#Previously he used to be an American soccer player

[signed-sapphire]

7 year difference

Keep at it, and your skills will improve

[hialeahgardensbasketballcoach]

Hialeah Gardens Basketball Coach Miami - Strange Facts About The Basketball

Basketball is not as famous as soccer, American football, or cricket, but it still has a huge fan following, especially in the United States. So we thought to share some strange facts about basketball we are aware of. Every Hialeah gardens basketball coach Miami should be aware of these:

The longest basketball game played was of 78 minutes, and the game was played between the Indianapolis Olympians and Rochester Royals. Thus, the game was won by the Olympians.

When Yao Ming, a Chinese basketball player appeared for the first time for his new team in Houston, it was celebrated with 8000 fortune cookies and was distributed to the fans. And that too was a surprise for Ming as he had never seen a fortune cookie that was invented in America.

In 2016, an Australian team made a world record for the highest basketball shot, which is 593 feet (180 meters) high. 

As we have already discussed in one of the articles, basketball was invented by Dr. James Naismith, a Canadian physical educator, as he was looking for an indoor game to be played during winters.

Accordingly, American football is the most dangerous game, but basketball is the sport with most of the injuries per athlete.

The highest-scoring game in a basketball game was played between the Denver Nuggets and Detroit Pistons. Both the teams were combined to score 370 points with the pistons to defeat the Nugget with 186-184.

Muggy Bogus was only 5 ft 3 inches, which means he was the smallest person ever to play professional basketball in the NBA.

Previously, basketball was played with the soccer ball. After a few years, only basketball was created specifically for the game and introduced in the game.

This one is the useful one for every player, and they must know that a warm basketball is bouncier than a cold one.

A basketball player, Ron Artest, got the longest suspension ever in NBA history for his aggressive behavior toward his fans. He was suspended for almost 73 matches for hitting his fans after being hit by a can of drink from the crowd.

First, peach baskets were used as basketball hoops to basket the basketball with the entire bottom.

There is a player, Tom Amberry, who also holds the Guinness World Record for most consecutive free throws almost 2750 in a row in a span of 12 hours over the course of a day at the age of 71. 

Previously, dribbling was not so required for playing basketball, in fact, players just throw and catch the ball. They were allowed only to do a few steps to slow down, and then pass it over to the team member or throw it from the spot they stopped. Afterward, dribbling became a crucial part of the game.

Originally, basketball was played with nine players of the team, then it was reduced to five players on the court.

During a basketball game, a basketball player has to run 4 miles that are 6.5 kilometers.

Hialeah Gardens basketball coach Florida also has some interesting facts related to the championship and the basketball game. If you want to know more facts, then you read our articles and follow our blogs, and articles.

[thewhip]

If there’s a story about female empowerment through sport, especially when it is about breaking stereotypes or cultural barriers, you can be sure we will be covering it! Although we are big believers in the importance of policies which ensure equal rights are afforded to ALL human beings, in many parts of the world, democracy via politics isn’t always a viable option.

Thankfully there are a number of mediums where women, minorities and the marginalized are able to use their voices as a powerful tool for change in a way politics cannot. One of these areas is sports. We have covered quite a few stories about women in developing countries and across the Middle East who are turning to athletic endeavors in order to break through burdensome societal barriers.

In Egypt, a badass group of women are doing just that, with the sport of roller derby. The CaiRollers, Egypt’s first roller derby team, was formed in 2012 by Shaneikiah Bickham and Angie Malone-Kaster, two American teachers who were working in Cairo and had previously played the sport in the US. The women have since left the country (in 2014) but the team remains strong.

To date they have 25 team members (mostly Egyptian women), and have only just started participating in competitive matches in 2017. In January they hit the tracks against an Abu Dhabi team, and in April will go head-to-head with Marseilles’ league.

As CNN’s Nosmot GbadaMosi reports, these are the first significant roller derby matches to be played in the Arab world. Eventually the CaiRollers want to see a full professional league in Egypt, but for now they are focused on recruiting and spreading the word about their endeavors.

They are also focused on diversity in the team by welcoming skaters of Egyptian nationalities, dual-citizenships, and ex-pats, as well as people of different beliefs and and various professions and backgrounds.

The CNN report on the Egyptian team also mentions how the sport has seen somewhat of a recent revival around the world, especially in unlikely places. China is one of those locations where amateur teams have formed with the intent not only to raise the profile of a relatively unknown sport in the country, but also leverage it as a way to promote gender equality by showcasing events for organizations such as UN Women’s He For She.

The CaiRollers have been advertising for more team members on their Facebook Page, which attracted 24 year-old research analyst Rahma Diab. She told CNN that since joining 3 years ago, she has found a new type of confidence.

“It’s not the thing that you expect from the culture and the Arab girl so it was very interesting to try that out. No one had heard about the game before here in the region.”

