The Sports Lounge

[Armoreska]

Nope, not yet. Novak makes 1st comeback in finals.
Wins 4/5 5-setters in these finals

6:4, 4:6, 2:6, 6:3, 6:4

Great start of the year for Djokovic. Already on a 13-0 streak. Defeated Anderson, Monfils, Garin, Shapovalov, Medvedev, Nadal, Struff, Ito, Nishioka, Schwartzman, Raonic, Federer and Thiem in exactly one month.
As well as Mahut/Roger-Vasselin and Busta/Lopez in the doubles (15-0 then).

Novak comebacks in QF/SF/F from being at least a set behind or stopping opponent from winning 3rd set in a row:
WI 2007 QF vs Baghdatis (stopping a comeback)
US 2010 SF vs Federer
US 2011 SF vs Federer (+another comeback in the 5th)
AO 2012 SF vs Murray (+another minicomeback from hidden match point in the 5th)
RG 2012 QF vs Tsonga
US 2013 SF vs Wawrinka
WI 2014 QF vs Cilic
RG 2015 SF vs Murray (stopping a comeback with a 6-1)
AO 2020 F vs Thiem

highlights:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... ovic+thiem

[Armoreska]

I searched through the years and came up with the list of comebacks involving the big 3 + Murray (so called big four)

AO 2005 SF Marat Safin vs Federer
WI 2007 QF Djokovic vs Marcos Baghdatis (stopping a comeback)
WI 2008 F Nadal vs Federer (stopping a comeback)
RG 2009 SF Federer vs Juan Martin del Potro
US 2009 F Juan Martin del Potro vs Federer
AO 2010 QF Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs Djokovic
RG 2010 QF Jurgen Melzer vs Djokovic (from 0-2)
US 2010 SF Djokovic vs Federer
WI 2011 QF Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs Federer (from 0-2)
US 2011 SF Djokovic vs Federer (+another comeback in the 5th)
AO 2012 SF Djokovic vs Murray (+another minicomeback from hidden match point in the 5th)
RG 2012 QF Djokovic vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (now that's revenge)
RG 2012 QF Federer vs Juan Martin del Potro (from 0-2, but JMDP's knee)
US 2012 F Murray vs Djokovic (stopping a confident comeback with a 6-2)
RG 2013 QF Murray vs Gael Monfils (stopping a comeback with a 6-0)
WI 2013 QF Murray vs Fernando Verdasco (from 0-2)
US 2013 SF Djokovic vs Stan Wawrinka
WI 2014 QF Djokovic vs Marin Cilic
US 2014 QF Federer vs Gael Monfils
RG 2015 SF Djokovic vs Murray (stopping a comeback with a 6-1)
AO 2016 SF Murray vs Milos Raonic
WI 2016 QF Federer vs Marin Cilic (from 0-2)
WI 2016 QF Murray vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (stopping a comeback with a 6-1)
WI 2016 SF Milos Raonic vs Federer
US 2016 QF Kei Nishikori vs Murray
AO 2017 SF Federer vs Stan Wawrinka (stopping a comeback)
WI 2017 QF Sam Querrey vs Murray (with double 6-1)
WI 2018 QF Kevin Anderson vs Federer (from 0-2)
WI 2018 QF Nadal vs Juan Martin del Potro
WI 2018 QF Kevin Anderson vs John Isner (26-24)
US 2019 QF Grigor Dimitrov vs Federer
US 2019 F Nadal vs Daniil Medvedev (stopping a comeback)
AO 2020 QF Federer vs Tennys Sandgren
AO 2020 F Djokovic vs Dominic Thiem

Here's the tally
Djokovic: 9-3
Murray: 5-4
Nadal: 3-0
Federer: 6-9

Just what will make Novak the historical #1 over Roger.
Roger will probably keep overall wins and most match wins. Unless Novak keeps playing to that approximate age.

[funkybusiness]

lul Leafs

[tirefeet]

Amazing, right? Ayres let in one less goal than opposing goalie Andersen after coming in on his way to snatching the official "W".

[funkybusiness]

hockey always has some great stories every year but this one almost certainly takes the cake, and we're not even close to the playoffs.

[Armoreska]

Quarantine made biathlon super competitive. With 3 single races cancelled, the new last race settled both total scores with 4.5 pts as average margin of loss.

Martin Fourcade retired with a win but missed out capitalizing on the newfound chance to claim the overall title.
There was a solid chance of a different winner in WOMEN if the season wasn't cut short.

also edit: Both titles decided by ONE SHOT

[Armoreska]

With virtually all sports on hold, only autosports can continue to exist


and, well, chess n stuff with World Chess Championship about to start

What else is there?

[RogerTheMovieManiac88]

Rugby league in the NRL and Super League is still going ahead, for now...

I'm looking forward to Castleford taking on St. Helens this afternoon from Wheldon Road.

I watched the UFC card from Brasilia last night as well. Rather strange watching combat sports being played out in an empty arena.

