The Sports Thread

@SleepySteve
I’m just waiting for NFL to start.

Preseason is on it’s way. And I hear some good news from Training Camp and injuries galore. Like Bengals Starting QB.

The group stage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup just finished yesterday, and let’s just say there’s been quite a few surprises regarding which teams advanced and which teams got eliminated. Six of the eight teams making their first ever appearance in a Women’s World Cup (thanks in part to this being the first Women’s World Cup with 32 teams instead of 24) were able to score some goals, New Zealand became the first host nation (well, co-host in this case) to not reach the knockout stage, Canada became the first defending Olympic winning team to not reach the knockout stage, three African teams reached the knockout stage (Nigeria, South Africa, and Morocco in their first ever appearance (also the first Arab team to ever appear in a Women’s World Cup)), the most unforced own goal I’ve ever seen helped eliminate Italy, Jamaica becomes the first Caribbean nation to reach the knockout stage, Brazil (with this being the last time their star player Marta would be part of the team) was eliminated in the group stage, the United States (back to back defending champions trying to go for an unprecedented three in a row) performed so poorly that they barely avoided being eliminated by Portugal because a shot towards goal was deflected off the post, and some extraordinary circumstances resulted in Germany failing to reach the knockout stage for the first time ever.

Yeah, this year’s Women’s World Cup has definitely seen a lot of exciting and unexpected moments, and this is after just the group stage. The knockout stage is about to begin, so here are the teams that’ll be playing in the Round of 16 over the next few days:

Switzerland vs Spain
Netherlands vs South Africa
Japan vs Norway
Sweden vs United States
Australia vs Denmark
France vs Morocco
England vs Nigeria
Colombia vs Jamaica

Anyone want to try making any predictions on which of these teams could win the Women’s World Cup?

okay the Hall of Fame game is done. And the Browns beat the Jets. Also the Jets weren’t playing Aaron Rodgers.

Oregon and Washington are all but joining the Big 10, after Arizona and Colorado bolted for the Big 12.

Arizona State and Utah have applied for membership to the Big 12.

August 4, 2023, the day the Pac-12 officially died.

@SleepySteve
Under NCAA bylaws, a conference is required to have at least seven schools (specifically, seven basketball teams). Are the stragglers in the Pac-4 gonna call up their affiliate members from the mid-majors, or are they just gonna disband?

I guess we’ll find out soon enough. Cal and Stanford would be a good fit with the Big Ten academically, and I’m sure the Big XII would welcome Oregon State and Washington State.

It’s honestly funny how Cal and Stanford were the only Pac 12 schools who were fine with paltry Apple TV money (no surprise since both are in the Bay Area, aka techbro central) while everyone else who mattered said “Fuck no”.

Tradition doesn’t mean shit if you don’t have the money.

The United States is out of the FIFA Women’s World Cup!

For a team that has at least reached the semifinals in all of the previous World Cups, going out in the Round of 16 is by far their worst result ever. Well, if anyone was going to take them out, then it might as well be one of the best teams out there, and Sweden has certainly proven to be one of the favorites to win it all this year.

Fox seeing the viewership and ad inventory collapse in the days to come…

@SleepySteve
I think everyone is joking about it online too.

The Round of 16 in the FIFA Women’s World Cup is complete, so next up will be the Quarterfinal matches. Here are who the remaining teams will be playing against:

Spain vs Netherlands
Japan vs Sweden
Australia vs France
England vs Colombia

With defending champion United States now out, which of these remaining eight teams will you be cheering for?

The Quarterfinals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup is complete. Spain has made it to the semifinals for the first time after they won against Netherlands. Sweden’s win against Japan means the last of the former champions has been eliminated, so we will definitely see a team win the Women’s World Cup for the first time ever. Australia and France went scoreless in their match and went through a dramatic ten rounds of penalty kicks (the most ever in any World Cup match, men’s or women’s) before Australia finally got the win, making them the first host country to reach the semifinals since the United States twenty years ago. And finally, England survived a brutal match against Colombia to reach the semifinals for the third time in a row.

So, for the Semifinals, we will see Spain vs Sweden and Australia vs England. Anyone want to pick which of those four teams will win it all?

Spain beat Sweeden.

And England beat Australia. (Quite unfortunate, as I was hoping to see Australia win it all, but at least they’ll still have a chance to win the third place match against Sweden.)

So now the final match will be Spain vs England. This is the first time either of those teams have reached the final of a Women’s World Cup, so it’ll be interesting to see which of them will get their first World Cup.

@Background Pony #2260
IT’S COMIN’ ’OME, LADS!

@Background Human
Or will Spain cause more Pain for Them fans in England.

Ah right 49ers QB Brock Purdy played today or yesterday depending on where you live. It was only for a series. But it looks like he still has it.

Spain wins the 2023 Women’s World Cup!

ESPN:Let’s not show something good about Trey Lance.
Me as a niner fan and a football fan: His stats don’t look bad in the game. He even had a game winning drive. Now that Interception is his fault. And ESPN showed that but that’s it not even the TD he had and the game winning drive he had.

Oh Boy we are gonna get Days of Our Steelers this week.

WTF was Cleveland on?

@SleepySteve
The Browns they woke up feeling dangerous.

Looks like Charter/Spectrum and Disney finally got their shit together before tonight’s Monday Night Football opener.

So nice the Lions won. It’s good to see.

Even funnier it’s by one (1) point

So far
AFC North
Browns:They ain’t the same old Browns.
Ravens:Keep getting hurt.
Steelers:DAYS OF OUR STEELERS this week will explain a lot.
Bengals:Joe Burrow is not feeling cold like his nickname suggests.

NFC North
Bears:DA BEARS have this giant L on them since their D can’t stop anything.
Packers:Can you feel we the Love tonight.
Lions:BITING KNEECAPS
Vikings:Are gonna have a roster problem soon.

NFC South
Falcons:From 28-3 to winning against the Panthers.
Saints:The Carr is driving this team.
Bucs:Baker baking a W
Panthers:All rookies lost.

AFC South
Jags:Jaguars still have Trent Baalke the dude is booty.
Colts:You were so close to winning.
Titans:High hopes but every player that is good is in their thirties.
Texans:You guys still have to build.

NFC East:
Phily:Congrats on your free win now you guys will face off against a much healthier teams.
Cowboys:DEM BOIZ WON WE GONNA WIN THE SUPERBOWL
Commies:Hey you got a new owner congrats and a win from a tank team.
Giants:No O line you guys need an oline.

AFC East:
Patriots:The Hoodie is forever
Jets:We have yet to see Rodgers play this week but it is Aaron Rodgers.
Bills:Are we gonna have the same old Bills the team with experience and the same team that’s going to lose in the playoffs.
Dolphins:Tua Time

NFC West:
49ers:BIG COCK BROCK,Aiyuk, George Kittle and Deebo showed up as well as CMC got you guys the win. The defense is also number 1 for a reason.
Rams:Oh hey you guys got a win congrats.
Cardinals:TANK
Seahawks:Geno Smith ain’t it guys. You guys only have one WR now. And need him to carry your team.

AFC West
Raiders:Jimmy G helped you guys get a W
Broncos:Let’s Ride a way to loserville.
Chiefs:You guys lost to the Lions and without Kelce teams now know who the best Target is for Mahomes
Chargers:You guys led for like a minute and you guys will suffer more PAIN.

30 minutes in and Aaron Rodgers gets carted away with a possible leg injury.

Rodgers gonna Rodgers.