One of the founding members, Susan Nour, a teacher, says the team came together during a turbulent time in Egypt’s history – the Arab Spring. Some of the initial games were held after the infamous Tahrir Square protests which ended bringing down former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. Many girls on the team took part in the protests, and carried that powerful spirit into their involvement in roller derby.

“We definitely felt like we were in some small way a part of history. that created a real feeling of sisterhood among the founding players, and even now as the people on the league have come and gone, that sisterhood remains,” said Susan.

Each of the team members are expected to take on other responsibilities outside of the track, including fundraising, generating press coverage or managing their social media accounts, and that is on top of their regular day jobs. But it does not seem like such a huge burden from what the women say in various interviews, because the simple act of participating in sport in such a public manner is a mini-revolution in itself.

Another player, 27 year-old Lina El-Gohary, says boys in Egypt typically grow up playing soccer in the streets, whereas girls are generally forbidden. Sport is seen as a boy’s endeavor, yet women like the CaiRollers are slowly breaking down stereotypes and misconceptions about this. Thankfully, a lot of the families of the team members are supportive of their participation.

“Most of our families are supportive about us playing sport now, they just worry about us getting injured…The team is my support network. Whenever I have any problems at work or with my family, I skate it out and everything feels better,” Lina said in an interview from 2016.

NPR reports that more than half of the world’s amateur roller derby teams are from the US, but with the growing number of teams in countries like Egypt, those numbers could well change in the future. If you are based in Egypt and want to join the CaiRollers, or simply learn more about the team, visit the website.

[argumentl]

The Freedom of Expression - Ep 5, Quarantining of infected people in the Olympic village?

Note: *This episode was recorded in March 2020*

Hi, This is Dir en grey's Kaoru, starting another installment of The Freedom of Expression. I've revived this show on youtube, from when we did it on the radio station InterFM.

J, T: Thank you so much.

K: So, Joe san, Tasai san, we are here again, as a continuation from last time where we were talking about the corona virus....Well, how do we think things will go from now on?

J: Yes, well, if you ask reporters and such, despite the counter measures being a bit muddled, it isn't really taking hold in Japan, therefore, I really think the number of infections will start to drop. I think we'll definitely be coming to the end of this before long. No matter what, you see an exponential increase at some point, and when that happens, the absolute number of infections increases. But at the present moment, that is kind of leveling out, so there is the view that if we stick to this path until the end, the number of infections will eventuall drop. However, like you said Kaoru, even if this comes to an end, will the economy quickly revover? You know, if people get used to this new lifestyle, we'll have quite a conservative, sensitive situation. Whats it going to be like if people continue trying to avoid close contact with others? I think thats the scariest thing. And then, what about the Olympics, will it go ahead or won't it? Well, thats for Tokyo Sports right? After all your name is 'Tokyo Sports' newspaper.

T: No, no, no....but they'll do it won't they? What do you think?

K: What exactly is Tokyo Sports' view?

T: Well, we had a staff meeting recently, and we generally thought there is an atmosphere that it will go ahead.

J: Yeah, there is no option NOT to go ahead with it, but there is the option of postponing it?

T: Well, yes.

J: It could be an option.

T: I don't really think it will be postponed though.

J: One interesting thing I've heard after talking to journalists and such, is that as for the timing of the olympics, Japan can't really decide that at all. In other words, it fits with America's schedule. It fits during the time that America's sports are off seaon. It doesn't really matter to the hosting nation. So it can be postponed if America says thats ok. If thats not the case, honestly, its less a problem of Japan's corona situation, but from the American side, the issue of the huge investment in broadcasting rights. So I've a feeling this issue will be cleared up over there.

T: If it came to that, it (the olympics), will probably go ahead right?

J: I think so yes. No matter what Japan's government or the Olympic committee says, if the one with the strongest power (America) says they want to do it, then we'll have to do it, I feel.

K: But this virus mutates doesn't it?

J,.T: Yes, thats right.

K: If that happened, and things worsened, it would be terrible, wouldn't it?

J: Yes, well, at the moment a lot sporting areas, including the olympics, are thinking about spectator-less games etc.. Well, anyway, there is this problem about what to do about the virus, what to do about the olympics but I've heard that Tokyo Sports put out an article relating to the olympics and corona?

T:  Ah, yes thats right. Well, we wrote an article about how people infected with coronavirus, could be isolated in the the olympic village.

J: Thats ??? *1

T: But, isnt it the best place? No one is using it...

K: Did they already finish building it?

T: Yes, its finished.

J: Has there been any response from the government about that?

T: Nah, I don't think the government pays much attention to what Tokyo Sports says. *the others laugh loudly*

J: I wonder if any people in the government actually read Tokyo Sports?

T: Oh, a lot of them do, but they think because we are Tokyo Sports, they can ignore what we say. *the others laugh* But, there will be about 18,000 people at the olympics, so for now thats enough space, right?

