“You did it again!”
Hannah blinks in confusion, “What?”
“Blacked out!”
Her grip tightens around the steering wheel. Frustration clear on her face. The coastal route hugs a large forest and weaves along the Australian coast.
“Let me drive,” I say, pointing to a rest stop sign speeding by. Hannah rolls her eyes and sighs.
“Don’t be so dramatic, Sarah. I blinked for like a second.”
My mouth drops open. “Try a full minute. I timed you. And you were mumbling those silly words again.”
Hannah’s face turns into a scrawl. “My god Sarah. Just stop! Fuck.”
“I’m just saying Babe, you need to see someone. You’re not right. Whatever happened back there…”
A bolt of lightning streaks across the sky cutting me off. I hadn't seen the billowing mass of grey clouds rolling in from the sea. Rain starts to lash the car. Hannah puts the wipers on full speed but the sheer volume makes it hard to see. They swish back and forth noisily. I sit back, the anger disappearing into anxiety.
“Where the hell did this come from?” Hannah asks as she rubs off the film of condensation on the windscreen.
Another bolt of purple and white lights the sky. It streaks out before us illuminating the clouds. The tail end strikes something sitting inside the cloud. The aftermath spider webbing out like a ball of energy.
“Did you see…”
Hannah starts to mumble again, her eyes heavy and lidded. Lightning flashes. A strange symbol, like three long slashes, appears at once on her cheek. It fades slowly. Hannah doesn’t respond as I reach out, my fingers inches from her face. The rain intensifies, the noise so loud I place my hands over my ears.
“Hannah!” I scream, but she doesn’t hear me.
“Hannah!”
The road turns slightly left over a high cliff face.
“Hannah!” I scream again, shaking her arm. Still, she doesn’t respond. She mumbles louder. Lightning flashes. The symbol appears. I slap her hard across the face and her eyes snap open. But the damage is done. Hannah hits the breaks and we begin to skid. The barrier looms ahead.
“What the...”
“... Fuchsias, please.” The lady gave me a smile, and mine crept up to match hers. She was distractingly pretty. Red hair and green eyes. I was betting she was about my age.
“Do you want me to wrap them for someone special?” she asked, biting the corner of her lip.
I blush slightly. “No, no, I - uh - don’t have anyone special. Just - uh - just me,” I stuttered to a stop, she glanced quizzically at me. I stuttered out again.. “I - I mean. Just for me. The flowers. They are just for me - for my niece. It’s her ballet recital.”
I facepalmed my stupidity and she laughed. It was like a tinkling bell.
“It’s ok. I understand. I’m Hannah,” she offered her hand and I shook it.
“Sarah.”
She smiled and wrapped the flowers in a loose piece of paper, leaned them down and wrote something on the corner edge.
“Well, fuchsias are my favourites so I know you have good taste. Perhaps, if you let me take you out to dinner sometime, I could buy you some more to go with these?”
My eyes light up. I had hoped she was, but I didn’t really know. I never did. I nodded eagerly. A wave of nausea hit me and I swayed where I stood. My head went light and suddenly I was on the floor.
“Sarah? Are you alright?”
I pulled the neck of my shirt away. My blood sugar was low. Heat billowed out. A tightness formed at the centre of my chest. I breathed hard, the air not reaching my lungs.
“I - I’m fine,” I said, through the bated breaths. “ I just can’t take… ”
“... a breath!” I shout as the car hits. The world goes black and my consciousness stretches out. Suddenly it retracts and sucks me back. I snap awake as cold water soaks my clothes. Hannah struggles against her seatbelt, water already halfway up her chest. I see my fear mirrored in her eyes. I struggle for mine. It’s tight, tighter than it should be. So tight I can feel it cutting off the feelings to my legs.
Waves break over the car, the noise pounding in my ears. The headlights are lost in the depths of the water. I struggle to free myself.
We sink.
Water inches up.
It bubbles up over my lips and down my throat. We sink a little further. There’s a pain in my legs. I try to move them but it makes it worse. I cough out the water and gasp for air. The pain moves. Spread outs. Saltwater rushes in through my window, I can barely see the bonnet of the car anymore. Just the grey slosh of waves. In my terror, I forget Hannah. She’s submerged. Bubbles of air escape the corner of her lip as she peers at me. Eyes blinking.
“Hold on,” I shout, my searching hand finding hers. But she just continues to look. No fear. No anger. Just being. I try to pull my legs free but can’t. The car sinks further. The last pocket of air holding us on the surface of the sea bubbles out. I hold my breath. We lock eyes. Just two people drowning together. My air depletes fast. Water rushes to take its place. I see Hannah’s mouth move just as darkness creeps in.
“Help… ”
“... me find it,” I said, nudging Hannah on the blanket beside me. She giggled and pulled me closer to her. We snuggled under the stars, a small campfire burning on embers beside our tent.
“There,” She said, aiming my hand towards a solitary star beside the Milky Way. “Altair is a poor shepherd, his lover, Vega,” she trailed my finger across the Milky Way to the other side. “Is a weaver girl. Their parents forbade the relationship and separated them from each other across a great river because the boy did not herd his sheep and the girl did not weave her loom.”
“How sad,” I said, feeling that pain. “I could never be away from you.”
Hannah smiled and kissed my forehead. “But,” she said, looking me in the eyes. “Their love was so pure that the gods intervened. Once a year the two stars move closer together. The legend says that the boy and girl can only meet by crossing a bridge formed by magpies who had come to their aid.”
I sighed and we shared the moment together. It was the perfect anniversary, two years since we met when I bought flowers for my niece.
“The fire is dying,” Hannah said, pulling her hand from underneath me. “I’ll go get some more wood. Stay here, the meteors should start soon.”
I nodded and laid back against the warmth of her indentation and looked upon the two star crossed lovers.
I let the story flow through me. It was so beautiful and sad all at the same time. I knew why Hannah’s was telling me this tale. Her parents didn’t accept her for what she was. They would never accept us for what we were. But that didn’t matter, because we had our own magpie bridge that bound us together forever.
A cold breeze swept in and I pulled the blanket over my shoulders shivering. It was dark now, the embers of the fire more black against the smouldering undersides gave little light. The sky seemed to expand with stars. I gasped as a single streak fell across the sky.
“Hannah!,” I shouted. “It’s starting!”
I waited for a response, but nothing came. Gingerly, I stood, blanket wrapped around my shoulders, and made off in the direction Hannah had taken. The woods were thick, trees old and fat clustered together. It made me think about how people gravitated together for protection, maybe the trees did the same?
Ahead, a blue glow defused the trees into a canvas of skeletal fingers and fractal light. I crept forward not understanding what I was seeing. The cold clung to my shoulders as if it was scared and needed companionship. I shivered again and moved forward. The light intensified, I raised a hand to shield my eyes and saw a ball of light hovering over what I thought was a single broken tree stump.
My heart screamed in my ears. The shiver vanished as if scared, and I would not have blamed it. My body was ridgid with fear because I knew that the tree stump was not a tree at all but Hannah.
“Hannah!” I raced forward suddenly free of my shackled fear. The ball of light instantly shot up into the air and vanished. Hannah’s prone body slumped sideways on to the bracken before I could catch her.
“Hannah?” I asked urgently, cradling her head in my lap. My fingers traced a crease along her cheek as it disappeared under my touch. Hannah’s eyes cracked open. A tumble of words spilled from her mouth. Gibberish I couldn’t understand. A jagged line of light appeared on her cheek.
“What the hell?”
I touched it and snapped my hand away and stood up. It’s cold, so cold it burnt. The mumbling stopped and the streak on her skin slowly disappeared.
“Sarah?”
“It’s ok. I’m here,” I said, crouching back by her side.
“What happened?”
I looked up into the canopy of branches to the sky above. Meteors streaked across the sky.
“I’m not sure,” I said, biting my lip. “But look?”
I pointed above and Hannah gasped. I sat down by her side, worry clamped my throat. What had happened? Was it an alien? Or some other phenomena? For a while we just watched the stars until she turned to me. A serious expression on her face.
“What happened?”
I told her about the light and her falling over.
“Maybe it was a drone?” She said, alway the skeptic. “And the light triggered some sort of epilepsy?” She sat up, her green eyes shining in the darkness. I reached out a hand and caressed her face.
“I don’t think it was, Babe. It was weird,” my knees were shaking and it wasn’t from the cold. Had it been aliens? The more I thought about it the more it freaked me out. Were the meteors really aliens?
“Hannah? I want to go home?”
Hannah turned her face to mine. Her eyes were heavy and tired. But she didn’t argue. We got up to make our way back when it started to rain.
“Hannah, quick,” I shouted, but she had stopped, rain splattered on her upturned face.
“Hannah?”
She didn’t move. Two jagged lines pulsed with light on her cheek.
“Hannah?” I ask, hugging my shoulders.
A drop of rain hit the underside of my nose and I wiped it off unconsciously. Another hit my face and I looked down at the ground. Droplets hung in the air, thousands of them, millions of little drops of brilliant rain suspended in the air. I gasped and turned to Hannah. She had spread her arms to the heavens. I ran towards her and dragged her by the arm.
“Hannah! Come on!” I screamed. The rain rose quicker and quicker until it rained as hard up as it would down. It started to fill my mouth as I screamed Hannah’s name. I tugged at her sleeve, pulling her away. I started to choke on the...
… Water was burning my lungs. Frantically I pull and scrape at my body, blind panic making me as savage as an animal. Something moves. I float up, head hitting the roof. Air rushes into my lungs and I cough and heave. All at once I remember where I am. I take a deep breath and dive back into the grey water. Hannah’s hands float out to meet me.
I don’t need to see the lifeless eyes to know I’m too late. But I still try. I pull the seat belt, struggle against the seat and her clothing trying to free the slightest bit to get her out. But I can’t. My lungs burn again and I have to let her go. My face hits the roof. A tiny slither of air left for me to breath. I gasp in the air. Tears mixing with their salty brethren. I don’t know how deep I am, but the light infusing the car should be happening. I take a last breath and dive back down.
The car is engulfed in light. I pull myself close to Hannah and caress her face one last time between my hands and kiss her. Air bubbles out of the corner of my mouth. The light intensifies until I can’t see anything…
I’m aware. Slowing drawing breath. Calm. No pain. My eyes drift lazily open but all there is is white. Something speaks to me. I don’t know what it says but I understand it. They want to know about Hannah and I let them in. Let them see what she is to me. They ask me a question. I nod. Once. How could I not agree. My eyes close. Heavy. Relieved. And I’m gone, sailing across a magpie bridge.
A lady is there, red hair spilling across her shoulders. I know her deep in my soul. In her arms are a bunch of flowers, she hands them to me.
“I got you these, they’re fuc…”
“... Fuchsias, please.” The lady gives me a smile, and mine creeps up to match. I stop, suddenly aware. She was distractingly pretty. Red hair and green eyes. I know she was about my age.
“Do you want me to wrap them for someone special?” she asks, biting the corner of her lip.
I blush slightly. “No, thank you.” I say, smiling. “I’m Sarah,” I say, offering my hand. She shakes it.
“Hannah.” She says wrapping them. She leans down and writes something in the corner. I reach across and stop her. Her hand is soft and strong. Like I remember.
“These are for you,” I say.
Hannah looks at me quizzically,” for me?”
I nod. “I know fuchsias are your favourites. One day you’re going to make someone incredibly happy. And she will be the luckiest person on this planet. But that’s not me,” I say letting go of her hand. “But I wanted to buy these for you,” I say, handing her some money and smiling again.
She looks dumbfounded as I exit the store. But as I turn back, she’s smelling the flowers and smiling. We share a brief glance before I turn and walk out of view. It was a price I gladly paid.
“Until another life,” I say, looking up into the clouds and to those who had given Hannah and I a second chance. “But this one isn’t it.”
WR
GH

[Game Preview] Week 3 - Cincinnati Bengals (0-2) at Philadelphia Eagles(0-2)

Cincinnati Bengals (0-2) at Philadelphia Eagles (0-2)
The Eagles are off to their worst start with a real coach since 2003 (I consider 2013-2015 non-existent) when they also dropped their first two games of the season. The team would like a repeat of that season where following a week 3 bye,the team rebounded to defeat the Bills 23-13. The Eagles ripped off 12 wins in their remaining 14 games following their 0-2 start. Maybe the Eagles will be able to do the same, but they will have to shake the injury bug first. The Eagles will be without first round pick Jalen Raegor this week who underwent surgery on his hand to repair a torn UC ligament in his thumb. The Eagles may also be without Fletcher Cox who is dealing with an oblique injury. The Cox injury should be watched closely if he can’t go, Joe Mixon and Joe Burrow will have a much easier day against the struggling defense. Last week against the Rams, the defense was under prepared and unable to stop anyone. The Rams took advantage of Jim Schwartz’s consistently odd decision to have his CBs, play so far off the line of scrimmage, giving a free release to the WRs and allowing easy short passes. If Schwartz does the same this week, it will be another long day for the Eagles defense and a great fantasy day for Tyler Boyd, who Bengals Joe Burrow connected with 7 times last week including 1 for a TD. On the other side of the ball Doug and Carson will both need to be better than the last two weeks. For Carson, he needs to get out of his own head and play with confidence. For Doug, he needs to find some creativity and help his 5th year QB. He would do well to get Carson moving and utilize the RBs more in the flat and screen game. However, if we see more of the same we saw in weeks 1 and 2 from the Eagles coaching staff, we should expect another loss. Hopefully that is not the case and Carson and the coaches can learn from their mistakes in weeks 1-2 and pull our a win this week. Go Birds!

