T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
I find it fascinating how crap the USA has been in exporting its sport whereas we, well, have been almost universally successful.
Reportedly 3m people requested tickets to today's NFL game in Munich, Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But they are all expats
On my recent flight from Denver to London Heathrow I actually caught the same flight as the entire Denver Broncos team, who were flying over for a "big match" at Wembley. On my left I had a hardcore fan, and on my right I had the PR girl for the whole state, who was also flying out to sell Colorado as an investment opportunity by using NFL
She was in a state of sunken depression
Why? Because, as she said "Brits don't give a fuck about American Football." She said she was calling people at big companies and offering them VIP seats at the game and they were turning them down, universally, saying, "No sorry, but you could pop by our office and tell us stuff". She could not believe it. She said in the USA companies would be biting her hand off. She said yes the stadium would be full but nearly everyone would be American
She actually asked me why we don't care. I had to explain to her that Britain invented all the best sports in the world and American sports are, in comparison, a tiny bit shit, and we are particularly spoiled with great sport in London. Tho I said it in a nicer way, obvs. She was clearly upset
American Football is unexportable because it is overblown, weird and not very good. Basketball is basically a joke for ten foot tall freaks. Baseball- AIUI - is a wonderful sport, but very complex, and I reckon T20 cricket has got it nailed in terms of batting sports with global appeal. Ice hockey lol
I've been to a couple of London NFL games. Definitely a solid majority of Brits.
The problem that PR had is that British NFL fans are scattered too thinly for tickets to the games to interest corporate types.
https://twitter.com/SenMarkey/status/1591827463583453190 One of your companies is under an FTC consent decree. Auto safety watchdog NHTSA is investigating another for killing people. And you’re spending your time picking fights online. Fix your companies. Or Congress will.
And in the meantime, the less popular ex worlds-richest-man, Jeff Bezos, just gave Dolly Parton $100 million to give to charities of her choice.
She's FAR better steward for the moolah than HE'll ever be.
Whilst Musk is shitposting and potentially losing billions in stoopid and unnecessary buyouts, Bezos is giving money that makes a difference.
Both men want to create civilisations in space. If you were to live on a space outpost run by Musk or Bezos, which would you prefer?
In my case, ideally neither. But if it was a forced choice, Bezos every time. He won't decide to cut off your oxygen because he's ad a spat with his latest girlfriend, or impregnate random employees.
Still prefer Dolly Parton in this respect to Jeff Bezos.
And speaking of women & spats, believe that JB's ex has a way better track record as philanthropist?
Similar to Bill Gates (remember him?) and HIS ex?
Well, yes. And as he is giving her $100 million to dole out to charities of her choice, perhaps he realises this (he has apparently been doling out money like this since 2001). And yes, MacKenzie Scott has been doing a great job as well.
Here in Seattle, Amazon and Microsoft are in the same league when it comes to serious local giving: AWOL.
In strong, stark contrast to the (old) Boeing Corporation.
Addendum: BTW (also fyi) the local land pirate we love to hate in Seattle, is Howard Schultz.
Especially basketball fans AND Starbuck's "associates".
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
As someone who has very little understanding of sport - and even less cricket - what is 'T20'? All I know of cricket it people hitting a ball with a stick and there is a 'six' or a 'four' - for ignorance reference.
This video may help - whilst designed to explain the game to baseball fans, it goes over the basics, including the formats.
But, really, all you need to know is T20 is cricket condensed into 2-3 hours so it is similar to a lot of other team sports in length.
Ah - thanks for that. Haven't watched the video yet (due to cat/lap/petting duties) but I'll give it a shot tomorrow. But basically no huge changes to 'the rules' - just a more 'modern consumer-friendly' cricket.
Cricket was once explained to me as 'A pleasant noise as the backdrop to a picnic' and that's about where my knowledge ended.
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
I find it fascinating how crap the USA has been in exporting its sport whereas we, well, have been almost universally successful.
Reportedly 3m people requested tickets to today's NFL game in Munich, Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But they are all expats
On my recent flight from Denver to London Heathrow I actually caught the same flight as the entire Denver Broncos team, who were flying over for a "big match" at Wembley. On my left I had a hardcore fan, and on my right I had the PR girl for the whole state, who was also flying out to sell Colorado as an investment opportunity by using NFL
She was in a state of sunken depression
Why? Because, as she said "Brits don't give a fuck about American Football." She said she was calling people at big companies and offering them VIP seats at the game and they were turning them down, universally, saying, "No sorry, but you could pop by our office and tell us stuff". She could not believe it. She said in the USA companies would be biting her hand off. She said yes the stadium would be full but nearly everyone would be American
She actually asked me why we don't care. I had to explain to her that Britain invented all the best sports in the world and American sports are, in comparison, a tiny bit shit, and we are particularly spoiled with great sport in London. Tho I said it in a nicer way, obvs. She was clearly upset
American Football is unexportable because it is overblown, weird and not very good. Basketball is basically a joke for ten foot tall freaks. Baseball- AIUI - is a wonderful sport, but very complex, and I reckon T20 cricket has got it nailed in terms of batting sports with global appeal. Ice hockey lol
Ice hockey is incredibly enjoyable to watch. Especially in person. The problem is its very expensive to learn to play unless you live near the Arctic Circle.
100pc. Only ever seen one match live, in Tampa. Superb watch. But on TV it just doesn't work for me at all.
No surprise that PB's pub bore posts moronic shit like this:
"About two centuries before the British took India, the racist supremacist Muslim Mughals took India, and built pyramids out of skulls. The Mughals were far far worse than the British. By some estimates they killed 40-80 million Indians. Others go higher"
This is how the site you link to describes itself (these are the site's own words) -
Truncile.com, owned by Trunicle India Pvt. Ltd., derived from True Chronicles, is a pro nationalist opinion and news portal, launched in July 2020. Trunicle focuses on topics that are related to India policy, governance and current affairs. It also focuses on publishing positive & development oriented articles for youth who today struggle to find relevant material online. Trunicle does this by empowering individuals to come and raise their voice for what is RIGHT. (emphasis mine)
Umm. And have you read about what he wrote in later life, which is discredited.
@hyufd. Just to add to my post - You wouldn't quote David Irving, would you, about the Holocaust so it is worth checking what and who you are quoting. Just because it is on the internet, it doesn't make it correct. Something I have mentioned to you a few times. Leon should bear that in mind also.
Well the vast majority of historians agree the Holocaust happened unlike Irving.
Show me evidence then of historians who disprove Professor Lal's claims? Irving of course was just an author, he did not even have a PhD and certainly was never a Professor unlike Lal
There are critiques of Prof Lal's work in terms of numbers on the quite obvious grounds of the lack of decent census data on medieval India before and after the arrival of Islam.
This is not an idle piece of historical analysis, but a very active political agenda in India. The Hindutva activists use it as a way to stir up communal violence. We saw some of that in my City in September.
HYUFD is an activist in a party which actively tries to suppress historical debate and to force schools to use dodgy old textbooks. I mean, 'My Island Story'. WTF!?!
My Island Story is an excellent narrative record of English history from Roman times to the Victorian era without the self hate of the left
It is obviously an extremist right wing tract if you approve of it.
There is also the small matter that it was written in 1905 and will be howlingly out of date. There is the other small matter of the bit that comes after the Victorians, always conveniently ignored by Tory enthusiasts for the 1066 and All That style of school teaching of history.
We had a copy of Our Island Story batting around our house when growing up. Even at 8 years old it didn't really work for me. Just checked and surprised to discover H.E. Marshall was a woman and a Scot. Which is maybe why I much preferred Scotland's Story with its very impressionable illustrations. This is Brave Catherine tries in vain to keep them back - by sticking her arm where the bolt had been removed by the assassins coming for James I. You don't get more pre-Raphaelite than this. There was another great picture as I recall of a different Douglas, Black Agnes, cleaning the canonball marks off Dunbar Castle while under siege.
https://twitter.com/SenMarkey/status/1591827463583453190 One of your companies is under an FTC consent decree. Auto safety watchdog NHTSA is investigating another for killing people. And you’re spending your time picking fights online. Fix your companies. Or Congress will.
Elon Musk has turned himself into an almost perfect political kicking bag for Democratic politicos.
ESPECIALLY Dem US Senators who retain- thanks to small 11th hour boost from EM - their majority AND clout.
https://twitter.com/SenMarkey/status/1591827463583453190 One of your companies is under an FTC consent decree. Auto safety watchdog NHTSA is investigating another for killing people. And you’re spending your time picking fights online. Fix your companies. Or Congress will.
Elon Musk has turned himself into an almost perfect political kicking bag for Democratic politicos.
ESPECIALLY Dem US Senators who retain- thanks to small 11th hour boost from EM - their majority AND clout.
Which will only boost those who believe the Musk hatred is partisan.
It is rather partisan. One party consists of people who like him despite his constant shitbaggery, and the other party are people who think he's an absolute idiot who should be let nowhere near power.
He is the best recruiting sergeant possible for the latter party.
And BTW, I don't *hate* Musk. Over five or six years (before the diver scandal), I've gone from thinking he was an inspirational but flawed individual, to thinking he is a nasty piece of work and a consistent liar whose business skills are not quite as glorious as many make out.
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
I find it fascinating how crap the USA has been in exporting its sport whereas we, well, have been almost universally successful.
The USA didn't have much of an overseas empire.
Twenty20 started here in England in 2002. And rugby even got across to the French and Italians.
Something more to it than that.
The British have a genuine genius at inventing/codifying sports. It is a weird thing, but it is a thing. No idea why
Baron de Coubertin acknowledged that when he was devising the Olympics. He overly looked to the British way of sports, esp at public schools
I've heard one theory: the British have nice lush grass (due to climate), a decent amount of flat lawns, and were the first to invent the lawnmower, which allows all these sports- cricket, football, tennis, hockey - to be played on a reliable surface
But then you get an outlier like competitive skiing, also invented by the Brits even tho we don't have a respectable piste in the country. Maybe we are just BRILLIANT, and we should accept it
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
Good post.
A few ideas: discuss. I’m not sure all/any of them will work but a few ideas I had
1. maiden over (or even three/four consecutive dots) delivers a wicket (batsman is striked out)
2. team 1 bats 10 overs, then 20 for team 2, then final 10 overs for team 1 - will reduce luck of toss winning possibly?
3. Covered stadiums / retractable roofs - so rain can’t stop play (this would obviously take time and would be unevenly distributed)
1. No, just no. T20 is played by the same rules as test cricket bar fielding restrictions, numbers of overs you can bowl, and tighter on wides. You’ll be suggesting a Max zone for double runs behind the bowler next. 2. Yes, could be interesting. In standard T20 (I.e. with a home side and an away side) I’d let the away side choose, to stop pitches being prepped to suit. I think not usuing used wickets guards against some of the worst issues with the toss. 3. I’m surprised we’ve not seen this yet, although the issue is worst in the U.K. and NZ. It’s certainly doable, but very costly. I wonder what effects would be on swing etc? Bowlers need some help.
I can't imagine covered stadiums being financially viable outside of Australia, where they can be funded by the AFL (they already have Docklands/Marvel Stadium).
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
Good post.
A few ideas: discuss. I’m not sure all/any of them will work but a few ideas I had
1. maiden over (or even three/four consecutive dots) delivers a wicket (batsman is striked out)
2. team 1 bats 10 overs, then 20 for team 2, then final 10 overs for team 1 - will reduce luck of toss winning possibly?
3. Covered stadiums / retractable roofs - so rain can’t stop play (this would obviously take time and would be unevenly distributed)
1. No, just no. T20 is played by the same rules as test cricket bar fielding restrictions, numbers of overs you can bowl, and tighter on wides. You’ll be suggesting a Max zone for double runs behind the bowler next. 2. Yes, could be interesting. In standard T20 (I.e. with a home side and an away side) I’d let the away side choose, to stop pitches being prepped to suit. I think not usuing used wickets guards against some of the worst issues with the toss. 3. I’m surprised we’ve not seen this yet, although the issue is worst in the U.K. and NZ. It’s certainly doable, but very costly. I wonder what effects would be on swing etc? Bowlers need some help.
God, that was a stupid innovation. I definitely saw a game with that, but it must have been short lived.
