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stewystew · 3 years

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I Made A Leverage Timeline Because I Was Bored

Warning: this is like. way too in depth. and very nit-picky in terms of evidence, because I am a horrible perfectionist and my work is never finished.

Episode # - Approx. Date, Length of Job (Explanation) (extra details)

- Time Between Episodes

Most of the lengths are like. The MINIMUM amount of days for the job - “It was night in this scene, and in the next scene it was morning! That’s two days!” - not counting client meetings because there’s usually no way of knowing how much time was spent planning the job. Also, the dates I’m very super not sure about are marked with *asterisks*.

1.1 - May/June 2008, 2 weeks+ (NBA playoffs are April-June, and at that time the fifth games of each round were at the beginning and middle of the month. The stockholders meeting was “at the end of the month” - May/June 27-31, presumably - meaning Dubenich met with Nate within the month of May/June. Personally I think the game was in the semifinals (second round), and in May, bc the first and third round games were literally the first three days of the month and that doesn’t seem like enough time to plan a heist, and calling the finals the “playoffs” sounds weird to me) (this is the most adherent to reality I get, I promise)

- I actually have no clue, but it must have been at least a couple weeks

1.2 - 4 days+

1.3 - 1 week+

1.4 - 1 week+

1.5 - 1 day (Mile High, less than eight hours from the initial break-in to the plane landing)

1.6 - 5-6 days (Miracle Job, ends on a Sunday)

1.7 - ? (Two-Horse)

- However long it took to hook the judge guy

1.8 - 1 day (Bank Shot)

1.9 - 1 week+

- At least one job (team’s mad at Parker for being reckless)

1.10 - 1 week-ish (Juror #6, in Hardison’s closing argument he says that the trial lasted a week)

1.11 - 4-5 days

1.12 - Oct 2008 (Measured from 2.1, and is ~4 months after my 1.1, which lines up with my length estimations, plus a few weeks of wiggle room)

- Four Months

1.13 - Feb 2009

- Six Months

2.1 - Aug 2009 (I don’t actually remember where I got this date, but it’s 15 months from my 1.1, and in Nate’s interview at the beginning of the episode we find out that he’s been with the team for around a year, when the interviewer asks about the gap in his resume)

2.2 - 6+ days

2.3 - 1 day (Order 23)

2.4 - Sept~Oct 2009 (Fairy Godparents, has to happen during the school year) (Sophie spends two days putting together the “science-sical” but I don’t feel confident enough to estimate the rest of this episode’s length)

2.5 - *Sept~Oct 2009*

2.6 - *Late Oct 2009* (The mark mentions a “record breaking third quarter”)

2.7 - *Nov 2009* (Two Crew Live, probably about six months before 2.15 because Eliot says 2.8-2.14 happened within “the last six months”, but I’m willing to fudge by a few weeks)

2.8 - *Nov 2009*

2.9 - <1 week

2.10 - ?

2.11 - Jan-Feb 2010 (Bottle Job, snowing)

2.12 - ?

2.13 - ?

2.14 - Apr 2010 (the East Coast Triple-A baseball league at the time, International League, started playing games in the first week of April)

2.15 - Apr 2010

- Five to Six Months (3.3: Nate was in prison for six months)

3.1 - Oct 2010 (6 months before 3.15)

3.2 - Late Oct 2010 (mark’s company had disappointing quarterly results, Sophie also rescheduled a reunion that would have happened June-July with this date, which makes sense for a reunion) (reunion was on the 28th)

3.3 - 1 day (Inside Job)

3.4 - Nov 2010 (5 months before 3.15)

3.5 - ?

3.6 - ?

3.7 - ?

3.8 - ? (note: Boost Job, mark’s employees are watching the NBA playoffs, and the literal earliest I could possibly push this episode is like. Late July. so I’m ignoring that piece of information.) (however, the NFL playoffs are in January. And that works for my timeline 👀)

3.9 - ?

3.10 - ?

3.11 - one night (Rashomon)

3.12 - Feb 2011, 3-4 days, four months after 3.1

3.13 - 2 days

3.14 - Christmas 2010 (Ok. Listen. Listen. Seasons 3 and 4 just Do Not Work if 3.12 happens before this episode. They just don’t. So I’m going to make the claim that this episode was aired out of order because ✨Christmas✨. Thank you for understanding. I promise, it fixes the whole thing.)

3.15 - Apr 2011 (six months after 3.1) (Also, ~one year after 2.15)

3.16 - Apr 2011, 1 week (from the time they take over the campaign) (Hardison is 24 here, making his birthday somewhere between Mar 25 1986 and Mar 24 1987) (The 2002 Oscars, when he was 15, was on Mar 24)

- Less Than Two Weeks

4.1 - Apr 2011 (three months after a storm in winter shut down the mountain)

4.2 - 2 days (10 Li’l Grifters)

4.3 - ?

4.4 - 1 day (Van Gogh)

4.5 - 1 day (Hot Potato) (exactly two days counting client meeting)

4.6 - ?

4.7 - 3+ days (Grave Danger)

4.8 - ?

- One Very Exciting Job

4.9 - 2 hours (Cross My Heart) (six hours counting the surgery)

4.10 - 3 days (Queen’s Gambit)

4.11 - Sept 2011, 1 week+ (The real life secret society that this was based on recruits in April-ish, but that would shove the past nine episodes into like a month, and also make it so the mark is still doing tests for his “senior project” within weeks of his graduation, so we’re not doing that. It’s My Fav TV Show’s Fake Secret Society And I Get To Pick The Rules)

4.12 - *Sept-Oct 2011*, 4-7 days (Office Job, at beginning of episode the buyout is happening “at the end of the week”)

4.13/4.14 - one night

4.15 - *Mid Oct 2011*, 2 days (Lonely Hearts, I just don’t think the weather in the Hamptons would be quite that nice any later than that?)

4.16 - ?

4.17 - Nov/Dec 2011, 1 day (Radio Job) (a Sunday)

4.18 - Nov/Dec 2011 (Dubenich was in jail for 3 years 5 months 4 days)

- One Year?

5.1 - Nov 2012 (plane’s anniversary is Nov 2nd, 2012)

- Christmas 2012 is when they went “overboard” on gifts

5.2 - Feb-Mar 2013 (That’s when playoffs were for the closest irl thing to that semi-pro league) (there aren’t actually any semi-pro hockey leagues in the US currently!)

5.3 - ?

5.4 - ?

5.5 - Apr-May 2013 (Gimme a ‘K’ Street, cheer comps)

5.6 - ?

5.7 - ?

- Parker tore her ACL, minimum six weeks from here to 5.9

5.8 - 5+ days

5.9 - Aug 28-Sept 11 2013, 1 day

5.10 - Aug 28-Sept 11 2013, 2 days (Frame Up, dates are in the document Sophie prints out)

5.11 - Sept 2013, 1 week+ (Low Low Price)

5.12 - Sept-Oct 2013 (White Rabbit)

5.13 - Sept-Oct 2013 (Corkscrew, harvest season)

5.14 - Christmas 2013 (Toy Job)

5.15 - 2014, 1 day (Last Goodbye, counting only the job)

In conclusion: FUCK season three for having such a clear timeline. Season 2 can stay but it’s on thin fucking ice

Most of this is soooo bullshit but I had fun. so.

#leverage #mine #lmao friendship cancelled with reasonable critical thinking and benefit of the doubt now pro sports game schedules are my only friends #help I’m definitely not ok #lol I typed this all up like a month and a half ago over the course of like five days a wild look in my eyes #and it was worth it because now I have this completely useless post to share with y’all

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dansnaturepictures · 3 years

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28th February 2021-Spring walk at Magdalen Hill

Today we walked at Magdalen Hill a fantastic butterfly site we have enjoyed so many brilliant walks at especially in the last few years. Of course building on my ambitions held last week with the weather staying very sunny and pretty warm for the time of year I wanted to see a butterfly today my first of the year. With so many people having done so now my desire was very ripe. I was elated then when minutes into the walk a butterfly glided gently in front of us and landed a few times. My eyes were transfixed on it I just had to get a bit closer to make out its’ species of the few early/all season ones emerging and my desire paid off when I got to see it was one of my favourites the Red Admiral. I had done it, seen my all important first butterfly of 2021 to begin a new year list. My first butterfly seen since October I can’t remember the last time I didn’t see a November or December butterfly in a year which happened in 2020 so it felt like it had been ages since I saw one of these insects, but at the same time when I saw the one flying it was as though there had been no gap and butterfly days were here again. And I was so thrilled and happy.

It was a top species to open with too. A favourite of mine for around 10 years, it has four times been my first butterfly species of the year now which is the most for any species for me and is my fourth earliest ever sighting of the species in a year. It was a year tick at Magdalen Hill last year too on a daily exercise walk in April one of my best walks of the year with Green Hairstreak the one I took the picture of which I felt was one of my best ever butterfly shots and notably so many more butterflies starring and that’s four times it’s been a year tick here so it is a strong place for this beautiful red and black species my favourite colour scheme. I took the first picture in this photoset of this Red Admiral. I have only photographed my very first individual butterfly in a year twice as they usually fly very erratically early on in the season and high up etc. making it harder, the last time was a Red Admiral too recently three years ago at Blanford Forum, Dorset in February 2018 the last time this species was my first of the year. To indicate that point neither picture was with my usual for butterflies closeup macro lens the one before because I didn’t have it on a walk on a still winter’s day I didn’t expect to need it and today this one was too far away to get close to and was high up in a tree when I got the picture. It felt so brilliant to get off the mark with seeing and photographing butterflies this spring it brought me a lot of happiness.