Cincinnati Bengals (0-2) at Philadelphia Eagles (0-2)

The Eagles are off to their worst start with a real coach since 2003 (I consider 2013-2015 non-existent) when they also dropped their first two games of the season. The team would like a repeat of that season where following a week 3 bye,the team rebounded to defeat the Bills 23-13. The Eagles ripped off 12 wins in their remaining 14 games following their 0-2 start. Maybe the Eagles will be able to do the same, but they will have to shake the injury bug first. The Eagles will be without first round pick Jalen Raegor this week who underwent surgery on his hand to repair a torn UC ligament in his thumb. The Eagles may also be without Fletcher Cox who is dealing with an oblique injury. The Cox injury should be watched closely if he can’t go, Joe Mixon and Joe Burrow will have a much easier day against the struggling defense. Last week against the Rams, the defense was under prepared and unable to stop anyone. The Rams took advantage of Jim Schwartz’s consistently odd decision to have his CBs, play so far off the line of scrimmage, giving a free release to the WRs and allowing easy short passes. If Schwartz does the same this week, it will be another long day for the Eagles defense and a great fantasy day for Tyler Boyd, who Bengals Joe Burrow connected with 7 times last week including 1 for a TD. On the other side of the ball Doug and Carson will both need to be better than the last two weeks. For Carson, he needs to get out of his own head and play with confidence. For Doug, he needs to find some creativity and help his 5th year QB. He would do well to get Carson moving and utilize the RBs more in the flat and screen game. However, if we see more of the same we saw in weeks 1 and 2 from the Eagles coaching staff, we should expect another loss. Hopefully that is not the case and Carson and the coaches can learn from their mistakes in weeks 1-2 and pull our a win this week. Go Birds!

General Information
Posting Rules and Guidelines
Remember to [join us on Discord]https://discord.gg/HwwBbM3) during the game!
New to the Eagles? Take a look at our New Fan Page!
Score Prediction Contest

Date
Sunday, September 27th, 2020

Game Time	Game Location
1:00 PM - Eastern	Lincoln Financial Field
12:00 PM - Central	1020 Pattison Ave
11:00 AM - Mountain	Philadelphia, PA 19148
10L00 AM - Pacific	Wikipedia - Map

Weather Forecast
Stadium Type: Open Air
Surface: Grass
Temperature: 78°F
Feels Like: 78°F
Forecast: Clear. Partly cloudy throughout the day.
Chance of Precipitation: 1%
Cloud Coverage: 31%
Wind: South Southwest 8 MPH

Betting Odds
Oddsshark Information
Favorite/Opening Line: Eagles -5
OveUnder: 46.5
Record VS. Spread: Philadelphia 0-2, Cincinnati 1-0-1

Where to Watch on TV
CBS will broadcast Sunday’s game to a regional audience. Spero Dedes will handle the play-by-play duties and Adam Archuleta will provide analysis.
TV Map - Week 3 TV Coverage Map

Radio Streams
List of Eagles Radio network member stations with internet broadcast availability
Radio.com 94.1 Desktop Streaming

Listen to Merrill Reese and Mike Quick
Calling the game on 94WIP and the Eagles Radio Network will be Merrill Reese, the NFL’s longest-tenured play-by-play announcer (44th season). Joining Reese in the radio booth will be former Eagles All-Pro wide receiver Mike Quick, while Howard Eskin will report from the sidelines.

Location	Station	Frequency
Philadelphia, PA	WIP-FM	94.1 FM and 610 AM
Allentown, PA	WCTO-FM	96.1 FM
Atlantic City/South Jersey	WENJ-FM	97.3 FM
Levittown, PA	WBCB-AM	1490 AM
Northumberland, PA	WEGH-FM	107.3 FM
Pottsville, PA	WPPA-AM	1360 AM
Reading, PA	WEEU-AM	830 AM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD	WAFL-FM	97.7 FM
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, PA	WEJL-FM	96.1 FM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD	WAFL-FM	97.7 FM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD	WEJL-AM	630 AM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD	WBAX-AM	1240 AM
Williamsport, PA	WBZD-FM	93.3 FM
Wilmington, DE	WDEL-FM/AM	101.7 FM
York/LancasteHarrisburg, PA	WSOX-FM	96.1 FM

Philadelphia Spanish Radio
Rickie Ricardo and Bill Kulik will handle the broadcast in Spanish on Mega 105.7 FM in Philadelphia and the Eagles Spanish Radio Network.

Location	Station	Frequency
Philadelphia, PA	LA MEGA	105.7 FM
Allentown, PA	WSAN	1470 AM
Atlantic City, NJ	WIBG	1020 AM; 101.3 FM

Bengals Radio
Bengals Radio Dan Hoard will handle play-by-play and Dave Lapham will provide analysis for the game.

National Radio
Compass Media will broadcast the game nationally with Chris Carrino handling the play by play and Brian Baldinger will provide analysis.

Satellite Radio

Station	Eagles Channel	Bengals Channel
Sirius Radio	SIRI 81 (Streaming 825)	SIRI 105 (Streaming 806)
XM Radio	XM 226 (Streaming 825)	Streaming 806
Sirius XM Radio	SXM 226 (Streaming 825)	SXM 385 (Streaming 806)

Eagles Social Media	Bengals Social Media
Website	Website
Facebook	Facebook
Twitter	Twitter
Instagram	Instagram
Snapchat: Eagles	Snapchat: officialbengals

NFC East Standings

NFC EAST	Record	PCT	Home	Road	Div	Conf	PF	PA	Net Pts	Streak
Football Team	1-1	.500	1-0	0-1	1-0	1-1	42	47	-5	1L
Cowboys	1-1	.500	1-0	0-1	0-0	1-1	57	59	-2	1W
Eagles	0-2	.000	0-1	0-1	0-1	0-2	36	64	-28	2L
Giants	0-2	.000	0-1	0-1	0-0	0-1	39	43	-14	2L

Series Information
The Cincinnati Bengals lead the Philadelphia Eagles(Cincinnati Bengals lead series, 9-3-1)
Series History
Head to Head Box Scores
First Game Played
September 19th, 1971 at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, OH . CIncinnati Bengals 37 Philadelphia Eagles 14
Points Leader
Cincinnati Bengals lead Philadelphia Eagles (360-222)
Coaches Record
Doug Pederson: 0-1 against the Bengals
Zac Taylor: 0-0 against Eagles
Coaches Head to Head
Doug Pederson vs Zac Taylor: First meeting between coaches
Quarterback Record
Carson Wentz: Against Rams: 0-1
Joe Burrow: Against Eagles: 0-0
Quarterbacks Head to Head
Carson Wentz vs Joe Burrow: First meeting between QBs.
Records per Stadium
Record @ Lincoln Financial Field: Bengals lead Eagles: 2-0
Record @ Paul Brown Stadium: Bengals lead Eagles 1-0-1

Rankings and Last Meeting Information
AP Pro 32 Ranking
Eagles No. 23 - Bengals No. 28
Record
Eagles: 0-2
Bengals: 0-2
Last Meeting
Sunday, December 4th, 2016
Eagles 32 - Rams 14
Andy Dalton threw a pair of touchdown passes and Cincinnati finally got its depleted offense moving without receiver A.J. Green, and the Bengals sent the Philadelphia Eagles to their most lopsided loss of the season, 32-14 on Sunday.
Click here to view the Video Recap
Click here to view the Stats Recap
Last Meeting at Site
Sunday December 13th, 2012
Bengals 34 - Eagles 13
Andy Dalton threw a touchdown pass and ran for another score, an opportunistic defense forced five turnovers, and Cincinnati beat the Philadelphia Eagles 34-13 on Thursday night. The Eagles offense imploded turning the ball over 4 times with another turnover on a kick off. At one point the Eagles turned the ball over on 3 straight possessions. The Eagles lost double digit games for the first time since 2005, in one of the last games the Eagles were coached by Andy Reid.
Click here to view the Video Recap
Click here to view the Stats Recap

Last 10 Meetings

Date	Winner	Loser	Score
12/4/2016	Bengals	Eagles	32-14
12/13/2012	Bengals	Eagles	34-13
11/16/2008		Bengals & Eagles	13-13
1/2/2005	Bengals	Eagles	38-10
12/24/2000	Eagles	Bengals	16-7
11/30/1997	Eagles	Bengals	44-42
12/24/1994	Bengals	Eagles	33-30
11/17/1991	Eagles	Bengals	17-10
9/11/1988	Bengals	Eagles	28-24
11/21/1982	Bengals	Eagles	18-14

Injury Reports	Depth Charts
Eagles	Eagles
Bengals	Bengals

2020 “Expert” Picks
Week 3 - "Expert" Picks

2020 Team Stats
Eagles Season Stats
Bengals Season Stats

2020 Stats (Starters/Leaders)

Passing

Name	CMP	ATT	PCT	YDS	TD	INT	RAT
Wentz	50	85	58.8%	512	2	4	64.4
Burrow	60	97	61.9%	509	3	1	81.5

Rushing

Name	ATT	YDS	YDS/G	AVG	TD
Sanders	20	95	95	4.8	1
Mixon	35	115	57.5	3.3	0

Receiving

Name	REC	YDS	YDS/G	AVG	TD
Goedert	12	131	65.5	10.9	1
Boyd	11	105	52.5	9.5	1

Sacks

Name	Sacks	Team Total
Sweat/Graham	1.0	4
Lawson/Bynes	1.0	2

Tackles

Name	Total	Solo	Assist	Sacks
Gerry	17	8	9	0.0
Bell/Bynes	16	6/7	10/9	0/1.0

Interceptions

Name	Ints	Team Total
N/A	0	0
Jackson III	1	1

Punting

Name	ATT	YDS	LONG	AVG	NET	IN 20	TB	BP
Johnston	7	389	62	55.6	49.1	4	1	0
Huber	8	428	70	53.5	43.5	3	3	0

Kicking

Name	ATT	MADE	%	LONG	PAT
Elliot	4	3	75.0%	38	3/3
Bullock	6	5	83.3%	50	4/4

Kick Returns

Name	ATT	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Scott	3	61	20.3	25	0
Wilson	3	131	43.7	45	0

Punt Returns

Name	RET	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD	FC
Raegor	2	6	3.0	6	0	2
Erickson	2	29	14.5	29	0	1

League Rankings 2020

Offense Rankings

Category	Eagles Stat	Eagles Rank	Bengals Stat	Bengals Rank
Total Offense	314.0	28th	324.0	26h
Rush Offense	89.0	29th	95.0	26th
Pass Offense	225.0	23rd	229.0	22nd
Points Per Game	18.0	T-27th	21.5	23rd
3rd-Down Offense	46.2%	T-11th	43.8	15th
4th-Down Offense	0.0%	T-25th	100.0	T-1st
Red Zone Offense (TD%)	60.0%	T-14th	40.0%	30th

Defense Rankings

Category	Eagles Stat	Eagles Rank	Bengals Stat	Bengals Rank
Total Defense	344.0	9th	398.0	22nd
Rush Defense	135.5	22nd	185.0	30th
Pass Defense	208.5	5th	213.0	7th
Points Per Game	32.0	26th	25.5	T-16th
3rd-Down Defense	40.0%	10th	45.8%	20th
4th-Down Defense	66.7%	T-19th	25.0%	T-9th
Red Zone Defense (TD%)	77.8%	27th	62.5%	16th

Team

Category	Eagles Stat	Eagles Rank	Bengals Stat	Bengals Rank
Turnover Diff.	-5	32nd	-2	T-25th
Total Penalties	8	5th	11	T-12th
Total Penalty Yards	50	2nd	89	13th

Recap from Last Week’s Games.
Eagles - The Eagles' struggles continued in their home opener against the Los Angeles Rams. An early fumble by Miles Sanders led to a Rams touchdown by Tyler Higbee. After the Eagles cut their deficit to four with a Jake Elliott field goal, Los Angeles responded with a Robert Woods touchdown run followed by a second Higbee touchdown catch. Trailing 21-3, the Eagles closed the deficit to five points by halftime with touchdown runs by Wentz and Sanders. After forcing a three-and-out on the Rams' first possession of the second half, the Eagles would drive to the Los Angeles 21, only for Wentz's first down pass to be picked off by Darious Williams, turning the momentum back in the Rams' favor as they would outscore the Eagles 16-3 the rest of the way. Despite not being sacked once during the game, Wentz finished the day with a 56.5 passer rating, completing 26 of 43 passes for 242 yards and two interceptions. The 37-19 blowout loss dropped Philadelphia to 0-2 for the first time since the 2015 season, and marked the Eagles' first home opener loss since that same season. It was also the first home loss to the Rams franchise since the opener of the 2001 season.
Bengals - After losing their regular season-opening game at home, the Bengals then traveled to Cleveland to face the Browns for Battle of Ohio Round 1. In the first quarter, the Bengals scored first when Randy Bullock kicked a 38-yard field goal to make it 3-0. Though, the Browns took the lead when Nick Chubb ran for an 11-yard TD to make it 7-3. In the second quarter, the Browns went up by double digits when Baker Mayfield found O'dell Beckham Jr. on a 43-yard TD pass to make it 14-3. The Bengals then came within 4 after Joe Burrow found C.J. Uzomah on a 23-yard TD pass to make it 14-10. Mayfield then found Kareem Hunt on a 6-yard TD pass to put the Browns up by double digits, 21-10. The Bengals closed out the half when Randy Bullock kicked a 43-yard field goal to make it 21-13 at halftime. In the third quarter, the Browns went back up by double digits when Chubb ran for a 1-yard TD to make it 28-13. The Bengals drew closer with Bullock's 27-yard field goal to make it 28-16. In the fourth quarter, the Bengals were able to get within 5 when Burrow found Mike Thomas on a 4-yard TD pass to make the score 28-23. Though, the Browns would go back up by double digits yet again when Hunt punched the ball in for a 1-yard TD to make it 35-23. The Bengals wrapped up the scoring when Burrow found Tyler Boyd on a 9-yard TD pass to make the final score 35-30.

