#semifinals; sfs 2

[sonic-fankid-showdown]

Poll 1, Semi-Finals.

About Roxy: (by @somemismatchedsocks) Roxy is a Blue Mason Bee that is a part of Dr. Eggman Nega’s collection of rare exotics! They were made through an experiment by the doctor to create battle ready Mobians that do not exist yet. They love to fly and love hanging around people, although deaf! They were able to escape the Dr. Eggman Nega’s clutched thanks to team Chaotix and spend their time with them!

About Silhouette: (by @kingprinceleo) From my [Leo's] 1000YB au. Shes a bioengineering project that Shadow wants to discard, a combination of his DNA and DNA he scientifically determined was most compatible with his own, a harvest mouse. Though surrounded by love from other sources, she starts to become bitter and act out at the lack of fatherly love she receives from Shadow. He Created her. why doesnt he want her. why doesnt he love her. Very cute baby tho :] She also has some black arms DNA that causes some of her fingers and toe claws to be larger than others

[alacants]

juanki & ferru: the lore

(or, why i am so abnormal about them.)

they've known each other since they were kids in valencia - juanki played youth tennis with ferru's older brother (who was a junior champion) and later ferru spent a year at the academy

"Even when we were little we played together… we have been friends since we were small."

they're self-described best friends + were joined at the hip on the circuit

tennis club unveils a statue of juanki in his hometown? ferru is there. ferru's family throws him a surprise birthday party? juanki is there. holding clinics. going on retreats. traveling to and from tournaments together. coordinating which tournaments they enter so they can travel to and from tournaments together. ← YES, REALLY.

in ferru's own words, "it's always better with him." ok.

they didn't actually play each other that often - their h2h is 7-2 in ferru's favor. they did famously meet in back to back finals in 2010 - appropriately, juanki won one and ferru won the other. :)

in 2009 juanki was called up to the davis cup team for the first time in 4 years. first he was supposed to be a reserve, then he was supposed to play a dead rubber. then fernando verdasco melted down, the fifth rubber became very live, and he ended up single-handedly saving the day and sending them to the sfs.

so when in the final ferru came back from 1-6 2-6 down to beat radek stepanek he immediately raced over to throw himself in juanki's arms, rip alberto costa who got in the way. then of course he dedicated the win to juanki.

the davis cup is just… a whole thing with both of them. so it's appropriate that now etc.

speaking of tournaments that are a whole thing with both of them. after juanki bought the rights to the valencia open, he invited ferru to share them. true love is (checks notes) co-parenting an atp 500 tournament

so when juanki decided to retire he chose valencia as his last tournament 

he went out in the first round. ferru won the entire tournament in his honor. <- they said it, not me.

immediately after ferru's match winner he ran over to find juanki in the stands for a hug so long i had to split it into two gifs

then he dedicated the title to juanki. ("Este triunfo forma parte de ti, te lo dedico exclusivamente para ti.")

they also entered for doubles and made it all the way to the semifinals despite the fact that they had never played a doubles match together before

after their first doubles match (and surprise win) there was a big farewell ceremony during which ferru gave a speech about how juanki was destined by the stars to play tennis and visibly fought back tears as juanki stared soulfully into his eyes.

they got married three months apart, which could mean nothing

when ferru retired in 2019 juanki wrote him a lengthy open letter about his feelings

and threw him a personal tribute celebration. you know, in addition to his actual retirement ceremony.

specifically he held a day long festival of ferru at the jcf academy that included, in decreasing order of normality:

exhibition match feat. some 16 year old kid named carlos alcaraz

juanki/ferru match

unveiling of Pista David Ferrer, aka the new name of center court (and the start of an academy tradition…)

presentation of a PORTRAIT PAINTING juanki SPECIALLY COMMISSIONED of their valencia 2012 embrace

i can actually barely look at it without getting severe secondhand embarrassment but the academy uploaded like a hundred photos to facebook

to this day when they play each other in legends events ferru is out there saying things like I JUST HOPE I CAN PLAY AS WELL AS YOU <3 never mind the aforementioned 7-2 h2h. this man is down just as bad as carlitos and it's been TWENTY YEARS

meanwhile ferru is constantly dropping by the academy for funsies. and in carlos' box. and at his practice. and that's BEFORE you get to the davis cup. 

in summary: what if the royal spanish tennis federation paid you to co-parent a grand slam winner with your boyfriend <3 that's what we call a happy ending!

[sanji-outfit-polls]

Alright! All the polls for Round 4 are out, which means there's only 2 more rounds to go! Semifinals and finals!! We're going to have to take a couple days off and scatter the polls a bit to let the matches from round 4 finish up, so here's the schedule for the semifinals:

Part 1 SF - Tuesday October 22nd

Part 2 SF - Thursday October 24th

Part 3 SF - Saturday October 26th

And then we'll have to take a break for a week to let the last semifinal poll finish up, so the FINAL three-way match will be on Saturday November 2nd!

[stateofsport211]

Morelos Ch SF: Marc-Andrea Huesler [4] def. Rafael Jodar 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 Match Stats

📸 ATP official website

R. Jodar almost had his moments until near the beginning of the end of the second set with his swift returns, but recognizing the equal range between them, Huesler executed more points well as he injected more pace to some of those along the way, successfully questioning the former's balance until the end of the match. Somehow, as close as it visually appeared to be, the Swiss fourth seed generated 10 break chances across the three sets, converting 30% of them compared to R. Jodar's 25% break point conversion rate.

Interestingly, both players also had different service game strengths throughout this match. Huesler scored 12 aces than R. Jodar's 5, which explained his slight edge from his first serves by winning 79% of his first serve points, 6% more than the latter, as he steadily gained control of the match. However, even if R. Jodar double-faulted thrice, his slight advantage came on his second serves by 1%, winning 52% of his second serve points as he tried to reduce more risks from his margin.

