Maximus Decimus

So the new Champions League format.... Seems interesting....

Not sure about that. He's been dropped completely from the Chiefs now as they went with a different IPP player, so I'm guessing the 3-year contract had some conditions in it. It looks like he's been picked up the Jaguars but no details as of yet for how long. I've genuinely nothing against him, I know absolutely nothing about him tbh. He seems to have been pretty high up the pecking order in Union, so he clearly took a big risk going to the NFL and the reality is that it is exceptionally hard and somewhat unrealistic to expect to make it against top-quality athletes who've spent their whole lives doing it. The attitude of some Union fans making out like he was God's gift and on another level to a top-level RL-player is what left the bitter taste. I know he's now beyond the pale, but it demonstrates what a remarkable job Hayne did. To play in 8 full NFL games as a running back only months after making the switch, is testament to how good an athlete he was.

Not gonna lie, all this Oasis hype has got me listening to some of the old stuff again. I don't care what anyone says, yes Liam was/is a tool, Noel is up his own backside etc but they didn't half have some bangers. I'm going to dip my toe in the waters around getting tickets (not considering silly money), but no doubt will lose out to a 20 year old who quite likes Wonderwall.

https://www.skysports.com/nfl/news/12118/13204364/louis-rees-zammit-former-rugby-star-left-out-from-kansas-city-chiefs-squad-for-2024-nfl-season No surprise there really. I must say I have enjoyed the Union fans, bigging up what have been some pretty nothing performances against much lower opposition. Also, my opinion might be tainted slightly by an off comment I saw of somebody making out he'd do way better than Hayne did because he'd been playing at a much higher standard. Well Hayne made the 53!

Excellent run. Certainly seemed more impressive than Rees-Zammit did in his first start.

I know it's sacrilege to say on here, but how were we not even in the mens 7s rugby? Essentially, it should be like the British Lions entering the RUWC. The fact they're not that bothered enough to qualify, shows why it shouldn't be an Olympic sport IMO. The Olympics should be about the pinnacle of a sport, not an off-shoot of an established sport that some countries maybe feel like taking seriously some times.

There are whole sports that China just win every time. I'm up for introducing darts and lawn bowls.

I personally am willing to let her off for some reason.

It was also coincidentally the only time in the whole games I was cheering on France! I've always felt our levels are a bit inflated after a home games but they're holding up pretty well. I can still remember Atlanta and feel like we'll be back there one day! There were some great moments, but there's a bit of frustration in the number of close silvers we got. Josh Kerr and Matt Hudson-Smith spring to mind. My standout moments were Keely (I was so nervous) and the mountain-biking.

Beat me to it!

There is an Aussie lady calling herself Raygun who has gone viral for all the wrong reasons. She's so bad, I honestly think she might be a factor in it never returning. LA already hadn't picked it up and with it being in Brisbane in 2032, the Aussie memory of it is hardly likely to improve its chances. In all honesty it shouldn't be in IMO. It's one thing including judged sports like gymnastics and diving, where you are essentially judging technique and ones where you are judging which dance was better. It opens up the door for all sorts of other dance based events. And if dancing is OK, how about singing? I feel like the 21st century is just one giant lesson where in 2100 God is going to appear out of the sky and say 'and the moral is less is more!'

So I found out today that of the sports that they're adding to the next Olympics is Flag Football. I wonder who'll win that one? I suspect if RL was an American sport it'd be long in now. Why in the modern world do they have to ruin everything? At this rate they'll reduce medals to the point of being worthless. Old man rant over. Although totally justified.

He ran 9.80 in the semi-final and looked like he was going easy. It just shows how much of it is being relaxed. Great final though, and although he's a bit of a tool, Lyles did a PB when it mattered and you can't fault him for that.

Haha that is up there with my greatest predictions ever!

This men's 100m final seems as competitive as I can remember. I think it'll be a Jamaica 1, 2 with Oblique Seville winning. He looked so calm in the semi-final.

Whilst his career was incredible, it was marred a little by the fact he only fought the top Americans when they were clearly past their peaks. His best performance was probably the Jeff Lacy pummelling. I'm a big Lennox fan, but am put off by his ambiguous nationality. When the idea is about the best sportsman we've produced, it doesn't feel right to include somebody who didn't box until they lived in Canada. To give an opposite example with Mo Farah, he arrived here quite late but only got into running in British schools.

Yeh it's not to take away from her being an incredible runner. I'm pretty sure her actual best was 10.61 not wind-assisted.

Tonight is the women's 100m and a poignant time to mention the absurdity of the 10.49 Flo-Jo world record, and probably not for the reasons you might think. Much is made of how she was likely doping, but it should have been discarded regardless of that. Basically, it was an incredibly windy day but the wind reading gave a reading of 0.0. There have been many studies since effectively proving that it was wind-assisted but still it stands to this day.

When it first came out, I thought it was cruel but in general I think it's been a success. You look at swimming and never see a false start, the days of many many false starts before a race are long gone. I might be wrong but I think they used to give you 3 each!

It is a requirement in the National Curriculum here that children can swim by the end of KS2. They all go as part of their schooling at some point. My lads school goes every week for a good 6 months. I like the swimming at the Olympics but this there are way too many events. At the last games, more than half of the USAs medals were in the pool. Plus we'd absolutely batter the Aussies on the medal table if it wasn't for blimming swimming.

Yes this. I'm firmly against transwomen in women's sports, and must admit my first reaction was that this was what we were seeing. However, it seems to be more of a case of the Semenya issue, where they might have only found out when they were older that were not biologically female. It's still a difficult issue though, as was Semenyas. It might seem cruel for them to be excluded in his way, but is it not fair for other female athletes to be at a disadvantage and lose their chance to compete or win at the highest level.

It's not a science, but I'd include sports like football, tennis, athletics etc. In opposition to this, you have sports like cricket and rugby which large swathes of the world don't really play at all seriously. There has to be a weighting for how difficult that sport is to get to the top, which comes down to numbers of people that take it seriously. I'm currently in Ireland and you could be the best GAA player of all time but the reality is you're playing a sport that only thousands have ever taken seriously.

I always preferred the old points system. The modern version is so frustrating. In just 3 rounds, one badly called round is very hard to overcome.

Whilst this doesn't seem that impressive when compared to the likes of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, for a Brit it is. I suppose a good indicator is whether he'll be in the conversation in say 10 years time. I somehow doubt it. Answering the question of who is is genuinely tricky. You have the problem of individual vs team sports, the worldwide nature of the sport, the level of competition etc. The reality is that there aren't many who can be in the conversation. You think of the likes of Steve Redgrave but rowing is a very niche sport. Sadly, I can't think of any British person in a very popular widespread sport who has been dominant.

My undergraduate degree is in Ancient History and Archaeology, and it wasn't something I ever considered as a career. The idea of digging up amazing interesting things is sadly rarely the case. I enjoyed my couple of weeks actually doing some archaeology (I dug up an 800 year old goat skeleton), but I think it would get boring pretty quickly. Likewise with history, I have friends who have gone further and in my experience you end up specialising in a niche area that nobody cares about. No lie, one of my tutors was an expert in loom stones. The essential problem I've always had is that I didn't know what I wanted to do even as a dream job. I was a singer until about 20, but didn't even really want to be famous. I like the idea of something in music without the nerves/stress of performance. Also sport. I'd love a job where I would be in shape just by doing the job.