Recap from Last Week’s Games.

Eagles - The Eagles' struggles continued in their home opener against the Los Angeles Rams. An early fumble by Miles Sanders led to a Rams touchdown by Tyler Higbee. After the Eagles cut their deficit to four with a Jake Elliott field goal, Los Angeles responded with a Robert Woods touchdown run followed by a second Higbee touchdown catch. Trailing 21-3, the Eagles closed the deficit to five points by halftime with touchdown runs by Wentz and Sanders. After forcing a three-and-out on the Rams' first possession of the second half, the Eagles would drive to the Los Angeles 21, only for Wentz's first down pass to be picked off by Darious Williams, turning the momentum back in the Rams' favor as they would outscore the Eagles 16-3 the rest of the way. Despite not being sacked once during the game, Wentz finished the day with a 56.5 passer rating, completing 26 of 43 passes for 242 yards and two interceptions. The 37-19 blowout loss dropped Philadelphia to 0-2 for the first time since the 2015 season, and marked the Eagles' first home opener loss since that same season. It was also the first home loss to the Rams franchise since the opener of the 2001 season.

Bengals - After losing their regular season-opening game at home, the Bengals then traveled to Cleveland to face the Browns for Battle of Ohio Round 1. In the first quarter, the Bengals scored first when Randy Bullock kicked a 38-yard field goal to make it 3-0. Though, the Browns took the lead when Nick Chubb ran for an 11-yard TD to make it 7-3. In the second quarter, the Browns went up by double digits when Baker Mayfield found O'dell Beckham Jr. on a 43-yard TD pass to make it 14-3. The Bengals then came within 4 after Joe Burrow found C.J. Uzomah on a 23-yard TD pass to make it 14-10. Mayfield then found Kareem Hunt on a 6-yard TD pass to put the Browns up by double digits, 21-10. The Bengals closed out the half when Randy Bullock kicked a 43-yard field goal to make it 21-13 at halftime. In the third quarter, the Browns went back up by double digits when Chubb ran for a 1-yard TD to make it 28-13. The Bengals drew closer with Bullock's 27-yard field goal to make it 28-16. In the fourth quarter, the Bengals were able to get within 5 when Burrow found Mike Thomas on a 4-yard TD pass to make the score 28-23. Though, the Browns would go back up by double digits yet again when Hunt punched the ball in for a 1-yard TD to make it 35-23. The Bengals wrapped up the scoring when Burrow found Tyler Boyd on a 9-yard TD pass to make the final score 35-30.

Connections
Bengals HC Zac Taylor is the older brother of Eagles QB Press Taylor.
Bengals TE Coach James Casey played two seasons for the Eagles from 2013-2014.
Bengals assistant Special Teams coach Colt Anderson played 4 seasons for the Eagles from 2010-2013.
Eagles Run game coordinatodefensive line coach Matt Burke was the LB coach for the Bengals from 2014-2015.
Eagles DB coach Marquand Manuel played for the Bengals from 2002-2003.

2020 Pro Bowlers

Eagles	Bengals
DT Fletcher Cox (Starter)	DT Geno Atkins
OG Brandon Brooks (Starter)
C Jason Kelce (Starter)
LS Rick Lovato (Starter)
TE Zach Ertz
SS Malcom Jenkings (1st Alt)
OT Lane Johnson (1st Alt

General
Referee: Adrian Hill
Philadelphia hosts Cincinnati at Lincoln Financial Field for just the third time in the all-time series and first time since 2012. Sunday marks the 14th overall meeting between the two teams.
The Eagles are 23-10 (.697) at home in the regular season under head coach Doug Pederson, which is tied for the 6th-best home winning percentage in the NFL since 2016, trailing only New En-gland (.818, 27-6), Baltimore (.758, 25-8), Kansas City (.758, 25-8), New Orleans (.727, 24-9) and Green Bay (.712, 23-9-1).
In Week 2 vs. L.A. Rams, Miles Sanders combined for 131 scrim-mage yards (3rd-most in a single game in his career), including 95 rushing (1 TD) and 36 receiving. In 2019, Sanders led his class with a franchise-rookie-record 1,327 scrimmage yards.
Brandon Graham recorded sack No. 52 of his NFL career against Rams QB Jared Goff in Week 2 vs. L.A. Rams. His 52.0 sacks are the 5th-most in Eagles history, behind Reggie White (124.0, 1985-92), Trent Cole (85.5, 2005-14), Clyde Simmons (76.0, 1986-93) and Hugh Douglas (54.5, 1998-2002, ‘04).

Draft Picks

Eagles	Bengals
WR Jalen Raegor	QB Joe Burrow
QB Jalen Hurts	WR Tee Higgins
LB Davion Taylor	LB Logan Wilson
S K’Von Wallace	LB Akeem Davis-Gaither
OT Jack Driscoll	DE Khalid Kareem
WR John Hightower	T Hakeem Adeniji
LB Shaun Bradley	LB Marcus Bailey
WR Quez Watkins
OT Prince Tega Wanogho
LB/DE Casey Toohill

Notable Off-season Additions

Eagles	Bengals
S Will Parks	NT DJ Reader
DT Javon Hargrave	CB Trae Waynes
CB Nickell Robey-Coleman	CB Mackensie Alexander
CB Darius Slay	G Xavier Su’a-Filo
	LB Josh Bynes
	WR Mike Thomas
	S Vonn Bell
	CB Leshaun Sims
	RB Jacques Patrick

Notable Off-season Departures

Eagles	Bengals
S Malcom Jenkins	QB Andy Dalton
CB Ronald Darby	CB Dre Kirkpatrick
RB Jordan Howard	G John Miller
WR Nelson Agholor	OT Cordy Glenn
OL Halapoulivaati Vaitai	TE Tyler Eifert
LB Kamu Grugler-Hill	WR Marqise Lee
RB Darren Sproles	CB Darqueze Dennard
DT Timmy Jernigan	DT Andrew Billings
LB Nigel Bradham	S Clayton Fejedelem

Milestones
Eagles QB Carson Wentz (99) needs 1 passing TDs for 100 career passing TDs.
Eagles WR Desean Jackson (6386 needs 79 yards to move up to 3rd on the Eagles all-time receiving yards list all-time passing WR *Mike Quick
Eagles WR Desean Jackson (34) needs 2 TDs to move into a tie for 7th on the Eagles all-time receiving TD list tying WR Jeremy Maclin
Eagles DE Brandon Graham (52) needs 2.5 sacks to move to 4th on the Eagles all-time sack list tying DE Hugh Douglas
Eagles DT Fletcher Cox (48) needs 2.5 sacks to move up to 6th on the Eagles all-time sack list tying DE Greg Brown
Eagles DE Vinny Curry (27) needs 1 sack to move up to 19th on the Eagles all-time sack list passing DT Darwin Walker
Bengals WR AJ Green (8987) needs 13 yards to reach 9000 receiving yards for his career.
Bengals WR AJ Green (63) needs 3 receiving TDs to move into a tie with Chad Johnson for the most receiving TDs in Bengals history.

Stats to Know

QB Adjusted Completion %

What’s one thing rookie Joe Burrow and 5th-year Carson Wentz have in common? They have not been terribly accurate so far. PFF has an Adjusted Completion % stat that accounts for clear drops, spikes, throw aways, batted passes, and throws made while getting hit. Burrow and Wentz are near the bottom in AC%, with 70.4 and 70.3, respectively. Interesting to note a bit of the distribution within the array of aforementioned stats: while Burrow has had one of the lower rates of on-target passes dropped by the receiver (4.1%), Wentz doubled that at 8.4%, good for 5th-highest. Yes, Wentz has stunk, but...

Matchups to Watch
Rookie versus Veteran, Which QB Has Poise Down 0-2?
With two consecutive weeks of porous defense from both the Eagles and Bengals defensive units, this Sunday's matchup should rest squarely on the shoulders of each offensive unit. Will the Eagles be able to rely on fifth year starter Wentz? Will he be able to shake off two tumultuous weeks and put together a consistent offensive performance? Will the Bengals weapons coalesce around their rookie Burrow? Will he be able to put together his first complete NFL game and demonstrate that this season is the turning point for the franchise? A big piece of Wentz stabilizing his game time performance will be continuing his focus on short-time-to-throw plays. From Week 1 with 8 sacks versus the Washington Football Team to Week 2 and zero sacks versus the Rams with the vaunted Aaron Donald, the Eagles Offensive Line and Wentz’ pocket choices resulted in less lost yards and broken plays. Unfortunately, key turnovers again forced short-yardage scoring situations and massive tempo swings. Wentz needs to take advantage of the cleaner pocket that will likely be available versus the Bengals (2 sacks on the year so far) and finish drives cleanly to put the game away. Without rookie WR Jalen Reagor (placed on IR with a thumb injury after Week 2), Wentz will have to make use of the remainder of his threats, including veteran DeSean Jackson who had 6 catches on 9 targets for 64 yards against the superior Rams’ defensive backfield. Joe Burrow has had the classic introductory NFL QB experience. A high-flying game versus the Browns last week, with 300+ yards passing, 3TDs and zero ints was fantastic bounce back from Week 1 versus the Chargers. 193 yards, 0 TDs, and an int will not win the game for the Bengals versus the Eagles, even if Wentz struggles. A key focus for Burrow will be settling into the routine and relationships he’s formed with his offensive weapons. AJ Green remains one of the best WR threats in the NFL and his slow start to the season (8 catches for 80 yards) could end at any time, in any game with a QB like Burrow. Burrow threw a nearly record setting number of passes during the almost-come-from-behind loss versus the Browns; if the Bengals are able to establish their run-game and abuse the Philadelphia secondary in a similar way to the Rams offensive scheme, then Burrow could have a very big day. If he is forced to drop back 60+ times, and Joe Mixon is again held under 75 yards on the ground, the Bengals and Burrow may have a hard time. Keep an eye on how comfortable each QB is feeling, and whether they can establish good tempo. That will be key to offensive production this weekend.
Coaching Conundrum; Pederson versus Taylor
At the core of the NFL these days is the combat between offensive and defensive schemes. Both coaches come from a background of coaching QB play and offensive schemes, though from different eras and coaching trees. How they go about using that experience to enable their teams to a secure a necessary win this week will make or break their seasons. Doug Pederson, at the helm of a revamped offensive coaching tree with the addition of Quarterbacks Coach Press Taylor as Passing Game Coordinator, has had a rough three year stretch of offensive stumbles. Since the miraculous Super Bowl 52 season (2017), the Eagles have consistently failed to be productive, with a lot of the challenges relating to lack of roster depth and poor player improvement through misaligned coaching. This is the third consecutive year of stuttering offense to begin the season and a big piece of the matchup versus the Bengals will be how well the Eagles can settle in. Coach Pederson has made it clear that the lack of full-speed off-season practice plays a big role in the Eagle’s struggles so far; so it remains to be seen when and if both units can make use of this gametime practice to solidify the small flashes of prior success we’ve seen. Opposite Pederson is Coach Taylor, in his second year of a complete rebuild, now with the (ideally career-long) franchise WB in Burrow. Hailing from the Shanahan line, through the LA Rams McVay, Taylor was brought into Cincinnati to recreate the organization’s coaching structure and form a new core for the team around veteran WR AJ Green. The 2019 season showed marked improvement throughout, particularly in run production and passer protection; the addition of Covid-related practice limitations have also taken their toll on the Bengals’ preparations for this season, as exemplified by the Week 1 drubbing by the Ravens. Taylor returns this season with second-year offensive coordinator Brian Callahan, formerly the QB coach for the Raiders. The cerebral talent in the Bengals organization is clearly arrayed around giving Burrow the best possible chance to shine; and they may just do so against an extremely poorly performing Eagles defense. Being able to establish consistent offensive strength and consistency throughout this season will be a key part of whether this new coaching structure is able to flourish in Cincinnati or if yet more change is needed to remake the franchise. During game day, keep an eye out on how these coaches make use of their star players, now that the very early season yips and stumbles should be behind them. Whoever can appropriately adjust to the flow of the game and take advantage of the others mistakes will win this football game.
The Big Punt: How Special Teams Makes An Impact
Kevin versus Cameron, Huber versus Johnston, two players that may very well decide the nature of this Bengals versus Eagles matchup. These titans of the turf, two punters to rule them all, and two punters to pin them deep; two punters waiting on call, and two punters to make fans weep. In lieu of offensive production, and in hopes of good defensive play, Kevin Huber and Cameron Johnston bring their punting prowess to Lincoln Financial Field this Sunday. Hailing from opposite sides of the Earth, Huber from Cincinnati itself, and Johnston from Geelong Australia, these two are some of the most capable foot-based deliverers of the football to opposing teams. Huber holds nearly all of the Bengals franchise records in punting statistics; and Johnston holds the highest gross and net punting averages in a single Eagles season. The third year Australian punter is known by Eagles fans for his insanely long hang-time and penchant for pinning the NY Giants inside the 20 (20+ times in four games). Huber is loved by the Bengals fanbase as both their longest tenured player and his consistency over the past 13 years. He has missed just 2 of 180 possible games, and has been perennially top 10 at his position. Both players are in the final year of their contracts, so effective performance is a must for maximum salary gains. Keep an eye out on how effective these two are in establishing and keeping good field position. If both teams are struggling for consistency, these swings may be the key to a late drive that puts the game away. Additionally, with every punt comes the magic of a muffed punt return. If you’re a particular connoisseur of special teams play, watch and see if these punters add any special spin or location to their strikes; and key turnover last week in this position kept the Eagles hopeful. Maybe lightning will strike twice for the Eagles Special Teams and the Wizard with the Large Leg, Cam Johnston; maybe the Bengals gunners will scoop up a muff and Huber will be huger than expected. Stay tuned!