In those opening minutes of the walk today spring had well and truly sprung and we had a phenomenal few moments. Firstly we saw a glorious looking Chiffchaff scuttling through branches shining as it went, and then heard its nice little short one note alternative call to saying its name. Moments later and it was another important first, my first Skylark singing this year one of the greatest and most beautiful sounds in nature. And always such a landmark. We couldn’t quite see one on our walk at this key site for them but I very much hope to soon.

As we walked on I took the second, third and fourth pictures in this photoset of yet more catkins lately, one of many Long-tailed Tits it was fantastic to see today a star bird of the afternoon and another tree with buds about to blossom lately. I then took the fifth, sixth and seventh pictures in this photoset of beautiful views in excellent unbroken sunshine with bright blue skies. Today we really enjoyed on our walk in great weather taking in the scale of a place, being somewhere so open where you could see rolling scenery yes but also such a lot of sky too which was peaceful and brilliant. Wildlife wise we saw a lot else as we walked on too it became a red day with some special views of Redwings very possibly our last view of any this season you never know and I will miss them its been probably my best autumn/winter for Redwings and thrushes in general with so many of a few of the species seen and Redwings getting to enjoy them so much very locally at Lakeside where its so good for them going there more days than normal due to working from home.

I haven’t often seen Redwing the same day as butterflies or Chiffchaffs or hearing a Skylark so this meant it acted as a great unique meeting point between winter and spring summing up the vibes lately.

The red hat trick today was complete as we saw three Red-legged Partridges quite mysteriously and entertainingly dashing across and then flying from a field it was quite a sight not knowing what they were until we got binoculars on them. Its been great to see these two weekends running. I also took the eighth picture in this photoset of another brilliant sun through trees scene after one on our walk yesterday this weekend lending itself to this so well, and ninth picture in this photoset of a lovely white flower in the garden when home which I photographed recently and tenth and final picture in this photoset of another stunning sunset tonight they are starting to look really nice and orange when its the right day for them and the sun is shifting right across the sky from my room so my window is looking a little bit more directly onto the sunset now where I so often take so many picture of it and see them in spring, summer and autumn after long winter months of only just being visible to the left out of my window. This winter being at home all the time I did make the most of these more though but its so exciting getting towards summer seeing them further right.

Wildlife Sightings Summary on the Magdalen Hill walk: My first of one of my favourite butterflies the Red Admiral this year, Bees, Redwing, plenty of Robins, loads of Woodpigeons, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit heard and seen, a delightful group of Meadow Pipits on power cables that in the light you could faintly see so if you didn’t know better it was as though they were floating in the air which was interesting, Red-legged Partridge, Carrion Crow and I heard my first Skylark of the year.

Well that brings to an end a fantastic spring weekend with so much beauty and wonder to take in as we are delightfully thrust a little into my favourite time of year such an optimistic, busy, critical and fantastic time to love nature and what we all need right now. And it also ends a brilliant second month of the year for me. February has been a smashing month, snow and ice which was really stunning to see in probably the coldest part of the winter being replaced with a beautiful delve into spring with warmer and brighter weather towards the end of the month was so notable and quite defined the month. I very much enjoyed seeing spring gradually emerge, from birds at Lakeside I knew only came in the spring to breed and catkins that transformed that landscape to go green and others increasingly throughout leading up to the place we are in for exciting wildflowers and insects now. Its also been as I said in yesterday’s blog a month of smashing birds with five crucial year ticks with some rarer species being able to see them safely was great to keep my year list ticking over. Thank you so much for all your comments, interactions and support this month, I wish you all a great and safe March.

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into-control · 4 years

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🌹 camren recap of 2019: part 2 (april - june)

(1) (2) (3) (4)

april 4th:

only lesbians listen to king princess:

musical gfs:

april 5th:

tyren breakup rumours (finally):

april 7th:

camila danced to worth it!

april 10th:

alejandro sanz liked a camren post:

you got a little something in your up next queue, chris:

april 11th:

dinah reposted an OT5 performance on her story:

april 13th:

MTV said prince lauren rights:

april 15th:

lauren and ty tweeted these things and lauren unfollowed ty on instagram:

dinah maybe made a reference to trials and tribulations

she also made a reference to cinderella where it was irrelevant, not long after it was announced that camila would be playing said character:

april 17th:

lauren and ty officially split up two days off from exactly 2 years since the rumours started in 2017:

april 18th:

camila posted a picture that happened to be used for an audio of more than that posted only two days earlier on her story:

camila also tweeted about the 1975 two days after the five year anniversary of her attending their concert with lauren in LA:

april 19th:

camila liked an instagram post about her then-recent IG stories where both her and lauren were tagged:

april 21st:

lauren went to coachella and posted a video of H.E.R. on her story.

the next day, camila followed her on IG:

april 29th:

peculiar song choice, lauren:

may 1st:

on this day, camila was in the studio with frank dukes.

as of then, frank’s most recent post on instagram was this:

two hours after the initial story with camila in it, lauren posted this on her story:

may 2nd:

clara and dinah liked carlene’s OT5 post:

may 6th:

havana played before ally’s set in brazil:

may 9th:

lauren paid the havana palace theater a visit:

may 10th:

orange gfs:

additionally, camila has a bag most commonly recognized as an item from bali, a place lauren and dinah had just recently returned from.

may 21st:

lauren and camila went to the gym on the same day and made it known:

may 22nd:

camila followed rosalia at the same time lauren liked one of her posts:

may 23rd:

lauren liked a post with a camren caption:

may 26th:

dinah with the camren refernces:

may 27th (and so it begins):

camila and shawn were oh so candidly captured having lunch together:

the next day, lauren followed camila mendes, a combination of camila’s first middle name and shawn’s last name.

may 30th:

mark ronson released find u again featuring camila, and it included lyrics from an old unreleased song (U shaped space) and something else eye catching:

la cienega is a boulevard in los angeles that is likely very important to camila because she spent a lot of time around there when she was in fifth harmony. la cienaga blvd is very close to CBS television city, where 5H’s season of the x factor was filmed:

la cienaga is also nearby la parc suite, a hotel the girls often stayed at before and after camila’s departure:

may 31st:

normani referenced the party her and the girls had in the me & my girls music video as how she celebrates her birthday:

june 2nd:

lauren and camila posted corresponding bed videos on their stories:

june 2nd:

one of camila’s co-writers called her a gay icon under her pride month post:

june 3rd:

camila posted a piece of art by frank moth. from the caption of his post:

“we used to live there”

remember?

that world is still waiting for us.

this could be referencing the world lauren and camila used to live in when camila was still in fifth harmony, how they were still allowed to interact.

june 4th:

camila liked a picture of her with #laurenjaregui in the caption:

june 12th:

on june 4th, camila was announced to be performing at iheartradio’s music festival in las vegas, however she didn’t announce it herself right away. when she finally did, it was the day lauren arrived in las vegas.

june 14th:

lauren liked a post about pisces:

june 15th:

right after camila’s performance with alejandro, lauren posted a plain screenshot of her lock screen, which looked a little similar to camila’s dress:

june 17th:

lauren and camila missed performing. the picture lauren posted was from the 7/27 tour:

june 19th:

maybe a coincidence but interesting nonetheless:

june 20th:

alejandro said fuck shawmila rights:

june 21st:

shawn the pathological liar:

two instances where the past proves otherwise: (x) (x)

shawn was also quite close with ally while on tour.

june 22nd:

chance the rapper followed camila on instagram, and then lauren praised him on her story:

june 23rd:

camila only smokes girl blunts:

lauren posted a video of herself in the car listening to suge by dababy. on july 16th, camila did the same thing. on november 29th, it was confirmed that dababy is a feature on romance. link

june 25/26th:

camila and matthew’s breakup was announced 18 months after the beach pictures circulated at the beginning of 2018 and shawn was widely blamed:

june 27th:

camila liked ariana’s post, which included a picture of normani:

june 28th:

a day after lauren’s birthday, camila posted a video of her listening to venice bitch by lana del rey while petting thunder. lana is lauren’s favourite artist and thunder was likely a gift from lauren to camila at the beginning of 2018. link

another coincidence? (probably)

june 30th:

goddess is an understatement:

part 3

#recap #2019

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trentteti · 4 years

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All the LSAT News from 2019

The end of 2019 fast approaching. If 2019 were an LSAT, we’d have just finished making our frantic, final answer selections in the fifth section, and would now be listening to the proctor drone on about some final instructions before being dismissed. Which is to say that our minds would be drifting away from the LSAT and towards how much we’re going to celebrate finishing the test. But before we let our minds drift away from 2019 and towards our New Year’s Eve celebrations, we thought it’d be appropriate to reflect on all the changes to the LSAT this year brought.

In fact, there were so many changes this year. You could argue that the LSAT changed more this year than it had in its entire twenty-eight-year run since taking its modern form in 1991. The number of LSATs administered in 2019 increased dramatically. The test went digital in July. There was a major change to one of the sections of the test — OK, it was just the Writing section, but still. With so many changes to the LSAT in 2019, let’s take a trip through the year to review just how much this exam changed.

January 2019

Even back in January we knew 2019 would bring a ton of changes to the LSAT, but LSAC threw a curveball at us by announcing that they’d be changing the way the LSAT Writing section was administered. LSAC said it would remove the Writing section from test day in June, allowing test takers to take the section at home, on their own computer.

Later that month, the January LSAT was administered. Although it was one of the “nondisclosed” tests that don’t get released — so we never got an in-depth look at it — we learned a few things about the exam. Most agreed that the Logic Games section was the most difficult, made difficult by some hard-to-parse rules. As it turned out, that would be a recurring theme this year — the games given in 2019 would be a little trickier than usual. Read more about the January 2019 LSAT and test takers’ reactions here:

January 2019 LSAT Instant Reaction January 2019 Post-LSAT Carnival

February 2019

This was an unusually quiet February, LSAT-wise, since the typical February exam was pushed to March in 2019. Scores for the January LSAT were released on Valentine’s Day, of all days … and that was about it. Without much LSAT content to feast on, we honored Valentine’s Day by making some LSAT-themed cards and Valentine’s Day logic games, and honored Presidents’ Day by doing a deep dive our favorite facts about presidents who were lawyers.

