SPORTS BALL!!! v2.0

[Xprimentyl]

What a rotten weekend of sports...

Formula 1: the GP was in Austin, TX this weekend, weather was great, and Bottas managed his way into Q3 for the first time in forever netting himself a solid P7 after grid penalties were assigned. He fell to P11 after an entitled Perez found himself storming towards the front of the filed after taking his grid penalty and got tangled with Bottas. Not to be deterred, Bottas stayed the course and was hunting down the final points position in Gasly in P10... then he lost his rear end and got beached in the gravel. DNF. Fuck me. The rest of the race was fairly exciting as Hamilton found himself in strong contention for his shockingly first win in 2022, but Verstappen's got to "Verstappen," so of course, he won in the final laps. Seriously, they should just change the name from "Formula 1" to "The Verstappen Show." P2 is is officially the new P1.

NFL: God damn my Niners. Our defense needs to get back to 100% healthy. I know it was Mahomes and the Chiefs, but c'mon, man, 44-23?? Only we could turn a 0-10 lead into the straight up ass fucking we ended up with yesterday. While we struggled to gain a yard, the Chiefs played into all of our blind spots. I stopped caring about halftime; I just wanted it to end.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Saw some news that they were considering implementing relegation to basketball. Honestly that would be fucking hilarious, but hell no will they actually go through with it when the NBA's biggest money makers are often not great performers.

 

[Offworlder]

I loved it when Zappe said 'It's Zappin' time!' and Zapped the defense. Fuck me dude he even looks like Brady with those short swing out passes.

Should be a fun World Series too. Astros are an absolute juggernaut but the Phillies are white hot, and both teams are looking for redemption in their own way. Hopefully we have a fun well played series in front of us but an Astros sweep is also on out of the question the way they're playing. If Harper or Schwarber go quiet the Phillies are in trouble.

 

[Kyrian007]

What a rotten weekend of sports...

Formula 1: the GP was in Austin, TX this weekend, weather was great, and Bottas managed his way into Q3 for the first time in forever netting himself a solid P7 after grid penalties were assigned. He fell to P11 after an entitled Perez found himself storming towards the front of the filed after taking his grid penalty and got tangled with Bottas. Not to be deterred, Bottas stayed the course and was hunting down the final points position in Gasly in P10... then he lost his rear end and got beached in the gravel. DNF. Fuck me. The rest of the race was fairly exciting as Hamilton found himself in strong contention for his shockingly first win in 2022, but Verstappen's got to "Verstappen," so of course, he won in the final laps. Seriously, they should just change the name from "Formula 1" to "The Verstappen Show." P2 is is officially the new P1.

NFL: God damn my Niners. Our defense needs to get back to 100% healthy. I know it was Mahomes and the Chiefs, but c'mon, man, 44-23?? Only we could turn a 0-10 lead into the straight up ass fucking we ended up with yesterday. While we struggled to gain a yard, the Chiefs played into all of our blind spots. I stopped caring about halftime; I just wanted it to end.

I thought the niners looked good early, and the McCaffery addition... if he can add just that much without even knowing the offense. By the time mid-season rolls around in the next couple of weeks that offense should be pretty potent. It wasn't just Mahomes and the Chiefs... it was an Andy Reid team coming off a loss and going into a bye week. Two factors where Andy Reid teams have generally been double tough.

So here in Chiefs country sports fans are generally happier, although in the college ranks KU lost again and not only did K-State lose... but there was a plethora of injuries with fairly bad implications for the rest of their season. Frankly though, none of that bothered me. My sports weekend was great. Got to go to my town's minor league hockey home opener. We lost, but live hockey is always fun. Really interesting moment where an opposing player slammed into our goaltender, prompting one of our defenders to light him up with a check/kidney punch into the boards. Another opposing player retaliated with a punch or 2 before it all got broken up. That player and our defender got 2:00 for roughing. The instigator got 4:00 double minor goaltender interference and a 10:00 game misconduct and ejection (and league fine.) Then after a lengthy argument with a ref the player was leaving through the tunnel, and our fans around the tunnel were letting him have it. So he thought he'd be a tough guy and slam his stick against the top of the glass at the fans. And one of our fans reached over and stole the stick. The refs forced the player to leave while he was screaming and pointing out the fan. The rest of his team's bench were screaming for the fan to get ejected and kept pointing him out to the officials, who finally did get security to come over. The other team seemed mollified... until security let the guy off with a warning and told him simply to not reach over the glass again. Word is the other team (even though they won) has protested the incident to the league in an effort to get them to sanction the team for the actions of our fans. We have won "most annoying fans" in the league for several years running now and its looking like we're early favorites again.