Special thanks to belisaurius and abenyishay for their help in creating this Game Preview.

[Australian Radio] #Tay4Hottest100, or, how a populist uprising got Taylor Swift banned from "the world's greatest music democracy."

Triple J is a government-funded, national Australian radio station that's primarily aimed at young listeners of alternative music - with a particular emphasis on local acts. It's also perhaps most famous for the Triple J Hottest 100 - which is where our drama lies.

Okay, so what's the Hottest 100?

So - every year, Triple J holds the Hottest 100. It's been going since 1989, and it's a poll in which the public is invited to vote for their favourite Australian and alternative music of the year. It's worth mentioning that the definition of "alternative" is somewhat flexible - Billie Eilish's Bad Guy won in 2019, for example. Voters are more or less limited to things that have gotten rotation on the station - but - and this will be important for this tale, voters can write in songs. Then, in January, the results of the vote are counted down from midday until a winner is revealed, with the station playing each song.
Here's a link to all the previous countdown results (which include some pretty great music.) Looking at those, you can generally see the type of stuff that constitutes the results.
The Hottest 100 has pretty much become a cultural institution here in Aus - people throw parties and it's reported on by the media. The poll has grown from 500,000 votes in 2004 to over 3.2 million in 2019, and it's often referred to as "the world's greatest music democracy."
There's been a fair share of controversy and general weirdness from the countdown over the years, from its shift away from Australia Day and the "ya joking, shoulda been higher" guy. There's always the upsets and shock placements and it's all around a good time. Though there's probably enough to fill several posts, we'll be focusing today on what may be the most infamous Hottest 100 drama.
Our tale, dear readers, lies in the 2014 Hottest 100 countdown (held in Jan 2015.) It begins with a simple Buzzfeed article.

Why Isn't Everyone Voting For Shake It Off In The Hottest 100?

That, my friends, is what Buzzfeed proclaimed before voting ended. The article's a very quick read, but essentially, it's proclaiming outrage that 1) Triple J hadn't played Taylor Swift and 2) that consequently, Taylor Swift's Shake It Off hadn't made the list of songs to vote for. However, the article outlines one more important thing: you can manually add songs. Which means that by doing so, you can vote for Taylor. And thus, the #Tay4Hottest100 movement was born, and quickly went viral.
Feverent debate gripped the nation. What had started as something of a joke had suddenly gained a following, as Swifties mobilised to win Taylor the top spot. There were arguments for and against, tweet by tweet. There's thinkpieces. Should Taylor Swift be allowed to win the Hottest 100? Would she even garner enough votes? Would letting it in go against Triple J's core philosophy of showcasing alternative and Australian artists, or would keeping it out be out of touch with the youth? Was it just a hijacking? The debacle even sparked a counter-petition to stop Shake It Off from charting. The hipsters were cranky. A mere few weeks before voting ended, Sportsbet opened odds on Taylor winning, putting her at 4th. Predictors that analysed social media votes realised that through write-in votes, Shake It Off would make the cut. It was well and truly on. The whole campaign, made to make fun of hipsters, seemed to be working - and it'd seemingly gone beyond trolling to people taking it seriously. It was all anathema to the Triple J establishment. Their special day — their so-called democracy — was being threatened by a populist uprising.
Also, you might notice that most of the articles I'm linking to are from actual, legitimate news sites and papers. That's how much of a thing this was.

Kentucky Fried Consequences

Now, despite some suggestions that Swift couldn't be included on the list because the hashtag had become a “commercial campaign”, which is against the rules of the Hottest 100, Triple J had confirmed #Tay4Hottest100 was "perfectly legal."
And that's when our story takes a turn. As debate sweeps the country and bets are being placed.......KFC, yes, Kentucky Fried Chicken, the company, makes a Facebook post. It expressed support for #tay4hottest100, and encouraged people to share their favourite Taylor song in return for a $19.89 gift voucher.
This spells doom for #tay4hottest100. Following the post, a mere five days before the countdown, Taylor Swift is disqualified from the Hottest 100 due to KFC’s attempt to meme. Unlike before, it had now technically been influenced by a "commercial campaign" and according to competition rules, “Triple J reserves the right to remove artists from the list who have benefited from competitions or commercial campaigns that incentivise fans to vote for them." Upon this whole announcement, Sportsbet had to refund over $10,000.
An hour before the countdown finally kicked off, Triple J tweeted a link to triplejfeed.com, a (now defunct) parody of Buzzfeed's site, and an listicle that details the "“8 Hilarious But Totally True Reasons You Won’t Hear ‘Shake It Off” In The Hottest 100”. The site crashed when the countdown started, and though it doesn't seem to be available any longer, you can read it here and here and here. Most notably, though: the radio station revealed that if it hadn't been disqualified, Shake It Off wouldn't have won: but it DID gather enough votes to have reached #12.
Depending in which camp you were in, you were either overjoyed at the preservation of the sanctity of Triple J, or you saw it all as a bitter mockery of democracy. Contention persisted as to whether the disqualification was legitimate or just Triple J being pretentious and finding an excuse. And so, what had been a bright, burning star merely a few weeks beforehand had fizzled out. Everyone was forced to, well, shake it off.

The Aftermath

Honestly, not much. Every year it gets brought up as an infamous Hottest 100 incident, but the main impact of #Tay4Hottest100 is that Triple J introduced a new rule for the 2015 countdown: “don’t troll the poll.” Basically, to stop it happening again, it's now official that “votes made as part of a competition that promotes a song or artist, or a campaign that undermines the Hottest 100 may be disqualified or ignored....We want genuine votes, from genuine listeners.” Call it the Swiftie clause, if you will.
As for that year, Chet Faker's Talk Is Cheap won the Hottest 100. His victory followed the previous winner, Vance Joy.....who, in the very same year as this whole debacle, was the opening act at Taylor Swift's Australian tour.

