Trash Talk: Today’s Blowout Game

/76 Comments/in , /by

[NB: check the byline, thanks. /~Rayne]

The score of today’s game was mind-blowing. One could reasonably expect last year’s champion to do well again this year but holy smokes.

Ireland kicked Italy’s behind so hard Italy has no dignity left, final score 36-0.

There’s more than one ball game scheduled today. The other one was part of the Guinness Six Nations‘ rugby series, the second round of six to be played by teams representing England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales.

Side note: I’m a bit uncomfortable referring to this series as “Six Nations” because it has been the nickname of the First Nations’ Iroquois confederacy of which Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, and Tuscarora were members.

Same also for another marginalized group of Celtic nations, the Celtic League: Brittany, Cornwall, Isle of Man Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

Anyhow, the Six Nations’ series began with Round 1’s first match on February 2, and will run through the last match on March 16.

I bet there was a fair amount of revelry in Ireland today after the blowout smashing Italy.

Because it was rugby, here’s a haka performed by New Zealand’s All Blacks for last year’s World Cup:

Perfect way to prepare for the kickoff in San Francisco in a couple minutes when the Kansas City Chiefs meet their hosts the San Francisco 49ers.

This is an open thread.

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76 replies
  1. EW Moderation Team says:

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  2. David Brooks says:

    I played mandatory rugby for seven years at my school in South London. Because of my build I was put in the front row scrum. I soon figured out that after a scrum you could run forward purposefully towards a point where it was unlikely the ball would ever end up, but you looked good. Finally scored a try in my 7th year.

    Soccer: a game for gentlemen played by hooligans. Rugby: a game for hooligans played by gentlemen.

    • Henry the Horse says:

      I am part Tuscarora, (thanks for the shoutout) and part Quebecois.

      We have a game called Hockey which is all inclusive for both gentlemen and hooligans.

      Sometimes these traits exist inside the same person. Who would have guessed?

      49ers looking good nearing halftime but…so were the Lions.

      • Legonaut says:

        I was watching an old episode of The Saint (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0693487), which opens with Simon Templar at a Stanley Cup playoff game. He talks about “how national sports tell so much about the character of a nation: in England, it’s cricket and ‘let’s kill time with another cup of tea.’ In America, baseball and ‘let’s kill the umpire!’ As you see, in Canada it’s ice hockey and ‘let’s kill everybody!'”

    • Clare Kelly says:

      …asked and answered by Molly Olmstead of Slate today.

      “It turns out that Hallow, a Christian prayer app modeled after meditation apps such as Calm and Headspace, has big funding itself. Hallow raised millions from funders like Peter Thiel and J.D. Vance on its promise to seize the religious-wellness market.”

      Molly Olmstead
      Slate
      “What’s the Deal With That Mark Wahlberg Prayer App, Exactly?
      Maybe you saw the Super Bowl ad. There are a few strange things about Hallow.”
      FEBRUARY 12 2024 1:41 AM

      (Sorry, Rayne. I’ve forgotten how to treat block quotes here).

      • Stephen Calhoun says:

        I will resist the temptation to google: Hallow anti-vaxx.

        Meanwhile, on Xitter, I note day after blow-back on the part of some manly traditionalist evangelicals against the peaceful love-everybody Jesus ads.

    • Matt Foley says:

      Many of the Super Bowl ads went right over my head. No idea what they were selling or what they were talking about. Guess I’m not in their demographic.

      • Ginevra diBenci says:

        The ads went right past my eyes. FF’d through them all while missing none of the football, which is the reason I watch. And had time to feed my cats and myself too.

    • yydennek says:

      “He Gets Us and Hallow app ads play during Super Bowl.” Hallow is GOP Sen. JD Vance’s Catholic prayer app. Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019 with timing similar to his political ambitions. Later, he brought the Hallow app out.The New Republic wrote about the political advantages for right wing Catholics in an article, “Illiberal Upstarts….” Vance wants (1) all civil servants replaced with the king’s men (2) the President over the Supreme Court and, (3) the military as a functionary of the president not, the nation. Vance also believes God’s law is over man’s.
      There is no GOP without the religious right and no reinforcement of patriarchy. In nations with gender equality, citizens are less religious.