March 2019

A lot of LSAT- and law school-related news came out in March. We learned that the students of Southern California law school Western State would not be getting their student loan disbursements, which augured the potential closing of that school (it, in a surprise twist, would get sold to Westcliff University and started classes for enrolled students in August). The 2019-2020 U.S. News & World Report law school rankings dropped. And then the March 2019 LSAT was administered. Like January, it was also the first of its kind. Also like January, it was a nondisclosed test, so we never got an extensive look at it. Based on student murmurs, it seemed like the game about the improbably named towns of Quandaryville and Pleasantville was the most difficult part of the test. Read more here:

March 2019 LSAT Instant Reaction March 2019 Post-LSAT Carnival

April 2019

April didn’t exactly shower us with LSAT or law school news. Scores were released for the March exam … and that was about it. We were all excited for the Game of Thrones premiere, so we wrote about LSAT lessons learned from that series. Say what you will about that series’s wet fart of a final season, but at least we got some pearls of wisdom and LSAT content out of it.

May 2019

With switch to the digital LSAT looming, LSAC put some free practice exams in the digital format on its website. We weren’t terribly impressed with the initial interface, though LSAC did eventually make some changes to make it more user friendly. We also did our part to prepare students for the digital LSAT by distinguishing the facts from the fictions about the format change and giving some advice on how to do the online version of the LSAT Writing section.

June 2019

June — which marks the technical beginning of the non-Gregorian LSAT “year” (running from June 1 to May 31, according to LSAC) — saw the first major changes to the LSAT in 2019. For the June test, LSAC officially removed the LSAT Writing section from test day, allowing June test takers to do the section at the time of their choice from the comfort of their homes. When that change came, we tried out the new version of the Writing section, and gave it a very positive review.

If you still have to complete the Writing section, one tip: follow the directions of the security portion of the exam very carefully. After speaking with many test takers, the biggest issue they had with the new version of the exam is getting their LSAT Writing response rejected because there was some “testing irregularity” — read: they didn’t follow the directions entirely. Now, we really doubt that anyone is trying to cheat on the unscored Writing section. Still, for whatever reason, there are a ton of hoops and ladders you’ll have to jump through to do the at-home-version of the section. It’s not a big deal if you get your response is rejected — you’ll just have to do the Writing section again. But to avoid that hassle, make sure to follow all the directions as closely as you can.

The June LSAT was also the last paper-and-pencil version of the test, so technophobic pre-law students signed up in droves to take it. The June exam was administered on the third of the month and, despite having one more question than most LSATs, was generally considered to be a “fair” test, although many complained that the Reading Comprehension section was quite difficult. Fortunately for us, June exams are “disclosed,” so a copy of the test was made public once the scores were released. After we took a look at the June exam, we agreed that the Reading Comp was quite frustrating. Read more about that exam here:

June 2019 LSAT Instant Reaction An In-Depth Look at the June 2019 LSAT

With the unveiling of the digital LSAT in July, we also spent some time preparing our readers for that format switch. We discussed how to get prepared for the digital test, and how to do Reading Comp on the digital test, since marking up the passage with a pencil was no longer possible.

July 2019

July is when things got really crazy for the LSAT. The July LSAT, based on announcements made in 2018, was going to be a totally unique test administration. For one, it would be the test day that LSAC finally unveiled the digital test. However, LSAC would only be administering the digital test to about half of people taking the test. The other half would be given the traditional paper-and-pencil test. And test takers wouldn’t know which version of the test they were getting until test day. This was done so LSAC could conduct a comparative study on the two versions of the test, to make sure that test takers weren’t performing dramatically better on one version of the test. As a reward for being human guinea pigs in LSAC’s studies, July test takers got an unprecedented perk — they could elect to cancel their scores after seeing their score and retake the test for free. Perhaps unsurprisingly, about half of all July test takers took LSAC up on that offer.

The administration of the digital LSAT went, on balance, fairly smoothly. However, there were definitely a few reported hiccups. Many test takers noted that they found it difficult to see their screens clearly under the glare of overhead lights. Many also claimed that the provided stylus made it slightly cumbersome to highlight or underline text or select answer choices. Several test centers experienced significant delays as proctors worked to make the tablets functional. And there were a couple of test centers that had to cancel the test altogether. These issues would, unfortunately, be a recurring theme at test administrations for the rest of the year.

As for the July test itself, most agreed that it was a fairly difficult exam, with a few brutal passages and some very tough games. Read more about the July exam here:

July 2019 LSAT Instant Reaction

August 2019

With all the madness June and July wrought, August was a calmer month for LSAT and law school news. We finally got all the data about last year’s law school admissions cycle, which we summarized here (and will also summarize here: the number of applicants are up overall, but the number of applicants with good LSAT scores has remained steady or even decreased for certain score bands, so having a great LSAT score is still a huge competitive advantage). And in preparation for the first all-digital LSAT in September, we made a comprehensive guide on digital LSAT strategies and updated our test center review page.

And on August 28th, scores from the July exam were finally released. As we discussed above, almost half of all July test takers canceled their score.

September 2019

The LSAT became fully digital in September. Unless you were taking the exam outside of the U.S. and Canada or had special testing accommodations, you were taking the September exam on a tablet. And that’s how the LSATs would work for all subsequent tests, including the October and November tests held later in 2019. People who took the September test had some thoughts on how the newly digital test went. As on the July exam, most reports on the digital test were positive. It seems like most test takers prefer the digital test to the paper-and-pencil version, unless there’s a significant delay in starting the exam or malfunctioning hardware. Unfortunately, there continued to be a number of test takers who reported significant delays or malfunctioning hardware.

As for the content of the September test … it was a hard one. After the exam, test takers expressed a lot of frustration about the difficulty of the games and passages, with the most ire reserved for the so-called “flower game.” Since the September test was disclosed, we got to take a look at the test. And we agreed. It was definitely a hard one (though the difficulty of the “flower game,” we felt, was maybe a bit overstated). Anyway, read more about the September exam and test taker reactions here:

September 2019 LSAT Instant Reaction September 2019 Post-LSAT Carnival An In-Depth Look at the September 2019 LSAT

October 2019

In October, we got what was probably the most unexpected news about the LSAT of the year: the Logic Games section will maybe, one day, disappear. LSAC reached a settlement with a few blind test takers and, according to the statement released by those test takers’ attorney, the Logic Games section would be removed from the test within the next five years. However, according to LSAC’s statement on the matter, they promised only to research alternatives to the Logic Games section during the next five years. So who knows when or how that section is going to change. But this news was still shocking enough to make our resident LSAT nerd write an impassioned defense of logic games.

Outside of that news, the October LSAT came and went. The October test was another nondisclosed test, but according to test takers, it was another fairly difficult test. An unfortunate trend of 2019! Read more about the October exam here:

October 2019 LSAT Instant Reaction October 2019 Post-LSAT Carnival

November 2019

LSAC saw it fit to make one more change to the test in November. It made the surprise announcement that it would now release an applicant’s LSAT score to law schools before that applicant completed the at-home Writing section of that test. We noted how this shouldn’t change your approach to completing the Writing section or applying to law school, but this was still one last change to a test that got so thoroughly changed in 2019.

In addition to that announcement, there was the November LSAT, the last test of the calendar year 2019. Overall, the Logical Reasoning questions, Reading Comp passages, and logic games on the November test weren’t quite as difficult as those on the June or September tests. However, we felt the “curve” for November test was somewhat ungenerous. And, most concerningly, there were a lot of test center disasters for the November exam. Many test centers could not hold the LSAT as planned, so LSAT had to offer a make-up exam to affected test takers on December 8th. Read more about the November test here:

November 2019 LSAT Instant Reaction November 2019 Post-LSAT Carnival An In-Depth Look at the November 2019 LSAT

December 2019

After so many changes, surprise announcements, and trends to monitor throughout 2019, December has been a relatively quiet month. Though I suppose I shouldn’t speak so hastily — there are still two days left for LSAC to announce that the LSAT is now going back to the paper-and-pencil version of the exam, or it’s now going to be a dance recital, or that it’s going to merge with the GRE to form a super test. But, even if those final changes do not come to pass, 2019 has been a wild ride for those of us who have to take or teach the LSAT. Nevertheless, it’s been a pleasure being on this ride with you. We wish you a safe and happy New Year. All the LSAT News from 2018