[RogerTheMovieManiac88]

Dana White says that the UFC will continue with their upcoming events. I have mixed feelings about this as UFC fighters aren't unionised like in many major sports and might feel under more obligation and pressure, and in many cases in need of a pay-day. At the same time, if everyone concerned is healthy and ready to go it could put back careers to call off fights. Tough one...

https://www.the42.ie/ufc-boss-dana-whit ... /#comments

[Armoreska]

That was crashy. Jimmy Broadbent amateur youtuber came 5th in a race with just pros (even Juan Pablo Montoya was racing).
2nd race next.

[Dolwphin]

Low-key dope as fuck.

[RogerTheMovieManiac88]

The NRL (National Rugby League) reaching out to ESPN to potentially show more live games on their American channels, given the shut-down affecting virtually all of professional sport in America. This could offer rugby league to sports-starved new spectators and be a boon to the sport in difficult and unprecedented times.

https://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/coronaviru ... 01a8521c84

[Armoreska]

The marble race was nail biting. Orange had so much pace. Great strategy.

Tomorrow, Magnus Carlsen final against Alireza in the unofficial world's online banter blitz championship!

A few days ago, Alireza beat Carlsen in 4 hour bullet chess something like 100:90 pretty much taking one of the 5 crowns.*

*Carlsen is also vice-champion in random chess (to Wesley) and currently 2nd in blitz rankings (to Hikaru)

[Armoreska]

Turned out Charles LeClerc (and his bro) is great online, right off the tutorial beating Lando Norris and every other pro racer in the F1 game. But Verstappen is still #1.

[kongs_speech]

(Former?) NASCAR racer Kyle Larson lost his entire career in a matter of days after casually using the n-word in an iRacing event. It sucks to see a talented person lose everything, but on the other hand, you've got to be a complete idiot (not to mention really insensitive) to think that kind of talk is acceptable nowadays, so I don't feel sorry for him.

[Armoreska]

That is so childish and hypocritical. Not him saying nigger, the effect it can have. Is NASCAR suddenly left-wing-friendly?
There are much worse things that are still very much permissible.
Fricken religion mandates that EVERYONE is a slave. And slaves can also own slaves from other nations.

Your president is a racist, your "democratic" candidate is a racist. I don't even!

[funkybusiness]

Trotter has been arrested 23 times since 1954, mostly for fraud, forgery and impersonation. This summer he claimed to be Bill Russell, the former great center of the Boston Celtics. But Trotter forgot he was eight inches too short for the role. On July 16 police arrested him for attempting to pull a confidence scam after he allegedly told a woman he was Russell and sold her a $2,500 share in a restaurant chain that had never heard of him. The police were listening in an adjoining room of the woman's house when the following conversation took place.

Woman: "You don't look like Bill Russell."

Trotter: "I got into a car accident and had to have plastic surgery."

Woman: "I was expecting someone much taller."

Trotter: "I had 10 inches of bone surgically removed from my shins. I wanted to fit easier into my new Mercedes. And I was tired of having my legs hang off motel beds."

Trotter offered to show her the scars. The cops offered to show him the parish jail.

https://vault.si.com/vault/1983/09/19/t ... f-the-name

heard about this on a podcast with a section about sports star impersonators.

[Onderhond]

That is so childish and hypocritical. Not him saying nigger, the effect it can have.

Reminds me of this: https://www.mbs.news/a/2020/02/soccer-c ... ndard.html
Even worse because he was just singing along to a song?

Just the USA keeping up appearances at all cost I guess.

[blocho]

Over the past several years, a small but ardent cult of fans has developed around a writer/editor/producer named Jon Bois, who works for a web site called SB Nation. In that time, Bois has largely turned from writing to making youtube videos. At first these were pretty short and absurdist. And while they've never lost their touch of absurdity, the videos have grown longer and longer and more serious. They've also developed a very sui generis style based on rudimentary graphics, 80s-sounding synth music, a heavy reliance on statistical analysis, and a deep, thoroughgoing love for sports history. At his best, Bois manages to spin ordinary sports moments into deeply emotional experiences. It's not too much to say he makes some of the best sports documentaries in existence.

I'm not the only Bois fan around here. I know beasterne is also a great admirer. But I mention Bois on this occasion because over the past two months he has released his most ambitious project yet, a six-part series on the Seattle Mariners that runs a collective 220 minutes. That's a ludicrous amount of time to spend learning about any sports team you're not a fan of. Well, I'm no fan of the Mariners. I'm not really much of a baseball fan. But I loved watching this series. To see why, I suggest watching just the first four minutes of episode 6. This short segment helps to convey the overarching thesis of the series, which is that sports should be appreciated less as an arena for winning and losing and more as a vehicle of human experience, with all its comedy, screw-ups, triumphs, and tragedy.

If anyone's intrigued but not interested in baseball, this link will bring you to a collection of all of Bois' work, including videos on basketball, baseball, football, running, a five-part series on mixed martial arts, and some non-sports topics. My personal favorite is a video on the 1987 NFL players strike called Randall Cunningham Seizes the Means of Production.

