All things sporting [3]

{{ Im not watching the football but checked in at end of the first half to see England leading 1-0, but from the sound of cheering I can hear from neighbouring houses I guess Italy just equalised }}

I know now that I no longer feel English. I cheered for Italy. that feels weird but I crossed the Rubicon last night.

Probably nobody but Americans cared, but Simone Biles pulled out halfway through the olympics, feeling that she had mental issues that would not allow her to perform, and would thus drag down the team.  For the most part she got sympathy and support, but idiots like Piers Morgan said she let down her team; was being a snowflake that should have pushed through and done her part.

How wrong they are is beautifully explained in this article.  It turns out Biles told her team-mates she got "the twisties", which is a term gymnists immediately recognized and empathized with.   It's closely related to what would happen to you if you started thinking about the details of walking: you'd circumvent your automated muscle rhythms and fall flat on your face.  But it's worse in gymnastics, because losing control could mean serious injury, so once it happens, it's hard NOT to think about it, and damned hard to make it go away.  She did the only prudent thing and withdrew.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/simone-biles-said-she-got-the-twisties

Simone had a difficult childhood, was rescued by her grandparents and triumphed through gymnastics.  During the summer olympics she's America's sweetheart, so Piers Morgan got the flaming he deserved.

Edit: the first media reports called this a mental health issue, which is really stretching the truth but unfortunately is still being reported. It's a mental-motor issue.

{{{ Wasnt sure to put this here or in the Ange the Man thread, but its not stricty about just taunting Orwell so I decided here.

A tribute to Davie Cooper my childhood footballing hero and one of, if not the greatest player to ever pull on the blue of Rangers. He was that rare thing, a left footed player, as I was, which is one of the reasons he was such an inspirational player for me. With dribbling skills to outwit any defender, the pace to take on any player, and a left foot shoot that launched like a rocket he had it all.
If he'd been born into the modern game he'd have been playing for one of the great european clubs alongside players like Messi. Or perhaps not, as he had the chance in the early 80's to go to the English Premiership or to Italy and turned it down, Rangers were his team and he devoted his entire playing career to them. A true Rangers Legend. Enjoy and see why I was so inspired as a bairn. }}

Good to see Man United getting beat by Young Boys. Fans were getting cocky.

9 Dart finish. WOW.

Can't believe I haven't mentioned City winning the league again.

Enjoy . Best 10mins of football you'll see.

{{ So the EURO's are underway. Scotland got gupped in the opener 5-1 by hosts Germany. We were terrible. We drew our second game last night in a much better overall performance however, so can still technically qualify for next round if we win our next game and things go our way elsewhere.
But despite the heavy defeat the fans, the Tartan Army have invaded Germany with aplomb. Celebrating, partying hard, respecting their hosts and partying with them and the locals, and generally having a good time and bring cheer, bagpipes, singing, dancing and alcohol wherever they go.

(This vid seemed particularly suitable, you'll see why a few minutes in )





and going viral helping elderly German locals in the rain-



Meanwhile the English fans are treating their hosts as we've come to expect of England fans, singing songs about bombing their city in WW2, and of course getting into violent fights with opposing fans and wrecking their hosts city.





Why do Englands fans have to be like this every single time? }}

This is the main reason I have ZERO interest in professional sports.  It's people getting excited over bullshit "victories" which have NOTHING to do with them.  It's pure idiocy.  College sport too.  The only pure spectators are high school: friends and family and a few people who play and so have an actual reason to watch strangers do their thing.

And it's fun watching what new things kids can bring.  When I was teaching high school the girls in the futbol/soccor region had developed a flip to add speed when throwing in an out of bounds ball.  Scroll down to the second video to see it in action:

https://www.ncaa.com/news/soccer-women/article/2019-09-16/flip-throw-explained-womens-college-soccer-players

Or this:



Now THAT's worth watching. It may have made it to the major leagues, but it started in high school, and I witnessed it near the birth.

Had my first live Formula 1 experience at the British Grand Prix recently.

Wasn't sure I would enjoy it (the stereotypical expectation that we would just see cars flying by with no idea what is actually going on) but actually really did. Was also great that Mr Hamilton got his first win in a long time at his home GP.

Definitely going to look to go again!