Roland Garros Women's Single Round One Writeup

This tournament has to feel wide open for so many players. Osaka isn't the best on clay, but her performance at the USO had to kinda close the door in the minds of many players. I realized halfway through writing this just how many players on the WTA are really playing their best right now. This should be a wild and exciting tournament, and even if half the competitors are wearing mom-shorts by Nike, that just makes it more wild and exciting since I'm fairly confident dude-mom-shorts will come back into style after that. What am I talking about? Idk. I'm tired. Enjoy tennis.
Halep Sorribes Tormo : This is the usual overpriced line for Halep as a 1 seed, and Sorribes Tormo is not that bad at all. Clay is her natural surface, and while she’s not out here winning titles, this will take some doing from Halep. Halep was pretty solid in her title win in Rome though, so she should be through in straight sets. Halep in 2.
Begu Teichmann : Unfortunate spot in the draw and unfortunate matchup for both these players. Begu crushes the ball and is a threat in most minor events in every round. Teichmann lost to Svitolina, but prior to that had looked like one of the next big talents on the tour. It’ll be a difficult task for Teichmann to negate Begu’s power, but the errors are there if she extends rallies and Begu is prone to stretches of mistakes. Irina plays her best in the first round, however, so this is not one way traffic. Teichmann in 3.
Bellis Pera : Bellis comes into this one slated as the underdog, and I guess that’s because Pera’s been more active. More active, but losing matches. Bellis posted a nice win against Bouchard a few months back, and I think although she won’t be fully adjusted to the surface, there’s reason to believe she will have chances in this contest. Her backhand is very solid, and Pera is prone to losing deciding sets. Bellis in 3.
Korpatsch Anisimova : Tamara Korpatsch has pulled some tough draws lately but she’ll have chances here, given Anisimova’s a much better hardcourt player. The difference in states in their careers will likely be the decider, as Anisimova feels more freedom to execute bigger shots in pressure moments, and Korpatsch is still looking to establish herself on tour. Anisimova in 3, as Korpatsch has been playing a lot of clay.
Yastremska Gavrilova : Wowwwwww. Remember Gavrilova? She’s dropped down the rankings to almost 800 in the world, and really hasn’t been around the tour much due to injuries. I think this is an unfortunate return for her, as defending was often her best asset and Yastremska does very well with control in a rally. Yastremska in 2.
Kalinskaya Bouchard : Kalinskaya is by no means an easy out, but Bouchard has been playing some of her best tennis on clay since the tour started back up, making the finals in Istanbul and winning some matches in the Prague event as well. Bouchard in twochard.
Haas Hsieh : This is a tough situation to call. Hsieh made a quick exit and hasn’t traditionally done great on clay. Haas is kinda not really at the same level, but has been winning a bunch of matches and playing a lot more. Rust could be a factor, but Hsieh is a cut above most of the qualifiers. Errors could be a factor for her, and it’s difficult to predict one of the most skillful players on tour losing, but that’s where I’d lean here. Losses to better players vs wins against easier competition. Which triumphs? Haas in 2 or Hsieh in 3.
Swiatek Voundrousova : This matchup tells me there are some real generous 1st round opponents out there. Swiatek is a real force when she’s on, but she hasn’t been for a while. A real solid run at the Australian Open and some bright points at the USO made me think she’d bring it in the clay season, but between these two struggling phenoms Voundrousova has made the most strides. Voundrousova seems to be hitting the ball slowly and yet her opponents get exhausted. Swiatek’s movement will be a good benefit to her here as Marketa hits a lot of dropshots, but her general rally errors are a thorn in her side until she finds that next gear again. A win here would have her going a few rounds at least, but I don’t think it happens. Voundrousova in 3.
Konta Gauff : This is a draw full of interesting matchups and it’s going to be frustrating not to get to watch some matches in full. This is one of them. After beating Jabeur with ease, Gauff played a solid contest with Muguruza. Konta on the other hand got the royal beats looking at the scoreline, but was also closer in the match than that score would indicate. In a match of mini-mugus, it’ll be interesting to see if Konta’s offense is able to hit through Gauff’s defense. On that subject, it has seemed that since her amazing Wimbledon run, Gauff’s shot selection has been largely about grinding her opponents down, and the backhand crosscourt is one of the only things it seems she feels comfortable hitting winners off. I think that hesitation is good on clay, but not the best in the first round. I’m leaning towards Konta in 3 but if you’re betting please don’t bet on this match. High profile matches are often capped very well since both are large markets, and both these players are playing well. It’s like betting on the Super Bowl. Are you watching it? Sure. Is it the worst game of the entire season to bet on? Yes.
Giorgi Trevisan : Marta Marta Marta! Trevisan worked her way through qualifying nicely, and while Giorgi’s pretty competent on clay and having the best season of her career following several years of Ls and inconsistency, I think this will be a close contest. The edge goes to Giorgi but the first round against a qualifier is always rough. Giorgi in 3.
Rakhimova Rogers : Wack! Rakhimova was probably the best qualifier for my money, and I was hoping she’d get a hardcourt player. Rogers has been in excellent form since the restart, and is very competent on clay. It gives her a bit more time to produce her booming groundstrokes, and her kickserve is a bit better as well. Again I think the qualifier can get off to a quick start, but Rogers should have this in 3.
Tomljanovic Sakkari : Tomjlanovic just can’t win a match, and that has to be getting frustrating. Sakkari isn’t the best on clay, but she’s too good of a defender to lose this one. Sakkari in 2.
Kuznetsova Pavlyuchenkova : Both of these lovely ladies have been playing great, and this just automatically should start in a third set. The funny thing about that is that in their last 10 matches, only one has gone to a third set. Kuznetsova owns the most recent win on clay, and is likely to get another one. Kuznetsova in 3.
Siniakova Davis : Siniakova was the unsung hero of Strasbourg this week, finally getting some wins under her belt and playing very exciting tennis. Davis has been a strugglebus on tour, and it’ll continue here. Siniakova in 2.
Puig Errani : Puig plays a big game and is prone to errors. Errani seems like she’s always in her last year on tour but wins a bunch of clay matches. This is power vs savvy, and I think Errani will continue her run. Errani in 3. This is one of those interesting matches where for the “better” player to win, they’ll have to hit the kind of levels that would indicate a deep run. It means a lot of question marks going in, but some very valuable info with the result.
Zavatska Bertens : Kikei Bertekori hasn’t really won many sets of tennis since her return. There’s something limiting her play, and losses to Ostapenko and Hercog aren’t the end of the world, but they mean she only just is a favorite to get past Zavatska here. She likely will though. Bertens in 2.
Svitolina Gracheva : One of the best performances of Svitolina’s career on clay netted her the title this past week in Strasbourg, and in every match it was evident that you just can’t put the ball away on her. Her speed is a great weapon, and her serving was much improved as well. She seems to be having fun on the court, and Gracheva likely won’t. She’s been playing a lot of clay and is usually good for a round of two at a major, but sometimes the draw just doesn’t work out. Svitolina in 2.
Zarazua Jacquemot! : Jacquemot! is the kind of name you have to put an exclamation point on. Zarazua became the first Mexican woman to qualify in 30 years, which is pretty cool, Jacquemot! is not quite up to this level yet, but she did beat Stojanovic recently which is a tour level win. Zarazua likely is in too good a form to lose here. Zarazua in two.
Blinkova Sharma : Blinkova played one of the array of awesome Sabalenka matches that went down this past week, and really excelled on the backhand wing. I think Sharma has a bright future on tour, but the fatigue likely means her offensive isn’t good enough to hit through Blinkova. Blinkova in two.
Inglis Alexandrova : Alexandrova was Siniakova’s first victim on the comeback tour, but she didn’t exactly play poorly. I don’t want to be dismissive of Inglis, but she’s not yet capable of the type of effort that it takes to unsettle Alexandrova. Alexandrova in 2.
Kontaveit Garcia : This is kinda unfortunate. After playing some good ball at the USO, Garcia drew Kontaveit in Rome and got the beats. That wasn’t enough though, the world also wants her to get the beats at home. Garcia’s power is great and her returning can be effective, but Kontaveit has been the most consistent performer on the women’s tour for the past few years not named Mertens. She shows up, she wins matches. The upsets are few and far between. Kontaveit in 2.
Sandwich Friedsam : I swear my autocorrect did that, not me. Friedsam is a good player, and can snag you if you make errors. Sasnovich plays a really nice game, and is prone to running out of shots for sets at a time, but that’s really only against the best baseliners on tour (pushers). I think this will be a skillful affair, but Sasnovich should have control. Sasnovich in two.
Bouzkova Kanepi : Bouzkova has made great improvements in her game, but she’s drawn one of the few players who just shows up for majors and wins. Kanepi’s game is somewhat known on tour, but it takes a lot of effort to slow down her power. One thing that can do this is movement, and I believe Bouzkova’s ability to move Kanepi will get her the errors she needs. Match rust is often a factor Kanepi overcomes, but I think it bites her here. Bouzkova in 3.
Gasparyan Mertens : Mertens is my favorite. I’m just gonna say it. She looks like she smiles and eats pretzels and it’s lovely. I generally picture her playing a harp to a family of orphaned owls wearing top hats, and that’s the Mertens I’ll always believe in. Mertens in two, sorry Margarita.
Azarenka Kovinic : A lot of this draw is players who were poised to make a move up the tour getting the absolute worst draw they could. Kovinic is doing great work and her fitness is unreal, but her style is too similar to Azarenka’s. Straightforward baseline consistency isn’t going to upset Vika, whose determination to call that bird does not seem to waver. It will come one day. Azarenka in 2.
Schmiedlova Williams : Oddsmakers have had enough of Venus Williams I suppose and opened her as an underdog here. Bit confusing to me as Schmiedlova isn’t really an overwhelming talent, and Venus played well in her straight set loss against Azarenka in Rome. I think we see an “upset” here. Williams in 3.
Minnen Podoroska : Great job qualfying for Podoroska. The new talent on tour is refreshing, yet somehow Greet Minnen feels like part of that wave of talent. Not a player who’s had the most success or the best statistics, but someone who seems very comfortable on the tennis court. Minnen has a good chance to win here, and I suspect it will go three.
Flipkens Putintseva : Flipkens slice-heavy game will be interesting on clay, but Putintseva isn’t really trying to hit winners, so this will kinda be a waste of tiempo. Putintseva’s poweconsistency are the right recipe to beat Flipkens, and the anger issues have been distant while she’s winning. Putintseva in 2 and at least a few dinosaur noises after breaking serve.
Strycova Lepchenko : Strycova isn’t bad on clay, but grass is her favorite. Lepchenko hits a heavy ball, and playing a lefty is always difficult. Her run in qualifying is somewhat unexpected since she’s a bit past her prime, but I’ll buy the stock anytime a ballbeater comes through qualfying and plays a serve and volleyer on clay. Lepchenko in 2-3.
Stojanovic Krejcikova : These are two of the lesser known talents to me. I see Stojanovic play maybe once a year and she’s usually good for a win on clay before her exit. I think Krejcikova has a pretty good edge in power and experience here, and I’ll hesitantly go with that. Krejcikova in 2.
Pironkova Petkovic : Pironkova! Rumours are that the next Disney Prince and Princess will both be named Pironkova and the whole movie will just be about them hitting inside out backhands at a band of evil clouds. Pironkova’s issue here is that she’s not really as good on clay as she is on hc. Her shots are rather flat and she doesn’t hit the ball as hard as she can on most of her shots. Petkovic is prone to errors in a glorious way, and simply does not play enough tennis to win on tour, but when she’s on she’s such a great athlete that she can compete with the top 20-40 tier in the world. I actually think Pironkova is a bit better than she was before she left the tour, and Petkovic not having played any clay leading up to this will be an issue for her since timing is always a concern on her shots. At the beginning of the day I had circled Pironkova, or Big Chonk Pironk as she’s known to her backgammon club, as someone to back here, but now I’m not so sure. I suspect Petkovic will either be brilliant, or awful. Awful is more frequent, so I’ll go with the hotter hand, even though Petkovic had some great hardcourt exhibition wins. Pironkova in 2.
Ahn Williams : Kristie Ahn plays Serena in every event? Seems odd. Williams is going to struggle on clay, but it won’t be this round. Williams in 2.
Sabalenka Pegula : Not really the easy first round Sabalenka deserves for her hard work in Strasbourg, but not a disaster. Pegula and Sabalenka on hardcourt is an even prospect, but Pegula hasn’t really won much on clay. I think given the lack of Ws and warmup matches for Pegula this will be somewhat lopsided. Sabalenka did the right thing by heading to Strasbourg. Sabalenka in 2.
Kasatkina Tan : I have to say Azarenka and Kastkina’s moment was beautiful. I shed a few tears watching it. Which makes me kinda confused to see Kasatkina’s name in the draw. I’ve criticized Konta in the past for theatrics after taking a tumble, and I just didn’t expect to see Kasatkina back a week later. Spraining your ankle sucks though, and I guess if there was no permanent damage she could have iced it and recovered. Tape jobs are miraculous in professional sports, and Harmony Tan is likely a non-factor in this one. Kasatkina in 2.
Hibino Kostyuk : Some people say you shouldn’t take adorable little bows after you win a tennis match. Those people have never seen Nao Hibino. I almost hope she wins this one so I can see them. Kostyuk took three sets to qualify, but she looked exceptionally good in the qualifier. It’ll be a very good contest between these two, as Kostyuk’s offense is next level stuff, and Hibino’s baseline game is in great form right now. There’s not a lot to divide these two, but Kostyuk’s match with Nara makes me think this one won’t be decided in two sets. I’ll side with the slightly more experienced player, but Kostyuk will have the higher ceiling when it’s finally her day. Hibino in 3.
Diyas Jabeur : Diyas hasn’t come through in a few spots I expected her to, and although Jabeur lost as a favorite to Gauff, clay was where she really earned her place on tour. She’ll have ample opportunities to play offense against Diyas, and should find the win here. Jabeur in 2.
Brady Tauson : Brady with a fun matchup here. Clara Tauson is a junior champion who really thrived in qualifying. She’s not quite ready for this matchup, but what will make it interesting is Brady with very little preparation for this event. I still see Brady’s offense being a dominant factor, but Tauson is a nice look at ze future. Brady in 2.
Niculescu Collins : Zvonareva was rolling up until Monica found her game. She’s been off the tour for a while but her slices are extremely annoying to play against, and she used to find upset wins very ofte on clay. Collins has kinda struggled with some tough draws, and it’s possible she takes an L here if she has trouble with her timing. Niculescu in 3.
Kuzmova Pliskova Kr : Kuzmova will have a tough time here with the big server. Krystina’s movement isn’t great, but she notches most of her wins on clay. Pliskova in 2.
Zidansek Muguruza : Zidanske has suffered some odd losses for such an adept clay-courter, including one to Bouchard right at the beginning of Bouchard’s streak. Muguruza really plays her best at RG, so the random errors are unlikely to be a factor. You won’t see a player on the women’s tour come to net more instinctively well. Muguruza in two.
Rybakina Cirstea : This isn’t the easy match Rybakina deserves after a long week in Strasbourg that saw her play some of her best tennis. This line of Rybakina around -390 feels similar to Medvedev and Fucsovics. Cirstea can be excellent but I picture Rybakina’s performance making her a more clear favorite. Rybakina in two.
Ferro Watson : Local “google tennis when it’s time to write a tennis article” ESPN reporter Bill Connelly has indicated Fiona Ferro is one to watch at this event. One to watch lose to Rybakina in the second round? I guess looking at the draw is too much work. Ferro does have some great stretches of clay wins this year, and she should drub Watson here, despite Heather owning their H2H 2-0. Playing at home, and having nabbed a title against Kontaveit in Palermo earlier this year, her spot int he draw is unfortunate, but she’ll get at least this win. Ferro in two.
Voegele Tig : Tig after not really getting much momentum the past two years won her first title on clay in Istanbul. She has a pretty interesting game and the emotion was real as she came back and snagged Bouchard who’d looked like the favorite throughout. I don’t think she’s a worldbeater just yet, but she’ll be a good favorite against Voegele, who’s has the type of quiet season Tig has just shaken off. Tig in two.
Mchale Muchova : Mchale makes matches long and gritty, and wears visors. These are good attributes, and what I’m realizing as I announce she has an unlucky draw is just how many WTA players are just playing great ball right now. There are so many people in the draw you just don’t want to be playing. Muchova’s athleticism and offense are legit, and will give her the edge against Mchale who thrives more on applying pressure deep in sets. Muchova in 3.
Vekic Bara : This line is the sort that makes me nervous. I’m not a big fan of backing Vekic but she played excellent at the USO an clay isn’t exactly foreign to her. Bara looked great in qualfying but doesn’t have the kind of resume that would suggest she beats Vekic, yet Vekic is only a 2:1 favorite. I’ll buy it though. A quick loss to Anisimova is all the footage we have to go on, and Bara was mercurial in her final sets against Hogenkamp. Bara in 3.
Van Uytvanck Peterson : Just really not either of these two’s favorite surface. It’s lucky for them to be playing each other, and I won’t try to read too much into this as both have really lost all of their matches on clay, but lost them to players they were somewhat supposed to lose to. I suspect Uytvanck’s serving will be a minor edge in this. AVU in 3.
Babos Bogdan : Bogdan comes in with the better clay resume, and Babos has been so mundane on tour that I’m a bit surprised she’s still gaining direct entry into main draws. Bogdan in 2.
Samsonova Kenin : I sang Samsonova’s praises a bit too often, and there are clearly some growing pains there as she establishes herself on tour. Kenin in 2.
Kvitova Dodin : Very similar plans here, and Kvitova is the one more likely to execute. Kvitova in 2.
Bolsova Paolini : Bolsova has been very annoying to play the past few weeks, and would be a bit of a favorite to win this if Paolini hadn’t beaten her in 2018 in straight sets on clay. The WTA doesn’t have a ton of clay specialists, but these are two of them and there won’t be a lot to separate them. Bolsova in 3.
Parry Hercog : Nice wildcard spot for Parry, who’ll earn her way on tour over the next year or so. Hercog is playing too well though, and should win in 2.
Fernandez Linette : Hmm. Fernandez lost to Voegele and her being a junior still means to me clay is a tough ask. You need a bit of power to really move the ball through the court. Linette has that, and her serving is good enough to really keep Fernandez from getting in a rhythm. Linette in 2.
Kerber Juvan : Juvan is definitely someone to watch on tour, but the odds on this are a bit of a puzzle to me. Listed as basically a pickem, Kerber’s quick loss to Siniakova stands out to me as the only guess as to why oddsmakers would be so low on her. I don’t think I’ve ever really seen Kerber thrive at non-majors since she won one though, and RG is a place where she definitely feels comfortable playing. Juvan will notch the win of her career if she wins here. I don’t see it. Kerber in 2.
Rus Burel : Burel is another in the list of French wildcards I think go out first round. It feels like I’m missing something, but Rus should win this. Rus in tus.
Paquet Cornet : Chloe Paquet is a younger version of Cornet in some aspects. Cornet is in fine form though, and I think she’ll give a great deal of trouble to Madison Keys in the next round. Cornet in 2.
Keys Zhang : Tempting to discuss Keys in depth but this is really the same equation. If she keeps the ball in she wins easily. If she flings the ball all over the place the Tennis Channel announcers have to pretend to be confused. Keys or Zhang in 2.
Martic Doi : Petra is one of the darkhorses for any clay event. Doi has been extra plucky lately though, and could annoy her with her movement. Martic in 3.
Partmentier Kudermetova : Tough match to call. Parmentier at home plays well, and clay is where she’s most comfortable. Kudermetova is wildly inconsistent and her heroics against Pliskova at the W&S Open are probably the only bright point I’ve seen. Parmentier seems ripe for a win and the conditions suit her here. Parmentier in 3.
Siegemund Mladenovic : Siegemund struggles against the top of the tour, but her battles have landed her as a low-rent RBA on the WTA side. Clay is by far her best surface and Mladenovic is always capable but I believe Siegemund’s linear attack will make it difficult for her to generate her unique offense. Siegemund in 3.
Goerges Riske : Ooo. Goerges has kinda disappeared from the tour after moving all the way up to the top 20 at one point. Her return includes a quick loss to Kovinic, and now she gets a gift that will be tough to open. Riske is probably the worst suited to clay, but has been playing a lot more tennis than Goerges. This will be a hard one to watch, as both players have struggled on serve and with their consistency. Riske has won more of their encounters (thought they’re all on hardcourt), so while I’d never bet on it, she should have a slight edge here. Riske in 3.
Stephens Diatchenko : It’s finally a major, so we can finally watch Sloane win a match. Hooray! And by “can watch” I mean “will be forced to by Tennis Channel’s dipshit coverage”. Diatchenko unfortunately is not really the clay opponent to hurt Stephens, and while I love to watch Sloane ball out, I won’t get my hopes up with Pliskova looming in her section. Stephens in 2.
Kozlova Badosa : Paula Badosa Gilbert is a clay specialist, and Kozlova has really not played any clay leading up to this. I think this is a good spot for Badosa to make a third round if Stephens sleeps on her. Badosa in 2.
**Ostapenko Brengle : “**Hulk smash!” the audio plays loudly from the TV in the other room. “I WANNA WATCH IT AGAIN”, screams a young Jelena. “Yes, ok bubchick”, said her mom, rewinding it for the 112th time. This little dude swings for the fences, and I kinda like it when it works, and I kinda hate it when it doesn’t. Brengle is the perfect test pilot to see where Jelena’s head/game will be at for this one, and with Pliskova potentially in the second round, there could be a match with zero rallies. Ostapenko in 3.
Sherif Pliskova : Sherif wins the prize. The first woman to qualify from Egypt in a major. So ridiculously cool, and her game is really good quality. Against some other players in the draw, she’d have a good chance at an upset. Unfortunately, Pliskova seems focused, and thought she withdrew against Halep, her game should have her in control of this one. Pliskova in 2.
PS User Kuklachert runs a very fun picking contest if you're interested in discord ... check it out here
https://www.reddit.com/tennis/comments/izhabroland_garros_tipping_competition/

