Category Archives: sport

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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March 24, 2025 · 02:50

Fantasy in the past

We all have that, we dream of things, more often than not it will be sexually tainted and I have them too, but not this time. The CBC put that (not so) old fantasy on the forefront of my mind with the story (at https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/olympics-2026-hockey-venue-update-march-2025-1.7489606) titled ‘Construction of hockey arena for 2026 Olympics facing a ‘tight schedule’’ Here we are introduced to a new Hockey arena build in Milan we also are given the text “The schedule for completing the arena that will be used for many hockey games at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy will be “very tight,” organizers told the International Olympic Committee (IOC) this week at the organization’s 144th Session in Greece.” And it came to me that the thoughts of that stadium given to us by Karissa Donkin gives more options. It is (for now) build for other purposes, yet it could become more.

You see, The Italian Hockey League has options (as I see it) and it takes a larger setting to impact settings. The Italian Hockey Leagues has:

  • Alleghe
  • Aosta
  • Brixen/Bressanone
  • Como
  • Eppan/Appiano
  • Fassa
  • Feltre
  • Fiemme
  • Kaltern/Caldaro
  • Pergine
  • Toblach/Dobbiaco
  • Valpellice Bulldogs
  • Varese

And of course my delusional brain added team number 14 to that (coming to that). You see, in my fantasy I got to the Scotiabank Arena (Home of the Toronto Maple Leafs) and of course, as a non NHL player, I decided to get through to the sneaky sneaky scoundrel side in me and I created ‘my own’ team, based on another jersey, a soccer jersey (see below)

So in comes visiting Father Larry van Rijn (number 62) from the IHL league team Vatican City as a visiting (massively wannabe) Goalie for Vatican City. And the men were fantastic and of course they massively loved the idea to push a puck in my goal and that was how I got my first day going up against an NHL team without qualifications and a certain level of lacking skills. You know it all starts with a mere dream.

Yet now, that thought gets a larger setting. With Women Hockey teams gaining speed all over Global Hockey Arena’s. As far as I can tell, America and Canada have their leagues, but there is also the Australian Ice Hockey League, International Ice Hockey Federation, Elite Ice Hockey League, Liiga, Asia League Ice Hockey, IHL, Emirates Ice Hockey League, Saudi Arabia national ice hockey team and a few more. Yet in this setting now (due to some political person) the American leagues are less and less welcome and now that Women’s Ice Hockey is gaining traction, having A European League would not be a bad idea and as Canada gets more and more competition, the idea of an American League become less and less essential. OK, essential might not be the proper word, but Canada could use some friendly competition in a few ways. Take that with the setting that a women’s league might do well in the Arabian countries as well gives it more front page. The idea that the western leagues final could end up being Vatican City (with yours truly as the goalie versus the Abu Dhabi Shaheen Falcons does have an unusual appeal. A setting where America has pushed too many buttons and now there is the stage where Europe and other places will find the need to enjoy a sport, preferably one without America. 

The idea that there is a larger need to promote women in sports and too many places where they are treated too inferior, and now the door to a larger competition drive could open the world to a global sport where the women are under their own power an equal league of their own.

So have a great day and feel free to have your own fantasy (optionally involving food).