[kongs_speech]

NASCAR starts back Sunday, without fans. The iRacing was really fun, but I'm excited to have actual physical racing again. Ryan Newman is back from his injury and former Cup champion Matt Kenseth has come out of retirement to replace Kyle Larson in the #42. I hope nobody gets corona from this and they're able to race the rest of the season, but I dunno. We'll see.

I hope football happens this fall. If it's without fans, that's a sacrifice I'm definitely willing to make. You won't catch me going anywhere near a stadium even if they do allow spectators, but I'll gladly watch it on TV.

[Armoreska]

Three pilots have already lost reputation or job for cheating or other bad behavior in online races, wow.
Daniel Abt is the latest idiot.

[RogerTheMovieManiac88]

The NRL is back from Thursday. Without crowds of course. Looking forward to the return of rugby league from Down Under.

I think Peter V'landys of the ARLC has done a pretty amazing job in terms of perseverance and ingenuity, to get things back up and operational in such a short space of time.

[Mario Gaborović]

I've never paid much interest in pole vaulting until this evening when I came across this video.

[Armoreska]

I was a fan of pole vaulting until they discovered pornhubs.

[Mario Gaborović]

I was a fan of pole vaulting until they discovered pornhubs.

But you can still vault your pole to sport videos like these.

Joking aside, to me it's not really about the asses. I mean those long hairs falling down gentle neck and curvy back; and down there sports shoes which I always associate with high stamina and/or durability needed for wild nights.

I mean 5:16

[tirefeet]

Baseball is back but maybe not for too long? At least for the Marlins

[tirefeet]

I just like how erratic here Joe Kelly is and it goes along with his inconsistent pitching. Granted, particular Astros players have some vengeful rivals that want to get a hold of them but you just can't tell if Kelly really tries to bean those guys or he just can't control his throwing (actually you can tell but yeah, good display of enmity by Kelly without hurting batters).

[blocho]

Baseball is back but maybe not for too long? At least for the Marlins

[funkybusiness]

Rob Manfred has spent his entire adult life trying to ruin unions. He was elected by the owners to the position of commissioner to try and destroy the MLBPA. Between "we built the protocols" to decimate players' confidence and/or careers due to a non-agreement between the MLBPA and the MLB front office (Manfred) about the conditions of a pandemic-ridden season and dividing them within the union about the non-punishment of the Astros? He's just doing his job.


and baseball won't be cancelled due to an outbreak. at least, not until the Yankees get infected.

[Dolwphin]

In the name of equality: If you would like to see men play with big sticks too, then the 2020 World Snooker Championships starts tomorrow at the Crucible.

[Dolwphin]

The highlight of last year (except Trump winning) :

[AdamH]

Interesting times in snooker. Around half of the Chinese players didn't even enter the qualifying and their future in snooker is now uncertain. Bit of a shame as snooker has got big there. It's meant qualifying was a bit weaker than normal this year and there are a few debutante/players returning after long absences.

[AdamH]

Bit of a strange one but Anthony Hamilton has withdrawn after qualifying for the first time since 2008. I see Barry Hearn has criticised him as someone else could have qualified and taken his spot. I wonder if he entered not expecting to qualify and to make sure he got some ranking points if he won matches.

[Lammetje]

I haven't been able to watch much of the snooker world championship the past few days. Today, however, I saw most of the first session of both matches and I must say that Anthony McGill was the only one who played well.

Does anyone know what happened to Hazel? Is she coming back to the studio?

[Chilton]

I haven't seen a single frame yet Hopefully I'll manage to at least see some in the final. Also I didn't know about Hazel Irvine, apparently she's skipping this year? She has been covering snooker for as long as I can remember...

[Dolwphin]

Two very memorable and unbelievable 17-16 SF yesterday. I can't believe that The Rocket actually managed to beat The Dementor. Or the exciting 103-83 frame between Wilson and McGill.

[Dolwphin]

The Rocket got out of jail in that 2nd session and somehow miraculously still leads 10-7. The Snooker Gods works in mysterious ways.

Class of 92's Crucible streak since 1998: W, F, W, W, SF, W, W, QF, SF, W, W, W, QF, W, W, W, F, QF, QF, F, W, F, W?

[Lammetje]

Class of 92's Crucible streak since 1998: W, F, W, W, SF, W, W, QF, SF, W, W, W, QF, W, W, W, F, QF, QF, F, W, F, W?

What does this mean?

[tirefeet]

I think it shows the dominance of Ronnie O, Mark Williams and Higgins who debuted at 1992 World Championship.

[Dolwphin]

The Rocket looked more balanced mentally in the third session and played quite solidly as well. The Warrior looked nervous and was unable to capitalize on his chances. Ronnie O'Sullivan leads 17-8 and just needs one more frame to secure his sixth World Championship Title. It would be his 37th ranking title, eclipsing Stephen Hendry's impressive record.