J: Yes, its enough

T: So people can be properly isolated..

J: and its all set up already..

T: and then if you sterilize it properly, its still really reasonable to use. But I don't think the government will like the idea.

Kami: They sold the land for a really cheap price didn't they?

T: Yes, well...yes.

Kami: For about a tenth of the normal price?

T: Im not so sure about the details.

Kami: Shouldn't it be ok? If they sold it that cheaply? It should be ok, right? *T laughs*

J: Well, thats right. But I think this is a very reasonable suggestion from Tokyo Sports, its quite unlike you guys *K laughs*

T: Yeah, we speak sense occasionally...

J: Even though you usually only write absurd or unlikely stuff, this time its a very reasonable suggestion.

T: We get serious in times of crisis.

J: Oh, is that so? I see.

T: So, after the olympics, they plan to sell of the olympic village as regular apartments. In that case, the value will fall, right? If they have been previously used for corona patients?

J: Oh, is that it?

T: So thats an idea too.

J: I see.

Kami: Its about 30 mins from the station isn't it? So its great for isolating, right?

J: Well, yes, thats true.

Kami: Because its far away...Its perfect really.

J: It is perfect, yeh. It has all the requirements.

Kami: And there's a lot of remaining land around there, right?

T: Yeah, there is.

Kami: If you stop cars and have a bus instead or something, you could build loads of hospitals/sick bays.

T: I think thats a good idea.

J: Me too.

Kami: It would be really effective.

J: Well, testing is a problem at the moment, the number of tests..well, you can't get tested at the moment.

T: Thats right.

K: Some countries are doing drive-thru testing aren't they?

J: Yes. I can't help feeling Japan's approach is a bit muddled.

K: Hmm, but the number of people dying is under control right?

J: Right, yes.

T: Well, Japan's insurace system works really well, we are kind of blessed, medically speaking.  But in America, Tamiflu or such costs 25,000 yen.

J: Thats right.

T: So in America, theres people who want to go to hospital, but can't.

J: The cost of hospitals over there is really tough! So if you look at it from that perspective, it might be ok here....Still, the time for the Olympic judges to decide about a postponment is gradually nearing...I feel like its gonna be 'No more waiting!'.

Kami: But, no matter what happens, the olympics probably won't be postponed, right?

J: Yeh, I don't think it will be postponed.

Kami: If they push ahead with it, the athletes will come won't they?

J: Yep

Kami: Professional soccer players and other really rich athletes won't come though. So it will only be athletes who really place value on getting the gold medal, they'll risk catching corona for it, so i think it can be done. Spectators won't come though.

J: Well, there will be fewer spectators, yes. But if you do it in the Autumn, America's professional athletes won't be able to take part and America's medal count will decrease, that will be one problem. If America's medal count decreases, American TV ratings will fall, and if you think about that, it makes me think they will push to go ahead with it in the summer.

T: It looks like the golf player Dustin Johnson and other top players have given up on the olympics.

J: Oh right..

T: Its been talked about that (Tiger)Woods could come instead. Woods would be more popular maybe?

J: Is he ok with it?

T: I wonder if he is? *laughing*

K: We don't even know whether he's ok with it or not.

J: I want to know why he would come.

K: Well, yeh, there are gonna be athletes who don't want to come, right?

J: Oh yeh, there will be, though its strange to talk about. Lots of people cancelled thier trips to Japan with the radiation problem after 3/11 (Great Eastern Japan earthquake and tsunami), so when you think about that...the information coming to Japan, and the information coming to the English speaking world is probably a lot different. The media in Japan works in a very local way, but overseas, they have a lot more channels, and alternative media is really taking off. They have info from various sources, so i think there may be some athletes looking at this and deciding not to come.

K: Asian people are facing a bit of discrimination over there too, aren't they?

J: Yes, thats right.

T: Oh, yeah.

K: Even us, when we were in Europe recently, we were stared at a lot for wearing masks.

T: Really?

K: When we went into a bakery, the bread was all laid out like usual, but they were so annoyed at us.

J: Really? Wow! They treated you as if you were infected?

K: Yes, yes. We were only taking prevention measures. But they don't do that over there do they?

J: They don't.

T: Yeh, it seems like they don't.

K: Well, i don't know about now.

J: So, theres also this problem of discrimination developing now. Its possible that chaos might happen, doing the Olympis in this situation. Thats also another perspective. If someone coughs in the stadium or something, trouble might break out.

T: Thats it.

J: Its a little worrying.

Kami: I don't think there will be any spectators though.

J: Well, maybe thats right.

Kami: They havn't said 'no spectators', but there will be hardly anyone there.

K: Yeh, people won't come.

Kami: Not going ahead with the olympics would probably result in less deficit.

