The whistle blows again.

“Good Pass Phi Phi!”

“Goal! 2 all!”

“Foul! Sharon, out! “

“Knoxville Queens are down to ten players.”

“Goal” 2-3 to Castle North”

“Time!”

“And the Castle North Elites are this year’s Pennsylvania State Champions.

The crowd erupted into cheers, blurs of yellow and blue as Elite’s fans celebrated their third consecutive win as down on the field the girls were all over each other exchanging hugs and high fives.

However, if you looked around the excitement of the celebrating teenagers, you would see another team; fresh losers, being yelled at by their captain and one freshman girl looking unexpectedly disappointed when she thought no one was looking…

“Alaska!” Naomi called from the side-lines distracting the blonde  “Come get the trophy girl you earned it.

Alaska turned and jogged over to her team mates eagerly waiting to pass her the trophy, and sure it’s not her first trophy (it’s her 9th but who’s keeping count?) but the satisfaction of her team mates cheering her name as she held the trophy over her head was something that had never felt so good. She was State Champion. 

[gadgetsrevv]

Just how bad are Tottenham? Arsenal will test Man United’s defence

All you need to know about this weekend’s Premier League action, all in one place.

Jump to: Liverpool need to rotate | Man United’s defensive test | Watch Wolves vs. Watford | Everton need luck vs. City | Fantasy tips | Weekend guarantee | Pulisic’s last stand? | Reckless predictions

THE WEEKEND’S BIG QUESTIONS

Just how bad are Tottenham?

It was instructive to hear Mauricio Pochettino’s response to Tottenham’s defeat at Colchester in the Carabao Cup this week. His postmatch comments basically waved a broad hand of blame at these unnamed malcontents in the squad and the club’s failure to buy more players in the summer, as if the reason his side lost to the team 10th in League Two was because Christian Eriksen fancies a move to Real Madrid or they didn’t get the Paulo Dybala move over the line, rather than anything to do with him.

Pochettino may have a point in the wider scheme of things, but the result on Tuesday and their general performances throughout the season have been so devoid of inspiration and direction that it’s impossible to think there aren’t deeper problems at Spurs. Like water collecting on a flat roof for months before eventually the ceiling falls in, Tottenham allowing their squad to go stale could ultimately manifest itself in a spectacular collapse this season, unless they really turn things around. That needs to start at Southampton on Saturday.

Will Liverpool use some sensible rotation?

Liverpool are currently in the middle of a run in which they play seven games in 21 days. Then it’s the international break, which is fine in theory, but most if not all of their players will then embark on long trips with their countries. After that it’s another seven in 21 days before the next international break, then we’re into late November and before you know it, the madness of the Christmas schedule.

Liverpool have a good enough squad now that Jurgen Klopp can afford to rotate a little, to give his most overworked stars a bit of rest, but he will have to choose the times to do that judiciously. So will he regard a trip to Sheffield United — a newly-promoted side but one who have proved ticklish to say the least so far this season — as a time to do that, or does he play it safe and use the big guns, in the knowledge that there might not be another good time to rest them on the horizon?

Will the return of some first-choice defenders boost Arsenal?

Not many reliable conclusions can be drawn from Arsenal flexing aside Nottingham Forest on Tuesday, given the performance of their Championship opponents. But one plus from the game was the return to fitness of Kieran Tierney and Hector Bellerin, the latter of whom set up a goal within a minute of coming on as a substitute.

Admittedly, neither man can do much to solve the chronic issues the Gunners have in the centre of defence, but Arsenal can only benefit from the addition of what could potentially be the best full-back pairing in the division outside of Liverpool. Against a fragile Manchester United, even that could be enough.

THE GAME YOU’RE NOT PLANNING TO WATCH … BUT SHOULD

If you’ve got room on your DVR or in your busy schedule for one match this weekend away from the title race, we’ve got you covered.

Wolves vs. Watford

Broadly speaking the reason we watch Premier League football is to see good quality play, to witness the sides at the top of their games display their skills. But sometimes you also want to see a couple of desperate sides scrapping away for whatever they can get, and that’s what you’ll find at Molineux on Saturday afternoon. The last two sides without a victory meet to see who can clamber out of this spiral of incompetence, with the very real possibility that whoever loses will graduate from “poor start” to “actual relegation battle.”

A TEAM THAT NEEDS A BIT OF LUCK

Luck is everything in sports. Get acquainted with ESPN’s Luck Index as we pick out the team most desperate for good fortune amid a difficult run. Here are the big takeaways from the 2019 edition as explained by Gab Marcotti.

Everton: It wasn’t so long ago that Everton watchers were purring after their side beat Wolves, but two avoidable defeats in their last two games have awoken discontent in the Goodison Park stands. Questions are inevitably being posed about Marco Silva’s tenure, about his selection and balance of his team, so they could really do with a straightforward game to get their heads right. No such luck: Manchester City are in town on Saturday, fresh from sticking eight past Watford last weekend. If Everton get a bit of luck, maybe they can sneak a result against City…but they will need that luck.

FANTASY TIPS

Kieran Darcy has some tips for the weekend action. Read his full preview here and set your team line-up!

Must-have player: Sergio Aguero, Tier 1 forward

Last week Aguero became the first player to score in each of the opening six games of a Premier League season. He only notched one of Manchester City’s goals in their 8-0 thrashing of Watford, but he deserved more, hitting the woodwork twice.

Worth considering: Raul Jimenez, Tier 2 forward

Wolves are 19th in the table, but they host the only team below them in Watford on Saturday. Raul Jimenez has just two goals so far this season, but had 13 (and seven assists) last year, and could break out this week.

Avoid at all costs: Bernardo Silva, Tier 1 midfielder

Silva was promoted from Tier 2 to Tier 1 following his hat trick against Watford, but he only scored seven goals in 36 appearances last season. There are much better options in this tier, including teammates Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne, and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.

ONE THING THAT WILL DEFINITELY HAPPEN

Manchester United’s defence will get a chasing from Arsenal

Despite spending north of £130 million on defenders this summer, Manchester United’s backline has hardly been watertight. Even a 16-year-old from Rochdale got the better of them in midweek, and while the personnel will be very different for the visit of Arsenal on Monday, you can be sure that they will be in for a difficult night against whoever plays in attack for Arsenal. Alexandre Lacazette won’t be around, but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe will provide a handful enough for the likes of Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof: if United can keep them quiet, that’s half the battle.

