Community: Sports

Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad go head-to-head in Seville for the Copa del Rey 2019-20 trophy on Saturday in a game delayed by a year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The two sides, playing a Basque derby for the title, had preferred to wait until their fans could attend the showpiece game but the constraints of covid-19 restrictions and a bloated fixture list – Athletic will take on Barcelona in the 2020-21 final in two weeks’ time – have resulted in a behind closed doors encounter in Seville’s Estadio de la Cartuja.
...
La Real have won the Copa on two occasions, most recently in the 1986-87 season. Their previous triumph was in 1909, when Real Sociedad were known as Club Ciclista and three games were required to win the trophy. Athletic were the beaten opponents in the first round – the first official meeting between Bilbao and La Real - before Galicia FC and Español de Madrid were seen off.

Athletic won the very first edition of the Copa del Rey in 1903, beating Madrid FC (now Real Madrid) and featured in all of the first four finals. The Lions hold the rare, perhaps even unique, distinction of winning the 1904 Copa without playing a single game.

The first Copa del Rey final between Saturday’s opponents took place in 1910, when the competition had two parallel tournaments held in Madrid and San Sebastián under the auspices of the Spanish Football Federation and the Unión Española de Clubes de Fútbol. Athletic, who were a regular feature in early finals, beat Real Sociedad 1-0 at Ondarreta.
Read moreLess

On Friday, MLB decided to take its All-Star Game away from Atlanta's Truist Park in response to the state's new voter integrity law.

Khetag Pliev, the former Olympic freestyle wrestler turned professional MMA fighter, lost a finger during a Cage Fury Fighting Championships fight on Thursday night at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.

Pliev, a four-time national wrestling champion known as "The Terminator" who represented Canada at the 2012 London Olympics, suffered the gruesome injury during the first or second round of a middleweight bout with Devin Goodale in the co-main event of CFFC 94, which was broadcast live on the UFC’s Fight Pass streaming service.
...
Goodale was declared the winner by second-round technical knockout after referee David Osaghae discovered between rounds that Pliev’s left ring finger was no longer attached to his hand.

The official method of victory according to Sherdog.com was "Detached Finger".

“They just made a PA announcement at #CFFC94 that they are trying to locate a fighter’s missing finger,” TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter tweeted. “It evidently fell off into his glove during the bout and is missing somewhere in the venue.”
Read moreLess

Ben Shapiro DESTROYS Megan Rapinoe and the gender pay gap.

Before her tragic death, Julie Pomagalski was able to compete in the parallel giant slalom at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and the 2006 Turin Games.

OLYMPIC surfing hopeful Katherine Diaz Hernandez tragically died on Saturday after she was reportedly struck by lightning in El Salvador.The freak acc

El Salvador’s top surfer, who had been preparing fo the sport’s Olympic debut this summer, has been struck and killed by lightning during a training session.

“A great athlete who has represented our country has left us,” the Salvadoran Surf Federation said in a post paying tribute to Katherine Diaz on social media. “See you soon, great warrior. El Salvador is in mourning.”
...
The 22 year-old had entered the water to start a training session on Friday near her home in El Tunco when she was struck. Emergency services tried to revive her on the beach, but the attempts were unsuccessful. Spanish newspaper AS reported that a sudden change in weather had caught those on the beach by surprise: “the sky was clear and it was an unforeseen storm that did not seem to carry much electrical intensity either.”

The International Surfing Association paid tribute to Diaz in a Facebook post.

“It is with a heavy heart that the ISA has learned about the passing of El Salvador’s Katherine Diaz,” read the statement. “Katherine embodied the joy and energy that make surfing so special and dear to us all, as a global ambassador of the sport.”

Diaz was preparing for May’s ISA World Surf Games in El Salvador, which will act as a qualifier for the Tokyo Olympics.
Read moreLess

A vastly improved Ireland finished their Guinness Six Nations campaign on a high with a comprehensive 32-18 win over England in Dublin.

Facing the prospect of a fifth successive loss to Eddie Jones' side, Ireland took the game to the visitors and thoroughly outplayed the defending champions.
...
Early losses in the tournament meant that neither side had any silverware to play for but, for the first time in five games, Ireland produced the 80-minute performance that coach Andy Farrell had pined for.

Keith Earls and Jack Conan scored tries in the first half and the superb Johnny Sexton kicked 22 points off the tee.

The result left Ireland in second place of the table ahead of Wales’ visit to Paris this evening and the outstanding France-Scotland game, which will be played on Friday night.

The only negative was a red card for Bundee Aki, with the centre sent off for the second time in his Ireland career for a high tackle on Billy Vunipola in the 64th minute.

FULL MATCH DETAILS

Mindful that fast starts by England in recent games had left Ireland playing catch-up from early on, it was a victory in itself that the visitors were restricted to just an eighth-minute Owen Farrell penalty, after an infringement at the lineout, to show for their dominance.

It looked ominous for Ireland when Maro Itjoe was held up over the line following a lineout maul but Ireland won a free kick from the subsequent scrum to edge another small battle.
Read moreLess

The disparities between the swag bags the male and female athletes get was also brought to light

Tony Hawk has completed what he's calling his "last ever" Ollie 540 ... and the moment will hit you right in the feels.

Get a summary of the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles vs. Ohio State Buckeyes basketball game

Two of the greatest legends in the history of professional bowling decided Wednesday to end their full-time careers on the PBA Tour.

David Fleming follows the trend of men scheduling their procedures during tourney time for a guilt-free way to catch every second of the games.

Crowd roars as Kiwis get the win they needed to defeat the Italians 7-3 and claim the Auld Mug again.

Here are the allegations against Deshaun Watson

The National Football League's eye-watering 11-year, $100 billion media rights deals will have repercussions for the media and entertainment industry for years to come.

LeBron James is becoming a part owner of the baseball giants, the Boston Red Sox.

The sporting rivalry between the two nations began with rifle competitions and now extends to every sport imaginable.

Believe it or not, the early days of the rivalry involved rifles. "Before team sports, there were rifle competititons beteen the Irish and English which I suppose could have gone wrong", explained Rouse. "200 years ago, Kildare's Dan Donnelly, one of the great boxers produced by the country, fought against English boxer Tom Hall and it was seen as a battle between Ireland and England.
...
"In terms of team sports, the very foundation of the Irish Rugby Football Union in 1875 was to get a team to play against England and that happened in 1875. The story of Irish rugby for the next dozen years was dominated by that annual contest with England. And Ireland were hammered, year after year. It was so bad in the 1880s that it was said that there should be a handicapping system where Ireland could play 15 players and England would only have 12 so it could be an even contest.
Read moreLess

Dick Hoyt -- the Boston Marathon legend who regularly competed while pushing his son in a wheelchair -- has died. He was 80.

Shawn Bradley, the former NBA player who appeared in the original "Space Jam," has been left paralyzed after a January bicycle accident.