      • yydennek says:

        And, Vance wants to be Trump’s VP so that he can have more influence in denying aid to Ukraine which helps Putin achieve his goals and, so that he can impose right wing religion on Americans.

  4. Zirczirc says:

    Played rugby as a schoolboy in England in 1969, for my first form school team, and my third-form house team (not bad for a first former). Later, in the States, played for my town’s club team while in high school, and for my college’s club team. Tries were worth 4 points back then. Didn’t see the Ireland/Italy match, but watched both matches yesterday. England may be undefeated, but they look bad. I see Ireland winning the championship, and maybe the Grand Slam. Scotland had a hard call go against them at the end of their match against France. Brutal. While I’m on rugby, the scrum rules are byzantine. The RFUs need to clarify the rules. Also, while I’m on rugby, it may be the only sport where the ref enforces the rules, commentates, and coaches.

    Today’s other game? Not much Taylor Swift, but enough wokeness in the commercials to freakout the right-wing nutjobs. Dre Greenlaw’s injury was brutal enough for the whole game. Running onto the field. No one near him. Crumples. Looks like it was his achilles. I’ve had two soccer-playing buds go down with achilles tears in the last year. Seems like it’s a ticking time bomb. You can feel fine, then snap!

    Zirc

  5. ExRacerX says:

    Fem Van Empel crushed the cyclocross field today at the final race of the Badkamers Series, the Krawatencross in Lille—her 19th victory out of 21 starts. In the men’s field, in the absence of Mathieu van der Poel and Wout Vn Aert, Alpecin-Deceunink’s Niels Van der Putte took his first victory of the season.

    I, for one, hope Taylor wins that Super Bowl thing—if only to piss off the MAGATs.

      • ExRacerX says:

        “In the absence of the Chiefs and 49ers, the Ravens won the superbowl.”

        Apples & oranges. I worded it that way because Van Der Poel and Van Alert could have participated in the Krawatencross, but chose not to. It was their choice.

  6. dopefish says:

    When Americans go to the polls this November, I hope they have at least a minimal awareness of what their actual choices are, and weigh the possible consequences of electing the wrong kind of leader. If apathy leads voters to elect Trump, wishful thinking will not save U.S. democracy, and that will have consequences for all Western countries, not just the U.S.

    I mean, compare these two current news stories:
    (1) Hur’s 388-page nothingburger report, fails to find any wrongdoing by President Biden but nonetheless provides ready-made attack lines to right-wingers who want to claim he is too old and has memory problems.

    (2) Biden’s three-years-younger opponent, who is just as gaffe-prone, makes a *deliberate statement to his MAGA audience* saying he will disregard America’s treaty obligations and leave NATO allies to fend for themselves if Russia attacks them, if they haven’t been paying “enough” of their GDP towards their NATO commitments according to whatever arbitrary metric someone feeds to him.

    Media is treating both of those as actual news, but one is 1000x worse than the other. One story is partisan fluff, and one story is about a guy running for the job of President who thinks America’s treaty commitments to its allies are just some business deal he can renegotiate.

    I mean, that’s your choice: a dedicated civil servant who’s trying to preserve America’s place in the world and improve things for its citizens, or a self-aggrandizing narcissist who will cause global chaos and maybe cripple the bedrock alliance that has kept America on top for decades.

    If people somehow think that peace and prosperity flow automatically to the U.S. (just because that seems to have happened during their entire lifetimes) they are mistaken. NATO has been a key guarantor of that peace and Trump is happy to blindly tear it down. Probably because his buddy Putin told him America was getting a bum deal, being ripped off by all its free-loading European friends.

