Sports !

[Bosco]

Gonna boycott the cup, though.

Fair. Boycotting Fifa, United States, or both?

As an actual citizen, I'm actively cheering against the U.S.

We just had the World Baseball Classic (WBC) early this year which is trying to mimic the hype and competition of the Fifa World Cup, just with baseball. United States and Venezuela... yup, the country which we captured their president, was in the finals. I was happily rooting for Venezuela, and poetically, they beat team USA for the championship. To be fair, team Venezuela is loaded with talent, but it's humorous seeing a country that the United States recently emasculated and is actively pillaging (oil), got beat at their own pastime.

I was rooting for team Canada in the recent Olympic hockey gold medal match as well, but unfortunately Canada couldn't come through.

For the world cup, I'll be supporting any North American country that isn't U.S.. I would be rooting for Poland (I'm 1/2 Polish) but they didn't qualify, so my weight is behind Mexico, which is probably the most represented nation in Chicagoland outside of Polish/Eastern European nations. 

To FIFA's credit, they did get it correct by scattering the matches all over North America.


Switching sports...

NBA Playoffs are in full swing. Victor Wembanyama is amazing. Is the hype just as real in France/Europe? This kid might be the next best player the sport has ever seen.

[ThePumisher]

Boycotting Fifa

FIFA and Infantino (that ass-kissing money sucking twat). I would absolutely love it if all football clubs collectively withdrew from FIFA, in Europe from UEFA, and in Germany from the DFB. But money makes the world go round, even though it has nothing to do anymore with football (or for you us-american peeps: soccer).



Edit:

Activate english subtitles, clip is in german language

[Csar]

Fair. Boycotting Fifa, United States, or both?

Both, with bit more bias towards the current US' state of affairs. Both are equally corrupt to the core.

But to be honest, I'm not the biggest sports watcher anyway (although I like watching the women matches every now and then as I'm rooting for them to get more recognition in their business).

FIFA and Infantino (that ass-kissing money sucking twat). I would absolutely love it if all football clubs collectively withdrew from FIFA, in Europe from UEFA, and in Germany from the DFB. But money makes the world go round, even though it has nothing to do anymore with football (or for you us-american peeps: soccer).

Exactly. Who could have thought it could get worse than under Sepp Blatter
.

As an actual citizen, I'm actively cheering against the U.S.

It's not even that for me. Although I'm sometimes more in favor of underdogs, I am usually of the attitude "may the better team win". It's only when I feel like a team starts getting arrogant or plays unfairly or ... follows the invitation of an orange Führer to the white house or is chugging beers with a leader of a three letter agency.. when this kind of sentiment creeps in..

[ThePumisher]

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[Bosco]

Iran and Egypt are set to face off next month in World Cup group stage on American soil (Seattle), and somehow it's designated as a "Pride" match... as in celebrating LGBTQ+ pride during "Pride" month.

Meanwhile In Washington D.C., we are constructing a UFC octagon for an event on the front lawn of the White House to celebrate Donny's upcoming Birthday/Flag day?

Life is not real.

[Csar]

This is all so bizarre, grotesque and abso-fucking-lutly surreal. So, there's going to be bloodsport on the lawn of the Peoples' House, where men beat each other to a pulp. The US under Trump has lost the last shred of dignity it had left..

[ThePumisher]

Say what you want but Donny got his well deserved medal of peace from FIFAntino 🤷

[Wolkenkrabber]

In the UK, the World Cup is being shown in full across two networks: ITV and BBC.
BBC were the first to put out a trailer that looked & sounded like this:

The music from Jamie xx has a nice fiesta vibe about it, I think. The brass is actually sampled from a funky 1970s cover of House Of The Rising Sun, believe it or not.

Then ITV put this trailer out with Tomora on it:

View this post on Instagram

And now the BBC has changed the music on their trailer to Tomora too! But a different track.

https://x.com/BBCSport/status/2060818601150418959

As an actual citizen, I'm actively cheering against the U.S.

I think it's ok to support the USA on strictly sporting grounds. They usually do well in the early group stage and provide some real entertainment, then they get to the knockout stages and things don't go quite so well. I suspect the team won't be invited to the White House to have brewskis with the President as they celebrate their cup win. Cos they won't win it!

For the world cup, I'll be supporting any North American country that isn't U.S..

Or be adventurous and support a South American team: Brazil and Argentina are always worth a watch, and usually get quite far in the competition.
Ireland, as usual, didn't qualify so I'll probably adopt Spain and the aforementioned South American teams. No point in adopting a rubbish one!

But to be honest, I'm not the biggest sports watcher anyway

What about now?

https://x.com/discreetncheeky/status/2059743384567267471

Iran and Egypt are set to face off next month in World Cup group stage on American soil (Seattle),

It's crazy to think that Iran will be playing football in the U.S. and staying in American hotels whilst they may still be officially at war with America. I wonder if the CIA or FBI will be following them around...