Oct/6/2020 wrap-up: \\ War in Karabakh (Artsakh) \\ media reacts to Azerbaijan's use of cluster bomb on civilians \\ ethnic minorities condemn Aliyev regime \\ revealed: Azerbaijan recruits more jihadists \\ Iran & Russia warn \\ casualties & losses \\ donations intensify \\ eagle vs lizard \\ bills

Previous reports:
October 5, October 4, October 3, October 2, October 1, September 30, September 29, September 28, September 27

An English-language documentary explaining the conflict, Turkey's involvement, and Azerbaijan's recruitment of terrorists.
https://youtu.be/aMBCbuIMUrs

"This isn't out war" / Talysh minorities complain about Azerbaijan's discriminatory draft & hate speech

A few days ago we learned how the government of Azerbaijan intentionally drafts disproportionately higher numbers of ethnic minorities. A new report came from Talysh activists.
The letter reads: There is no military solution to this conflict, as it will only lead to problems for future generations. We are extremely concerned about the steps taken by the Azerbaijani authorities to send the Talysh to the battlefield.
We condemn the government's efforts to sow hatred in our community towards Armenians. Most Talysh people are dissatisfied with this situation.
On the one hand, the government of Azerbaijan suppresses freedom of speech. On the other hand, it is exploited by those with close ties to the government to present as if there is hatred of Armenians among the Talysh.
We call on the Azerbaijani government to finally end its policy of sowing hatred. We urge the Talysh not to engage in hate speech. We urge them to refrain from participating in clashes. We have never been an opponent of any people in our history; we will continue this path.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030492.html

Azerbaijan's use of illegal cluster bomb on civilians

The Telegraph: "Azerbaijan dropping cluster bombs on civilian areas in war with Armenia." The Daily Telegraph saw evidence of the banned munitions' use in the capital of Karabakh.
The munitions, which scatter tiny bomblets over a wide area, are banned under a global treaty because of the risk they pose to civilians, especially children.
On a downtown street full of shops and housing blocks, large quantities of the bomblets - small cylindrical tubes about the size of a film can - were left scattered on the concrete. Several had failed to explode, posing an ongoing risk to passers-by.
More: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/10/05/azerbaijan-dropping-cluster-bombs-civilian-areas-war-armenia/

Russian journalists run for cover and record the moment the rocket hits the ground capital Stepanakert (1:39 mark).
"There are no military objects here. It's downtown. Only civilian shops and districts. A mine's tail was left on a balcony. Lots of damage."
https://youtu.be/c9VCbx6vSrM?t=98

the 1,500 Syrian jihadists

Foreign Policy writes: Turkey has sent ~1,500 Syrian mercenaries to Azerbaijan after 5-60 day training, according to our source. They went from Syria to Gaziantep, Turkey on September 25th.
They were offered $1,500/mo to sign a 4-month contract. Now, many regret signing it after learning about the death of 55 mercenaries. (learn to code then). They were mislead about being sent to guard facilities.
"There is no communication between us and the Azerbaijani forces," one of the militants based in the Barda region of Azerbaijan told Foreign Policy. "All militants are dissatisfied with the situation in Azerbaijan. The psychological atmosphere is very difficult."
The arrival of 55 corpses near Aleppo village was tragic. They hadn't seen anything like that before. Turkey will pay $7,800 to the families of the deceased.
https://news.am/arm/news/606380.html

"Syrian fighters in Idlib expressing dissatisfaction of others leave for Azerbaijan, while they as they claim it, have a lot to do in Idlib. They are also sorry for some 50 of them killed."
Video: https://twitter.com/ASBMilitary/status/1313478993954459649

Another 40 bodies of mercenaries killed in Azerbaijan, are taken to Syria. Another 50 were taken on October 4th.
https://twitter.com/517design/status/1313483386388963328

WarGonzo military journalists have learned that Azerbaijan plans to import 1,000 additional mercenaries from Pakistan/Afghanistan. The source claims it's due to the Azeri army's inability to complete the task when it comes to face-to-face fight. "Aliyev has also failed to keep the promisee he gave to Erdogan about finishing it with blitzkriegg."
https://t.me/wargonzo/3640

almasdarnews: Hundreds of Syrian mercenaries head to Azerbaijan to replace lost fighters
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/hundreds-of-syrian-mercenaries-head-to-azerbaijan-to-replace-lost-fighters-report/

the fight against terrorism

Artsakh government plans to creature a coalition to fight terrorism. The Artsakh Parliament has contacted Iran to create a joint task-force "to locate and destroy the terrorists".
"Terrorists fight against our homeland already disguised under the flag of a UN member state Azerbaijan, in the regular army of Azerbaijan. Everyone saw and recorded the entry of the global jihadist network into Azerbaijan. This terrorist cell is being fed by Turkey.
As the president of a state fighting for its independence, I call on the civilized world to take an active part in this struggle. Creating an effective and efficient global anti-terrorist coalition is imperative today. I am sure the victory will be ours," said Artsakh president Arayik Harutyunyan.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030620.html , https://news.am/arm/news/606431.html
Sometime before or after: President of Iran Rouhani spoke with Ilham Aliyev and informed him that Iran is concerned with the involvement of "third countries" in this conflict and the disability in its northern borders which could open the doors for terrorists.
https://news.am/arm/news/606430.html

a few more things from yesterday

Artsakh President Arayik: yet another day with a stable success in the front. The army has accomplished the task brilliantly and is currently successfully defending in the air and land while inflicting heavy losses on them.
This was the reason why the Azeri army fired over 100 Smerch missiles on the capital Stepanakert.
I was also informed that the diaspora has already donated $50m. Thank you. We will restore the ruins after our victory. This unity of ours is proof that Azerbaijan has already lost.
https://news.am/arm/news/606250.html
Rapper The Game also published an Instagram video in support of Armenia. "Share your voice. End global terrorism." Another rapper Xzibit shared a similar post yesterday.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CF-LdevH1vp/