Currently, Huesler faces last week's Morelia Challenger champion Dmitry Popko, who earned a Special Exempt to partake in the event due to his run there, where D. Popko stunned second seed Alexis Galarneau 6-2, 7-5 in the semifinals. As this match depended on how they perform in the last set, their margin and range consistency in general could also factor in who nailed their shot execution under pressure. A neat match to close the week already!

[whothehellisace]

My thoughts on Espresso Macchiato's chances

There's one kind of song folks usually call "televote bait" while some others will say they're "peak Eurovision", but I think those terms are kind of vague, and perhaps even inaccurate. After all, public votes can have to do with several different categories, from voting for a popular singer to supporting a country for political reasons. What I want to compare here, however, are songs which fulfill at least two for the following three criteria:

They're upbeat/"happy" and easy to listen to;

They have "weird" lyrics, either because they're too repetitive or random or because they have an unconventional (and probably simple) message/story;

Their staging is eye-catching and doesn't seem to take itself too seriously.

So, for instance, Dobrodošli is a slow, dramatic song (doesn't meet 1), has serious, emotional lyrics (doesn't meet 2) and I doubt the staging will go completely against the serious nature of the song (won't meet 3). This means that it won't be seen as "televote bait" or direct competition against, say, Laika Party or Kant (which fulfill all 3, even if they aren't that similar otherwise).

I believe Espresso Macchiato's appeal is only about those three things, besides maybe Tommy Cash being a popular artist (although I don't believe I have ever seen someone saying they love his work specifically as I've seen for other artists).

In the first semifinal, besides Estonia, there are:

Sweden (Bara Bara Bastu does fulfill the criteria; Revolution/On and On and On do not; I haven't listened to that other Melfest contender yet)

Ukraine (Bird of Pray does not fulfill the criteria)

Slovenia (does arguably meet #3 at most)

Iceland (does fulfill the criteria)

Poland (I mean… I'd argue Gaja fulfills 2 and 3, but most folks seem to take it seriously as a good song with good staging?)

Portugal (I doubt it, unless Adamastor wins. But I don't think that's likely.)

Netherlands (I'm not familiar with the artist, but since it's an internal selection one year after Joost I doubt it)

Azerbaijan (Based on the videoclip, maybe, because of 1/3? Will depend on their staging)

Albania (no)

San Marino (will depend a lot on who gets chosen)

Belgium (not really)

Cyprus (I doubt it)

Croatia (again, will depend a lot on who gets chosen)

Norway (uh, I dunno, similar to Poland except it meets 1 and maybe 3 but not 2, but idk if others feel the same way)

Which means there's only Iceland in direct competition with Estonia for the "this is fun, why not" vote, for now, although San Marino, Croatia and mayyyybe Sweden are also possible candidates for those. Therefore, I do think it will qualify, even within a strong SF.

Aside from the Netherlands, Croatia and Cyprus which are unknowns (I'm including Croatia here because even though I've listened to the Dora songs, they are very different from each other in terms of style and potential, even among the top 5 in the odds), I think Norway and Azerbaijan have the higher chances of not qualifying. Maybe San Marino, depending on what they send. Klemen (Slovenia) might get a lot of votes for having an emotional song, Zjerm (Albania) and Bird of Pray (Ukraine) stand out for having different styles, Strobe Lights (Belgium) and Gaja (Poland) are not my favorites but a lot of folks seem to like them. Portugal and Sweden tend to always be higher than I think they deserve, so they will probably qualify as well.

The final is an even bigger question mark. Espresso Macchiato may lose votes from other "weird" songs, but only if they get past their own SF. Laika Party (Ireland), Milkshake Man (Australia), Kant (Malta) and Ich Komme (Finland) all fill at least 2 of the criteria I listed. I think Armenia and Montenegro are easy NQs, but they can still surprise us with revamps/staging. Ich Komme and Kant seem to be way too hyped to NQ, but I'm not sure about Milkshake Man and Laika Party. Luxembourg can also go either way depending on a revamp.

Espresso Macchiato had bad vocals in Eesti Laul. If Tommy Cash keeps not finding his notes (and I find it possible for him to do a bad performance on purpose*), I think the "weird but fun song votes" will probably go toward others instead. If San Marino really goes with Tutta L'Italia, even the "known artist outside of the ESC bubble" factor won't be exclusive to Tommy Cash anymore.

That said, I don't think there's any chance of a NQ in the Semi-Final. * Some background: Tommy Cash has stated he'll "avenge" Joost (Netherlands 2024, disqualified) and Käärijä (Finland 2023, #1 on televote but #2 overall). This is weird to me because both of these entries were in very different situations. And then, the song United by Music, clearly mocking the EBU, was released… so I believe there's a real possibility of Tommy Cash going to ESC mainly to cause trouble and not deliver a good performance for Espresso Macchiato at all.

[theshillongtimes]

Paris Olympics: ‘We wanted to play Germany in final’, says Harmanpreet ahead of hockey SF

Paris, Aug 5: After scripting a heroic win against Great Britain in the Quarter-Final of the Paris Olympic Games, a charged-up Indian men’s hockey team led by Harmanpreet Singh will take on a familiar foe in Germany on Tuesday in their quest to ‘change the colour of the medal’, here at the iconic Yves-du-Manoir Stadium.

For India, Harmanpreet (22’) netted a goal, while Lee Morton (27’) was on the scoresheet for the Great Britain as the match ended with score tied at 1-1 in the regular time, thus forcing the game into the shootout, where India converted all their chances and denied their opponents twice to win the match 1-1 (4-2 SO) and make it to the semifinals, where they face world no 2 Germany.

