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youngveinsworld · 3 months

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the young veins interview at the beat kitchen in chicago, 10 april 2010

Ryan, Andy and Nick M of the Young Veins interviewed by Natalie Kuchik for the Estrella Online blog, 10 April 2010:

Can you please state your name and what you do in the band? Ryan: My name is Ryan Ross and I am the James Dean of the group. Andy: I am Andy Soukal and I play the thumping bass. Slapping the bass. Nick: My name is Nick Murray and I play the drums.

The first tour as The Young Veins, how has it been going and what’s the crowd reaction been like? Ryan: Seems like it is getting better and better. Nick: The tour seems to be picking up steam. Ryan: More and more people are coming I feel like than the first shows, so that’s really nice. Andy: We have such a diverse line-up. We have a hip-hop band, a crazy Freddie Mercury style band and then a throw back band and the crowd has been really receptive to all of it.

How did you guys get on this tour with Foxy Shazam? Ryan: We are managed by the same people. It was kind of tough to get on a tour when you don’t have any music out or any records, so I think they did us a favor. Or maybe we are doing them a favor.

What is it like going back to more smaller intimate venues? Ryan: It is more interesting every night, you never know what you are going to walk into. Some of these stages are, I question the craftsmanship in a lot of these clubs because I can’t figure out what they were thinking but it makes it a lot of fun. Being so close to the crowd again, I forgot how that was and it makes the show have more energy I think.

Do these venue sizes make you guys more hands on? Do you go out and sign merch afterwords? Ryan: Yeah, pretty much every night. If you need to come see me, I am petty much around. It has been really nice to actually be able to talk to the kids it has been awhile since that has been possible. Nick: Especially, since we don’t have any music out or released we are building a really close relationship with what fan-base we do have is really important. Being as close as possible, building friendships and meeting people around the country is good.

What kind of comments are you guys getting from fans? Andy: It ranges all over the place. Ryan: Yeah, where do we begin. Well, I guess about the music it has been cool to have kids say, “I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this or not”, “I’ve only heard two songs but I’m really excited about the album now.” Then sometimes they ask if they can marry me. Nick: The best feeling in the world is to have people that did not come for our band and like our band and tell us that after the show. Especially, since no one has any pretense of what to expect. If they did like it, that is a really good feeling, it is the best feeling in the world. Ryan: It really feels like we are up there trying to win people over, it is challenging.

When this tour ends, what are your plans after? Ryan: More touring, we are going to do Bonnaroo. Then we are trying to route a tour around that so we will be touring in June and then the album comes out June 8th.

The first single is “Change” why did you go with that one? Nick: Seemed logical. Ryan: Yeah, I don’t know. I feel like that album is all over the place and so many songs sound different. I can’t say it represents the album best but it is one of the more upbeat heavier songs. I think live it is a lot of fun to do. Andy: We also did a lot of market research.

Did you really? Because people do that. Ryan: We polled people at the movies.

On your upcoming album Take a Vacation! all the songs are three minutes or less, was that planned or did it just happen? Ryan: No, I don’t know. I guess something switched in Jon and my songwriting and I guess we just trimmed the fat and cut out parts we didn’t need. It is going to kind of make it hard to do a headlining tour. A lot of our favorite records are really short. I mean, there are so many early Elvis songs that are under two minutes long it is really crazy. It wasn’t a conscious thing it is just the style of music we write is shorter, I don’t know for what reason.

The album comes out June 8th, are you planning on streaming it online for free before it comes out, or any other promotions? Ryan: We are sort of putting together some sort of marketing plan but that is not really my strong point, so the label is always coming up with stuff like that. We are doing something pretty cool where if you buy the vinyl you’ll get the CD for free. We are doing these really neat pre-order packages where we are doing these view master things from when you were a kid. We are doing a box set thing where you get one of those with pictures of the band and we did a couple of photo shoots for them. Stuff that is fun for us to do.

Did your label come up with those ideas or was it your guys? Ryan: That was ours. Nick: We really liked the idea of having a view master. Ryan: We were talking about it months ago. Nick: We just didn’t think it was a possibility. Ryan: The label has been really great about letting us do these crazy things already.

What about the vacation photo contest, was that your idea? Ryan: That was their idea, which I really liked because I have been meeting the kids every night and they are really excited about it. There is really nothing we have to do, it is just a great way to have people come for free.

When you (Ryan) were in Panic! at the Disco you wrote a lot of the songs, would you ever do one of those songs live again? Ryan: I don’t know, I sang a couple of the songs so I guess those would be the only ones I would do. I haven’t really thought about it to be honest with you. Andy: It is a different style so it kind of clashes a little bit. I am not super familiar with everything but if there are a couple of songs similar to our style sure it would be considered but otherwise, it would just clash with what we are doing.

I know your sound is so different, when did you feel the shift from Panic! at the Disco to The Young Veins sound? Ryan: The stuff that I was writing, like half this album (Take a Vacation!) with Jon would have been for the Panic! record anyway. It wasn’t a shift really except for when we quit, I guess it allowed us to do even more than we wanted. Maybe half this stuff we actually already knew [that] there would be no chance it would be for Panic! so we went wild with it. It wasn’t a conscious shift ever in our songwriting, it just kept evolving.

When you parted ways did you know your former band members would keep using the Panic! At the Disco name? Ryan: No, I didn’t think that they would keep the name. It was a little bit shocking when I heard about them doing these tours and stuff without us. I figured doing your own thing meant doing your own thing.

What is a song you never get sick of hearing? Andy: “Wounded” by The Cookies. No one is going to know what that is so you don’t have to write that down, but I am going to throw that out there. Ryan: Reason why? Andy: Reason why, well it’s an old song and it’s just really unique and clever. The vocal melody are just so challenging, and that stuff in today’s music is not accessible at all. You don’t find stuff like that. Ryan: You got one Nick? Nick: I just thought of one, umm… Ryan: The one that I keep listening to recently is the song “The Windmills of Your Mind”, the Dusty Springfield version. I think we might cover that song in the future but it is constantly on repeat for me. Nick: It is kind of an obvious one but “Waterloo Sunset” is still one of my favorite songs of all time which is by The Kinks. I’ve never gotten sick of listening to that song. Ryan: Yeah, that’s one of mine. Nick: I have probably heard it fifteen thousand times and it’s never gotten old. Andy: Also “No Scrubs” by TLC, that one never gets old. We sing that one in the van a lot.

Think you would ever cover that song? Andy: I hope.

You are going to need some filler songs when you headline. Andy: Yeah (laughs).

What is something you have always wanted to do but have not done yet? Nick: Shoot a feature film. Ryan: Shoot a feature film star. Andy: I would like to be in Nick’s feature film.

Seriously, are you into movies? Andy: Especially Die Hard. Nick: Yeah, I definitely want to make one though within the next year or so. Ryan: I don’t know, I am sorry I don’t have a good answer for this one. Nick: I don’t even want that to be the answer though, I want something crazier. Ryan: I know I am not really funny today, I am a little bit upset at myself actually.