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
Good post.
A few ideas: discuss. I’m not sure all/any of them will work but a few ideas I had
1. maiden over (or even three/four consecutive dots) delivers a wicket (batsman is striked out)
2. team 1 bats 10 overs, then 20 for team 2, then final 10 overs for team 1 - will reduce luck of toss winning possibly?
3. Covered stadiums / retractable roofs - so rain can’t stop play (this would obviously take time and would be unevenly distributed)
1. No, just no. T20 is played by the same rules as test cricket bar fielding restrictions, numbers of overs you can bowl, and tighter on wides. You’ll be suggesting a Max zone for double runs behind the bowler next. 2. Yes, could be interesting. In standard T20 (I.e. with a home side and an away side) I’d let the away side choose, to stop pitches being prepped to suit. I think not usuing used wickets guards against some of the worst issues with the toss. 3. I’m surprised we’ve not seen this yet, although the issue is worst in the U.K. and NZ. It’s certainly doable, but very costly. I wonder what effects would be on swing etc? Bowlers need some help.
Roof v expensive over a cricket pitch yes. Not sure how many there are on the world. In Australia maybe?
https://twitter.com/SenMarkey/status/1591827463583453190 One of your companies is under an FTC consent decree. Auto safety watchdog NHTSA is investigating another for killing people. And you’re spending your time picking fights online. Fix your companies. Or Congress will.
And in the meantime, the less popular ex worlds-richest-man, Jeff Bezos, just gave Dolly Parton $100 million to give to charities of her choice.
She's FAR better steward for the moolah than HE'll ever be.
Whilst Musk is shitposting and potentially losing billions in stoopid and unnecessary buyouts, Bezos is giving money that makes a difference.
Both men want to create civilisations in space. If you were to live on a space outpost run by Musk or Bezos, which would you prefer?
In my case, ideally neither. But if it was a forced choice, Bezos every time. He won't decide to cut off your oxygen because he's ad a spat with his latest girlfriend, or impregnate random employees.
Still prefer Dolly Parton in this respect to Jeff Bezos.
And speaking of women & spats, believe that JB's ex has a way better track record as philanthropist?
Similar to Bill Gates (remember him?) and HIS ex?
Well, yes. And as he is giving her $100 million to dole out to charities of her choice, perhaps he realises this (he has apparently been doling out money like this since 2001). And yes, MacKenzie Scott has been doing a great job as well.
Here in Seattle, Amazon and Microsoft are in the same league when it comes to serious local giving: AWOL.
In strong, stark contrast to the (old) Boeing Corporation.
Addendum: BTW (also fyi) the local land pirate we love to hate in Seattle, is Howard Schultz.
Especially basketball fans AND Starbuck's "associates".
Hmmm. I have zero local knowledge, but a quick Google seems to indicate otherwise.
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
Good post.
A few ideas: discuss. I’m not sure all/any of them will work but a few ideas I had
1. maiden over (or even three/four consecutive dots) delivers a wicket (batsman is striked out)
2. team 1 bats 10 overs, then 20 for team 2, then final 10 overs for team 1 - will reduce luck of toss winning possibly?
3. Covered stadiums / retractable roofs - so rain can’t stop play (this would obviously take time and would be unevenly distributed)
1. No, just no. T20 is played by the same rules as test cricket bar fielding restrictions, numbers of overs you can bowl, and tighter on wides. You’ll be suggesting a Max zone for double runs behind the bowler next. 2. Yes, could be interesting. In standard T20 (I.e. with a home side and an away side) I’d let the away side choose, to stop pitches being prepped to suit. I think not usuing used wickets guards against some of the worst issues with the toss. 3. I’m surprised we’ve not seen this yet, although the issue is worst in the U.K. and NZ. It’s certainly doable, but very costly. I wonder what effects would be on swing etc? Bowlers need some help.
I can't imagine covered stadiums being financially viable outside of Australia, where they can be funded by the AFL (they already have Docklands/Marvel Stadium).
We need a cricket mad billionaire to fund mass conversion out of their own pocket - the game needs it!
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
Good post.
A few ideas: discuss. I’m not sure all/any of them will work but a few ideas I had
1. maiden over (or even three/four consecutive dots) delivers a wicket (batsman is striked out)
2. team 1 bats 10 overs, then 20 for team 2, then final 10 overs for team 1 - will reduce luck of toss winning possibly?
3. Covered stadiums / retractable roofs - so rain can’t stop play (this would obviously take time and would be unevenly distributed)
1. No, just no. T20 is played by the same rules as test cricket bar fielding restrictions, numbers of overs you can bowl, and tighter on wides. You’ll be suggesting a Max zone for double runs behind the bowler next. 2. Yes, could be interesting. In standard T20 (I.e. with a home side and an away side) I’d let the away side choose, to stop pitches being prepped to suit. I think not usuing used wickets guards against some of the worst issues with the toss. 3. I’m surprised we’ve not seen this yet, although the issue is worst in the U.K. and NZ. It’s certainly doable, but very costly. I wonder what effects would be on swing etc? Bowlers need some help.
God, that was a stupid innovation. I definitely saw a game with that, but it must have been short lived.
I watched some on TV when in NZ in 1998. A stupid idea that never took hold.
They have quite an interesting group of forty-somethings coming through.
Glad you posted that!
Very interesting read about a seriously interesting guy. Reporter was especially impressed by how this progressive Democratic mayor got a quasi-drunken crowd of serious Cincinnati Bengals football fans - many clearly NOT prog Dems - to chant "Aftab! Aftab!' at recent pre-game rally.
Note this is in many ways quintessential US media political puff piece, based on tried & true formula of IDing a hot political prospect, following them around for a few days watching them do their stuff, then writing it up as the Next Big Thing.
Hard to tell IF Aftab Pureval will make it into THAT league.
BUT must say that I got pretty excited reading this feature article. Similar to how I got excited when reading about Barack Obama in early stages of his US Senate campaign in 2004.
Addendum - AFTAB! AFTAB!
Politico is pretty good at this sort of piece. And there’s a little more to them than quintessential fluff, I think ? Note the way they’ve followed Elissa Slotkin’s fortunes over a couple of electoral cycles.
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
I find it fascinating how crap the USA has been in exporting its sport whereas we, well, have been almost universally successful.
The USA didn't have much of an overseas empire.
Twenty20 started here in England in 2002. And rugby even got across to the French and Italians.
Something more to it than that.
The British have a genuine genius at inventing/codifying sports. It is a weird thing, but it is a thing. No idea why
Baron de Coubertin acknowledged that when he was devising the Olympics. He overly looked to the British way of sports, esp at public schools
I've heard one theory: the British have nice lush grass (due to climate), a decent amount of flat lawns, and were the first to invent the lawnmower, which allows all these sports- cricket, football, tennis, hockey - to be played on a reliable surface
But then you get an outlier like competitive skiing, also invented by the Brits even tho we don't have a respectable piste in the country. Maybe we are just BRILLIANT, and we should accept it
What the Brits did, or rather the English aristocracy and upper gentry, was make sport socially respectable.
Hence the Playing Fields of Eton. Something unknown to other European snob-ocracies. UNTIL they copied the English.
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
I find it fascinating how crap the USA has been in exporting its sport whereas we, well, have been almost universally successful.
The USA didn't have much of an overseas empire.
Twenty20 started here in England in 2002. And rugby even got across to the French and Italians.
Something more to it than that.
The British have a genuine genius at inventing/codifying sports. It is a weird thing, but it is a thing. No idea why
Baron de Coubertin acknowledged that when he was devising the Olympics. He overly looked to the British way of sports, esp at public schools
I've heard one theory: the British have nice lush grass (due to climate), a decent amount of flat lawns, and were the first to invent the lawnmower, which allows all these sports- cricket, football, tennis, hockey - to be played on a reliable surface
But then you get an outlier like competitive skiing, also invented by the Brits even tho we don't have a respectable piste in the country. Maybe we are just BRILLIANT, and we should accept it
It's all those uptight schoolmasters forcing everyone to follow their silly little bureaucratic rules, extended even to controlling how people play.
What do you mean I can only pass the ball sideways and backwards, Headmaster Reginald Badeley-Powell-Haslethwaite? That makes no sense!
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
I find it fascinating how crap the USA has been in exporting its sport whereas we, well, have been almost universally successful.
Reportedly 3m people requested tickets to today's NFL game in Munich, Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But they are all expats
On my recent flight from Denver to London Heathrow I actually caught the same flight as the entire Denver Broncos team, who were flying over for a "big match" at Wembley. On my left I had a hardcore fan, and on my right I had the PR girl for the whole state, who was also flying out to sell Colorado as an investment opportunity by using NFL
She was in a state of sunken depression
Why? Because, as she said "Brits don't give a fuck about American Football." She said she was calling people at big companies and offering them VIP seats at the game and they were turning them down, universally, saying, "No sorry, but you could pop by our office and tell us stuff". She could not believe it. She said in the USA companies would be biting her hand off. She said yes the stadium would be full but nearly everyone would be American
She actually asked me why we don't care. I had to explain to her that Britain invented all the best sports in the world and American sports are, in comparison, a tiny bit shit, and we are particularly spoiled with great sport in London. Tho I said it in a nicer way, obvs. She was clearly upset
American Football is unexportable because it is overblown, weird and not very good. Basketball is basically a joke for ten foot tall freaks. Baseball- AIUI - is a wonderful sport, but very complex, and I reckon T20 cricket has got it nailed in terms of batting sports with global appeal. Ice hockey lol
One man's opinion.
He is speaking for a lot of people. Unless you have grown up with American Football, it's extremely hard to like. Too stop-start, too little playing time, too unclear to see what is going on. Compared to soccer, or rugby, or Aussie rules, it's just the inferior form of football.
Frank Luntz @FrankLuntz · 20h Ron DeSantis now has a 7-point lead over Trump along GOP voters nationwide in a 2024 primary matchup.
Last month, Trump held the 7-point margin.
Remember my long-standing yet much mocked forecast on here from way back: Neither Biden nor Trumpton will be nominees
If the Democrat candidate isn't Biden, who will it most likely be?
My girl Gretchin "The big W" Whitmer.
Not a bad call at all. If Biden goes (which I think he will) we could well see someone like Whitmer come through from the back of the pack. Don't see Harris getting it.
There does seem room for the Biden candidate, if he is not there. Apparetly Whitmer has 'showed support' for Biden today, so presumably would be well set.
A lot of the Democrat strategy has / is been based on the assumption Trump runs in 2024.That will presumably have to change now, or at least get a serious rethink. If DeSantis runs, then I don't think Biden would continue - he'd hand it over to someone younger.
I think the Democrats know Harris is not good enough and Pete B wouldn't be either. Whitmer could be a decent shout to counter RDS. However, her one Achilles heel vs RDS may be the whole Covid thing - I think RDS would have a field day with some of her actions in MI.
Perhaps Trump is being clever after all. Constantly talk about running, forcing Biden to think he has to stay in the race too, preventing coalescence around a decent alternative, and then stand down and back DeSantis fully, whilst trousering all the donations he's received as a reward, catching the Dems offguard.
No, I don't believe it really.
Trump doesn't really want to see A N Other GOP candidate beat the Dems, he only wants to see DJT win. If he can't win he won't be backing anyone else.
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
I find it fascinating how crap the USA has been in exporting its sport whereas we, well, have been almost universally successful.
Reportedly 3m people requested tickets to today's NFL game in Munich, Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But they are all expats
On my recent flight from Denver to London Heathrow I actually caught the same flight as the entire Denver Broncos team, who were flying over for a "big match" at Wembley. On my left I had a hardcore fan, and on my right I had the PR girl for the whole state, who was also flying out to sell Colorado as an investment opportunity by using NFL
She was in a state of sunken depression
Why? Because, as she said "Brits don't give a fuck about American Football." She said she was calling people at big companies and offering them VIP seats at the game and they were turning them down, universally, saying, "No sorry, but you could pop by our office and tell us stuff". She could not believe it. She said in the USA companies would be biting her hand off. She said yes the stadium would be full but nearly everyone would be American
She actually asked me why we don't care. I had to explain to her that Britain invented all the best sports in the world and American sports are, in comparison, a tiny bit shit, and we are particularly spoiled with great sport in London. Tho I said it in a nicer way, obvs. She was clearly upset
American Football is unexportable because it is overblown, weird and not very good. Basketball is basically a joke for ten foot tall freaks. Baseball- AIUI - is a wonderful sport, but very complex, and I reckon T20 cricket has got it nailed in terms of batting sports with global appeal. Ice hockey lol
One man's opinion.