And after starting the season 0-2 and making me wonder about another awful losing season, my Blackhawks have now won 3 in a row. Friday against our most hated rival in the home opener for extra emphasis. They don't look good defensively, but we are fast and can score.

 

[Xprimentyl]

I thought the niners looked good early, and the McCaffery addition... if he can add just that much without even knowing the offense. By the time mid-season rolls around in the next couple of weeks that offense should be pretty potent. It wasn't just Mahomes and the Chiefs... it was an Andy Reid team coming off a loss and going into a bye week. Two factors where Andy Reid teams have generally been double tough.

That's the Niners' problem; they ALWAYS look good early, then peter out in grand fashion. I was happy to see McCaffrey add what he did after only a whopping two days with the playbook, but even the best weapons are only as good as the person using them, and Jimmy G... c'mon, man. All props to Reid, but there was a time when Shanahan was thought to be an offensive mastermind too; where's THAT guy been? Again, I lay some onus on Jimmy G; the best plans have to be executed, and throwing picks after being squeezed out of the pocket is NEVER a part of the plan, but he manages to do it more often than anyone would like.

My sports weekend was great.

Got to go to my town's minor league hockey home opener. We lost, but live hockey is always fun. Really interesting moment where an opposing player slammed into our goaltender, prompting one of our defenders to light him up with a check/kidney punch into the boards. Another opposing player retaliated with a punch or 2 before it all got broken up. That player and our defender got 2:00 for roughing. The instigator got 4:00 double minor goaltender interference and a 10:00 game misconduct and ejection (and league fine.) Then after a lengthy argument with a ref the player was leaving through the tunnel, and our fans around the tunnel were letting him have it. So he thought he'd be a tough guy and slam his stick against the top of the glass at the fans. And one of our fans reached over and stole the stick. The refs forced the player to leave while he was screaming and pointing out the fan. The rest of his team's bench were screaming for the fan to get ejected and kept pointing him out to the officials, who finally did get security to come over. The other team seemed mollified... until security let the guy off with a warning and told him simply to not reach over the glass again. Word is the other team (even though they won) has protested the incident to the league in an effort to get them to sanction the team for the actions of our fans. We have won "most annoying fans" in the league for several years running now and its looking like we're early favorites again.

And after starting the season 0-2 and making me wonder about another awful losing season, my Blackhawks have now won 3 in a row. Friday against our most hated rival in the home opener for extra emphasis. They don't look good defensively, but we are fast and can score.

I'm not much of a hockey guy (too hard to follow on television,) but I went to one live college game back in the '90s, and admittedly had a blast. Watched a guy get checked into the wall, and his helmet left about a 6-foot streak of paint on the glass! I've lived in North Texas for almost 13 years, and have yet to go to a Stars game. I won't buy the tickets myself, but if someone were to offer one, I'd probably go.

 

[Kyrian007]

I'm not much of a hockey guy (too hard to follow on television,) but I went to one live college game back in the '90s, and admittedly had a blast. Watched a guy get checked into the wall, and his helmet left about a 6-foot streak of paint on the glass! I've lived in North Texas for almost 13 years, and have yet to go to a Stars game. I won't buy the tickets myself, but if someone were to offer one, I'd probably go.

Oh yeah, North Texas. That's who we were playing, the Allen Americans. ECHL hockey isn't NHL, but it is still a fun watch... and way more affordable too.

 

[McElroy]

Bottas going to score a point since the Canadian GP? Alfa is no longer a can of wet macaroni?

edit: Yes, scored a point. But the car is still non-competitive. Got passed by both Alpines and McLarens only for Alonso's Alpine to break down in front of him and gift that 10th place.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Bottas going to score a point since the Canadian GP? Alfa is no longer a can of wet macaroni?

edit: Yes, scored a point. But the car is still non-competitive. Got passed by both Alpines and McLarens only for Alonso's Alpine to break down in front of him and gift that 10th place.

Yes, he looked really strong this weekend. Out-qualifying LeClerc's Ferrari? Yes, please. But yeah, the car really needs some work to handily compete. P10 may not sound impressive, but given the only cars in front of him were both Red Bulls, both Mercedes, both Ferrari's (all top-field teams) both McLarens and an Alpine (the most dominant mid-field teams,) I'll take it from a scrappy back-of-the-pack team like Alfa Romeo. Their most recent upgrades really seem to have helped; now, I just hope they stretch that investment into 2023's car development.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Red Bull has decided to boycott Formula 1's Sky Sports because reporter Ted Kravitz said he feels Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton was robbed of the 2021 World Drivers Championship... which he was, as most people not riding Max Verstappen's dick would agree.