J: Perhaps. But its gonna be really hard for those businesses that rely on the crowds.

Kami: Yeh, bars and such.

T: Bars, and the general night life industry that has a lot of customers who are visiting from overseas.

J: There are a lot of stores near the venues who are feeling like this right now, they've already installed big TVs in advance, or prepared English menus and stuff. They were expecting these customers. So its very painful for the people who have invested, to suddenly lose that. Well, anyway, the night life is really quiet at the moment. Was it last week? I went for drinks at Keisei Tateishi.

T: Oh, cheap bars right?

J: Keisei Tateishi is, yeh, cheap bars. Theres loads of popular places there like nabe, or sushi places, its full from mid-afternoon normally. But it was empty! I was shocked!

K: I went to see a friend's fashion exhibition near Shinbashi, but at night, it was packed!

J: Oh really?

K: They were saying, 'Don't take photos of me', they were trying to keep it a secret from thier company that they had been out drinking.

J: Really? *laughing* Well, a lot of companies are doing work from home now, its awkward if you get exposed going out drinking.

K,T: Yes, it is!

K: Well, we don't know when everything will be opened back up, but to everyone watching, please wash your hands, gargle, get good nutrition, boost your immunity..

T: *laughing* Its like a health show!

J: One thing I want to say is, the virus can't infect rock, and music.

K: Right

J: No mistake about that.

K: Ok, lets finish this installment here. See you again next time. Thank you very much.

*1 Couldn't catch this

[silverliningsrpg]

I. CHARACTER BASICS.

FULL NAME: Zahir Hassan.

GENDER & PRONOUNS: Cis Male & He/Him.

DATE OF BIRTH & AGE: March 31st, 1989 (31).

ZODIAC SIGN: Aries.

HOMETOWN: Masillon, OH.

CURRENT LOCATION: Finch’s Lake.

OCCUPATION: Retired NFL player.

HOW LONG THEY HAVE BEEN IN AMORY? Resident — 2 years.

FACECLAIM: Zeeko Zaki.

II. BIOGRAPHY.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Racism, injury.

Although Zahir was born in Alexandria, Egypt, his entire family immigrated shortly after his birth to the United States, so he considers himself to be a full-blooded American. He grew up within this country, being raised to appreciate the culture of his heritage while simultaneously engrossing himself in all that was considered to be quintessentially American: the language, the traditions, and – probably most importantly – the sports.

He was incredibly active as a child, so in an effort to help him exert some of the energy he had, Zahir’s parents allowed him to try out for the various sports leagues within his hometown. The nature of little league being what it was, he made every team he tried out for, but it only took him a short time before he realized that while he enjoyed baseball and soccer, his true passion was in football. The town of Masillon went all out in celebration of their football teams, the town being decked out in the high school team’s colors every game day. There was something about the strategy and the rush of the game that thrilled Zahir in a way no other sport could, and it certainly didn’t hurt that he grew to be a lot taller than most of the other kids his age a lot faster, making him an extremely dominant player on the field.

This advantaged continued through high school as he topped out at 6'5" overall, giving him an advantage in his favored position of running back. It didn’t take long before he became a star player and someone to keep an eye out for, the talk of recruitment from some top college football programs frequent. He committed to attending Clemson University with the promise of a football scholarship. Moving down to South Carolina was a huge culture shock, but primarily because of the difference in the way he was treated by people within the town. It didn’t seem to matter that he was a top player for the team, all they could seem to focus on was his foreign name and brown skin. Despite the struggles off the field, he continued to dominate at the college level, and in his junior year, he decided to forfeit his remaining college eligibility to take part in the NFL Draft at the age of 20.

Many people thought he was making a risky move by doing so, but Zahir was confident enough in his abilities that he knew someone would pick him up, even if it was late in the Draft. Thankfully, he didn’t have to wait too long as the New York Jets picked him up. He was riding high, playing for a team that ended up being second in the division that year, and enjoying the spoils of having New York City right at his fingertips. He did indulge in some of the finer parts of the multi-figure contract he’d signed, going out partying with a lot of his teammates and various friends he made while living in the city. When he wasn’t using his money doing that, he was paying off his parents’ mortgage and buying his mom a brand new car to show his appreciation for all of their support. His father, however, advised him to invest his money wisely because only time would tell how long it would last. Although Zahir believed his father was being paranoid, he heeded his advice.

He was traded to a few different teams in his tenure with the NFL, but in one of his final years in the league, he was with the New England Patriots. During a game early in the season, Zahir was injured badly and he knew it the moment he heard the clear snap coming from his leg and the shooting pain in his side. He had been hit so hard by multiple people that he had ended up breaking multiple ribs, a broken leg, and a torn ACL. Although he was young and people tried to assure him he would be able to recover from the injuries, the doctors told him it would be unlikely he would be able to play football as well as he had been before.