You guys are young, there has to be something! Ryan: I have done it all (everyone laughs). I want to learn how to ride a motorcycle.

Do you own one yet? Ryan: No, but wouldn’t that be funny?

Well, some people buy frivolous stuff they don’t use. Ryan: Yeah, I have thought about it. Me and Jon were going to buy motorcycles when I still lived in Vegas and we were going to drive up into the mountains until we realized what a bad idea that was. I still would like to because I used to live near the PCH in California, so I always thought it would be fun to drive a motorcycle up and down the coast.

If you could see any band or artist perform any song live, what would it be and why? Andy: These questions are so hard. Ryan: They’re so good though. Andy: Bon Jovi. I agree! No, I’m just joking. Ryan: Can you travel back in time and see the group when they were young?

Yeah, any line up, any song. Ryan: I might want to see The Kinks do “You Really Got Me” like in 1965 or something. Nick: “I Was A Teenage Werewolf” by The Cramps.

Any particular reason why? Nick: Yeah, I’m a really big Cramps fan and Lux died last year, so I never got to see them. Andy: Can I just say, every song that Gentle Giant has ever done.

Just an entire concert, any reason why? Andy: That is such a bad answer. They are just really wacky and they are just this weird band from the 70s that never made it anywhere but was really cool. Ryan: I can’t understand why.

You (Ryan Ross) received a backlash when you left Panic! At the Disco, did you expect that? Ryan: No, but I guess…

Did you have to learn to roll with it? Ryan: Yeah, I mean it was already bad enough without that having to happen to. I guess, when people don’t understand the reasons why it’s easy to get mad at the person you don’t know for something you think they did. It’s weird how some of the fans took it personally. I wish they would understand, this is our life and we have to do what is best for us.

You have to play the music that you want to play. Nick: People grow up. Ryan: It seems to be passing a little bit. Some people are coming around and saying, maybe it wasn’t the smartest train of thought I was on a couple of months ago. I don’t know, I mean obviously if I was a young kid, a teenager and my favorite band broke up I would be a little bit upset too.

Estrella: Do you guys have any final comments? Andy: No, that was my two cents. Ryan: Do you want to comment on it? (laughs) Andy: No, that about covers it. Ryan: Cool, thanks.

#the young veins #young veins #tyv #ryan ross #spring2010 #interview #nick murray #andy soukal #offstage #10042010

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toa-archive · 11 months

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Pain free but a bit under the weather on a Friday is a good excuse for mayhem despite tumblr just wiped the entire post and the backup draft when I was literally looking at it. This is attempt two.

Did you know there was an earlier version of the Beast!Jim design that had toes?

He also had fluffy elbows which is great for your Troll!Jim headcanons.

This artwork is by Francisco Ruiz Velasco also known as Fruiz! If there were any other designs or progress prior to this they are not online as far as we're aware.

We dooo have an updated version (Sans toes) that was shown during the Wizards Art Panel which unlike the RotT one is still accessible though!

[/edit] A reminder if there ever was one why threads shouldn't be made when not feeling 100% but anyway.

Alfonso Blaas has this visual development image on his Artstation which he mentions was drawn over Franciso's linework. It may well have been in between the above versions given the design. Daylight's appearance is either a reference or just coolness factor

This was also one of his works which got him a spot as a finalists for the 2021 Concept Art Awards Category: Animation Series Character too!

Source

After that comes the orthographics by Andy Murray. This one has a full head turnaround as well as a height reference.

The next one has his carvings including where the Amulet was ripped out.

After that we get the various paint overs which is a reference goldmine! First up is a blue-eyed boy.

Berserker mode.

And finally under The Green Knight's control. Great use of Angor's eye there if you wanted a closer look too.

Nabbed from twitter here and here.

Tumblr please don't wipe the post again already stopped me adding a title.

#ToAWizards #Wizards #Tales of Arcadia #Vis Dev: Francisco Ruiz Velasco #Vis dev: Yingjue Chen #Vis Dev: Andy Murray #Vis Dev: Alfonso Blaas

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serve-cunt · 2 months

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HIIII ZOE ITS MY IRRITATING ASS AGAIN (this is my main blog, I have tennis and f1 sideblogs but don't know how to make the ask come from there, I haven't been on tumblr in FOREVER..)

anyway my little curious gremlin ass has YET MORE QUESTIONS

ALSO I COMPLETELY FORGOT CHALLENGERS WAS COMING OUT, IM SO DAMN EXCITED FOR THAT FUCK YEAH, we LOVE zendaya she's gonna serve (pls laugh) cunt

okay so i think picking out my favourite players will be easier if I relate them back to f1 drivers, makes em seem more familiar, so if I do like a checklist of sorts of driver types, can you match them up to players you think fit the vibe?????

e.g. is there a former champion (lewis/fernando coded) who's looking for a comeback? is there a young talent who's had bad luck but is on the rise (lando) is there a calm, level headed one that everyone thinks will go far (oscar) is there a charming elegant one that social media is obsessed with (charles my babygirl). im assuming djokovic is the max verstappen adjacent, fairly young dude who's smoking everyone, yeah?

just like ugh I LOVE f1 so dearly and i think sporting parallels will help SO much

question: is it a big money sport like f1? Obviously anyone can pick up a racket and hit a ball, but is it very expensive and exclusive to make it into the big leagues? you mentioned smth in the fic about oscar adding up the whole cost of going pro, would that be a huge problem for poorer families?

are there any player pairings with vaguely homosexual vibes? again with the damn f1 parallels but adjacent to max/charles, carlos/lando, even lewis/nico if I dare mention brocedes, because I just absolutely live for speculation of silly little goofy athletes' relationships with each other

here's where I get REAL shallow but fuckin sue me, WHICH ARE THE PRETTY ONES I CAN SIMP OVER. i am bi so that doubles the market, but basically which are the ones that i can watch edits of and get all giggly and blush over, in your opinion and in the general tennis community's opinion.

whats andy murray's deal? Is he retired? Is he like the sebastian vettel of tennis?

how dramatic is it compared to f1? we all know that f1 is gossip girl on wheels... is tennis gossip girl running around a court or is it less drama-fueled?

not a question but I'm so excited to see which f1 drivers turn up to Wimbledon this year like, CROSSOVER EPISODE YEAAAA

is djokovic the max-esque guy where it's like "okay I don't mind you, you're cool, but god DAMNIT, stop being so good, let my other favourite little meow meows have a CHANCE for once"

how worldwide is it? are players mostly European/Aussie like f1 or is it more widespread?

is the meme game good? i LIVE for online hilarity in sports, are there any iconic tennis moments/memes a la "it's near a fish" "smoooth operator" "bwoah" etc etc whatever

really gotta stop talking about f1 in terms of tennis but it's the only other sport I'm really into IM SORRY FORGIVE ME

which are the "sad wet cat" (dearly beloved) players? you mentioned one guy but there's gotta be more than one right??? I always get attached to athletes with those vibes