It's simply a fact. American sports are crap compared to British sports
Even F1 is now now swiftly overtaking your weird local quirky road races with those "Fords"
Baseball is in steep decline in Japan. Soccer ascends:
It never ceases to amaze me how silly some American names are.
And why do all Republican women look like that? Sarah Palin, Lauren Boebert, Tudor Dixon..
All brown hair, brown eyes, orange skin, luminous teeth and glasses. Erugh.
Whatever you think of her, Kari Lake is definitely hot. American women with money are polished and sexy
There's a theory that she would win more votes if she grew out her hair.
Yeah, it's the hair.
The one at the top says to me Governor. The one at the bottom says Playboy Girls of MAGA.
The one at the top says entitled Karen that wants to complain to the manager. And hey, I'm not complaining about the latter. After you've finished, you could lean over and whisper in her ear "I voted for Bernie."
How can anyone not understand cricket? It's dead easy!
You have two sides, one out in the field and one in. Each man that's in the side that's in goes out, and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out. When they are all out, the side that's out comes in and the side thats been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out. Sometimes you get men still in and not out.
When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in. There are two men called umpires who stay all out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out.
When both sides have been in and all the men have out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game!
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
Good post.
A few ideas: discuss. I’m not sure all/any of them will work but a few ideas I had
1. maiden over (or even three/four consecutive dots) delivers a wicket (batsman is striked out)
2. team 1 bats 10 overs, then 20 for team 2, then final 10 overs for team 1 - will reduce luck of toss winning possibly?
3. Covered stadiums / retractable roofs - so rain can’t stop play (this would obviously take time and would be unevenly distributed)
1. No, just no. T20 is played by the same rules as test cricket bar fielding restrictions, numbers of overs you can bowl, and tighter on wides. You’ll be suggesting a Max zone for double runs behind the bowler next. 2. Yes, could be interesting. In standard T20 (I.e. with a home side and an away side) I’d let the away side choose, to stop pitches being prepped to suit. I think not usuing used wickets guards against some of the worst issues with the toss. 3. I’m surprised we’ve not seen this yet, although the issue is worst in the U.K. and NZ. It’s certainly doable, but very costly. I wonder what effects would be on swing etc? Bowlers need some help
.
1. Obviously this was my most extreme suggestion but I’m not sure I like your logic: “it’s played to exactly the same rules as Test cricket except for the rules that are different”
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
I find it fascinating how crap the USA has been in exporting its sport whereas we, well, have been almost universally successful.
Reportedly 3m people requested tickets to today's NFL game in Munich, Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But they are all expats
On my recent flight from Denver to London Heathrow I actually caught the same flight as the entire Denver Broncos team, who were flying over for a "big match" at Wembley. On my left I had a hardcore fan, and on my right I had the PR girl for the whole state, who was also flying out to sell Colorado as an investment opportunity by using NFL
She was in a state of sunken depression
Why? Because, as she said "Brits don't give a fuck about American Football." She said she was calling people at big companies and offering them VIP seats at the game and they were turning them down, universally, saying, "No sorry, but you could pop by our office and tell us stuff". She could not believe it. She said in the USA companies would be biting her hand off. She said yes the stadium would be full but nearly everyone would be American
She actually asked me why we don't care. I had to explain to her that Britain invented all the best sports in the world and American sports are, in comparison, a tiny bit shit, and we are particularly spoiled with great sport in London. Tho I said it in a nicer way, obvs. She was clearly upset
American Football is unexportable because it is overblown, weird and not very good. Basketball is basically a joke for ten foot tall freaks. Baseball- AIUI - is a wonderful sport, but very complex, and I reckon T20 cricket has got it nailed in terms of batting sports with global appeal. Ice hockey lol
One man's opinion.
He is speaking for a lot of people. Unless you have grown up with American Football, it's extremely hard to like. Too stop-start, too little playing time, too unclear to see what is going on. Compared to soccer, or rugby, or Aussie rules, it's just the inferior form of football.
You are talking to someone (me) who thinks soccer is the most boring game on earth.
That rugby is thuggery. AND that Australian Rules is just nuts.
Suspect it's got a LOT to do with what your used to, and used to others around you being in to.
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
I find it fascinating how crap the USA has been in exporting its sport whereas we, well, have been almost universally successful.
The USA didn't have much of an overseas empire.
Twenty20 started here in England in 2002. And rugby even got across to the French and Italians.
Something more to it than that.
The British have a genuine genius at inventing/codifying sports. It is a weird thing, but it is a thing. No idea why
Baron de Coubertin acknowledged that when he was devising the Olympics. He overly looked to the British way of sports, esp at public schools
I've heard one theory: the British have nice lush grass (due to climate), a decent amount of flat lawns, and were the first to invent the lawnmower, which allows all these sports- cricket, football, tennis, hockey - to be played on a reliable surface
But then you get an outlier like competitive skiing, also invented by the Brits even tho we don't have a respectable piste in the country. Maybe we are just BRILLIANT, and we should accept it
What the Brits did, or rather the English aristocracy and upper gentry, was make sport socially respectable.
Hence the Playing Fields of Eton. Something unknown to other European snob-ocracies. UNTIL they copied the English.
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
Good post.
A few ideas: discuss. I’m not sure all/any of them will work but a few ideas I had
1. maiden over (or even three/four consecutive dots) delivers a wicket (batsman is striked out)
2. team 1 bats 10 overs, then 20 for team 2, then final 10 overs for team 1 - will reduce luck of toss winning possibly?
3. Covered stadiums / retractable roofs - so rain can’t stop play (this would obviously take time and would be unevenly distributed)
1. No, just no. T20 is played by the same rules as test cricket bar fielding restrictions, numbers of overs you can bowl, and tighter on wides. You’ll be suggesting a Max zone for double runs behind the bowler next. 2. Yes, could be interesting. In standard T20 (I.e. with a home side and an away side) I’d let the away side choose, to stop pitches being prepped to suit. I think not usuing used wickets guards against some of the worst issues with the toss. 3. I’m surprised we’ve not seen this yet, although the issue is worst in the U.K. and NZ. It’s certainly doable, but very costly. I wonder what effects would be on swing etc? Bowlers need some help
.
1. Obviously this was my most extreme suggestion but I’m not sure I like your logic: “it’s played to exactly the same rules as Test cricket except for the rules that are different”
Ha, yes. In terms of dismissals, scoring, legal bowling etc. I’m not a fan of penalty runs, say, for slow over rates. Hit them in the wallet, not the scoreboard.
Like other PBers who are not watching the cricket, I've been analysing the 21 remaining House races to try to find betting opportunities.
If all 21 end up with the current leaders the result is 214/221 D/R.
However if one introduces the possibility of surprises by identifying those six races that can be swung if 55% of outstanding votes go the other way from the current leader you end up with 6 Hung, 211D, 218R.
My conclusion is that the 1.2 on Betfair for a Republican House majority is good value. So is the 2.24 on the GOP getting 220-229 seats.
You may be statistically right but this is where UK residents can come a cropper. It's not about statistical probabilities, it's about the nitty gritty of the voting demographic in all of the remaining counties. I don't have that info and unless you do, you are introducing more risk.
We've already seen people on here come a cropper over Laxalt.
On the other hand, CNN think the Republicans are probably just about going to sneak a slim majority. I trust their judgement and they are certainly not calling this yet.
It was extremely painful to see people go against my call for Masto.
It felt like a personal insult.
“It was extremely painful to see people go against my call for Masto. It felt like a personal insult.”
If you got all that upset about my bet and race analysis, can’t imagine how you’ll react to my new Senator Laxhalt tattoo.
Yes! I placed NV bet on GOP here after 74% count. Some others were ooooh and ahhhh about this one too mid count. when the lead in the count was that and awful lot of clark counted at 75% overall, and could still get 12, Kinabalu said why don’t you? so I did. Not that I’m blaming anyone, but I’ve already spent the hoped for winnings. I can’t take back because I’ve eaten and drunk most of it.
Let’s come back on the same page here if we can. I did it because closing polls were not good for the Senator. Many Latinos do actually like the Conservative message on things like abortion, can we say it was never too obvious how they would turn out here? So This is how the polling looked to me, from the battles wiki site. The levels she was posting in all polls in the closing weeks clearly pointed to defeat - of the last 14 polls she hit the height of 47 just once. In the last month she lost more polls than won, but when she did win it was by no more than 2, whereas opponent recorded 1x3 1x4 4x5 1x6. Laxalt led in nearly all the late polls and by 6 percent in the InsiderAdvantage poll in November and was ahead in the real clear average by 3.4 percent.
In my concluding opinion It was a great win in tight race for the Senator. Now it’s over it’s an interesting result to analyse as it throws much polling into question, and it has a red mirage element during this count to tempt bets.
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
I find it fascinating how crap the USA has been in exporting its sport whereas we, well, have been almost universally successful.
Reportedly 3m people requested tickets to today's NFL game in Munich, Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But they are all expats
On my recent flight from Denver to London Heathrow I actually caught the same flight as the entire Denver Broncos team, who were flying over for a "big match" at Wembley. On my left I had a hardcore fan, and on my right I had the PR girl for the whole state, who was also flying out to sell Colorado as an investment opportunity by using NFL
She was in a state of sunken depression
Why? Because, as she said "Brits don't give a fuck about American Football." She said she was calling people at big companies and offering them VIP seats at the game and they were turning them down, universally, saying, "No sorry, but you could pop by our office and tell us stuff". She could not believe it. She said in the USA companies would be biting her hand off. She said yes the stadium would be full but nearly everyone would be American
She actually asked me why we don't care. I had to explain to her that Britain invented all the best sports in the world and American sports are, in comparison, a tiny bit shit, and we are particularly spoiled with great sport in London. Tho I said it in a nicer way, obvs. She was clearly upset
American Football is unexportable because it is overblown, weird and not very good. Basketball is basically a joke for ten foot tall freaks. Baseball- AIUI - is a wonderful sport, but very complex, and I reckon T20 cricket has got it nailed in terms of batting sports with global appeal. Ice hockey lol
One man's opinion.
He is speaking for a lot of people. Unless you have grown up with American Football, it's extremely hard to like. Too stop-start, too little playing time, too unclear to see what is going on. Compared to soccer, or rugby, or Aussie rules, it's just the inferior form of football.
You are talking to someone (me) who thinks soccer is the most boring game on earth.
That rugby is thuggery. AND that Australian Rules is just nuts.
Suspect it's got a LOT to do with what your used to, and used to others around you being in to.
Of course it's to do with what you're used to. That is the #1 factor in whether someone likes it or not. But to grow the sport, we are talking about the ability to grow outside people that have grown up with it. And clearly, on that basis, your view is just wrong with soccer. The English Premier League has become incredibly exciting to people from the US to India to Japan. Whereas American Football hasn't been picked up anywhere, except for a bit in Canada. Where it is basically cannibalizing their own slightly different version of the same game.
As for rugby being thuggery, that is completely stupid when American footballers have a life expectancy in the 50s
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
I find it fascinating how crap the USA has been in exporting its sport whereas we, well, have been almost universally successful.
Reportedly 3m people requested tickets to today's NFL game in Munich, Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But they are all expats
On my recent flight from Denver to London Heathrow I actually caught the same flight as the entire Denver Broncos team, who were flying over for a "big match" at Wembley. On my left I had a hardcore fan, and on my right I had the PR girl for the whole state, who was also flying out to sell Colorado as an investment opportunity by using NFL
She was in a state of sunken depression
Why? Because, as she said "Brits don't give a fuck about American Football." She said she was calling people at big companies and offering them VIP seats at the game and they were turning them down, universally, saying, "No sorry, but you could pop by our office and tell us stuff". She could not believe it. She said in the USA companies would be biting her hand off. She said yes the stadium would be full but nearly everyone would be American
She actually asked me why we don't care. I had to explain to her that Britain invented all the best sports in the world and American sports are, in comparison, a tiny bit shit, and we are particularly spoiled with great sport in London. Tho I said it in a nicer way, obvs. She was clearly upset
American Football is unexportable because it is overblown, weird and not very good. Basketball is basically a joke for ten foot tall freaks. Baseball- AIUI - is a wonderful sport, but very complex, and I reckon T20 cricket has got it nailed in terms of batting sports with global appeal. Ice hockey lol
tbf broncos are shit this season. It would be like expecting Americans to give a shit about Aston Villa if they turned up to play a game.
