🇵🇱 Polish Perfection 🇵🇱

@iga_swiatek becomes the first Grand Slam singles champion from Poland and does not drop a set en route to her first career title 6-4 6-1 over Kenin.

#RolandGarros

Back in 2004, Ricky Williams, the American football player, left the Miami Dolphins after a third strike for smoking weed and disappeared. He’d had a notable career besides, but this was the capper: He said goodbye to his coach from Hawaii and vanished off the face of the Earth.

I was like, I want to be the guy who finds him. My memory is a little foggy here, but I think I got Ricky’s email address from the godfather of one of Esquire’s editors. It was an AOL account, I remember. I wrote Ricky and asked him if he’d talk to me if I found him.

He replied! And he said if I found him, he would tell me everything. AMAZING. But first—finding him. There were reports that he’d been in Italy, Fiji, Japan, and, most recently, Australia. A guy who’d felt trapped was now making the most of his freedom. Ricky was on THE MOVE.

I asked Peter, my editor, if I could go searching for Ricky. I didn’t really think I would find him. But I figured I’d get some crazy travel out of it, giving chase. That’s what I was calling the story in my head: “Chasing Ricky.” I imagined I’d always be one step behind.

Peter asked me what I thought my chances were. My brain calculated, “Less than one tenth of one percent.” My mouth said, “50-50.” I don’t like to think I was lying so much as my brain and mouth had been in disagreement. Anyway, a coin toss was good enough for Peter: Go.

Highlights of what happened after 36/9 - a thread.

#AUSvIND

Boxing Day Test - we lose Virat, Ajinkya takes over captaincy, with a forgettable loss still lurking. We carry a record of not winning at the 'G while chasing. Aussie win the toss & elect to bat, meaning we'd have to bat fourth.

#AUSvIND

With Shami gone due to injury, Bumrah leads from the front making sure the Aussies bundle out within 200 with the other bowlers chipping in at regular intervals. Ashwin picking Smith for a blob is the most special part of it all.

#AUSvIND

At 64/3 & in the danger of conceding a lead yet again and under immense pressure, captain Rahane chips in with a 💯 which is at par with his Lord's knock & with Jaddu's contribution lower down, India manage a lead of 131.

#AUSvIND

Siraj, the son of an auto rickshawman, having lost his father before the series & not being able to attend the funeral, plays his debut Test, tears up during the national anthem. He was the highest wicket taker for India in the 2nd innings wrapping up Aussies for 200.

#AUSvIND

The Gameweek 11 Preview {THREAD}

Covering:
⭐️ Ones To Watch
⭐️ Captaincy
⭐️ Match Ups

With help from @fpl_shaker

#FPLCommunity #FPL

1) ⭐️The Watchlist⭐️

First off let's update the watchlist, focusing on players that you should keep an eye on going forward.

Quick reminder of last week's additions:

DEF: Cancelo - A bit punty since he is not nailed. Now it seems like he's playing midweek UCL games while Mendy plays the PL ones

MID: Jota - Looked good once again, bargain!

FWD: Vardy - Should be good going forward

DF: Lamptey (£4.8m) - Brighton started the season looking like one of the worst defences in the league, but seemed to have figured things out somewhat, only conceding 6 goals in their last 6 games which included tough tests against Spurs and Liverpool.

Facing four favourable fixtures in their next 5, Lamptey could have a baseline of clean sheets to support his penchant for attacking returns.

🎙 @Pirlo_official's virtual press conference has begun: "@sampdoria_en is a good team, they come off the back of a positive run, they have added quality to the squad. And it's never easy to play against Coach Ranieri, whom I respect a lot."

#SampJuve

🎙 @Pirlo_official: "How do you get to the first team? You have to be good... Fagioli joined after Portanova's departure, he will be a part of the group but will still be able to play for the #Under23s."

#SampJuve

🎙 @Pirlo_official: "Today everyone should be able to train with the group apart from @PauDybala_JR, but we hope he is on the right track too. We have a tour de force of matches coming up, it will be necessary from time to time to see who is better."

#SampJuve

🎙 @Pirlo_official: "Tomorrow, @federicochiesa will start from the beginning. @WMckennie? He is guy who has a great desire to improve, and can do it. He has good room for growth and has the right mentality."

#SampJuve

🎙 @Pirlo_official: "Against tight defences you need to be patient - we know that Sampdoria will try to be compact. Ranieri keeps the lines very tight, we will have to try to widen them."

#SampJuve

Pith: Behind the Western Guilt Complex

My take on the courage deficit afflicting us.

One of the defining characteristics of our society is a sense of guilt.

This guilt manifests itself in the way we bend over backwards for marginalised groups, and the way we defend weakness with ferocity.

White guilt, LGBT allies and male feminists abound.

Obesity is championed as body positivity.

People are villainised and ostracised for their lack of feeling for those who struggle. You are a bad person if you are against redistribution.

Our judgement of people's character primarily takes place through this lens.

Empathy, rather than courage, has the moral high ground.

I say this merely as an observation, rather than to dismiss the merits of empathy as a virtue.

I've long wondered why this is, and have been presented with various explanations.

One is colonial and slaver guilt - that we feel ashamed of the horrors we committed as the British Empire and as white slavers in the US.

Another is our culture's roots in Christianity, where the notion of original sin breeds a sense of shame.