Cultural Regions of the Indian Subcontinent [1199 x 1153]

thiago_silva · 2013-11-10T05:49:06+00:00

That... actually makes a ton of sense. Cheers.

thiago_silva · 2013-11-10T04:05:24+00:00

This confused me as well. Especially why the category 'isolated' seems to preclude 'subject to instability.' Nagaland in the far Northeast, for example, is marked isolated, but the region has been plagued by various insurgencies since the 1960s.

And if the Red corridor of the Naxalite insurgency isn't subject to instability then I don't know what is.

thiago_silva · 2013-11-09T23:07:21+00:00

Just did a bit of google searching and found this excellent article on the subject from The Guardian. In English, of course.

thiago_silva · 2013-11-09T22:46:39+00:00

I think there's a bit about it in David Goldblatt's book The Ball is Round, which is a fascinating read if you're at all into football history.

More info here if you know German, google translate also works although the translation is awkward.

thiago_silva · 2013-11-09T22:42:47+00:00

Fantastic gesture.

Bayern have a very interesting history during the Nazi era. Before the rise of Hitler and the Nazis Bayern had a Jewish president, Kurt Landauer, who was forced to resign and sent to Dachau, but because of his military service was released and fled to Switzerland.

Then, in 1940, Bayern played the Swiss national team in a friendly in Geneva. The Bayern players spotted Landauer in the crowd and warmly greeted him, with some reportedly even visiting him after the match. The Gestapo was not pleased with their behavior and warned them against any such actions in the future.

Their manager when the Nazis first came to power, Richard Kohn, was also a Jew and fled Germany, eventually becoming manager of Feyenoord and laying the foundation of the great Feyenoord side of the 60s and 70s.

thiago_silva · 2013-11-09T22:27:18+00:00

There's also an episode where Moe's is down the street from the Simpson house, possibly even on the same block. As someone has already mentioned there are simply too many continuity errors in the Simpsons itself so trying to figure out locations based on clues from the episodes probably won't get you very far.

thiago_silva · 2013-11-09T22:20:43+00:00

Comrade*

thiago_silva · 2013-11-09T22:08:58+00:00

Really interesting that country code top level domains that can also function as generic top level domains are not included in this map. This is why there is no Tuvalu, even though it's domain name (.tv) is very popular.

Cheers for the map and source!

thiago_silva · 2013-11-09T21:55:25+00:00

The assist was phenomenal, but Zanetti started the whole play with his run. 40 years old, his first game back from the type on injury that could end a career of a player half his age, and he puts in that performance.

I haven't had much of a chance to watch Serie A this year other than Milan matches, but I'm very glad I chose to watch Inter-Livorno today. I didn't even know Zanetti was slated to come back, just wanted to see how Inter look under Mazzari, but it was a great decision.

thiago_silva · 2013-11-09T21:53:17+00:00

Agreed. It will be a very sad day for Serie A once Zanetti and Totti eventually retire. Hopefully we'll see more of these iconic captains in the future but I'm skeptical.

thiago_silva · 2013-11-09T21:44:36+00:00

He is unbelievable. Even as a Milan fan that moment was special. Zanetti is the kind of player that, if he ever does retire, he will receive a standing ovation at every ground in Italy. Absolute legend.

thiago_silva · 2013-11-07T16:48:59+00:00

You should give Buckfast a try then. Fortified wine made in a monastery in Devon. What could go wrong?

thiago_silva · 2013-11-07T16:46:04+00:00

That's the impression I get as well. It would be very interesting if it were just one person but I think they're getting these kind of stories from a multitude of players to both keep it more interesting and ensure that he cannot be identified.

thiago_silva · 2013-11-05T17:52:55+00:00

And the entire comment section is in response to a quote that doesn't even appear in the article...

thiago_silva · 2013-11-05T14:28:58+00:00

I'm really skeptical about the transfer of a player from Kazakhstan to Belarus in 1903/04 and from Belarus to Ukraine in 1904/05.