I swear, Red Bull seems to go out of its way to give people reasons not to like them. Christian Horner is a Bond villain and Verstappen is an insufferable child when not getting his way. It's ironic how Verstappen refuses to take part in Drive To Survive because he thinks the show sensationalizes and overdramatizes things (y'know, like entertainment tends to do?), but then invites his own nonsense drama with this childish and pointless boycott further inciting the F1 community just when you'd think people were getting over his old news.

 

[Chimpzy]

I have no idea what any of this shit means, but it sounds hilarious

‘BagGate’: Professional cornhole is latest sport to be rocked by cheating scandal

‘BagGate’ unfolded during the 2022 American Cornhole League (ACL) World Championships back in August

www.yahoo.com

 

[Kyrian007]

I have no idea what any of this shit means, but it sounds hilarious

‘BagGate’: Professional cornhole is latest sport to be rocked by cheating scandal

‘BagGate’ unfolded during the 2022 American Cornhole League (ACL) World Championships back in August

www.yahoo.com

Thank you. I had my host bring this up as we were signing off, a good joke to end the show on and a heart attack for my station manager when he heard the word "cornhole" go out over the air walking by my studio.

Oh, one of the other things we talked about today. In this thread we have before mentioned the awful games scheduled for Thursday Night Football. Think about tonight. Massive blowout potential, Texans v. Eagles... at the same time Game 5 is going down with Philly in the World Series. Prime... not the best matchup they could have asked for.

 

[Xprimentyl]

I have no idea what any of this shit means, but it sounds hilarious

‘BagGate’: Professional cornhole is latest sport to be rocked by cheating scandal

‘BagGate’ unfolded during the 2022 American Cornhole League (ACL) World Championships back in August

www.yahoo.com

Thank you. I had my host bring this up as we were signing off, a good joke to end the show on and a heart attack for my station manager when he heard the word "cornhole" go out over the air walking by my studio.

Ugh. First off, cornhole is NOT a sport. It's a drunken pastime perpetrated by frat boys and rednecks like beer pong and keg stands. Secondly, well, there is no "secondly," this is just stupid. "Scandal" and "*blank*gate" are terms to too loosely tossed around nowadays. The only "scandal" is that there exists an American Cornhole League that anyone might take seriously.

Oh, one of the other things we talked about today. In this thread we have before mentioned the awful games scheduled for Thursday Night Football. Think about tonight. Massive blowout potential, Texans v. Eagles... at the same time Game 5 is going down with Philly in the World Series. Prime... not the best matchup they could have asked for.

I don't think Prime is too bad off. Kinda hard to care about the World Series affecting TNF viewership while the accountants are working overtime to count all the monies Amazon is raking in elsewise.

 

[Kyrian007]

Ugh. First off, cornhole is NOT a sport. It's a drunken pastime perpetrated by frat boys and rednecks like beer pong and keg stands. Secondly, well, there is no "secondly," this is just stupid. "Scandal" and "*blank*gate" are terms to too loosely tossed around nowadays. The only "scandal" is that there exists an American Cornhole League that anyone might take seriously.

I don't think Prime is too bad off. Kinda hard to care about the World Series affecting TNF viewership while the accountants are working overtime to count all the monies Amazon is raking in elsewise.

Oh trust me, I don't feel bad for Amazon. Football will pay off for them probably, just this will (I'd guess) be the worst a game will do for them... just a couple of weeks after they did Bears v. Commanders. This isn't the '86 Monday Night Football v. Game 7 debacle by any means, where so many Giants fans had portable radios and TVs to watch the game that players were getting thrown off by the crowd noise. But it is probably as close as we will ever get to that again.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Oh trust me, I don't feel bad for Amazon. Football will pay off for them probably, just this will (I'd guess) be the worst a game will do for them... just a couple of weeks after they did Bears v. Commanders. This isn't the '86 Monday Night Football v. Game 7 debacle by any means, where so many Giants fans had portable radios and TVs to watch the game that players were getting thrown off by the crowd noise. But it is probably as close as we will ever get to that again.

Don't know if you watched, but as people who give absolutely zero shits about baseball, we watched the TNF game, and boy... it was a lot better than everyone anticipated. The first three quarters, it looked like it could have been anyone's game. 29-17, Eagles over the Texans, sounds like a score everyone expected, but it wasn't the decisive win everyone expected. It was a well fought game that, given a couple of plays gone differently, could have easily been a blindside upset. A one win team going up against the last undefeated team in the league? I was rooting for the Eagles since my cousin is a life-long fan and I didn't really care either way, but when the Texans effectively refused to "go gentle into that good night," I found myself rallying for the underdog. Shame though; would have made for a lot of headlines across sports media today.

