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I remember way back when an American Baseball team with nothing but Triple A payers was upgraded to the Major League. They were grossly outclassed by the the entire league. But the were fun to watch as they were somewhat unpredictable. One time, the center fielder snagged the ball way back (deep) in Center Field. He knew the runner was going fot home and the run. Normally, because of the distance, a fielder would throw the ball to the second baseman or the short stop (both infielders) who would the rifle it to the catcher. However, as he knew that would give the runner time to beat the throw, he instead, in a remarkable play, threw the ball straight to the catcher just in time for the catcher to tag the runner out. They still lost the game, but play had everybody on their feet. For many of the fans, that one play was worth the admission.
Of course, eventually, through experience and acquisitions, the Angels became a championship team. But that single play remains one for the books.
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JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
Champions League final today, 21.00 CET at Wembley. Real Madrid v Borussia Dortmund.
@Jeroen said:
Champions League final today, 21.00 CET at Wembley. Real Madrid v Borussia Dortmund.
Can you see a surprise on the cards here or will it be Madrid as expected?
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JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
Dortmund are usually very sound defensively, they might snatch it 1-0 if they can keep Madrid from scoring. It will probably be Madrid though. I’m planning to watch maybe a half hour or so.
1
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
It was a close game, Dortmund had their chances in the first half. Once Madrid scored from a set piece it was only going to go one way.
Go Edmonton Oilers! Go Canada! Game 7 the last game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Florida Panthers versus Edmonton Oilers. Puck drops soon
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JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
Romania v The Netherlands in the last 16 of Euro 2024 has just kicked off. We will have to see if the Dutch shoot themselves in the foot again like they did against Austria.
Portugal vs Slovenia yesterday evening was a cliff-hanger. 0-0 at 90 minutes. In extra-time, Ronaldo missed a penalty and the Slovenes missed a "100% chance" (striker vs just the goalie). In the penalty shoot-outs, the Portuguese goalie saved three penalties in a row and secured a victory for Portugal.
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
They’re against the Swiss, so you’d think they have a good chance to go through. But you never know, Southgate is a bit of a bungler if you ask me. He should play Palmer from the start of the match. Not a great tactician that man.
The QF’s…
Spain v Germany (crunch tie, should be a good game)
Portugal v France (two good defences, likely to go to penalties)
Switzerland v England (the English should win if they can be bothered)
Netherlands v Turkey (the Dutch should win if they remember to defend)
Spain has been the best passing team at the tournament and are well built to keep possession, but other teams like Germany (Fullkrug, Musiala, Sane) have better forward lines and more goalscoring threat.
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JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
I’m guessing
Germany v France
England v Netherlands
In the Semi’s, and really any of those can win. I think Germany are favourites, the Dutch are the underdogs.
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
So Spain v France tomorrow (think it will go to penalties) and England v Netherlands on Wednesday (the Dutch to spectacularly self destruct).
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JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
100.000 Dutch fans have come visiting in Dortmund…
1
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
@Jeroen said:
So Spain v France tomorrow (think it will go to penalties) and England v Netherlands on Wednesday (the Dutch to spectacularly self destruct).
So the Spanish won with a spectacular goal from Yamal, and the English won via a dubious penalty. I know who I’m rooting for in the final on Sunday.
So…what did y’all think of the Olympic opening ceremony? I loved it! The variety of music and art forms were fantastic. Without the restrictions of a stadium, it was a huge production all over the city with so many creative ideas! The boat entrances were a nice change of scenery!
Go Ghana 🇬🇭. Go USA 🇺🇸
For the first time, I watched all the para Olympic trials and qualifiers! Wow. Nothing makes you feel more inadequate and lazy like watching these bionic humans do the damn thing!