[shiftingparadymes]

The Naturals Default Collection 2 (electric boogaloo)

i haven’t been making defaults for a while now, being a high school student during semifinals is pretty tiring. i'm finally on break though... anyway, here are some more defaults in the naturals collection. creds to deedee sims, simborg, spottedonsixam. they all come directly from the sims 4 (and a huge thank you to @rudhira​ for helping my silly self with these defaults).

uhairdreadlockshort   -: ✧ :-゜・．cu-em (not converted for teen/adult females! those are coming soon tho >:)) cv | sfs | mf mhairdreadlocklong -: ✧ :-゜・．tm-em cv | sfs | mf

  mhairshortspikey  -: ✧ :-゜・．tm-em cv | sfs | mf tou - don’t claim my cc as your own - don’t put my cc on sites like simsdom - don’t put my cc behind a paywall, my cc is free to all - follow the original creators’ tou(s)

[sonic-fankid-showdown]

Poll 2, Semi-finals.

About Maria: (by @6larosie9) Maria was a lab baby made by Eggman as a way to collect and protect the chaos emeralds. He used Sonic and Shadow's DNA so she would be extremely strong and fast, and a very difficult challenge to anyone who tries to get in her way. Maria, Sonic, and Shadow are unaware they're related for the time being. She's a very determined hedgehog, competitive and cocky, and quite loyal to anyone she deems friends or family. Also, she secretly adores the outdoors and nature, but she'd never tell Eggman that.

About Blake: (by @st4rrzyy) A ruthless, apathetic tool in the eyes of Dr. Starline. Created to finish what Surge couldn't, and to prove that Dr. Starline's vision was underestimated by Eggman.

[alacants]

I sometimes wonder when a lot of people on this site started watching Carlos if they aren't alarmed by his results/ mentality/ second serve/ returning/ backhand/ movement right now. That man took the World No. 1 ranking off a very good version of Djokovic in 2023 (and that first half of 2023 was his objective peak in terms of tennis level to date by the way... when he was 19/just-turned-20...) and he's now in real danger of falling into the back half of the top ten if he doesn't perform the easy task of, um, defending the Channel Slam. And so far he's 2-for-2 this year for inexplicable mental crashouts in winnable matches at big tournaments.

It's just really concerning that probably one of the top two most talented men in tennis this century made one single masters semifinal in a year against a very weak field and lost it. And Indian Wells is his best tournament. He'd only ever lost there before to members of the Big Four when he was a teenager. If he can't hold his head together there because he's (as per his press conference) so nervous about playing... er... a semifinal against Jack Draper... what is going to happen everywhere else? We're four months away from the part of the season he doesn't like (most of it, lol) starting again.

I don't want to sound overly critical but like... the fact is that he's not a teen prodigy anymore. He has mental lapses every single match which aren't explained by the fact he's still "young" & the trend is towards them getting worse. He needs to be less complacent and, yeah, probably to start changing his team up. I get that JCF is a comfort blanket for him but it's what any other top player would have done already.

What's he waiting for? An embarrassing loss at a slam he's great at? Already happened. Bad results in masters tournaments for a whole year? Already happened. An avoidable loss in his favorite tournament? Well...

i really enjoy getting asks from the two diametrically opposed halves of my corner of tennisblr, haha. it feels like takes on carlos often come from this perspective of, these are the end times and the only solution is a complete overhaul, or everything's fine, no changes needed! seems hard to acknowledge that something needs to change for carlos to play his best and that change is possible without the nuclear option.

you said it yourself: he won the channel slam (and an olympic medal) last year. the take that the DEFAULT reaction after six months of middling results would be to cut the cord with the same coach who was on the bench for those titles is... extreme. like. i don't think any top player would do that, actually!

and like, to be clear, i've said before that it is very possible (even likely) that someday, maybe someday soon, carlos will need to split with juanki. i just don't understand the haste. literally every player has long stretches of poor play or disappointing results. it happened to federer, it happened to nadal, it happened to djokovic. carlos' "disappointing" stretch has included titles and deep runs. (a major qf is a deep run. a masters sf is a deep run.) he could have an outright disaster of a season this year and still be in ATG contention once he gets back on track. so like... why not wait and see how the next few months go? maybe the solution will be a split. maybe it won't.

[cloudsspoke]

#TODOSJUNTOS World Cup 2022: a review

8 years ago, I wrote a review for WC’14 to remind me that all of my fave teams won the medals; Gold for Germany, Argentina the silver, and the Netherlands got bronze. As for WC’18 I wrote none because of Argentina’s catastrophic result. And now after the La Scaloneta fucking finally became the World Champion I know I have to write how history is being made from my point of view.

And to write better I also know I have to sort out all information that I have before I put it into words. The problem is, tho it has been a week since the most stressful night, my emotion is still fucking raw from what happened, and my head is dizzy thanks to my PMS, but I want to write it soon while my memory is still fresh. So, pardon my messy review.

I start this by telling you what I did an hour before Qatar played their first game against Ecuador. I went to google to know the players who’ll play this year. I wanted to check how many familiar names I know since I am no longer an avid soccer/football fan like I used to be in the past.

For starter, Der Panzer. They still have Neuer, Muller, Kimmich, Gotze, and Gundogan. As for Argentina even though I claim myself as their fan but tbh I really am not familiar with them since their last 2018 squad, so I only know Messi, Dybala, Di Maria, and Otamendi. Netherland: Van Dijk, Depay, De Ligt, and Blind. Spain: Busquets, Morata, Asensio, Dani Carvajal, and Jordi Alba. France: Mbappe, Griezzman, Giroud, Lloris, Dembele, Varane, Pavard, and Coman. Some other familiar players: CR7, Pepe, Suarez, Cavani, Ochoa, Modric, Harry Kane, and Maguire.

And then I also looked out to which games that worth watching because my old body can no longer wake up at 02.00 am to see my fave teams play.