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March 7, 2025 · 02:10

True to the old word

The ‘old’ saying is “Where are idiots grouped”, the answer is “Usually between Canada and Mexico”, I don’t completely agree as politicians are for the most to some degree a global problem. But you get the gist of the matter. It gets to be funnier as we look at the numbers on Fentanyl smuggling where 86.4% of the convictions are US citizens. Take that and the anger from Canadian people (regarding the 51st state) and we have ourselves a clambake. And that is getting more traction now. The setting has gone viral as many places (I am reluctant to hide behind the operative word ‘all’) have removed America booze from the shopping racks (example: LCBO). For others (Australia) it could be seen as good news as Bundaberg Rum might grace the stalls of these shops, UK already had their gin setting, but that could grow a lot more now that brands like American Gin are removed (sorry Mr. Reynolds) as well, and the removal of several Vodka brands will be good news for Sweden. The branding marks will currently see a shift in consumer ‘appreciation’ as over $20,000,000,000 is removed from America’s branding. I reckon that soon others will see places like Coca Cola will soon also have an impact. Then there is tourism, that ship still under investigation might also see impacts. I think that the numbers for the tourist operators (like Disney, Warner Brothers and Universal) might see a bad summer coming. I don’t think that they have a large dip as they were seemingly over capacitated, but there will be an impact. As such the estimated impact from Canada on Fentanyl is getting a weird impact. According to some, the In the first 10 months of 2024, the Canadian border service reported seizing 10.8lb (4.9kg) of fentanyl entering from the US, while US Border Patrol intercepted 32.1lb (14.6kg) of fentanyl coming from Canada. And if the NPR is to be believed that joke has a nasty sting as in 2024, only about 43 pounds of fentanyl was seized at America’s northern border. That compares with roughly 21,100 pounds seized at the southern border. So the difference of this implies that the 43 pounds of substance caught on the Canadian side amounts to a mere 0.002 of the actual problem and that is now costing America an additional $20B plus change and commission. So how does that go over with Wall Street? So in a short moment, Alcohol, Tourism and retail is impacted in America. If we can believe Doug Ford (Premier of Ontario) has given the headline ‘Ontario premier Doug Ford cancels $100-million Starlink contract’, it becomes a comedy should Huawei fill that gap. So how is that Trump ego going at present? As Canadian tourists generated $20.5 billion in spending and supported 140,000 American jobs last year. They could see an optional 40% drop at present, I personally believe that this could be as much as 60% in an area where spend was 20% down from pre-Covid settings. And others are taking notice Especially the UK, Australia and New Zealand. They might not amount to much, but they do have an impact. I for one had dreamt (I have silly dreams) of seeing Universal Orlando once, but at present I will chose Abu Dhabi over USA. Warner Brothers would still see my money, but where in America my contribution would be close to 100%, In Abu Dhabi they merely fetch 30% of my money and the rest is all for Miral Experiences L.L.C. As such I become an asset feed to Julien Kauffmann. And consider I am merely one person, now consider that 40% of the commonwealth sees this the same way? How much damage did President Trump do to his own economy? If he was the King of Australia I would advice the board of Governors in Australia to muzzle him. This typically refers to the Reserve Bank Board, which oversees the monetary policy of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and is made up of the Governor (currently Michele Bullock), Deputy Governor, and other appointed members. So, what did Wall Street duo to reign in this level of idiocy? (Just to coin a phrase). 

So, as we realize that over the course of Rome’s long history, taxation was frequently a source of outrage and grief. Indeed there is a basic lesson to be learned from Roman history, namely that people did not like paying taxes they found unjust. And this setting comes from 357AD. As such it is over 1700 years old. Even Julius Caesar, according to the historian Ammianus Marcellinus “declared that he would rather lose his life than allow it to be done. For he knew that the incurable wounds of such arrangements, or rather derangements had often driven provinces to extreme poverty.” So President Trump (and his advisors) had examples coming from history and now the stone is set and Beijing announced retaliatory tariffs of 10-15%, starting 10 February, on various US imports, including coal, crude oil and large cars. (Source: BBC) and that has larger repercussions. Huawei is sensing blood in the water and at present they are ‘arming’ their devices with Linux (I reckon for Europe and other places). People might not ‘go’ for HarmonyOS at present but they now have a foot in the door and with a linux setting they could get into the Commonwealth to a larger degree (Canada included) as America now has to prove that there is an actual danger (which they never did). And only yesterday ‘Huawei Unveils Latest Suite of Intelligent Campus Solutions to Accelerate Intelligent Campus 2.0 Development’ that is the business opening to more. By providing high-quality 10 Gbps network experiences, it accelerates the digital transformation of enterprises across various sectors. No American solution got this close before (only on leaflets as far as I could tell). So whilst Huawei was stated to look out for what was coming, they opened the door to a juicy steak for all the greed hungry entrepreneurs sailing the global waters and they will get their grain. With ‘Intelligent Stadium Solution: Redefining Sports Venues’ they stand to win the hearts over in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, including people in Glasgow (2026), 2027 Cricket World Cup (South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia),  French Alps (2030), 2031 Cricket World Cup (India and Bangladesh) and Brisbane (2032). So when you add that up, how much of the world stage will Huawei capture? And China will be there to laugh out loud, especially as America NEVER showed any evidence and that has been voiced by Germany more than once. 