October 6th begins

8:25 WarGonzo from Stepanakert: a surprisingly calm morning. Usually, they'd bomb by 6:30 am. Even the siren didn't go off.
9:15 WarGonzo: Okay, the sirens have just gone off again to warn against incoming bombs. Cluster bombs were dropped on Stepanakert
https://youtu.be/x72664SEzao
https://t.me/sashakots/17181 , https://t.me/wargonzo/3635
WarGonzo crew went to southern Hadrut city to record videos:
https://youtu.be/nmzZ6I-3B6k
8:47: the Armenian Cultural Center in Athens, Greece has organized recruitment of volunteers willing to fly and join the army. The Assembly of Armenians of Europe has welcomed the effort.
"The Armenian people have always been peace-loving, but when the enemy declares war and leaves no other choice, we have to volunteer for the army of freedom and justice from all over the world."
https://news.am/arm/news/606263.html
Donations: www.himnadram.org
8:51 Artsakh prez. spokesman: Good morning. We are strong and powerful. Long live the collective will and power of the Armenian people, before whom the crushed Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem will soon bow.
https://factor.am/291496.html
9:06: ANCA chairman Raffi Hambarian has contacted the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. and asked to suspend the drone sales to Azerbaijan, citing their use against the civilian population.
https://news.am/arm/news/606267.html
9:18 Artsakh president: Last night, the front line was generally stable. The army continues to perform its combat mission brilliantly and professionally.
All levels of government are effective at doing their job. Both in the rear and on the front line, everyone is well aware of what to do. The victory will be ours, rest assured.
https://t.me/infocomm/22292
10:24: the railway company and the Armenian embassy in Georgia deny reports about facing issues while importing fuel through Georgia.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030506.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030535.html
11:15 army: Azerbaijan has lost 3,454 soldiers (KIA), 4 Smerch, 379 tanks and armored vehicles, 17 aircraft, 16 helicopters, 125 drones, etc.
https://news.am/arm/news/606293.html
11:26 Healthcare Minister: almost all of the wounds are from shrapnel caused by a bomb explosion. There will be a new hotline to allow families to find the location and details of their relatives. Most wounds are light or medium degree.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030516.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030521.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030524.html
12:27: Syrian president Assad has accused Erdogan of organizing and encouraging the latest conflict in Artsakh. "We can confirm that Turkey sent Syrian jihadists to Karabakh. Erdogan supports terrorists."
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030522.html , https://youtu.be/M2cvo-vk1zw
12:41 Artsakh Parliament Speaker: Aliyev's plan to drink tea in Stepanakert and Shushi after a blitzkrieg has failed. He is no longer in charge in his country; the war is managed by Turkey.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030526.html
13:45 MoD of Armenia: the govt of Azerbaijan continues to lie to its people and the world about us allegedly shelling them from the Republic of Armenia territories. It's a propaganda tool used as a pretense to resume their attacks.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030536.html
14:04: the army published 21 names of soldiers who died in battles. The total confirmed is 240.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030540.html
14:53: soldiers sent a video from the front.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030549.html
15:08 Artsakh govt: the Army has inflicted new losses on the enemy troops in all directions. We have some positional success.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030554.html
16:03: Pashinyan visited Artsakh to hold a meeting with the Artsakh president and army leaders. "We discussed the plan to destroy the new terrorist cell in the region," said president Arayik.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030561.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030603.html
16:27: Azeris resumed the large scale operations in the south, involving large reserves and heavy equipment. "They are also ignoring the safety of Iranian territories."
Army: Welcome to Hell. We are methodically destroying the opponent's capabilities.
MFA: this attack is happening while Turkish MFA is in Baku, and just hours after OSCE released a statement calling for a ceasefire. All the responsibility of consequences is on the Azeri govt shoulders.
Army: explain this to the terrorists. The area near Araks river is flat plains, while our soldiers are mountain eagles. A lizard cannot defeat an eagle. (he means Azeris can easily crawl along the furthest southern border but up north they'll face Armenians on higher grounds. Azeris have captured some territories in the south since the war began.)
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030566.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030567.html , https://news.am/arm/news/606377.html , https://news.am/arm/news/606392.html
16:28 Head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service Narishkin: Turkey made an open and unequivocal support for Azerbaijan. In addition, the armed confrontation in Karabakh attracts the militants of various international terrorist organizations.
We have intel about the involvement of thousands of terrorists from several cells. Al Nusra terrorists are also being deployed there.
This is concerning because they could enter other neighboring countries including Russia.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030565.html , https://twitter.com/MuradGazdiev/status/1313437041775071233
WarGonzo reports that Russia plans to conduct airstrikes against the Syrian jihadist cells in northern Syria. Among them will be the ones that sent mercenaries to Karabakh.
Yesterday we learned that an insider exposed the location of these jihadists to a Syrian govt agent, who then presumably passed the info to the Russian air force. There is a $300 bounty on exposing the cell locations.
https://news.am/arm/news/606397.html
16:54: the shelling of capital Stepanakert has resumed.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030572.html
16:58 Artsakh govt: Azeris sustained heavy losses. Their large assault in the south is their last effort to gain some results.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030574.html
17:36: an Azeri drone has allegedly emergency-landed on Iranian territory in the south.
Video: https://t.me/infoteka24/8131
17:43 QP MP Alen: Azerbaijan has no major strategic victories. I want the Azeri public to know that they're being lied to. We get the impression that Azeri soldiers are being thrown into a meat grinder so that Aliyev can post a photo on the internet. Azerbaijan will ask for a ceasefire, while Aliyev will flee and leave the public in poverty.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030582.html
17:55 political expert: Azerbaijan has lost most of whatever equipment they collected in the past 30 years. With oil prices remaining low, the chances of them repeating this, at least in the near future, are low.
https://youtu.be/Zgsdbu8uToE
18:00: one of the Smerch missiles fired by Azerbaijan exploded near the Red Cross office in capital Stepanakert.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030589.html
Artsakh govt: The shelling of Stepanakert by the enemy will receive a proportionate response. We won't target civilians... Our missile strikes on enemy military facilities located in major cities are not yet subject to publication. We'll publish a whole list after the war.
As a result of our strikes, not only have large enemy reserve forces been destroyed, but there have been long traffic jams on the highways to Baku for two days now. (civilians moving away from areas with military objects)
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030580.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030583.html
18:29: NSS warns citizens not to answer unknown calls/SMS claiming to be surveys, and to avoid falling victim to fake news.
To gather more info, the NSS contacted a certain "journalist named Artyom Khachatryan" who took a report from an Azeri outlet and reprinted it as a fact. The reporter later claimed it was an opinion piece.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030595.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030605.html
19:22 video of elder volunteers in front: "we knew the spirit would be so high but didn't suspect it would be this much. We came here to encourage the boys, but it's them who began reassuring us."
Among them are female mortar operators.
https://youtu.be/zDd0QDTrmdk
19:27 ethnic Yezidi MP Bakoyan: I am glad that Yezidi and Armenian Diasporas are working together. I urge you to continue to provide financial support. (www.HimnaDram.org)
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030606.html
19:32: ARF party is uring the govt to reduce cooperation with NATO if they're unable to restrain their member Turkey.
https://news.am/arm/news/606414.html
19:44: the European Court for Human Rights has approved the second petition filed by Armenia. This one requires Turkey not to target Armenian civilians (Turkish air force helped Azeris to bomb settlements).
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030610.html
19:53: MFAs of Russia and Iran discussed the conflict.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030611.html
20:13: Azerbaijan's govt-run Haqqin outlet published two separate fake stories about Armenians admitting to targeting civilians (mistranslation), and allegedly killing Kurdish mercenary fighters in Karabakh (they are Armenian).
https://twitter.com/517design/status/1313512811922948097 , https://twitter.com/oryxspioenkop/status/1313519170978566144
21:09 army: yesterday, Azeris lost 300 soldiers (KIA), 2 helicopters, 11 armored vehicles, 2 drones. Data on today's losses will be available tomorrow.
Stepanakert's civilian infrastructure was bombed this morning. There were casualties.
Fierce battles resumed in the south today. They launched an attack along the Araks River.
https://youtu.be/HhSAJ6FiBEA?t=429 , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030619.html
22:06: photos showing the damage done to city Shushi after Azerbaijan's indiscriminate fire at civilians.
https://news.am/arm/news/606445.html
22:10: Artsakh war veteran and politician Vahan Badasyan was wounded in the front lines. Condition stable-serious.
https://medialab.am/100295/
Former SOC chief David Sanasaryan will join the front. "My service in the rear is complete."
https://factor.am/291773.html
23:54: Armenia and Artsakh have denied the Azeri claims that the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline was targeted. "This is false information with which Azerbaijan is trying to mislead the international community."
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030634.html

A military expert explains the current situation in the front lines: https://youtu.be/AKuDshp_654

the international community

Iran's Ayatollah's Foreign adviser: The war between Azerbaijan and Armenia, two neighboring countries of Iran, and the emergence of some events, including the involvement of the Zionist regime, Turkey and Takfiri terrorists in this war, as well as regular shootings and shelling on Iranian territory in this battle, are worrying. It should be stopped as soon as possible
https://news.am/arm/news/606341.html
Cyprus plans to pass a resolution in support of the Artsakh population.
https://news.am/arm/news/606344.html
Daily Mail: "Azerbaijani forces are using banned cluster bombs on their Armenia enemies as sides battle over disputed Nagorno-Karabakh, western journalists confirm"
Small un-detonated bomblets have been seen littering the streets of Stepanakert following heavy shelling by Azerbaijani forces
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8808567/Azerbaijani-forces-using-banned-cluster-bombs-Armenia-enemies.html
Members of the Italian Lega party held a protest in support of Armenia. Among the attendees were a Rome municipality adviser, Lega's leader in Rome's municipality council, a Senator, and others. They condemned Turkey, Azerbaijan, and called for the independence of Karabakh.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030556.html
Armenians held a march in Milan:
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030616.html
Wall Street Journal: Can Anyone Stop the Caucasus Clash? Turkey bets that the West and Russia will sit idle as Nagorno-Karabakh burns.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/can-anyone-stop-the-caucasus-clash-11601938812
German outlets Zeit, Welt, Tagesschau, n-tv, and others covered the topic and mentioned Turkey's involvement in the conflict, the use of F-16, and Azerbaijan's shelling of civilian population. Speigel mentioned Pashinyan's accusations that 150 Turkish commanders are leading the Azeri army actions.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030542.html
U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff: The United States should review its relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey. The American people must understand what is at stake when the people of Artsakh are killed, when civilian settlements are bombed and shelled by Azeris, and all this, with the help of Turkey, threatens all our freedoms.
https://news.am/arm/news/606296.html
PACE has reminded that by becoming members, Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to settle things peacefully. They condemned Turkey's provocative rhetoric. "This war is threatening the region."
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030599.html
European Parliament MP Lars Patrick Berg has joined colleagues and called for "Azerbaijan to withdraw its troops and seek a constructive dialogue within the OSCE... The Turkish intervention emboldened Azerbaijan. According to reliable information, Turkey has sent Syrian militants to support the Azerbaijani army."
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030490.html
The "Jerusalem Post: Erdogan's Turkey: Drunk on power." The raging conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Karabakh has given Turkey another opportunity to expand its violent, imperialist tendencies. In fact, the sudden outbreak of violence between Armenia and Azerbaijan is more than likely orchestrated in part by Erdogan.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/erdogans-turkey-is-drunk-on-power-644671
https://factor.am/291758.html
La lettre A French paper: Azerbaïdjan-Arménie : la bataille d'influence gagne peu à peu les élus
https://www.lalettrea.faction-publique_lobbying/2020/10/05/azerbaidjan-armenie--la-bataille-d-influence-gagne-peu-a-peu-les-elus,109611208-ge0 , https://news.am/arm/news/606330.html
The French city of Valance will provide medical supplies to the Artsakh population. "For 8 days, our friendly country, Armenia, is in a critical geopolitical situation."
https://news.am/arm/news/606333.html
President Sarkissian to CNN: If the international community does not stop Turkey, the Caucasus may turn into a new Syria, then may God save Europe and Central Asia.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030487.html
Nikola Aznavour sent a letter to Emmanuel Macron, asking France to officially recognize the independence of the Artsakh Republic so it can use its international rights. He also urged sanctions against Azerbaijan and Turkey.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030503.html
UFC champion Ronda Rousey: Armenia and Artsakh are under attack. Raise awareness and demand that the leadership of your countries condemn the actions of Turkey and Azerbaijan. They want to expel Armenians from their historical homeland Artsakh.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030571.html
Russian-Armenian TV host Tina Kandelaki shared the video of Stepanakert's indiscriminate bombardment. "This is the war until the victorious end. A war that needs to stop now."
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/197835
The Canberra Times wrote about a rally organized by the Australian-Armenian community in front of Azerbaijan's embassy.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030551.html
Armenians of Javakh, Georgia organized a rally.
https://youtu.be/9RMSSYYN7R8?t=7

people continue to donate

An Indian-owned family restaurant "Mehak" is helping Artsakh residents with free food. The owner says he's willing to fight if necessary.
https://youtu.be/Xm6FtMrPvyI
https://twitter.com/Lev_Zeppelin/status/1313208359378513920?s=20
13 tons of various aid was sent to Armenia from France. "We promised never to leave Armenia and Artsakh. I confirm that," said Laurent Wauquiez, the head of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
https://factor.am/291693.html
Armenian communities in Germany, Jerusalem, Chechia, and other places have organized donation campaigns.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030590.html
Yerevan volunteers collecting humanitarian aid for Artsakh residents and soldiers:
https://youtu.be/tUPw9ixKFfE?t=42
www.himnadram.org has so far received $69m. 96 is the same as 69 but reversed, FYI.
https://www.himnadram.org/en

here we go again

Actress Penelope Cruz has a new movie coming out in which she features the Colombian flag behind her. Colombian flag is the Armenian flag upside down.
As always, some Azeri social media users confused the two flags and thought Penelope joined the Armenian cause. Angry replies ensued:
https://twitter.com/Zinvostatus/1313277133549121538?s=20

Parliament approved a few bills

Parliament voted 99-1 to approve a govt bill that expands the powers of the Nature Inspection Agency. It'll be allowed to suspend company operations without a court order if there is evidence of harm to nature.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030512.html
Parliament voted 100-0 to extend the law that provides various subsidies to residents living near borders. The amended law also covers the damage caused by Azerbaijan's shelling.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1030513.html

You've read 3181 words.

