Category Archives: sport

December 11, 2025 · 01:11

The lighting of a stage

That is what I am wondering about. You see, first we hear that Netflix is acquiring Warner Brothers and a few connected things too. A day later we hear “US president Donald Trump says the Netflix deal ‘could be a problem’” Next thing we hear that the son in law (Jared Kushner) is spearheading this hostile takeover. Of course all the conspiracy boys are in town blowing this up to an amazing extent. I think that there might be a setting where the boundaries of ethical borders could possibly have been trespassed on, but as I don’t know the clear picture, I will refrain from voicing them. There is of course the setting we can ‘debate’ on.

As the Business Insider has a more oiled version of what has happened. The story (at https://www.businessinsider.com/paramount-wbd-saudi-arabia-qatar-abu-dhabi-elllison-hostile-billions-2025-12) which comes with the headline ‘Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi want to put billions into Paramount/WBD. Why?’ It is after all a fair question and I am a little thrown by the setting that this is Qatar AND Saudi Arabia AND the UAE are working together on this. I can figure out the why, but about that later. You see, Business Insider has an additional gem to throw our way. It is “Those three nations won’t have any say over a combined Paramount-WBD, the Ellisons say. So what will they get?” And we are given “The governments of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi want to invest billions of dollars into a would-be mega media conglomerate made up of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery.” And there is a part missing, the gaming IP’s that is floating around there. But the end of the article gives us “If Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi are looking to put anything close to $24 billion into an enormously powerful media conglomerate — one with huge reach in both the US and ambitions for the rest of the world — will they be satisfied with purely financial returns? Or do they expect something else for their money?” I get that part, you see I had been working on IP doing that very same thing. There are 1.9 billion Muslims in the world and there is only so much the current studios can cater for and with this they have a firm hand towards places like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Indonesia which together with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE sets the handle to over 50% of the entire Muslim population. And as there is clear evidence to see real growth in both Saudi Arabia and the UAE for tourism and as that growth continues more is needed and with Paramount and Warner Bros. They have just that. I was fishing another angle, but that too was driven towards these 1.9 billion customers. Too bad Amazon never accepted this issue and the Saudi government (Sydney Consulate) did not accept it either, as such I was out of luck and Google had dropped their Stadia. So I was out of luck in that too. Still I considered other avenues as well. I got one Script done and offered it to Dubai Media, but they weren’t accepting any scripts at present (or my script was really bad, which is equally an option) 

But I saw these stages all over the Middle East happening and in that setting there is a growing chance. America with its valve setting is not a real option. Every script can only when the 15 middleman get a share of all that and I will much rather give it away to Canada and never get a penny. But the script was meant for a Muslim audience, so not much use in Canada. The other three optionally, but they are still being written. A have written megabytes of script, but it hasn’t been ironed out yet. I am relatively new to Final Draft. 

So am I correct? I believe so, Saudi Arabia and the UAE (I have no idea about Qatar) will need professionals that are decently up to speed and buying Paramount and Warner Bros. will do that. So, when all these professionals are directed towards new grounds with Saudi/Emirati directors and cast they can get a lot more done fast and I reckon they already have a set amount of scripts and screenings ready to get started the moment 2026 knocks on the front door. 

And with the media up and running the Saudi and Emirati media for all their venues is pretty much a given. Not just that, but the African nations are predominantly Muslim, so they can also capture the hearts of them too. Now add Egypt and Turkey and this media engine gets real global potential. Yes, the entire venue makes sense to me, but for me it was clear as I initially investigated that setting for my own IP, so I looked at the equation and I saw clarity, the fact that the price got upped makes perfect sense to me and in that setting Netflix merely loses. The west better start realising that on this planet Muslims are 1:4, 25% and that is a clear destination for the media centers of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, so whilst we are so involved with individuality, they merely approached every Muslim asking “Would you like this” and all muslims will very likely make an affirmative sound. We all look at the stage and wonder what was going on and others look at what lighting it needs and they cater to that hand, Now I need to wonder if my script is really bad or do I talk to another media channel. Well, that is my worry and it is for today as it is 01:00 now. Have a great day.

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October 16, 2025 · 12:39

Washing sports?