You’d be surprised if I tell you that as far as I can remember I only watched Qatar and England’s 1st game, Spain vs Germany, some Les Blues’ games but I forgot the opponents, Netherlands vs USA (Round of 16), Morocco vs Spain, Netherland vs Argentina (QF), Argentina vs Croatia (SF), and ofc the Final match between Argentina vs France. #shameonme to only watch the last 3 games of Argentina. But I remember that I said this to myself, 

I won't forgive myself if Argentina drops out of the tournament before I have a chance to watch one of their games.

Ironically the first game from La Albiceleste that I finally watched was when they went against the Netherlands. My heart is already torn into pieces because one of them will go home. Before Weghorst tied the game, I was confident for Argentina to face Croatia in Semifinal. But I wasn’t confident if they could beat Croatia since I heard news about just how marvelous Luca Modric’s team was (they brought tears to Neymar ffs!). But after Weghorst forced them to play extra time, my heart shifted direction toward Der Oranje. And so, they gave in to penalty shoot-out. Dibu Martinez blocked not one, but 2 penalty shoot-outs from the Flying Dutchman squad. 

Funny how I wasn’t that sad for the Netherlands maybe because I know they are all still young there’ll be next time.

Next game, Argentina vs Croatia. My only comment was just how lucky Alvarez was to play alongside Messi in this World Cup. Messi’s assist to his 2nd goal was just the absolute best. 

And I was happy that Scaloni finally gave Dybala a chance to play for the first time when he replaced Alvarez 15mins before the game ended. Not only that, but I also read how Scaloni wasn’t afraid to let the young players take part by letting them play.

There was 2 days break before D-day. I used it to watch La Seleccion’s docu-series the one available on Prime. It tells about Argentina’s journey to win Copa America 2021, Finalissima 2022, and their Road to Qatar. By watching that docu I got more insight into this team and learned more about the players.

While watching Argentina I noticed they have Walter Samuel as one of their Assistant Coach. But from the docu, I just realized that they have Pablo Aymar and Roberto Ayala as well. I am familiar with the three of them, but I don’t remember their coach Lionel Scaloni as a player at all.

From the docu I believe we’re all agreed that one of the factors that this team looks pretty amazing is because of the camaraderie between the players and the whole Coaches/Staffs. It’s obvious. 

The players show so much respect towards Scaloni. And I love how the young players really look up to the senior players (to Messi, I mean) while at the same time the senior players seem like make sure these chicos are comfortable during the whole training sessions and thus, they create such a strong bond.

In one interview Dibu said he’d be happy to see the senior players win the title, seeing just how much pain Leo, Di Maria, Kun, and Otamendi had to face from all the previous losses (4x Runner Ups: 3 Copas, 1 WC), he also added that he’d die just to win the tournament on behalf of Messi. I think everyone on that team is more than willing to die just to see their captain lift that World Cup trophy.

Then I thought, my decision to watch that docu could backfire on me because now I know the inside story of this team, it’d crush me more if they lost for the 5th time. I mean, I’ve been there in all those devastating final games, I don’t think my heart can afford to see if Di Maria cries one more time, not when I know this final will be his last game with La Seleccion. That’s why I only watched 3 eps out of total 6 episodes from the docu series.

Everything about this final game is nothing but pressure. And without further ado, to the final game we go.

First of all, something I didn’t get it is when I read some fans said they don’t wish to see Di Maria in Scaloni’s starting lineup. Some fans said Di Maria only plays better as a replacement. 

But guess what? Scaloni did the opposite and Angelito was the reason behind Messi’s first goal, which was taken from a penalty kick after Dembele’s foul on Fide.

Not only that, he also showed us once again his magic. That this guy always scores a goal in every Final game that Argentina ended up winning. 2008 Olympic game 1-0, 2021 Copa America 1-0, and the latest 2022 Finalissima 3-0.

Then he was benched in the 2nd half. The pundit said there was a change once Di Maria was out because Acuna couldn’t play like him, and meanwhile, France got their chance to attack back and that’s how Mbappe tied the score with his 2 goals which led to the extra time. I wondered why Scaloni had to wait until ET to play Lautaro and Paredes. And oh boy, once he was in, Lautaro gave new energy for Argentina right away and that’s when Messi scored his 2nd goal,

 but the celebration didn’t last long when Mbappe scored his hattrick that made Di Maria cover his teary worried face with a towel. El Fideo cried already.

At last, a Penalty shoot-out would determine the winner.

I’m telling you this, I always feel like throwing up every time I get stressed because of watching a penalty shoot-out. That happened again in this game. And I always cover my ear and shut my eyes when it’s my fave team’s turn to kick. I did the same when Messi, Dybala, and Paredes kicked the ball. But I was aware when Dibu blocked Coman’s penalty and closed my eyes again when it was Montiel's turn.

Otamendi Kun is exactly me during the penalty shoot-out

Players marched toward 3 different points; Messi, Martinez, and Montiel.

    So that’s how history is written. One that will definitely live in our head rent-free. How Messi led his team to win the World Cup. Added 1 star for Argentina’s jersey, the 3rd title after the last one they had with Maradona in 1986. Everyone agreed this final is one for the book with all the dramas that happened on the field. Mbappe stole the Golden Boot with 8 goals, while Golden Gloves, Best Young Player, and Golden Ball all belong to Dibu, Enzo, and Messi.

What a night. What a memory.

 Interesting stories from this WC to name a few:

The host Qatar sparked controversies at the beginning of the tournament. One of the reasons, due to the weather FIFA delayed the tournament until December and put a temporary pause on the ongoing European Leagues, which caused so many star players couldn’t participate due to the injuries that happened during the leagues.

The most-shocking result came from German, who failed from the first start thanks to Japan. 

Marocco steals everyone’s heart by beating Spain (Round of 16) and Portugal (Ronaldo’s last World Cup, he returned to the dressing room walked in tears) as they marched toward semifinal, becoming the 1st African country ever to do that.