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
I find it fascinating how crap the USA has been in exporting its sport whereas we, well, have been almost universally successful.
The USA didn't have much of an overseas empire.
Twenty20 started here in England in 2002. And rugby even got across to the French and Italians.
Something more to it than that.
The British have a genuine genius at inventing/codifying sports. It is a weird thing, but it is a thing. No idea why
Baron de Coubertin acknowledged that when he was devising the Olympics. He overly looked to the British way of sports, esp at public schools
I've heard one theory: the British have nice lush grass (due to climate), a decent amount of flat lawns, and were the first to invent the lawnmower, which allows all these sports- cricket, football, tennis, hockey - to be played on a reliable surface
But then you get an outlier like competitive skiing, also invented by the Brits even tho we don't have a respectable piste in the country. Maybe we are just BRILLIANT, and we should accept it
What the Brits did, or rather the English aristocracy and upper gentry, was make sport socially respectable.
Hence the Playing Fields of Eton. Something unknown to other European snob-ocracies. UNTIL they copied the English.
Baseball, is cricket for proles. Because gents can afford to play a game which ends in a draw after 5 days, whereas proles gotta get back to work tomorrow.
When it comes ot Britain's historic influence in sports, it is not *all* about British colonialism or imperialism. As an example. football got to Brazil via Scotsman Thomas Donohoe in 1894, and to Argentina via British sailors.
It's probably just the fact that many sports got codified in the mid to late 1800s as a result of improved transport links (meaning teams could travel long distances to play, and consistent rules were required), and that period was one when the British were trading throughout the world. Lots of expats with money living in foreign climes.
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
I find it fascinating how crap the USA has been in exporting its sport whereas we, well, have been almost universally successful.
Reportedly 3m people requested tickets to today's NFL game in Munich, Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But that is to see US teams. How many turn up to Munich Munchers against Bremen Dockers in the GFL?
NFL Europe crowds in Germany were good. 20k a game level.
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
I find it fascinating how crap the USA has been in exporting its sport whereas we, well, have been almost universally successful.
Reportedly 3m people requested tickets to today's NFL game in Munich, Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But they are all expats
On my recent flight from Denver to London Heathrow I actually caught the same flight as the entire Denver Broncos team, who were flying over for a "big match" at Wembley. On my left I had a hardcore fan, and on my right I had the PR girl for the whole state, who was also flying out to sell Colorado as an investment opportunity by using NFL
She was in a state of sunken depression
Why? Because, as she said "Brits don't give a fuck about American Football." She said she was calling people at big companies and offering them VIP seats at the game and they were turning them down, universally, saying, "No sorry, but you could pop by our office and tell us stuff". She could not believe it. She said in the USA companies would be biting her hand off. She said yes the stadium would be full but nearly everyone would be American
She actually asked me why we don't care. I had to explain to her that Britain invented all the best sports in the world and American sports are, in comparison, a tiny bit shit, and we are particularly spoiled with great sport in London. Tho I said it in a nicer way, obvs. She was clearly upset
American Football is unexportable because it is overblown, weird and not very good. Basketball is basically a joke for ten foot tall freaks. Baseball- AIUI - is a wonderful sport, but very complex, and I reckon T20 cricket has got it nailed in terms of batting sports with global appeal. Ice hockey lol
One man's opinion.
He is speaking for a lot of people. Unless you have grown up with American Football, it's extremely hard to like. Too stop-start, too little playing time, too unclear to see what is going on. Compared to soccer, or rugby, or Aussie rules, it's just the inferior form of football.
You are talking to someone (me) who thinks soccer is the most boring game on earth.
That rugby is thuggery. AND that Australian Rules is just nuts.
Suspect it's got a LOT to do with what your used to, and used to others around you being in to.
Of course it's to do with what you're used to. That is the #1 factor in whether someone likes it or not. But to grow the sport, we are talking about the ability to grow outside people that have grown up with it. And clearly, on that basis, your view is just wrong with soccer. The English Premier League has become incredibly exciting to people from the US to India to Japan. Whereas American Football hasn't been picked up anywhere, except for a bit in Canada. Where it is basically cannibalizing their own slightly different version of the same game.
As for rugby being thuggery, that is completely stupid when American footballers have a life expectancy in the 50s
A good game of international rugby - evidence: France v South Africa last night - is in a different and better universe of entertainment to any NFL game, Rugby at that level is the finer product on whatever metric you choose. Top notch rugby is more brutal, more non stop, more compelling, more emotional, more physical, more fluent, more varied, more FUCK ME THAT WAS GOOD
My big worry about absolute top level rugby is that it has got so intense and so physical it will soon face a tsunami of lawsuits about brain damage and be forced to adopt helmets like NFL and go down the same route of becoming evermore boring and staccato
But right now there is no contest. NFL is tedious overblown girly showbiz piffle with fleeting elements of great and world class athleticism. But they are fleeting
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
Cons:
It’s cricket.
Case rests.
Go to Karachi or Delhi or Colombo and say that
And that is 1.8bn people. The future superpower and a quarter of humanity. And they are OBSESSED with cricket
The IPL is arguably the richest league in all global sports already, and will only grow as India surges
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
I find it fascinating how crap the USA has been in exporting its sport whereas we, well, have been almost universally successful.
Reportedly 3m people requested tickets to today's NFL game in Munich, Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But that is to see US teams. How many turn up to Munich Munchers against Bremen Dockers in the GFL?
NFL Europe crowds in Germany were good. 20k a game level.
Wikipedia suggests highest average just shy of 19k. So similar to the Championship in England So far this season just over 18k. So not trivial, but only ranking with our 2nd tier for football.
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
I find it fascinating how crap the USA has been in exporting its sport whereas we, well, have been almost universally successful.
Reportedly 3m people requested tickets to today's NFL game in Munich, Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But they are all expats
On my recent flight from Denver to London Heathrow I actually caught the same flight as the entire Denver Broncos team, who were flying over for a "big match" at Wembley. On my left I had a hardcore fan, and on my right I had the PR girl for the whole state, who was also flying out to sell Colorado as an investment opportunity by using NFL
She was in a state of sunken depression
Why? Because, as she said "Brits don't give a fuck about American Football." She said she was calling people at big companies and offering them VIP seats at the game and they were turning them down, universally, saying, "No sorry, but you could pop by our office and tell us stuff". She could not believe it. She said in the USA companies would be biting her hand off. She said yes the stadium would be full but nearly everyone would be American
She actually asked me why we don't care. I had to explain to her that Britain invented all the best sports in the world and American sports are, in comparison, a tiny bit shit, and we are particularly spoiled with great sport in London. Tho I said it in a nicer way, obvs. She was clearly upset
American Football is unexportable because it is overblown, weird and not very good. Basketball is basically a joke for ten foot tall freaks. Baseball- AIUI - is a wonderful sport, but very complex, and I reckon T20 cricket has got it nailed in terms of batting sports with global appeal. Ice hockey lol
One man's opinion.
He is speaking for a lot of people. Unless you have grown up with American Football, it's extremely hard to like. Too stop-start, too little playing time, too unclear to see what is going on. Compared to soccer, or rugby, or Aussie rules, it's just the inferior form of football.
You are talking to someone (me) who thinks soccer is the most boring game on earth.
That rugby is thuggery. AND that Australian Rules is just nuts.
Suspect it's got a LOT to do with what your used to, and used to others around you being in to.
Of course it's to do with what you're used to. That is the #1 factor in whether someone likes it or not. But to grow the sport, we are talking about the ability to grow outside people that have grown up with it. And clearly, on that basis, your view is just wrong with soccer. The English Premier League has become incredibly exciting to people from the US to India to Japan. Whereas American Football hasn't been picked up anywhere, except for a bit in Canada. Where it is basically cannibalizing their own slightly different version of the same game.
As for rugby being thuggery, that is completely stupid when American footballers have a life expectancy in the 50s
A good game of international rugby - evidence: France v South Africa last night - is in a different and superior universe of entertainment to any NFL game, Rugby at that level is vastly superior on whatever metric you choose. Rugby at that level is more brutal, more non stop, more compelling, more emotional, more physical, more fluent, more varied, more FUCK ME THAT WAS GOOD
My big worry about absolute top level rugby is that it has got so intense and so physical it will soon face a tsunami of lawsuits about brain damage and be forced to adopt helmets like NFL and go down the same route of becoming evermore boring and staccato
But right now there is no contest. NFL is tedious overblown girly showbiz piffle with fleeting elements of great and world class athleticism. But they are fleeting
Rugby Union proved its superiority to League by requiring fewer tackles to turn over the ball, making it more free flowing. Gridiron is TERRIBLE in this respect. Hockey and basketball are much better.
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
I find it fascinating how crap the USA has been in exporting its sport whereas we, well, have been almost universally successful.
Reportedly 3m people requested tickets to today's NFL game in Munich, Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But they are all expats
On my recent flight from Denver to London Heathrow I actually caught the same flight as the entire Denver Broncos team, who were flying over for a "big match" at Wembley. On my left I had a hardcore fan, and on my right I had the PR girl for the whole state, who was also flying out to sell Colorado as an investment opportunity by using NFL
She was in a state of sunken depression
Why? Because, as she said "Brits don't give a fuck about American Football." She said she was calling people at big companies and offering them VIP seats at the game and they were turning them down, universally, saying, "No sorry, but you could pop by our office and tell us stuff". She could not believe it. She said in the USA companies would be biting her hand off. She said yes the stadium would be full but nearly everyone would be American
She actually asked me why we don't care. I had to explain to her that Britain invented all the best sports in the world and American sports are, in comparison, a tiny bit shit, and we are particularly spoiled with great sport in London. Tho I said it in a nicer way, obvs. She was clearly upset
American Football is unexportable because it is overblown, weird and not very good. Basketball is basically a joke for ten foot tall freaks. Baseball- AIUI - is a wonderful sport, but very complex, and I reckon T20 cricket has got it nailed in terms of batting sports with global appeal. Ice hockey lol
One man's opinion.
He is speaking for a lot of people. Unless you have grown up with American Football, it's extremely hard to like. Too stop-start, too little playing time, too unclear to see what is going on. Compared to soccer, or rugby, or Aussie rules, it's just the inferior form of football.
Any sport where you need to wear full body armour to take part is a bit weird. And it doesn’t play well in wet weather, because the ground is slippery, or if it’s too hot, because of all the armour, or if it’s too cold, because of all the standing about between plays. There’s no flow to it; a lot of fighting to move the ball a few feet up the pitch, and then start again. It’s boring to watch, and expensive to get into, and even in the US if it weren’t for their peculiar obsession with school and college sports it would struggle to survive. Compare football proper, where all you need to learn the game is an old ball and any old junk to mark where the goal is.
Like other PBers who are not watching the cricket, I've been analysing the 21 remaining House races to try to find betting opportunities.
If all 21 end up with the current leaders the result is 214/221 D/R.
However if one introduces the possibility of surprises by identifying those six races that can be swung if 55% of outstanding votes go the other way from the current leader you end up with 6 Hung, 211D, 218R.
My conclusion is that the 1.2 on Betfair for a Republican House majority is good value. So is the 2.24 on the GOP getting 220-229 seats.
You may be statistically right but this is where UK residents can come a cropper. It's not about statistical probabilities, it's about the nitty gritty of the voting demographic in all of the remaining counties. I don't have that info and unless you do, you are introducing more risk.
We've already seen people on here come a cropper over Laxalt.
On the other hand, CNN think the Republicans are probably just about going to sneak a slim majority. I trust their judgement and they are certainly not calling this yet.
It was extremely painful to see people go against my call for Masto.
It felt like a personal insult.
“It was extremely painful to see people go against my call for Masto. It felt like a personal insult.”