IM SO SORRY ABOUT THE CONSTANT QUESTIONING BUT YOU ARE THE ONLY PERSON I TRUST TO GIVE ME CORRECT INFO RN BECAUSE YOU REALLY SEEM LIKE YOU KNOW YOUR SHIT

finally a HUGE FUCKING THANK YOU???? For putting up with my idiot ass mostly, and your fic is singlehandedly making me wander into the tennis world despite knowing literally nothing and you're helping my understanding SO much, youre about to drag me down this sport's rabbit hole just by existing. tennisblr seems like such a fun adorable place im SO excited to start watching stuff, you're a legend and ilysm <3333

you are literally NEvEr irritating you are the best thing to happen to my inbox every time, sorry i was so slow on this one!! I had a very hard time relating f1 drivers to tennis players lmaoooo so in the end i just skipped that part!! I'm so sorry!!! it's just so hard because the narrative of f1 drivers is so specific and intrinsically tied to TEAM and to their teammates, and to the tragedy of a good car and/or the wonder of a great car ... the betrayal of contract negotiation & silly season etc.... tennis just doesn't really have that!! all the narratives are more player v. self and player v. world, instead of driver v. driver and driver v. fate. if that makes sense??

so yeah. sorry 😭😭 it's also possible that I just don't have enough imagination and somebody can jump in to help with that .... anyway, moving right along to

"is tennis a big money sport"

GOD yes. tennis is soooooo expensive, it takes approx 1 billion dollars to pay for lessons, court time, coaching, travel, accommodation, gear, etc etc. :// You get paid if you win. let me say that again: you get paid if you WIN. there aren't salaries! early in your career, you are HEMORRHAGING money, esp if you have a coach. the travel is fricken expensive all by itself!! and if you're paying a coach as well you're either in debt or you're playing with house money if you catch my drift. (tennis players often come from wealth, much like f1 drivers — they can also be sponsored, sometimes by their country, but usually only if & while they're successful!!)

if you do well, you start to win, maybe you make money, more likely you're breaking even for a while (or even still losing). if you do REALLY well, then you're looking at more prize money and maybe sponsors, so then you can start making some real money out of this. but yeah it's CRAaaaaaazy how much money tennis players pay to play tennis lol!! it is 10000% a problem for getting underprivileged kids into tennis, there's a reason tennis is so white!

"are there any player pairings w vaguely homosexual vibes"

LOLLLL look i never turn down a chance to push the sincaraz agenda but also, carlos alcaraz does that for me!!!!

they're so cute damn

also getting into sinner/berrettini …

but honestly, besides that?? f1 is way better for pairings because we watch them interact with each other off track WAYY more. you barely see tennis players interact with each other! i have been emailing the respective tennis associations about this (jk but I should). MORE GOOFY VIDEOS WITH PLAYERS DOING STUPID GAMES (with each other, crucially)

"which are the hot ones"

ooohh this is suuuper subjective but i am soOOOoo into coco gauff, she's gorg, also iga sviatek in red, also daria kasatkina, also maria sakkari really does it for me, also katie boulter is so cute.

hot damn

on the atp side oBVI jannik, carlitos is so cute but he looks so young i feel like he's less hot and more adorable, caspar ruud looks like ryan gosling as you have pointed out, ben shelton is gorgeous (and cocky in a way that unfortunately does compel me, oops), arthur fils!! beautiful. tennis players are all hot, in my mind??? they're so …. well rounded …. 😏😏😏

"which are the "sad wet cat" players"

andrey rublev my beloved sad cat

muchova (not really a sad wet cat but tragically always broken in some way)

daniil medvedev but if the cat was cunty

"whats andy murray's deal?"

oh my GOD murray!! my love my husband my father my holy ghost!! a tragedy a triumph …. a player in the era of the Big Three (Djokovic, Federer, Nadal) and therefore destined to be remembered as "oh, and andy murray" … or "one of the big four" (the big four is not a thing unless you're talking about andy murray lmao) ... a great player, one of the greatest, a slugger, a workhorse, had one of the cleanest backhands of all time, and the classiest guy in tennis … see: andy murray shutting down sexist reporters on multiple occasions ....

youtube

He's not retired !! he's still going, here he is recently losing:

He's actually (possibly) playing at this upcoming Challenger Tour event! as are a number of interesting players. the reason that this is interesting is that Challenger level tournaments are a level below the ATP Tour, so you don't often have this many recognizable (to me, anyway) names playing at this level!

[side note: the movie Challengers — the name is a play on the Challengers tour. they're playing a Challengers match in the movie, but also "challenging" each other for zendaya … you get it]

Anyway this tournament should be interesting … andy murray is getting older but he's not ready to quit!! he's gone on the record saying there are things he's still trying to accomplish before he retires, and he's playing well in practices it's just not translating to matches yet. he's also said if his body tells him to retire he will, but uhh. he's got a literal metal hip so clearly he's not QUITE ready to listen to his body.....

"is he the seb of tennis" HMMMM this is an interesting question, I wouldn't really class him this way — seb is like a silly little sexy fruity goblin (if I'm reading his vibe correctly — I'm late to f1) and andy is a stoic public school kid with a goofy streak … if that makes sense …

"how dramatic is tennis compared to f1?"

ALSO INTERESTING I think that's sort of relative to how much you care about individual players, I think game-play is pretty dramatic at times but nobody's ever in danger of bursting into flame??? so in that sense not as dramatic as vroom vroom sport lmaoo but there is a bit of temper tantrum throwing, and then important wins (see: Alcaraz Wimbledon 2023) are SO dramatic in the best way…

gossip-wise I don't think it's as dramatic as f1!! there's deffo tennis gossip but I think, again, because there aren't teams, the drama is less wrapped up in "betrayal" narratives yknow??? like ferrari ditching sainz for lewis was dramatic in so many different ways, not LEAST because of the betrayal of carlos. I feel like tennis is less set up for that, bc it's every player for themselves

"is djokovic the max-esque guy where it's like "okay I don't mind you, you're cool, but god DAMNIT, stop being so good, let my other favourite little meow meows have a CHANCE for once"

YES EXACTLY i cut in your whole q because that's exactly right!! so so so apt imo .. howEVERRR it was less correct when federer and nadal were still around and at their best, because those three really did make up the Big Three, capital B capital T, and they had such a good dynamic going between the trio — it was less one-note when djokovic had a constant fight on his hands... now djokovic is older and slowing down so we're getting into a sunset period, which is interesting because he's still doing GREATTT (and I wish he would stop, give my meow meows a chance etc) but everyone sees the light at the end of the tunnel re: a djokovic retirement. whereas I think people are looking at the max ascendancy and saying "GULP" bc we all want our favorite boys to win at least one WDC (cough lando cough cough osc)

"how worldwide is it?"

fairrrrly? but yes europeans heavvvvily represented, americans as well to some extent, asia and australia to some extent — not so stark as f1, but def same bougie euro vibes lmao

"is the meme game good?"

again fairrrrrly but def not to the same extent!! less of a "here are the memes everyone knows" and more in the spirit of, like, if you're following a few players & the major tournaments, tennis tumblr/twitter is fun to be on … trying to think of a "classic" tennis meme and I can't which isn't a good sign lmaooo .. jannik puking in a bin and then going on the biggest win streak of his career is a pretty good meme in my mind though ...

