Interesting sports you follow but not enough interest for their own thread

[piranesi]

1 minute ago, Pete said:

Looks like Arena Football is on its deathbed... with Spokane, Jacksonville and Orlando all leaving and LA KISS shutting down, they're down to four extant franchises (Cleveland, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay and expansion Washington DC) plus Portland, which is trying to find new owners.

Now is not a day to invest in t-shirt gun stocks.

[zev]

Tonight's finale of the World Series of Poker was scheduled to run till 11 EST on ESPN, allowing for a 30 minute delay of real time action so players don't get a heads up from their buddies on the rail as to who's holding what.

 

It's 4:40 AM ET now, and Gordon Vayo and Qui Nguyen are still playing.

[Pete]

Rose City retain the HYDRA trophy, beating Gotham 186-166 in front of their home fans at the Portland Memorial Coliseum(!). Honestly not surprised as Gotham looked really vulnerable against Angel City and London in the quarters/semis.

[zev]

No roller derby thread on here? Hmm.

Saw that bout on ESPN 3. Wasn't it the third time in a row that Rose vs. Gotham was the final?

 

[RIPPA]

On 10/14/2016 at 5:19 PM, Pete said:

Looks like Arena Football is on its deathbed... with Spokane, Jacksonville and Orlando all leaving and LA KISS shutting down, they're down to four extant franchises (Cleveland, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay and expansion Washington DC) plus Portland, which is trying to find new owners.

Ted Leonsis announced today that Monumental Sports (which owns the new DC team) will also put a team in Baltimore.

So right now the only person who believes in the AFL is Leonsis

[dogwelder]

5 hours ago, RIPPA said:

Ted Leonsis announced today that Monumental Sports (which owns the new DC team) will also put a team in Baltimore.

So right now the only person who believes in the AFL is Leonsis

He must have a foolproof plan just like his plan for the Wizards.  Maybe he'll make Grunfeld the GM one of the teams too.

[Pete]

Early candidate for Spot of the Year.

[J.T.]

The 2017 Australian Rules Football season starts on March 23rd!.

[Mister TV]

In Roller Derby news, Bonnie Thunders is transferring to Rose City. Without Bonnie I wonder how far Gotham will fall this season.

http://www.espn.com/espnw/sports/article/18495872/roller-derby-legend-bonnie-thunders-aka-nicole-williams-leaves-gotham-rose-city

[SirFozzie]

Super Rugby starts February 23rd. Hopefully ESPN3 has the games again.

[DangerMark]

I'm going to put this here because the Rugby thread is mostly Union:-

The Toronto Wolfpack kick off for reals in the lowest tier of Professional UK Rugby League soon. The concept is ludicrous, and they've only got 4 North American players so far (the rest are Brits, Aussies and Kiwis) but dammit, Rugby League is great. I think all their games are going to be shown either on Canadian TV or online and I advise anyone interested in ellipsoid team sports to check it out; although I warn you in advance, some of the towns they'll be visiting are shitholes and League One is a far cry from Super League or the NRL.

PS. Watch out for me when they play North Wales.

[zev]

On ‎1‎/‎19‎/‎2017 at 9:19 AM, happjack said:

In Roller Derby news, Bonnie Thunders is transferring to Rose City. Without Bonnie I wonder how far Gotham will fall this season.

http://www.espn.com/espnw/sports/article/18495872/roller-derby-legend-bonnie-thunders-aka-nicole-williams-leaves-gotham-rose-city

It's Gotham, they'll promote from within and still make the World Championships.

[grendel1]

11 hours ago, DangerMark said:

I'm going to put this here because the Rugby thread is mostly Union:-

The Toronto Wolfpack kick off for reals in the lowest tier of Professional UK Rugby League soon. The concept is ludicrous, and they've only got 4 North American players so far (the rest are Brits, Aussies and Kiwis) but dammit, Rugby League is great. I think all their games are going to be shown either on Canadian TV or online and I advise anyone interested in ellipsoid team sports to check it out; although I warn you in advance, some of the towns they'll be visiting are shitholes and League One is a far cry from Super League or the NRL.

PS. Watch out for me when they play North Wales.

I read about this a few months ago and thought it wouldn't get off the ground. Who's paying for the UK teams to fly to Toronto?

[Dewar]

I was reading about this online, and apparently the Toronto team is paying to fly over the UK teams. Also, their roster is up to 7 North Americans now.

[DangerMark]

Good news. I don't expect them to find a home grown half back very quickly but surely there's enough of a talent pool out there from other sports to fill out the rest of the team. A gridiron DB/PR kind of player is already most of the way to being a full back, it'd hopefully just be a case of getting used to being on the pitch for 40 minutes at a time instead of 10 seconds. That's not a knock on what American/Canadian football players do, just a comment that the levels of specialisation and intensity are different.

And yeah, for now, they're footing the bill. They've got an airline sponsoring them.

I don't know if it's sustainable, and I think they'll be gone in ten years, probably less. But if there's enough interest across the pond to get a professional league going, I think that would be something.

[grendel1]

20 hours ago, DangerMark said:

I don't know if it's sustainable, and I think they'll be gone in ten years, probably less. But if there's enough interest across the pond to get a professional league going, I think that would be something

yeah sadly you're probably right. at the very least it gets more North American eyeballs on League, which I think they'll more readily take to than union. Also wow Bradford Bulls. They just keep rising from the dead.

[DangerMark]

Yeah. That's a sore subject round these parts.

[grendel1]

Lol. will they be showing Wolfpac games online somewhere? might make them my second team

[DangerMark]

I'm pretty sure they're Premier Sports in the UK, not sure about Canada. Who's your first team?

[grendel1]

15 hours ago, DangerMark said:

I'm pretty sure they're Premier Sports in the UK, not sure about Canada. Who's your first team?

Warriors (NZ not Wigan)

[Guest Stefanie Without Stefanie]

On 1/26/2017 at 5:48 PM, zev said:

It's Gotham, they'll promote from within and still make the World Championships.

Shortstop also led the team in lead jammer percentage, and both Shortstop and Miss Tea Maven had higher lead percentage than Bonnie did during playoffs (by a couple of percentage points, mind you, but still). The main reason Bonnie got higher point totals was because she was the go-to jammer for power jams since she's faster than those two. Plus they have Vanessa Sites in waiting who can step into the rotation. As long as they have someone coming up from their B-team or a transfer to replace Vicious Van Gogo, they'll be just fine.

[Ryan]

The reaction time in that badminton match was absurd. Makes twitchy video game players look like the non-athletes many think they are.

[odessasteps]

Curling on nbcsn right now.

(Friday 1700 ET)

[DangerMark]

Toronto Wolfpack have their first competitive match today, against amateur side Siddal in the third round of the Challenge Cup. Kick off is at 1pm GMT, 8am EST, and it's streaming live on the BBC website. 

I don't know what provisions are being made for the rest of the world.

EDIT: I think it's broadcasting world, so: http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/rugby-league/39022407

 

[SirFozzie]

It took part in a mudbath (thanks to a huge rainstorm), and the WolfPack were pushed to the limits, but won.