If you got all that upset about my bet and race analysis, can’t imagine how you’ll react to my new Senator Laxhalt tattoo.
Yes! I placed NV bet on GOP here after 74% count. Some others were ooooh and ahhhh about this one too mid count. when the lead in the count was that and awful lot of clark counted at 75% overall, and could still get 12, Kinabalu said why don’t you? so I did. Not that I’m blaming anyone, but I’ve already spent the hoped for winnings. I can’t take back because I’ve eaten and drunk most of it.
Let’s come back on the same page here if we can. I did it because closing polls were not good for the Senator. Many Latinos do actually like the Conservative message on things like abortion, can we say it was never too obvious how they would turn out here? So This is how the polling looked to me, from the battles wiki site. The levels she was posting in all polls in the closing weeks clearly pointed to defeat - of the last 14 polls she hit the height of 47 just once. In the last month she lost more polls than won, but when she did win it was by no more than 2, whereas opponent recorded 1x3 1x4 4x5 1x6. Laxalt led in nearly all the late polls and by 6 percent in the InsiderAdvantage poll in November and was ahead in the real clear average by 3.4 percent.
In my concluding opinion It was a great win in tight race for the Senator. Now it’s over it’s an interesting result to analyse as it throws much polling into question, and it has a red mirage element during this count to tempt bets.
Like other PBers who are not watching the cricket, I've been analysing the 21 remaining House races to try to find betting opportunities.
If all 21 end up with the current leaders the result is 214/221 D/R.
However if one introduces the possibility of surprises by identifying those six races that can be swung if 55% of outstanding votes go the other way from the current leader you end up with 6 Hung, 211D, 218R.
My conclusion is that the 1.2 on Betfair for a Republican House majority is good value. So is the 2.24 on the GOP getting 220-229 seats.
You may be statistically right but this is where UK residents can come a cropper. It's not about statistical probabilities, it's about the nitty gritty of the voting demographic in all of the remaining counties. I don't have that info and unless you do, you are introducing more risk.
We've already seen people on here come a cropper over Laxalt.
On the other hand, CNN think the Republicans are probably just about going to sneak a slim majority. I trust their judgement and they are certainly not calling this yet.
It was extremely painful to see people go against my call for Masto.
It felt like a personal insult.
“It was extremely painful to see people go against my call for Masto. It felt like a personal insult.”
If you got all that upset about my bet and race analysis, can’t imagine how you’ll react to my new Senator Laxhalt tattoo.
Yes! I placed NV bet on GOP here after 74% count. Some others were ooooh and ahhhh about this one too mid count. when the lead in the count was that and awful lot of clark counted at 75% overall, and could still get 12, Kinabalu said why don’t you? so I did. Not that I’m blaming anyone, but I’ve already spent the hoped for winnings. I can’t take back because I’ve eaten and drunk most of it.
Let’s come back on the same page here if we can. I did it because closing polls were not good for the Senator. Many Latinos do actually like the Conservative message on things like abortion, can we say it was never too obvious how they would turn out here? So This is how the polling looked to me, from the battles wiki site. The levels she was posting in all polls in the closing weeks clearly pointed to defeat - of the last 14 polls she hit the height of 47 just once. In the last month
she lost more polls than won, but when she did win it was by no more than 2, whereas opponent recorded 1x3 1x4 4x5 1x6. Laxalt led in nearly all the late polls and by 6 percent in the InsiderAdvantage poll in November and was ahead in the real clear average by 3.4 percent.
In my concluding opinion It was a great win in tight race for the Senator. Now it’s over it’s an interesting result to analyse as it throws much polling into question, and it has a red mirage element during this count to tempt bets.
You were going on about “holding your nerve” when Lax’s odds were sliding out at a rate of knots and it was obvious to everyone on here that he’d lose!
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
I find it fascinating how crap the USA has been in exporting its sport whereas we, well, have been almost universally successful.
Reportedly 3m people requested tickets to today's NFL game in Munich, Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But they are all expats
On my recent flight from Denver to London Heathrow I actually caught the same flight as the entire Denver Broncos team, who were flying over for a "big match" at Wembley. On my left I had a hardcore fan, and on my right I had the PR girl for the whole state, who was also flying out to sell Colorado as an investment opportunity by using NFL
She was in a state of sunken depression
Why? Because, as she said "Brits don't give a fuck about American Football." She said she was calling people at big companies and offering them VIP seats at the game and they were turning them down, universally, saying, "No sorry, but you could pop by our office and tell us stuff". She could not believe it. She said in the USA companies would be biting her hand off. She said yes the stadium would be full but nearly everyone would be American
She actually asked me why we don't care. I had to explain to her that Britain invented all the best sports in the world and American sports are, in comparison, a tiny bit shit, and we are particularly spoiled with great sport in London. Tho I said it in a nicer way, obvs. She was clearly upset
American Football is unexportable because it is overblown, weird and not very good. Basketball is basically a joke for ten foot tall freaks. Baseball- AIUI - is a wonderful sport, but very complex, and I reckon T20 cricket has got it nailed in terms of batting sports with global appeal. Ice hockey lol
One man's opinion.
He is speaking for a lot of people. Unless you have grown up with American Football, it's extremely hard to like. Too stop-start, too little playing time, too unclear to see what is going on. Compared to soccer, or rugby, or Aussie rules, it's just the inferior form of football.
You are talking to someone (me) who thinks soccer is the most boring game on earth.
That rugby is thuggery. AND that Australian Rules is just nuts.
Suspect it's got a LOT to do with what your used to, and used to others around you being in to.
Of course it's to do with what you're used to. That is the #1 factor in whether someone likes it or not. But to grow the sport, we are talking about the ability to grow outside people that have grown up with it. And clearly, on that basis, your view is just wrong with soccer. The English Premier League has become incredibly exciting to people from the US to India to Japan. Whereas American Football hasn't been picked up anywhere, except for a bit in Canada. Where it is basically cannibalizing their own slightly different version of the same game.
As for rugby being thuggery, that is completely stupid when American footballers have a life expectancy in the 50s
A good game of international rugby - evidence: France v South Africa last night - is in a different and superior universe of entertainment to any NFL game, Rugby at that level is vastly superior on whatever metric you choose. Rugby at that level is more brutal, more non stop, more compelling, more emotional, more physical, more fluent, more varied, more FUCK ME THAT WAS GOOD
My big worry about absolute top level rugby is that it has got so intense and so physical it will soon face a tsunami of lawsuits about brain damage and be forced to adopt helmets like NFL and go down the same route of becoming evermore boring and staccato
But right now there is no contest. NFL is tedious overblown girly showbiz piffle with fleeting elements of great and world class athleticism. But they are fleeting
Sensibly rugby is trying to change tackling rather than go down the helmet route (see the womens WC final yesterday for an example).
There are risks in lots of sports and we should do what we can to minimise them, while retaining the essence of the sport. It’s hard to imagine football without headers, but you can certainly reduce the training demands and so on. You also face up the facts that young men and women tend to regard themselves as invulnerable, and don’t think ‘it will happen to them’. I also recall seeing young sprinters being asked if he could be given guaranteed 100m gold at the olympics but would die at 40, and a significant number would take it.
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
Good post.
A few ideas: discuss. I’m not sure all/any of them will work but a few ideas I had
1. maiden over (or even three/four consecutive dots) delivers a wicket (batsman is striked out)
2. team 1 bats 10 overs, then 20 for team 2, then final 10 overs for team 1 - will reduce luck of toss winning possibly?
3. Covered stadiums / retractable roofs - so rain can’t stop play (this would obviously take time and would be unevenly distributed)
1. No, just no. T20 is played by the same rules as test cricket bar fielding restrictions, numbers of overs you can bowl, and tighter on wides. You’ll be suggesting a Max zone for double runs behind the bowler next. 2. Yes, could be interesting. In standard T20 (I.e. with a home side and an away side) I’d let the away side choose, to stop pitches being prepped to suit. I think not usuing used wickets guards against some of the worst issues with the toss. 3. I’m surprised we’ve not seen this yet, although the issue is worst in the U.K. and NZ. It’s certainly doable, but very costly. I wonder what effects would be on swing etc? Bowlers need some help.
I can't imagine covered stadiums being financially viable outside of Australia, where they can be funded by the AFL (they already have Docklands/Marvel Stadium).
We need a cricket mad billionaire to fund mass conversion out of their own pocket - the game needs it!
Unfortunately the last cricket mad billionaire who put money into cricket was one R. Allen Stanford, so the concept is less appealing than it might otherwise be.
Like other PBers who are not watching the cricket, I've been analysing the 21 remaining House races to try to find betting opportunities.
If all 21 end up with the current leaders the result is 214/221 D/R.
However if one introduces the possibility of surprises by identifying those six races that can be swung if 55% of outstanding votes go the other way from the current leader you end up with 6 Hung, 211D, 218R.
My conclusion is that the 1.2 on Betfair for a Republican House majority is good value. So is the 2.24 on the GOP getting 220-229 seats.
You may be statistically right but this is where UK residents can come a cropper. It's not about statistical probabilities, it's about the nitty gritty of the voting demographic in all of the remaining counties. I don't have that info and unless you do, you are introducing more risk.
We've already seen people on here come a cropper over Laxalt.
On the other hand, CNN think the Republicans are probably just about going to sneak a slim majority. I trust their judgement and they are certainly not calling this yet.
It was extremely painful to see people go against my call for Masto.
It felt like a personal insult.
“It was extremely painful to see people go against my call for Masto. It felt like a personal insult.”
If you got all that upset about my bet and race analysis, can’t imagine how you’ll react to my new Senator Laxhalt tattoo.
Yes! I placed NV bet on GOP here after 74% count. Some others were ooooh and ahhhh about this one too mid count. when the lead in the count was that and awful lot of clark counted at 75% overall, and could still get 12, Kinabalu said why don’t you? so I did. Not that I’m blaming anyone, but I’ve already spent the hoped for winnings. I can’t take back because I’ve eaten and drunk most of it.
Let’s come back on the same page here if we can. I did it because closing polls were not good for the Senator. Many Latinos do actually like the Conservative message on things like abortion, can we say it was never too obvious how they would turn out here? So This is how the polling looked to me, from the battles wiki site. The levels she was posting in all polls in the closing weeks clearly pointed to defeat - of the last 14 polls she hit the height of 47 just once. In the last month she lost more polls than won, but when she did win it was by no more than 2, whereas opponent recorded 1x3 1x4 4x5 1x6. Laxalt led in nearly all the late polls and by 6 percent in the InsiderAdvantage poll in November and was ahead in the real clear average by 3.4 percent.
In my concluding opinion It was a great win in tight race for the Senator. Now it’s over it’s an interesting result to analyse as it throws much polling into question, and it has a red mirage element during this count to tempt bets.
When elections are REAL close, then any damn thing can - and maybe even did - make the difference.
Here is ethnic/gender breakdown, according to CNN exit polling:
White men (32% of voters) Cortez Masto 36%, Laxalt 64%
White women (36%) Cortez Masto 43%, Laxalt 54%
Black men (4%) Cortez Masto 72%, Laxalt 25%
Black women (7%) Cortez Masto 89%, Laxalt 8%
Latino men (6%) Cortez Masto 62%, Laxalt 29%
Latina women (7%) Cortez Masto 61%, Laxalt 37%
All other races (9%) Cortez Masto 52%, Laxalt 43%
Pro-CCM gender gap among White and Black voters, but NOT among Latinos & Latinas.
On balance, seems that repeal of Roe v Wade played a role in saving Cortez Masto from being swamped by cost of living issue, which is of particular salience in Nevada, a state with lots of debtors (more from mortgages than casinos, though many mortgage-holders work for casinos!) and young families.
Note also that Latinos comprise 13% of electorate according to exit poll sample, compared to 68% Whites, 11% Blacks and 9% other races.
At least for THIS election. By 2024, yet more changes for America's most demographically dynamic state.
Like other PBers who are not watching the cricket, I've been analysing the 21 remaining House races to try to find betting opportunities.
If all 21 end up with the current leaders the result is 214/221 D/R.
However if one introduces the possibility of surprises by identifying those six races that can be swung if 55% of outstanding votes go the other way from the current leader you end up with 6 Hung, 211D, 218R.