All the LSAT News from 2019 was originally published on Blueprint LSAT Blog

#Digital LSAT #LSAT #News #score release #trent teti #lsat

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mitchbeck · 5 years

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CANTLON'S CORNER: WOLF PACK OFF SEASON REPORT - VOLUME 7

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The ECHL's Kelly Cup has been won. The AHL's Calder Cup winner was decided. On Wednesday night, the top award in professional hockey, the Stanley Cup will be awarded to either the St. Louis Blues or the hosting Boston Bruins. While that might be the top talk of the sport right now, it's not all that's going on in what was once again another busy week in the off-season. PACK UPDATE When JD speaketh people listen. In his first interview since taking over the Presidency of the New York Rangers, John Davidson spoke about the direction of the organization he now commands will be taking. The first topic he spoke about was here in Hartford and the dysfunction that has been the Wolf Pack over the past five years which is how long it's been since their last playoff appearance. Not only have they not made the playoffs, but the Wolf Pack have been languishing at or near the bottom of the entire AHL over that span. It's been one season worse than the next with no winning, no player development, and no fan happiness. Read about it HERE. LARRY PLEAU FEATURE Larry Pleau is one of the true Hartford Whaler legends. In his early career, the Lynn, MA native played for the 1963-64 Memorial Cup finalists Montreal N.D.G. (Notre Dame de Grace) Monarchs with future NHL’ers Carol Vadnais and Rogie Vachon, and the head coach was a very young, Scotty Bowman. He played in the AHL just before the WHA emerged. He played for the first Montreal-based team AHL team, the Voyageurs. They finished tops in a nine-team AHL but lost a second-round, three-team round-robin series to Buffalo and Springfield. He played for Montreal in 1971-72, after starting with the AHL team that moved to Nova Scotia, that lost to the Rangers in six games. Pleau jumped to the renegade WHA the following year. He played for the New England Whalers in their first season in Boston where they won the WHA Avco Cup. Pleau played all in seven New England Whaler WHA seasons, finishing as the second all-time leading scorer with 372 points to Tom Webster’s 425. He was tops in assists with 215 and second in games played with his 468 to Rick Ley’s 478. Brad Selwood was third with 431. When the Hartford Whalers were born, Pleau was with the team in its early NHL days. After retiring as a player, he worked behind the bench. Pleau as an assistant for two seasons (1979-1981) before being elevated to the head coach where he replaced Don Blackburn in 1981, Pleau was a head coach until 1983 before he making a second foray into the AHL, but as a coach. He was the head coach in Binghamton, who, at the time, was the Whalers' top affiliate, from 1984-1988. He won the AHL Coach of the Year (Louis A. Pieri Award) in 1985-86. He was brought back as a Whalers' head coach once again in 1987 as a mid-season replacement to Jack Evans where he stayed until 1989. Pleau hooked-up for a long association with the Rangers. He was there from 1989-1997 as their assistant GM, and Director of Player Development. He was also the last General Manager for the Rangers' Binghamton affiliate from 1995-1997 before the Rangers moved their farm team to Hartford. He moved on to become the GM of the St. Louis Blues from 1997-2010 and is still in a Senior Advisor role with the Blues. Read a fabulous piece on his relationship with the Blues HERE. CALDER CUP FINALS The high-speed hockey train called the Charlotte Checkers won their first Calder Cup title. Trailing by a 3-1 score on Thursday night, the Checkers dominated the second half of the game and scored four unanswered goals for a 5-3 win over the Chicago Wolves. They then went on to clinch their first title Saturday night in Chicago with another 5-3 win. In the deciding game, Morgan Geekie had a goal and two points, Andrew Poturalski scored twice and Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 26 of the 29 shots to have AHL Commissioner, Dave Andrews, come down and present the team with the Calder Cup. In Game 4, Nicolas Roy scored two goals, Martin Necas also chipped in with two points and ex-Wolf Pack, Dustin Tokarski, picked up his sixth win in the AHL post-season without a loss. Tokarski finished the campaign with a 13-0 record since being reassigned to Charlotte by the Rangers on February 28th in a swap that sent defenseman Josh Wesley to Hartford. The last Wolf Pack playoff win was on May 15, 2015, in a 6-3 win over the Hershey Bears. The Pack was led by Marek Hrvik, who had a hat trick. The Pack has had 56 franchise hat tricks during the regular season, but only four in the playoffs. The record for goals in a playoff game is held by Chris Kenady. He had four goals on April 20, 2000, against Springfield. Also that year, the Manchester Monarchs, in their last AHL season, swept the Pack en route to the Calder Cup. They scored the game’s first goal in 15 of the 19 playoffs games that year winning all 15 games. Charlotte’s performance is the only team that has come close to that level of perfection, During this playoff season, the Checkers scored first eight times, but in three of their wins, the opponent scored first. KELLY CUP FINALS In their first ECHL season, the Newfound Growlers captured the championship in six games. They won the decisive championship game 4-3 over the Toledo Walleye at Mile One Centre in St. John’s. They became the first, first-year team to win the title since the Greensboro Monarchs in 1990, who were then coached by former Whaler, Jeff Brubaker. Former QU Bobcat goalie Michael Garteig played in 19 playoff contests for the championship squad. Five members of the team were from St. John’s, starting with playoff MVP, Zach O’Brien (16 goals and 29 points), and including captain James Melindy, Marcus Power, and Adam Pardy (Bonavista), a former NHL defenseman rounded out the playing quartet. After the game, Pardy announced he was retiring after giving his nephew a championship to see in person. The fifth Newfie was former New Haven Nighthawk, and Rangers assistant coach, and Mt. Pearl native, Darryl Williams, who is in his second coaching stint in his native province. The first was with the St. John’s Fog Devils (QMJHL) where, for three seasons, he was an assistant coach. He was hired temporarily in December with the medical absence taken by head coach and ex-Ranger, Ryane Clowe. He was formally added to the staff at the end of January. Williams is a St. John’s resident. Williams was a rough and tumble player during his skating days. He had 495 PIM in 136 AHL games along with 29 goals and 56 points. They all came during his time with New Haven, "Willy," as he was known, played and racked up 1,906 PIM in 540 IHL games along with 98 goals and 224 points. He played with Phoenix, Long Beach, and Detroit. He played in only two NHL games in 1992-’83 and had 10 PIM. Ex-Pack, Matt Register, played for the runner-up, Toledo Walleye. He climbed the statistical ECH playoff ladder with 124 playoff games played and 14 assists in the Kelly Cup Finals. UCONN 2019-20 SCHEDULE RELEASED The Huskies hit the XL Center for the first time on November 11th and 13th. It's a Friday and Saturday night with two non-conference games against Army (WCHA) for the home opener and then RPI from ECACHL conference the following night. The first Hockey East game will be against Merrimack on November 1st. They then will mark their visit ever from Miami (OH) (NCHC) on November 29-30, a week after Thanksgiving. The first-ever Connecticut Ice tourney with all four CT Division I college teams is from January 25th and 26th at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport. The schedule is HERE. NAHL DRAFT One of the last two major North American drafts was held last Tuesday when the US Tier II junior circuit-the North American Hockey league. Here are the CT connected draftees. Matt Crasa (Selects Academy at South Kent Prep) was selected in the second round (31st overall) by the Amarillo (TX) Bulls. Crasa is a Sacred Heart University (AHA) commit for 2020-21. He was drafted by the Sioux City Stampede (USHL) this spring and by Windsor Spitfires (OHL) in 2017 Cooper Swift, (West Hartford/Choate Prep) also went in the second round (35th overall) by the Jamestown Rebels. He was selected by the Fargo Force (USHL) in their draft earlier in the spring. Corey Clifton was drafted in the third round (55th overall) by the Corpus Christi (TX) IceRays. He will become the third Clifton from his Matawan, NJ family to play at Quinnipiac University (ECACHL) in 2020-21. He played this season with the Surrey Eagles (BCHL) and was just traded this week to the Trail Smoke Eaters to play next season. He was drafted by Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL) in 2017 and previously by the Aston Rebels (NAHL) in 2017. His brother, Connor Clifton, is competing for the Stanley Cup with the Bruins while his oldest brother, Tim Clifton, is with the San Jose Barracuda (AHL). Ian Pierce of Kent Prep went in the third round (60th overall) to the St. Cloud Blizzard. He is a Dartmouth (ECACHL) commit for 2020-21. Kennedy O’Connor (Loomis Chaffee) also went in round three (67th overall) to the Shreveport (LA) Mudbugs. He is a UMASS-Amherst (HE) commit for 2021-22. The Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL) took him in their draft in April. Carter Primo Self, (Selects Academy at South Kent Prep) was taken in the fifth round (127th overall) by the Amarillo Bulls and is a Miami (OH) (NCHC) commit for 2020-21. Matt Iasenza of Canterbury Prep (New Milford) went in the sixth round (144th overall) to the New Jersey Titans and has no college commit at this time. Philip Ekberg of the CT Jr, Rangers (USPHL) was taken in the ninth round (212th overall) by the Maryland Black Bears and also in uncommitted at this time. Logan Martinson, the son of former Nighthawk, Steve Martinson, the current coach of Allen (ECHL), was taken in the tenth round (236th overall) by the New Mexico Ice Wolves. He was selected by Langley (BCHL) in their 2018 Draft and in 2017 by Tri-City (USHL). The another CT Jr. Ranger was taken. Maxim Kuznetsov went in the tenth round (260th overall) by the Johnstown. Tomahawks. The last amateur draft before the NHL Draft in Vancouver in two weeks will be the QMJHL (Quebec Major Junior Hockey League) in Quebec City on Saturday at the Videotron Centre. PLAYER & COACHING MOVEMENT Ex-Sound Tiger head coach Jack Capuano was hired as an associate head coach for the Ottawa Senators. Five more AHL’ers leaves for Europe. Josh Jooris, the ex-Ranger, leaves the Toronto Marlies and heads to HC Lausanne (Switzerland-LNA) on a rare three-year deal. Jooris holds Swiss citizenship. When his father Mark Jooris, a Vancouver scout and Junior A coach, played for Lausanne in the 1990s, he also played some junior hockey there before they returning to Canada. Libor Sulak leaves Grand Rapids for Severstal Cherepovets (Russia-KHL). Braden Christoffer goes from Bakersfield to Sterjen (Norway-NEL). Travis Murphy and Andrej Suster both go from San Diego to Kunlun (China-KHL) on two-year deals. These exits make 36 AHL’ers to sign in Europe. 21 of the league's 31 teams have now lost at least one player to Europe. Ex-Sound Tiger defenseman Mathieu Gagnon Brampton (ECHL) signs with Manchester (England-EIHL). Kevin Morris, (Salisbury Prep), the son of ex-Nighthawk, Mark Morris, announces his retirement after playing with Coventry (England-EIHL) this past season. He completed his MBA and heads off to the working world. Alex Barron (Quinnipiac University) signs with HK Dukla Michalovce (Slovakia-SLEL) after splitting last season with EHC Freiburg (Germany DEL-2) and HK SKP Propad (Slovakia-SLEL). Mitch Ferguson of Division III SUNY-Geneseo (SUNYAC) signs with GHC Bordeaux (France-FREL) next season. That raises the number of college players signing in Europe to 33 and the total number of collegians to have signed pro deals art 218. Ex-Sound Tiger, Peter Mannino, who was let go at the University Miami (OH) (NCHC) as their associate head coach, doesn't stay unemployed long. He lands with the Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL) as their new head coach. The Sioux Falls Stampede are the new USHL Clark Cup champions. They completed a three-game sweep in their best-of-five final over the Chicago Steel by the score of 5-1. Leading the way for Sioux Falls was goaltender Jaxson Stauber, the son of former Wolf Pack and Nighthawk goalie, Robb Stauber. The younger Stauber head to the University Minnesota-Mankato (NCHC) in the fall. Chicago was led by their head coach, the former Wolf Pack captain, and Sound Tiger, Greg Moore. THE CRAZY WORLD OF BILLY TIBBETTS The following link is of ex-Pack, Ranger, and Danbury Whaler, Billy Tibbetts. He actually ran for the Scituate, MA city council and lost. It’s a tour de force performance of classic Tibbetts and his riding high, riding low. It's unfiltered, raw, and unbridled. WARNING: For those sensitive to foul language, there are swear-words in some of these series of one and two-minute video clips. Tibbets is a lot of things, boring isn't one of them. HERE Read the full article