It is not the setting we start with, or ever if it comes to me. Almost a decade ago there was no setting where Saudi Arabia would be connected with football. Not that I care (I am not a football fan), but I did grow up in the Netherlands where the bulk of the population (around 99%) is madly passionate about football. And in the 70’s there was nothing but the national football setting (KNVB) and as we grew older (a pesky side effect of time) we saw that there was a football setting that was international. And until 2010 nearly no one had heard of Saudi Football. So when I saw last night Arab News giving me ‘Saudi Arabia book place at 2026 World Cup finals after hard-fought draw with Iraq’ the setting changed. Yes I had heard tot the KSA was into football and FIFA appointed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to host the 2034 world cup event. I like the idea because sports gets people together and that is never a bad thing. In addition, the more play football the more tings we all get to have in common with one another (yes, it is a naive view) but it is the one I sport (to give it a name). So when I saw that Saudi Arabia made it to the finals of 2026 I was pleased to say the least. And with the starting paragraph of “Saudi Arabia secured a place at the 2026 World Cup on Tuesday with a goalless draw against Iraq in Jeddah in the fourth round of the Asian qualifiers. The hard-fought point was enough to give the Green Falcons top spot in Group B and guarantee their seventh appearance at the finals”, we see the truth of those calling events sport washing. Saudi Arabia has fought and earned its place at the World Cup, even if some do not agree, they made it and whilst there is a definite setting of ‘they’ll never make it’ the truth of the matter is that 20 years ago we would not have considered Saud Arabia to get anywhere near the World Cup and see where that thought has gotten us. They are now here and they are massively set to be here for a long time. No sport washing was required.

So congratulations to the Green Falcons (aka Al-Suqour Al-Khodhur) and show the other football nations what is possible in 2026.

And as that news passes us by, Canada also had news. CBC (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/kelowna-aiport-9.6938860) where we see ‘Screens and PA system at 2 B.C. airports hacked with pro-Hamas, anti-Trump messages: officials’ with the sub text “Kelowna International Airport and Victoria International Airport confirmed the incidents in emailed statements. Transport Canada said it was aware of those hacks, along with another incident at Windsor International Airport.” Is anyone still doubting my view on the essential need to eradicate Hamas? The setting might not be entirely accurate as we get that it comes with anti-trump messages but these do not need to be mutually exclusive. The larger setting that some go for the ‘it is only Kelowna’ might need to reassess their settings because the airport was hacked into and that needs a massive rectification. There is no ‘freedom of speech’, this is a direct pro-terrorist setting and certain people (like Daniel Rogers, CSIS) to hunt down and prosecute (a 9mm prosecution) of mentioned terrorist.  There is only so much we can stomach and this setting is not about anything else than making Canada a terrorist target and there comes a time when we all need to stand up and say “You went too far here”, OK, I grant you that the same thing can be said about my resolution. Yet I remain in the mindset that too many people think that these pro-Hamas people just go away, they do not and they are ready to resolve anything that a speculative Iran makes happen. I personally still see Iran as the fingers wielding the Hamas puppet and when they get out of their territory into Commonwealth borders. The time to be nice ends. This is not speech, this is overlapping terrorism and whatever person responsible needs to be dealt with, rather harshly I say. 

So why the two messages?
I personally ally think that Hamas and their sympathizers will come to any sport event to be ‘heard’ through terrorism and whatever happened now will most likely happen in 2026 at the FIFA world cup at that point hosted by North America, Mexico and Canada and there is no way that players like Hamas will not try to exploit this and with the pro-Hamas in play all over Europe and the Commonwealth a clear path needs to be created to deal with the aforementioned terrorists.

America and Mexico can clean their own backyard, but Canada needs to do something and I think it is imperative that the Commonwealth steps in, not because they cannot, but because we have to stand by the Canadian intelligence players. Personally I think that Vancouver will be the larger target as it is close to Seattle, but that does not mean that Toronto is in the clear and the CSIS will need all hands to keep a tab on these two places and likely they will, but that means that these terrorists who hit Kelowna International Airport and Victoria International Airport might have been setting a dry run and to do this at this stage might make sense to some, but it also means that they have ways into the systems and that might spell trouble next year. This is the setting that some call the “smelling a red herring”, which is not my cuppa tea, but people (like Daniel Rogers) will likely know what to do and perhaps these settings are already made. Lets not forget that the CSIS has 48 hours and they tend to get really active in less then 30 minutes, so whatever I think has already been done by those inside that circle.

