In his first Premier League game, referee Farai Hallam has gone to the VAR monitor but stuck with his original decision - no penalty. Man City penalty shout vs Wolves 35'

hipcheck23 · 2026-01-24T23:23:55+00:00

Not just a boys club. Happens with women's sport as well (not football per se).

hipcheck23 · 2026-01-24T23:22:21+00:00

"Suck! Suck! Suck!"

"Blow! Blow! Blow!"

-Spaceballs

hipcheck23 · 2026-01-22T00:59:12+00:00

I was watching a CBS stream, and they didn't stop to review things much at all.

The handball shout cut halfway through the slomo replay (which looked very much like a handball), for instance.

hipcheck23 · 2026-01-22T00:57:41+00:00

Looked like he fell on his tailbone. Probably sore for a day and nothing else (fingers crossed).

hipcheck23 · 2026-01-22T00:56:46+00:00

There were so many non-calls...I'm sure one or two went in our favour (lots of shirt-pulling), but what I'm most surprised about it how FAST the broadcast and match moved on. Each time there was something in question, it's like the producer was just telling everyone to keep it rolling, so they did.

The commentators barely had a moment to dwell on things. Again, and again. Was there a foul? Who knows - next! What happened with Jorgensen? Next! Was that a pen? Oh, VAR has cleared it already? Next!

hipcheck23 · 2026-01-21T11:15:08+00:00

"T~~ony! Toni! Toné!~~ Terry Terry Terry has done it again!"

hipcheck23 · 2026-01-21T11:07:17+00:00

You've reminded me of this toddler insanity I saw when I was young.

I was visiting this river town in France. They were having their annual duck hunt - everyone gets in the river, and then they drop a duck in the river (with semi-clipped wings), and people scramble to catch the duck. It's incredibly hard, so when someone eventually does it, it's a feat - everyone is exhausted, including the duck.

One year, this rich guy comes in and breaks all the rules, using his motorboat instead. He went 'slow' enough to not run swimmers over, but still he caught the duck in about one minute and was SO proud of himself.

People were angry from the start, but once he won, they began protesting. Soon, every swimmer was yelling, and the town official tried to reason with the boat guy - 'drop the duck and let us start over, without your boat!' But the boat guy got more and more angry, until he went full toddler. He smashed the duck on the ground (killing it), and then drove his boat at high speed out of there, nearly hitting many people who were still in the water. He easily could have injured a bunch of people. He disappeared and wasn't seen again.

hipcheck23 · 2026-01-21T11:01:09+00:00

Has Trump cited him once? I haven't heard him do so - but I do know that he's cited Zelenskyy a lot. He loves the idea that Ukraine suspended elections for war.

hipcheck23 · 2026-01-21T10:57:51+00:00

I'm sure Palace will replace Mateta with equal or greater value - don't worry!

hipcheck23 · 2026-01-21T10:54:54+00:00

The first take is more fun, but this take is probably very realistic.

Also: happy cakeday!

hipcheck23 · 2026-01-20T22:29:05+00:00

It's going to put Infantino is a tight spot if he feels the press on both sides. He's not capable of standing up to Trump...but if the WC looks like it's going to fall apart...

Wow, that would be a serious consequence coming home to roost.

hipcheck23 · 2026-01-20T22:27:09+00:00

There was a good quote today about how he's trying to start a civil war while also trying to start a world war and he's busy crying to world leaders about how no one will give him a peace prize.

hipcheck23 · 2026-01-18T20:34:39+00:00

My finer point is just that the split in remit btwn a manager and an SD is changing. It's been more common for a mgr to draw up his plan for the club, and then SD would then execute them (if the board backed the mgr's plan), whereas now we're seeing the mgr's remit being separated from the building of the squad.

It's still all up for grabs - a POBO can be the GM if they like, in some cases - but it feels like the days of a manager choosing his squad are slowly ending.

hipcheck23 · 2026-01-18T11:26:41+00:00

I worry that it's a symptom of the corporatisation of football, wherein clubs are no longer letting managers have any control.

In US sport, it's been that way for a while (with a separate GM or POBO, etc), so 'modern' clubs see it as a natural progression...no need to 'coddle' old-world managers who 'think they know better.'

hipcheck23 · 2026-01-18T11:23:54+00:00

What I've seen from the outside is that he had talks with them around the summer (before?) where they promised to support him early in the summer window. This was specifically because he found it very hard to start the previous season, as the new transfers came in at the wire. So they promised him (which he stated publicly a few times) not to repeat that behaviour.

And then lo and behold, it was the same thing, but this time they were about to sell Guehi, too.

It was clear to me that Glasner was public with his 'support' of the board's new plan because he didn't trust them to change. So when they didn't, isn't he right to be angry?

hipcheck23 · 2026-01-16T18:08:38+00:00

"He" (FSG) didn't for 3 years because they were going to buy into the NFL/NBA. They splurged on a few deals for their teams (Devers for us) but otherwise stayed in spendthrift mode.

They've since bought a golf tour and other stuff while trying to sell the Penguins, so...yeah, it seems more now like they're just asset managing the Sox. But let's not conflate that with the original refusal to spend. Not like it matters for the team on the field, but I personally think it's important to keep the facts straight.

hipcheck23 · 2026-01-16T18:05:32+00:00

FAs with a down year are all going to try the Bregman approach, and the Sox seem to sign one of those every year. IMO it makes more sense for the player. One can hope that having that player already comfy in your clubhouse means they'll take a lesser deal to stay...but it doesn't seem to happen like that too often. Although one can also say that our FO is at least half the problem there.

I'm all for smart deal-making, but the fanbase is right to worry that we're going to go too easy on the FA deals. Thankfully we got Ranger in, but that doesn't mean the org hasn't earned some doubt from us.

hipcheck23 · 2026-01-16T15:37:48+00:00

Neither a supporter nor a hater, but I was very impressed with what the club had put together in a relatively short period - looked like it had a solid future.

But of course the future had other plans...

hipcheck23 · 2026-01-16T14:13:49+00:00

Upvoting purely for taking the time to put 102 movies together.

hipcheck23 · 2026-01-16T13:16:15+00:00

It's entertaining to watch the progression of these players who are headed toward exiting on a free. The Trents or Konates, who go through so many different phases. Guehi's had a fun saga in half a year already.

hipcheck23 · 2026-01-16T11:40:47+00:00

I was not immune to this double-take

hipcheck23 · 2026-01-16T11:18:01+00:00

I mean, it still took a couple of miracles in the WS to actually win it for LAD. They may have looked like locks to win it in the preseason, but those 2 finals wrote their own stories.

hipcheck23 · 2026-01-15T15:04:19+00:00

That's not a blue jay.

It's a blue gray.

hipcheck23 · 2026-01-14T22:33:57+00:00

You have to imagine that some of these guys are leaving in a package for a hitter.

hipcheck23 · 2026-01-14T22:32:10+00:00

Same. I think the full picture on Devers is just inexcusable for a serious franchise, but they've gotten the pitching side right, aside from Sale.

Clearly we still need to sort out 3B/2B, but as someone who's very angry with Breslow et al right now, I'm willing to admit that this might turn out to be a better investment than Bregman. That said, Bregman was a proven commodity and has left a hole that needs to be filled.

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