CROSSOVER EP YAAHHHHHHHH I CANNOT WAIT WE BETTER GET SO MANY GOOD WIMBLEDON PHOTOS AJHFDLAKSJFHDKLASJFH

sorry again to be so slow !! this was fun to go through as soon as I stopped tearing my hair out trying to make player: driver comparisons but again, maybe I'm just not creative enough ..

xx ily :))))))

#TENNIS AGAIN #ask #ivy tag #tennis 101

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scotianostra · 2 years

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On July 30th 1938 the first edition of the long-running Beano comic was published.

When the word ‘Beano’ is uttered, thoughts of Dennis the Menace, Beryl the Peril and the Bash Street Kids spring to mind, along with glorious childhood memories and a hefty dose of nostalgia. More than just a comic, however, a legacy as long as Dennis’ misdemeanours sits amidst the witty puns, hilarious happenings and endearing characters.

The Beano is one of the most popular and best selling comic strips to date and has appeared in over 4000 editions. The brainchild of DC Thomson, a publishing house based in Dundee responsible for producing over 200 million comics, magazines and newspapers annually, there’s no denying its status as a beloved pride and joy of Scotland. Issue 4000's crossover was a time travel story where the Beanotown characters of the present helped their future selves save the world

The Beano, which was initially pinned as a boys’ comic, is now regarded gender-neutral. From 1921 onward, DC Thompson gained appreciation for creating the ‘Big Five’, a series of popular story papers for boys. Riding on this success, the ‘Fun Section’ of the Scottish weekly newspaper The Sunday Post introduced the iconic strips Oor Wullie and The Broons by prolific artist Dudley Watkins. This welcomed response led to the birth of The Dandy and The Beano. Today, only five copies of the very first Beano issue remain, one of which was auctioned in 2004 for £12,400.

A testament to the comic’s enduring success, the year 2000 saw the 3000th Beano issue. Diehard enthusiasts will note the great number of revamps over the years – some tiny, others significantly larger. Those with a discerning eye will also spy the occasional crossover between Beano characters, seeing as they all live in the fictional land of Beanotown.

Throughout the years, a number of editors have taken the wheel at The Beano, the first being George Moonie in 1938. John Anderson, the current editor, took the reins in 2016, there has also been a few guest editors including Andy Murray, Harry Hill and Marcus Rashford.

In turn, the vast majority of the most famous Beano characters are the masterpieces of esteemed Scottish comic artists.

When it comes to The Beano, anarchic humour reigns free. Look at Dennis, the despicable and disrespectful rogue with a serious distaste for authority; or Roger, with his dishonest tongue. With time, various tweaks have occurred in tandem with shifts in social trends.

Unwavering in appeal, 2016 saw the natural arrival of beano.com, an online platform for kids (and grown-ups) to experience the enchanting nature of The Beano wherever they may go.

#Scotland #scottish #dc thomson #the beano #comic strip #Dennis the Menace

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topperscumslut · 7 months

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are u ever gonna post the impractical jokers 90s au

ok ok so i was kinda hesitant to post it just bcuz it’s very… not well written lol. and i wasn’t really sure if anyone would actually want to read it but it seems like there actually is a demand for it so here y’all go ig 🤷🏻‍♀️

so i wrote this when i was 14 when one of my irl best friends introduced me to her online best friend who was also obsessed with impractical jokers and we decided to start a fan account on instagram and write a self insert fic together ab us going to HS in the 90s and meeting the jokers (even tho i ended up doing all of the writing which i was actually kinda happy about lmao). so you can very much tell that a 14 yr old wrote it and a lot of the plot doesn’t make sense lmaooo but im just gonna post it as it is and not try to edit it to make it sound better or anything. for now im just gonna post it chapter by chapter which is something i haven’t done before cuz i usually only write one shots nowadays so yea just lmk if y’all wanna be added to a taglist!!! but yea anyway here y’all go.

masterlist for this fic

chapter 1 word count: 475

Intro

The year is 1994. Two best friends are going back to high school after winter break, one of which newly single and sure no one could replace her so-called “Mr. Right” - until the pair meets four boys from Staten Island who just might change their worlds forever. Prepare for something amazing.

Chapter 1 - Stupid Boy

Sarah and Kendall hadn’t seen each other for weeks due to a fun, yet long, Christmas break. Both had been super busy and weren’t able to see each other or any of their other friends since school got out. The two girls hugged and greeted each other at their lockers, before greeting their friend Jasmyn the exact same way.

The three friends stood at Kendall’s locker as she put away her coat and her water bottle, the group of them talking and laughing about everything that they’d done over break.

“Guess what guys?” Jasmyn said, “I have a new crush!”

“That’s great,” Kendall sighed, forcing a smile.

“Oh no, Jasmyn, really?” Sarah said, “K, are you alright?”

“Uh, yeah. I think so. I mean Andy’s a great guy. He never meant to hurt me, so I shouldn’t let it get to me anyway. I mean, isn’t that what we both want?”

“Yeah, true. But we’re here for you.”

Kendall smiled and opened her mouth to thank the girls before hearing an eerily familiar laugh behind her. It was Andy, her ex.

The ex-lovers made eye contact for not even half a second before Kendall looked away, tears in her eyes.

“I, um,” she sniffled, “oh, I really have to go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.” She ran off to the girl’s bathroom at the end of the hall, and didn’t even have time to lock herself in a stall before bursting out into tears like Niagara Falls. How did Andy have this effect on her?

She wiped up her tears with a scratchy paper towel, wishing she had tissues in her backpack. And wishing she had never met that stupid boy that broke up with her over the phone.

“Thank God for waterproof mascara, am I right?’

“Hey, hey, guys, did you hear that?”

Shit! She thought, Someone heard me.

She peeked outside to see a group of four boys, the voice had belonged to the ferret-like one, sandwiched between one with long, dark hair and thick eyebrows - Sarah’s type - and a handsome one with striking green eyes that she could both see and feel the empathy in.

Oh no no no, please don’t see me! Calm down, Kendall. It’s not like they could come in anyways.

“I think it was just your imagination, Murray,” the final boy said.

Thank God, Kendall thought as Sarah burst through the bathroom door, wrapping an arm around her, the four boys now lost from her mind - for the time being.