So how stupid was starting a trade war founded on tariffs and based on a ludicrous setting whilst Canada was a mere 0.002 of the actual problem? Oh, for desert we get the quote we were fed less than 10 minutes ago (source: USA Today) ‘Canadian province leader threatens to cut off energy to 3 US states, imposes 25% surcharge’ and I suggest that the MAGA fans in Michigan, Minnesota, and New York find a good hiding spot, because when that energy block comes through a lot of people will curse the day President Trump was reelected for some time. And then there is the energy coming at +25%, so how much energy does New York need?

Have a great day and happy trails to Bundaberg Rum as they now have an open door to an optional 40 million additional consumers.

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February 26, 2025 · 05:35

The who now?

I do not know all the inn’s and out’s of sports, I freely admit that. I live in Australia and like Canada we enjoy an over interested sport community (read: a sport mindset population). 

So when I saw news item named ‘Saudi Arabia to host Islamic Games again’, I went ‘The who now?’ And this isn’t a new thing. As I read “Two decades after hosting the inaugural edition in Mecca, the nation is once again at the heart of regional sport. In November, Riyadh will welcome the world’s top athletes for the sixth edition of the Islamic Solidarity Games, event aiming to strengthen brotherhood among Muslim-majority nations.” So this isn’t a new thing. It has been going on for two decades. And we are about to face the 6th edition of these games. So how come I was utterly unaware of the existence of these games? I don’t need to be muslim to enjoy games I cannot participate in (for the most, with one or two exceptions I am not able to participate on any level in sports). So I was taken aback. 

Let’s recap for the sports ignorant people who might never have heard of these events as well and I am looking at the media with utter disdain at present for not illuminating these games. The first were held in Mecca. The Islamic Solidarity Games and these games involve elite athletes of the OIC competing in a variety of sports, as such we get to see the creme de la creme in sports compete. The first were as said in Mecca (2005), the 2010 in Tehran were cancelled, in 2013 it was Indonesia to host these games, which were done in Palembang, then it was up to Baku to host them in 2017, in 2021 Turkey hosted them in Konya and now, in August 2025 they will be held in Riyadh. So what exposure did these games get? I would have loved to have seen them in Indonesia. That place doesn’t get to much exposure other then touristy occasions. 

So what sports are shown?
Well, at present 28 sports have been shown and the bulk of these sports were shown as:

Athletics (since 2005), Basketball (since 2005), Diving (since 2005), Equestrian (2005–2013), Football (since 2005), Gymnastics (since 2017), Judo (since 2017), Karate (since 2005), Swimming (since 2005), Water polo (since 2005), Weightlifting (since 2005), Wrestling (since 2017)

These are the sports we are ‘familiar’ with in a Olympic setting. Right Nike? (I am talking to the goddess, not the brand next to me now). A little less known are the sports below, or at least I don’t remember seeing them in an Olympic setting. Nike is shaking her head in disbelieve and rolling her eyes. They are: 

Bodybuilding (2025), Handball (since 2005), Table tennis (since 2005), Taekwondo (since 2005), Tennis (since 2005), Volleyball (since 2005), Wushu (since 2013)

The list is important as they are ‘enjoyed’ watching by the bulk of the world, as such I cannot believe that I had never heard of these games. 

Media bashing
You might think that I am making light of the situation and perhaps that is true, but can anyone explain how any person remains devoid of this knowledge when we have countries like Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, New Zealand and America where sports seems to be on the mind of men optionally a lot more than sex? The old story (according to women) is that men look for their golf balls more than a g-spot? (no idea what they mean with that). 

It might sound weird, but there is a decent Islamic population in at least 4 of them, so why don’t these Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation and Islamic Solidarity Games enjoy a lot more exposure? As second issue I would raise that there is another hurdle optionally failed. The fact that in these 20 years Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates wasn’t a host. There might be many valid reasons, but with all the exposure that Abu Dhabi enjoys, these games could be flooded in the limelight as I personally see it. So will they host these games in 2030?

At present I am learning a whole new chapter in sports. And the next chapter will shock you. When I enter “Islamic Solidarity Games Riyadh” in Google Search I do not get ONE news agency on page one. Worse still, one mention from the BBC on page 4 which was given in 2010. The western world is sunning these games to THAT degree. The western world was eager to paint Saudi Arabia black at every occasion they could find regarding the 2034 FIFA World Cup. So where are they now?