My conclusion is that the 1.2 on Betfair for a Republican House majority is good value. So is the 2.24 on the GOP getting 220-229 seats.
You may be statistically right but this is where UK residents can come a cropper. It's not about statistical probabilities, it's about the nitty gritty of the voting demographic in all of the remaining counties. I don't have that info and unless you do, you are introducing more risk.
We've already seen people on here come a cropper over Laxalt.
On the other hand, CNN think the Republicans are probably just about going to sneak a slim majority. I trust their judgement and they are certainly not calling this yet.
It was extremely painful to see people go against my call for Masto.
It felt like a personal insult.
“It was extremely painful to see people go against my call for Masto. It felt like a personal insult.”
If you got all that upset about my bet and race analysis, can’t imagine how you’ll react to my new Senator Laxhalt tattoo.
Yes! I placed NV bet on GOP here after 74% count. Some others were ooooh and ahhhh about this one too mid count. when the lead in the count was that and awful lot of clark counted at 75% overall, and could still get 12, Kinabalu said why don’t you? so I did. Not that I’m blaming anyone, but I’ve already spent the hoped for winnings. I can’t take back because I’ve eaten and drunk most of it.
Let’s come back on the same page here if we can. I did it because closing polls were not good for the Senator. Many Latinos do actually like the Conservative message on things like abortion, can we say it was never too obvious how they would turn out here? So This is how the polling looked to me, from the battles wiki site. The levels she was posting in all polls in the closing weeks clearly pointed to defeat - of the last 14 polls she hit the height of 47 just once. In the last month she lost more polls than won, but when she did win it was by no more than 2, whereas opponent recorded 1x3 1x4 4x5 1x6. Laxalt led in nearly all the late polls and by 6 percent in the InsiderAdvantage poll in November and was ahead in the real clear average by 3.4 percent.
In my concluding opinion It was a great win in tight race for the Senator. Now it’s over it’s an interesting result to analyse as it throws much polling into question, and it has a red mirage element during this count to tempt bets.
Like other PBers who are not watching the cricket, I've been analysing the 21 remaining House races to try to find betting opportunities.
If all 21 end up with the current leaders the result is 214/221 D/R.
However if one introduces the possibility of surprises by identifying those six races that can be swung if 55% of outstanding votes go the other way from the current leader you end up with 6 Hung, 211D, 218R.
My conclusion is that the 1.2 on Betfair for a Republican House majority is good value. So is the 2.24 on the GOP getting 220-229 seats.
You may be statistically right but this is where UK residents can come a cropper. It's not about statistical probabilities, it's about the nitty gritty of the voting demographic in all of the remaining counties. I don't have that info and unless you do, you are introducing more risk.
We've already seen people on here come a cropper over Laxalt.
On the other hand, CNN think the Republicans are probably just about going to sneak a slim majority. I trust their judgement and they are certainly not calling this yet.
It was extremely painful to see people go against my call for Masto.
It felt like a personal insult.
“It was extremely painful to see people go against my call for Masto. It felt like a personal insult.”
If you got all that upset about my bet and race analysis, can’t imagine how you’ll react to my new Senator Laxhalt tattoo.
Yes! I placed NV bet on GOP here after 74% count. Some others were ooooh and ahhhh about this one too mid count. when the lead in the count was that and awful lot of clark counted at 75% overall, and could still get 12, Kinabalu said why don’t you? so I did. Not that I’m blaming anyone, but I’ve already spent the hoped for winnings. I can’t take back because I’ve eaten and drunk most of it.
Let’s come back on the same page here if we can. I did it because closing polls were not good for the Senator. Many Latinos do actually like the Conservative message on things like abortion, can we say it was never too obvious how they would turn out here? So This is how the polling looked to me, from the battles wiki site. The levels she was posting in all polls in the closing weeks clearly pointed to defeat - of the last 14 polls she hit the height of 47 just once. In the last month
she lost more polls than won, but when she did win it was by no more than 2, whereas opponent recorded 1x3 1x4 4x5 1x6. Laxalt led in nearly all the late polls and by 6 percent in the InsiderAdvantage poll in November and was ahead in the real clear average by 3.4 percent.
In my concluding opinion It was a great win in tight race for the Senator. Now it’s over it’s an interesting result to analyse as it throws much polling into question, and it has a red mirage element during this count to tempt bets.
You were going on about “holding your nerve” when Lax’s odds were sliding out at a rate of knots and it was obvious to everyone on here that he’d lose!
So 🤷♀️
That was about the point I got the tattoo. That’s proper nerve holding for you.
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
Good post.
A few ideas: discuss. I’m not sure all/any of them will work but a few ideas I had
1. maiden over (or even three/four consecutive dots) delivers a wicket (batsman is striked out)
2. team 1 bats 10 overs, then 20 for team 2, then final 10 overs for team 1 - will reduce luck of toss winning possibly?
3. Covered stadiums / retractable roofs - so rain can’t stop play (this would obviously take time and would be unevenly distributed)
1. No, just no. T20 is played by the same rules as test cricket bar fielding restrictions, numbers of overs you can bowl, and tighter on wides. You’ll be suggesting a Max zone for double runs behind the bowler next. 2. Yes, could be interesting. In standard T20 (I.e. with a home side and an away side) I’d let the away side choose, to stop pitches being prepped to suit. I think not usuing used wickets guards against some of the worst issues with the toss. 3. I’m surprised we’ve not seen this yet, although the issue is worst in the U.K. and NZ. It’s certainly doable, but very costly. I wonder what effects would be on swing etc? Bowlers need some help.
I can't imagine covered stadiums being financially viable outside of Australia, where they can be funded by the AFL (they already have Docklands/Marvel Stadium).
We need a cricket mad billionaire to fund mass conversion out of their own pocket - the game needs it!
Unfortunately the last cricket mad billionaire who put money into cricket was one R. Allen Stanford, so the concept is less appealing than it might otherwise be.
American football is basically a question of which players will get career ending or life threatening injuries in any game
Professional rugby now has a similar problem
Aggregate pack weight limits are the answer and have to happen
Is there evidence for that assertion? I think the moves on tackling are good, and it’s true that players are now heavier, fitter and stronger than amateur days, but I think pack limits would be an odd way to go.
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
I find it fascinating how crap the USA has been in exporting its sport whereas we, well, have been almost universally successful.
Reportedly 3m people requested tickets to today's NFL game in Munich, Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But that is to see US teams. How many turn up to Munich Munchers against Bremen Dockers in the GFL?
NFL Europe crowds in Germany were good. 20k a game level.
Wikipedia suggests highest average just shy of 19k. So similar to the Championship in England So far this season just over 18k. So not trivial, but only ranking with our 2nd tier for football.
To be fair, our second tier for football outdraws the top tier in all but between about two and four countries, depending on the year.
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
Cons:
It’s cricket.
Case rests.
Go to Karachi or Delhi or Colombo and say that
And that is 1.8bn people. The future superpower and a quarter of humanity. And they are OBSESSED with cricket
The IPL is arguably the richest league in all global sports already, and will only grow as India surges
Dude, forget Amritsar, and blowing people from cannons after the "Mutiny", and the Bengal Famine and all that.
No, for me the single worst, egregious, cruel, barbaric aspect of British rule in the Subcontinent was the foisting of boring, dull, tedious Cricket on the native populace, rather than a PROPER sport like football.
Imagine if football had been introduced say 120 years ago, India would be the Brazil of Asia, and Pakistan, perhaps, the Argentina.
ALSO, more relevantly, you realise the genius of the guys (who were they?!) who invented T20
Every single ball counts and it is hard to look away. It might just be the ultimate sport
It would be so much better if they made it 20 balls shorter, included some further pointless gimmicks, altered terminology for no reason, and then added 90s era graphics and weird camera angles into the mix.
ALSO, more relevantly, you realise the genius of the guys (who were they?!) who invented T20
Every single ball counts and it is hard to look away. It might just be the ultimate sport
Are you high? Not every T20 game is like this. You might as well pick the greatest rugby game, or football match. Hell even a good American Footy match.
Great sport is great. The danger of T20 is that too much of it becomes repetitive. Like having Macdonalds every day. Test cricket is the game you want. 2005 Ashes still remains the pinacle for me.
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
I find it fascinating how crap the USA has been in exporting its sport whereas we, well, have been almost universally successful.
Reportedly 3m people requested tickets to today's NFL game in Munich, Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But they are all expats
On my recent flight from Denver to London Heathrow I actually caught the same flight as the entire Denver Broncos team, who were flying over for a "big match" at Wembley. On my left I had a hardcore fan, and on my right I had the PR girl for the whole state, who was also flying out to sell Colorado as an investment opportunity by using NFL
She was in a state of sunken depression
Why? Because, as she said "Brits don't give a fuck about American Football." She said she was calling people at big companies and offering them VIP seats at the game and they were turning them down, universally, saying, "No sorry, but you could pop by our office and tell us stuff". She could not believe it. She said in the USA companies would be biting her hand off. She said yes the stadium would be full but nearly everyone would be American
She actually asked me why we don't care. I had to explain to her that Britain invented all the best sports in the world and American sports are, in comparison, a tiny bit shit, and we are particularly spoiled with great sport in London. Tho I said it in a nicer way, obvs. She was clearly upset
American Football is unexportable because it is overblown, weird and not very good. Basketball is basically a joke for ten foot tall freaks. Baseball- AIUI - is a wonderful sport, but very complex, and I reckon T20 cricket has got it nailed in terms of batting sports with global appeal. Ice hockey lol
Should we be surprised that, given the choice between a hard core broncos fan and a PR chick, @Leon spent all his time flirting with the chick?
ALSO, more relevantly, you realise the genius of the guys (who were they?!) who invented T20
Every single ball counts and it is hard to look away. It might just be the ultimate sport
It would be so much better if they made it 20 balls shorter, included some further pointless gimmicks, altered terminology for no reason, and then added 90s era graphics and weird camera angles into the mix.
Elon Musk responds to a senator complaining about Twitter Blue:
@SenMarkey A @washingtonpost reporter was able to create a verified account impersonating me—I’m asking for answers from @elonmusk who is putting profits over people and his debt over stopping disinformation. Twitter must explain how this happened and how to prevent it from happening again.
@elonmusk Perhaps it is because your real account sounds like a parody?
Is that an Elon Musk parody account, or is Elon Musk beyond parody?
These websites need to decide if they are publishers or platforms. If they are publishers, they should be liable for information published on them. If they are platforms, they should be regulated as public utilities once they get above a certain size.
It's not that simple.
Firstly, it is not really possible for a website (even one as small as PB) to monitor all comments to ensure that they are nobody is posting stuff that is libelous (or worse). No website could profitably vet all comments.
And, ultimately, as a publisher, that's what you'd have to do.
Which means that everyone is a platform.
Which brings us to point two: platforms work because they surface stuff that keeps people coming back. It's why Netflix, Twitter, Facebook, Tiktok, etc. spend gazillions of dollars trying to optimize algorithms so you see stuff that keeps you coming back.
If they are platforms, then do they have the right to act in their own economic best interests by working on algorithms to ensure you see stuff that will keep you coming back?
That seems pretty fucking crazy: if lots of people come onto your platform, you're no longer allowed to run the service for shareholders, by algorithmically curating content.
"Firstly, it is not really possible for a website (even one as small as PB) to monitor all comments to ensure that they are nobody is posting stuff that is libelous (or worse). No website could profitably vet all comments."
AI says Hi! ?
If AI can understand libel can we make a few lawyers redundant?
We are in a completely new situation - like when writing, printing, mass media, telecomms etc were first invented. In each case society had to adjust.
What is not tolerable is that if the BBC, Mail or Grauniad libels person X they can be liable for zillions; but if the same number of readers see an anonymous libellous post on Facetwit (or a post by someone not worth powder and shot) the libelled person has no remedy.
It means among other things that Facetwit has a commercial advantage over the Mail - it can make billions by salacious libels without accountability.
It also means that Facetwit has no reason to value truth for its own sake or even for commercial reasons.
At the moment the Facetwits are saying (1) yes we can make billions by unaccountable libellous lies (2) we can't possibly afford to moderate our content. One side has to go.
What's good for the goose has to be good for the gander.