#impractical jokers #90s #impractical jokers fanfiction #impractical jokers 90s au #impractical jokers au #unedited writing #90s au #1994 #sal vulcano #brian quinn #joe gatto #james murray #au #fanfic #fanfiction #self insert #self insert fanfiction #impractical jokers self insert fanfic #i wrote this in 2018 plz don’t judge me

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steffigraf · 1 year

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tagged by @bluespring864 @janerurlife @tam-is-blogging (who gave a longer but similar version so im just gonna combine them haha)

relationship status: always been single, mostly come to terms with it lmao

favorite color: pastels!! especially light blue and orange my beloveds

three favorite foods: hmm rn i’ll go with bacsilog (a meal of bacon, fried rice, and fried egg), spicy mcdonalds nuggets, and instant noodles

song stuck in my head: both “meine gang (bang bang)” by CRO and “comunque andare” by alessandra amoroso

last thing i listened to: a lovely playlist made by one of my friends <3

last thing i googled: “best books about german football” nobody judge me

time: 7:02 pm

dream trip: traveling all over germany!!!!!! and also just going anywhere abroad with friends. especially getting to travel somewhere with my online friends would be amazing

anything i really want: a few days of having absolutely nothing to do. uni is kicking my ass as usual and i’m starting to get rly tired. also, vaguely related, i want to graduate in time lmao. bc i changed my degree program last year which means i’m super late in finishing uni and i just want to not get further delayed. and a bit more random but i want to get to know the people on tennisblr more bc you all seem so lovely and i’m still fairly new 🫶

currently reading: hoo boy there’s a lot (add me on storygraph if you guys have!!). so first up is “the odyssey” translated by dr emily wilson which i’ve been slowly reading for months now. then i also have “the german genius: europe’s third renaissance, the second scientific revolution, and the twentieth century” by peter watson bc i’m a nerd. and then “ferien in frankfurt” by andré klein for my language practice. and just last night i started “andy murray: seventy-seven: my road to wimbledon glory” by the murygoat himself!

last song: “turmbau zu babel” by drangsal

last movie: oh god i completely forgot already

last series: the voice season 21

sweet, savory, or spicy: spicy all the way <33333

currently working on: being a functioning adult

craving: chai latte from starbucks

tea or coffee: tea, but i mostly drink milk teas and tea lattes

and idk who to tag anymore just do it if you feel like it i guess!!

#thanks for tagging me girlies (gn)!!#tag game

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anotherrevue · 11 months

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Gameday at the Movies

I once met someone who had no interest in sports at all, and yet one of his favourite movies was Chak De India. It took me years to really wrap my head around it. How can you love a sports movie that much, but have no interest in the real life equivalent? To me, sports fandom is so intrinsic to loving sports movies that I had a tough time separating the two. And, to be honest, being a sports fan, if you look past the numbers and win/loss column, is all about the story and the drama: friendships, rivalries, heroics, tragedies, legacies, all of it. What you get in a movie, you get in real life sports, but messier.

And athletics is one of the few parts of our culture that is still holding on to some of its magic. Every time Dame Lillard throws up a gamewinner from the logo, an arena goes quiet, coiled to explode. When Andy Murray went on his miracle run at the 2023 Australian Open, everyone and their mothers had their fingers crossed, hoping against hope. When Argentina won the World Cup, I watched my relatives (who are, to be clear, not Argentinian) weep with joy.

But getting into sports, getting so emotionally connected to a game in the first place, that’s tough, especially if you didn’t grow up watching it on TV or playing. There are a million rules for you to learn, while fans and analysts alike are constantly volleying stats at you like they’re decrees from god: usage rates, efficiency, value over replacement and every other forced metric is seemingly unimpeachable. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good stat, but for me as a fan, stats do not give or take away meaning or value from performances or narratives. Is Diana Taurasi the most efficient player in the WNBA? No, but that doesn’t matter to me because she represents something more intangible and everlasting: greatness.

Hell, even the basic starting point of picking a team or player to support is tough if you don’t have a home town team or athlete to turn to. You have to be careful – you might, for example, end up on the Mayweather bandwagon for a couple years before you realize that Pretty Boy Floyd might be the most successful poseur in the history of boxing. And once you do end up on a side, you might discover that the fanbase of which you’re now a part has a belligerent online faction that irritates you at every turn (a very merry fuck you to all Laker fan forums).

There is that great Nora Ephron line, “You don’t want to be in love. You want to be in love in a movie.” And to some extent, if you play or love sports growing up, you don’t just want to be a pro athlete. You want to be in the movie. I never thought I could be Michael Jordan, but I definitely wished I could be Calvin in Like Mike, with the miracle shoes from the basketball gods. Movies take the everyday magic of sports and package it into 2 easily digestible hours, so how can you not love it?

Plenty of ways, it turns out. You’ll see plenty of jock writers lament the death of their precious genre and that, I think, is just panic. The sports documentary has had a major resurgence in recent years, sparked, no doubt, by the popularity of ESPN’s 30 for 30 series (Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. the Knicks is among my favourite films all time) and The Last Dance. But when it comes to dramatized features, in the last 20 years, there have been maybe five great sports films (we’ll get to that in a minute) and a diminishing number of attempts (with one subgenre being the exception – we’ll get to that too).

But I think there are a couple obvious reasons for that. First and foremost, they cost a little too much, and it’s not like people are rushing to theatres to watch a movie about tennis or football or the other football. Plus, like with most genres that are so laden with stereotypes and set narrative beats, audiences tend to have a “seen one, seen them all” mentality towards sports flicks.

And then there is the sense that everything has been gamified, from movies to governance to your daily news of choice. Politics seems to be more "my team, your team” than ever before, and reporting on TV has devolved mostly to talking heads with the loosest grasp on the facts giving hot takes – which is entertaining and only mildly annoying when Stephen A. Smith does it about the NBA, and horrifyingly glib when NDTV does it about life/death situations.

But one of the more insidious ways that sports has permeated a non-sports part of my life is at work. I feel like, for our parents’ generation, the pitch was “your office is like a family”. You watch movies and TV from the mid-to-late 90s when they were entering the workforce, and they’re constantly pitching you this idea that work is a family, one for all and all for one. It’s gross and saccharine, and although it’s blatantly dishonest, the evolution since then has not been much better.

The workplace now is nominally modeled after sports. I think it comes from the transposability of sports-related wisdom to any sort of group effort. “Take one for the team” or “don’t drop the ball” or “that’s a slam dunk” (which, don’t believe the hype, very hard to do) are all things I hear regularly. To be microscopically one-to-one about it, there is the idea that you all come together to work and execute a plan as a fully enmeshed unit that will beat all the other teams competing against you to reach the same goal. At a glance, it might track, but if you have any experience being on a sports team or even spend an extra second thinking about the implications, it’s absolute horseshit.

Within a team, there isn’t a strict sense of hierarchy and the style of play is crafted around the strengths of the players. That’s not translated into work culture at all, especially within corporations. A worker, regardless of their skills and/or talent, is slotted into place depending on what the company needs. In all honesty, my workplace, like most corporate workplaces that I’m familiar with, is modelled after a factory line. You get your corner of the product to work on, do your job, pass it on to the next person in the line. And if someone fucks up in that line, the shit always flows down the hierarchy. If you don’t do your work or don’t do it on time, that’s a loss. But, especially on the middle and lower rungs of a corporation, there is no work equivalent to winning. You just do what is required of you and maintain the status quo. And that idea of beating the competition in the marketplace at all costs? Studies in the field have posited that maybe, just maybe, it’s not a sustainable model for businesses. Which makes sense. Sports teams, even the greatest dynasties of all time, are build for immediate success. Few of them are successful for more than two years, so why would that be any different for businesses built on the same ethos?