As from the Argentina squad, people from across the world unite as one to celebrate Messi made his dream come true. While haters talked about how this is a rigged tournament as they believed FIFA is in favor to let Messi win World Cup because half of his goals are from a penalty kick.

And then we got Emiliano Dibu Martinez who sparked controversies after controversies which later gave him this....

Are you #TeamDibu or not?

And Kun Aguero who retired last year due to his heart problem, came to Lusail Stadium (as per Messi’s invitation) with Otamendi’s #19 jersey, blended in just fine with the other ‘official’ squad when Argentina celebrated their winning over France.

People don’t get John Terry’s jokes istg something is wrong with those people. I mean, I even get the joke!!

As for Dybala, crazy how he played no longer than 30-40mins throughout this WC but ended up as one of the key players for his successful penalty shoot-out in the Final and his last minute’s tackle/clearance over Mbappe’s attempt.

Dybala later said Dibu gave him the direction to where he should point his shoot

And my personal favorite goes to the jokes of the year about how people nicknamed Rodrigo de Paul as Messi’s bodyguard, just because when there’s Messi, you’ll see De Paul right next to him. Always together, rarely separated.

Also, it’s a crime not to mention how Papu transformed himself into ‘Beckham’ with his new haircut which also began “the Beckham jokes”, all thanks to Kun’s Twitch streaming which took place a couple days before the QF game.

And again, thanks to Kun’s IG Live streaming, we saw all the crazy stuffs La Scaloneta squad did as part of their celebrations on their dressing room.

Messi gone crazy + Nico (one of their staff) took a dive into a trashbin

I can’t wait to see Messi goes back to France, meeting Mbappe on PSG after his whole squad did this to his clubmate 😂

+bonus pict: Kun & Beckham Gomez

The final night felt so magical. Maybe because everything is about Messi and his dream. Although this team started off badly, losing to Saudi Arabia in their 1st match but they came back stronger afterward. And people who believe in such a thing as fate will say that the stars have aligned for the Scaloni team. Copa America 2021 for instance, they should have played the 2nd game against Brazil in Argentina, but due to Covid19 they were forced to play the final in Maracana. It was later revealed from the Netflix Docu (the one I don’t watch yet because the series isn’t available on my country) that Messi's pep talk to his team was about how fate led them to win the long-awaited trophy against their long-time rival, Brazil, in their enemy’s own place.

De Paul also got his prediction correct for the 2nd time; first when he -while intoxicated- said in a video that they will win Copa in Maracana, and 2nd when he wrote “La Seleccion will win World Cup 2022” on his jersey.

As if all that Nostradamus prophecies isn’t enough, Di Maria’s wife also revealed the WhatsApp chat Fide sent to her a day before the final, for her husband who strongly believed they will win the trophy and for him to score another Final goal.

Now, can we talk about Di Maria?

This national team has been through so many thin moments ever since the Messi era, but I stay loyal since 2007 Copa America because I have my favorite players (Mascherano then, Di Maria now), and Fide was the reason I felt so overpoured with emotions. 

This is the feeling that, even though I cheer for Germany & Netherland NT, but with them I have no players I dote on. And I’m beyond relieved knowing both Fide and Leo stay for more games with their Argentina jersey, cuz I can’t afford losing the legendary trio (Leo - Fide - Kun) altogether in such a short time.

In short, this World Cup is really a happy ending story for so many souls. Most notably, as I said previously, this triumph belongs to the trio Leo - Kun - Fide who’ve been side-by-side since the 2008 Olympic games, bestfriend from that moment, although club-wise the three of them once a rival in La Liga -before Kun finally moved to Barca only for Messi to leave him to play with Fide in PSG for a while (Kun only has a roommate priviledge but Fide won the prize for being a clubmate with Leo)-. Within a year, the trio helped their National Team to win all 3 prestigious tournaments.

 p.s: I cried watching the crowd erupted when Fide-Leo hugged each other 😭

Such an unforgettable moment for us to live by as we are all so lucky to witness this World Cup final game :���)

[rafaelnadalfans]

Roland Garros SF: What time does Rafael Nadal play against Alexander Zverev?

Roland Garros SF: What time does Rafael Nadal play against Alexander Zverev?

Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev will be going head-to-head for the tenth time in their careers when they meet in the semifinals of the French Open on Friday. Date: June 3, 2022 Match time: Rafa is first match on Court Philippe Chatrier. 2:45 PM local time / 8:45 AM EDT –  New York, Montreal /  1:45 PM BST – United Kingdom / 2:45 PM CEST – Spain, France, Germany, Italy / 10:45 PM AEST –…

[losangelesvalorant]

old/historic matches to watch while owl is cancelled

here’s a list (with links to the vods!) of a bunch of important/my favorite matches i made for lucy and i to watch while everything is shut down, check a few of em out if ur also bored and pining for owl. not a comprehensive list, just the ones i remember being cool and also a few random ones thrown in for context and nostalgia. bolded are must watch matches, bolded and italicized are REALLY must watch matches. ive also spoiler marked concurrent matches. feel free to add on as well!