He did the work, coming back from the injury and getting back into the league, but his performance did suffer and his last two years within the NFL were riddled with terrible stats, trades to other teams, and finally the decision he finally made to retire from the league. Although he still loved the game, facing the ire from football fans for his poor performances wasn’t something he necessarily enjoyed.

Having enjoyed his time in New York, Zahir decided to retire in the state, living an hour outside of the city so he could enjoy the relative peace of being away from the limelight and yet close enough to enjoy the things he had previously enjoyed about the city. To say he was grateful for his father’s advice now that he was no longer able to play his dream sport would be an understatement, to say the least.

III. PERSONALITY TRAITS.

POSITIVE TRAITS: Confident, honest, adventurous.

NEGATIVE TRAITS: Impulsive, aggressive, moody.

[cherr-e]

𝘿𝘼𝙉𝙄𝙀𝙇𝙇𝙀 𝙆𝙄𝙈. 1994.04.27

name: danielle kim | dani ⟶ nicknames: dani, guma

birthday: 27th of april, 1994. ⟶ born in barcelona, spain

heritage: south-korean ⟶ grew up in paris, barcelona and a little bit in london

sexuality: straight(?) ⟶ not necessarily attracted to men, she’s  always angered by them - they have caused many headaches

height: 168 cm  weight: 45 kg ⟶ her body proportions is what piques the interest of many designers in the fashion world

languages: fluent in | korean, french and english ⟶ she speaks bits of spanish, but it’s at middle- schooler level, and a little bit of mandarin

vocals: olivia escuyos / ariana grande ⟶ despite her boisterous personality, she’s soft-toned  and has a mature voice. she almost sounds like a philosopher. 

✗ 𝙁𝘼𝙈𝙄𝙇𝙔

danielle grew up in a rich family, her parents both business-orientated people who worked well internationally. you can even say that her family are of the 1% of elite in south-korea. she has one older sister, one older brother, one twin brother and one younger sister. when she reached her preteens, hanging out and growing up with a large family like a normal preteen was not something she was faced with regularly. danielle started studying in an international private school in france with her twin brother when she hit eleven. she’s closer to her siblings than her parents as they were always trying to keep in touch and be like normal siblings. 

mother, kim eunjung. (previously known as park eunjung) born in 1969, eunjung was born into an average middle-class family. she had studied diligently and specialised in business and management in university as her main degree. later on in her life, the mother of four studied fashion, making couture dresses inspired by hanboks (traditional korean dresses), the brand had been welcomed well into the fashion industry - making her one of the top designers in south-korea. in 1990, during her university student life - eunjung had met her soon-to-be husband kim jinhyung, she quickly fell pregnant with her first son. 

father, kim jinhyung. born in 1970, the father of four was born into a rich family of doctors. his father a heart surgeon and his grandfather used to be a well-known doctor in a small village before the war. jinhyung’s father had taken part in the korean war, part of the south’s soldiers. his childhood was not that much exciting, a father struggling with PTSD who was also balancing his high position in the hospital. his mother was a teacher in a local school, and retired to become a stay at home mother for her two sons. her eldest, jinhyung, not following the stereotypical route of his ancestors and pursued business in university. however her youngest followed the route of medicine. jinhyung then met his wife in university and had married her after 9 months of dating, the couple started businesses together and invested a lot in building new hospitals in korea. soon they were extending out to international wants and needs. hence why danielle grew up in many countries. 

older brother, kim rohan. the eldest was born in 1991, he spent most of his childhood in between seoul and barcelona. at first, he thought he’d follow his parents footsteps and specialise in business - but from a young age he enjoyed so many sports. his favourite was football (soccer for americans), he was persistent with convincing his asian parents in pursuing something that wasn’t so stereotypical. so, they made a bet. go train at manchester united f.c, and if he’s accepted - he can follow his dreams. at the age of 12, he flew to the uk where he trained and mastered his skills in football. now, he’s one of the most famous players to come out of south-korea - son heungmin and kim rohan. household names for football lovers.  ⟶ daughter: kim sohye (b.2013) aka danielle’s favourite niece and probably her only niece. sohye was born out of wedlock, after a one-night stand with some girl rohan met at a club. when the news became public with him bringing a child in this world that wasn’t something out of marriage - his reputation was slightly tarnished and kept his daughter out of the spotlight for the first few years of her life. now, everything is all swell, and the korean public have warmed up to his daughter. 

older sister, kim sunghee. the fashion designer of the family was born in the early months of 1993. she was born in seoul, and attended a prestige school in south-korea. out of all her siblings, she’s the most “korean” according to korean netizens due to how many years she’s spent in the small country. sunghee studied fashion, like her mother, in university and spent a year abroad in london honing her skills and finding her own style. she started her successful fashion brand in 2015 and since then been collaborating with many famous fashion designers around the world. in 2019, it was announced that danielle and sunghee would be starting a new clothing line and fans are excited to know what the duo of siblings would bring to the world. 