So whilst some are ‘nervous’, I know that the people at CSIS, ASIS and MI6 would have had things under control and they were setting whatever was needed already yesterday (and as expected the media has nothing) which is fine and expected. Still there is a setting that is within me and not within certain others. There is a fine line between ‘freedom of speech’ and ‘endangering others’ that is no longer a setting of debate, when you do the first you get to speak, in the second setting the 9mm prosecution comes your way. It is that simple and I get it that some will not herald this thought with lots of smiles, but I think that the last 740 days of Hamas are illustrative enough. If you have doubts call Mossad (at +972-2-6775671) we have seen 740 days of evidence and it is up to Canada to stop them now, but I do agree we all (the Commonwealth) need to step up to this task. And I personally feel certain that a soft touch is no longer needed. They have had enough warnings and even now they haven’t handed over the hostages. We are not ‘impressed’ with “Hamas and other Palestinian factions may not be able to locate all the remains within the given timeframe”, if you think that Hamas did not have a setting on ALL their hostages, you are largely delusional. It is just another cog of the game they are playing and now it is up to the Commonwealth to show them what we do with terrorists, because next year the entire world will be watching and it will be (speculatively through third players parties) that it is the time for Hamas to shine and I say it will be somewhere else, not now, nor ever in our Commonwealth. 

Have a great day, it is Time for lunch for me (that meal between breakfast and dinner).

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October 15, 2025 · 17:54

The fluidic hypocrisy of politicians

That is almost a given, yet there are times that we are setting the bar to below zero. As such we should have a larger look at politician as they heed and hurt gamers, whilst in other cases do it the opposite way and still hurt gamers. As an example I hand to you the Financial Review (at https://www.afr.com/technology/ea-s-australian-chief-finds-his-salary-in-the-political-firing-line-20251015-p5n2nj) where we are given ‘EA’s Australian chief finds his salary in the political firing line’ and we are given “Senior American lawmakers say the Australian chief executive of video gaming giant Electronic Arts has failed to make a case for an $83 billion sale of the business to Saudi Arabian interests and suggested he has been motivated by the promise of a significant windfall if the deal proceeds.” So, in the first. Why does he have to make a case? That might be the case, but it is a gaming concern and we have seen how gamers and gaming were called all kinds of foul (or was that fowl) and gamers were the start of nearly all things evil (I never agreed to that, but fine). As such we are given “Democratic Party senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal wrote to Trump administration officials and to EA, the developer of video game titles including The Sims, Battlefield and Madden NFL, with “profound concerns” about the deal led by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.” And I have to ask, did they open their mouths when Microsoft went to town on gamers and gaming systems? A simple question, or are American companies beyond reproach? But the story gets a little more complex and we are seeing this with “The Gulf kingdom’s Public Investment Fund has proposed to purchase the company alongside Silver Lake and Affinity Partners, an asset manager operated by Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.” As such Saudi Arabia is merely part owner (I did not know that), as such as we are given ““While the benefits of the acquisition are clear for you, the financial return for the three investors is less certain,” Warren and Blumenthal wrote in a letter to EA chief executive Andrew Wilson, who began working for the software giant in its now closed Gold Coast office in 2000.” I wonder how this is seen when we take that sentence apart. We have “While the benefits of the acquisition are clear for you” is the first part and he is the CEO, is he not? “the financial return for the three investors is less certain” is the second setting and here I say. Why do you care? Were you two shaking your tail feathers when WiseTech spend billions on “US-based supply chain software company E2open”? I see this all as some form of islamophobia. It seems that Saudi Arabia is good enough if it fills your pocket, but if they make wise investments, something is off according to you? And with gaming, we know you never held any of it in high regards, as such I have to wonder what the game is here. In addition we were given that you apparently had “profound concerns”, as such, what were these concerns? It seems that the media isn’t giving them and they seemingly aren’t asking them either. Will Andrew Wilson have ulterior motives? I do not know, but it is likely that he has his bank account as ulterior motive and in a greed driven atmosphere that makes perfect sense, so whilst the article gives us “EA gave Wilson responsibility for reviving its FIFA franchise, and he helped create a tool that incentivised players to make in-game purchases that ultimately became a bigger revenue stream than the game itself.” As such the game made a comeback and HE DID IT and as I see it he should be allowed  to cash in. And as it stands The Saudi Arabian government and the two others see it that way. 

The greed game tends to work in any direction, not only in the direction into America, but out of America as well. But perhaps the media will give us the entire setting of “profound concerns” at some stage, because that missing piece is seemingly central in this.

And don’t get me wrong, the man was paid $280,000,000 in 12 months, as such he made more money in 1 year that I’ll make in several life times. That setting is giving him leeway, because if he didn’t live up to that income, the buy would have never proceeded and in all this we see two democrats? So, what do they bring to the gaming table? Just a small question to cleanse the pallet.