2016

[EnVyUs vs. Rogue semifinal at atlantic showdown]

[FaZe clan vs. Cloud9 final during august monthly melee]

Apex Season 1

[reunited vs. runaway]

[rogue vs envyus]

[kongdoo panthera vs. LW Blue]

[Kongdoo uncia vs. NRG]

[Conbox vs. lunatic-hai] 

world cup 2016

[Australia vs. South Korea]

[russia vs france]

[US vs South Korea]

[misfits vs fanatics grand final at dreamhack]

Intel Extreme Masters

Afreeca Freecs Blue vs. Lunatic Hai - semifinal

[Set 1] 

[Set 2 ]

[Set 3] 

[Set 4] 

LW red vs [SPOILER] - final

[set 1]

[set 2]

[set 3]

[set 4]

[immortals vs c9 during monthly melee december]

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

2017

Apex season 2

[BK Stars vs envyus]

[LW Blue vs. misfits]

[lunatic hai vs runaway]

[and bonus clip which isnt in the vod]

[Afreeca freecs blue vs. c9]

[Kongdoo Panthera vs LW Blue - quarterfinal]

[Runaway vs. [SPOILER] - semifinal]

[meta athena vs lunatic hai - semifinal]

[[SPOILER] vs [SPOILER] - GRAND FINAL] please watch this match its so good

[immortals vs LG Evil - carbon series grand final]

Rivalcade

[Selfless vs. BK Stars]

[Splyce vs. envision eSports]

apex season 3

[Lunatic hai vs. mighty AOD]

[runaway vs Afreeca freecs blue]

[Conbox spirit vs. flash lux]

[meta athena vs. bk stars]

[lunatic hai vs lw blue]

[[SPOILER] vs [SPOILER] - GRAND FINAL] imo the best match of pro ovw ever played

contenders season 0 EU

Laser kittenz vs eunited

[set 1]

[set 2]

[set 3]

[set 4]

contenders season 0 NA

couldnt find vods of any of their matches but if u can find any watch fnrgfe, kungarna, and lg evil’s matches

Contenders season 1 EU

Misfits vs. c9 - semifinal

[part 1]

[part 2]

contenders season 1 NA

faze vs envision - semifinal

[part 1]

[part 2]

world cup 2017

[UK vs taiwan - couldnt find the full match, only highlights]

[south korea vs austria] the only real must watch map of this is volskaya but please watch it its SO fucking funny

[south korea vs canada - final]

apex season 4

im gonna be real i only watched the final of this season so i cant rec specific matches but ive heard it was pretty good

[[SPOILER] vs. [SPOILER] - GRAND FINAL] the second best match of ovw ever played

[Lunatic Hai vs. Miraculous Youngster - OGN SuperCup] couldnt find an english vod but this match was SO good

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

2018

i was super tapped out for like all of 2018 so im probably forgetting a ton of good matches, pls add the ones i missed!

OWL stage 1

[sf shock vs valiant]

[dynasty vs fuel]

[nyxl vs outlaws]

[mayhem vs spitfire]

[dragons vs fusion]

[nyxl vs dynasty]

[outlaws vs spitfire - semifinal]

[nyxl vs [SPOILER] - final]

OWL stage 2

[valiant vs mayhem]

[outlaws vs gladiators]

[shock vs outlaws]

[fusion vs valiant]

[nyxl vs fuel]

[dynasty vs dragons]

[fusion vs spitfire - semifinal]

[nyxl vs [SPOILER] - final]

contenders korea 2018 - season 2

Runaway vs. Kongdoo Panthera - final

[part 1]

[part 2]

OWL stage 3

[shock vs gladiators]

[uprising vs nyxl]

[dragons vs fusion]

[fuel vs mayhem]

[spitfire vs dynasty]

[uprising vs spitfire]

[uprising vs nyxl - final]

OWL stage 4

[nyxl vs valiant]

[uprising vs fusion]

[fuel vs spitfire]

[nyxl vs shock]

[valiant vs gladiators - semifinal]

[fuel vs nyxl - semifinal]

[[SPOILER] vs [SPOILER] - final]

OWL Playoffs

the playoffs format in s1 was super fucking confusing i dont understand how it worked honestly. [heres where u can find all the vods] just watch all of the matches tbh

[OWL All-Stars Weekend - link to all the vods]

world cup 2018

[UK vs. USA - quarterfinal]

[South Korea vs China - final]

[[SPOILER] vs. canada - bronze medal match]

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

2019

OWL stage 1

[fusion vs spitfire]

[spitfire vs justice]

[defiant vs reign]

[spark vs gladiators]

[dragons vs uprising]

[valiant vs outlaws]

[hunters vs titans]

[mayhem vs justice]

[dynasty vs nyxl - quarterfinals]

[shock vs titans - final]

contenders NA 2019 - season 1

[FUni vs mayhem academy]

OWL stage 2

[reign vs nyxl I]

[reign vs nyxl II]

[hunters vs spitfire]

[outlaws vs fuel]

[dragons vs shock]

[valiant vs dynasty]

[justice vs uprising]

[dragons vs shock - quarterfinal(?)]

[titans vs [SPOILER] - final]

[OWL all-stars weekend vods]

OWL stage 3

[outlaws vs nyxl]

[outlaws vs shock]

[hunters vs shock]

[valiant vs titans]

[fusion vs dragons]

[dragons vs nyxl - quarterfinal]

[titans vs [SPOILER] - semifinal]

[shock vs [SPOILER] - final]

OWL stage 4

[mayhem vs spitfire]

[justice vs titans]

[nyxl vs hunters]

[nyxl vs titans]

[charge vs fuel but like only for the unkoe pause]

overwatch contenders EU 2019 - season 2

Clockwork vendetta vs HSL - semifinal

[part 1]

[part 2]

OWL playoffs

[fusion vs dragons]

[spitfire vs [SPOILER]]

[charge vs dynasty]

[shock vs reign]

[spark vs [SPOILER] - loser’s bracket]

[winners’ bracket final]

[losers’ bracket final]

[GRAND FINAL]

the gauntlet

[talon vs element mystic]

[runaway vs element mystic] the match is somewhere in the middle of the vod

[ATL academy vs. [SPOILER]] again somewhere in the middle of the vod

world cup 2019

[france vs south korea group stages] the vod is dead but theres at least highlights

[france vs china - semifinal]

[usa vs south korea - semifinal]

[stateofsport211]

Zadar Ch SF: Borna Coric [3] def. Damir Dzumhur [1] 6-4, 1-0 ret. Match Stats

📸 ATP/WTA Joint App

Not much left did D. Dzumhur have in the tank, which mostly affected his offensives, to some extent. He had some fair chances trying to set the tone through a working volley earlier in the seventh game, but Borna's working drop-shot way later on paved his way to break for the set. Appearing more proactive also helped the third seed as he generated 3 break points, converting 33% of them along the way.