This is all so bizarre, grotesque and abso-fucking-lutly surreal. So, there's going to be bloodsport on the lawn of the Peoples' House, where men beat each other to a pulp. The US under Trump has lost the last shred of dignity it had left..

https://x.com/MeachamDr/status/2060904110837145606
https://x.com/YourAnonNews/status/2059970361559576755
(tweets not embedding?)

I literally just watched Mike Judge's Idiocracy (2006) a few days ago, about a future America that has dumbed down in the year 2505. And yeah it did feel kinda pertinent to 2025/26. Never seen it before.


Speaking of films, anyone watched Mark Wahlberg film, Balls Up (2026)? It's not gonna win any prizes but it might get you in the mood for the World Cup.
There's a song on the soundtrack called Baiana by Barbatuques. I heard it and thought: I know this! Which I do because the same (ish) song by Nia Archives was in Tom's half hour Tomora mix that he did for BBC 6Music. Nia Archives' 2022 version samples Barbatuques' 2005 version (the vocals). So now I'm thinking: wait, does everyone know this Brazilian song except me? Is this one of those "shorthand" songs that everyone associates with Brazil, and I'm only catching up now?

[Bosco]

Okay, regardless of music, BBC promo is mint.


@Wolkenkrabber , I support the US athletes, I don't support support the team though. There's a certain false patriotism that shows up from fans of the national teams and honestly I don't want to be part of any of this time round. Now, if for some reason the team/coach speaks out against Trump administration such as Gregg Popovich or Steve Kerr has done for team USA Basketball, then sure I'm back on team USA train.

Mexico is for me, not really worried about their chances of winning the cup, just hoping for them to make a run like Croatia managed to do a couple of tournaments ago. As for the hypocrisy, I'm totally aware they are far from a perfect government, but their people, who are either guests or actual American citizens, have been treated inhumanely by our current administration. So I'm gladly rooting for their symbolic success in this tournament. Also, we really have a lot of 2nd generation Mexican- American folk in the Chicagoland, this isn't as far fetched of a concept as one might think.


@Wolkenkrabber

 Oh my gosh, you've only now saw 'Idiocracy'? That movie, is so damn funny. Unfortunately now, feels like a scare you straight documentary.


Oh by the way with, in reference to the woman juggling the ball on her titties. I forgot this is now the influencer World Cup. Fans literally cant afford tickets, but your favorite Tik-Tok and Instagram thirst traps will surely be in attendance.

[Bosco]

NBA Playoffs are in full swing. Victor Wembanyama is amazing. Is the hype just as real in France/Europe? This kid might be the next best player the sport has ever seen.

Peeps, Victor has lead his team to the NBA Finals and is currently favored to win. This is only his 3rd year in the NBA!  It's the New York Knicks vs. San Antonio Spurs and it should be a great series (best of 7). The Knicks, being one of the crown jewels of the NBA in the biggest market in sports, hasn't seen a Championship since 1973. Their last NBA Finals was in 1999 and they played and lost to... the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs on the other hand, are the best "small market" franchise in the league. Since 1999 they have won 5 NBA championships behind the backs of David Robinson ("The Admiral"), Tim Duncan ("The Big Fundamental"), and Kawhi Leonard ("The Claw").

Victor is "The Alien". He's called that because his incredible height/length and ability to play like a guard, which is not a common trait for a gigantic human like he is.

View this post on Instagram

Additionally,  the New York Knicks have international flair too! Ogugua "OG" Anunoby, from London, England who's already been an NBA champ (previously with the Toronto Raptors). OG is integral part of the Knick's stout defense. Truly one of the top 10 versatile defenders in the league. Can score at an above average clip, too!

If the Knicks win, this will probably go down as the best Knicks team ever, and the city we'll be on its head for an entire week. It might be the worst thing to happen to modern day sports culture in the internet age. Knick fans will NEVER let anyone forget their championship.

One last thing... The Chemical Brothers even have gotten in on the NBA playoff action via TV broadcast. In the previous series (Western Conference finals, Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder) NBC was playing "Galvinize' going into commercial break. Could we see/hear more?

[ThePumisher]

Or be adventurous and support a South American team: Brazil (...) are always worth a watch, and usually get quite far in the competition.

And then they loose 7:1 against Germany

In Brazil, the result, "7–1" (Portuguese: sete a um), has become a metaphor for a devastating and crushing defeat, while "Goal for Germany" (Portuguese: gol da Alemanha) is used as an exclamation after a mishap.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_v_Germany_(2014_FIFA_World_Cup)#Aftermath

[Csar]

BBC were the first to put out a trailer that looked & sounded like this:

World Cup trailers and promos are usually pretty creative, I have to admit!

And now the BBC has changed the music on their trailer to Tomora too! But a different track.

The won't let us European peasants watch

What about now?

Ha, you cheeky Krabber! Man, that poor lady. Must be literally a pain to walk these around. But kudos to her jiggl.., I mean juggling.

I literally just watched Mike Judge's Idiocracy (2006) a few days ago, about a future America that has dumbed down in the year 2505. And yeah it did feel kinda pertinent to 2025/26. Never seen it before.