Putting an asterisk on every VFL/AFL premiership ever

Recently there's been a bit of a debate around the traps concerning this 2020 season and whether or not the eventual premiership should have an asterisk next to it. And that's a silly debate, because of course every VFL/AFL premiership ever can have an asterisk next to it. Just pick and choose the asterisks that you personally believe should exist:

Year	Premier	Reason this premiership gets an asterisk
1897	Essendon	didn't even have a Grand Final
1898	Fitzroy	general clusterfuck
1899	Fitzroy	too much rain
1900	Melbourne	Melbourne winning the flag from 6th so bullshit they changed the final system in response
1901	Essendon	umpiring error gives Essendon the semi-final 'win' - should have been Fitzroy in the GF
1902	Collingwood	season tainted by Essendon's 'Goodthur' controversy
1903	Collingwood	Collingwood's captain was called "Lardie" that's not even a real name
1904	Fitzroy	Crapp umpiring
1905	Fitzroy	MCG too wet and soft
1906	Carlton	fake Grand Final, was just the prelim in disguise
1907	Carlton	fake Grand Final, was just the prelim in disguise again - also illicit Geelong pre-season affair with the VFA's Richmond clearly taints the whole season
1908	Carlton	Essendon clearly psychologically scarred by vicious Fitzroy riots
1909	South Melbourne	Argus system 'challenge match' is kinda bullshit
1910	Collingwood	season tainted by Carlton bribery scandal
1911	Essendon	season tainted by player expenses shenanigans
1912	Essendon	rules tinkering: players have to be branded with numbers on their backs so that fascist 'Stewards' can report them - I mean what is this, the Napoleonic occupation of Iberia???
1913	Fitzroy	silly finals system allows Fitzroy to play St Kilda again in the GF after losing to them in the prelim
1914	Carlton	Jamieson illegally in the back of Bollard, South robbed, #justice4bollard
1915	Carlton	comp too imba after University pulls out
1916	Fitzroy	wrong for spooners to also be premiers
1917	Collingwood	season compromised by WW1
1918	South Melbourne	Carlton too distracted by the Allies thumping the Kaiser to perform well
1919	Collingwood	season clearly unbalanced by the winless Melbourne having their first professional season (ie. with paid players) eight years after the rest of the comp
1920	Richmond	a player debuts in the Grand Final for Richmond and plays a key part in the result? that's too implausible to be true
1921	Richmond	Richmond's season tainted by ball-stabbing incident in R7
1922	Fitzroy	season tainted by Richmond fans death-threating an umpire into retirement
1923	Essendon	Grand Final played on Caulfield Cup day? that's not even close to September
1924	Essendon	nonsense round-robin finals system that was immediately scrapped
1925	Geelong	compromised draw with the three expansion teams
1926	Melbourne	Collingwood into the GF without winning any finals - a contrived win for Melbourne
1927	Collingwood	GF the lowest-scoring match in 20th or 21st centuries, not good enough to count as a real GF
1928	Collingwood	Pies players under a bribery cloud
1929	Collingwood	Pies hoarding all the goals and premiership points actually the cause of the Great Depression? #wakeupsheeple
1930	Collingwood	Geelong defeats Collingwood in the Preliminary Final but the Pies get to go again because the Argus system is a joke
1931	Geelong	R6 was played in two halves, either side of R7 and R8? you can't count 1931! how do we know who even really won?
1932	Richmond	uh... Melbourne playing three games for premiership points at the Motordrome and losing all three clearly tainted the season in ways we can't fully appreciate
1933	South Melbourne	Bloods deviously importing so many players from WA they should be called the "Swans"
1934	Richmond	I mean technically Richmond kicked more goals on the day but that's no match for Bob Pratt's 150 goals in the season
1935	Collingwood	Bob Pratt taken out by a brick truck the Thursday before the GF and you can't prove it wasn't a Collingwood player driving the truck
1936	Collingwood	Gordon Coventry rubbed out for 8 weeks and missed finals but clearly he was just a fall guy and they should have suspended the whole team
1937	Geelong	Sellwood? Hawking? Abbott? if the Cats were going to time travel modern champions back to take the cup at least they should have come up with better fake names
1938	Carlton	MCG 12,000 over capacity? some people actually watched the game from on the grass inside the fence? well that's just unsafe
1939	Melbourne	rules tinkering: VFL trying to get holding the ball called more often - now you can't just drop the ball when tackled!
1940	Melbourne	if you don't think St Kilda winning the Patriotic Premiership was the real premiership that year then you might as well go kiss A-dolf Hitler's boot
1941	Melbourne	season compromised by WW2
1942	Essendon	season compromised by WW2
1943	Richmond	season compromised by WW2
		edit: Methuen's suggestion - Jack Broadstock shouldn't have been on the field: went AWOL in order to play and was arrested by military police before Jack Dyer intervened
1944	Fitzroy	season still compromised by WW2 (no MCG)
1945	Carlton	Bloodbath
1946	Essendon	some of the Bombers' record 11 third-quarter goals have to be fake, it's statistics
1947	Carlton	season clearly should have been called off in shame after the Big V went down to WA in Tasmania of all places
1948	Melbourne	clearly the season should have ended on the drawn Grand Final, 69 to 69
1949	Essendon	Coleman kicks his 100th goal for the season in the concluding minutes of the GF - a story stolen directly from Jack Titus in 1940, you have to ask what else was faked about Essendon allegedly 'winning' this premiership #fakenewsflag
1950	Essendon	Essendon's captain was the biggest Dick ever to play Aussie rules
1951	Geelong	Coleman set up by Caspar
1952	Geelong	season tainted by weather so wet and muddy they had to introduce white balls mid-season
1953	Collingwood	Cats' full-forward caught having an affair and forced out of the team, they then lose the GF and you can't prove it wasn't a Collingwood player in disguise sent to seduce him
1954	Footscray	season tainted by Fitzroy betting scandal
1955	Melbourne	Melbourne's kamikaze tactics
1956	Melbourne	season compromised by accommodations for the Olympics
1957	Melbourne	allowing everyone to compete for the night series clearly tainted the real finals somehow
1958	Collingwood	MCG bias
1959	Melbourne	uh-oh, Essendon implementing a special high performance training regime, sounds suss
1960	Melbourne	Melbourne shouldn't have been able to play a Grand Final with no opponent, that's clearly unfair
1961	Hawthorn	just the expansion teams playing, doesn't really count
1962	Essendon	medical shenanigans
1963	Geelong	whole of round 11 postponed due to weather, season obviously invalid after that
1964	Melbourne	Fitzroy clearly should have won the premiership: their lay down misère (zero wins, #1 worst offence and #1 worst defence) was clearly the highest bid
1965	Essendon	crowd support drove the Dons to the prelim win and a GF berth after a brutal attack off the ball on one of their players but was it a false flag operation?????
1966	St Kilda	timekeeper was a big St Kilda fan you say? oh sure, we can toootally trust that the siren was correctly sounded in this close fought St Kilda game
		edit: showmanic also suggests St Kilda kicking the ball out of bounds deliberately (legal until 1969) to use up time at the end of the match
1967	Richmond	competition clearly unbalanced by players wanting to play for the Galahs rather than compete for the premiership
1968	Carlton	too windy
1969	Richmond	VFL tinkering with the dang rulebook again to try to boost scoring: now you get a free kick if the opposition kicks it out of bounds on the full??
1970	Carlton	Syd Jackson probably should have missed the game through suspension
1971	Hawthorn	R21 Fitzroy v Carlton played in zero-visibility fog clearly a sign of interference by ghosts, season should have been abandoned
1972	Carlton	too many goals
1973	Richmond	take your pick of option 1, cheap hits and punches take out three Carlton players or option 2, Francis Bourke and Royce Hart not supposed to be playing but played anyway
1974	Richmond	Tiges tainted by R7 brawl at Windy Hill
1975	North Melbourne	season ruined by pointless rules tinkering: bizarre, wacky centre 'square' introduced to replace sturdy, traditional centre diamond
1976	Hawthorn	pre-equalisation era resource disparity: Hawthorn had a complete monopoly on former captains tragically about to die from cancer at too young of an age as a source of motivation, North Melbourne forced to rely on just wanting to win the premiership
1977	North Melbourne	rare second-ever drawn GF clearly contrived for the advantage of the first TV broadcast
1978	Hawthorn	political interference: North Melbourne supporters clearly too exhausted from booing Malcolm Fraser in R20 to effectively encourage the team to victory
1979	Carlton	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6orWbfMkWDI&t=8s
1980	Richmond	bottom of the ladder Fitzroy had more points for than top of the ladder Geelong? clearly a fake season
1981	Carlton	Garry Sidebottom misses the bus
1982	Carlton	Carlton illicitly obtains special powers from Helen D'Amico
1983	Hawthorn	Morwood/Foschini transfer clusterfuck making a mockery of VFL transfer rules - plus the Big V goes down to both SA and WA, just call off the season already
1984	Essendon	season destabilised by breakaway competition rumours
1985	Essendon	season tainted by biff: Lethal breaks Neville Bruns' jaw, John Bourke for the Pies reserves gets suspended for 10 years and 16 matches
1986	Hawthorn	illegal Tasmanian bank account
1987	Carlton	compromised draw with the new expansion teams
1988	Hawthorn	compromised draw with the new expansion teams
1989	Hawthorn	illegal Tasmanian bank account
1990	Collingwood	replay of drawn Pies v Eagles QF pushes back whole finals schedule, disadvantging Essendon
1991	Hawthorn	take your pick of option 1, you can't play a legitimate GF at Waverley or option 2, match tainted by Bound for Glory
1992	West Coast	Vic teams get their zones taken away and a foreigner team wins as a result #AntiVicBias
1993	Essendon	Baby Bombers bust their way through the salary cap
1994	West Coast	rules tinkering: arbitrarily changing the length of quarters from 25 to 20 minutes
1995	Carlton	Diesel Williams the recipient of not only payments outside the salary cap but also one of the first ever racial vilification charges
1996	North Melbourne	West Coast forced to play 'home' semi final at the MCG
1997	Adelaide	psychological warfare: Port Adelaide entering the comp and blasting innocent ears with their terrible club song - Crows unfairly advantaged by being already partly immune to Port bullshit - alternatively steroids in the AFL
1998	Adelaide	Crows somehow allowed to win flag from 5th on the ladder edit: and while losing their first final, just like Carlton the next year
1999	North Melbourne	finals system is so shit that Carlton finishes 6th, loses first final, yet progresses to semi-finals where they play West Coast who are once again forced to 'host' a semi at the MCG - Blues make it to the GF where they're rolled by Norf
2000	Essendon	season compromised by accommodations for the Olympics (and retrospectively, Lions' intravenous saline scandal and Carlton's salary cap breaches)
2001	Brisbane Lions	Lions' intravenous saline scandal (and retrospectively, Carlton's salary cap breaches)
2002	Brisbane Lions	six games not involving Carlton forcibly moved to Princes Park after Carlton moves games to Docklands - meanwhile Carlton wins the spoon and then has their salary cap cheating exposed, fuck 2002 Carlton basically - also Adelaide forced to 'host' a semi-final at the MCG
2003	Brisbane Lions	all the non-Vic teams made finals #AntiVicBias
2004	Port Adelaide	Brisbane forced to 'host' home prelim at the MCG - also because Port's win triggers insufferable debates about whether to count SANFL Port's flags
		edit: lbguitarist's suggestion - St Kilda's PF momentum ruined by ground invasion after the G Train's 100th
2005	Sydney	Barry Hall escaping suspension after the prelim
2006	West Coast	druuuuugs
2007	Geelong	1) Cats commit murder in broad daylight and get away with it, 2) disgraceful Melbourne v Carlton spoonbowl with priority draft pick at stake, 3) 'Guttergate'
2008	Hawthorn	morally bankrupt Hawthorn triple team Fev to stop him also getting to 100 goals
2009	Geelong	take your pick of option 1, season tainted by Melbourne's tanking or option 2, Hawkins hitting the post
2010	Collingwood	St Kilda robbed in broad daylight and the police did nothing about it
		edit: NitroXYZ's suggestion - St Kilda robbed of momentum by replaying the GF the following week rather than playing extra time, replay replaced with extra time from 2016 season onwards
2011	Geelong	tainted by Meatloaf and the lavish Gold Coast concessions
2012	Sydney	season tainted by Essendon doping regime and the lavish GWS concessions
2013	Hawthorn	season tainted by revelation of Essendon doping regime
2014	Hawthorn	Brendon Bolton coaches Hawks to five wins from five games while Clarko out with Guillain–Barré syndrome yet nobody tests Bolton to see if he's some kind of cyborg or superman (though clearly swapped back for the real human version to go coach Carlton)
2015	Hawthorn	treatment of Adam Goodes puts a stain on the whole comp
2016	Western Bulldogs	umpiring so biased the AFL had to apologise for it
2017	Richmond	THEY'RE WEARING THE WRONG JUMPER
		edit: NitroXYZ's suggestion - Cats forced to play 'home' QF at their opponent's home ground; veryparticularskills' suggestion - Cotch dodges suspension after PF
2018	West Coast	Sheed played on
		edit: PyrrhicNicholas' suggestion - Maynard was blocked
2019	Richmond	Gilstapo intimidation
2020	?	pandemic-affected season

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triple j - Australian Youth Broadcaster

Australian tradition is playing 2-Up (betting game from WW1) while getting drunk On Anzac Day as it's illegal every other day of the year

@abcnews: Independent MP @WilkieMP calls for the Australian Govt to follow lead of UK and introduce maximum bets on poker machines - as the Productivity Commission recommended 8 years ago https://t.co/FERtWOpGJ0

The Day The Rain Fell Up.