– ESPN Premier League fantasy: Sign up now! – VAR in the Premier League: Ultimate guide – When does the transfer window reopen? – Premier League winter break: All you need to know

STATS OF THE WEEKEND

Information provided by ESPN Stats & Information Group

– Liverpool have a 15-game winning streak in the Premier League, tied for second longest in English top-flight history. Only Man City has a longer streak having won 18 in a row in 2017. The Champions League holders have outscored opponents 42-13 during the streak and last dropped points in the league on March 3 vs Everton.

– Chelsea have won all eight of their league meetings against Brighton. A win on Saturday would set the English record for the most wins against an opponent without a loss or draw since the Football League began in 1888.

– Tottenham have won seven of their last eight Premier League home matches against Southampton, losing the other 2-1 in May 2016. Meanwhile, Southampton are looking to win three consecutive away road matches in the top flight for the first time since February 2015, when they had won four in a row.

MAN TO WATCH

Christian Pulisic: Admittedly, Frank Lampard was not involved in Chelsea’s decision to buy Christian Pulisic in January. It’s nevertheless slightly odd that the £58 million signing has only thus far made three starts under Lampard, especially when you would think this is a team that needs all the inspiration it can get. Pulisic stayed on the bench against Liverpool last weekend and started in their 7-1 thrashing of Grimsby Town. But he could play against Brighton on Saturday, and with Callum Hudson-Odoi returning to fitness with a fat new contract in his back pocket, might this be Pulisic’s last big chance for a while to make his case for more regular selection?

OUR BOLD/RECKLESS PREDICTIONS

Sheffield United 1-3 Liverpool: The Reds train should keep on rolling Tottenham 2-2 Southampton: This draw will feel like a loss to Spurs Wolves 1-2 Watford: Hornets will be buzzing after shipping eight to City Aston Villa 1-0 Burnley: Villa will climb out of the relegation zone Bournemouth 1-2 West Ham: In-form Hammers will continue to rise Chelsea 3-2 Brighton: Elusive clean sheets continue for the Blues Crystal Palace 2-1 Norwich City: The Man City win seems a long time ago Everton 1-4 Manchester City: The holders will pile on the Toffees woes Leicester 3-1 Newcastle: No shock to see the Foxes stay in top four Manchester United 1-3 Arsenal: Further proof of United’s poor form

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[junker-town]

Can these 5 disappointing NFL teams still save their season?

Rough starts haven’t faded for the Eagles, Jaguars, Titans, Cowboys, and Falcons. Will they ever?

In 2017, the Jacksonville Jaguars were three minutes away from their first Super Bowl appearance after arguably the best season in franchise history. In 2018, the club brought back nearly every important player from that AFC South championship team — and after Week 8’s loss, the Jaguars are on pace for a return to their 6-10 roots.

Jacksonville isn’t the only NFL team that’s seen its postseason hopes suffer significant casualties over the first half of the year. 2017 contenders like the Falcons, Titans, Eagles, and Vikings would all miss the playoffs if the season ended after Week 8. Some of those teams are in better shape than others, but none can be happy with the way the first eight weeks of the season have played out.

So what’s been the problem ailing these teams whose lofty preseason hopes have been torn apart and left to be reassembled like jigsaw puzzles with varying degrees of difficulty? Let’s take a look at five teams who’ve disappointed to start 2018 and where their postseason chances currently stand — starting with the Jaguars.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Blake Bortles finally played badly enough to get himself benched. He regained his spot atop the depth chart in Week 8, but his inability to tap into the weird, geographically unlocked powers of Bloke Bortles (his London counterpart) leaves the Jags with several questions to answer. Jacksonville has sputtered without a healthy Leonard Fournette. Its scoring has dropped from 25.9 points per game in 2017 to just 16.8 points. Bortles’ 6.4 yards per pass ranks 26th among NFL offenses this fall.

Those flaws have manifested into frustration on the other side of the ball as well. The Jaguars had allowed 14 points per game in a 3-1 start that included a dominant win over the Patriots. They’ve given up more than double that (28.5) in the four-game losing streak that’s followed. While that defense is still capable of playing at a championship level, the lack of support from an overwhelmed offense is leaving that group on the field entirely too long — the Jags rank 27th in the league in time of possession.

Head coach Doug Marrone will have to make an important decision before Week 10. Jacksonville is reportedly not interested in trading for a quarterback like Tyrod Taylor or Eli Manning, but Kessler — who looked entirely competent in Week 7 — could be a legitimate replacement behind center. Can he make a difference for the Jags? Or can this defense overcome the persistent limitations of a haggard offense again in 2018?

Chance of making the postseason: 60%. The Jaguars need 6-7 wins over the back end of a front-loaded schedule to make a repeat performance in the postseason. They’ve got the defense to get there — the question is whether Fournette can return at full strength and Bortles can get out of his own way long enough to meet Jacksonville’s potential.

Philadelphia Eagles

The defending Super Bowl champs got back to .500 by topping the Jags in Great Britain Sunday, but they’re still looking up at Washington in their quest to be the first repeat NFC East champion since 2004. Carson Wentz’s return (and the signing of his old running mate Jordan Matthews) has given the Philadelphia offense a little extra juice, but the club’s resume isn’t especially inspiring; the four teams it has beaten are a combined 9-19 on the season.

The Philly defense has been great in pressure situations — namely when pressed up against their own end zone and on third down — but has struggled to contain big plays, leading to gashing, demoralizing gains:

The Eagles’ offense also has questions to answer, particularly on the ground. Jay Ayaji is done for the season with a torn ACL, putting the fate of the running game on the shoulders of Wendell Smallwood and Corey Clement. With Jason Peters and Lane Johnson both struggling with injuries this season, that could be a major weakness that prevents the team from salting away the clock late in games where Philadelphia has a lead. The team’s 4.0 yards per rush ranks just 24th in the league.

But these are problems that can be overcome by a top-tier quarterback, and that’s what Wentz has looked like through six games of his comeback season.

Chance of making the postseason: 75%. Wentz is back on his pre-injury, MVP-caliber track after recording a 13:2 TD:INT ratio in his six starts this year. The back half of the Eagles’ schedule will give him plenty of opportunities to chop down the NFC East’s other contenders — he’ll see Washington and Dallas twice each and face the hapless Giants once after a Week 9 bye. Wentz hasn’t lost to any of those teams since 2016.

Atlanta Falcons

The Falcons have a pretty good excuse for their 3-4 start — they’ve gotten absolutely destroyed by season-ending injuries. A quick look at the team’s IR suggests Mercedes-Benz Stadium was built upon the ruins of a haunted mansion which, in turn, had been constructed atop a sacred burial ground. And the rest of Atlanta is just a giant hellmouth we don’t like to talk about.