So does Saudi Arabia have ulterior motives? Likely, because they are now part owner of a $55,000,000,000 software house and as I see it (I wrote about this before) they have a massive push to bring their own streaming solution to 1.7 billion consumers and that is merely the Islamic part. As I see it, they have the option to reach a lot more and with FIFA (or whatever EA renamed it into) a lot more coming in all kinds of ways and I predicted a growth from $6 billion annual to $15-$20 billion annual in first instance, but that before they bought EA, now there is not predicting how far this goes. But as I see this, I also smirk (an essential evil) as Microsoft is losing more and more ground in more places. The draw back from the game the played and gaming is nice, but when you lose, you tend to lose big. The expression “Go big or go home” comes to mind. It comes from the setting that encourages putting in maximum effort and committing fully to a task or goal, or to not attempt it at all. And they have been playing sloppy with too many settings for too long. I remember in 1998 that they had this setting wondering “why go for 100%, when 80% is fine” I never agreed with that part and too many agreed with it, because that is the sales setting, getting them over the ‘threshold’ and now we see that others are giving it their 100% and they are setting the new markers, they are the upcoming rulers of more and that might be frightening the American ‘dealmakers’ as they forgot (willingly or not) on how to give 100% to the task. A setting that comes with divided attention.

Have a great day and enjoy the day before the politicians ruin that too.

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October 8, 2025 · 20:10

It is worth how much?

Yup, I got a little surprise when Arab News gave me ‘Mongolian falcon sells for SR650,000’ (at https://www.arabnews.com/node/2618097/saudi-arabia) yesterday In Saudi Arabia an Mongolian falcon was sold for 650,000 reals (A$264,000). Now, I would pay that (if I had that kind of cash) a lot more willing for a Falcon than a car, so there is that, but I was boggled how that chip little tweeter is worth that much money. 

And lets be clear, I have zero, zilch, nada knowledge on falcon and I had until now never heard of that brad of bird. So as I was ‘informed’ through “The most expensive Mongolian falcon to date was sold Monday at the International Saudi Falcons and Hunting Exhibition 2025 for SR650,000 ($173,276) following intense bidding.” And the two images in Arab News shows the bird and the intense interest there was in that bird. I grew up in the Netherlands and we had peregrine falcons in the Netherlands but the were rare to say the least. The lot got near extinction when we dabbled with pesticides in the Netherlands and at present there are supposed to be around 200 breeding pairs today, but it was a close call. So when I saw this news I was happy to learn that some people take a rather large interest in keeping falcons. I know that there was interest, but until now I did not know how much and how far into the Arabic nations it is spread. And as we are told that “the International Saudi Falcons and Hunting Exhibition dedicated a special zone to Mongolian falcons, which hold a distinguished status among falconers in the Kingdom and the region for their exceptional quality” and that makes me happy. 

As I see it, I would jump for joy if the global pesky vermin population (aka people of the world) gets to be made extinct to about 97.3% (an important number) as it would allow the wildlife on a global scale become resurrected to the state it was pre 1700. Yes, I know it is rather nasty of me, but as I see it, the global wildlife would take my side in this matter. So as we are given “thanks to its resilience to harsh conditions and quick responsiveness to training, making it one of the most sought-after species among both amateurs and professionals.” To be clear, I have no interest to even be an amateur falconer. I reckon that my lack of knowledge and lack of funds implies that I wouldn’t be able to keep a Falcon. You need a Mews (Bird Housing), Equipment, Telemetry/GPS (to keep track of where Tweety went of to), Books and Supplies and a Food Freezer. This will set you back a fair amount of thousands as I see it, the Mews is likely the smallest cost if you have the space. And that is before that a bird of prey needs an abundant amount of time, making it a hobby for the rich non-working population, or able to shift lots of time around.

So even as I love the idea, there is not way that I would be able to keep interested in this hobby which for some people seem to be a calling. And that is before we consider that some people go beyond the Falcon and go for the Hawks or Eagles, I reckon that Harry Potter got the simplest setting with an Owl, or at least that is what I think and my point of view might not matter, but how many of you knew that Falconry has such a massive following in Saudi Arabia? I wonder how deep Falconry sits with the Emirati people. As such I was happy to learn a new useless snippet of knowledge. It is useless as life in Australia is not overburdened with Saudi facts, or with falconry settings. I have learned that it is “not explicitly illegal in Australia, but its practice is highly restricted due to stringent regulations governing the use and possession of birds of prey” and you can read more on that (at https://falconry.com.au), so have a great day today. 

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August 4, 2025 · 12:47

Feeling the rage

That happens to all of us and it happened to me today. The BBC informs us on a setting so infuriating that it boggled my mind. The BBC (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yp9w5kyw7o) informs us that ‘BBC finds electrocuted, drowned and starved cats in online torture groups’ and this angered me beyond believe. 