If we're holding Facebook/Twitter responsible for anonymous libels, then you need to hold Politicalbetting's owners responsible too. Because people are (broadly) anonymous on here. And they can post libel. And we probably won't get it taken down that quickly.
And what are you going to do about 4Chan/8Chan: they are nothing but anonymous libel. Should the FBI be allowed to seize the domains and shut them down?
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
Good post.
A few ideas: discuss. I’m not sure all/any of them will work but a few ideas I had
1. maiden over (or even three/four consecutive dots) delivers a wicket (batsman is striked out)
2. team 1 bats 10 overs, then 20 for team 2, then final 10 overs for team 1 - will reduce luck of toss winning possibly?
3. Covered stadiums / retractable roofs - so rain can’t stop play (this would obviously take time and would be unevenly distributed)
1. No, just no. T20 is played by the same rules as test cricket bar fielding restrictions, numbers of overs you can bowl, and tighter on wides. You’ll be suggesting a Max zone for double runs behind the bowler next. 2. Yes, could be interesting. In standard T20 (I.e. with a home side and an away side) I’d let the away side choose, to stop pitches being prepped to suit. I think not usuing used wickets guards against some of the worst issues with the toss. 3. I’m surprised we’ve not seen this yet, although the issue is worst in the U.K. and NZ. It’s certainly doable, but very costly. I wonder what effects would be on swing etc? Bowlers need some help.
I can't imagine covered stadiums being financially viable outside of Australia, where they can be funded by the AFL (they already have Docklands/Marvel Stadium).
They can't really be funded by the AFL outside Melbourne either. They need to be full with 2 AFL games a weekend outside the cricket season to be viable
ALSO, more relevantly, you realise the genius of the guys (who were they?!) who invented T20
Every single ball counts and it is hard to look away. It might just be the ultimate sport
It would be so much better if they made it 20 balls shorter, included some further pointless gimmicks, altered terminology for no reason, and then added 90s era graphics and weird camera angles into the mix.
Imagine if they just gave the T20 blast rights to the BBC each year so that i5 was embedded into the nation on Friday nights, every week.
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
I find it fascinating how crap the USA has been in exporting its sport whereas we, well, have been almost universally successful.
Reportedly 3m people requested tickets to today's NFL game in Munich, Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But they are all expats
On my recent flight from Denver to London Heathrow I actually caught the same flight as the entire Denver Broncos team, who were flying over for a "big match" at Wembley. On my left I had a hardcore fan, and on my right I had the PR girl for the whole state, who was also flying out to sell Colorado as an investment opportunity by using NFL
She was in a state of sunken depression
Why? Because, as she said "Brits don't give a fuck about American Football." She said she was calling people at big companies and offering them VIP seats at the game and they were turning them down, universally, saying, "No sorry, but you could pop by our office and tell us stuff". She could not believe it. She said in the USA companies would be biting her hand off. She said yes the stadium would be full but nearly everyone would be American
She actually asked me why we don't care. I had to explain to her that Britain invented all the best sports in the world and American sports are, in comparison, a tiny bit shit, and we are particularly spoiled with great sport in London. Tho I said it in a nicer way, obvs. She was clearly upset
American Football is unexportable because it is overblown, weird and not very good. Basketball is basically a joke for ten foot tall freaks. Baseball- AIUI - is a wonderful sport, but very complex, and I reckon T20 cricket has got it nailed in terms of batting sports with global appeal. Ice hockey lol
One man's opinion.
He is speaking for a lot of people. Unless you have grown up with American Football, it's extremely hard to like. Too stop-start, too little playing time, too unclear to see what is going on. Compared to soccer, or rugby, or Aussie rules, it's just the inferior form of football.
You are talking to someone (me) who thinks soccer is the most boring game on earth.
That rugby is thuggery. AND that Australian Rules is just nuts.
Suspect it's got a LOT to do with what your used to, and used to others around you being in to.
Of course it's to do with what you're used to. That is the #1 factor in whether someone likes it or not. But to grow the sport, we are talking about the ability to grow outside people that have grown up with it. And clearly, on that basis, your view is just wrong with soccer. The English Premier League has become incredibly exciting to people from the US to India to Japan. Whereas American Football hasn't been picked up anywhere, except for a bit in Canada. Where it is basically cannibalizing their own slightly different version of the same game.
As for rugby being thuggery, that is completely stupid when American footballers have a life expectancy in the 50s
A good game of international rugby - evidence: France v South Africa last night - is in a different and superior universe of entertainment to any NFL game, Rugby at that level is vastly superior on whatever metric you choose. Rugby at that level is more brutal, more non stop, more compelling, more emotional, more physical, more fluent, more varied, more FUCK ME THAT WAS GOOD
My big worry about absolute top level rugby is that it has got so intense and so physical it will soon face a tsunami of lawsuits about brain damage and be forced to adopt helmets like NFL and go down the same route of becoming evermore boring and staccato
But right now there is no contest. NFL is tedious overblown girly showbiz piffle with fleeting elements of great and world class athleticism. But they are fleeting
Sensibly rugby is trying to change tackling rather than go down the helmet route (see the womens WC final yesterday for an example).
There are risks in lots of sports and we should do what we can to minimise them, while retaining the essence of the sport. It’s hard to imagine football without headers, but you can certainly reduce the training demands and so on. You also face up the facts that young men and women tend to regard themselves as invulnerable, and don’t think ‘it will happen to them’. I also recall seeing young sprinters being asked if he could be given guaranteed 100m gold at the olympics but would die at 40, and a significant number would take it.
Unfortunately World Rugby is listening to CTE Deniers.
The reporting on the Concussion in Sport Group meeting was sickening. It has brought me close to stopping watching rugby as World Rugby is currently wilfully sacrificing players at the moment.
It is utterly unacceptable - especially after the complete debacle of McCrory (Concussion denier in chief) having all his research retracted. In the face of this World Rugby has doubled down on the concussion denial.
ALSO, more relevantly, you realise the genius of the guys (who were they?!) who invented T20
Every single ball counts and it is hard to look away. It might just be the ultimate sport
Are you high? Not every T20 game is like this. You might as well pick the greatest rugby game, or football match. Hell even a good American Footy match.
Great sport is great. The danger of T20 is that too much of it becomes repetitive. Like having Macdonalds every day. Test cricket is the game you want. 2005 Ashes still remains the pinacle for me.
This wasn't even a particularly great T20 game, though. There wasn't much jeopardy in the second innings.
ALSO, more relevantly, you realise the genius of the guys (who were they?!) who invented T20
Every single ball counts and it is hard to look away. It might just be the ultimate sport
Are you high? Not every T20 game is like this. You might as well pick the greatest rugby game, or football match. Hell even a good American Footy match.
Great sport is great. The danger of T20 is that too much of it becomes repetitive. Like having Macdonalds every day. Test cricket is the game you want. 2005 Ashes still remains the pinacle for me.
This wasn't even a particularly great T20 game, though. There wasn't much jeopardy in the second innings.
T20 cricket has the potential to be easily the world's biggest sport, after football
1. It is non-stop compulsive viewing, between competitive teams 2. It has an ENORMOUS fan base in the subcontinent - 1.6bn people 3. It is also worldwide, England to Oz to SA to the Windies 4. It is perfectly aimed at humans who nowadays have less patience with long form of anything 5. The Asian diaspora will spread it globally 6. It has a natural glamour, the nightgames, the personalities, plus the easiness of understanding
Cons:
It is not a flawless product (the advantage to toss winning teams is an example). It needs to recruit a couple more rich nations to take off? And more
But I can see it overtaking Basketball and NFL, which remain hard to export for the USA (esp the latter)
I find it fascinating how crap the USA has been in exporting its sport whereas we, well, have been almost universally successful.
Reportedly 3m people requested tickets to today's NFL game in Munich, Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But they are all expats
On my recent flight from Denver to London Heathrow I actually caught the same flight as the entire Denver Broncos team, who were flying over for a "big match" at Wembley. On my left I had a hardcore fan, and on my right I had the PR girl for the whole state, who was also flying out to sell Colorado as an investment opportunity by using NFL
She was in a state of sunken depression
Why? Because, as she said "Brits don't give a fuck about American Football." She said she was calling people at big companies and offering them VIP seats at the game and they were turning them down, universally, saying, "No sorry, but you could pop by our office and tell us stuff". She could not believe it. She said in the USA companies would be biting her hand off. She said yes the stadium would be full but nearly everyone would be American
She actually asked me why we don't care. I had to explain to her that Britain invented all the best sports in the world and American sports are, in comparison, a tiny bit shit, and we are particularly spoiled with great sport in London. Tho I said it in a nicer way, obvs. She was clearly upset
American Football is unexportable because it is overblown, weird and not very good. Basketball is basically a joke for ten foot tall freaks. Baseball- AIUI - is a wonderful sport, but very complex, and I reckon T20 cricket has got it nailed in terms of batting sports with global appeal. Ice hockey lol
One man's opinion.
He is speaking for a lot of people. Unless you have grown up with American Football, it's extremely hard to like. Too stop-start, too little playing time, too unclear to see what is going on. Compared to soccer, or rugby, or Aussie rules, it's just the inferior form of football.
You are talking to someone (me) who thinks soccer is the most boring game on earth.
That rugby is thuggery. AND that Australian Rules is just nuts.
Suspect it's got a LOT to do with what your used to, and used to others around you being in to.
Of course it's to do with what you're used to. That is the #1 factor in whether someone likes it or not. But to grow the sport, we are talking about the ability to grow outside people that have grown up with it. And clearly, on that basis, your view is just wrong with soccer. The English Premier League has become incredibly exciting to people from the US to India to Japan. Whereas American Football hasn't been picked up anywhere, except for a bit in Canada. Where it is basically cannibalizing their own slightly different version of the same game.
As for rugby being thuggery, that is completely stupid when American footballers have a life expectancy in the 50s
A good game of international rugby - evidence: France v South Africa last night - is in a different and superior universe of entertainment to any NFL game, Rugby at that level is vastly superior on whatever metric you choose. Rugby at that level is more brutal, more non stop, more compelling, more emotional, more physical, more fluent, more varied, more FUCK ME THAT WAS GOOD
My big worry about absolute top level rugby is that it has got so intense and so physical it will soon face a tsunami of lawsuits about brain damage and be forced to adopt helmets like NFL and go down the same route of becoming evermore boring and staccato
But right now there is no contest. NFL is tedious overblown girly showbiz piffle with fleeting elements of great and world class athleticism. But they are fleeting
Rugby Union proved its superiority to League by requiring fewer tackles to turn over the ball, making it more free flowing. Gridiron is TERRIBLE in this respect. Hockey and basketball are much better.
??? Incidentally. Folk should watch the Oz v NZ semi final. An absolute world class game of League. Skilful, brutal, tense. Played in tremendous spirit. Decided by an offside by inches, and a grounding on the line by millimetres. Ball actually in play about 15 minutes more than a Union game too.
How can anyone not understand cricket? It's dead easy!
You have two sides, one out in the field and one in. Each man that's in the side that's in goes out, and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out. When they are all out, the side that's out comes in and the side thats been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out. Sometimes you get men still in and not out.
When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in. There are two men called umpires who stay all out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out.
When both sides have been in and all the men have out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game!
My mum had a dishcloth with that on it when I was a kid…
Was thinking the river would be a natural breaking point probably for the winter and that they'd be spending the winter securing and preparing for crossing, not beginning to already.
Elon Musk responds to a senator complaining about Twitter Blue:
@SenMarkey A @washingtonpost reporter was able to create a verified account impersonating me—I’m asking for answers from @elonmusk who is putting profits over people and his debt over stopping disinformation. Twitter must explain how this happened and how to prevent it from happening again.
@elonmusk Perhaps it is because your real account sounds like a parody?
Is that an Elon Musk parody account, or is Elon Musk beyond parody?
These websites need to decide if they are publishers or platforms. If they are publishers, they should be liable for information published on them. If they are platforms, they should be regulated as public utilities once they get above a certain size.
It's not that simple.
Firstly, it is not really possible for a website (even one as small as PB) to monitor all comments to ensure that they are nobody is posting stuff that is libelous (or worse). No website could profitably vet all comments.
And, ultimately, as a publisher, that's what you'd have to do.
