Category Archives: sport

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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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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