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rickhorrow · 5 years

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10 To Watch : Mayors Edition 42219

RICK HORROW’S TOP SPORTS/BIZ/TECH/PHILANTHROPY ISSUES FOR THE WEEK OF APRIL 22 : MAYORS EDITION with Jacob Aere

Networks have unveiled their plans for this week’s NFL Draft, which begins April 25. Disney’s presentation of the event will feature over a thousand production elements, with over 600 player highlights, and 57 cameras covering the action. ESPN’s traditional draft telecast, presented for the fourth year by Courtyard, features host Trey Wingo, NFL Draft analysts Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay, and many others. Meanwhile, ABC’s differentiated coverage will focus on the journey of NFL Draft prospects, and feature “Good Morning America’s” Robin Roberts, host Rece Davis, and ESPN’s “GameDay” crew: Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, David Pollack, Tom Rinaldi, Maria Taylor, and Chris “The Bear” Fallica. Meanwhile, NFL Media will deliver more than 76 live hours of Draft Week coverage, including a record 23 draft war room cameras. Before the first round on Thursday, NFL Draft Red Carpet airs with NFL Network's Melissa Stark and Michael Irvin interviews prospects as they arrive. By harnessing everything from hardcore sports to lifestyle coverage, both the Disney family of networks and the NFL itself demonstrate their awareness that the Draft is now must-see TV and the NFL is now a 52-week sport.

Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber has announced that the league will expand to 30 teams in the coming years, up from the previous expansion target of 28. In 2006, MLS had 11 teams. This season, there are 24, with another three on the way: Inter Miami CF (2020), Nashville SC (2020), and Austin FC (2021). Garber also anticipates selecting the 28th and 29th expansion teams in the coming months with no timetable set for the 30th team. Sacramento and St. Louis appear to be the frontrunners for slots No. 28 and 29, as they've both been asked to make formal presentations to the MLS Expansion Committee. The MLS Board of Governors also set the expansion fee for those two spots at $200 million apiece. Other cities whose expansion hopes may now be reignited include Charlotte, Detroit, Indianapolis, Phoenix, Raleigh, and San Diego, according to Sports Illustrated. Pro soccer is thriving in the U.S. and Canada, and expansion during the last decade has been a key driver of MLS' growth. Investors continue to be enthralled. So why not keep it going?

The Indiana Pacers have agreed to a deal keeping them in Indianapolis for the next 25 years. The agreement includes $295 million in public subsidies for renovation and expansion of Bankers Life Fieldhouse, the Pacers’ home arena. A further $360 million will be used for capital improvements, comprising $270 million from state and CIB sources, and $65 million from private investment. As part of the deal, the city of Indianapolis will also contribute $25 million for public infrastructure needs. Approved by the House of Representatives, the greenlighted bill now goes to the Senate to be voted on and secure final approval. Construction will be completed in three phases. Phase one will focus on interior renovations, scheduled for February-October, 2020. While this won’t disrupt Pacers’ home games, the WNBA Indiana Fever, who play their games during the summer, must play home games during the 2020 and 2021 seasons at another venue. Herbert Simon, the team's 84-year-old owner, has said he wants to keep the Pacers in Indiana and that his son, Steve Simon, will take over the franchise, which has been in their family since 1983.

After winning his fifth green jacket on Sunday, Tiger Woods learned last Monday that he would also be receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Donald Trump, the highest civilian honor in the United States. Trump announced in a tweet that he had spoken to Woods and would be presenting him with the prestigious honor. The honor is not one to be taken lightly. Woods will become just the fourth golfer to receive the medal, joining Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Charlie Sifford. While Nicklaus and Palmer were given the medal by President George W. Bush during his presidency, Sifford, who was a mentor to Woods, was honored five years ago by President Barack Obama. When Sifford was awarded the medal, Woods tweeted his congratulations. Woods will be the fourth athlete to receive the award during President Trump’s time in office, joining Babe Ruth, Roger Staubach, and Alan Page.

Tiger Woods’ comeback Masters win delivered $22.5 million in exposure to Nike, according to sponsorship analytics firm Apex Marketing Group. As Tiger made his final round charge towards the title, he is estimated to have generated more than $23.6 million in total exposure for his sponsors. While AT&T, Gillette, and Tag Heuer left Woods as he suffered image issues related to marriage infidelity, substance abuse, and injury, that opened the door to new partners such as Monster Energy – Woods’ golf bag sponsor – which saw $960,000 in exposure during his final round at Augusta. CBS News noted Nike's stock price rose 2% after The Masters began and "continued to edge up Monday" following Woods' victory, adding more than $2 billion to Nike's market value. The "Tiger effect" was also "enough to boost the stock prices of other golf brands." Callaway Golf "spiked as much" as 4% from the start of The Masters through Monday. Acushnet Holdings, which owns Titleist, "jumped nearly" 5% in the same period. However, not even Tiger trying to chase down Jack Nicklaus’ record 18 major wins can change golf’s trajectory – more than ever, it is a game for the aging and not the more desirable demographic, the young.

It’s never too early to get in the Games. NBCUniversal has teamed with the Olympic organizing committee LA 2028 to offer brands advertising opportunities ahead of the 2028 Olympics, to be held in Los Angeles – the first Summer Games to be held in the U.S. since 1996. A sales team is being built by NBCU and LA2028 (plus the USOC) that will begin presenting opportunities for brands to associate themselves with four sets of games crowned by the 2028 Summer Games in L.A. With the first summer games in the U.S. in more than three decades set to arrive in 2028, this partnership marks a new type of opportunity for marketers to get involved in the Olympics — which is shaping up to make an unrivaled economic and cultural impact. “At no other time in Olympic and Paralympic history have the stakes been higher…We are at an inflection point in the sports, lifestyle and live event business that demands a complete reimagining of the model and approach to embracing and involving marketers,” said LA2028 Chair Casey Wasserman. The move is highly unusual, as normally the Olympic organizing committees and broadcast partners pursue sponsorship deals independently.

MLB is bringing the 2026 All-Star Game to Philadelphia, as part of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred last week said the league’s typical process of awarding All-Star games “went out the window” with the move to award the 2026 game to the Phillies. Manfred has sought to make competitive bidding and sequential awarding of All-Star Games key tenets of his tenure since his 2014 election. However, during an event at Independence Mall last week to announce the selection, Manfred said the move to tie the 2026 game to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence was a personal decision that followed more than two years of repeated requests from Phillies Chair and close friend Dave Montgomery. Said Manfred, “Dave never asked for a favor for the Phillies or for himself. But two years ago, he began asking for this game and to announce it soon.” Fittingly, awarding the 2026 MLB All-Star Game to Philadelphia mirrors the 1976 event that was played at Veterans Stadium, and tied into America’s bicentennial.

Port of Oakland says A's waterfront ballpark would pose safety risks. The Port of Oakland’s maritime industry is "raising red flags" over the A’s waterfront ballpark plan, claiming that the 34,000-seat venue and housing project "would pose both a safety risk to ships and a threat to the port’s future as a major, regional economic engine," according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The A’s counter that the project "wouldn’t endanger any port jobs or adversely impact the port’s shipping business." The commission "finds itself having to balance the needs and future of the third-largest port on the West Coast with the desire" of Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and the A’s to "create a new neighborhood" along the waterfront. Unlike the Giants’ Oracle Park, which "sits on a relatively quiet stretch of waterfront," the A’s ballpark "would be perched right on the edge of the port’s Inner Harbor turning basin." The basin is a "key waterway where each week bar pilots turn around an average of 25 ships" after the vessels "unload and load cargo at two nearby terminals." The pilots are very concerned about the ballpark’s lights, which they claim can act like a car’s high beams and interfere with a navigator’s vision.