This was also reflected in both players' service games. The first seed somehow scored an ace throughout this match, and even though both players landed 61% of their first serves, Borna still had the slight edge on his first serves by 14%, winning 79% first serve points along the way. However, D. Dzumhur's second serves appeared more vulnerable as he only won 53% of his second serve points, 22% lesser than Borna through the entire match.

Currently, Borna engages in a win streak-off final against fifth seed Valentin Royer, who previously knocked out Enrico Dalla Valle 6-2, 6-1 in the semifinals. With both players carrying their victories from their 2 previous consecutive titles, one streak had to end, which came down to their aggression and their point construction apart from their final shots. Could be a neat match already!

[hannawatchesesc]

So hi! I wrote that rant few days ago, and decided to watch Eurovision: The Story of Fire Saga just for… fun(???) This is my edited live reactions, and serious not spoiler free nit picking.

Here you go, so you don't have to watch it. These are in the order of appearances.

This is made with EBU???

Why the fuck Americans cannot play Europeans without terrible accents

Not really sure if Iceland has this terrible electric grid? If the power will cut if you use two keyboards and disco lights, maybe you should be worried about your infrastructure…

Picturing Icelanders as wool/fur dressing people living in the 1950’s, seriously.

Yep, for sure the Nordic way of life, living with your parents as 50-year-old.

I think these names aren't Icelandic

Iceland: whales, wool, fur, knitting, Vikings, glaciers, and icebergs. Elves. Lava fields. Northern Lights. So many jokes about being relatives and everyone knowing everyone.

I think only thing they forgot is Blue Lagoon and the football chant.

The after recording of the dialogue is terrible????

 

Ja Ja Ding Dong is really kinda good. It should have been in Icelandic, and it could have been "the iconic national winner which never qualified for finals, but everyone back home loves”.

What is that 1950’s buss? This movie makes Iceland seems like a third world country, not the 16TH RICHEST in the world based on GDP per Population.

People not caring about national final…

I'm going to die of second hand embarrassment.

I don’t understand this “Iceland is in the middle of nowhere, so they have never seen modern stuff” narrative. I’m surprise they didn’t travel to Scotland in Viking ship.

Like Icelandic people, have you seen minifridge and hotels before? Based on this movie, you haven’t.

There aren’t any pre-Eurovision things at all for performers.

Oh god I hate these accents.

Why they talk like toddlers all the time? It's like adult people in Europe don’t use adult vocabulary when speaking English. (Like, they just used word "club dancing"?)

 

I feel like this Russian song isn't really the song Russia would send...

I see the homophobia commentary, but he is so stereotypical Russian oligarch type of character.

Pls. Shouldn't there be a little more people in rehearsal? Press and audience maybe?

They haven't rehearsed at all? Have they sat at home for two three months doing nothing?

They just casually decided remix their song and start rehearsing it DAYS before semifinal.

No costumes, no staging, no choreography?

"Everyone hates UK so zero points" à THEY EVEN MADE A JOKE ABOUT THIS, AND STILL ESC IS HELD IN UK

I think Iceland has champagne glasses.

How they don’t know other competitors? Lars is supposed to be ESC superfan.

 

I this sing along part was kinda fun.

In the bigger context just a fan service kind of feeling, like “see, these people are legendary right, here you go, have Alexander Rybak for like 5 seconds.”

And why they started it with Madonna and Cher? Very Eurovision related. Not at all used for Americans to understand even something. How about using ABBA and Celine Dion if you wanted something familiar for US audience?

Think how amazing this could have been if they would have talked their own languages!

Mark "second hand embarrassment" as my cause of death.

These American tourists are like one jab on Americans, and rest of it is making fun of Europeans being mean to them.

This movie is sooooo slow

 

Why Scottish hosts are from Eastern Europe?

As a Finn I'm not going to accept that cheap copy of Lordi was representing Belarus, mixed with 2015 Belarus???

And as a Finn I can say for sure Wonderfour would never qualify from our National Final.

Didn't they read the rule book first? Anyone? I think you can find it in PDF in Google (you can)

The staging is so underwhelming. And this audience wtf?

As if they wouldn't stop the music when performer could be hurt.

I think it's almost insulting to say, that audience would laugh at anyone in Eurovision.

Lars is super selfish all. The. Time.

Nobody checked if they were alright after that accident.

 

This voting system? Spain, Italy, UK, Germany performing? Too many performers on stage? I though Finland was in this semi, but hey, I think they just guess starred and never made it to voting part even though they performed.

Did the Icelandic delegation just leave Sigrid alone in the green room?

How the fuck this movie can lasts 2 hours?

Now Switzerland and France are giving points, and they are not in this semi?

Russia was one of the countries in the scores, but he said that he wasn't performing in this semi?

He is going to die to hypothermia before reaching the shore. Water is super cold if they are dressed like that.

Aand after saying that. Why they are dressed like that? It's supposed to be May? They were dressed like in the middle of winter when they were in Scotland. Even Northern Europe has spring in May.

 

Where are modulations? Wind Machine? Pyrotechnics?

How Finland is now in on final, when they didn't qualify from the semi WHERE THEY PERFORMED? Or where they moved to another semi? Was firs SF overbooked?

I don't know if this final confession would be allowed in Eurovision

And suddenly they changed the song?

Thank you, Graham Norton, for pointing them being disqualified.

So they had rulebook after all.

And everyone is like well this super basic ballad is so touching. I can most definitely name 50 similar songs

Language change, why.

Also, this movie had one ballad. That is the most unrealistic thing.

 

End thoughts

This whole movie seems like unnecessary prolonged version of this America Is So Winning Eurovision Next Year from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. I can't even choose which one is more offensive.