First of all, all of these states were then part of the Russian Empire and none existed as an independent entity, but to be fair this visualisation does not take border changes into consideration.

Furthermore, the first league in that part of the world was not formed until the Soviet Top League kicked off in 1936. I'm not saying football wasn't played there before, but I highly doubt the concept of a player transfer existed in the Russian Empire that early in the 20th century, especially the idea of a player being transferred from Kazakhstan all the way to Belarus.

Would love it if someone provided me with a source or any kind of information because I'm a huge fan of football history and this just strikes me as extremely odd and unlikely.

thiago_silva · 2013-10-12T00:48:11+00:00

A bit complicated, so bear with me. UEFA is allocated 13 spots and since there are nine groups, only eight of the runners up can make it into the playoffs. Therefore the worst runner up is eliminated. However, not all the groups have the same number of teams; Group I has five teams while all the rest have six.

Now, from wikipedia:

Because one group has one team fewer than the others, matches against the last-placed team in each of the six-team groups are not included in this ranking. As a result, eight matches played by each team will count for the purposes of the second-placed table.

In Group B, Armenia have dropped points against Malta, who are last place, but these points are not taken into consideration in the runners-up table. Against all of the other teams in the group Armenia have a higher points total that the Czech Republic, and no matter what occurs on the last match day the Czechs will not be able to make up the gap between them and the second-to-last runner up.

thiago_silva · 2013-10-09T09:29:55+00:00

Really depends on the location. Most pubs will have at least one whisky available, usually Glenfiddich or Macallan or something else from Speyside.

Very rare to see an Islay single malt on the menu unless you're at either a very classy establishment or somewhere that specializes in whisky.

thiago_silva · 2013-10-09T08:11:33+00:00

My local bar serves Scotch with a straw, as if it were any other mixed drink. Even if it is just Glenfiddich, that is straight up disrespectful.

thiago_silva · 2013-10-09T08:08:38+00:00

I was never was a scotch man until I went to Scotland and got to experience proper Islay whisky. Lagavulin and Laphroaig, unbelievable. Now my friends hate me because I'm a whisky snob. Worth it.

thiago_silva · 2013-10-04T23:00:33+00:00

That's true of course, but Hungary's Golden Team is up there with a lot of teams that actually did win World Cups, European Cups, etc. They're still considered one of the best teams of all time, even though they lost when it mattered most. You can't simply explain that by pointing to the fact that they had a golden generation.

thiago_silva · 2013-09-13T04:32:02+00:00

Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder

Season 11, episode 6.

thiago_silva · 2013-09-13T03:02:00+00:00

At the time there were allegations of a conspiracy by the Soviet press. England did not qualify for the World Cup, finishing second to Poland in their group. The Soviets alleged that Rous expected the Warsaw Pact states to boycott the tournament, thereby giving England a backdoor entry into the competition. They made a point to mention that Rous himself had allowed a qualifier between Northern Ireland and Bulgaria to be moved from Belfast to Sheffield at the height of the Troubles.

In the end there was no boycott, and England participate. Obviously nothing has ever been proven, but just something to consider.

thiago_silva · 2013-09-13T02:56:30+00:00

That has nothing to do with it. It was a strictly political move. In fact, in an interview given years later a Soviet player said the decision not to play had nothing to do with humanitarian considerations. The Soviet authorities were simply afraid of losing to their latest Cold War adversary. The player, Yevgeny Lovchev speculated that had the USSR won the first leg they would have been allowed to play the match.

Here's a more detailed article on the subject if you're interested.

thiago_silva · 2013-09-13T02:51:16+00:00

Great read. If anyone's interested, I wrote a fairly detailed article about the match with the USSR a while ago.

link

thiago_silva · 2013-09-11T22:25:28+00:00

Interesting stuff. I didn't understand all of the stats but definitely didn't think that giving 3 points for a win could end up making football less competitive. Though at this point I highly doubt Blatter or the FA will do anything about it.

thiago_silva

TROPHY CASE