Sporting Sensations

[RudieCantFail]

Watched the Warriors lose Game 7 to the Cavs. Sad that it happened b/c they had the best regular season record of all-time in the NBA (73-9). It doesn't mean as much w/o the ring. I'd say that the 95-96 Bulls are still better than the Warriors. If the Warriors won, then I'd say the margin would be closer.

BTW, I'm not much of an NBA fan. I'm a band wagoner, and I started watching it because who can resist those mind-blowing, long distance 3's? The Warriors have sparked my interest in the NBA again though, since the Lakers did that back in 2010. I think I liked the Lakers b/c I had a friend who was really into basketball and the Lakers. This was back in 5th grade.

To cut to the chase, I was going to share a YouTube vid on my social media accounts of the song, "In the City" in honor of the Warriors for making it all the way, but that didn't happen. I was tempted to do it for their narrow Western Conference Finals series victory over OKC b/c of how intense it was. I thought that the Joe Walsh/Eagles song would be an appropriate victory song, except the Dubs weren't victorious in the end. Thinking about it, I might just share it anyway for the heck of it.

[Annoying Twit]

** Le Mans 24 Hours Spoiler Below **




















Toyota at the Le Mans 24 Hours race. Deservedly winning the race for about the last 12 hours (+/- lead changes due to pitshops). Then at 23hrs 56 minutes their car breaks down!

[Jonny Come Lately]

I watched a fair bit of the race, although I missed the very end as the European Grand Prix in Baku was starting at the same time. I did hear about it during the Grand Prix commentary, and it's so devastating to lose a race like that at the end. To make matters worse, they weren't even classified (if they had, they would have had minor consolation in finishing second) as I believe they took too long to complete their final lap (IIRC you have to finish it in under six minutes?). Felt really sorry for their drivers, Anthony Davidson in particular, he did a great job in his stints and I've always loved his commentary/punditry for BBC 5 Live and Sky F1 too - he's perceptive and witty.

I'd never watched Le Mans 24 Hours until last year - I was intrigued when I noticed that F1 driver Nico Hulkenberg was competing (as he was free to race with no grand prix that weekend) and decided to check it out. I really enjoyed it and was very happy when he was in the winning car that time. Quite a few former F1 guys in the field too, at least half a dozen names I remember going back to 2007-08.

[UndertheWire]

It retrospect, I enjoyed the football yesterday. I was a bit annoyed that I couldn't find the Wales game and had to watch the England match instead but I can't complain about the results. I spoke to my brother afterwards and he was on a high - sat in his apartment in Germany wearing his Wales jersey and with the welsh flag behind him. It's extremely rare for Wales to qualify at this level of competion and to come through the first round at the top of their group - ahead of England - is remarkable.

[Gemini]

One of my coworkers is Welsh and I've never seen him so down as he was after the match with England and I've never seen him so happy as he was after the match with Russia. He took vacation time from work to watch both!

[Freypower]

Italy 0REPUBLIC OF IRELAND 1!!!!!!!

[DivineDon]

Thanks FP!!!! We're all still trying to actually believe that just happened! France next on Sunday "Come on ye boys in green! "

[Jonny Come Lately]

Well done Ireland!

Fantastic result for the boys in green, really deserved it too. France in the next round will be difficult as they are hosts and among the favourites, but Ireland have great team spirit. Also watched Portugal v Hungary yesterday, what a cracker of a game that was, most exciting one of the tournament so far I think - six goals and both teams attacking for the majority of the match.

One oddity of this championship is the somewhat lop-sided nature of the draw, which puts heavyweights Spain, Germany, France and Italy in the same half of the draw. England are in this half too, which almost certainly means we won't win it! This does mean that in all probability, the final probably won't be between the two best sides. On the flip side, there is a great chance for teams like Wales to go far and I think a team like Croatia could even make the final. It's a real opportunity for Belgium's 'golden generation' too, even though they didn't win their group, they have so many classy players, just need to play more as a team I feel.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36602266

[UndertheWire]

Amazing to see Iceland go through and also to see so many Icelandic supporters in the crowds. One estimate was 30,000 which is about 10% of the population.

[Jonny Come Lately]

Agreed, I believe Iceland's total population is comparable to that of Leicester. In light of Leicester City's recent triumph, make of that what you will!

Just noticed that the England-Iceland game clashes with Don's Manchester show! This is quite funny as my previous concert (Neil Young in Liverpool in July 2014) also happened to clash with a notable international football match, the World Cup final between Germany and Argentina. It's no contest really though, I can easily record the game and watch the following day, whereas there's no substitute for going to see Don live! I doubt I'll even be thinking about the match during the concert.