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JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
Yes, I watched a bit of it, some of the boat entrances, statues of famous women, opera singers, bmx’ers and rappers, it was very French. 🇫🇷
@Lobster … you mentioned the new event -breaking. I watched the qualifiers and trials…and I found it hard to understand the judging. It’s artistic dancing which of course is subjective, but also the music is trash, hahaha. Due to licensing and copyright, the music used was an instrumental version of everything, and my memory of break dancing in the neighborhoods just has reference and connection to the words of a specific music genre. So…probably just my age showing, haha
Fencing was exciting yesterday. South Korea came to win!
Skateboarding was a little hard to watch today…young 14-16 yr olds just eating the pavement, but they got right back up and was doing all the tricks! Good for them.
Equestrian was very fancy pants to watch, haha… the dressage part was a little boring, but the cross country course was beautiful!
Table tennis is always a hoot to watch…and surfing was a lot of false starts…but the cut away shots in Fiji of the beach and scenery were breathtaking!
Basketball kinda predictable…South Sudan gave us a run for the money, but most of those are college players here in the states anyway, so I know they loved playing against the NBA guys.
Word on the street is…the village is running out of food and pushing a lot of vegetation options, but the athletes are pissed bec they need the calories and protein. A lot of the females have left for hotels as well bec not enough bathrooms.
Oh, and I loved watching Cook and Bacon dive for the silver. The friends and family in the stands were in bacon costumes waving spatulas 🥓
It is a 'street sport' BUT to be in the Olympics it has to find its legs so to speak.
Will sit on the fencing, for sure.
I refuse to watch dressage. Expensive ponies prancing about. Bring back jousting I say! I'd like to see Princess Ann get a medal in that! (bit late for her.)
Which countries are banned for naughtiness? Did not see any Russians. Was Israel allowed to compete?
I have only been to the para-olympics (in London). It was an amazing day.
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
The medal table by population…
The USA, 40 gold, 126 total (333 million)
China 40 gold, 91 total (1.42 billion)
Japan 20 gold, 45 total (125 million)
Australia 18 gold, 51 total (26 million)
France 16 gold, 64 total (68 million)
Netherlands 15 gold, 34 total (17 million)
Britain 14 gold, 65 total (67 million)
So you see, The Netherlands as a tiny country did rather well.
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personDon't believe everything you thinkThe liminal spaceVeteran
edited August 12
I was on vacation with my nephew who races BMX and a top US biker is from my metro area. So we had on a lot of those races, its good to watch with someone who understands the sport and can answer questions. I enjoyed watching France come in 1,2,3 and their team excitement at doing so.
Also the dominance of Katie Ledecky is awe inspiring to marvel at.
So you see, The Netherlands as a tiny country did rather well.
Femke Bol is always exiting to watch. My family hadn't heard of her and were amazed to watch her zip ahead from the pack in the mixed 400m relay the Netherlands got a gold in.
So you see, The Netherlands as a tiny country did rather well.
So did Aotearoa (NZ) 10 gold, 20 total (just over 5 million)
I haven't been watching it, I had to look it up...
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JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
@Shoshin1 said:
So did Aotearoa (NZ) 10 gold, 20 total (just over 5 million)
I haven't been watching it, I had to look it up...
It wouldn’t surprise me at all if New Zealand were the champs in medals per head of population. It requires a certain level of wealth to have a top notch athletics program, and also a certain attitude.
@Shoshin1 said:
So did Aotearoa (NZ) 10 gold, 20 total (just over 5 million)
I haven't been watching it, I had to look it up...
It wouldn’t surprise me at all if New Zealand were the champs in medals per head of population. It requires a certain level of wealth to have a top notch athletics program, and also a certain attitude.
NZ was number 4, but 1,2 and 3 were all very small countries. NZ was the first with a sizeable population and Netherlands was indeed highly ranked too. I was curious how many medals the US would have had to have gotten to match NZ per capita count and it was1,258, China would be 5,280!
NZ was number 4, but 1,2 and 3 were all very small countries. NZ was the first with a sizeable population and Netherlands was indeed highly ranked too. I was curious how many medals the US would have had to have gotten to match NZ per capita count and it was1,258, China would be 5,280!
