HossC

We briefly mentioned it back in 2012, although I've just had to replace the dead video link - see here. The screengrabs I posted are here. To keep things together, here is the video:

All English eyes were on Atlanta earlier tonight. Most of the games are on too late for me to watch, but England v DR Congo was on at 5pm our time, which meant that the match was over halfway through with England 1-0 down by the time I got home from work. Luckily, they pulled it round after the commercial hydration break and won 2-1. Now I have a dilemma - I obviously want England to win, but they're playing Mexico in the next round, and I have Mexico in my work's sweepstakes!

Is the NASCAR season over? No one's mentioned it for ages!

Apologies for being a couple of days late with my summary. This week's F1 race was the Austrian Grand Prix. Kimi Antonelli was quick through practice, but Ferrari thought they'd locked out the front row in qualifying until Max Verstappen crashed and George Russell managed to take pole despite lifting to pass the yellow flags. The incident in qualifying probably slightly flattered Ferrari, and although the top drivers got away in formation, Charles Leclerc lost two or three places in the opening laps. The hot race at altitude didn't suit Cadillac, and both of their cars were out in the first few laps with overheated brakes. Lewis Hamilton spent a while in second before Max caught him, leading to a great bit of wheel-to-wheel action on lap 11. There was some amazing camera work along the back straight which managed to follow the cars at full speed. I'm guessing it was on a wire. With differing pit strategies and a couple of virtual safety cars, the cars behind George swapped places a few times, but none could pass him, although Max got close at times. At the flag, George was first, followed by Max and Kimi, all separated by only 1.9 seconds. Oscar Piastri took fourth just ahead of Lewis. The result cuts Kimi's lead to 40 points. You can see the race highlights here. Only a few days to wait until this weekend's British Grand Prix.

I saw an amusing tweet by an American after the USA won their match against Australia: USA beats Australia at the Wold Soccer Cup sending them back to Europe with nothing. Whoo hooo! Somehow simultaneously misunderstanding how the first round works and World geography.

I know I've made this comment before, but when one of the satellite channels over here was showing Dukes a few years ago, it was the first time I'd ever seen it with commercial breaks. It was originally shown in the UK on the BBC which doesn't show any commercials, and then I got it on DVD. Other shows like The A-Team, Knight Rider and the Fall Guy were shown on ITV which does show commercials, but not nearly as many as the US.

When I had time to watch NASCAR a few years ago, any incident seemed to be an excuse for a commercial break. Sometimes, they'd come back from the break, tell the audience that the incident was still ongoing, and go for another break. I sometimes forget how lucky we are over here with much stricter constraints on the amount of advertising that's allowed to interrupt TV shows, although obviously things are a bit different nowadays with many people streaming their shows.

Can I just say that everyone outside of the US knows that the "hydration breaks" have been introduced for this tournament because American TV couldn't possibly show 45 minutes of sport without commercials. They ruin the flow of the game and are unpopular with fans. Obviously, the players need to stay hydrated in hot weather, but they've just had the break in the England-Panama game and it's being played in the rain! We've managed without them for over 150 years and I hope this is the last time we see them. They are not part of the sport.

Hobie, you started a discussion about the population of Hazzard in 2021, but the replies were only guesses. You can read it here.

There don't seem to be many songs for this year's tournament, so for Meadowmfn, here's Andy Cameron's 'Ally's Tartan Army' from the 1978 World Cup in Argentina (I couldn't embed the Top of the Pops version!). England's best-known football anthem is 'Three Lions (Football's Coming Home)' by Baddiel & Skinner & Lightning Seeds. It was actually written for the 1996 UEFA European Championship, which England was hosting. FYI. Jules Rimet is the World Cup trophy and "30 years of hurt" refers to time since England won the World Cup in 1966 (we don't like to talk about it ). We've been spoiled for football songs. Here's New Order's 'World in Motion' from the 1990 World Cup. It was co-written by comedian Keith Allen, who is singer Lily Allen's father. He appears in the video along several of the players from that era. Finally, for a bit of football mixed with humor, Keith Allen was also behind Fat Les's 'Vindaloo' for the 1998 World Cup which was co-written by Blur bassist Alex James and bassist Guy Pratt. It was written as a parody, but has since been adopted as a chant by England fans. The video is a parody of The Verve's 'Bitter Sweet Symphony', and was filmed on the same street in Hoxton, London.

USA won their second game yesterday, so they should be progressing to the knockout stage. Scotland, however, have never reached the knockout stage and will have to wait until their last game after losing yesterday. At the World Cup, players play for their country, but on a weekly basis, 154 of them play in the English Premier League, 94 in the German Bundesliga, 78 in the French Ligue 1, 74 in the Spanish La Liga and 68 in the Italian Serie A. The ninth highest with 37 is England's second division, the EFL Championship.

Out of interest, how many of y'all are watching the World Cup? I really only watch motorsports, but I keep an eye on the scores at Word Cups and watch bits here and there. England had a good win in their first match, and I'll watch some of their games as they progress, but the time difference means that a lot of the fixtures are taking place in the middle of the night over here.

The Tartan Army are confusing the people of Boston by putting traffic cones on statues.

I found a description of the incident, but it didn't add a lot to your write-up. Johnny was invited to a fake cocktail party at the Mayfair Hotel after watching the tennis at Wimbledon. It took place in 1985.

Here's something a bit different. How well do y'all know British words and phrases?