The other sports thread

[That Aud Smell]

1 hour ago, Night Train said:

Handball was outstanding.

Every Olympics, I try to enjoy that sport. But it just won't take.

There's apparently no limit the number of times that a team can foul the other team?

Also, a decent save percentage must be like .350 because well over half of the SOG I saw wound up as goals.

It just seems like the sport is the start of a proper idea of what a competitive gymnasium game should be. 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

2 hours ago, Night Train said:

Back to the Olympics. The track and field events are amazing.  USA  Lyles won the gold in the 100M by 2 inches. 

France having a great Olympics for a host country. 

It was actually less than that.

5/100ths of a second is basically unmeasurable except by a computer.  All the 'photo finish' angles are inconclusive.  Dude basically won by a chest hair (if he has any) standing erect as opposed to lying flat.

[Pimlach]

Seems like almost every Olympics has some controversy.  I can remember the '68 protests and the '72 shootings.   Then '76 had the East German women doping.  Follow by the US boycott in '80 and Soviet Block Boycott in '84.  

This year it was the opening ceremony and the woman's boxing situation.  

The games are fun to watch but it seem impossible to take politics and the human condition completely out of it.  

[Taro T]

38 minutes ago, Sabres Fan in NS said:

It was actually less than that.

5/100ths of a second is basically unmeasurable except by a computer.  All the 'photo finish' angles are inconclusive.  Dude basically won by a chest hair (if he has any) standing erect as opposed to lying flat.

5/1000ths.  1/2 of 1% of a second.

Found it interesting that Lyles and some of the other competitors were wearing jewelry during the race.  When literally 1/2 of 1% of a second is all that separates the winner from the runner up am surprised that they don't get themselves as light and as streamlined as possible.  Realize that a lot of the runners do it, so apparently it isn't seen as much of an issue and thankfully it worked out for him, but just found it interesting.

Also, realize that athletes in many other sports wear jewelry during competition; (e.g., Josh Allen definitely wears arm bands and IIRC a neckchain as well and pretty sure a lot of hockey, football, and baseball players wear neckchains) but in most other sports we aren't talking that small a margin between victory and defeat.  Swimmers tend to do everything that is deemed legal for the competition to streamline themselves.

And, again, good for him, and happy the American won gold.

[...]

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

The games are fun to watch but it seem impossible to take politics and the human condition completely out of it.  

Of course, this shouldn't be surprising.

[That Aud Smell]

 

[Night Train]

Watching mens handball quarter final between France and Germany. Crowd is losing their mind with every goal. 1 goal separates them with 5 minutes to go. 

[Night Train]

Watch the re-run tonight of the mens 400M final with American Quincy Hall. Insane. 

[nfreeman]

I am going to urge everyone to watch the men’s basketball gold medal game today at 3:30 PM. The semifinal game against Serbia on Thursday was a thrilling, fantastic game. This is almost certainly the last Olympics for LeBron, Curry and KD, each of whom can still really bring it. It’s also fascinating to see the three of them on the same team.

They are playing France, which is led by the 7’4” NBA rookie of the year Victor Wembanyama, and which will be playing at home in front of a rabid, passionate crowd.

[JujuFish]

In today's funny quirk of the day, Danny Jansen goes down as the first player in MLB history to play for both teams of the same game. A Red Sox-Blue Jays game got postponed due to rain and he got traded between then and now.

He was actually at bat when the postponement happened, so that plate appearance officially starts with him batting and ends with him catching. He was only 0-1, so the actual batting statistics won't be added to his totals, but still kinda weird and interesting.

[Thorner]

16 hours ago, JujuFish said:

In today's funny quirk of the day, Danny Jansen goes down as the first player in MLB history to play for both teams of the same game. A Red Sox-Blue Jays game got postponed due to rain and he got traded between then and now.

He was actually at bat when the postponement happened, so that plate appearance officially starts with him batting and ends with him catching. He was only 0-1, so the actual batting statistics won't be added to his totals, but still kinda weird and interesting.

There are guys like Wagner who, had they registered a hit, would have supplanted their original “first mlb hit” with a new one retroactively, as the game gets officially dated as a June game. 

[JujuFish]

3 hours ago, Thorny said:

There are guys like Wagner who, had they registered a hit, would have supplanted their original “first mlb hit” with a new one retroactively, as the game gets officially dated as a June game. 

This was the case for Juan Soto. He debuted before his debut and homered before his first homer.

 

In 2009, Joel Hanrahan finished the game playing for the losing team, but was credited with the official win for the game.

[Porous Five Hole]

Jessie Pegula is into the sweet 16 at the US Open. She has a winnable match to get to the quarterfinals, but then her draw runs into world #1 Iga Swiatek…who looks great. 
 

Jessie’s next match is 2024 Olympic Silver medalist Diana Shnaider who is an up and comer (never been this deep in a Major). 
 

They play Monday, time TBD. 

[#freejame]

I have long felt petty rooting against Jessie Pegula but oh well. Go Medvedev. 

[Porous Five Hole]

2 hours ago, #freejame said:

I have long felt petty rooting against Jessie Pegula but oh well. Go Medvedev. 

I think she’s easy to root for.  A late bloomer who is likable.  Drinking a Heineken during a post match press conference to ease the pain was so dang relatable.  

 

[Porous Five Hole]

On another note, I wish one of my favorite teams could do their job and win games that they’re supposed to.  I root for the Virginia Tech Hokies in college football.  They were a two touchdown favorite today and lost to Vanderbilt. This after an offseason of hype in which they were expected to be competitive for the first time since (checks notes) Tyrod??

They were down 17-3 at halftime. The Hokies haven't won a game where they trailed by ten or more points in seven years.   

Think about that.  Down ten in the first quarter and the game is literally over.  Just win the games you’re supposed to and let’s have a little fun.  But not to be for teams I root for. 

[Porous Five Hole]

Jessie Pegula just knocked off number one in the world Iga Swiatek and is through to the semis at the US Open!

[shrader]

44 minutes ago, Porous Five Hole said:

Jessie Pegula just knocked off number one in the world Iga Swiatek and is through to the semis at the US Open!

It looks like it was a quick one too. 

[Porous Five Hole]

1 hour ago, shrader said:

It looks like it was a quick one too. 

Iga struggled for sure.
 

Jessie had a mental block to overcome, which was being in a QF of a major and she was 0-6 in those previous matches. To get to a semi is a big deal for her…especially as a 30 year old on tour.  She has a legitimate shot to get to the final and is 1-0 against her semifinal opponent.
 

Jessie is easy to root for and I’m excited to see how she fares on Friday.   

[#freejame]

Disappointed Medvedev lost. Pulling for anyone but Sinner now. 

[Wyldnwoody44]

Pegula getting Boated early comes back in strong form... That was more exciting than this Game 

[Porous Five Hole]

Just now, Wyldnwoody44 said:

Pegula getting Boated early comes back in strong form... That was more exciting than this Game 

It was incredible!!

 

I’ll be honest, I gave up and signed up for an online poker tourney at 10pm.  My wife stuck with it and got rewarded with the tennis redemption of a lifetime. What an incredible turnaround!

US Open final.  WOW. 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Jesse will win this afternoon.  The stars have aligned.

[Porous Five Hole]

2 hours ago, Sabres Fan in NS said:

Jesse will win this afternoon.  The stars have aligned.

If she wins this thing, I bet she will make an appearance tomorrow at the home opener with her trophy. That would be really cool. Fire up the Pegula jet!

[Wyldnwoody44]

Her odds are LOWWW, it would be cool.