A Bay Area high schooler creates a charity to help sports communities around the world. Shevali Kadakia suffered a concussion at age 15 that put her on the sidelines, unable to play soccer or basketball for a long period of time. She realized that she had accumulated a surplus of uniforms during her time playing sports over the years, and that those jerseys could be put to good use. After visiting the impoverished neighborhood of Cite Soleil in the Port-au-Prince section of Haiti, she decided to not only start donating her old jerseys, but also to start a charity. According to KRON 4, the non-profit SKCharities has been contacting colleges all across the U.S. asking athletics departments to donate old uniforms with many happy to help. The nonprofit also organizes free introductory basketball and soccer camps for children and has helped over 4,000 kids worldwide to date.

The world gets a helping hand with a MLS and Adidas Earth Day celebration. According to Hypebeast, Major League Soccer‘s social responsibility platform will run its fourth annual Greener Goals Week of Service through Earth Day. MLS Works’ Green Goals initiative explores ways to reduce the soccer body’s greenhouse gas footprint while raising awareness about environmental issues throughout the sports community. MLS has also worked with Adidas and others to create special limited edition eco-friendly kits from recycled marine plastic uniforms with all 24 clubs sporting these outfits during their games on Earth Day weekend, which took place April 19-21. Additionally, MLS clubs and staff will also be volunteering and partnering up with local charities to give back to the community. Overall, the new environment-friendly jerseys encourage soccer fans to decrease single-use plastic usage, raise awareness for plastic pollution, and generally connect sports fans with eco-friendly practices.

#10 #10towatch

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celticnoise · 4 years

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CQN continue our EXCLUSIVE extracts from Alex Gordon’s tribute book, ‘The Lisbon Lions: The 40th Anniversary’, with the spotlight on the dramatic European Cup semi-final confrontations with the Czechoslovakian champions Dukla Prague.

Here is the latest momentous episode on that never-to-be-forgotten journey to the Portuguese capital and the ultimate triumph on May 25 1967.

***

Semi-final, (first leg)

April 12, 1967

CELTIC 3 DUKLA PRAGUE 1

THIS was the night Celtic really began to believe they could become only the fifth team in history to win the European Cup.

It had seemed a dream to far, an achievement out of reach. Could they emulate Real Madrid (6), Benfica (2), Inter Milan (2) and AC Milan (1) and conquer the playing fields of Europe? Was there the merest possibility that Jock Stein’s men could become Europe’s masters?

The evening of April 12 in a frostbitten east end of Glasgow was to prove eventful as Celtic nudged ever closer to their destiny. They were up against an experienced and highly-rated Czechoslovakian side who had some world-class performers in their line-up, not least their captain and playmaker Josef Masopust.

Something – or someone – triggered Celtic that night. Willie Wallace had to sit out the previous round because he had not been signed in time to face Vojvodina.

He was in the mood to make up for lost time and didn’t it show as he put in a shift that wore down the rugged Czech rearguard.

JINKING JINKY…wee Jimmy Johnstone lifts the ball over Dukla Prague keeper Ivo Viktor for the opener.

He scored two, could have had two more and was a menace throughout the 90 minutes. The twin giants in the heart of the Czech defence were run ragged by Wallace, bought the previous December from Hearts for a snip at £35,000.

The game started with a fair bit of controversy when Stevie Chalmers had a goal disallowed. Tommy Gemmell flighted an inviting ball downfield, Wallace got a touch to Chalmers, he slipped it to Jimmy Johnstone coming in from the right and the little winger chipped it back for Chalmers to nod in at the nearpost. The referee ruled Johnstone’s foot was high in the lead-up play and cancelled the effort.

Johnstone got revenge in the 28th minute when he got one that did stand. It was a goal that started with a Ronnie Simpson kick-out and ended in the back of the Dukla net.

The keeper launched one down the middle, Chalmers got a flick and it fell for Bertie Auld who teed it up for Wallace. His shot deflected off a defender into the path of Johnstone and he gleefully lifted it over the head of the outrushing Viktor.

But that was wiped out right on the strole of half-time when the Celtic central defence got into a real muddle on their own 18-yard line. Stanislav Strunc, a beanpole striker who always looked menacing, pounced and stroked the ball away from Simpson. Parkhead fell silent. A nervous half-time period ensued until Billy McNeill led out his troops for the second-half.

IN WITH A SHOUT…Willie Wallace clips the ball over Ivo Viktor for the second goal.

Just before the hour mark, Gemmell thumped the ball forward and Wallace was running free of the Czech defence to get a wonderful touch off the outside of his right boot to send the ball soaring into the net for the second goal.

In the 65th minute a desperate Dukla player clawed away a cross from Bobby Murdoch with his hand. Free-kick! Up popped Bertie Auld, dithered a bit to unsettle the defensive wall and then touched it sideways to Wallace who rattled a screamer into the net.

Dukla were there for the taking and Celtic went for more. Chalmers slashed one past the post, Wallace hit one just wide and Murdoch sent a left-foot sizzler just over the crossbar. Wallace even knocked one against the face of the bar from a Chalmers cross and Celtic had to be content with a 3-1 first leg win.

Jock Stein had asked for a two-goal advantage. His team responded.

Team: Simpson; Craig and Gemmell; Murdoch, McNeill and Clark; Johnstone, Wallace, Chalmers, Auld and Hughes.

Second leg, April 25

DUKLA PRAGUE 0, CELTIC 0 (Agg:1-3)

STEVE CHALMERS was the Celtic hero as they cemented their place in the European Cup Final. He was asked to play a lone role up front and the striker didn’t shirk the challenge.

His lung-bursting performance that afternoon at the Jaliska Stadium is the stuff of which heroes are made. It was unlike Jock Stein, and he vowed never to repeat his tactics, but he put out a defensive formation to frustrate the Czechs. It worked, but it could have backfired if Ronnie Simpson hadn’t been alert in the early minutes of the match.

BEFORE THE KICK-OFF…Billy McNeill exhanges pennants with Dukla Prague skipper Josef Masopust.

AFTER THE FINAL WHISTLE…Billy McNeill and John Clark celebrate the goalless stalemate.

Strunc had a shot blocked and it dropped in front of Josef Nedorost about 10 yards from goal. He first-timed a vicious volley goalwards and had to step back in horror as Simpson took off to his left to touch the ball over the bar. It was the closest Dukla came to a goal that day.

Celtic, with Billy McNeill in commanding form, soaked up everything the Czechs could throw at them while Chalmers raced around chasing everything that dropped in Dukla’s half.

McNeill recalled: “What a game Stevie had in Prague. We felt a bit sorry for him. At one stage he got into a bit of bother and suddenly he was surrounded by about four of their players. We were too far away to lend him some support. Thankfully, the referee sorted it out.”

Next stop Lisbon!

Team: Simpson; Craig and Gemmell; Murdoch, McNeill and Clark; Johnstone, Wallace, Chalmers, Auld and Lennox.

TOMORROW: The Spirit of 67: The Road to Lisbon: Inter Milan.

ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT…

CQN would like to thank our readers for their patience in the interruption to the launch of Alex Gordon’s latest Celtic book, ‘Fifty Flags’, which was due to be published in March.

Unfortunately, production of the tome, which thoroughly examines the half-century of seasons in which the Parkhead men were crowned Scotland champions, came to an unfortunate halt due to the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.

The support for ‘Fifty Flags’ from the support was overwhelming and author Alex said: “The response to the book has been utterly astonishing and I can only say how totally grateful I am to CQN readers for their backing. I can only hope it will be worth the wait.

“We are depending on the printers letting us know when the run will commence and we are in their hands at the moment. It will be published this year and CQN will keep the readers up to date as we follow the bouncing ball. Thanks, though, for your patience, folks. It’s much appreciated.

“Main thing, though, in these testing times is to take care and stay safe. See you all when we get the green light.”

https://ift.tt/2SHWBrO

#CelticNoise #Celtic #CelticFC #CelticQuickNews

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jodyedgarus · 5 years

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Your Guide To The 2019 NCAA Women’s Tournament

The early release of the women’s NCAA tournament bracket on Monday afternoon actually did fans a favor: If any year merits having additional time to fill out a bracket, this year is it. Three different teams were ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll this season, and a storyline has been how open the competition was for the top spots in each region. ESPN’s Mechelle Voepel wrote on Monday night that this year’s NCAA tournament “might be as wide open as any since 2006,” with as many as seven teams that could legitimately cut down the net on April 7.

Luckily, FiveThirtyEight’s March Madness prediction model is here to guide you as you make your picks. You can read about how the model works here or keep reading to learn what the model predicts for the top seeds, which teams could make an unexpected run and which squads could bow out sooner than expected. We’re also highlighting the best first-round matchups to help you schedule your Friday and Saturday around women’s hoops.

Top seeds

The four No. 1 seeds are Baylor, Notre Dame, Louisville and Mississippi State. You read that right: UConn is not a top seed for the first time since 2006. But the Huskies are still a No. 2 seed, and they still got a regional nearby, in Albany, New York. The Huskies will host the first two rounds in Storrs, and their fans have packed Albany regionals for years — so they would essentially have home-court advantage until the Final Four. That’s a tough setup for the region’s No. 1 seed, Louisville, and the FiveThirtyEight model reflects that, giving UConn a 68 percent chance and Louisville a 24 percent chance of making the Final Four. But the Cardinals did beat UConn in January, as star guard Asia Durr scored a game-high 24 points. That win should give Louisville confidence as it chases its second straight Final Four appearance.

The selection committee created a similar setup out west, where Mississippi State is the No. 1 seed and Oregon is the No. 2. With each team hosting the first two rounds and the regional rounds being played in Portland, Oregon could make its first Final Four without leaving the state. The model gives the Ducks a 51 percent chance of doing just that behind triple-double queen Sabrina Ionescu, who could be the first pick in the WNBA draft if she declares. Mississippi State, which secured its No. 1 seed after winning its first-ever SEC tournament title, has a 44 percent chance of making the Final Four and a 10 percent chance of winning a national title. The latter would be a storybook ending for the national runners-up in each of the past two seasons.