With the smaller byline “Kittens are being purchased to be tortured online, the BBC investigation has found” then we get the goods in a not so nice way and we are given “The 16-year-old girl, and boy, aged 17, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty after the kittens were found cut open and strung up. Knives, blowtorches and scissors were also found at the scene.” So not for legal reasons? I have one better. My mind was exploring my darker side and I came up with an alternative. We have a device (see below) 

it comes from the movie A Clockwork Orange, a masterpiece by Stanley Kubrick. So these two degenerates get the device, so that they cannot close their eyes. Watching a really large screen of their parents. Its on their bodies several sandwiches drowning in honey. Then every 10 minutes we drop in a scorpion. And the fun begins, they might resist for a while, but when they twitch in any way they run the risk of getting stung by a scorpion, and whilst the toxin is driving them more and more mad with pain they get more stings until the parents die and the kids watched it all. So how long until these people scream about cruel and unusual punishment? How much of a lesson does it take for these degenerates require to learn their lesson? Don’t come crying to me about harsh. The kittens and cats they killed didn’t get too much of a chance either (read: none).

As such I feel perfectly vindicated here. And don’t worry, there are 8 billion people. I don’t think that the four lost parents will be an issue to anyone. 

Sounds harsh? I don’t think so. As I am being told (by the BBC) “a new video showing the torture and execution of a kitten or cat was uploaded approximately every 14 hours.” As such there is a chance that this year alone 324 cats of kittens were killed and as such we can have a little fun. The second idea is to drop streams of honey on the parents and watch thousands of ants devour the honey, the salt of the parents and then the parents, all whilst their torturing children get to watch it all. We could also upload these video’s but as cats might not appreciate this we can forego that setting. So how do the legal reasons sound now? 

I never minded killing for business, killing of an animal for food or pure defense is OK. I prefer to go out of the way off the animal, but that isn’t always optional. And I get why you in self defense need to kill a lion, cougar or a tiger, but I prefer out of its way whenever possible. And I definitely go into its domain to ‘test fate’ That is simply stupid. So I get that you might be repulsed of this idea and I do not hold it against you. Just make sure these children learn that people like me exist and for the most we tend to be invisible. Lets see if they enjoy their preferred hobby now. And that’s just me having fun. Although the idea of setting the nastiness of nature in the path of anyone intentionally harming a kitten is just my kind of fun. So many dangers that nature brings. Like a shoddy bridge two feet over a pool of quicksand. The idea is actually riveting. 

Do you think that these two morons will take a larger lesson from here, or are they a lost cause?

Have a contemplating day today. There is nothing good in this story, I admit that. I just got so angry that anyone would torture a cat or kitten. Oh, dropping their parents in a tiger cage is also an idea. I have to film this and show these kids what happened when cats from up and go big. Oh, I forgot. Why the parents? They raised the morons and this is something that parents had to prevent from what I call zero moment. The moment the idea sprung into their heads. 

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June 20, 2025 · 10:25

No war, no politics

That is a mouthful and optionally a wrong frame of mind. Yet I have always been a massive supporter of keeping politics out of sports. I don’t mind that this stage could be used for politicians to meet ‘outside’ of the normal playing field but that is a side gig that does not need to involve sports. As such when I saw (in the wee hours of this morning) the CBC article ‘60% of Canadians say perception of women’s sport has improved over 3 years’ (at https://www.cbc.ca/sports/womens-sport-perception-improvement-report-1.7564670), my mind went slightly into overdrive. You see, as America is getting worse and worse. There is a rather large reason to get some of the sports out of America. And here I see the option of what could be the WGHL (Women’s Global Hockey League) to get set in (for example) Canada. It is be far the best solution. And in that trend consider the WGHL setting new stations in the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand for starters. These countries revere sports and women are a massive part of that. It could grow support in Germany, France, Sweden and Norway. In that trend as it grows, the United Kingdom (that is Albion for the really old people here) and from there it can grow in many directions, Including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

So as we see “New data on the explosive growth of women’s sport in Canada underscores its rising popularity, but also reveals that its structural supports still lag behind. Jessica Doherty, vice-president of strategy and growth at Torque Strategies, presented findings from a new national survey on Wednesday morning at the espnW Summit Canada at Toronto’s Evergreen Brick Works. One of the study’s main findings is that 60 per cent of Canadians believe perceptions of women’s sport have improved over the past three years.” Personally it is my believe that nothing gets the blood flowing than finding out that you are becoming part of something bigger, and as such I reckon that the ‘structural supports still lag behind’ is merely a temporary setting, but as such countries need to fuel this fire. And in this (as the viewing of America is seen) getting Canada to start driving this horse might be the better solution, the fact that Canada has a rising reputation among Female hockey players tends to make matters easier for some. And in this setting Saudi Arabia could be a larger setter. The stage of NEOM Trojena is supposed to be completed by 2026, so wouldn’t it be great is the first set of the WGHL is played there in 2031? 