Your describing it is funny as hell So you say you've never came across references to that movie at all? Or you did and wanted to finally find out what it was about?
The afterwit of it is: Despite his ridiculous appearance, Camacho is actually a good president - all things considered. He listens to the smartest person and wants the best for all his people.

Make sure you get all your electrolytes!

Speaking of films, anyone watched Mark Wahlberg film, Balls Up (2026)? It's not gonna win any prizes but it might get you in the mood for the World Cup. There's a song on the soundtrack called Baiana by Barbatuques. I heard it and thought: I know this! Which I do because the same (ish) song by Nia Archives was in Tom's half hour Tomora mix that he did for BBC 6Music. Nia Archives' 2022 version samples Barbatuques' 2005 version (the vocals). So now I'm thinking: wait, does everyone know this Brazilian song except me? Is this one of those "shorthand" songs that everyone associates with Brazil, and I'm only catching up now?

No, I didn't know. But I love both! The 2022 version is really great.  Good use of the vocal sample and the oldschool Amen break - which never fails to excite me

[ThePumisher]

The won't let us European peasants watch

I could with no problems

[Csar]

I could with no problems

Hm, then I have to change it to "They won't let this European peasant watch". Perhaps it's a 1:7 situation for me

Please log in to view this attachment.

[ThePumisher]

Interesting. Now I can't view it anymore either — this morning it was still working without any problems.

[Bosco]

yeah, it doesn't work for me either. I could last night.

It was the same BBC commercial but with "Somewhere Else"

[Wolkenkrabber]

@Wolkenkrabber
Oh my gosh, you've only now saw 'Idiocracy'? That movie, is so damn funny. Unfortunately now, feels like a scare you straight documentary.

Yeah the Fox News bit made me go "Ugh" rather than "Ha". I don't know what Fox News was like 20 years ago, but this film came out via 20th Century Fox, so maybe they just used that News network because it was...theirs?

And then they [Brazil] loose 7:1 against Germany

Couldn't resist huh? Well this time Brazil have had their plane baptised, so God is on their side!
https://x.com/paseclave__/status/2061772608094277942
Found this on Insta too. And it's that Baiana song again:

View this post on Instagram

Do you remember the time Germany lost 1-5 to England in 2001? A few months later, one of the weekend tabloid newspapers gave away a free DVD of the full football match in order to boost sales. And shortly after that, Virgin megastores also gave away DVDs of the match with every purchase.
I'm not an England supporter but I know that England fans love reminiscing about that one!

Your describing it is funny as hell So you say you've never came across references to that movie at all? Or you did and wanted to finally find out what it was about?

It just passed me by...
So not everybody knew that Brazilian Baiana song, but everybody knows this film. Ok.

Make sure you get all your electrolytes!

Sure, I put Gatorade on my crops. And my breakfast cereal!

The won't let us European peasants watch

yeah, it doesn't work for me either. I could last night.

I can't see the video embedded in Pum's post #161.
I see that Firefox now has a free VPN as well as Opera. Wouldn't it be great if we could somehow embed or attach a free VPN to the forum so that we could all see each other's "international" embeds?

Here's a twitter version of the new "Somewhere Else" version of the BBC trailer.
Are tweets refusing to embed for all of you or just for me? I keep getting a "tweet error, (does not exist)" message. I have to click and open in a new tab / twitter.
https://x.com/BBCSport/status/2060818601150418959
Oh on Insta too:

View this post on Instagram

(also not embedding? WTF?)

[Csar]

So not everybody knew that Brazilian Baiana song, but everybody knows this film. Ok.

Oh, it was in that movie? I thought you were referring to that Mark Wahlberg one. I have no recollection of it, tbh. It's been a while since I watched Idiocracy.

Here's a twitter version of the new "Somewhere Else" version of the BBC trailer.

Not working either for me for both links.
Please log in to view this attachment.

Are tweets refusing to embed for all of you or just for me? I keep getting a "tweet error, (does not exist)" message. I have to click and open in a new tab / twitter.

Need to test that. But it's certainly not just an issue on your side. Maybe the powers that be have changed something. I saw an update for the mod today but need to wait until I can access the server again to give it a shot.

[Wolkenkrabber]

Oh, it was in that movie? I thought you were referring to that Mark Wahlberg one. I have no recollection of it, tbh. It's been a while since I watched Idiocracy.

No it was in Wahlberg's Balls Up.
It's just ironic that I thought everyone was going to know a certain song in my post, but it turns out everyone knew a certain film in my post.

What's not working for you? The BBC "Somewhere Else" tweet or the BBC "Somewhere Else" Insta post? Or both? Oh Both ! I should read better!
What if you click on each of them to open in a new  tab?

[Csar]

What if you click on each of them to open in a new tab?

It's region-blocked for both.

Are tweets refusing to embed

I checked with the SMF support forum and it's indeed the mod. The update should fix it, but on our test forum it hasn't helped so far.