Both the team’s starting guards are done for the season. So is the hard-hitting safety tandem of Ricardo Allen and Keanu Neal. Pro Bowl linebacker Deion Jones and starting tailback Devonta Freeman are both likely out until 2019.

These losses have decimated a defense that’s giving up more than 30 points per game. While Matt Ryan has maximized his contributions from Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley to overcome some of those lapses, it hasn’t been enough over the course of a rough early schedule. The good news is the team has started to regress back towards the mean after a 1-4 start. The bad news the Falcon defense gave up 943 total yards the past two weeks in wins over unimpressive Buccaneer and Giants teams.

Chance of making the postseason: 30%. The NFC South is still brutal, and five of the team’s final nine games are against current playoff contenders. Ryan is going to have to win at least two-thirds of those games, all of which appear destined to be shootouts. The former MVP is capable of raising his team’s level of play to get there — but that’s still a tremendously difficult path.

Tennessee Titans

After one quarter of the season, the Titans were 3-1 and had wins over the Jaguars, Eagles, and Texans under their belts. Hitches in their offense were explained away by a minor Marcus Mariota malady, and a swarming defense had proven itself capable of picking up any slack the offense left behind.

But then Tennessee scored 31 total points in its next three games, and now sit a game-and-a-half behind Houston in the AFC South. The Titans’ losing streak includes a loss to the Bills (don’t lose to the Bills) and a shutout against the Ravens where they managed just 106 yards of total offense. Mariota, one year after a 13:15 TD:INT ratio, has thrown 3 touchdowns on 150 passes. At 15.1 points per game, the team is only outscoring hapless Buffalo and Arizona in 2018.

The good news is Mike Vrabel’s defense has stepped up to carry more than its share of the load. Logan Ryan, Kevin Byard, and Adoree Jackson have been good enough to paper over Malcolm Butler’s disappointing first year in Nashville, and that’s bolstered a unit that’s allowed fewer big plays than all but one team in the league. Tennessee is only allowing 18.1 points per game, but the NFL’s least-explosive offense hasn’t been able to turn that into wins the past three weeks.

Chance of making the postseason: 30%. The Texans have gone from 0-3 to legitimate contender. The Jaguars are lurking a half-game behind the Titans and have the more talented roster on paper. But Tennessee has a relatively weak final nine games to finish the year, with only three opponents on their schedule who are currently in the playoff picture.

The Titans shouldn’t be as bad as they’ve been over the past month; at some point, all the upgrades the team has made in the draft and in free agency will pay off. They’ll need a healthy Mariota to break out of his now seasons-long slump to get there, though — and that doesn’t seem like a safe bet based on his early 2018 returns.

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys were the NFC’s top team in 2016, then backslid to 9-7 in 2017. But Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott were coming back for ‘18 as was the heart of a aging offensive line and many of the important members of a defense that ranked eighth in yards allowed last season.

But while Elliott has looked like the league’s most devastating tailback in stretches and Prescott has wrung as much as humanly possible from an underwhelming group of receivers and tight ends, Dallas is still languishing at 3-4. Jerry Jones’ team has alternated losses and wins, and with the exception of a 40-7 thrashing of the Jaguars, has failed to look threatening or explosive in 2018.

That’s wasted the efforts of an up-to-the-task defense. The Cowboys have been one of the league’s best defensive teams this fall, especially when it comes to shutting down opponents’ home run threats downfield.

Help is on the way, courtesy of a swap that sent a first-round pick to Oakland in exchange for 24-year-old, two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Amari Cooper. Cooper gives the team the No. 1 wideout it’s been missing, but he’ll have to prove he can return to his 2016 form — and not the 2017 version that caught fewer than four passes per game — to boost Dallas’s uneven offense.

Chance of making the postseason: 50%. The NFC East is weird, and getting Prescott some real relief in the form of Cooper could be a difference maker. But Washington keeps hanging around at the top of the division, and the Eagles have a legit MVP candidate behind center. The rest of 2018 could reward Jerry Jones’ decision to push his chips into the middle for a playoff push. Or it could see the Cowboys fall flat on their faces. Either one seems equally likely.

[chlostertalks]

Thoughts on the Current State of the Union

I love this country. It's the only one I've ever known. It's the only one where I have lived.

But what is happening is scary as hell.

Being that politics is a sensitive subject, I tried staying silent on the matter. This silence is no longer feasible as a person or as an aspiring journalist.

Plus, my blog features well-thought-out posts--why not one on the current state of the union? I made it my job to educate people on things I like--might as well educate people on things that have boggled my mind lately.

Years from now, I want someone to read this in my archives. Decades from now, I want my children to read it. The history books and Oscar-winning films may dilute the raw emotion stemming from the first month of 2017; this post is meant to provoke thought on a number of unfortunate possibilities.

What a time to be in media

Yesterday, I went to a South Florida Black Journalists Association career fair. Talent, writers, and producers from local news stations and newspaper outlets spoke to 270 aspiring journalists, many of whom are still in college. Keynote speaker Calvin Hughes of ABC affiliate Local 10 (WPLG) had notable things to say as a member of the media during an uncertain time in the United States, especially when the President and his staff considers the media part of the opposition and full of "fake news" and "alternative facts."

Alternative facts. Fake news. This is equivalent to pouting in elementary school. What is an alternative fact anyway?

"We cannot live in a factless world," Hughes said. "It's our job to discover. It's our job to search….It's our job to be a servant of the truth."

It reminded me of what Denzel Washington told a group of reporters during the Hollywood screening for Fences:

In fact, Hughes continued on the  notion: "We should be in a rush to get it right, because when you get it wrong, it impacts all [in media, even the competing stations]….All of our destinies are intertwined."

Hughes also touched on the "lynch mob mentality" of the Internet, meaning that the mass attacking of dissenting thought is not a new concept; rather, it's on a new platform. On the other hand, Hughes pointed out the hypocrisy of seeing the media as an opposition: "You have people who don't like us, but….depend on us."

"You have people who don't like us, but….depend on us."

The President has such a fragile ego, he must continue to call out those who oppose him when he hears or reads about them from--you guessed it--the media. The President must inform the country of his actions through--wait for it--the media. He consistently shares his thoughts on Twitter, which is a social media platform.

Why does he have a Press Secretary? To interact with the media. 

The media is something he cannot control, and it irritates him to the point where he must showcase extremist power elsewhere.