    I was pleasantly surprised that we made it through the first Trump presidency without the West getting embroiled in an actual shooting war. It would be unimaginably dangerous to put idiot Trump back in charge for another four years. If it were just an internal U.S. problem maybe I wouldn’t care so much, but when the U.S. is politically unstable and has weak leadership, that has ripple effects on the rest of the world too. Somehow the mass of unwashed Americans need to be woken up to this, and they need to do their part this November and cast their votes for sane and stable leadership (and democracy).

    I’ve heard a saying that Americans can be relied upon to do the right thing after trying everything else. This fall they are going to have to prove it.

    • Rayne says:

      Thanks for the passionate comment. Please work on concision — at 463 words you’ve overshot the mark by about 30%.

      As for the US not getting embroiled in kinetic warfare during Trump’s presidency: don’t mistake the lack of deployed troops and bloodshed for success. The US’s foreign policy was being hollowed out for cash, the lack of true defensive posture a feature not a bug. Ukraine should have had more arms sooner but that was Trump’s policy forced on the GOP even before he took office.

      • dopefish says:

        Sorry. I think the Trump Derangement Syndrome must be getting to me!

        The rest of this year is going to be interesting (in the ancient-chinese-curse sense).

        • Rayne says:

          Being part Chinese myself, I’m worried about this year of the Dragon. There’s a lot of happy hoohaw about dragon years being generally good for every sign but dragons are voracious creatures and wealth hoarders. That can’t possibly be uniformly good.

        • Savage Librarian says:

          From what I’ve read, the year of the wood dragon looks like a better year for Biden than Trump. Hope so.

        • gmokegmoke says:

          This year is a wood dragon year. In Chinese five element theory, wood is associated with the liver and, among other things, the liver is associated with anger, the color green, and Spring. So this year may have a lot of angry green dragons dreaming furiously, dropping rain, and building storms this Spring.

          Or not.

          Some might find the liver exercise from the 8 Pieces of Brocade qi gong set useful. I know I do.

  7. martinyyt says:

    If you have not seen it, check on YouTube for 8 year old Stevie Mulrooney’s fantastic rendition of Ireland’s call at the start of today’s match. You can find the backstory on the web, too. A heart-warming, soul-inspiring performance by the kid, no question.

  9. Molly Pitcher says:

    ohhh, heartbreak.

    Congratulations on an exciting season Niners. You deserved better play calling than what you got today.

  10. Rugger_9 says:

    Kristin Welker on Meet the Press kept harping on how ‘polling shows Americans are concerned about Biden’s age’ and misrepresenting the Hur report. The Biden campaign head was having none of it (politely) but Kristen keeps proving herself to be a ‘worthy’ successor to Chuckles Todd. When I rant about the courtier press, I think of crap like this.

    As for the game, it struck me that the football gods evened things out after the Detroit game. One thing that needs to be fixed pronto is the run defense and tackling. Why Kelce was left to roam unimpeded and why Mahomes didn’t have a spy on him also mystified me. Of course, the contract, trade and retirement convulsions will determine what plays out next year and who gets revenge for what.

    • RitaRita says:

      The game was one of the most competitive Super Bowls. Both teams have enormous talent. It is hard to cover adequately all the offensive weapons and the quarterback. The Niners’ defense did seem somewhat uneven but did force fumbles. I think both teams ran out of gas at the end.

    • Bruce Olsen says:

      Romo was on the 9ers D for allowing Mahomes to get outside of them, head toward a sideline, and extend the play. He was right, but staying outside of Mahomes has got to be a major challenge.
      Still, the 9ers acquitted themselves pretty well, and with fewer bonehead mistakes mistakes…

  12. pcpablo321 says:

    Sitting here in Berlin waiting till dinner time to watch the SB on NFL Game Day (less than $200 in Urup) with my ribs and wings. I know who won and everything, but oh well.

  13. David Brooks says:

    Now I realize what you meant by “more than one ball game” yesterday, and it was indeed mind-blowing. Côte d’Ivoire beat Nigeria 2-1 in the Africa Cup Final!

  14. punaise says:

    Well, that kind of sucked. Nerve-wracking game, and we just knew in the end Mahomes would pull it off. Too damn good.