twin brother, isaac kim. otherwise known as kim jihoon, was born 10 minutes after his twin sister and have been inseparable since birth. they spent majority if not most of their childhood together, went to the same international private school in france, and are basically the cutest pair of siblings with usual arguments and banter. the two made a promise to pursue careers in the arts, isaac is a professional actor and entertainer in korean tv. whereas his sister is a well-known singer and actress internationally and nationally, they’re so close that whenever danielle is invited to extravagant events - he is her partner and are often wearing matching outfits. 

youngest sister, evelyn kim. the youngest baby in the family, she was born in the year of 2000 and is probably the member who is the least in the spotlight. she’s got a lot of instagram followers, prompting brands to believe she’s an influencer. however, the youngest is striving to become a lawyer and is the most clever out of her siblings (according to her parents and siblings). she spent most of her years of life in south-korea, unlike her older siblings, underneath the care of her grandparents and sometimes her parents. she’s the closest to all of her siblings, her brothers are overprotective “pieces of shits” and her sisters are “gems. but bitchy gems.” 

⟶ the family tree

✗ 𝘊𝘈𝘙𝘌𝘌𝘙 

groups ⇁ rTRO (2017-present)

position within rTRO ⇁ main vocalist, visual9

training period ⇁ n/a

agency ⇁ Timed Nation (as of 2016), internationally  she’s signed to UMG (from 2014). 

group debut date ⇁ 040617

solo debut date ⇁ 161215

✗ 𝘛𝘙𝘈𝘐𝘛𝘚

introverted. only wastes her energy on people close to her, and who she works with.in interviews she’s reserved but when behind the scenes footage is released - she’s very interactive with people she works with. especially the dance crew. she’s very reserved online and in the public eye, but she does speak up about issues in the world like sexism, the poor and how the rich are pricks (ain’t afraid to expose) and racism 

insecure. not about her looks but rather her personality. she’s scared to come off as intimidating and bitchy to others, and that has led her to only speak to people she’s interested in. a lot of people have used her ‘personality’ against her. she’s a strong sensitive woman i guess. this insecurity has probably stemmed from her parents’ absence from her adolescent years. 

perfectionist. absolutely despises when her art doesn’t go her way, she takes control in a lot of things. her songs have to fit her standards and has spent months on at least one song. music and dance is something she has always treasured and she wants to look amazing doing it.  

[nwslwiki]

what does it mean for a player to be allocated?

note: there are two kinds of allocation in the nwsl; one is allocation as in federation players (what i’ll be discussing in this post) and the other is what i usually refer to as “new allocation” which is explained in a different post here. in the navigation page, this is referred to as “federation players” and the other allocation is “new allocation”

so what is this allocation? this kind of allocation is when the canadian and american federations agree to pay the nwsl salaries of select players each year so the club does not have to. 

who is allocated this year? the list is posted here. 

how do they decide how many players can be selected by the federations? i don’t think there is a maximum or minimum of players that can be allocated, but i do know that the usa has allocated up to 26 players in the past. this year’s number is 23 for usa. canada allocated nine. to see which players were allocated for each year in past nwsl seasons you can look here. 

i thought mexico used to allocate players? they did! the last season mexico added players was the 2015 season. for more info on that, including speculations as to why they stopped, you can read here. 

why is [blank] player on/not on the list? these lists were due from the federations at the end of november and disclosed to the players and club teams on december 1st. this could explain why some players who have gotten a decent amount of playing time (for example, lynn williams or jessica mcdonald) were excluded from the list or players who have gotten less playing time (for example, morgan brian or diana matheson) were included on the list. ultimately, the list is made at the federation’s discretion and they do not have to disclose their reasoning. 

as far as i know, this list cannot be changed and these are the only players that will be allocated for the 2020 season.

can allocated players (federation players) be traded between teams normally? do they need some sort of approval from the federation or league? do trades affect a player’s allocation at all? trades will not affect the allocation status of a player. trades involving allocated players (federation players) can happen between teams without any prior approval from the leagues or federations. example: mallory pugh traded to sky blue fc from the washington spirit 

for further explanation on trades you can read the posts in my “trades” tag here.

is there a limit on how many allocated players (federation players) each club team can have? there used to be only a certain number of “allocation spots” that each team had but that was done away with a few years ago.

when someone is newly allocated, how do they decide what team gets the player? if a player’s rights are already owned by a team, they stay with that team when they become allocated. the team can trade them as they would any other player. if a player is newly allocated and did not previously belong to an nwsl team, their rights are automatically granted to the highest-ranked team in the “distribution ranking order”. example: mallory pugh’s rights were automatically granted to the washington spirit when she left ucla because they had the number one spot in the distribution ranking order 

if tierna davidson was allocated (made a federation player) last year does that mean she wouldn’t have been able to go in the college draft? the rules are unclear. i assume the distribution ranking order takes precedence over the college draft which is why she was not allocated. by allowing her to go as the top draft pick it could have been seen as a way to legitimize the draft, but that is all my own speculation. 