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
I’m sure some of the Japanese medalists would have been Buddhist…
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JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
The Diarra Case was in front of the European Court of Justice today, and has the potential to fundamentally change the face of the game by allowing players to unilaterally leave their contracts on short notice, like the rest of the labour force in Europe.
It’s possible that the whole player transfer system will change…
0
personDon't believe everything you thinkThe liminal spaceVeteran
I've been a lifelong Minnesota Vikings football fan. They've had several good runs over the years but have always let us down in the end. 0-4 in Superbowls, plus plenty of other big let downs. I had stopped watching the past several years, I have better things to do with my time than spend 3 hours of my weekend on them.
Anyway, they were predicted to be a bottom of the league team this year with a 6-11 record, but they've started the season on fire. Starting 4-0, with three of the wins against other highly ranked teams, and fairly handily at that. They have been ranked #1 in the power rankings after this past week. The new QB is a failed high draft pick, who played on bad teams before and now has a good offense around him and the coaching staff is supposedly very good. The last time a team broke expectations like this was the Kurt Warner led '99 Rams.
I guess this is the thread for sharing sports related sampapalapa. Not sure if there are any other US football fans on here, but its been a hopeful start to the season. Maybe things will be different this time?
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JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
I know a fair bit about the NFL, I once attended a London game and had fun with it. I don’t really follow the season but at least I know what you’re talking about. Weren’t the Vikings a decent team in the recent past? I thought they made the post season not that long ago.
@person I'm a fan of your divisional rivals the Detroit Lions! I will admit that I didn't watch them much during their losing years, but having fun now.
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personDon't believe everything you thinkThe liminal spaceVeteran
@Jeroen said:
I know a fair bit about the NFL, I once attended a London game and had fun with it. I don’t really follow the season but at least I know what you’re talking about. Weren’t the Vikings a decent team in the recent past? I thought they made the post season not that long ago.
This is maybe relevant to your previous post as well. With greater free agency among the players, like in the NFL, teams move up and down more and there is greater parity in the league. The things that seem to help make a team good for a long time is the combination of a top flight QB and coaching staff. Other players of course help, but the teams that are consistently good seem to have those in common.
@Jeffrey said: @person I'm a fan of your divisional rivals the Detroit Lions! I will admit that I didn't watch them much during their losing years, but having fun now.
Its a crazy division this year. 3 of the 4 teams, Lions, Packers and Vikings are all in the top 10 in power rankings.
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personDon't believe everything you thinkThe liminal spaceVeteran
Vikings are playing in London right now. I'm enjoying the camera shots into the crowd. Lots of enthusiastic fans in really strong team cosplay.
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JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
Unsurprisingly when the NFL comes to town all the Americans come out of the woodwork, and so do other people with a strong USA connection. I lived in Seattle, Oregon and Boston during the two years or so that I lived in the USA as a teenager, it was a turbulent time for me but I remember the cities and schools with some fondness.
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JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
This was the game I think…
1
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
The Chiefs v Saints game was kinda interesting… I think people underestimate how good the Chiefs defense is because of the tendency to focus on Mahomes and his offense, but they held an excellent and in-form Saints attack to 16 points and won comfortably.
New York Liberty was up 3 points with 45 seconds or so and the Minnesota Lynx got a defensive stop. Lynx player number 10 makes a 3 pointer to tie and was fouled for an and one extra free throw and makes it to go up by 1 point. NY Liberty have 5 seconds and after a lot of video review they are fouled with 1 second left. Shooter makes 1 out of 2 free throws to send it to overtime!
Spike Lee looks like he enjoys
Yet to see how it comes out. Too bad I was playing Diablo 4 the whole game until the ending
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JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
edited October 13
The baseball playoffs are down to just four teams.
Cleveland Guardians v New York Yankees
New York Mets v Los Angeles Dodgers
So there’s a chance for a Subway Series (first since 2000), and a chance for a Judge v Ohtani superstar showdown.