    • timbozone says:

      It was a decent game. The Chiefs looked good, the Niners continued to amaze but SF’s luck ran out finally.
      Clearly, the choices and plays made by the Chiefs were superior to Detroit’s, although I’m still left wondering how much the KC squad learned by watching the Detroit vs SF game a few weeks back.

  15. emptywheel says:

    I confess, I missed this thread entirely, given the time difference (I watched SOME of the game).

    But I want to thank Rayne for celebrating Ireland’s commanding win yesterday. That game I saw the entirety of.

    • Rayne says:

      I haz envy. Must have been crazy to watch double digit scoring like that in Ireland, let alone a shutout. It was energizing enough watching the feedback about it in my Mastodon timeline.

  16. bmaz says:

    Hi “Rayne”, I still object to you using my creation of “Trash Talk”. You are a charlatan for doing so.

    Try coming up with something different and unique to you; I very much object to you using and playing off of my work. But, I guess that cheap ass crap is the new norm here. You talked to me for one of the decades I was here, and now are just blithely goin to rip off what I have done.

    I’d have never had the sac to do that to you if the roles were reversed, but apparently you have no such honorable compunctions. I did not deign to come here yesterday because I figured you would be pulling this shit. I was right. What a fucking joke.

    • Clare Kelly says:

      Although I am not aware that “Trash Talk” is trademarked, kudos for delivering a gratuitous example of said.

      • bmaz says:

        Hi there. If I had thought it necessary, I would have, and could have claimed a putative IP protection. I never thought it necessary, as I never thought interlopers like you and “Rayne” would glibly usurp my decades plus of work. But, you go girls. Dig in when I falsely can barely even see you comments, much less respond.

      • bmaz says:

        Lol. How big of you. You rip me off and then threaten me. What a gal. You are still a charlatan. But you stand and act proud about it, like there is no history. Lol.

      • bmaz says:

        By the way, I did not “swear” at you. That is a lie.

        [Moderator’s note: telling a moderator/contributor to “fuck off” and “go to hell” isn’t acceptable from any commenter; that comment was binned. /~Rayne]

  17. Brian Ruff says:

    Oh, I thought you were referring to the real Irish sport: hurling (no, that has nothing to do with the after effects of some good craic the evening before).

  18. WilliamOckham says:

    Well, since this is the place for trash talk, I want to talk about Trump’s application for a stay in his criminal case. Trump’s lawyers have out done themselves with this one. Sure, it’s a steaming pile of excrement. But it’s a steaming pile of excrement delivered by a mother bird directly from her mouth into the mouths of her chicks. That is, if Trump were a mother bird and the three Justices he appointed were his baby chicks. By the end of the brief, all the pretense comes off and he orders them to delay, delay, delay. He doesn’t want a quick resolution in his favor. He wants the Supreme Court to accept a ritual humiliation in the service of his political campaign. It’s really stunning. Read the whole thing.

    • Rayne says:

      It’s so difficult to explain to folks who aren’t politically aware how Trump has already destroyed swaths of our government — SCOTUS has been rendered useless by its complete compromise. This application for a stay is an example of their pwnage.

    • Thorvold says:

      SCOTUS has also added a non-argument day on Friday 2/16. This usually means that they will be releasing orders and probably an opinion. One could hope that they would quickly use this to issue the Trump opinion, but it is probably to soon.

      • dopefish says:

        Too soon. The Chief Justice gave the prosecutors a week (due Tuesday feb 20 at 4pm) to respond to Trump’s request for the stay.

  21. bird of passage says:

    Since I’ve lucked into living in the KC Chefs Kingdom, let’s just say I’m learning as much about football as fast as possible and looking forward to seeing the new teams, ie, Packers, progress. My many cousins spread throughout the US are thrilled I’ve joined the national pastime and only slightly jealous I landed with KC. Go Lions! Go Bills! Go KC!

    Really wish the game wasn’t so violent. I am learning that smarts really do play a part in strategy, so that’s my justification for becoming a fan.

    Oh and go TnT, the injection of the Swiftie element has been hilarious.

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