BBC News - UK & Ireland sole bidder for Euro 2028 after Turkey withdraws to focus on Euro 2032
Previously
Just came here to post about Biles. I remember as a kid being dragged by parents or relations to watch the telly because one of the great Russian or Romanians were doing their thing and they wanted me to have seen the greatest ever, even if I didnāt understand it.
I did the same many years ago to my children when they were too young to really get it and before they did gymnastics (as I did after I saw those greats. Iām totally the wrong size and shape for menās gymnastics though!) I said to them look here, she is the greatest Iāve ever seen, and Iāve seen the very best. Look at the power, precision, and grace. She is the most aggressive gymnast on the floor Iāve ever seen. I look at her and believe she is pushing the world away.
In a sport where many people do frankly unimaginable things, she is another class altogether. We are so privileged to get to see such an extraordinary athlete and person.
I mean, holy shit, look at this womanā¦ just fucking incredible.
Carlisle win, hopefully this marks the turning point in our season. We were expecting a tough game.
4407 Carlisle fans in the away end! Thatās more than were at the last home game (total attendance 4345, including Swindon fans) before Paul Simpson took over.
Talking of before Paul Simpson was in charge.
I hope Gillingham survive him. Millenās a good coach, but a hopeless manager.
Cheltenham have scored a goal! It only took them 12 games.
Abso-bloody-lutely
The sheer nerve to try the most incredible acts, I must admit a weakness for the vault, it just grabs me with the risk.
Wigan got ELEVEN yellow cards! Twelve if you include the one their manager got. The FA will be looking at this, and the referee better have a good reason because this looks dodgy.
11 cards off 18 fouls. Thatās bonkers
The joys of a fan-owned team, even if it is down in the 4th tierā¦ 
This is a bit funny. You know the way that a lot of us from outside the US really donāt get American hand egg and how big it is? Well here are the largest stadiums in the world. And loads of them are for college football not even the āproā game!
I guess one of the big downsides of that was I just looked up a US college in relation to another thread and of the 13 items on my first search result page 4 were not to do with sportsballsā¦.
I mean I canāt imagine our admissions and marketing team being happy with 13th spot!
Mental.
If University of Michigan could conjure a way to add more seats to the Big House, they would. It only sat 104k when I moved here in the 90ās. Really, the only way they could is by buying my sonās high school, which sits kittycorner from the Big House, tearing it down and building there. But that would take away the main tailgating area and Fox Sports/ESPN wouldnāt have anywhere to put their mobile sportsball stage/studio.
Yep, we do get mental over hand egg, itās true.
How many people watched the Under 21s games in the former Pizza Cup this year?
Morecambe v Liverpool U21 - 1,607
Harrogate Town v Nottingham Forest U21 - 1,178
Wigan v Leicester City U21 - 2,073
Stockport v Manchester Utd U21 - 5,000 (OK, that was always going to be a higher attendance with it effectively being a derby)
Grimsby v Manchester City U21 - 1,101
Burton Albion V Everton U21 - 473!
It goes on like this, but most games struggle to get over 1000 fans in the ground and these are the big under 21 teams. No-one cares unless it is a derby or itās the later rounds when there might be a chance to get to Wembley.
Carlisle play against Nottingham Forest U21 tomorrow. I donāt expect a huge crowd.
On the other hand attendances for womenās games in many sports are going up (again). Junior GAA can get a fair crowd in Ireland. Underage rugby too.
Soccer doesnāt (because everybody supports big English teams).
Portland gets 21,000-ish fans at womenās pro soccer games. Iād rather go to a Thorns game than a Timbers game.
Yeah. Womenās international game gets decent crowds now. Part of it is simply that sports bodies and mediaās access to funding depends on promoting womenās sports.
I know, itās not trendy, but stuff like minimum representation quotas (in sport, in politics) tied to funding, really work.
If you donāt askā¦