Now consider that we already have the Montreal Victoire, Ottawa Charge,Toronto Sceptres, Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost, New York Sirens and in 2025 the teams from Vancouver and Seattle are being added. Now consider that Sweden has Brynäs IF, Djurgårdens IF, Frölunda HC, HV71, Leksands IF, Linköping HC, Luleå HF/MSSK, MoDo Hockey, Skellefteå AIK and SDE Hockey. Considering the number of teams there are as well in Norway and the Netherlands, uniting them in a global banner could drive the acceptance levels to an all time high. As there are teams in Australia and New Zealand as well, the mix to get acceptance levels to much higher settings is almost a given. If only Australian media would do something about them seemingly ignoring that branch of sports, would be nationally well received. And don’t forget Saudi Arabia. It apparently has the The Riyadh Wings, as such there is a start to giving women a global visibility stage and as plenty of Canadians can be seen all over the world, it makes sense for Canada to take the baton to give the world a larger view of Canada. So as the UAE and Saudi Arabia joins  this band of athletes, there will be global visibility and when you consider if a place like Trojena would be the global setting of women’s Hockey, I reckon that the even Canada will go nuts for these global plays. There is every indication that with Europe a critical mass will be achieved in gaming a better view for all Women Hockey players. As I see it, Europe might have a larger lead at this point, but as some see, teams from Saudi Arabia might grow close to faster. This is seen with “The hockey team includes all ages and the youngest member is a 10-year-old, Tolay Ahmad, who has been skating for two years” this was in 2018, implying that she might be seen as a seasoned veteran equal to any player in Sweden, Canada, or America. As such this might be an interesting match to say the least. Some of these players have been driven to such a chance for close to a decade and when you are driven to that degree, the outcome tends to be uncertain for anyone crossing them in a match.

As such have a great day and consider that some sports just fall in our viewport and it doesn’t need to be tracking or football games. 

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June 10, 2025 · 12:43

Surprise, surprise

That is the setting I was confronted with last night. On Wednesday the 11th (that crazy day), Australia will face off against Saudi Arabia in the third qualifying match. For the most I don’t really care, but this time there is a difference. It is not Australia playing in football (it just ain’t hockey, the real one on ice, not that grassy setting). It is the fact that Arab News (at https://www.arabnews.com/node/2603859/sport) gives us ‘Free entry for fans as Saudi Arabia face crucial World Cup qualifier against Australia’ where we are given “Fans will be granted free entry to Al-Inma Stadium on Tuesday as Saudi Arabia take on Australia in a must-win World Cup qualifier, the Saudi Football Federation announced on Sunday.” And as I see it, Saudi Arabia can use all the moral support they can muster, and for the record, I have never ever seen this before. Free access to fans? 

Personally I think this is an amazing setting to give its players the moral support they need. The Australian get to play in what is regarded as one of the most beautiful stadiums in the world, which is based in the King Abdullah Sport City and they get to see a stadium that is filled to the brink with supporters (mostly Saudi’s) and as the ‘statistics’ give us, there is every chance that this stadium, holding around 62,345 visitors will have well over 75% Saudi’s cheering their team onwards towards the score they will have. As I see it, Saudi Arabia did whatever they could to give their team the edge they need to win this one. The only thing Australia could optionally do, is offer free tickets for the 37 Airbus A380’s needed to fill 49% of that stadium, something that is not likely to happen. In the end the Australians will hear on Wednesday evening/night how their team fared against Saudi Arabia, I wish them good luck (a sincere wish) 

But as I see it, the surprise of handing free tickets is perhaps a world’s first event. The world gets to see Saudi Arabia with a chockablock filled stadium with Saudi Fans, so there is that to look forward to and I reckon that every Saudi influencer will be filming their team and their fans brimming with enthusiasm for their team. We will see the result of that match in about 18 hours. So only 18400 seconds to wait. Have a great day today and tomorrow.