Out of all European countries they chose Iceland and Greece (super popular tourist destinations), Russia (well you know US-Russia relations) and UK to be the center of the story. I guess it could have been Germany and France instead of Iceland and Greece to be more even more obviously “European”

Making the semi look at least somewhat correct could have been so easy. How it is even possible to mess that up so badly.

ALL EUROPEANS HAVE VERY STRONG ACCENTS!

Here is actor from UK, Sweden, and Greece! And all these Icelandic extras. Europeans!

Can we talk how problematic is the fact that 1) Will Farrell is 10 years older than Rachel McAdams (why Hollywood cannot cast actors that are same age and equally attractive?), 2) TWO attractive female characters are all over him like he’s the most amazing, charismatic and beautiful man in the Europe, 3) This movie isn’t passing Bechdel test

All the dick/incest/fart jokes are super American type of humour.

[eurovision-song-contest]

It hasn’t happened yet that a participant I voted for in the semifinal didn’t pass. So Brendan and NaviBand, please don’t disappoint me.

[borisbubbles]

ESC2019 Preshow #18

18. ROMANIA Ester Peony  - “On a sunday” SemiFinal 2, #06

~Oi see da smøk rrrrrrrois freummmm deeeee eshhhhdrrrrreyyyyy ~

ENTRY ANALYSIS

You can forgive me for posting the NF version here, but “On a sunday” is one of those songs which comes alive ONLY during the live performance. I just love how she sllllllllrs her wrrrrrrds; See above. It’s funny to me that Ester, who is Canadian, has such questionable English diction but then I remember she’s from the FRENCH-speaking part of Canada 😍😂

Anyway, “On a sunday” is an interesting song to me for many reasons. A of all, it’s probably the closest thing we had to a genuine shock NF winner in this season, which is always exciting. B of all, um hello it’s a dark, vindictive gothic powerballad and I’m only gay, after all. 

Personally I quite love the theme Romania are going for: I can definitely get ~Bride of Dracula~ vibes and you can FEEL the overwhelming anger and pain and thirst for revenge in Ester’s voice, which I think are very powerful attributes. Having said that though, the song itself is sorta weak lol. I mean, it has potential, which is already capitalizes with its Mrs. Havisham-themed styling, (there’s a reason it won Selectia Nationala and that’s because it GLEW UP), but “On a sunday” gives me less in terms of actual replay value and fun factor. It’s a curious entry and my interest is piqued but as if yet not fully retained.

NF CORNER

Time for the longest part of the write up because of all the shit I need to address here. 🙄

Well FIRST of all, I will NOT be addressing Laura Bretan because i don’t give a fuck about “Dear Father” and never have.  Yes, she’s probably not gay-friendly, but I don’t give a care, honestly. I care about entertainment value and “Dear Father” was a BORING FUCKING SLOG to get throug. I’m happy it lost to something which i actually cared about. :-)

Who will I address? Let’s start with my faves. Nearly everyone favourited either Laura or Bella, but not I. I loved Trooper with their exquisite pirate rock:

Lol this almost literally sounds like “Yo Ho A Pirate’s Life For Me!” but I Adorez It anyway <3 It’s so cheesy and gimmicky but I enjoyed it and YOU WOULD HAVE TOO, DON’T LIE. 🍺

And of course there’s also Bella Santiago, half-Philippina, half-Romanian biracial butterfly 🦋

AN ARMY TO FIIIIIGHT FOR LOOOOOOOOVE!!!!!! Adding some lines in Tagalog <3 Everyone compares it to “Fuego” but this sounds way more like a mashup of “My Number One” and “The Balkan Girls” to me? I”Army of Love” is a fun-dispenser from start to finish. She should have won (literally. She was TVR’s chosen one.)

Sigh, I suppose this is where I also address the meltdowns after Ester won? Oh man, I don’t want to fucking address ... all of this, but the jist of it is this:

Laura Bretan was, as stated previously, boring and was rigged out because of it. Emmelie de Forest then ruined Bella with her TerribleDanishTaste™. The Laura Fans blamed, in increasing order of severity: TVR, Ester and “The Evil Wiwibloggs Gays” and even tried to get Ester DQ’d because the result wasn’t what *they*, fewer than 4000 people in a country of seven million, wanted. 🙄

(the funniest/saddest comment I ever read on the debacle and perhaps the entire internet period calls out William and Deban as -wait for it- ‘HOMOPHOBICPHOBICS’ lmfao how even. How dare those evil homos be phobic towards those poor homophobes!!!! #StopHomophobicphobiaNow #JeSuisBretan). 

(and if anyone had any doubts Laura actually did make a public statement saying she still supports the message of the anti-lgbt marriage vid she appeared in 🙃)

Shit got SO BAD Ester refused to appear on public television for WEEKS, afraid of being badmouthed and attacked. Poor woman. Vile, toxic BULLYING by Wild Jokahs On A Gold Throne is NEVER the answer. Remind me to quote this when we get to Italy, a bit later in this ranking.

Qualification Odds: Borderline (+)

Obviously, after the entire ordeal she had to ensure I ABSOLUTELY WANT Ester in the finale even if she’s barely in my own top 10 for said SF. I don’t dislike Laura, but I do hate her fans and every instance which proves them wrong counts as a moral victory against cyberbullying to me :-)

I wish I could say with confidence that she qualifies though, but the reality of the matter is that Ester is Borderline at best. Romania’s best chance is if they go ALL OUT on the ~Gothic Vampire Queen~ idea they’re currently preparing and make it dramatic, powerful and visually enthralling (without taking themselves too seriously, obvi). If they manage that or similar, they should pull of qualification or at least come very close without embarrassing themselves. 

Projected Placement: 6th-12th in the SemiFinal. If she qualifies, 12th-20th in the Grand Final. 

Link to the masterpost