Hughes asked us to name another profession protected by the Constitution or its Amendments. Exactly.

If we allow the President to overstep the First Amendment or if the President stops at nothing to get what he wants and remain in power while threatening the media industry, America is going to be an extremely frightening place in which to live. Writing and posting may cost careers and lives.

 "Stick to sports!"

When sports figures discuss the political climate of the day, I've seen this quote time and again on Twitter from insecure subscribers who are committed to misunderstanding, but also want to be seen. Few have a problem with art and music reflecting political views, but when sports figures reflect their own views, it’s a problem.

So let me stick to sports to ease your discomfort.

 The President has recently issued an immigration ban on seven nations in the Middle East. This affects athletes like Sir Mo Farah, the Great Britain distance runner and Olympic champion who resides in the United States with his wife and children. If that ban extends to other countries, this may affect your NBA, NFL, and MLB stars. Think of all the European, African, and South American NBA players that are active in the league. Think of all the MLB stars from Central America and the Caribbean. Think of all the NFL stars with Nigerian and Haitian roots.

Many like to see these athletes perform on the court or field, but want them to stay silent on issues off said court or field. They want to control how they view athletes for the sake of keeping their personal views intact.

The President also wants to build a wall along the southern border of the States to block Mexican and Central American immigration. This is the same Mexico that recently hosted a Monday Night Football game between the Houston Texans and Oakland Raiders in an effort for the NFL to be more global and inclusive.

Will the NFL lose an opportunity to generate more revenue if a wall is built? Yes. However, they will also lose the opportunity to connect with Mexican fans and improve upon relations with Mexican-American fans, who have a large presence in Texas and California.

Speaking of Mexican-American fans, among fans from other Hispanic countries, what happens to Noche Latina in the NBA? What happens to the NFL's implementation to foster a culture of diversity and inclusion in league offices? Do these things fall apart because the President, who sits in one of the most influential seats on earth, is encouraging the opposite?

Building the wall doesn't just block Mexico. It either blocks Central America, or gives immigrants from Mexico and Central America the options to head for cities like New Orleans and Miami. Is it feasible to build a wall across the Gulf of Mexico? What about the industries that thrive in port cities? What about airports? Think of all the families that may be split, the potential hypocrisy that Miami is the "Gateway to the Americas," the businesses that hire immigrants to work in the States, etc.

Think also of Canada, home to an NBA franchise and many NHL teams, for example. Canada could easily shut its borders if the United States get too reckless. With lopsided leagues, it will be hard to complete seasons. This could lead to championships that never happened, a loss of revenue, and cut hours or jobs for the people who work for these teams, from concessions and ushers to managers. Broadcasting networks will have to search elsewhere to fill in programming space. It's a ripple effect.

But America still wants to host an Olympics in 2024, right? But we're all supposed to come together to cheer on Team USA for the Winter and Summer Games and the World Cup, right?

Does America really want to pull an East Germany by building a wall, yet host an Olympics (AND WELCOME ATHLETES FROM COUNTRIES LIKE MEXICO AND IRAQ) like West Germany in 1972? The current President will be gone by 2024, the year that Los Angeles wants to host, but if his mentality echoes into 2024, and if California chooses not to secede, will the United States ban Mexican and Iraqi athletes from competing? Will the States ban certain athletes based on religious beliefs? 

The "stick to sports" mentality does not consider the business implications politics means for the sports they so desperately follow. Sports is a business that has a long-standing relationship with the media. It may not be what the average viewer sees every day, but these are organizations with objectives and goals that appeal to citizens and non-citizens alike.

"You're overreacting!"

These are things to think about. One should not practice critical thinking once a problem arises. We must consider the risk of the current actions of the day, and figure out how we make the values America claims to stand for be the values America actually stands for and actually wants to stand for.

Those that were tolerant of America standing for values of racism and xenophobia, among other things, put our current President into office as a result of a common fear and commitment to misunderstanding opposing views. What has happened in the past week is a manifestation of that fear. If the President continues to lose support, many who voted for him will say otherwise, but may not necessarily admit to the common fear that they may carry into the future.

  To drive it home....

Whether we admit it or not, this is a turbulent time for America. To paraphrase Calvin Hughes, it impacts us all.

[nxjacbbnc-blog]

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[footballghana]

Kwame Bonsu among five African based players that are ready for the European market

Their prized assets have become easy targets for European clubs to pounce on, and with no end to the crisis in sight, a player exodus looms.

Here are five players playing in Africa who are ready for a move to Europe.

Jackson Muleka 

Age: 20

Club: TP Mazembe

When Jackson Muleka stepped up to take the penalty against Raja in the second leg of the CAF Champions League quarterfinals, one he would subsequently miss, it was a tragic end to a fantastic campaign. His 7 goals had propelled his team to the latter rounds of the competition, composing 58% of TP Mazembe’s goals in the tournament.

A young, lethal fox in the box, Muleka’s services are in high demand, with both Al-Ahly and newly promoted RC Lens eyeing him to beef up their attack. The Congolese striker’s small frame hides an explosiveness and upper body strength that can destabilize defenders 10 years his senior, and at just 20 years old, it’s only a matter of time before he gets a move abroad.

An academy product of TP Mazembe, he reminds the Lumumbashi faithful of Mbwana Samatta, who terrorized defences before leaving for Genk in 2016. Muleka has smashed Samatta’s goal record in two fewer seasons, hitting 60 goals in the last 24 months.

Austin Oladapo

Age: 24

Club: Enyimba International FC

Since joining from Gombe United on a free transfer in 2017, Austin Oladapo has emerged as a key performer on the right side of Enyimba’s midfield trio. He is adept at drifting in between the lines, winning fouls, and advancing possession, and his 3.9 accurate long passes per game rank him amongst fourth amongst midfielders in Nigeria’s first division.

Oladapo is the only other midfielder who has made the Nigerian Professional Football League Team of the Week on multiple occasions this season, the other being his teammate Stanley Dimgba. He is a restless worker who has a penchant for scoring a belter, as evidenced from his three goals this season.

Amongst Oladapo’s 5 goals in the league this season, all have come from outside the box. He is the most versatile midfielder in manager Fatai Osho’s machine; while he complements Cyril Olisema’s vision and Farouk Mohammed’s tackling, he also combines the former’s passing range and the latter’s tenacity.