I think the western media needs to take a hard look at themselves when it comes to sport reporting. We have seen a lot of media engaged in ‘Whitewashing sports’ when it comes to Saudi Arabia, so who will take the front space when it comes to showing the thousands of athletes and the struggles they face with these games? There is something to scold western papers on the fact that they are seemingly shunning thousands of athletes. 

The more I see exposed by the biassed western media, the more l appreciate having a cat.

Have a great day, I am 165 minutes away from breakfast (we all have our little day to day priorities). 

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January 21, 2025 · 02:38

Openings to your fortune

That was the thought I had. Well, it was part of this. You see last week I saw news in the Financial Review (at https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/saudi-arabia-nears-deal-to-take-big-stake-in-foxtel-s-new-owner-dazn-20250115-p5l4gr) and people will think “You and how many more?” And that is a fair view. But think of this “When you are competing with an increasing amount of contenders and when that levy comes crashing down, do you care?” When we see the fires in California, can you afford to be coy or emotionally vested in the needs of others? Good business is where you find it, an old expressions that the crime lord Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith) threw in our faces in the movie Robocop (1987), but what you mis is that there is a lot of truth in that. When you are trying to make ends meet, does it matter how you got into a place? Does it yield more favor with anyone when the front door seems close and there are people waiting in line, is it that important to ‘join’ them when there is an open patio door to the same location? An entrance is an entrance. So as we see “Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is in discussions to take a stake of up to 10 per cent in global streaming business DAZN, a deal that would hand the Persian Gulf kingdom an influential voice in Australian broadcaster Foxtel.” With the added “DAZN, which specialises in sports streaming, is controlled by British businessman Len Blavatnik and last month agreed to buy Foxtel from News Corp and Telstra in a deal it said valued the local group at $3.4 billion.” Now I can be certain that Len Blavatnik might not be interested in my script, but he knows people and the small herring you throw in the pool might get the attention of the big fish you want to come to your side, either as a supporting player, or even in opposition. The price? Optionally a lousy payday for the first script. But if that gives a decent guarantee that scripts 2,3, and 4 come with a (hopefully) decent payday. And now as California is a cinderblock, it also stands to reason that the pool of scripts suddenly falls (close to) dry. Bares thinking doesn’t it? Because as you are trying to make up your mind Canadians in movies are seeing their option clear to now harvest whatever can be harvested.

So why this path? 
Well for me there is a clear option, but there is more you see, as Foxtel changes hands to British businessman Len Blavatnik, we see more than a mere change, we also see opportunity. As Saudi Arabia is setting their hands to the sport section of Foxtel, there will be people who will look at whatever is there?

And now more eyes will be hopefully looking at my script ‘How to assassinate a politician’ (aka Essay), which was written for an Islamic population and now we are off to the races. How many Islamic laced scripts has Hollywood ever delivered? And now that Hollywood s partially out of business, we can hold our heads high and allow the opportunity to make a few coins.

Is it a guarantee? 
Of course it’s not, but until this happened there were little options outside of Dubai Media and Al Saudiya for me and now there is another doorway, hence the patio door will have to do for me (at present). The simplest setting that Kurtwood Smith was offering us, becomes a doorway where the optional coins reside for us. We found business by going via the side door and it might not work. Yet I feel certain that hungry revenue people will get to see it and that is exactly the door I needed. I might have to sacrifice one script for little to get the visibility to offer the other scripts for a nice fee. And the fun part is that Saudi Arabia has its media channels, but with Hollywood (partially) out of commission, they too needs their channels to produce and now they are handed another option to look at, will it work? Does it match the quality they need? Those are questions for tomorrow. Today we (or I) at least got my way onto the premises. And that was the direction of business I needed. 