0
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
Great Guardians v Yankees game last night, fireworks at the end.
0
personDon't believe everything you thinkThe liminal spaceVeteran
@Jeffrey Big game this Sunday. Vikings vs Lions, maybe the best two teams in the NFC and in the same division no less.
@person yeah I'm curious about how they match up. Sadly Detroit lost an important player, Aidan Hutchinson. He's probably the second most important player for their team aside from their quarterback. Vikings lost their rookie QB to injury, but their back up QB (as I'm sure you know) has played exceptionally well so far.
Comments
I remember way back when an American Baseball team with nothing but Triple A payers was upgraded to the Major League. They were grossly outclassed by the the entire league. But the were fun to watch as they were somewhat unpredictable. One time, the center fielder snagged the ball way back (deep) in Center Field. He knew the runner was going fot home and the run. Normally, because of the distance, a fielder would throw the ball to the second baseman or the short stop (both infielders) who would the rifle it to the catcher. However, as he knew that would give the runner time to beat the throw, he instead, in a remarkable play, threw the ball straight to the catcher just in time for the catcher to tag the runner out. They still lost the game, but play had everybody on their feet. For many of the fans, that one play was worth the admission.
Of course, eventually, through experience and acquisitions, the Angels became a championship team. But that single play remains one for the books.
Champions League final today, 21.00 CET at Wembley. Real Madrid v Borussia Dortmund.
Can you see a surprise on the cards here or will it be Madrid as expected?
Dortmund are usually very sound defensively, they might snatch it 1-0 if they can keep Madrid from scoring. It will probably be Madrid though. I’m planning to watch maybe a half hour or so.
It was a close game, Dortmund had their chances in the first half. Once Madrid scored from a set piece it was only going to go one way.
Go Edmonton Oilers! Go Canada! Game 7 the last game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Florida Panthers versus Edmonton Oilers. Puck drops soon
Romania v The Netherlands in the last 16 of Euro 2024 has just kicked off. We will have to see if the Dutch shoot themselves in the foot again like they did against Austria.
Portugal vs Slovenia yesterday evening was a cliff-hanger. 0-0 at 90 minutes. In extra-time, Ronaldo missed a penalty and the Slovenes missed a "100% chance" (striker vs just the goalie). In the penalty shoot-outs, the Portuguese goalie saved three penalties in a row and secured a victory for Portugal.
Will England go home on the weekend?
They’re against the Swiss, so you’d think they have a good chance to go through. But you never know, Southgate is a bit of a bungler if you ask me. He should play Palmer from the start of the match. Not a great tactician that man.
The QF’s…
Spain v Germany (crunch tie, should be a good game)
Portugal v France (two good defences, likely to go to penalties)
Switzerland v England (the English should win if they can be bothered)
Netherlands v Turkey (the Dutch should win if they remember to defend)
Spain has been the best passing team at the tournament and are well built to keep possession, but other teams like Germany (Fullkrug, Musiala, Sane) have better forward lines and more goalscoring threat.
I’m guessing
Germany v France
England v Netherlands
In the Semi’s, and really any of those can win. I think Germany are favourites, the Dutch are the underdogs.
Spain vs Portugal
Switzerland vs Netherlands
Spain vs Netherlands final.
My prediction
Netherlands to win
Nathan Ake to score the winning goal.
A headed goal
So Spain v France tomorrow (think it will go to penalties) and England v Netherlands on Wednesday (the Dutch to spectacularly self destruct).
100.000 Dutch fans have come visiting in Dortmund…
So the Spanish won with a spectacular goal from Yamal, and the English won via a dubious penalty. I know who I’m rooting for in the final on Sunday.
¡Viva España!
So…what did y’all think of the Olympic opening ceremony? I loved it! The variety of music and art forms were fantastic. Without the restrictions of a stadium, it was a huge production all over the city with so many creative ideas! The boat entrances were a nice change of scenery!
