THREAD

Can we talk a little bit about what Cal McNair is about to do to the NFL, and the leverage owners have had over players for roughly 100 years?

I would be FASCINATED to know what the NFL league office and other owners are thinking about the Watson/Texans standoff

THREAD: Congress & The Football Penalty

Anyone else find it remotely odd that every name mentioned in this article matches one in Congress?

Notice it was published at roughly noon today, 1/11/2021 - this is important and we'll come to back to

2) Let's look at the names listed...

Browns > Anthony G. Brown > Maryland [D]

Baker > Dave Baker > Minnesota [R]

Mayfield > Debbie Mayfield > Florida [R]

Steelers > ref to Steele dossier

3) Joel Bitonio > Joel Fry > Iowa [R]

Cleveland > George Cleveland > North Carolina [R]

Michael Dunn > Neal Dunn > Florida [R]

Blake Hance > Blake Moore > Utah [R]

Peter King > Pete King > New York [R] (just left office on 1/3)

New York Jets > Joe Jett > Arkansas [R]

4) Now that we've got all the names sorted - let's looks at the comms...

emergency offensive

25 years thanks to some real luck > 25th amendment

forced to play > backed in a corner

held up their end of the bargain

late in the game

5) Steelers defenders > Steele dossier defenders

had just met him in the locker room

stepped up in the fourth quarter

documented

arrival

signed off

practice squad

Week 17

within driving distance of Cleveland

regular testing program

signed with a new team > flipped

The Premier League schedule can just about handle the games that have been postponed... so far.

But the league is on the brink of a fixture crisis, and the failure to entertaining agreeing curtailment / abandonment options may come back and bite them hard.

From the initial fixture build there were three Premier Lague catchup dates built in - the midweeks of March 2, April 20 and May 19.

However, these placeholders were primarily for teams which reached the Carabao Cup final and/or the FA Cup final.

Added to that, even without COVID postponements, if a PL team were to get the semis of the Champions League or Europa League and the final of both domestic cups there aren't enough spare midweeks to fit those games in.

Looking at you, Man City, Man United and Tottenham.

Now it looks like we have the added complication of Tottenham v Fulham being postponed.

If at least one of those clubs remains in the FA Cup through to Round 5, the game can only be played on March 2.

But it could get even more complicated.

If Tottenham reach the Carabao Cup final, they also have to rearrange (coincidentally) Fulham v Tottenham which is due to be played April 24.

If Spurs go far in the UEL and to the FA Cup final, they will have nowhere to play TWO matches before the season deadline of May 23.

Thread - With their legacy & millions of fans Mohun Bagan & East Bengal have seen several iconic personnel over the years. This list includes players, officials...and groundsmen. Popularly known as "mali" two such groundsmen became legends in their own rights. #IndianFootball

Bhaskar "Bhasiya" Senapati was from Orissa & joined Mohun Bagan in 1937. It was said that Bhasiya gave up offers in Brook Bonds & State Bank so that he could continue to work at Mohun Bagan. His voter identity card had the club address as his home address #IndianFootball

After Mohun Bagan's shattering 5-0 loss in 1975 IFA Shield final he was so sad that he didn't eat for 3 days. Among his favourites were Gostha Pal, Chuni Goswami, Subrata Bhattacharya. He played dual role of "Head mali" & club masseuse #IndianFootball

Upon his 1992 retirement, Bhasiya was given an unprecedented farewell. He was provided a life membership to the club, felicitated by players & officials while he went around the Mohun Bagan ground in front of applauding spectators #IndianFootball

Shankar Pillai joined East Bengal in 1940s & worked for the club for the next six decades. Coaches, players and management changed as East Bengal became one of India’s most successful clubs but Shakar mali remained constant #IndianFootball

Read this small thread to know why #GabbaTest win is so special. 👇

1. India didn't had it's key players playing like Rahul and kohli. So it was always a pressure situation. Even you not see on face but it lies well within them

2. Big players like Ishant, shami, umesh and Bhuvi were injured

3. Rahane was New captain with very few experience in Captaincy. He only captained 4 matches before it.

4. Gabba was the ground or I would say fortress of Australia where it was unbeaten for past 33 years

If you are a 90s kid, you’ve seen everything in Indian cricket. Start & End of SRT, Match-fixing, some embarrassing displays in England & Australia, some individual heroics & some deserving team wins. You’ve seen Dravid grind it out, you’ve also seen 81 all out (1/n)

If you are a 90s kid, you are mentally tough. You expect your team to put up a fight, more often than not, you ended up in disappointment. You’ve digested everything. You’ve laughed & cried. Sometimes both at same time (remember Perth ‘08). Too much depends on Tendulkar you’d say

Now you are in your late 20s early 30s. You see your team travelling to Australia. Kohli is leaving early after embarrassing Adelaide loss. Injuries are in bucketful. Covid restrictions mean they have to struggle for an XI. You write off your team mentally before Boxing Day Test

Rahane is captain now. He’s known for his silent aggression & counterattacking play. Pujara, Ashwin, Bumrah stand up with him, they create magic. India win Boxing Day test convincingly to shun off 4-0 critics (you loved this as a 90s kid, dont you). Yes, Gill is born!

1-1 & its Sydney. Media tries to play games. You’ve seen this before. But this is new India! They are determined. Bowlers get us back in the game & well, India tries to win, later save the match. Enough has been documented on Vihari & Ashwin. Stuff of legends! Momentum: India