And with the quote “DAZN has been expanded aggressively, not only agreeing to acquire Foxtel – along with its streaming platforms Binge and Kayo – but also paying $US1 billion to broadcast FIFA’s inaugural Club World Cup competition.” This is not my field, but they will need to fill up spaces and that will be done with reduced options and a cheap script will be exactly what they need, especially as they will need to fill time gaps for Al Saudiya. And if you think that the last paragraph was a negative one, you would be wrong. The article gives us “But Brian Han, an analyst at Morningstar, said he was not optimistic about Foxtel’s prospects. In a note to his clients last month, he said the broadcaster was “burdened with expensive sports rights and mired in the ever-competitive streaming space against the global digital behemoths”.” You see, he has a point if you think of the way everything has worked all this time. It might have BEEN about “expensive sports rights” but Saudi Arabia has between now and 2030 a massive caliber of options, and that is all Saudi terrain. Trojena will have its own ski slopes, skating rings and so much more, all Saudi. Then there is Sindalah for the water sports. And I cannot even begin to fill the idea of The Line and all will have thousands of people who need to be entertained. I think that a lot of people haven’t even begun to consider how big the transition to Saudi Arabia will be. As such getting in there first has an enormous amount of options for the eager person seeking transition. And for the ones who missed it, when you get access to one it should open up to both (via Saudi Arabia). And that is before you consider that Bangladesh has 150.36 million muslims. That is 4 times the size of the Saudi population. Do you think that Saudi Arabia isn’t looking to service their shows in Bengali? I saw that option years ago, now it is time to seek if it has options for me as well.

So whilst the rest of the world is seeking to unwind their hatred for President Trump, I’ll be seeking the options I can see for good business.

Have a sunny and wonderful day.

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September 26, 2024 · 17:47

Xenophobia

Xenophobia is a real thing, it is not the version we see in Star Trek. Xenophobia quite literally translates to ‘foreign fear’. The fear of foreign issues. The media exploits it for any flames it can create, as fear invites flames, flames create ‘clicks’ and clicks translate to advertisement money. It is the simplest way for media to use people to generate revenue for them. Yet I saw the other f this exploited fear in another way last night. I was about to write an article to something related to this, as such that story gets pushed back and now I focus on this as it is related to the bigger picture. 

The first trigger were the Crusade memes we have seen this year (there were a few). Now I like the age of Crusades to some degree, but we were deceived to a much larger degree. The crusades were mostly the nobles pillaging the Arabian lands and it was done with the blessing of Pope Urban II. The treaty of Claremont (1094) gave rise to this and many people (often in states of near starving) rallied to the sound of the the call to free the land of Christ, which was largely ludicrous as that was Jerusalem and that was debatable Jewish/Saracen (Muslim). So here came the crusades and that was a massive slaughter around Accra, Jerusalem and a few other places. Yes, there are a few inaccuracies here, but the sentiment is decently sound. An interesting telling is seen in the movie Kingdom of Heaven by Ridley Scott. The western world had a decent technological advantage, but they could not stop the Arabian nations to unite in their anger to the west. Between 1092 and 1291 approximately 1.7 million people died. These people died by warfare, disease, starvation, and murder by banditry. In the current Russian losses against the Ukrainian defenders there were merely 647,800 losses, so the losses were then 300% larger. So what do you think will happen now that the Arabian lands have an economic advantage and the west no longer have a technological advantage? Did the Karen’s of this world consider that small setting in ‘their’ crusades?

And when you consider that stage, we get to the article that ‘set’ me off. It was the Daily Mail (at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/boxing/article-13889805/Anthony-Joshua-Daniel-Dubois-selling-national-soul-Saudi-PR-silence-criticism-SIMON-JORDAN.html) where we see ‘SIMON JORDAN: We must stop selling our sporting soul to the Saudis, I don’t like the sense that everything in this country is there solely to be bought’ It is a weird sense. You see, the owners of whatever is there to be sold, because they want money and the Saudi’s (and other nations) have it. The byline “I found it a tad perplexing to sit in our own Wembley stadium on Saturday night and listen to the national anthem of Saudi Arabia” which is nice, because on September 23 1932 the country Saudi Arabia was established. The Saudi’s are proud of this and they should be allowed to be proud. So I went over to YouTube and I found the Saudi National anthem. It was beautiful. Now, I was lucky because I cannot speak Arabic to any degree. I cannot even order a Shawarma if my life depended on it (as I die of starvation), as such YouTube was the answer as the movie had the song and the texts both in Arabic and English. 

Hasten!
To glory and supremacy,
Exalt the Creator of heavens!
And raise the green flag
Carrying the written light of aegis;
Repeat: “Allahu Akbar!”
O my country!
My country,
As pride of Muslims live on!
Long live the King
For the flag
And the land!

