More Years Of Hurt

Well, that didn't end well did it?

I'm obviously referring to England's 1-2 loss to Argentina, in the World Cup semi finals.

I'll be straight up, though. As soon as they beat Mexico, I envisioned England making it to the final. That feeling increased upon witnessing Spain's 2-0 victory over France on Tuesday night.

Good job my gut instinct was off-kilter. 

Of the losing party, I particularly feel for Thomas Tuchel this morning. I have always respected him as a coach (I suppose that's why my senses were working overtime picturing England in the final) and feel he's unfairly being treated as the scapegoat.

Tuchel's decision to play defensively - after England went 1-0 - would have been applauded had the game ended with that scoreline. 

Instead, England lost. The knives came out. As expected.

Damned if you do, and all that.

Shota Umino Exits G1 Climax 36 Due To Injury

Shota Umino is out of this year's G1 Climax.

New Japan Pro Wrestling broke the news today citing a concussion Umino suffered in his opening night match against Zack Sabre Jr. on Saturday.

It's a shame. Way back in January, I singled out Umino as my pick to win this year's tournament to determine who will be one of the participants of the WrestleKingdom main event of New Japan's first major show of 2027.

Umino was a participant of Block B in the round robin tourney. New Japan has stated that all of Umino's scheduled opponents will receive two points via forfeit wins.

Zack Sabre Jr. had beaten Umino in the night one clash from Chicago.

The Semis

The World Cup semi finals kick off tonight with France and Spain going to battle. That'll be followed by tomorrow night's England .vs. Argentina game.

Going by the betting, France are favourites to get the win over the Spanish. I don't find that surprising. It's a result I would prefer, because I'd like France to win the entire tournament. However, I could see this one going to penalties in a low-scoring game. 

That could be famous last words on my part, but I am imagining Spain's defence being key to this game.

As for England .vs. Argentina - the bookies have England as favourites. This could be a negative-bias on my part, but I feel Argentina should be favoured.

England have pulled out some good results, but they've done so by having their backs to the wall on numerous occasions in the playoff portion of the tournament. That luck, some might call 'resilience', will run out eventually.

Will it?!

With that stated, Argentina came close to being ousted by Egypt and had to take Switzerland to extra time in the quarter finals. 

Maybe the bookies know better than I do.

Sam Neill Passes Away

I've just found out that Sam Neill has passed away.

It was only a few months ago when he declared he was cancer free.

F**k Cancer.

Neill leaves behind an amazing library of film work. 

Jurassic Park is the obvious one because of how popular that franchise is to this very day. However, there are so many other films. For example - Dead Calm stands out to me.

Another one which makes me smile is Hunt for the Wilderpeople. I haven't seen it, but I recall Sam Neill and his co-star, Julian Dennison, doing promo work for it. They made an appearance on BBC's The One Show. A young Dennison hysterically upstaged his colleague. It was so funny. Neill took it very well.

G1 36 Kicks Off

I had to avoid the Internet for most of the day because I didn't want to bump into any spoilers for the first night of the G1 Climax.

My mission went well. I didn't see anything, so all the results were fresh when I managed to see everything by this afternoon.

Going in, I was kind of not as all-in as I usually would be for a G1. However, now that one day is crossed off, I feel slightly submerged.

With last night's tournament kick off taking place in Chicago, the participants will resume action in Japan starting this coming Saturday. It's a 9:00 AM start for those in the BST time zone.

Thoughts About Ann Widdecombe's Death

I was somewhat shocked to hear of Ann Widdecombe's passing, when I first learned of it yesterday. 

'Somewhat' is the operative word. I assumed she had died due to an illness or from natural causes. After all, she was in her late-70s. An easy conclusion, no?

With that all stated, imagine how stunned I was when it was later reported Widdecombe's death is now being treated as murder.

Even if you disliked Widdecombe's politics, you cannot argue that she didn't stick to her beliefs. 

You also cannot argue that the murder of an elderly lady is an abhorrent crime. 

Today's American Football Trivia Question Was Easy

There was an easy question on today's page of my Year of Football Trivia calendar.

It asks 'Which famous action-movie star and former pro wrestler is an owner of the UFL spring football league?'

They have Hulk Hogan, Dave Bautista, John Cena, Dwayne Johnson and 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin as the possible answers.

The correct option is Dwayne Johnson. He, and his partners, merged the XFL with the USFL - to create the UFL - in late 2023.