Yet, despite all this, despite the sickening conflation of work and play, despite the declining interest of filmmakers and studios, once in a while, we still get sports movies that hit home. So, beyond making sure that the technical and story aspects of the movies are solid, what makes those select few successful?

You have to cast right. This is the biggest issue with sports movies. If the actor can’t convincingly look like they play the sport at a high level, the movie is pretty much dead in a ditch to me. Even outside the arena, athletes carry themselves with the confidence that they are in control of every minute motion made by any part of their body. This confidence is often referred to as swagger, but let’s call it jock credibility.

For example, in High School Musical, I totally believe Corbin Bleu’s Chad is a two-sport athlete, but it’s way tougher buying that a local community college would be interested in Troy Bolton, much less UC Berkeley. Zac Efron can spin the ball on his finger but that does not buoy his ghastly dribbling skills. One of the big flaws of High School Musical is choosing basketball as his sport. Basketball requires so much basic technical skill to qualify for an elite level that it requires someone who is actually excellent at the sport (Sanaa Lathan in Love and Basketball) or a generally athletic actor and some extremely creative editing (Wesley Snipes in White Men Can’t Jump).

This is why picking the right sport is crucial. Almost every great sports movie has a significant chunk of gameplay, so it’s always best if the sport allows the actors to easily fake competence. This is, for example, why there are very few great tennis films (a pure swing in tennis or golf is impossible to fake), while baseball (an objectively easier sport to pick up) has one of the best movie rosters.

The other secret sauce to cinematic sports is making sure the audience can identify the players. Again, it almost doesn’t need to be said, but film is a visual medium, and the best movies show the actors’ reactions, body language or expressions, so that the audience is inherently more likely to connect to the characters. This is also why individual (boxing) and individualistic (running) sports tend to be more successful than large team sports (American football).

The final key to a great sports movie – and this is entirely my own theory and thereby is likely to be complete nonsense – is stats. I know I just railed against the inadequacies of using stats in sports, but I think that if you can quantify the effort and contribution of each player in a sport, it makes it easier to portray it in a movie. In these sports, because it’s easier to see the importance of every player and every action, the filmmakers have a much easier job of setting up stakes in a way that even a novice to the sport could understand. Again, baseball comes to mind (it is after all the original Moneyball sport) but the example on the other side is football (as in soccer, not hand-egg). I think I might get yelled at for this one so let’s just start there.

Football is the least stats friendly of the major sports, because it’s such a fluid sport where the players’ contributions are so interwoven that it’s hard to quantify what an individual player means to a team – and indeed the importance of any single character to a narrative about football.

Quick aside: In Bend It Like Beckham, both Keira Knightley and (especially) Parminder Nagra have unimpeachable levels of jock credibility, which is what sells it to me as a sports movie, even if the amount of football depicted is a bit sparse.

What I find amusing is that the other nearly impossible to adapt sport, tennis, has the opposite issue of football. It’s very easy to relate to the player, but it’s unbelievably hard to fake being good at tennis (see: 2004's Wimbledon – or don’t). There are very few good tennis movies.

I don’t know if I can overstate how in the pocket I am for any basketball movie. To me, there are 5 great basketball movies, but there will seem to be one glaring omission, a pretender that everyone loves to bring up: Hoosiers. The gameplay in Hoosiers is awful, Gene Hackman (an actor I love) looks legitimately afraid of getting bonked in the head by a ball and the message is hacky and plays on racial prejudice. Plenty of movies have done the tough new coach concept better since then (Coach Carter, The Way Back, Hurricane Season). We certainly don’t need Hoosiers any more.

I’m not much of a baseball fan, but baseball is the best screen sport for the same reasons that I think the real life version is quite dull. The games go on forever, it is a relatively unshowy sport (in terms of athletic feats) and there is enough time between each ball to have dialogue, make stressful decisions and build tension. Baseball is a poetic sport, the pounding thump of the ball against a glove, the crack of the bat when it connects, a runner sliding through the dirt to get to base. Movies about the great American pastime often tend to be similarly long, with a soothing energy and a quick (if quiet) wit.

To be fair, all of the above this can be said about cricket as well, so why have there been so few attempts at making a great cricket movie? I think the big difference is, where baseball gives the teams the opportunity for a back-and-forth in scoring, cricket is structured in a way that each team only has one chance to score, making it harder to show realistically dramatic shifts in momentum.

And more than any other sport, cricket and baseball are easiest for a newcomer to keep up with: there’s a ball, you gotta hit it. What’s confusing about that?

With cycling and track sports, there is something that fascinates filmmakers. It might be a yearning for the near-total sense of control over one’s own achievements and failures that a track athlete might feel, which is antithetical to the inherently collaborative nature of moviemaking. Or maybe it’s a sense of kinship with the singular focus of the athletes and their constant tinkering with the most minute aspects of their craft that attracts legendary script doctors (Robert Towne) and detail-obsessed directors (Michael Mann). Whatever the reason, track movies tend to be philosophical and often pure meditations on determination and willpower.

Pugilism. The sweet science. I started to obsessively watch boxing movies after I read Budd Schulberg's book Ringside. At the end of the book, he included an essay on the best boxing films in which he broke down the artistry in faking a fight for the silver screen. That really seeded itself in my brain and sprouted into such slightly unhinged takes as "Creed is the best Rocky movie" or "Ali examines the complicated public, personal and interior life of an iconic boxer better than Raging Bull". The stakes in a fight are clear and most actors relish the chance to get into absurd shape and take their shirt off, so the pugilistic picture show will likely never die.

Sidebar: Million Dollar Baby is often listed as one of the best fight movies and it likely is, but I watched it once a long time ago and it was one of the most thoroughly soul-crushing movie watching experiences of my life. I haven't been able to rewatch it since.

Field hockey is a rare movie sport for the same reasons as football, and even though Chak De India towers over most of the sports movie heap, it is not in general a cinematic sport. Ice hockey on the other hand is a much more dynamic game because it has some element of fight sport ingrained into it. And as much as I love Paul Newman's beautiful, soulful, sparkling blue eyes…

Sorry, what was I saying? Oh yeah, Goon has snatched the title of best ice hockey movie from Slap Shot, because it's basically what if Rocky wanted to be in a team sport.

There are of course other sports that have received the silver screen treatment: American football (lots of okay movies but honestly none as good as the TV show Friday Night Lights), golf (Tin Cup, starring the movie king of sports Kevin Costner), racing (the impeccable Ford v. Ferrari) and so on and so on. Hell, one of my favourite movies of all time period is The Color of Money, and while that’s only half about shooting pool, it gives the audience, in parts, the ecstatic highs and the rock bottoms of a great sports story.