Badredinne Souyad

Age: 25

Club: JS Kabylie

Despite being eliminated in the CAF Champions League group stage, JSK Kabylie’s Badredinne Souyad made a name for himself as a padlock in the heart of defense, impressing both at center back and defensive midfielder. The Algerian averaged the most interceptions per game in the group stage with 3.0, whilst ranking seventh in clearances per game with 5.0. When things get ugly, he’s up to the task to put out the danger, but he doesn’t overdo it — he has never picked up a sending-off during his time in Tizi Ouzou.

He has featured in all but four games for the Canaries, an ever-present in defense. He isn’t all brawn though; he can spread the ball with pinpoint long balls and manifests his impeccable timing to make game-changing interceptions and tackles. As the reigning AFCON champions look to strengthen their side ahead of World Cup qualifications, Souyad could win a starting spot in the Desert Foxes’s defense next to Aïssa Mandi.

Kwame Bonsu

Age: 25

Club: Espérance Sportive de Tunis

Following in the footsteps of his compatriots Michael Essien and Thomas Partey, Kwame Bonsu has built a reputation for himself as Ghana’s next top midfield star. He left his homeland at 18 years old for Sweden, where he would bounce from FC Rosengård to Mjällby AIF to Gefle IF, before returning home in 2018.

He departed Ghana last year for Tunisian side Espérance Sportive de Tunis, where he has since made a name for himself as one of the top midfielders in West Africa.

Bonsu is a press-resistant player who can shrug off opponents with his trademark upper body feints and turns, and his assured approach in winning physical duels makes him a player who can play a supporting role for the Black Stars in the coming years. While he needs to improve his passing to get his second international call-up, Bonsu is a promising player who is banging the drum for another move to Europe.

5. Abdelraouf Benguit

Age: 24

Club: Espérance Sportive de Tunis

A versatile performer who has turned into a key player for Espérance, Abdelraouf Benguit can play as a defensive midfielder, central midfielder and right back. In the CAF Super Cup loss to Zamalek, he ruled the roost from midfield, while also drifting to right back to keep things ticking in possession. He is Algeria’s answer to Joshua Kimmich, a superb passer who can do a job in midfield or on the right side of defense.

He is rarely dribbled past and is adept at winning fouls, suffering 1.7 fouls per fixture, and according to SofaScore, Benguit was statistically the third best player in the CAF Champions League in 2019/20.

By: Tosin Holmes for breakingthelines.com

source: https://footballghana.com/

[soccernetghana]

Kwame Bonsu among five African based players that are ready for the European market

Their prized assets have become easy targets for European clubs to pounce on, and with no end to the crisis in sight, a player exodus looms. Here are five players playing in Africa who are ready for a move to Europe.

Jackson Muleka 

Age: 20

Club: TP Mazembe

When Jackson Muleka stepped up to take the penalty against Raja in the second leg of the CAF Champions League quarterfinals, one he would subsequently miss, it was a tragic end to a fantastic campaign. His 7 goals had propelled his team to the latter rounds of the competition, composing 58% of TP Mazembe’s goals in the tournament.

A young, lethal fox in the box, Muleka’s services are in high demand, with both Al-Ahly and newly promoted RC Lens eyeing him to beef up their attack. The Congolese striker’s small frame hides an explosiveness and upper body strength that can destabilize defenders 10 years his senior, and at just 20 years old, it’s only a matter of time before he gets a move abroad.

An academy product of TP Mazembe, he reminds the Lumumbashi faithful of Mbwana Samatta, who terrorized defences before leaving for Genk in 2016. Muleka has smashed Samatta’s goal record in two fewer seasons, hitting 60 goals in the last 24 months.

Austin Oladapo

Age: 24

Club: Enyimba International FC

Since joining from Gombe United on a free transfer in 2017, Austin Oladapo has emerged as a key performer on the right side of Enyimba’s midfield trio. He is adept at drifting in between the lines, winning fouls, and advancing possession, and his 3.9 accurate long passes per game rank him amongst fourth amongst midfielders in Nigeria’s first division.

Oladapo is the only other midfielder who has made the Nigerian Professional Football League Team of the Week on multiple occasions this season, the other being his teammate Stanley Dimgba. He is a restless worker who has a penchant for scoring a belter, as evidenced from his three goals this season.

Amongst Oladapo’s 5 goals in the league this season, all have come from outside the box. He is the most versatile midfielder in manager Fatai Osho’s machine; while he complements Cyril Olisema’s vision and Farouk Mohammed’s tackling, he also combines the former’s passing range and the latter’s tenacity.

Badredinne Souyad

Age: 25

Club: JS Kabylie

Despite being eliminated in the CAF Champions League group stage, JSK Kabylie’s Badredinne Souyad made a name for himself as a padlock in the heart of defense, impressing both at center back and defensive midfielder. The Algerian averaged the most interceptions per game in the group stage with 3.0, whilst ranking seventh in clearances per game with 5.0. When things get ugly, he’s up to the task to put out the danger, but he doesn’t overdo it — he has never picked up a sending-off during his time in Tizi Ouzou.

He has featured in all but four games for the Canaries, an ever-present in defense. He isn’t all brawn though; he can spread the ball with pinpoint long balls and manifests his impeccable timing to make game-changing interceptions and tackles. As the reigning AFCON champions look to strengthen their side ahead of World Cup qualifications, Souyad could win a starting spot in the Desert Foxes’s defense next to Aïssa Mandi.

Kwame Bonsu

Age: 25

Club: Espérance Sportive de Tunis

Following in the footsteps of his compatriots Michael Essien and Thomas Partey, Kwame Bonsu has built a reputation for himself as Ghana’s next top midfield star. He left his homeland at 18 years old for Sweden, where he would bounce from FC Rosengård to Mjällby AIF to Gefle IF, before returning home in 2018.

He departed Ghana last year for Tunisian side Espérance Sportive de Tunis, where he has since made a name for himself as one of the top midfielders in West Africa.

Bonsu is a press-resistant player who can shrug off opponents with his trademark upper body feints and turns, and his assured approach in winning physical duels makes him a player who can play a supporting role for the Black Stars in the coming years. While he needs to improve his passing to get his second international call-up, Bonsu is a promising player who is banging the drum for another move to Europe.

5. Abdelraouf Benguit

Age: 24

Club: Espérance Sportive de Tunis

A versatile performer who has turned into a key player for Espérance, Abdelraouf Benguit can play as a defensive midfielder, central midfielder and right back. In the CAF Super Cup loss to Zamalek, he ruled the roost from midfield, while also drifting to right back to keep things ticking in possession. He is Algeria’s answer to Joshua Kimmich, a superb passer who can do a job in midfield or on the right side of defense.