Go Ghana 🇬🇭. Go USA 🇺🇸
For the first time, I watched all the para Olympic trials and qualifiers! Wow. Nothing makes you feel more inadequate and lazy like watching these bionic humans do the damn thing!
Yes, I watched a bit of it, some of the boat entrances, statues of famous women, opera singers, bmx’ers and rappers, it was very French. 🇫🇷
@Lobster … you mentioned the new event -breaking. I watched the qualifiers and trials…and I found it hard to understand the judging. It’s artistic dancing which of course is subjective, but also the music is trash, hahaha. Due to licensing and copyright, the music used was an instrumental version of everything, and my memory of break dancing in the neighborhoods just has reference and connection to the words of a specific music genre. So…probably just my age showing, haha
Fencing was exciting yesterday. South Korea came to win!
I'm enjoying the basketball because I watch the NBA frequently for years so I see players that I know how they play
Skateboarding was a little hard to watch today…young 14-16 yr olds just eating the pavement, but they got right back up and was doing all the tricks! Good for them.
Equestrian was very fancy pants to watch, haha… the dressage part was a little boring, but the cross country course was beautiful!
Table tennis is always a hoot to watch…and surfing was a lot of false starts…but the cut away shots in Fiji of the beach and scenery were breathtaking!
Basketball kinda predictable…South Sudan gave us a run for the money, but most of those are college players here in the states anyway, so I know they loved playing against the NBA guys.
Word on the street is…the village is running out of food and pushing a lot of vegetation options, but the athletes are pissed bec they need the calories and protein. A lot of the females have left for hotels as well bec not enough bathrooms.
Oh, and I loved watching Cook and Bacon dive for the silver. The friends and family in the stands were in bacon costumes waving spatulas 🥓
It is a 'street sport' BUT to be in the Olympics it has to find its legs so to speak.
Will sit on the fencing, for sure.
I refuse to watch dressage. Expensive ponies prancing about. Bring back jousting I say! I'd like to see Princess Ann get a medal in that! (bit late for her.)
Which countries are banned for naughtiness? Did not see any Russians. Was Israel allowed to compete?
I have only been to the para-olympics (in London). It was an amazing day.
...meanwhile here are some office athletics
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/article/2024/jul/28/get-fit-in-two-minutes-17-micro-workouts-that-will-change-your-life-even-if-youre-stuck-in-the-office
The medal table by population…
So you see, The Netherlands as a tiny country did rather well.
I was on vacation with my nephew who races BMX and a top US biker is from my metro area. So we had on a lot of those races, its good to watch with someone who understands the sport and can answer questions. I enjoyed watching France come in 1,2,3 and their team excitement at doing so.
Also the dominance of Katie Ledecky is awe inspiring to marvel at.
Femke Bol is always exiting to watch. My family hadn't heard of her and were amazed to watch her zip ahead from the pack in the mixed 400m relay the Netherlands got a gold in.
So did Aotearoa (NZ) 10 gold, 20 total (just over 5 million)
I haven't been watching it, I had to look it up...
It wouldn’t surprise me at all if New Zealand were the champs in medals per head of population. It requires a certain level of wealth to have a top notch athletics program, and also a certain attitude.
I follow all things Coventry City FC. 🐘🩵
NZ was number 4, but 1,2 and 3 were all very small countries. NZ was the first with a sizeable population and Netherlands was indeed highly ranked too. I was curious how many medals the US would have had to have gotten to match NZ per capita count and it was1,258, China would be 5,280!
https://www.medalspercapita.com/
Wow !
Any Buddhists win? Anything?
Go team Buddha! Ra! Ra!
Very hard to google search that. I did find the US winter olympian and gold medalist Eileen Gu.
Here Eileen Gu briefly describes her conversion.