It reveres their country, their faith, their king and their flag. What is wrong about that? Because it isn’t revering the Union Jack? The owners (the governing body of English football, the Football Association) decided to honour the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on their national day. I see nothing wrong with that. So how did he come to “I don’t like the sense that everything in this country is there solely to be bought”? Shouldn’t his first though be “I don’t like the sense that everything in this country is there solely to be sold” In that the question refers to their inner ‘christian’ being, get cash now before it is too late. And in this America is already ahead of them, making all kinds of ‘unions’ before the wells of wealth run dry. And when we get “Though I consider myself a capitalist, I find it a little bit distasteful that we seem so willing to give away our national soul for the right price” and there is the larger story. The idea that the people would hand over ‘their national soul’, they sold their soul for a price and the buyer was willing to buy. I don’t see this part anywhere. We then get “I turned up to our most iconic sporting arena in the country, recognisable around the globe and the seat of our national game, to watch two British heavyweights Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua, and it felt like downtown Riyadh.” And I wonder (apart from the fact that Riyadh is prettier and a lot cleaner than London). Wembley Stadium is, as far as I can tell, still owned by the Football Association, so what gives? Was it merely a sign of respect to play the Saudi National anthem on their national day? I don’t know what the driving force was to playing that song, but I am willing to see that it as a sign of respect to the Saudi involvement on their national day. But what do I know. What is interesting is that the Daily Mail gives us “A British journalist has claimed he was barred from Saturday’s showpiece fight between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois at Wembley after labelling the event an ‘unashamed sportwashing exercise’.” Was this the case? I do not know as too many media is about creating flames. Perhaps that journalist could not afford the ticket and whomever he ‘represented’ had another journalist assigned to the event. I do not know, but I wonder what the facts are. The Daily Mail is a decent expert in creating flames and this time around they let Simon Jordan create the flames. 

That is the larger stage, the media is losing more and more reliability as they more and more depend on ‘clicks’ from flames. We do not know what to believe and the article does not help. For one, an no point do we see who the owner of Wembley Stadium is, as far as I know it is still owned by the Football Association. The article does not bear that out, not even once. Weird isn’t it. Oh and before you start a crusade, remember that wars are won by those who are better informed and as such you would get a massive beating from whomever represents the new Saracens. Something to think about.

Have a lovely day.

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February 7, 2024 · 22:41

Once more for fun

This started with a headline that caught my attention. It was ‘Top US consultancies face scrutiny over role in Saudi Arabia’s sports push’ (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/06/consultancies-saudi-arabia-sports-us-senate-disclosure-subpoena) there I immediately saw that it was written by everyones favourite Saudi basher Stephanie Kirchgaessner. Before I go out and draw first blood (always fun) I wanted to see if she had learned her lesson from the previous few times I slapped her silly online. So I decided to have a closer look. Here we are given “Major US consultancies who have advised Saudi Arabia on its global sports spending spree – including its proposed takeover of golf’s PGA Tour – are coming under fire in Washington for possible violations of federal disclosure laws.” That got my attention, but there are a few sides that need clarification. You see what exactly are the ‘federal disclosure laws’? It comes with the added “the senator has also strongly suggested that the consultancies could be violating federal disclosure rules – known as the Foreign Agents Registration Act (Fara) – by not formally declaring to US authorities that they are acting as agents of the Saudi government.” And now we have a problem. You see, when we consider that the “The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) was enacted in 1938. FARA requires certain agents of foreign principals who are engaged in political activities” This is not politics, this is a bloody sport organisation and Kirchgaessner should know better than to be the willing tool of Richard Blumenthal. As such, The FARA Unit of the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section (CES) in the National Security Division (NSD). This implies that Matthew G. Olsen, Assistant Attorney General of the NSD should be part of this and he is not mentioned, not once. So what is this about?  