The Greensboro, North Carolina, region is a hotbed of low-post talent, starting with the No. 1 overall seed in Baylor. The Lady Bears have had a dominant season to date, running their record to 31-1 and leading the nation in blocked shots, defensive rebounds and opponent field-goal percentage. The 6-foot-7 Kalani Brown and 6-foot-4 Lauren Cox have combined to average more than 28 points, 16 rebounds and 4 blocks per game. Not to be outdone, No. 2 seed Iowa has espnW’s national player of the year in 6-foot-3 Megan Gustafson. According to Her Hoop Stats, Gustafson is both the nation’s top scorer, putting up 28.0 points per game, and the nation’s most efficient scorer, recording 1.44 points per scoring attempt and shooting just under 70 percent from the field. There are several low-post standouts among the lower-seeded teams as well, but Baylor projects to be the best in Greensboro, with a 76 percent chance of making the Final Four.

Although Baylor is the No. 1 overall seed, it’s the top seed in the Chicago region, Notre Dame, that has the best chance of winning a national championship. The FiveThirtyEight model gives the defending champs a 30 percent chance of repeating and Baylor a 28 percent chance at its first title since 2012. The Fighting Irish returned all but one starter from last year’s team and then led the country in points per game while playing the nation’s toughest schedule. Notre Dame’s chief competition in Chicago will likely be No. 2 seed Stanford, the Pac-12 tournament champions and the only team to beat Baylor this season. Under head coach Tara VanDerveer, the Cardinal have a 56 percent chance to make the Elite Eight but just an 8 percent chance to advance to the Final Four.

Sleepers

A pair of 4-seeds could knock off some of the favorites in the Sweet 16. In Albany, Oregon State has a 21 percent chance of making the Elite Eight, potentially displacing Louisville, while South Carolina has a 10 percent chance of doing the same to Baylor in Greensboro. Oregon State finished third in what was perhaps the nation’s deepest conference, the Pac-12, and ranks fourth in the nation in 3-point shooting at 38.8 percent. If the Beavers, particularly star guard Destiny Slocum, get hot from deep, they could extend their stay on the East Coast to the Final Four. Under head coach and former Virginia point guard Dawn Staley, South Carolina also has electric guard play, which could set up a fascinating game of contrasts against Baylor in the Sweet 16. Don’t count Staley out as she chases her second national championship in the past three seasons.

Also in the Greensboro region, No. 3 North Carolina State has received relatively little attention compared with ACC rivals Louisville and Notre Dame despite starting the season 21-0. (NC State didn’t lose a game until February!) The Wolfpack would not have to leave their home state to make the Final Four, and the FiveThirtyEight model gives the team almost the same chances as No. 2 seed Iowa of advancing to the Elite Eight (40 percent versus 42 percent).

Busts

It’s perhaps a sign of progress that a mid-major team can even be considered for this category, but Gonzaga, the No. 5 seed in the Albany region, probably won’t see it that way if this prediction proves true. Gonzaga is vulnerable after two players suffered season-ending leg injuries in its conference tournament semifinal. The model still gives the Bulldogs an 87 percent chance of beating Arkansas-Little Rock, but a team that was ranked in the top 25 for parts of this season and had aspirations of hosting the first two rounds as a top-4 seed surely has its sights set higher than one NCAA tournament win.

No. 4 Texas A&M has also had injury concerns, although the school recently announced that leading scorer Chennedy Carter (22.5 points per game) will play in the NCAA tournament. She is returning from a hand injury, though, and if her shot isn’t falling, Texas A&M could struggle with a tough Wright State team that holds opponents to just 36.2 percent shooting, which ranks 24th in the nation.

Speaking of tough mid-major teams, the state of Florida has a couple that will start the NCAA tournament in Miami. No. 5 seed Arizona State can’t be happy about traveling all the way across the country to play No. 12-seed UCF in their backyard, and the Sun Devils have only a 69 percent chance of winning one game and a 26 percent chance of winning two games in the Sunshine State. Meanwhile, host and No. 4 seed Miami has an 82 percent chance of beating No. 13 seed Florida Gulf Coast, but there are signs of a potential upset here. FGCU is ranked only three spots behind Miami in the Her Hoop Stats ratings (the teams rank 28th and 25th, respectively) and is dangerous behind the arc: Nearly half of FGCU’s shot attempts are 3-pointers, which ranks second nationally, while Miami is letting teams score more than one-third of their points from three, which ranks 320th nationally.

Fun first-round matchups

If you’re looking for two senior stars trying to extend their careers, watch No. 8 seed California take on No. 9 seed North Carolina on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time. Kristine Anigwe has had a historic season for the Golden Bears and leads the nation in rebounding with 16.3 per game, including a 32-point, 30-rebound effort against Washington State two weeks ago. North Carolina ranks in the bottom third of teams nationally in rebounding rate, so one might predict a long afternoon for the Tar Heels, but their offensive firepower can keep them in any game. (Just ask Notre Dame and NC State, which both lost to North Carolina in the span of a week earlier this year.) Guard Paris Kea is the star (17.1 points per game), but three other players average double-figure scoring and a fourth averages 9.5 points per game.

FiveThirtyEight model’s prediction: California over North Carolina (64 percent)

If you’re looking for a battle between mid-major powerhouses, don’t miss No. 6 seed South Dakota State versus No. 11 seed Quinnipiac on Saturday at 11 a.m. Eastern time. Both teams have been to the tournament before: SDSU won its ninth automatic bid in 11 years this season, while QU is in for the fifth time in seven seasons and made a Sweet 16 appearance in 2017. SDSU boasts the Summit League’s all-time leading scorer in Macy Miller, who is averaging 18.1 points per game this season while shooting nearly 55 percent from the floor. But Quinnipiac could make things tough for Miller and the Jackrabbits: The Bobcats hold opponents to just 50.5 points per game, second-best in the nation, and their 11.5 steals per game rank sixth nationally. Whichever way this game goes, the winner could be a sleeper pick to knock off No. 3 Syracuse and make the Sweet 16.

FiveThirtyEight model’s prediction: South Dakota State over Quinnipiac (65 percent)

Finally, if you’re looking for toss-ups, the three games that our model gives the most even odds are:

No. 10 Buffalo vs. No. 7 Rutgers, Friday at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time (Buffalo has a 51 percent chance of winning)

No. 10 Auburn vs. No. 7 BYU, Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time (Auburn has a 55 percent chance of winning)

No. 6 UCLA vs. No. 11 Tennessee, Saturday at 1 p.m. Eastern time (UCLA has a 56 percent chance of winning)

Check out our latest March Madness predictions.

from News About Sports https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/your-guide-to-the-2019-ncaa-womens-tournament/

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investmart007 · 6 years

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NEW YORK | JA Happ dominant in winning Yankees debut, 6-3 over Royals

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NEW YORK | JA Happ dominant in winning Yankees debut, 6-3 over Royals

NEW YORK — J.A. Happ had made eight previous starts at Yankee Stadium plus a relief appearance in the final game of the 2009 World Series. This was different.

“It was kind of weird looking down and seeing the pinstripes on me,” he said, “but I’m happy to get used to it.” James Anthony Happ made the midseason impact the Yankees hoped for, pitching one-run ball over six innings to win his New York debut 6-3 over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.

“It’s a significant dude to the rotation,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said in California surfer-speak, “that helps in not just the days he pitches, hopefully, but also just makes our staff and our bullpen as a whole a little bit better,”

Three days after New York acquired the 35-year-old left-hander from Toronto for infielder Brandon Drury and outfield prospect Billy McKinney, Happ took a shutout into the fifth before Salvador Perez’s opposite-field home run into the Yankees bullpen in right-center. Happ (11-6) allowed three hits, struck out two and walked one, and the first-time All-Star ended a four-start winless streak.

Happ had been 4-1 as a visitor in the Bronx. He threw four-seam fastballs on 64 of 96 pitches against the Royals, including his first 13 of the third inning. He mixed in 12 changeups, seven sliders, two curveballs plus 11 two-seam sinking fastballs — all from the third inning on.

“His fastball definitely gets on you, and he likes to pitch in on hitters,” catcher Austin Romine said. “It was weird. We almost felt like I caught him before, he was so much on the same page.” New York (67-37) won consecutive games for the first time since July 11-2 and remained 5½ games behind AL East-leading Boston.

The Yankees sought a boost similar to the one provided by David Cone, who made his Yankees debut exactly 23 years earlier after his acquisition from Toronto and became a key cog in the team that reached that year’s playoffs and won four World Series titles in the following five seasons. Happ joined a rotation that includes Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia and Sonny Gray.

“I feel like in a lot of ways he’s been underrated over the years,” Boone said. “I feel like he’s more in that upper tier than people want to acknowledge.”

Aaron Hicks hit a two-run homer in the first off the screen attached to the right-field foul pole , a drive off Burch Smith (1-2). Hicks also doubled, singled and walked.

New York took three over four against woeful Kansas City (32-73), which traded star third baseman Mike Moustakas to Milwaukee on Friday for prospects.

Brett Phillips, one of those prospects, started in his Kansas City debut and made a leaping catch at the top of the right-field wall to rob Romine of a possible three-run homer in the fourth. Phillips’ eyes were closed as the ball landed in his glove.

“Did I? Wow, that’s impressive,” Phillips said. Hunter Dozier homered off Chad Green in the seventh and Rosell Herrera went deep against David Robertson leading off the eighth, the first home run of his big league career . Aroldis Chapman, pitching on consecutive days for the first time since July 1-3, struck out three straight batters for his 28th save in 29 chances , his 20th in a row.