But I think the subgenre that is the undisputed king of the sports movie right now is management. Like most non-traditional movements in modern sports, this starts with Moneyball. Is there a greater sports movie with less gameplay than Moneyball? No. Is there a sports movie that makes me choke up as reliably? Also no. It's filled with peeks into the behaviour of athletes, the superstitions and the motivations, the behind-the-scenes drama. One of the very few perfect films in my book. And while that's the peak of the management movie, there are some really strong movies in this category, from aspirational stories (Hustle) to morality tales (The Damned United) to weird experimental movies about the possible future of athlete management (High Flying Bird).

Odd to close this with management, but that’s where we’re at, with sports movies to sports fandom. Everyone on the internet thinks they can manage or coach a team better than most professional managers or coaches, and movies are here to tell them, “Hey, maybe not.” As usual, I side with the movies.

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lucytheblackbird · 2 years

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A golfer who is bidding to become the first transgender woman to earn a Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tour card has sparked outrage online.

Hailey Davidson, 29, had a strong finish in the first two rounds of the first stage of the LPGA and Epson Tour Qualifying School in Palm Springs this week.

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coochiequeens · 2 years

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In other words men have no trouble finding time for themselves while women take care of everything else

Almost half of women in the UK have done no vigorous exercise in the past 12 months with most saying they lacked motivation, a survey has suggested.

The percentages are lower for men, with just over a third saying they had not exercised in that period and half citing a lack of motivation, according to data from the healthcare charity Nuffield Health.

In the online survey of 8,000 adults across the country in February, 38% of women said they had got out of the habit of exercising during lockdown.

Eleven per cent said they got into good exercise habits but struggled to maintain them, and 14% gave up exercising completely, the organisation’s Healthier Nation Index showed.

Thirty-seven per cent reported their physical health got worse in the previous 12 months and 47% said they had failed to do any vigorous exercise.

When it came to men, 28% said their physical health had declined in the same period and 34% admitted not doing any vigorous activity in that time.

Sixty-seven per cent of women cited a lack of motivation compared with 51% for men, and 35% of women said they felt they did not know where to start when it came to exercise, compared with 28% of men.

Fifty-five per cent said a lack of time owing to work was a barrier, compared with 46% of men.

The NHS defines vigorous exercise as activities such as running, swimming, an aerobics class or gymnastics.

The tennis coach Judy Murray, the mother of the Wimbledon champion Andy Murray and ambassador for the Healthier Nation Index, said the data showed a “really big challenge” in terms of “getting the nation active”, especially women, who she said were “struggling to find the time to focus on their wellbeing”.

She added: “I hope everyone can spare a few minutes to find something active they enjoy doing, as well as finding someone that they can do it with.

“Exercising with friends helps me find both motivation and routine as well as providing an extra boost for my mental health, so I encourage everyone to gather friends and get moving together.”

Nuffield has launched a Find Time For Your Mind campaign, which aims to encourage people to do five extra minutes of exercise a day to boost mental and physical wellbeing.

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abraham2love · 1 month

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olivia cappuccini : director

full movie

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zingaplanet · 1 year

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Love that ask! I've also wondered what the rest of the tour makes of how absurdly close Roger and Rafa are. Not to stir the pot but I think it bothers Novak - in the sense that he seems to consider Rafa his biggest rival and has been vocal about that many times. It has to rankle a bit that Rafa doesn't feel the same and openly says Roger is the most important player in his career, whereas Novak would say that about Rafa. He also looked uncomfortable at times getting a front row seat to the Fedal love affair. Those 3 definitely have a complicated history with each other but I guess it is what it is.

Yea i get what you mean, it's a bit strange the dynamic between the 3 but it also developed like this because of the different kind of timelines between their rivalries that I talked about in the previous asks.

In a sense, I feel for Novak a bit as he's always going to be the odd one out, he always says that Nadal and Federer are his greatest rivals (because they are), but they never really say that about him specifically. And this is not due to any discredit on his competitiveness whatsoever it's just the way their career histories come to clash with one another. Federer and Nadal were fundamentals to each other's first rise to power, but when Novak started joining them, both Roger and Rafa were already at the top (they've both been world number 1s). It's a different sort of camaraderie, in a way that Rafa and Roger never really had to 'prove' themselves the way Novak had to with them, by breaking in to their duopoly.

It's also fascinating because Rafa was technically closer to Andy and Novak's generation than Roger's, they're practically age-wise peers. But because Rafa peaked so early (when he was 17), his 'growing up' on the tour is actually with the likes of Roddick, Federer, Hewitt, Ferru etc. You can actually see this in the early days, he was much more in a 'friend-like' relationships with Andy and Novak compared to how he was with Roger. I remember reading an article of an interviewer who was tailing Rafa for the day and when they arrived at the parking lot of the practice courts somebody was making crazy noises and calling his name from the car across them. It was Novak and Rafa came over to joke with him etc and the interviewer said that he was surprised how well they actually know each other. Judy Murray also said that Rafa was Andy's constant FIFA buddy, they used to play football matches on playstation until midnight during tours, but also online when they were both at homes. This was all before Murray Djokovic started challenging for titles seriously of course. There's actually a lot of insights to the early tour days that we missed from this golden generation of tennis. Like it or not, they technically grew up together and saw each other more than their own families, it's a bit like school! Except these players moved continents every few weeks or so. Novak and Andy have actually known each other since they were 12, they were practically childhood buddies. I've also read some crazy stories about the spanish armada pranking andy roddick etc during the old days and I would pay really good money to see a reality tv coverage of these days! It kinda makes me miss the old generation of tennis, so many of them are gone now 🥺

Anyhow, back to Roger though, he was actually quite a bit detached from the group in the early 2000s I feel, just because his 'actual generation' that is hewitt, etc were retiring and he's stuck with this influx of new kids who are starting to be really2 good (*ehem* cue a certain Spaniard) after 4 or 5 years of really boring competition. Everybody likes him tho, because ofc he's Roger, and Roddick actually said he was the first World Number One that he actually genuinely couldn't dislike lol. But I suppose he was more of a 'father' figure, he was the world number one, and everybody just put him on a pedestal.

The only person that Roger actually genuinely connect to in these early days, even before their rivalries fully blossomed was Rafa, I guess. The relationship Rafa had with Roger in the beginning was very different, and both of them said this as well these days, it was more of a schoolboy idolation with mutual respect and bond. Even then it was a different relationship than what Rafa had with his spanish teammates or age group peers. Rafa, in a sense I think, was the first one who actually broke this generational gap. By breaking into the scene, he's someone who, interestingly, became sort of the connecting string between his age group peers with the 'top guys', specifically because it was obvious that Federer liked him a lot lol. And Rafa was actually the first one who actually forced Roger to rethink his game, and reshifted his perception of their rivalries. He said this himself, he kinda have to force himself to accept that he now has an equal, a rival that will stay and challenge him for good.