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April 24, 2025 · 18:34

OK, this is new

That happens, even to me (not that I am such a high shining light), but the news from Planet Rugby caught me unaware. You see, they give us (at https://www.planetrugby.com/news/saudi-arabia-sports-minister-makes-bold-claim-as-multi-host-2035-rugby-world-cup-bid-considered

) that the stadiums for the Rugby World Cup in 2035 are ready. Personally I think that if it fits a soccer team, it will fit a Rugby team, but what do I know. You merely have to get an eraser to wipe away the old lines and place a few new ones (and replace the goals). So as we are given “The Sports Minister of Saudi Arabia, Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, has confirmed the nation’s intent to host the tournament in 10 years.” I do not oppose, I actually have no feelings at all on the matter as it just isn’t ice hockey. But the setting of Saudi Arabia hosting the Rugby World Cup is pretty much OK with me. The fact that the United Arab Emirates and Qatar are signing up for the hosting as well only sets me against Qatar. It is basically limited to the small detail that “Qatar has been a key financial supporter of the Palestinian militant organization Hamas, transferring more than $1.8 billion to Hamas over the years.” And that is a big no-no for me. 

So as we are getting the quote “Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 Football World Cup, but could double down with a bid for the Rugby World Cup the following year in a never-before-seen sporting double. Following an appearance at last weekend’s Formula 1 Jeddah Grand Prix, the minister was asked about the prospect of hosting the event of a sport that Saudi Arabia seldom plays.” The idea that a venue earns its keep by not hosting one but two world events has its appeal. For me the appeal is that these venues mostly serve one purpose and that is catering to the event and then? That is the setting I wonder about and there is a second setting. You see, with all the 2030 events running the setting for Saudi Arabia presents itself to the world for more than one setting has appeal. I actually wonder if a case can be made to host Sailing races at NEOM: Sindalah. As I see it, 2030-2040 might be the decade of Saudi Arabia. There is no doubt that we will see news from Saudi hater with their human right settings (which they negate a lot when it comes to Russia, Syria, Yemen and a few other places). Saudi Arabia has a proud heritage and it is a Muslim Nation. That doesn’t mean that it should be held to ‘different’ standards. 

So when we are given “Of the three, the United Arab Emirates is by far the most competitive team, sitting inside the world’s top 50 in 49th place” and the stage of “with a decade until the potential spectacle and a likely large financial fund for the sport in Saudi Arabia, it’s impossible to rule out a rise over the next few years if their bid were to be successful” in this I have the setting that the Olympics have only be held in Greece twice, with the political setting that Emperor Theodosius I banned the games in 393 AD in order to promote Christianity (I personally think that that Pope Siricius couldn’t run if his life depended on it). Oh, and when did anyone actually run the Marathon to Marathon? Or basically when exactly did anyone laurel Pheidippides for running his heart out (quite literally)? All basic questions, aside from how many marathons have been held in Kenya. This might introduce rugby to Saudi Arabia and a few other muslim nations as well and that should never be ignored. In that light the UAE is as worthy a choice as anything else. But the case has been made by Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal to host it in Saudi Arabia. 

So, as we see the quote by the sports minister “I think our main intention is to develop sports within the kingdom” we need to see the power of that intent. And with the quote “And then today we have roughly 97 federations. We’re not going to host everything with 97 federations, but why do we have 97 federations? It’s because we want to promote sports” we see the larger issue. We also need to acknowledge that some sports are near alien for the Arabic Nations. To be honest I never expected to see the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and yet at present we see Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman and Bahrain part of it. All places where water doesn’t tend to get solid (a prerequisite for the game). So as such I am a little curious if Saudi Arabia will be successful in that endeavor. And to show you what could happen 

So what does it take for Saudi Arabia to show the world the existence of the image below, worn by Saudi expats, fans and Rugby tourists all over the planet? 

These are the moments that matter to a lot of people, when a nation grows into the ranks of a sport, people tend to take notice. Not these captains of industry with their $899 lunches (sorry Mr. Jesse), but the ordinary people cheering for their team (for example the Kraken) eating their simple sandwiches and burgers cheering their teams along, because that is their happy place and whilst Polo has its share of fans, the larger slice of the world cheers for Cricket, Rugby, Ice Hockey, Soccer and Football ands as such I applaud the idea to see Saudi Arabia add another game to their stage and for all the young ‘entrepreneurial’ spirits, have fun. I wonder where it will be held as well as the participating nations. Wouldn’t it be great for Saudi Arabia that the announcement will draw people out, ready to try the sport and succeeding? How wild will the cheers be for a Saudi team to get to these games?

So as previews go, here is another one. It might be a problem if they play South Africa, but they will just have to create an alternative jersey.