Not sure about the Mandarin details...
https://www.sinchew.com.my/20220513/谷爱凌：我已信仰佛教-摆脱外界舆论与声誉的影响/amp/
Meanwhile the extreme sports continue... with the Marathon monks and beyond
https://newbuddhist.com/discussion/24247/the-marathon-monks-and-myth-building
I’m sure some of the Japanese medalists would have been Buddhist…
The Diarra Case was in front of the European Court of Justice today, and has the potential to fundamentally change the face of the game by allowing players to unilaterally leave their contracts on short notice, like the rest of the labour force in Europe.
It’s possible that the whole player transfer system will change…
I've been a lifelong Minnesota Vikings football fan. They've had several good runs over the years but have always let us down in the end. 0-4 in Superbowls, plus plenty of other big let downs. I had stopped watching the past several years, I have better things to do with my time than spend 3 hours of my weekend on them.
Anyway, they were predicted to be a bottom of the league team this year with a 6-11 record, but they've started the season on fire. Starting 4-0, with three of the wins against other highly ranked teams, and fairly handily at that. They have been ranked #1 in the power rankings after this past week. The new QB is a failed high draft pick, who played on bad teams before and now has a good offense around him and the coaching staff is supposedly very good. The last time a team broke expectations like this was the Kurt Warner led '99 Rams.
I guess this is the thread for sharing sports related sampapalapa. Not sure if there are any other US football fans on here, but its been a hopeful start to the season. Maybe things will be different this time?
I know a fair bit about the NFL, I once attended a London game and had fun with it. I don’t really follow the season but at least I know what you’re talking about. Weren’t the Vikings a decent team in the recent past? I thought they made the post season not that long ago.
@person I'm a fan of your divisional rivals the Detroit Lions! I will admit that I didn't watch them much during their losing years, but having fun now.
This is maybe relevant to your previous post as well. With greater free agency among the players, like in the NFL, teams move up and down more and there is greater parity in the league. The things that seem to help make a team good for a long time is the combination of a top flight QB and coaching staff. Other players of course help, but the teams that are consistently good seem to have those in common.
Its a crazy division this year. 3 of the 4 teams, Lions, Packers and Vikings are all in the top 10 in power rankings.
Vikings are playing in London right now. I'm enjoying the camera shots into the crowd. Lots of enthusiastic fans in really strong team cosplay.
Unsurprisingly when the NFL comes to town all the Americans come out of the woodwork, and so do other people with a strong USA connection. I lived in Seattle, Oregon and Boston during the two years or so that I lived in the USA as a teenager, it was a turbulent time for me but I remember the cities and schools with some fondness.
This was the game I think…
The Chiefs v Saints game was kinda interesting… I think people underestimate how good the Chiefs defense is because of the tendency to focus on Mahomes and his offense, but they held an excellent and in-form Saints attack to 16 points and won comfortably.
Game One of Women's NBA final (basketball):
New York Liberty was up 3 points with 45 seconds or so and the Minnesota Lynx got a defensive stop. Lynx player number 10 makes a 3 pointer to tie and was fouled for an and one extra free throw and makes it to go up by 1 point. NY Liberty have 5 seconds and after a lot of video review they are fouled with 1 second left. Shooter makes 1 out of 2 free throws to send it to overtime!
Spike Lee looks like he enjoys
Yet to see how it comes out. Too bad I was playing Diablo 4 the whole game until the ending
The baseball playoffs are down to just four teams.
Cleveland Guardians v New York Yankees
New York Mets v Los Angeles Dodgers
So there’s a chance for a Subway Series (first since 2000), and a chance for a Judge v Ohtani superstar showdown.
Great Guardians v Yankees game last night, fireworks at the end.
@Jeffrey Big game this Sunday. Vikings vs Lions, maybe the best two teams in the NFC and in the same division no less.
@person yeah I'm curious about how they match up. Sadly Detroit lost an important player, Aidan Hutchinson. He's probably the second most important player for their team aside from their quarterback. Vikings lost their rookie QB to injury, but their back up QB (as I'm sure you know) has played exceptionally well so far.