[NFL Thread]

I don’t want to put the cart before the horse or be a fatalist because I actually did think they’d beat the Titans and am overjoyed they’ve made it this far, but the Bengals are not beating the Bills or the Chiefs.  It would seem that their first order of business when they do lose next weekend is to fix their O-line.  If they do that, they could absolutely win the Super Bowl.

And Joe Burrow — Joey Bear, as he likes me to call him — I love you and will do anything you want.

[Figure Skating]

Yeah, the problem is that Nancy’s skate was clean while Oksana’s was a total mess.  It should not have been a contest, but Eastern European judges love to Eastern European.  I also thought Nancy showed in her actual skates that she was completely focused on the task at hand, and it was the media playing things up much more than Nancy herself.  The media was hounding her the entire time; she deserved gold for being able to put all of that aside enough to focus on giving two terrific skates.

[NFL Thread]

I think both Tommy and Jimmy G. are gorgeous, and I see no reason to choose between them. I’ll take one of each, please and thank you!

[Tennis Thread]

1 hour ago, Carey said:

The fact is, people have the right to control the conditions of their workplace.  Or in other cases, an area of Planet Earth.  FWIW, there are people that are on the side of anti-vaxx, but got the vaccine (and the booster) anyway.  Sometimes to have to do things you don't want to do.

And many of the top 100 men's tennis players are among those who didn't want to get vaccinated and still did so since Australia required the vaccination as a condition of entry into the country (only something like 42% or 48% were fully vaccinated at the US Open, and 97% of them are now).  Stefanos Tsitsipas was vocal about not wanting to get vaccinated (athletes are odd birds; the conspiracy theorist in me would say that those athletes are afraid vaccines would neutralize the advantages given by PEDs), but he got it anyway so that he could play in tournaments in countries with strict vaccine mandates (like Australia).  He has also been pretty vocal this week about his opposition to Djoker playing in the tournament, and he was absolutely justified; if Tsitsipas had been able to avoid getting vaccinated, he would've.  He is playing by the rules, though, because a semi-normal human being realizes he's not above the laws of an entire country, and it would've been so unfair if someone who didn't got away with it.

[Tennis Thread]

It's official: the three-judge panel has unanimously denied Djoker's appeal and is deporting his ass back to Serbia.

Now, let's play some tennis!

[NFL Thread]

Well, that was decisive.

[NFL Thread]

Now that I can draw breath again, I want to thank Germaine Pratt for that wonderfully timed interception.  Also:

Dear Joe Burrow,

I love you, and I will be your sex slave.

Love,

NUguy514, a long-suffering Bengals fan

[The Annual Academy Awards - General Discussion]

I don't know why the producers even want a host; I've enjoyed the last several shows without a host so much more.

[Tennis Thread]

Alex Hawke just canceled Djoker's visa, and he timed this announcement (right before 6:00PM Friday Melbourne time) perfectly: it's just so wonderfully shitty to Djoker since it'll be hard to get his appeal heard on the weekend.  Djoker can and, I'm sure, will appeal, but because Hawke canceled his visa using the Migration Act, Djoker's going to have a really hard time appealing successfully.  I have some feelings right now.

I mean, I'll fully unclench once he's really and truly and officially 157,000% unable to play, but this is so incredibly satisfying.

[Tennis Thread]

1 hour ago, emmawoodhouse said:

Novaxx defends himself. Poorly.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CYnO7cDqbdj/?utm_medium=copy_link

He's either lying on Instagram, or he lied on the official documents he submitted to the court because he declared in those court documents that he was tested and received his positive diagnosis on December 16th.

Honestly, the motherfucker is lying in all ways because he clearly never had COVID last month.  Is Jeff Gillooly fully vaccinated and available for travel?  I have a job for him...

I kid!

Sort of.

[Tennis Thread]

It just gets worse and worse.  The cynic in me thinks that none of the chicanery he and the Serbian government have engaged in will matter and that he'll be allowed to stay and play because the rules never seem to apply to the .00001%, but I still have a little hope that his skinny ass will be booted out of Australia.  We should find out today.

[College Football]

Aww, Georgia and Hope worked things out!