Which means that everyone is a platform.
Which brings us to point two: platforms work because they surface stuff that keeps people coming back. It's why Netflix, Twitter, Facebook, Tiktok, etc. spend gazillions of dollars trying to optimize algorithms so you see stuff that keeps you coming back.
If they are platforms, then do they have the right to act in their own economic best interests by working on algorithms to ensure you see stuff that will keep you coming back?
That seems pretty fucking crazy: if lots of people come onto your platform, you're no longer allowed to run the service for shareholders, by algorithmically curating content.
"Firstly, it is not really possible for a website (even one as small as PB) to monitor all comments to ensure that they are nobody is posting stuff that is libelous (or worse). No website could profitably vet all comments."
AI says Hi! ?
If AI can understand libel can we make a few lawyers redundant?
We are in a completely new situation - like when writing, printing, mass media, telecomms etc were first invented. In each case society had to adjust.
What is not tolerable is that if the BBC, Mail or Grauniad libels person X they can be liable for zillions; but if the same number of readers see an anonymous libellous post on Facetwit (or a post by someone not worth powder and shot) the libelled person has no remedy.
It means among other things that Facetwit has a commercial advantage over the Mail - it can make billions by salacious libels without accountability.
It also means that Facetwit has no reason to value truth for its own sake or even for commercial reasons.
At the moment the Facetwits are saying (1) yes we can make billions by unaccountable libellous lies (2) we can't possibly afford to moderate our content. One side has to go.
What's good for the goose has to be good for the gander.
If we're holding Facebook/Twitter responsible for anonymous libels, then you need to hold Politicalbetting's owners responsible too. Because people are (broadly) anonymous on here. And they can post libel. And we probably won't get it taken down that quickly.
And what are you going to do about 4Chan/8Chan: they are nothing but anonymous libel. Should the FBI be allowed to seize the domains and shut them down?
Websites should decide whether they are publishers or platforms. If they are platforms, at a certain size threshold they should be regulated as a public utilities, with the government being able to require certain fair standards for moderation.
Was thinking the river would be a natural breaking point probably for the winter and that they'd be spending the winter securing and preparing for crossing, not beginning to already.
This war is showing that real-time intelligence from drones and satellites enables the nimble to outmanoeuvre the inflexible opponent with poor logistics. I don't see the Ukrainians stopping for winter at all. We just have to keep giving them kit. Best use of our defence budget for years.
Was thinking the river would be a natural breaking point probably for the winter and that they'd be spending the winter securing and preparing for crossing, not beginning to already.
This war is showing that real-time intelligence from drones and satellites enables the nimble to outmanoeuvre the inflexible opponent with poor logistics. I don't see the Ukrainians stopping for winter at all. We just have to keep giving them kit. Best use of our defence budget for years.
If they have the manpower to keep up momentum, then giving them the means to do so is a no brainer - Russia surely wants a breather to dig in or manuever.
Comments
The problem that PR had is that British NFL fans are scattered too thinly for tickets to the games to interest corporate types.
In strong, stark contrast to the (old) Boeing Corporation.
Addendum: BTW (also fyi) the local land pirate we love to hate in Seattle, is Howard Schultz.
Especially basketball fans AND Starbuck's "associates".
Cricket was once explained to me as 'A pleasant noise as the backdrop to a picnic' and that's about where my knowledge ended.
He is the best recruiting sergeant possible for the latter party.
And BTW, I don't *hate* Musk. Over five or six years (before the diver scandal), I've gone from thinking he was an inspirational but flawed individual, to thinking he is a nasty piece of work and a consistent liar whose business skills are not quite as glorious as many make out.
Baron de Coubertin acknowledged that when he was devising the Olympics. He overly looked to the British way of sports, esp at public schools
I've heard one theory: the British have nice lush grass (due to climate), a decent amount of flat lawns, and were the first to invent the lawnmower, which allows all these sports- cricket, football, tennis, hockey - to be played on a reliable surface
But then you get an outlier like competitive skiing, also invented by the Brits even tho we don't have a respectable piste in the country. Maybe we are just BRILLIANT, and we should accept it
Note the way they’ve followed Elissa Slotkin’s fortunes over a couple of electoral cycles.
If we’re still betting in 2028, you never know…
Hence the Playing Fields of Eton. Something unknown to other European snob-ocracies. UNTIL they copied the English.
What do you mean I can only pass the ball sideways and backwards, Headmaster Reginald Badeley-Powell-Haslethwaite? That makes no sense!
Even F1 is now now swiftly overtaking your weird local quirky road races with those "Fords"
Baseball is in steep decline in Japan. Soccer ascends:
https://sites.psu.edu/aspsy/2022/02/21/the-reason-behind-the-decline-of-baseball-population-in-japan/
https://kimi.wiki/life/national-sport
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-baseball-japan-idUSKBN1KV0AK
NFL hasn't got a chance as it is so dismally stupid. Rugby might overtake it. Fuck, even croquet might overtake it
AND Sarah Palin (at least today) is NOT as hot as Mary Peltola.
Just one man's opinion!
You have two sides, one out in the field and one in. Each man that's in the side that's in goes out, and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out. When they are all out, the side that's out comes in and the side thats been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out. Sometimes you get men still in and not out.
When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in. There are two men called umpires who stay all out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out.
When both sides have been in and all the men have out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game!
1. Obviously this was my most extreme suggestion but I’m not sure I like your logic: “it’s played to exactly the same rules as Test cricket except for the rules that are different”
That rugby is thuggery. AND that Australian Rules is just nuts.
Suspect it's got a LOT to do with what your used to, and used to others around you being in to.
Anyhow, I covered this yesterday:
Attractive, yes.
Bombshell, no.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin-kicking
I believe a lot of the mustard seed comes from Ukraine with the war creating big worldwide shortages.
If you got all that upset about my bet and race analysis, can’t imagine how you’ll react to my new Senator Laxhalt tattoo.
Yes! I placed NV bet on GOP here after 74% count. Some others were ooooh and ahhhh about this one too mid count. when the lead in the count was that and awful lot of clark counted at 75% overall, and could still get 12, Kinabalu said why don’t you? so I did. Not that I’m blaming anyone, but I’ve already spent the hoped for winnings. I can’t take back because I’ve eaten and drunk most of it.
Let’s come back on the same page here if we can. I did it because closing polls were not good for the Senator. Many Latinos do actually like the Conservative message on things like abortion, can we say it was never too obvious how they would turn out here? So This is how the polling looked to me, from the battles wiki site. The levels she was posting in all polls in the closing weeks clearly pointed to defeat - of the last 14 polls she hit the height of 47 just once. In the last month she lost more polls than won, but when she did win it was by no more than 2, whereas opponent recorded 1x3 1x4 4x5 1x6. Laxalt led in nearly all the late polls and by 6 percent in the InsiderAdvantage poll in November and was ahead in the real clear average by 3.4 percent.
In my concluding opinion It was a great win in tight race for the Senator. Now it’s over it’s an interesting result to analyse as it throws much polling into question, and it has a red mirage element during this count to tempt bets.
As for rugby being thuggery, that is completely stupid when American footballers have a life expectancy in the 50s
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Donohoe
Golf got to Japan in 1901 via an Englishman:
https://golfweek.usatoday.com/2004/05/08/2004-rise-and-fall-golf-japan/
It's probably just the fact that many sports got codified in the mid to late 1800s as a result of improved transport links (meaning teams could travel long distances to play, and consistent rules were required), and that period was one when the British were trading throughout the world. Lots of expats with money living in foreign climes.
It’s cricket.
Case rests.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_wrestling
It's also has the oldest continuously running, sanctioned sporting competition in the world, with one tournament starting in 1346
My big worry about absolute top level rugby is that it has got so intense and so physical it will soon face a tsunami of lawsuits about brain damage and be forced to adopt helmets like NFL and go down the same route of becoming evermore boring and staccato
But right now there is no contest. NFL is tedious overblown girly showbiz piffle with fleeting elements of great and world class athleticism. But they are fleeting
And that is 1.8bn people. The future superpower and a quarter of humanity. And they are OBSESSED with cricket
The IPL is arguably the richest league in all global sports already, and will only grow as India surges
So not trivial, but only ranking with our 2nd tier for football.
Beautiful Dnipro
https://twitter.com/DefenceU/status/1591900962699894784
There are risks in lots of sports and we should do what we can to minimise them, while retaining the essence of the sport. It’s hard to imagine football without headers, but you can certainly reduce the training demands and so on. You also face up the facts that young men and women tend to regard themselves as invulnerable, and don’t think ‘it will happen to them’. I also recall seeing young sprinters being asked if he could be given guaranteed 100m gold at the olympics but would die at 40, and a significant number would take it.
And when I say a "sane America" I mean they need to lose the extreme Wokeness, as well. Please let it happen
I love America and America is still the indispensable country: at least for the Free World
Maybe only invented by the Romans once they had conquered Norwich.
Professional rugby now has a similar problem
Here is ethnic/gender breakdown, according to CNN exit polling:
White men (32% of voters) Cortez Masto 36%, Laxalt 64%
White women (36%) Cortez Masto 43%, Laxalt 54%
Black men (4%) Cortez Masto 72%, Laxalt 25%
Black women (7%) Cortez Masto 89%, Laxalt 8%
Latino men (6%) Cortez Masto 62%, Laxalt 29%
Latina women (7%) Cortez Masto 61%, Laxalt 37%
All other races (9%) Cortez Masto 52%, Laxalt 43%
Pro-CCM gender gap among White and Black voters, but NOT among Latinos & Latinas.
On balance, seems that repeal of Roe v Wade played a role in saving Cortez Masto from being swamped by cost of living issue, which is of particular salience in Nevada, a state with lots of debtors (more from mortgages than casinos, though many mortgage-holders work for casinos!) and young families.
Note also that Latinos comprise 13% of electorate according to exit poll sample, compared to 68% Whites, 11% Blacks and 9% other races.
At least for THIS election. By 2024, yet more changes for America's most demographically dynamic state.
That was about the point I got the tattoo. That’s proper nerve holding for you.
Most will turn out to be nonsense or wishful thinking, I reckon.
Jesus that Pakistani bowling is good
ALSO, more relevantly, you realise the genius of the guys (who were they?!) who invented T20
Every single ball counts and it is hard to look away. It might just be the ultimate sport
No, for me the single worst, egregious, cruel, barbaric aspect of British rule in the Subcontinent was the foisting of boring, dull, tedious Cricket on the native populace, rather than a PROPER sport like football.
Imagine if football had been introduced say 120 years ago, India would be the Brazil of Asia, and Pakistan, perhaps, the Argentina.
Great sport is great. The danger of T20 is that too much of it becomes repetitive. Like having Macdonalds every day. Test cricket is the game you want. 2005 Ashes still remains the pinacle for me.
If we're holding Facebook/Twitter responsible for anonymous libels, then you need to hold Politicalbetting's owners responsible too. Because people are (broadly) anonymous on here. And they can post libel. And we probably won't get it taken down that quickly.
And what are you going to do about 4Chan/8Chan: they are nothing but anonymous libel. Should the FBI be allowed to seize the domains and shut them down?
The reporting on the Concussion in Sport Group meeting was sickening. It has brought me close to stopping watching rugby as World Rugby is currently wilfully sacrificing players at the moment.
It is utterly unacceptable - especially after the complete debacle of McCrory (Concussion denier in chief) having all his research retracted. In the face of this World Rugby has doubled down on the concussion denial.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/nov/02/worlds-rugbys-self-reinforcement-on-concussion-is-a-problem-for-the-sport
www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2022/oct/13/latest-mccrory-retractions-leave-sport-facing-a-reckoning-over-concussion
This thread has been bowled out
It didn't compare to the 50 over WC final.
Vikings win % swings:
2%
70%
1%
78%!!!
Incidentally. Folk should watch the Oz v NZ semi final. An absolute world class game of League. Skilful, brutal, tense. Played in tremendous spirit. Decided by an offside by inches, and a grounding on the line by millimetres.
Ball actually in play about 15 minutes more than a Union game too.
WTF?!
(I’ll get my coat)
Was thinking the river would be a natural breaking point probably for the winter and that they'd be spending the winter securing and preparing for crossing, not beginning to already.