I think we talk a lot about this 'mentor-mentee', 'idol-fan' dynamic between Roger and Rafa but what really really shifted their dynamic forever and solidified their bond I feel was when both of them had to sort of shift in the spectrum and fully accept each other as equals. I feel like this was a huge growing up moment not only in their careers but also in their lives.

By the time Novak came around, it was almost impossible to break into this detente respect that Federer-Nadal have built between themselves, although Novak had no difficulty in breaking their ranks. Personally, though, I don't think Djokovic had any qualms about the bond that he clearly KNOWS Federer-Nadal have and if I can respect him for anything, I guess it's for this. He might be a bit bitter of being the odd one out early on but I think this year's Laver Cup especially, really really showed how Andy and Novak accepted their roles in this weird four-way rivalries dynamic. That they will always be in the background in terms of personal bonds, and Andy even goes so far to say that it was right that Roger should finish with Rafa, not anybody else.

It's a strange kind of aura that everyone sorts of knows they're witnessing something untouchable, something special that's unbreakable in their bubble. A good comparison, randomly, is The Beatles. Both four beatles are extremely close with each other and considered each other brothers, but even then they knew Lennon-McCartney had a special bond, and George and Ringo would never try to break into their bubble when they were writing songs together.

So there you have it, a completely, unprompted, presumably presumptous long essay that is probably untrue lol. But one asked and one shall receive anon. One shall receive.

#i need to restraint myself #stop enabling me and asking me all these interesting asks!!#i'll fill ur timelines with academic essays on someone's personal relationships at this point #fedal #tennis #ask #roger federer #rafael nadal

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scawebster-blog-blog · 11 months

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Premium sportswear brand Castore coming to GCC

LIWA Trading LLC, the leading GCC-based multi-brand retailer, has launched its latest addition to its portfolio of premium apparel brands, Castore. The brand is now available to shop online via the website and mobile app. Castore is an award-winning British sportswear brand known for its high-quality athletic wear that incorporates technical fabrics and innovative design. The brand has already made waves in the sports world, with partnerships with the McLaren Formula 1 team, and endorsement deals with top athletes such as Andy Murray, Owen Farrell, and Jos Buttler. LIWA Trading LLC is excited to bring Castore to the GCC market through its website and mobile app, providing customers with a seamless online shopping and performance experience. "Castore is a brand that embodies innovation and excellence in the sports world, and we are thrilled to bring their premium sportswear to our customers in the GCC," said Steve Webster, Digital Director of LIWA Trading LLC. "We believe that our customers will appreciate the quality and performance experience that Castore offers." The new website, www.castore.me, offers customers a range of Castore's athletic wear for men, women, and children. With the addition of Castore, LIWA Trading LLC continues to expand its portfolio of premium apparel brands, which includes GANT and La Senza. The company aims to provide customers with a wide range of options for high-quality sportswear that fits their lifestyle. Visit www.castore.me to shop Castore's premium sportswear collection and experience the brand's dedication to technical innovation and athletic performance.

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dailyrugbytoday · 1 year

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Wales face Ireland on Saturday Six Nations opening match

New Post has been published on https://thedailyrugby.com/wales-face-ireland-on-six-nations-opening-match/

The Daily Rugby

https://thedailyrugby.com/wales-face-ireland-on-six-nations-opening-match/

Wales face Ireland on Saturday Six Nations opening match

After weeks of negative headlines that have engulfed the sport, Wales face Ireland on Saturday in a fascinating Six Nations opening match.

The Welsh have turned to former head coach Warren Gatland to help them rediscover their form after winning just three of their 12 games in 2022. Expectations are high that they can win a first Six Nations since 2018.

However, Ireland have not won in Cardiff in the Six Nations since 2013. Andy Farrell’s Ireland won a series in New Zealand last summer and are the number one ranked side in the world.

Wales complete-back Liam Williams comes in as a late substitute for Leigh Halfpenny, who suffered a again spasm in education. Hooker Ken Owens captains his u . S . For the first time on his 87th cap and is certainly one of handiest forwards not from the Ospreys. Centre Joe Hawkins makes his championship debut.

Scrum-1/2 Jamison Gibson-Park turned into dominated out with a hamstring damage as Ireland had been compelled into creating a late change on Saturday. Conor Murray is available in to win his one hundred and first cap, with Craig Casey coming on to the bench.

Ireland prop Tadhg Furlong had already been dominated out having been bothered with the aid of ankle and calf accidents and is replaced with the aid of Finlay Bealham. With Robbie Henshaw nonetheless out, centre Stuart McCloskey retains his vicinity, with Bundee Aki named on the bench. Veteran captain Johnny Sexton is match after fracturing his cheekbone on New Year’s Day.

Andrew Cotter: How huge is the Warren impact? We’ll get a dependable indicator on the grounds that this Wales crew is sort of the equal 15 that started out for Wayne Pivac within the dramatic defeat in opposition to Australia in November.

Faith remains in some exquisite gamers who’re deep into their thirties, together with Ken Owens, Alun Wyn Jones and Justin Tipuric, but jumbled in with the subsequent generation in centre Joe Hawkins, wing Rio Dyer and the first rate flanker Jac Morgan.

Ireland are certainly favourites. They are ranked the exceptional within the world, built upon a Leinster facet who’re sweeping all earlier than them this season.

And yet… Tadhg Furlong is a massive leave out at tight-head prop and this fixture inside the Six Nations hasn’t been won by the away facet in 10 years. There is reason enough for Ireland to doubt and Wales to wish.

Six Nations Wales head coach Warren Gatland

The manner that those guys have been this week, I am assured that they may go out there and exhibit how plenty it way for them to put their crimson jersey on and how much it approach for them to play for Wales.

I think it is important we go out there and give a performance. I’m comfy with dropping if we get overwhelmed through a better side.

Ireland head train Andy Farrell at the stadium roof being closed: “It’s a outstanding stadium. We’ve been there before while it is closed and there may be no ecosystem adore it. It’s amazing. It can most effective be properly for us.

We need to consider the roof being closed. We wanted it closed as well to sample the ecosystem and preserve progressing on our adventure.

READ MORE :: Six Nations coverage on BBC TV, radio & online

Head-to-head

Ireland have won five out of the last six meetings in all competitions.

The away team has not won any of the last nine Six Nations meetings, with each nation winning four games

with one draw. The last time the away side won in this fixture came in Cardiff in 2013, when Ireland emerged victorious 30-22.

Wales

Wales lost nine of their 12 Tests in 2022.

They scored the fewest (12) and conceded the most points (40) of any side in the first 20 minutes of games in last year’s Championship. Conversely, they scored the second most (31) and conceded the joint-second fewest points (13) of any team in the last 20 minutes of matches.

Across all Tests in 2022 they won the fewest turnovers (4.3) and stole the fewest opposition lineouts (0.3) of any Tier One nation.

Match officials

Referee: Karl Dickson (ENG)

Touch judges: Angus Gardner (AUS) & Luke Pearce (ENG)

TMO: Tom Foley (ENG)

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