Posts by Sisko

    not really, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was forcibly removed from power by a coup. This coup was openly supported by US

    Yanukovych was corrupt as hell, imprisoned political rivals, killed protesters and no doubt did much more shady stuff that I don’t even know about. He was rejected by his MPs and disavowed by his own party. Once this man was removed Ukraine did conduct a fair and free election. A coup usually suggests that a rival group seizes power but that wasn’t the case here and honestly whatever word we use for it, I think it was a justified move.

    Politicians will act in their own self-interest, therefore hypocrisy will always be rife. 99% of people who can even get to really influential positions have to be super ambitious, which can quickly become self-centred and power-hungry. The other 1% know that everyone else is a shark who won’t help them and so they too have to put their own interests above everyone else’s.


    Even the time of peace we’ve mostly had between powerful countries recently isn’t really a sign that countries are learning to respect each other for the greater good. It’s largely based on fear that if someone steps out of line the nukes will come out. But when peace is based on fear, the scary thing is it only takes one madman to jeopardise the whole thing.


    As for the NATO discussion, it’s absolutely true that it’s not some kind of benevolent force for good in the world and I don’t blame Putin if he feels threatened by its Eastward expansion. But while it might be used to intimidate Russia, NATO wouldn’t start a military conflict between the two. The bigger threat, I believe, is the expansion of Western control and ideas. If Ukraine, a country so closely tied to Russia, becomes fully “Westernised” then perhaps Russia could be next. Ultimately that has to be Ukraine’s decision to make though.

    It is great to see the international support around the world for Ukraine. I wonder why people didn't bother when USA invaded other countries like Iraq and Afghanistan.


    Not saying to justify Russia's terrible actions but I hate hypocricy of western world. They can take totally different stands depending on who makes the evil actions. Reactions change drastically if it is Russia or USA or China

    Some reasons (not saying all these are good reasons, just describing them):


    1. We are all more connected to the rest of the world than we were 20 years ago. This is mainly due to an expansion of the internet, but also probably in terms of travel. I’d say people in foreign countries are seen as a little less different, a little less “other” that they used to be.


    2. Western media and social media has provided an ongoing account of events from a Ukrainian point of view. There were far fewer stories or videos of what was happening to civilians in those conflicts and far fewer of them were as easily accessible.


    3. Many saw the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as justified or at least kind of semi-justified, especially Afghanistan in the wake of 9/11. These were seen as violent, oppressive regimes but Ukraine isn’t seen that way at all despite certain lies told about them.


    4. They are white Europeans. Iraq and Afghanistan were seen as war-torn regions with a backwards culture. People in the West identify more easily with Ukrainians and feel like if Russia can do it to Ukraine, they can do it to anyone. It’s just really shocking to a lot of people that this could even happen to a sovereign nation in Europe in 2022.

    I agree it was probably unfair to Moscow originally but however unfair it was to Moscow in the first place doesn’t make it less unfair for Novara now. And yeah, they messed up really badly but like Sidney said it’s not really the point.


    It’s different from lack of best effort. There’s a fundamental psychological difference between playing a match that doesn’t matter to your passage to the next round and playing an important match. You can try your best either way but, for example, you can’t “decide” to have an adrenaline rush, you can’t trick your body into thinking that each match is of equal value.


    To follow your tennis example, I watched Djokovic lose a match last year in Monte Carlo to Dan Evans and he played (by his standards) really badly. IMO, if that was a Grand Slam match, then Djokovic would’ve been better prepared and also would have been able to draw on his fighting qualities and abilities that he was unwilling or unable to do at a smaller event. There was no suggestion that he be punished for lack of best effort for this though. Not every match can be treated with the same value, especially when there are physical concerns like in the case of tennis players or volleyball players who are playing full seasons and need to peak at the right time.

    anyhighlights?

    I guess the most interesting thing is he already spoke to Stevanovic and she has accepted his invitation to come back to the NT.


    Mostly it's pretty standard interview stuff. He wants to have close contact with youth coaches and has already requested videos on the young prospects but he wants everyone to have a chance. He'll speak to the likes of Rasic and Veljkovic to confirm their NT status going forward. He'll have a mix of Serbian and Italian coaches working with the team. He is interested to see how the player's respond to his different, more emotional personality. He'll speak with every player about the VNL before he decides who will be in the roster, but understands that some may need a break.


    I may be forgetting something but that's the general idea.

    I don’t really understand comments saying anybody “should” retire. Why should anyone give up her job and her passion just because she’s not at her peak anymore? Anyway, you’d still have a tough job finding 10 or even 5 setters better than Maja anywhere in the world.


    Honestly though, I do think Elif should be given the chance. I’d rather see Ognjenovic go back to Italy and play in a team with a not-too-dominant OPP, that would get her creativity working again.