He is rarely dribbled past and is adept at winning fouls, suffering 1.7 fouls per fixture, and according to SofaScore, Benguit was statistically the third best player in the CAF Champions League in 2019/20.

By: Tosin Holmes for breakingthelines.com

source: https://ghanasoccernet.com/

[hellofastestnewsfan]

MADRID—On a recent Sunday, a compact huddle of about 100 principally middle-aged men and women slowly advanced onto Puerta del Sol square here in the Spanish capital. A canopy of pale pink and blue balloons swayed above them like a roving baby shower, the theme song from Pirates of the Caribbean blaring from speakers nearby. A man carrying a megaphone led a chant, “Feminism doesn’t represent me.”

The “March for Femininity,” as the demonstration was called, was a counterprotest to an enormous International Women’s Day rally held two days prior, a historic affair that saw hundreds of thousands of women throughout Spain stream down their cities’ major avenues to demand the application and expansion of anti-gender-violence laws. That day, headlines hailed feminism in Spain as a force to be reckoned with. Nearly 65 percent of college-age women here embrace the label and, it follows, form a potent voting bloc for national elections being held this weekend. Politicians on both sides of the aisle have fallen at their feet, trying to lay claim to “real” feminism, whether that has meant touting gender-neutral speech or championing women-friendly economic policies.

The smaller march that followed, however, was decidedly not courting the feminist vote. In a gravelly voice, a small woman introduced as a dissident of gender ideology—the expression is used by the global far right to designate advances in women’s and LGBTQ rights—declared that it was in fact men who were being discriminated against under the law. The crowd responded with thunderous applause. The sexes were being pitted against each other, and the only way to restore the balance, the speaker said, was by voting against feminist legislation.

Only one party in Spain is currently making that argument, and the speaker at the rally, Alicia Rubio, helps run its get-out-the-vote efforts. That party is Vox.

[Read: How Spain misunderstood the Catalan independence movement]

Vox—the word is Latin for “voice”—was founded in 2013 by a handful of conservative politicians who’d grown disenchanted with the People’s Party, the traditional right-wing bloc in Spain, for not adopting more hard-line stances against secessionists and progressive legislation passed under the former Socialist government. But it burst into Spain’s national consciousness only late last year, when it campaigned and won 12 seats in the regional legislature in Andalusia, in southern Spain, the first time any of its candidates had been elected to office. The party’s shocking ascent to power was, at first, ascribed to its stance against separatism in the northern Spanish region of Catalonia—Vox called the country’s dominant parties soft on separatists and campaigned on a “Spain first” ticket.

In many ways, its rise mirrors advances made by populist and far-right parties across Europe. A decade of slow economic growth, dislocations caused by the global financial crisis, and the vast wave of migration that has hit Europe in recent years have fueled disenchantment with traditional political groupings across the region. Spain had, for a time, been a rare exception to that shift. And in a way, that remains the case: Whereas most of the continent’s populist parties want to either gut the EU or leave it altogether, Vox’s focus is different. While blatant anti-feminist rhetoric is often employed by political parties in eastern Europe, such efforts are markedly less frequent in the west of the continent. That was, of course, until Vox announced its first legislative push in Andalusia—to demand that the region’s gender-violence law be scrapped.

According to official figures, 992 women in Spain have been murdered by a partner or former partner since 2003. Though the term femicide—instances of women killed by men on account of their gender—wasn’t included in Spanish dictionaries until 2014, violence against women came into brutal focus with the murder of Ana Orantes in 1997, a woman from Granada who shocked the public, first when she spoke on an evening TV program about the abuse she suffered at her ex-husband’s hands for 40 years, and 13 days later, when her ex set her ablaze. Newspapers began tracking gender-based murders around 2000. In 2003, the government created its own registry, logging the number of women killed by partners or former partners. An independent study that includes femicides committed by men with no prior relationship with their victims estimates that the number is actually closer to 2,000. These figures, and numerous petitions by feminist organizations, prompted the national government to pass a historic anti-gender-violence law in 2004, allocating funds to support victims of abuse and calling for the creation of specific gender-violence courts. In late 2017, Spain’s parliament unanimously passed a series of measures designed to bulk up the original law. Even the People’s Party, which in 2013 threatened to roll back abortion rights, was on board.

Vox is the first party to challenge the consensus, claiming the law allows and emboldens women to falsely accuse men. In a 100-point program unveiled in October, as it was campaigning ahead of Andalusia’s elections, the party called for the repeal of anti-gender-violence laws, to be replaced with legislation providing “equal protection” for men, women, children, and the elderly in cases of domestic violence and the removal of abortion from government-funded health services.

[Read: The new authoritarians are waging war on women]

The party also espouses what Sílvia Claveria, a politics professor at Carlos III University in Madrid, described to me as “modern sexism”: It advocates longer maternity leave and encourages women to be proud mothers, but once women want to separate from or divorce their partners, it shifts positions to take the man’s side. According to Manuela Carmena, the mayor of Madrid and a politician known for her efforts to promote women’s rights, Vox has sought to benefit from “the frustration and confusion of many men who feel displaced by the growing role of women in society.”

That strategy is apparent in remarks from Vox’s leadership. In a televised interview in January, the party’s president, Santiago Abascal, claimed that 87 percent of gender-violence accusations had been dropped because there was no evidence that the accused had committed a crime. (In fact, only 0.01 percent of gender-violence accusations are deemed false, according to data compiled by the office of Spain’s attorney general. The Barcelona-based lawyer Júlia Humet told me that some are indeed withdrawn or dropped, but frequently this is due to the cycle of violence itself: Women often give their abusers another chance out of a sense of love or loyalty, Humet said, or because they’re pressured to do so.) Vox’s leader in Andalusia, Francisco Serrano, a former judge who was suspended from his post in 2011 for changing a child’s custody agreement to benefit the father, has claimed that “a real genocide is under way,” of men attempting or committing suicide over false accusations.

The debate surrounding false accusations in particular has become a focal point in Spain’s culture wars in the wake of a high-profile case in which a woman accused five men of gang-raping her at Pamplona’s world-famous Running of the Bulls festival. When the men were acquitted of rape and found guilty of a lesser crime last spring, women throughout Spain took to the streets in what was considered the country’s #MeToo moment. Last summer, as the movement gained momentum, a self-proclaimed feminist government took office and promised to revise rape laws and make gender equality one of its top priorities.

That soon sparked a backlash, with several thousand men denouncing on social media and the Spanish version of 4Chan, ForoCoches, what they saw as doing away with the presumption of innocence. In February, a purple bus inscribed with the slogan “#StopFeminazis” beneath an image of Hitler wearing pink lipstick could be seen driven around Barcelona. The organization that chartered the bus, Hazte Oír (“Make Yourself Heard”), is calling on Spain’s biggest right-wing parties, including Vox, to repeal the gender-violence law. Vox has tapped into this macho reaction and doubled down on its anti-feminism.

Such platforms are more often seen in eastern Europe than in western Europe, Ruth Wodak, a linguistics professor at Lancaster University and the University of Vienna who focuses on right-wing populist rhetoric, told me. France’s Marine Le Pen, shy of calling herself a feminist, has come out to defend “women’s rights” (though she did so largely to prop up her anti-immigration policies). The Dutch and Scandinavian far right has “more progressive gender politics,” Wodak says. These are mainly manifested in an apparent embrace of LGBTQ rights, though this too is often at the expense of immigrants: In 2015, Sweden’s far-right party staged an unofficial gay-rights parade in a predominantly Muslim neighborhood. In Italy, Matteo Salvini, the country’s interior minister and leader of the League party, has said that abortion and “equal rights between men and women” were not up for debate.

[Read: The politics of a long-dead dictator still haunt Spain]

In that sense, Vox looks more like an eastern European party. Its policies look strikingly similar to those of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who recently announced measures to help mothers by rewarding those who have multiple children with tax cuts and financial subsidies. Wodak attributes the parallels to Spain’s more recent departure from fascism than its Western European neighbors.

Polls peg support for Vox at about 10 percent nationwide. At that level, it could play a kingmaker role and, some worry, be invited into government. According to available polling data, the average Vox voter is a man age 35 to 44, though Vox youth groups are picking up younger supporters too.

In approximately 20 interviews with young Vox affiliates and sympathizers, almost every person I spoke to started out talking about Spanish unity when I asked what had brought them to the party. But the second I asked about Vox’s gender policies, I was told, without fail (by both men and women), that they agreed 100 percent with the party line. At a recent party rally in Barcelona, I spoke to Enrique Lopez, an 18-year-old originally from Málaga, on the southern coast. Lopez, who wore a Spanish flag draped around his shoulders, superhero-cape style, said the party’s gender policies were as important to him as its unionist stance. “Women don’t need their own special law,” he told me. “Violence doesn’t have a gender.”

from The Atlantic http://bit.ly/2VnEnyk

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Rantanen, Aho, Burns, Barzal, Drouin, and Tampa’s Nuclear Option (Oct. 27)

Sebastien Aho. James Guillory / USA Today Sports Images

  I’d like to take a moment to congratulate a couple of the Dobber boys. First, to Steve Laidlaw. Stevie has been editing my work and managing this site for years. His work has always spoken for itself. He’s been a tremendous leader and content creator. His presence on the site will be sorely missed. We wish you all the best, pal.

  Secondly, to Ian Gooding. Ian has been equally instrumental in my early work not showing up with a few dozen errors. He’s been churning out top-notch ramblings for years and will be terrific in his new role as Managing Editor.

  **

  It’s not too often that a team plays a must-win game in October, but that’s exactly what the Colorado Avalanche faced on Friday evening. Their playoff lives weren’t on the line. They weren’t looking to end a lengthy slide to save some jobs. They weren’t looking to exact revenge on the team that beat them in a seven-game Cup final the spring before.

  No, they were playing the Ottawa Senators. As we all know, the Avs own the Senators’ top pick in the 2019 draft. A pick many forecasted to provide tasty odds to snag a Jack Hughes or Kaapo Kakko. Surprisingly, the Sens are off to a reasonable start. And that simply won’t do for Colorado fans and those who love to pile on the Sens for inept ownership and management.

  It was the Sens who came out rolling first though. Ryan Dzingel popped an early tally. Thomas Chabot and Chris Tierney with the assists. Tierney just continues to roll on with his new squad. He’s up to 10 points in nine games. He’s seeing 2:18 on the man-advantage and is already halfway to matching his career-high for PPPs with four on the year. 

  Keep him on the roster while the heater lasts. He’s definitely tracking for some career-highs with this early action and improved deployment.

  Chabot isn’t doing too poorly either as the Karlsson replacement. Three goals and 11 points in nine contests for the 21-year-old. Over three minutes on the top power-play unit, but it’s his five-on-five production that’s the most impressive. Nine of his 11 points have come at evens.

  We saw the potential in junior. It’s manifesting itself into NHL production now.

  **

  In the end, it was the Avalanche who took over. They scored five unanswered goals to take the game 6-3. It’s a big surprise where the offense came from too. Gabriel Landeskog and Nate MacKinnon each had a goal and two assists, while Mikko Rantanen chipped in with a goal and three helpers.

  That places Rantanen as your new league leader in points (20) and assists (15). MacKinnon sits second (18) and Landeskog (15) is tied for fifth. 

  https://dobberhockey.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/10/Avs.mp4

  That line is giving the Boston trio a serious run as the best line in hockey.

  **

  We had a rare non-weekend 3:00 pm PST start time on Friday as the Lightning and Golden Knights faced off in the desert.

  Tyler Johnson got things rolling quickly with an unassisted tally just three minutes in. It was his first point in five games. Johnson had a hat trick and a two-assist game early but had been icy in every other contest. Not exactly the model of consistency. This despite the fact he’d been lining up next to Kucherov for the last little while.

  Shea Theodore evened things up a couple of minutes later when he blasted home a one-timer. It’s the first of the year for the talented blueliner. And just his second point in 10 games to go along with a minus-9 rating. Not the type of production many were hoping for from the QB on Vegas’ top power play.

  Theodore has been shooting the puck a good deal which should hopefully be indicative of some further production coming soon. He put five shots on net on Friday evening and has averaged 3.83 over the last six contests. 

  **

  TBay has been tossing Stamkos-Point-Kucherov on after a penalty kill lately. It’s as insane as you might expect. It took all of 30-seconds to produce a Point tally assisted by the other two.

  https://dobberhockey.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/10/TBay.mp4

  Loading up big lines is usually frowned upon in this league. It leaves most teams exposed to a lack of depth and easy matchup games for opposition coaches. But this is something I’d like to see more from Jon Cooper. Call it the nuclear option if you like, but god damn that’s a line that could threaten the Boston and Colorado units as the best on the planet.

  William Karlsson made it close with his third of the year but the Bolts held on for a 3-2 victory. Vegas slips to 4-5-1 on the season. That’s the second-worst point percentage in the Pacific division.

  The good fortune bender of 2017-18 is officially over.

  **

  A couple of lengthy point streaks were extending in the San Jose – Carolina game. Sebastian Aho extended his season-long point streak to 10 games and 15 points. That total lands him in a tie for fifth in NHL scoring. 

  Aho is driving the bus in Carolina. He’s sporting a Corsi rating of 64% in all situations, playing 19 minutes a game, and rocking a 4.87 points-per-60 output. He’s on a heater, no doubt. But this is a player capable of sustaining a point-per-game over the long haul.

  **

  Brent Burns grabbed a couple of early assists to extend his point streak to seven games and 12 points. He’s seeing nearly a minute less of even-strength ice compared to last season, but his production hasn’t given it away. 

  Meanwhile, Timo Meier continued his strong third season. The Swiss winger tallied a goal to extend his streak to seven games and eight points. I was championing Meier as a breakout candidate this offseason and he’s making me look smart.

  Through 10 games, the recently turned 22-year-old has six goals and nine points. He’s been a terror around the net – similar to how he spent his one season in Halifax. While he’s not getting top power play minutes, he is seeing top-line even-strength minutes and that means prolonged exposure to either Burns or Karlsson virtually every time he’s on the ice at five-on-five.

  This kid is for real.

  **

  The Canes rallied from down 2-0 and 3-1 to take the game 4-3 in a shootout. That pushes Carolina to the top of the Metropolitan division. They’ve done it with a combination of Petr Mrazek and Curtis McElhinney in net.

  Decent.

  **

  Mat Barzal has seven shots in eight games to start his season. Over the years, we’ve become accustomed to a few elite distributors who are allergic to putting pucks on net. Joe Thornton and Henrik Sedin being the most recent examples. But even those two would manage to flirt with two shots per game in their hay days.

  Barzal manage to put up 2.1 as a rookie a season ago. But this year you can’t pay him to rip the biscuit. Many expected this year to be challenging for the 21-year-old. He lost his insulation. His leader, captain and one of the best power play producers in the world. He’s the guy now.

  The hope was he’d be able to come close to replicating his production as a sophomore. Finding the back of the net a few more times would go a long way in climbing that mountain. While we’re just 10 percent through the season, he’s on pace to join a rare group of front-line centres who failed to hit triple digit shots on goal in a season.

  In the last 30 years, we’ve seen it happen just six times.

  2000-01 – Adam Oates 72 shots in 81 games (13+69)

2016-17 – Joe Thornton 81 shots in 79 games (7+43)

1998-99 – Igor Larionov 83 shots in 75 games (14+49)

1999-00 – Adam Oates 93 shots in 82 games (15+56)

2014-15 – Mike Ribeiro 96 shots in 82 games (14+47)

2016-17 – Henrik Sedin 99 shots in 82 games (15+35)

  There’s plenty of time for Barzal to start firing the puck more, and he’s still clicking at a point-per-game early on. But owners should be watching those SOG totals. Barzal will need to be the offensive leader on this team, and keeping defense schemes honest with the threat of a shot will go a long way in that.

  **

  I had a request to dig into Jonathan Drouin’s early success. As a man of the people, I’m happy to oblige.

  We know the story: Drouin was as high-flying as you could ask for coming out of junior. He was tapped third overall on draft day and carried the hype of a future superstar. Fast-forward five years and he hasn’t come close to meeting his expectations.

  So far in 2018-19, the 23-year-old has three goals and seven points in nine games. He went scoreless in his first three contests before ending a five-game point streak on Thursday night. But is this a sign of things to come in Montreal?

  Some stats of note: 71 percent of production has come on the man-advantage. He’s converting on 15.8 percent of his shots while barely putting two on net per game. His career average before this year was 10.7 percent.  He’s receiving 4:26 per game on the power play which is great, but the even-strength production is a concern.

  It’s not unreasonable to expect a player with his deployment and skill set to continue to play at a 0.7 point-per-game pace. Id’ say that’s the high-water mark for realistic expectations this season.

  **

  Watch out for Jaro Halak in Boston. The former starting netminder may have eyes for the full-time crease job with the Bruins with his and Rask's early season play. 

  Here's a look at the stats: 

  Tuuka Rask: 3-2-0 0.901 SV% 3.38 GAA

Jaroslav Halak: 3-0-2  0.945 SV% 1.43 GAA

  Bruce Cassidy proved he wouldn't shy away from cutting into Rask's workload when he ran with Anton Khudobin for stretches this year. Halak could prove to be one of the better waiver wire grabs this season. Or not. Who knows with goalies. 

  **

  Thanks for reading and feel free to follow me on Twitter @Hockey_Robinson

    from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/latest/ramblings-rantanen-aho-burns-barzal-drouin-and-tampas-nuclear-option-oct-27/

[sportworldnews-blog]

Europa League: Bickel gets angry about envy in Austrian football

Check out https://sportworld.news/europa-league/europa-league-bickel-gets-angry-about-envy-in-austrian-football/

Europa League: Bickel gets angry about envy in Austrian football

On Sunday the duel of the last two Austrian clubs remaining in the European Cup will take place in the Bundesliga. Red Bull Salzburg and Rapid will remain in the Europa League until at least December and can do a great service to domestic football if they succeed in the UEFA five-year standings.

This in turn would mean more Austrian clubs in international competitions and later starting dates. Nevertheless, the animosities between the big clubs in Austria are so high that one does not always really indulge each other in European Cup successes – at least this is the opinion of Rapids Managing Director for Sport, Fredy Bickel.

In his home country Switzerland, European Cup representatives would help each other before international matches despite all the rivalry. “Here in Austria this is less the case. You can’t even be really happy when your opponent scores points in the Europa League,” Bickel explained.

He, on the other hand, was pleased about Salzburg’s success in Leipzig on Thursday. “This brings us and the whole Bundesliga something,” said the 53-year-old. Bickel did not want to specify in which areas the resentment particularly manifests itself. “Whether at club or fan level, that goes for everyone a little.”

Rapid celebrated a 2-0 home win over Spartak Moscow at the start of the Europa League group stage, the Salzburg team started with a 3-2 win at RB Leipzig. Austria also scored 2.4 points for the UEFA standings this season, finishing twelfth. The important eleventh place held by the Netherlands is only 0.383 meters away and thus absolutely within reach. It is already highly probable that Austria’s 2019 champions will be in the Champions League group phase thanks to their eleventh place in last year’s final rankings, mainly due to Salzburg’s European League successes.