Well, we get an idea in the article with “The Saudi public investment fund (PIF), a sovereign wealth fund chaired by the crown prince and de facto Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, and is worth an estimated $776bn, is at the heart of Blumenthal’s inquiry” and my question becomes. ‘Why is the investment fund of a sovereign nation the interest of Blumenthal?’ Anyone? You see what does a democratic United States senator from Connecticut got to do with this? We never see that explanation. Don’t get me wrong, this man has done plenty of good for America and for his constituents. I merely wonder what is going on. Part of this is seen in the Financial Times (at https://www.ft.com/content/7009a1a9-8e07-4113-a47d-ee4724d3d427) when we are given “You say you are between a rock and a hard place but you have chosen sides; you have chosen the Saudi side, not the American side” with the added “US PGA Golf Tour” is a global sports organisation, PGA stands for Professional Golfers’ Association of America. Yes, the term America is in there. But the side we do not see is “Overall, the PGA Tour reported $1.9 billion in revenue in 2022, up from $1.59 billion the previous year, thanks to new multibillion-dollar TV deals. Expenses rose as well, with the organisation reporting $1.87 billion in costs, up from $1.55 billion in 2021.” So this is about $300,000,000 in debatable profits. And in all this we see certain people in the dock for explanations. Yet at what moment in time did Richard Blumenthal and Stephanie Kirchgaessner look at its board of directors? This includes Ed Herlihy (lawyer), Jimmy Dunne, Mark Flaherty, Joe Gorder and Mary Meeker? When were questions asked of them? McKinsey is a consultancy firm, gold is a sport, it is not any kind of bloody intelligence with foreign agents. That shallow ice allows me to slap Kirchgaessner yet again. And all this is out in the open, she merely reported like a meek little sheep making the Guardian a bigger joke. I saw the wreck unfold in under 10 minutes. 

So when we get to “The PIF has routinely objected to being subjected to US laws and has rebuffed repeated requests by the Senate committee to hand over documents subpoenaed by the panel. To get around the issue, Blumenthal looked to gather information from the US consultancies that have advised Saudi Arabia for answers.” It is the ‘to get around the issue’ that matters. Blumenthal wasn’t ready, wasn’t prepared and was out of his depth in this case. The first question in a senatorial interrogation would be ‘How does FARA apply to golf?’ Then I would go towards issues like outsourcing. America outsources to China for well over $23,130,000,000 billion all so that they end up with an average workforce spend of $29.10. Yes, that is America. But no one steps in on that step of greed, not even towards China, so the PGA is outsourcing itself to Saudi Arabia for the opposite reason, not to get the cost down, but to get profits up and it seems that McKinsey and Company investigated and reported on this for their client. All settings that are out in the open and the joking duet called Kirchgaessner/Blumenthal missed this? 

So when we get back to “Major US consultancies who have advised Saudi Arabia on its global sports spending spree – including its proposed takeover of golf’s PGA Tour – are coming under fire in Washington for possible violations of federal disclosure laws.” Why aren’t we seeing the board of directors of the PGA tours in the limelight? And when it comes to the US consultancies, if they are advising, there is the question will others follow that advise and if so is the acting party not up for optional consequences if laws are BROKEN? Were laws broken? Not as far as I can tell and we can point at ‘to get around the issue’ implies that Richard Blumenthal wants something else. Perhaps dip his …. In the PIF (Public Investment Fund) and slurp up whatever he can. Oh and a thought just occurred. What do you think happens when Saudi Arabia retracts all fundings from America? Did you work that out? When Saudi Arabia sells all the US treasury bonds they have, will the heartbeat of America be measured in Weeks, or seconds? If Saudi Arabia offloads $107,000,000,000 in bonds the US economy will face a harsh reality that it needs money overnight and when others leave America to get by it is all over. Perhaps the ultimate nightmare for Wall Street that desperately requires some kind of soft landing at present. And it could have been averted, just like the losses that the US defense providers face to the extend of many billions (up to 50 of them close to immediate). How much losses can America survive? If there was a clear case of national security I would be fine with this all, but the Guardian gives us no information other than a Saudi hater who is out of her depth and no clear information on the entire McKinsey setting. Too much alleged emotions and no relevant information. 

So this was one more slap just for the fun of it. Enjoy the midweek.

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February 3, 2024 · 22:47

What are sports to you?

A question I have been pondering. It started a week or so as the Swift hatred entered my Twitter account. I have no idea why there was so much hatred. She is gorgeous, she is a singer and from one photo I saw she has the muscle tone of an olympic athlete. So, what is not to like or love about that youthful young sprout? But this is about sports and for this we need to go back to early 2003. I got my Xbox with a new mobile subscription. I wasn’t looking for it, I had my PS2 and I was happy. I had nothing against the Xbox, gaming is gaming. And on a nice summer 5 friends and me making a team of 6 decided to have a little American Football match. With the EA game that as possible, so on Saturday we started the elimination game each a 15 minute game (I believe) and I ended up 4th. I lost the last game against the Steelers and the steelers went to the podium to get 3rd. The final that was to be played Sunday (we were all tired) was set to noon (a Gary Cooper reason). And the final match a two times 30 minutes game was set between packers and raiders and the raiders won. It was perhaps one of the nicest weekends that year. There were snacks, there were suds, there was cake in-between and we were all having a great time. Even now 20 years later I still remember that weekend. Gaming and sports. I was playing the 49ers for the most nerdy, dorky reasons of all. I saw one of their cheerleader calendars that year and San Francisco seemed like a cool city. 

