Category: sport

Bit weird

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A little rain overnight, sure, but suddenly… SUNSHINE!
And lo, literally all of the Cape Town people went out for breakfast because it was ACTUALLY NICE!

We are also Cape Town people, but we went for a wander in the Green Belt first, meaning that our breakfast was a bit more brunchie. But it was still very good.

Home, and with the weather still being weirdly pleasant, I got a couple of jobs done in the garden, including the very satisfying pressure washing the slimy paving stones by the gym. No more ice skating while trying to avoid the rain on my way over there now.
Which made for half my workout most days, but still…

The rest of the afternoon is set up for some Chesterfield v Sheffield United friendly action. 4 key players left out. Just resting them, or are we going to sell them just before the start of the season?

Again.
Again again.

This time last year, we were actually at the game. No such luck this time around, but R141 buys a link for 90 minutes in front of the TV.

And since it’s clouded over, why not?

OK, let’s look at the other stuff then

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Everyone is still talking about the penalty. And that’s rather sad, as there was so much more to the game than just that one moment. And I know that I was guilty of this yesterday, so I’m going to add a bit more context.

Also, this is a subjective decision because referees are human.

Sure, everyone still talks about Maradona’s handball in 1986 or Frank Lampard’s “goal” in Bloemfontein in 2010 or Thierry Henry’s handball in 2009 as match-defining moments, but those were objectively incorrect calls (because referees are human).
There’s no dispute on those ones.
This one could have gone either way. It went England’s.

And I still think that was right.

But then, if you look beyond that one moment, was this really an unfair result?
No.

England had:
Greater xG
More big chances
More shots
More shots on target
58% possession
More touches in the opposition box
92% accurate pass rate (!)
11 of the top 15 players on the pitch by OPTA ratings

The Dutch got three corners.

And it’s a pity that this clearly dominant performance has been overlooked in the post-match analysis, when it’s a game that they obviously deserved to win. Sure, “the only stat that matters is goals scored”, but they did that as well, and it’s not hard to see that England were the better team on the night.

So let’s stop talking about the penalty decision now, please.

Onward and upward to Sunday evening.

Didn’t watch

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So England are through to another Euros final. I don’t think they’ll be favourites to win it, but then a lot of people didn’t think that they would even get out of the group, so we can all be wrong, can’t we?

I didn’t watch. Not my thing watching the national team. Not my thing to enjoy games where I’m only slightly invested in the outcome. So I watched an amazing documentary about the Sami people of Lapland. Some incredible scenery and cinematography. And this place. Breathtaking.

I woke up this morning to the result, sadly completely overshadowed by the controversy of one single decision on the penalty.

One (English) footy group saying no. Another (local) one saying yes. A few individual opinions. It even caused a rift in the referees forum that I occasionally visit. They – all qualified FA refs – came down 80-20 in favour of the decision. And the more replays I see of it (and the more I read the laws of the game), the more I’m convinced it was right.

It was not a “good defensive block” that was penalised.

If you don’t want to be penalised for a good defensive block, then:

1) Don’t do it studs up.
2) Do make contact with the ball.
3) Don’t make contact with the opponents leg.
4) If you can’t manage any of the above, do it outside the box, so it’s only a free kick, not a penalty.

And if it had have been outside the box, there would have been a free kick given and there would have been absolutely none of the fuss about any of this.

I know not everyone agrees with me. It’s one of those where if it gets given against you, you’re furious, and if it’s not given for you, you’re also pretty pissed off.

A no win situation.

Not like the match.

Will I watch the final on Sunday?
Depends what’s on the other channel.

AI – still not quite there

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Actually, AI is still quite a long way off if we’re looking at this sort of thing.

Here’s some AI video art shared on this IG account.

“Some of the most memorable and strange moments in the Tour de France over the years.”

It’s clearly not completely rubbish: there are the hills, the pastures, the white guys in lycra and the crowds looking on. If you were shown this and asked what event it was, you would say “It’s the Tour de France”, but I mean, it’s still really pretty awful, isn’t it? That wave of pixels when the peloton crashes at 13 seconds is really the only believable bit for me.

I did love one comment on the video:

If only we could freeze AI right where it is now, between creative utility and hilarity.

Which sums it all up just about perfectly.

(sorry about the big black bars – WP can’t handle reels very well.) 🙁

Them again

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As Sheffield United draw media-favourites “Hollywood Wrexham” in the League Cup first round, Sky Sports has announced their new channels for the coming season:

I’m not sure how much lovey-dovey coverage Disney FC are going to get this time around, but honestly, why would it be any different this season?

Really hoping that we can ruin their party early on again.

Of course, thanks to my muting their name on all of my internet settings, I’ll only find out about it when I see who we’re playing in the second round.

I doubt that I’ll even be able to see this post.