Have a great day and for the real Hockey players out there. It is called a biscuit, you can’t eat it. 

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April 15, 2025 · 10:24

The clever get the advantage

That was always the setting to be envied, when the bullies come calling, the last breath is given to the clever people. In this the NY Times gives us (at https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/us/harvard-trump-reject-demands.html) ‘Harvard Says It Will Not Comply With Trump Administration’s Demands’ and I was skeptical at first, but as we see “Harvard University said on Monday that it had rejected policy changes requested by the Trump administration, becoming the first university to directly refuse to comply with its demands and setting up a showdown between the federal government and the nation’s wealthiest university.” My skepticism comes from the setting we saw last year when the Guardian gave us “Minouche Shafik, the president of Columbia University, appeared beleaguered and uncertain as one Congress member after another assailed her over her institution’s supposed inaction to stop it becoming what one called “a hotbed of antisemitism and hatred”.” For universities to let anti semitism unanswered and the setting of “who became Columbia’s president last July, into changing her testimony after she earlier told the Democratic representative Ilhan Omar that she was not aware of any anti-Jewish demonstrations at the university.” Which is a massive problem at the first setting as I see it. Now that Harvard sets a new line, they could massively profit by that standard. So as we see “Harvard’s response, which called the Trump administration’s demands illegal, marked a major shift in tone for the nation’s most influential school, which has been criticized in recent weeks for capitulating to Trump administration pressure.” We see two advantages for Harvard, the first first being that the wokiest woke people (whatever that means) will take their money out of their previous donation university and basically had it to Harvard (the people who openly hate President Trump might do the same), the second advantage is the academics who were unsettled by the federal ‘guide lines’ are likely to make a move from place previous to new place Harvard. This will name Harvard more renown than ever before and I reckon (a mere speculation) that these academics might increase the distance between Harvard and whomever has places 2 through 8 and in the academic world that matters (a lot). 

Is it right? Well, I think that the federal setting should not have gotten involved (but that is a personal view), I do believe that if a university is guilty of crimes than that is a different matter, and as most law student have been cast in the reading of the Nuremberg trials and the acceptance of illegal orders the setting for Harvard was (blatantly) simple. Don’t think it is a simple setting, because Harvard has the most money at present (read: the richest), other universities are a lot more dependent on Federal funding and that makes it a hard sell for a lot of them, but perhaps the setting that Harvard now has given the rest of America, others will follow. 

We can only hope.

In other news I just saw that Canada had to bid farewell to Gerry McNamara at the age of 90. As a wannabe goalie I give a heartfelt goodbye salute to this actual former goalie and former General Manager for seven seasons of the Toronto Maple Leafs. And I give my condolences to his family, friends and former team mates. And below we see Gerry McNamara at a slightly younger age

Have a great day and enjoy the end of the pre week today, midweek tomorrow.

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April 8, 2025 · 23:19

Honor is due

Yes, we should honor those who deserve it and I am all for that. In the setting for 1989-2019 I was a Washington Capitals fan, since 2020 I tried to get to Toronto and find a job there (still in Australia, no luck yet) and because I believe in supporting your local hooker (a phrase from the 70’s) I became a Maple Leafs fan. Still honor is due, no matter what team I side with. 

This is the young Ovechkin, a rookie who joined the Washington Capitals in 2005, after Bondra, Juneau and Oli the goalie (37) and that youthful young pup did shine and last Saturday he scored his 895th goal surpassing Wayne Gretzky, the all time NHL goal scorer. As such his parents have everything to be proud of (his wife and kids too) there are more facts on the CBC page (at https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/alex-ovechkin-breaks-gretzky-career-goals-record-1.7503198) but the simple story is that Ovechkin isn’t done yet. So there is plenty of time to get to 900 and perhaps even 950, no matter where he ends. He created a herculean task with his all time high score (wherever it ends) most people cannot even consider equaling Wayne Gretzky’s score and now there is one higher task to get. 

So here is the seasoned Ovechkin holding the Stanley Cup

I was still a Capitals fan when they got it, and it was a proud moment for me (a lot more for the players and goalie) but I saw that trophy and now, I will (hopefully) one day face Ovechkin from the other side, still cheering his achievement, because that is one milestone that very few non-hockey comprehend. To score in an NHL game is stellar, and that is one goal. Now repeat that for 894 more times. Ovechkin achieved this after 1,487 games. Consider the stamina and endurance that takes. But not to fret, achievements were mean to be broken (not by me though) and some new rookie will dream and face all the elements just to do that. 

So honor and glory to Alex Ovechkin, an achievement well earned. Have a great day you all.

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