Does there need to be another reason? I like my hockey, my NHL games. So as the 49ers are due towards the Super Bowl these thoughts came flooding back to me. 

And as I was looking at the news I see how Taylor Swift could make the flight back from Japan with the words ‘You need to calm down: Taylor Swift can fly from Tokyo to Super Bowl in time, says Japan embassy’ (source: The Guardian) is the world mad? First if she can’t make it, she can watch it on TV. She has a jet with TV. She is a multi billion dollar business woman and she has her brand, just like Travis Kelce has his job and his job is on the line that day. He might not be the quarterback, but this is the game of a lifetime and he is just as important as the other players. This is one match when being a team matters. Prima Donna’s never make it to the finish line. They need their team and this is the grand slam of finals in sports. 

I doubt I’ll see it, I am not a football fan and I am not sure if it makes the Australian TV. I will keep an eye on the Google Scores. And it all matters, as I see “Big name advertisers from Netflix to Google paid as much as $7 million for a 30-second spot during the game, seeking to capture the attention of the roughly 100 million viewers who tune in each year.” Everyone wants to cash in, everyone wants to see part of that 100,000,000 audience. I get it, but it is about the sports (and perhaps the halftime show)

But what does it mean to you? You see EA has its franchise, but when did they go out to make it about a friends sphere? Not what THEY believe it to be, but what you believe it to be. You see, I never got to safe that game (and now It doesn’t matter as I do not have an Xbox), but the option to set that match in PDF, or perhaps the game created a social media page. When was that done? We underestimate the connection of sports and play and the franchise holders underestimate it even more. In a global view it matters to people in Pakistan and India to keep scores of their achievements in cricket and I reckon in other games too. 

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are not far behind them. These 4 make up for a 2 billion population, not all are into sports, but it ends up being a lot more than the population of America. These franchise holders have been catering to the wrong cluster as far as I can tell. Now that sports are going to be a much larger presentation all over the Middle East these people need to consider changing gears and they need to do this before their next games come out. Whomever does it will have options to really become a larger player in sports. But it all reflects back to ‘What do sports mean to you?’ It is not the easiest question. Even kids misalign their views because of what they feel of any sport. But ask any Pakistani Kid and for the most their will answer that Cricket is their life. And Cricket (on PS5) heard that call. Yet we also get The user score for NHL 24 on Metacritic has the game received as “generally unfavourable”. Not a good thing. And it gets worse for them. The Middle East has no representation as far as I can tell and in the upcoming years it will matter. It might not be NHL, the Emirates Ice Hockey League (EHL) is starting to get noticed and that implies fans and youthful players. I believe that gaming can head it off giving the young players something to care for. And in all this sport is caring and caring is sports. You might think I am wrong and that is fine, but consider the numbers. How many people play the Cricket game per nation? I never found these statistics and now they matter. You see there is a shift and it is turning towards the Middle East. Not for American Football and not for the Super Bowl, but this even shows how much sports have been in decline in the west. Soccer players will disagree and I hand that to them, it is all about Europe there. Yet there is a shift there too. We are catering to the wrong crowds and these franchises better wake up soon because that is how rifts start. That is optionally how new and better franchises are created. By the way, in 2003 I could set my entire game towards a SF49 interface. Later it was dropped. Why? Consider the thought behind that change and wonder how there is not a shift amongst gamers. The NHL games never gave me that option, other then my home stadium and a collection of players and outfits. But the interface was generic. Why not appeal to their fans? Why can’t actual scores not be added to the game tweaking statistics? All ideas that have been floating around for at least a decade, but we aren’t seeing any of it in the NFL, NHL or NBA games. Why is that? What are games to you and what are game to them? When you consider that these franchises are merely interested in money, where does that leave you? I let you ponder that and you all as you enter the last week before the Super Bowl. Sports are more than one game, but this is their moment, their aim for the throne of footballs. We can merely sit by and watch it on TV (or if you are rich and lucky) watch it in person. 

So have fun and watch out for that wicket this day.

 

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