 

[Chimpzy]

Group B rally was fucking insane

 

[Mister Mumbler]

Group B rally was fucking insane

Yeah. God, I miss old rally cars/racing, just the whole normal (or like in group B's case, super) cars you could drive going off-road at insane speeds was amazing. Modern rally cars, while indeed much safer and probably faster too, all look like homoginzed blobs of aero and spoilers, not to dissimilar from how NASCAR 'stock' cars look like their namesakes.

Speaking of, I don't watch NASCAR, but word of Ross Chastain pulling off a video game move in real life to secure a place in the championship runnings found me, and is the coolest thing I've seen in motorsports recently;

I love how, after the exchange with his crew where he finds out he has to make up two positions, you can feel the moment he decides "fuck it, I'm going for it. Coach says I need two, going to get two."

 

[Chimpzy]

Speaking of, I don't watch NASCAR, but word of Ross Chastain pulling off a video game move in real life to secure a place in the championship runnings found me, and is the coolest thing I've seen in motorsports recently;

I love how, after the exchange with his crew where he finds out he has to make up two positions, you can feel the moment he decides "fuck it, I'm going for it. Coach says I need two, going to get two."

New racing tech unlocked: wall strafe

 

[McElroy]

Due to some changing weather conditions and Russell causing a red flag in the Sao Paulo qualifying, Kevin Magnussen took pole. He was the only one able to get a great lap right at the beginning of the third qualifying session just before it started raining. I personally like Kevin because him and I share birthdays.

Now Alfa Romeo oth shanked their drivers with bad tire tactics. Epic. edit. Actually it was Bottas who called to keep the intermediates. No blame on the team this time then.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Due to some changing weather conditions and Russell causing a red flag in the Sao Paulo qualifying, Kevin Magnussen took pole. He was the only one able to get a great lap right at the beginning of the third qualifying session just before it started raining. I personally like Kevin because him and I share birthdays.

Now Alfa Romeo oth shanked their drivers with bad tire tactics. Epic. edit. Actually it was Bottas who called to keep the intermediates. No blame on the team this time then.

That's why I hate when rain is a factor. It's always a gamble when to switch tyres: do you sacrifice performance and stay on inters/wets to maintain the car, general safety and bank on your rivals doing the same, or do you risk going onto slicks and putting your race in jeopardy given slicks become an immediate and costly disadvantage if conditions aren't perfect? Ask Lando Norris at the Russian GP last year: a handful of laps from winning his first race when rain came in, and everyone pitted for inters while he refused to come in wanting to hold his lead. The track became a Slip 'n Slide and he plummeted to a P7 finish. I'm not mad at Bottas' reticence to ditch the inters; he's on a lower tier team regardless of conditions, so any advantage gained by a risky move under adverse conditions would net them marginal gains, i.e.: he wanted to save it for race day. And let's not ignore the fact that while the pit walls were watching their radars and insisting that rain wasn't coming, several drivers on the track, were saying it was raining.

That said, WHAT A FUCKING DRIVE BY BOTTAS!!!!! Stormed from the teens into P5 at one point! Finished in the points at P9! Doesn't sound great, but put into the perspective that the 2022 World Driver's Champion and current runner up were only 2 and 3 spots ahead of him, it was incredible. Just saying, give that man a car worth a damn, and he can get it done; given him a piece of shit car, and he can squeeze the most out of it.

In other sports news, my Ohio State Buckeyes routed Indiana (as they should have,) and my Niners eked out a win against the Chargers, something they haven't been able to do in their last 5 meetings. Christian McCaffrey was been a HUGE addition making waves already. If Shanahan can figure out how to spread his offensive assets out to thin out defenses... we could be a real postseason threat. This weekend was a stupid happy weekend for me in the sports world if you can't tell; my Escapist avatar was basically my face for two days straight.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Max Verstappen proved himself to be the complete douchbag his face and attitude leads one to think he might be. Despite having already secured the World Driver's Championship, Max defied team orders to let his teammate (Sergio Perez) through to help solidify his fight for 2nd place in the WDC. Why? Spite and he's a fucking b*tch. Pure and simple. Perez is a great teammate which in Formula 1 means he races for the good of the team. Last year in Abu Dhabi, had it not been for Perez's holding up Lewis Hamilton while Max caught up to them, Max easily would have lost (as he should have,) but when called to race for Perez's benefit multiple times yesterday, Max couldn't be bothered. He's such a fucking ass; I really don't like him, like, at ALL. Even some of his "fans" are turning on him for what he did. I wish there was a way for the team to punish this kind of behavior beyond finger-wagging.

​