[Tennis Thread]

Yeah, my understanding is that the case was about whether Border Patrol followed procedure; I think that the ruling is bullshit and that the judge showed clear bias before the case was even heard, but it wasn't about whether or not Djoker was trying to enter Australia with falsified and/or insufficient documentation to skirt Australia's COVID requirements.  Obviously, though, he was.  I mean, look at this bullshit.  I sincerely hope the Minister of Immigration does revoke his visa.

[NFL Thread]

Goddammit!!!  Raiders, just take a fucking knee!!!

[NFL Thread]

SHUT UP!!!  This is AMAZING!!

[NFL Thread]

2 hours ago, Carey said:

What more embarrassing is that the Buggles, who actually whooped the cream of the AFC North in Pittsburgh & Baltimore for a total of 4 wins, added insult to injury by getting crushed by the Browns, who have the tradition of getting pummeled by the cream of the AFC North in the Ravens and the Steelers.  That has to be embarrassing that a team that hasn't won a playoff game within the texting era, owned them but couldn't win one game in the Taylor/Burrow Era against a team that once finished 1-15, and found a way to go down from there.  Yikes!

The Bengals had nothing to play for today, though, so this was a pyrrhic victory for the Browns.  The Bengals either rested their main players or had a number of players on COVID reserve, and they weren't trying to win this game since, win or lose, they were going to the playoffs and either going to be the 3 or 4 seed.  I'm sure whatever embarrassment they're feeling (assuredly none) is tempered by the fact that they get to play again next week.

[NFL Thread]

25 minutes ago, Carey said:

 

What. a fucking. asshole.

[NFL Thread]

2 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

Nothing against Biles what she did was perfectly fine and within her choice, but it's not a choice you should get athlete of the year for when your performance in the actual Olympics is underwhelming and not what everyone expected. 

That is...an incredibly misguided and uninformed take on Simone Biles.  In fact, she deserves all of the Athlete of the Year awards she's gotten, and then some.

[Tennis Thread]

So, as I suspected, Tennis Australia thought it could weasel an exemption for Djoker, even though two letters from Australia's Health Minister in November made it clear that previous contraction of and recovery from COVID-19 was insufficient.  Fuck them, fuck Djoker, and fuck Djoker's awful parents; they're why he is the way he is.

His court date to appeal was postponed until Monday; honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if he won and was allowed to play because I can't have nice things.

[Tennis Thread]

2 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Tennis Australia isn't giving the exemption, though.

That's not entirely true, though.  Players who applied for a medical exemption had to go through a two-step process, the first of which was to submit their exemption applications to be considered by a panel of experts in Tennis Australia and the second of which was an assessment by the Victorian government.  The officials can say whatever they want about everything being done by the book (and both the head of Tennis Australia, Craig Tiley, and the acting sports minister of Victoria, Jaala Pulford, have publicly stated as much), but anyone who thinks that the Tennis Australia panel didn't know which application was his, that he wasn't subsequently granted special treatment, and that Tennis Australia didn't do whatever it could to push his exemption through with the Victorian government is crazy.

We'll see if he's able to skirt this visa issue, but according to the Australian Prime Minister, "[Djokovic] has to, if he's not vaccinated, must [sic] provide acceptable proof that he cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons to be able to access the same travel arrangements as fully vaccinated travellers."

[Tennis Thread]

1 hour ago, Irlandesa said:

It sounds like the process to get him the exemption, as unpopular as it may be, was probably done correctly and he qualified unless people are just suspicious, overall, of the documentation he'd provide and think the Australian (or Victorian?) government should be as well.

I don't believe for one second this exemption was on the up and up if, for no other reason, I don't trust Tennis Australia to prioritize money and don't trust Djoker on...well, anything at all ever.  He'd forge or have forged anything he'd need to.

Also, he's been to Australia approximately 300,000 times in the last seventeen years.  He should know how the fucking visa process for Australia works by now.  He's so detached from reality, though, I can see him responding to airport officials with "Visa?  What's visa, precious?"

[Tennis Thread]

3 hours ago, theatremouse said:

Just trying to come up with a not-completely-hypocritical-and-bullshit explanation.

There isn't one.

[Tennis Thread]

Guys, Djoker's medical exemption is completely valid: he doesn't believe in medicine and is, therefore, exempt from it!

[College Football]

Well, at least Notre Dame lost in heartbreaking fashion, so that's one happy outcome versus, like, 37 terrible outcomes.

[NFL Thread]

I'll take a lying asshole who is a possible COVID spreader over a lying asshole who has raped at least two women.