is it true that allocated players aren’t allowed to leave the nwsl? under jill ellis’ coaching, uwsnt players were “strongly suggested” against leaving the nwsl or they risk losing their spot on the national team. more sources on that in this post. vlatko andonovski, the new uswnt coach, has expressed interest in players currently overseas but it is unclear if he will insist fixtures of the uswnt stay in the nwsl. source. there are no similar restrictions on canadian players as far as i know.  

is there a limit to how many of these allocated players (federation players) can be protected in an expansion draft? yes! last time there was an expansion draft (orlando, 2016 season) teams could only protect 10 players and only two of those could be american allocated players. there was not a limit on canadian allocated players.  for more information on expansion rules in the past, you can check my “expansion draft” tag here. 

when the new rules are released for future expansion drafts, i can do a write up further explaining them if there is interest.

why does the nwsl do this? other leagues don’t do this so why does it exist? previous iterations of the nwsl failed for a multitude of reasons but one recurring problem was that american and canadian national team players wanted to get paid more than their non-national team counterparts because they felt that they deserved it. and they did! but teams would spend exorbitant amounts of money trying to get certain players and they would be left with very little money to sustain contracts for the rest of the team. when ussf was creating the nwsl, they elected to allocate players like this so north american federations would pay the club salaries of their players and give the clubs some financial relief. 

ussf (the usa soccer federation) partially owns the nwsl but has recently discussed relinquishing control. if they did this, would they stop this system where they pay the club salaries for allocated players (federation players)? it’s impossible to know. i imagine if they did, they would rewrite the rules for the “new allocation” (explained in this post) so that canadian and american national team players could qualify. they would probably also increase the allocation money cap for teams to accommodate the new players.   

does the allocated list mean that players who aren’t on the list won’t make the olympic roster? no. last year there were 22 players allocated by the usa and there were three players named to the 23 player roster that were not on the allocated list for the 2019 season. (tierna davidson, jessica mcdonald, and ali krieger. casey short and mccall zerboni were allocated but did not make the world cup roster.)

if a player is playing for the national team but isn’t allocated (a federation player), does that mean they aren’t getting paid for their national team play? no. the only thing allocation does is subsidize their nwsl contract. allocation status does not interfere with the money the player receives for national team duties. there are two separate contracts; one as an allocated player (federation player) for what they do in the nwsl, and one for what they do on the national team. 

how much does an allocated player (federation player) make for their nwsl contract? as of the most recent source i can find (july 29th, 2019), the nwsl contract for an allocated player (federation player) is a range of $67,500-$72,500. source. 

for more information on how pay for allocated players (federation players) compares to the “new allocation” you can read this post. note: there are different numbers for how much allocated players (federation players) are paid than i used in this post. i cannot find my source for those numbers so i instead used the numbers on the most recently verified source i could find.

for further comparison: nwsl minimum salaries are $20,000 and maximum salaries are $50,000. the total salary cap for a team (excluding money used for allocated players (federation players) and “new allocation” players. those contracts do not count against a team’s salary cap.) is $650,000. source. players are also usually compensated with other benefits including housing and some degree of transportation during the nwsl season. there are caps on these numbers per team and teams vary in how much they choose to spend. if people are interested in me explaining these numbers and how the teams use that money, you can contact me and let me know. 

if you have any further questions about this or something else, let me know here! you can also dm me on this blog.

check my navigation page here before sending me a question

[mostlysignssomeportents]

#1yrago America's Fiber Future: Susan Crawford on how America's wired future is slipping away

No one in America explains the importance of good network policy than Susan Crawford (previously), a one-woman good sense factory when it comes to Network Neutrality, municipal fiber, and reining in the excesses of the goddamned ISP industry. Her latest book is Fiber: The Coming Tech Revolution―and Why America Might Miss It, a timely and urgent look at how America is sacrificing its digital future, productivity, connectivity, social mobility, entrepreneurial growth, education, and every other public good, thanks to rapacious telcos, scumbag lobbyists, and negligent, cash-hungry politicians. Crawford and her publisher, Yale University Press, were kind enough to give us an excerpt (below) so you can get a sense of why you should be reading this.

Fiber optic, as a category, is both old and new. The cables running under the oceans and among the major cities of the world began to be upgraded to fiber thirty years ago. And once a fiber optic cable is in the ground, it lasts for forty or fifty years; it is essentially future proof, because its information-carrying capacity can be almost infinitely upgraded without digging up the cable, merely by swapping out the electronics that encode and power the pulses of light that travel within its walls. Most people in non-fiber countries (including the United States) can’t even buy what in fibered countries counts as a standard, modern internet connection. About 11 million American households, out of 126 million total, are connected to last-mile fiber, and that service is usually available only at very high prices from a single unregulated provider. Meanwhile, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore have virtually 100 percent fiber adoption at low prices, and often scores of competitors.

