Minor things that annoy you-sports edition

[NWI_Irish96]

at the Olympics they are The United Kingdom.

No they're not.

WDYM by that?

The team is Team GB.

This guy gets it.

Great Britain is an island, not a country.  While all of the United Kingdom—minus a few exceptions of overseas territories with their own teams—is included in the Great Britain Olympic team, athletes from Northern Island (you know, the one constituent country that isn't on Great Britain) are allowed to compete for the Republic of Ireland instead if they so choose.

From 1707-1801, the country was known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
From 1801-1922, it was known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
From 1922-present, it is know as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

So in addition to being the name of the island, Great Britain has been in the country title since 1707.

[kphoger]

From 1707-1801, the country was known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
From 1801-1922, it was known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
From 1922-present, it is know as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

So in addition to being the name of the island, Great Britain has been in the country title since 1707.

Fully aware already.  Note that it's been "Great Britain and ____" since almost a century before the first modern Olympic games.  When the Republic of Ireland ceased to be part of the United Kingdom, the team name "Great Britain" became even more accurate.  Most athletes from Northern Ireland compete for the Republic of Ireland rather than for Team GB.

What's actually more interesting to me is that all pre-1920 Irish athletes actually competed under "Great Britain".  That must have been just a little bit demeaning.

[SSOWorld]

NASCAR say Hold Our Beers

Sounds about right.

they start on the yellow flag, then they parade through the pits, then go green.

F1 likes to lampshade this by focusing the camera on a Rolex clock - which hits the top at the hour at which time the formation lap starts????? The real start is 5 minutes late.

[1995hoo]

It's a Tag Heuer clock this year.

[kphoger]

NASCAR say Hold Our Beers

Sounds about right.

they start on the yellow flag, then they parade through the pits, then go green.
F1 likes to lampshade this by focusing the camera on a Rolex clock - which hits the top at the hour at which time the formation lap starts????? The real start is 5 minutes late.

Actually, it was just a joke about NASCAR fans and drinking beer.

[Max Rockatansky]

NASCAR say Hold Our Beers

Sounds about right.

they start on the yellow flag, then they parade through the pits, then go green.
F1 likes to lampshade this by focusing the camera on a Rolex clock - which hits the top at the hour at which time the formation lap starts????? The real start is 5 minutes late.

Actually, it was just a joke about NASCAR fans and drinking beer.

Here is one that is NASCAR related.  Race cars looked so much better in the past when the sponsors had simple design aesthetics.  Related to beer sponsors, they had some bangers:

-  The #25 Budweiser Hendrick car was a simple red design.
-  The black and gold Miller #2 Penske/Rusty Wallace was super clean.  It to gets frequently reused on the 2 car as a throwback paint scheme (like this weekend at North Wilkesboro).
-  The silver bullet Coors #40 driven by Sterling Marlin was basically just silver with some mountain hood graphics.
-  I really dug the design gold Miller High Life cars which Bobby Allison drove (both the 12 and 22 cars).

Past cars were also easy to identify and associate with a specific driver.  Modern paint schemes are super busy and change way too frequently.  The only thing consistent is the car number in NASCAR.  Most of the time I can't even identify the sponsors from a glance in F1 and Indy Car (aside Red Bull).

[formulanone]

NASCAR say Hold Our Beers

Sounds about right.

they start on the yellow flag, then they parade through the pits, then go green.

F1 likes to lampshade this by focusing the camera on a Rolex clock - which hits the top at the hour at which time the formation lap starts????? The real start is 5 minutes late.

Ugh, it's so campy nowadays. Although it was visibly delayed by 10 minutes in Japan this year because they had to repair the crash barriers after a real whopper during the Supercup race.

Formation or reconnaissance laps didn't come about until the 1970s. There used to be a waved national flag to start the race; the cars were just pushed out from the pits to their respective grid places, and started whenever they felt like it. Historically, Monaco was never on time.

Here is one that is NASCAR related.  Race cars looked so much better in the past when the sponsors had simple design aesthetics.

I agree; some designs look great for the still camera but are terrible in motion.

[I-57/Route 66 Fan]

The spelling of the Toronto Maple Leafs name.

[NWI_Irish96]

The spelling of the Toronto Maple Leafs name.

That is actually correct. The plural of a proper noun always just adds an 's', regardless of the standard grammar rules.

[CtrlAltDel]

The spelling of the Toronto Maple Leafs name.

That is actually correct. The plural of a proper noun always just adds an 's', regardless of the standard grammar rules.

Just like with the Timberwolfs. 

[1995hoo]

The spelling of the Toronto Maple Leafs name.

How about the Kansas City Chieves?

[gonealookin]

Along those lines, I didn't care for this recent headline (pulled from ESPN.com but it appeared elsewhere too):

Orioles end Red Sox's record-tying 15-game winning streak

"Sox" is already plural; the apostrophe by itself would do.  Nobody would write a headline talking about "the Mets's losing streak".

[I-57/Route 66 Fan]

The fact that hockey players go in the penalty box for fighting.

[I-57/Route 66 Fan]

This sort of bothers me sorta doesn't patches commemorating championships and other accomplishments from years other than the previous.

[CtrlAltDel]

"Sox" is already plural; the apostrophe by itself would do.  Nobody would write a headline talking about "the Mets's losing streak".

Just for the record, one common rule for possessives is to add 's for any plural noun that doesn't end in -s. It's what the Chicago Manual of Style, for example, recommends.

[I-57/Route 66 Fan]

Netflix airing sports, they are super clunky, overrated, and feels like I'm watching a Netflix special with live sports thrown in.

[hotdogPi]

The fact that hockey players go in the penalty box for fighting.

Would you rather it be legal? The objective of a hockey game is to score goals and prevent the opposing team from scoring; fighting does not further that objective.

[I-57/Route 66 Fan]

The fact that hockey players go in the penalty box for fighting.

Would you rather it be legal? The objective of a hockey game is to score goals and prevent the opposing team from scoring; fighting does not further that objective.

Fighting is a part of hockey, too the point where it is near impossible for there to be a game without one, and potentially provides great entertainment for the fans.

[Max Rockatansky]

The fact that hockey players go in the penalty box for fighting.

Would you rather it be legal? The objective of a hockey game is to score goals and prevent the opposing team from scoring; fighting does not further that objective.

Fighting is a part of hockey, too the point where it is near impossible for there to be a game without one, and potentially provides great entertainment for the fans.

I never once got a fighting penalty in all the years I played hockey.  Yeah sure it is entertaining but it is a great way to fuck your teammates over with an unnecessary power play against.

[1995hoo]

The fact that hockey players go in the penalty box for fighting.

Would you rather it be legal? The objective of a hockey game is to score goals and prevent the opposing team from scoring; fighting does not further that objective.

Fighting is a part of hockey, too the point where it is near impossible for there to be a game without one, and potentially provides great entertainment for the fans.

I've been to hundreds of NHL games and have watched a lot more on TV (my wife and I have season tickets). I'd say the majority of games I've watched in at least the past 20 years do not involve any actual fights (as opposed to the occasional shoving match/face wash that might lead to two-minute penalties). The old stereotype of "I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out" (which was rooted in the 1970s, especially the Flyers) really lost its validity after the league amended the rulebook in the late 1980s or early 1990s to impose harsh suspensions and fines when a player leaves the bench to join a fight.

[SP Cook]

As to the England/GB/UK thing.

In the world cup, the four "countries" of the UK each have a team, as does the Republic of Ireland, with Northern Ireland being called the Irish Football Association and Ireland called the Football Association of Ireland.  Oddly, England uses "God Save The King", which is actually the national anthem of the UK as its, rather than "Jerusalem". 

In cricket, Wales doesn't have a team, but Welch people can play for England. Scotland has its own team, and Ireland has an "all-Ireland" team, using politically neutral symbols.  Also all of the former and current colonies of the UK in the Caribbean compete as "West Indies", despite the (sad IMHO) collapse of an attempt to make all of the Anglo-Caribbean a single country 70 years ago.

In rugby, there is also an all-Ireland team, but Wales has its own team separate from England.

In golf, players are generally identified by the flags of the four "countries".  In the Ryder Cup, USA vs. Europe, the Europe side uses the EU flag, even for British golfers. 

In the Olympics, there is no UK team.  England, Scotland, and Wales are "Great Britan" (the "team GB" thing is just marketing).  Northern Irish people can play for either that team, or Ireland, which will use the Republic of Ireland flag and anthem.  There was a Great Britian soccer team until they quit in protest of western countries having to use true amateurs while the commies did not after 1972, but they brought back the team for the 2012 Olympics which were in London.  Since then they have no been able to agree on the matter.

In the Commonwealth Games, which is a kind of an off-brand Olympics for ex-British colonies only (and the USA and Ireland don't compete, even though they technically would qualify), they don't always have cricket, which seems odd, but if they do, the West Indies countries are broken up into the actual countries.


 

[kphoger]

The spelling of the Toronto Maple Leafs name.

That is actually correct. The plural of a proper noun always just adds an 's', regardless of the standard grammar rules.

Just like with the Timberwolfs. 

And the Phillys, and the Rockys, and the Grizzlys, ...

The fact that hockey players go in the penalty box for fighting.

Would you rather it be legal? The objective of a hockey game is to score goals and prevent the opposing team from scoring; fighting does not further that objective.

Fighting is a part of hockey, too the point where it is near impossible for there to be a game without one, and potentially provides great entertainment for the fans.

I never once got a fighting penalty in all the years I played hockey.  Yeah sure it is entertaining but it is a great way to fuck your teammates over with an unnecessary power play against.

I will say that my wife has near-zero interest in watching any hockey game that doesn't involve fighting.  She pretty much only watches it for the body-checking—and, the more violent the checks and the more they tend to break out into fights, the more excited she is to watch the game.

[Max Rockatansky]

To clarify, I'm fine with fighting being a part of hockey.  If you're sneaky you can goad a player on the opposing team to take a shot at you and draw a penalty.  It isn't like you can land a clean hit with your fist on skates and wear gloves anyways. 

[hbelkins]

The Elam Ending in TBT. And the incessant hype over the Elam Ending.

(And the fact that the UK entry in TBT still refers to itself as "La Familia," two years post-Calipari.)

[I-57/Route 66 Fan]

When people say Indiana Bears, but not New Jersey Giants.