At the time of the trade, Happ and the Blue Jays were in Chicago, where he lives with wife Morgan, 2½-year-old son J.J. and 8-month-old daughter Bella. Morgan flew to Toronto on Saturday morning to pick up some of her husband’s belongings, leaving the kids with the grandparents, and flew out the same day. The kids will join them in New York on Tuesday.

Life has been a whirlwind for the Happs. “It was a little surreal out there,” he said. “but a lot of fun.”

SEATS A crowd of 46,192 was New York’s 20th home sellout, matching 2011 for the most at the new Yankee Stadium.

CLEANING UP Torres and Andujar on Saturday became the first different Yankees rookies to hit cleanup in the starting lineup of consecutive games since Bill Robinson and Steve Whitaker in a doubleheader at Chicago on Aug. 22, 1967.

SWAPS New York traded LHP Caleb Frare to the Chicago White Sox for $1.5 million in international signing bonus pool allocation, which raised its total to $7,502,600 from an original $5,002,600. The 25-year-old is 4-1 with a 0.81 ERA and five saves of 31 games for Double-A Trenton this year and one for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. On Saturday the Yankees obtained $1 million in allocation along with 1B Luke Voit from St. Louis for relievers Chasen Shreve and Giovanny Gallegos.

TRAINER’S ROOM Royals: OF Brian Goodwin injured his left groin running the bases in the seventh inning Saturday night and a DL stint is possible.

UP NEXT Royals: LHP Danny Duffy (6-9, 4.70) opens a series at the White Sox on Tuesday.

Yankees: RHP Masahiro Tanaka (8-2, 4.09) starts Tuesday’s series opener against Baltimore and RHP Yefry Ramirez (1-3, 3.49). Tanaka is 6-0 in 12 starts since an April 17 loss at Miami and is coming off a three-hit shutout at Tampa Bay on Wednesday. ___

By Associated Press

#Aroldis Chapman #Austin Romine #Billy McKinney #David Cone #James Anthony Happ #Luis Severino #Masahiro Tanaka #new york news #Sonny Gray #TodayNews #winless streak

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ultrasfcb-blog · 6 years

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Robert Lewandowski: Meet the Bayern Munich striker looking to knock out Real Madrid

Robert Lewandowski has scored twice as many Bundesliga goals – 28 – as anyone else this season

Tuesday marked the fifth anniversary of when Robert Lewandowski returned home from a particularly successful day at work.

Greeted by his wife Anna, along with 15 others who had come round for a late barbecue at the Lewandowskis’, a cry of “Bravo!” went up for the Polish striker as he came through the door.

He had after all just scored all four of Borussia Dortmund’s goals in their 4-1 Champions League semi-final win against Real Madrid.

Yet as he arrived home, Lewandowski just went and parked himself down on the sofa. “I’m tired,” he said. His wife responded: “Robert, four goals! Everyone’s delighted.”

“It hasn’t quite hit me but… I guess I like it that I scored four goals,” replied Lewandowski. “Right now, I’m just hungry and I’d like something to eat.”

For Anna, a karate champion herself, it was further proof that he was just “a normal guy”.

“He showed the same reaction after four goals against Real Madrid as he would when his mother bakes him a cake,” as she put it in his autobiography.

Normal doesn’t quite fit Lewandowski as a footballer off the pitch – whether it’s the fact that he famously has his dessert before his main course to try to burn fat quicker or that earlier this season he completed a bachelor’s degree in physical education in Warsaw.

Nor does being normal fit what he did on that night in April. No player before in the Champions League era had even scored a hat-trick against Real, nor had any player ever scored four in a Champions League semi-final.

That performance alone catapulted Lewandowski’s status to being one of the world’s best number nines, a status that he would cement after moving to rivals Bayern Munich on a free transfer just over a year later in 2014.

Yet going into another Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid, there has been increased speculation around Lewandowski’s future, with a move even mooted to his opponents.

Could he leave Bayern?

This February, Lewandowski broke off on good terms with Cezary Kucharski, the Polish agent that plucked him from obscurity in the third division of Polish football. Taking over from Kucharski was Pini Zahavi, a super-agent responsible for brokering numerous key deals, most recently Neymar’s £200m world-record move to Paris St-Germain last summer.

Zahavi’s co-operation with Lewandowski will last until 31 August 2018 – the final day of the summer transfer window in each of Europe’s big five leagues apart from the Premier League. That has led to increased speculation in Germany of a possible move and that Lewandowski was critical of the club’s transfer policy in September helped stoke that fire.

“Bayern will have to come up with something and be creative if the club wants to keep bringing world-class players to Munich,” said Lewandowski to German news magazine Der Spiegel.

“If you want to compete at the highest level, you have to have those kinds of quality players. To this day, Bayern Munich have never spent more than about 40m euros (£35m) for a player. In international football that has long since been more of an average than a peak price.”

That earned him a rebuke from club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who said: “Obviously Robert was irritated by PSG’s transfers. He is employed with us as a football player and earns a lot of money. I regret what he said.”

Bayern had not consented to the interview.

In the past few weeks, Rummenigge has reiterated too that Lewandowski is “100% staying this summer” which is likely. As the richest club in Germany, Bayern are under no financial pressure to sell while Lewandowski’s contract runs until 2021, with no exit clause.

When Bayern Munich don’t want to sell, they don’t. But unlike Thomas Muller for instance, when Manchester United came after him, Lewandowski doesn’t have that same connection to Bayern which has helped to them to keep homegrown superstars.

While they have a vice-like grip on the Bundesliga title, Bayern haven’t reached a Champions League final since beating Dortmund and Lewandowski in 2013. Real meanwhile have won the trophy in three of the past four seasons.

Perhaps Lewandowski and Bayern advancing to the final could help convince Poland’s record international goalscorer that Munich is the right place for him.

Lewandowski, though, knows that he’s admired in the Spanish capital, going back to that semi-final in 2013. Dortmund lost the second leg 2-0 at the Bernabeu but after going through on aggregate, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez cornered Lewandowski in a small room next to the changing rooms.

According to the Pole, the conversation only lasted five minutes with Perez joking about the game before telling the striker he wanted to have him in Madrid.

Not that that conversation will cross Lewandowski’s mind on Wednesday evening. “I’ve been used to the situation that there’s speculation about me for 10 years,” he said in a September interview with German magazine 11Freunde.

“At the start, I have to say it was more difficult for me to shut out these factors completely. With time you get used to it. I’ve learned that I can’t do anything about it.”

‘Klopp made me the footballer I am’

Robert Lewandowski was the first Dortmund striker to outright win the Bundesliga golden boot since 1965-66

That sort of focus has drawn praise from Lewandowski’s previous employers, including Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, who called him “the most professional player I’ve worked with” when he was at Bayern. That was probably best showcased though when he was with Jurgen Klopp at Borussia Dortmund.

Midway through what was his final season at the club in 2013, his move to Bayern on a free transfer was announced. Yet Lewandowski’s levels did not drop on the pitch.

So much so, he finished as the Bundesliga’s top scorer for the first time. Most poignantly, in his final home game for the club, Lewandowski received his own ovation from the fans.

Lewandowski teared up then and no wonder. “Klopp made me the footballer I am,” as he put it in 2015.

The Polish striker was signed from Lech Poznan in the Ekstraklasa in 2010 for just 4.25m euros (£3.55m) with Dortmund beating Blackburn Rovers and Sam Allardyce, among others, to his signature.

Together, they won the Bundesliga in their first season but it was in Lewandowski’s second season he became Klopp’s star striker. After an injury to Paraguayan Lucas Barrios, Lewandowski stepped in and never looked back.

He went on to be the club’s top scorer in his remaining three seasons at Dortmund, winning another Bundesliga title and scoring twice in the German Cup final win over Bayern in 2012.

His overall goal ratio of one every 111 minutes is the second best in Bundesliga history, behind only Bayern legend Gerd Muller on 105. When you take Lewandowski’s four seasons since moving to Bavaria, that ratio improves to one every 94 minutes.

His most efficient performance off the bench saw Guardiola clasp his hands over his head in disbelief, as Lewandowski scored five in nine second-half minutes against Wolfsburg in 2015.

Saturday wasn’t quite that impressive but the division’s top scorer came off the bench with just over 20 minutes to play on Saturday at Hannover, enough time for him to score his 28th of the league season. It’ll be a surprise if he doesn’t break the 30-goal barrier for the third Bundesliga campaign running.

For the fourth season running, Lewandowski has been crowned as a German champion with Bayern too, the club’s sixth consecutive title.

That was despite a poor start which saw Carlo Ancelotti shown the door, but even for long periods since Jupp Heynckes returned, Bayern were winning without performances matching the impressive results.

In the last month that has changed with Bayern beginning to blow their opponents away, hitting four goals or more on six occasions.

Time for Real revenge

A man for the big occasion

Robert Lewandowski is the second top scorer in Champions League semi-finals ever – with six goals. Cristiano Ronaldo has 13

That didn’t include the Champions League quarter-final against Sevilla which, particularly in the first half of the away leg, was not an altogether smooth passage to the final four. It’s unlikely to be any easier for Bayern and Lewandowski against Real Madrid – a side that Bayern have lost to in each of their last four games.

Lewandowski has missed two of a possible four games himself against Real since knocking them out with Dortmund in 2013.

Last season, he missed Bayern’s quarter-final first-leg defeat by Real with a shoulder injury while he has also admitted that he wasn’t fully fit for the second leg, even if he scored. In 2014, meanwhile, he missed Dortmund’s 3-0 first-leg reverse at the same stage through suspension.

This time, he’s fit and has the chance to make sure that his team aren’t playing catch-up come the second leg.

Repeating his four-goal heroics of five years ago is of no concern to Lewandowski as he told German magazine kicker on Monday: “It doesn’t matter how many goals I score. The main thing is that we go through.”

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