This is a big problem.

Here’s why: Those hair-thin fiber strands, capable of carrying billions of phone calls simultaneously, plus advanced wireless communications that depend on that fiber extending into the last mile, will make possible virtually unlimited, cheap communications capacity wherever you are—which in turn will give rise to new businesses, new transport capabilities, new ways of managing our use of energy, new forms of education and health care, new ways of earning a living, and new forms of human connectedness. For these things to happen, both fiber and advanced wireless technologies need to be widely and competitively available. Without these basic pieces of open infrastructure in place, your country will be missing out on the future being lived and built elsewhere.

Much of the world gets this. China is installing twenty thousand last-mile fiber optic connections every single day. In June 2017, the South China Morning Post reported “China set to build the planet’s largest 5G mobile network for US $180b.” Listen to that: the “planet’s largest.”

Fiber plus advanced wireless capability is as central to the next phase of human existence as electricity was a hundred years ago. Just as countries that quickly ensured cheap access to electricity revolutionized their economies and provided dramatically improved quality of life for their citizens, countries that figure out how to get fiber to everyone will have ever-increasing advantages over those that do it slowly.

Take the 2018 Olympics in South Korea: Korea Telecom was smart to focus on sports—and the Olympics in particular—in demonstrating its prowess. Sports grab humans in real-time emotional ways, and the Olympics mark the global pinnacle of inspiring athletic achievement. KT got the world’s attention in 2018.

But KT’s display of its 5G fireworks is far more significant than any Olympic event could possibly be. Korea is going through a phase change in digital communications that has implications for almost every occupation and source of economic power of which we’re aware today.

In the crowded city of Seoul, for example, I met many twentysomethings who did not distinguish between online life and “real” life; for them, these are simply layers of life as a whole. This generation is so accustomed to cheap, unlimited connectivity everywhere that they have forgotten its existence—just as people in other countries forget the existence of electricity until it is suddenly not there. South Koreans are impatient. For them, going to almost any city in the United States is a little like going off the grid.

In Seoul, I met Yeon Sung Choi, a professional e-sports player who is as famous in his sport as Lionel Messi, the best goal-scorer in the world, is in soccer. Yeon Sung, who now works as a coach for the SK Telecom T1 Starcraft II team (telecommunications companies are major investors in the e-sports industry in Korea), told me he’d lived through the transformation of Korea that took place following the installation of high-capacity networks that permitted any number of people to play games simultaneously. At age twenty, he realized he could beat just about anyone. The essential factor in connectivity, he says, is latency, or response time; any delay makes it very difficult to play. Some players say latency starts to become obvious when there is a gap of 150 milliseconds or even less between pressing a button and a visual response. Fiber connections generally have lower latency than cable or copper wires. “In Korea the response time is really short,” he said, laughing. He sees a bright future for the gaming industry in Korea, but there is much more than gaming. The same technology will revolutionize business, medicine, education, manufacturing, energy use, and real-time translation functions between spoken languages.

Fiber is also revolutionizing cities themselves. Because the city of Seoul years ago installed fiber optic last-mile connections throughout the city and its subway system, it can provide free Wi-Fi, which means the private sector can experiment with Internet of Things (IoT) services that will improve its citizens’ lives. On the same trip that had me clambering around the empty ice arena in Pyeongchang, I visited the city’s IoT testbed office. Taejin Kim, director of the testbed, told me that the city is testing its ability to provide personalized services to elders, to provide data from road surfaces and public transit so that navigation systems function well, and in general to “solve urban problems, wherever they are.” The conference room next to the mayor’s office houses an enormous dashboard that, fed by public data, allows the mayor to see the site of an accident or fire, talk in real time to public officials at the site, visually understand traffic congestion, and manage the city’s budget. Because fiber is everywhere, this enormous amount of data can be shipped whenever and wherever it is needed.

The next wave of applications making use of fiber and advanced wireless services is likely to be in health care, education, or other fundamental areas than has been seen so far in Korea and Japan. I am confident that innovative American businesses will come up with services that use much more significant amounts of bandwidth when there is a critical mass of users with capacity. If and when the United States becomes a last-mile fiber sandbox for this inventiveness, the huge market here will drive those developments. We will also support our commitment to genuine liberal democracy: the rising tide of cheap, ubiquitous, unlimited connectivity needs to reach everyone in order for the country as a whole to thrive.

Fiber: The Coming Tech Revolution—And Why America Might Miss It [Susan Crawford/Yale University Press]

https://boingboing.net/2019/01/08/fiber-vs-america.html