    Hello, can you help me with my account? I didn’t receive any e-mail with instructions and there’s nothing on my spam box. Thanks :)

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    I don't want to discuss or criticize the COVID prevention strategy of Australia. But to me it is very presumptuous and arrogant of Novak to expect that he will be exempted just because of his fame or whatever. I could easily see this happening in a corrupted country like Turkey but I am happy that Australia took a firm stand on this and don't give an exemption to an anti-vaxx just because of his fame. By the way I don't think anyone gives a shit if he will beat Federer and Nadal's record, at least not in this particular case. Rules are rules. He knew them. And he had the audacity of assuming he can get away with it

    Eh, I don’t think it’s as simple as that. He had been granted an exemption and then they changed the rules on him at the last moment. I’m sure Renata Voracova didn’t think she was famous enough to be above the rules but she got her visa cancelled the same way as Djokovic.


    To be clear, I’m no Djokovic fan and certainly don’t think he should get special privileges above everyone else but I also think he’s been unfairly treated. There’s no way he should have been given that exemption in the first place only for them to deny him entry on arrival.

    Yes, it’s really quite worrying. I’m glad the WTA isn’t buying the obviously fake email but what can they do against the Chinese government? I just hope this is all some misunderstanding and Peng comes to no harm but the realist in me fears that’s not the case.

    Country was my first thought for cultural USA music as well but it must be heavily dependent on region and ethnicity. I believe blues and jazz have massive cultural significance, especially for African-Americans, possibly ragtime too. I'm sorry to say I don't know much about Native American music culture at all but of course they will have some too.

    There’s no doubt bullying is widespread, especially in the context of team sports. Even more, I agree that it can be “useful” in the ways that the above article indicates but that doesn’t mean that it should be considered in any way acceptable.


    Let’s look at this: “Enduring an atmosphere of bullying can build mental toughness and enhance performance under pressure.

    Well yeah it can. Or it can do the opposite. Everyone is different and I bet there are tons of good players across sports that never made it because they couldn’t deal with the bullying. That doesn’t at all mean that they couldn’t deal with tough times on the court/pitch/whatever because the competitive atmosphere of an actual match is different from being tormented in day-to-day interactions with people.


    Bullying in sports can strip an athlete of individuality and rebuild his identity based primarily on being a member of the team.”

    Eh, it’s debatable whether you would even want this in a sporting context. Players need to have confidence in themselves that they, as individuals, can make the difference. Feeling part of a team is important but so is personal belief in yourself. Out with sport, in a personal context this is horrible thing to try to force upon anyone. Stripping people of their individuality and identity? Yikes.


    performance is enhanced when athletes know they have the support of teammates in accomplishing a common goal. Bullying can expose those athletes who seek only individual accomplishment and are unwilling to make individual sacrifices for team improvement

    I don’t see how bullying someone shows them any support whatsoever. Why the hell would someone who’s being bullied want to make sacrifices for a bunch of people who are behaving like jerks?

    Those athletes are faced with the choice of leaving the team or enduring continued bullying.

    Isn’t that nice? Sorry, I love sports and when I play I take it very seriously, even if it’s just with a bunch of friends but being successful at sports is not a good enough reason to sacrifice human decency or treat other people as inferior. Luckily you don’t have to: you can be good at sport and a nice person too.


    I’m also surprised the twins’ bullying is being taken so seriously, but I’m glad it is. The sooner this kind of attitude is removed from sports, and life for that matter, the better. With that said though, there does have to be a limit to it. People change and the twins don’t deserve to suffer the consequences of that dumb stuff they did forever.


    I’m not going to say anymore here because it’s completely. :offtopic:

    I know her technique isn’t the best but I feel like she truly has a big impact on the game in a lot of facets more so than most liberos. I’ll be interested to see what she looks like with a non DR coaching staff. They give her a LOT of freedom to do what she wants. I wonder if the Scandicci staff won’t be as lenient in that regard. Excited to watch her!

    Might not be the worst thing in the world if she takes over some of Malinov’s setting duties. :whistle:


    As for the Italians on court thing, I like Alberti and honestly think she could’ve challenged for Bia’s position even without the local players rule. If she does have to play it shouldn’t be a big problem.

    I agree that Egonu is the right choice. We can say Boskovic was let down by her team(s), etc. but in the end, you can’t really argue against 2 gold medals and 2 MVPs in the 2 biggest CEV events.


    Honestly, I’m more curious about the Terzic selection. Mazzanti, Guidetti, Musso and Santarelli all seem like more reasonable choices to be honest. Hell, even Ettore Guidetti’s miracle with Sweden is more worthy of recognition than anything Terzic did this year.

    I’d guess Raducanu will win based on how easily she destroyed her opponents so far but it’s true that Fernandez has had a more difficult route. Honestly it’s very hard to make predictions because both players are quite unknown. I mean, I’ve watched them before but not playing anything like this level, no idea how they’ll react to the pressure, etc.

    It was a really good watch, thanks JoanaBG :heart:


    My favourite part was probably his conversation with Brakocevic, it's nice that even though they clearly had their problems they have moved on and are able to laugh about it now :D I also like the part about Citakovic getting pissed at all the Polish players. :box: