And In Trivial Sports News...

[Lord Jim]

Once again all the NBC Universal owned stations are turning over two hours of their programming simultaneously to an obscure novelty sport league called, " Barclays Premier League Soccer":

NBCUniversal is going all-out this weekend with what they’re calling “Championship Sunday,” coverage of English Premier League coverage. All ten Sunday matches will be broadcast live simultaneously on 10 different NBCUniversal television networks at 10 a.m. ET.

Because of how the season played out, however, all of the major drama has already been sucked out of the league’s final weekend. Leicester City has already clinched their magical run to the league championship. Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal have already wrapped up the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, respectively. We also already know that Newcastle United, Norwich City, and Aston Villa will be relegated.

The biggest storyline left for Sunday is which side will finish in fourth place, which will be determined by the results of Manchester City’s and Manchester United’s respective matches. If Man United defeats Bournemouth and Man City loses at Swansea, they’ll be able to take it.[Can you feel the excitement!]

Regardless of the impact, it’s still a day full of EPL soccer and that’s hard to argue with. Not only will the matches be simulcast across channels such as NBC, Syfy, CNBC, and USA, but all 10 matches will be streamed on NBC Sports Live Extra as well.

For anyone who GAF, you can see the full schedule of games, stations and times here:

http://awfulannouncing.com/2016/nbc-epl ... ester.html

So let's review:

On a Sunday, NBC Universal is devoting multiple hours of nearly commercial free time on multiple stations to cover a competition that will determine who finishes fourth in a league nobody cares about for a sport nobody cares about...

I have a strong feeling that there's a programming VP who's going to be shopping his resume...

[MajGenl.Meade]

Thank you, Donald. Obviously not a clue as to the exponential growth of the popularity of the Premier League on TV across the world, including the USA where there are large numbers of soccer-loving immigrants of Hispanic, European and even Asian extraction.

The most important issue of the day (bugger Manchester) was Spurs needing one point from their final game against crappy Newcastle to ensure 2nd place above the hated Arsenal. Wouldn't you know it - stupid Tottenham lost 5-1 and gave up 3 goals to only ten men, Mitrovic having been sent off. Naturally, the bastards in red won 4-0 and that means f-ing Arsenal finished f-ing second above f-ing Tottenham just as they have for the past f-ing 21 years.

As it turned out, Man City drew with Swansea, giving them 4th place and a slot in the Champions League. But just in case, someone evidently sabotaged Man United:

A controlled explosion was carried out by bomb disposal experts at Old Trafford an hour after Manchester United’s final Premier League match of the season was abandoned. A suspect package was found at the stadium before kickoff, prompting the evacuation of the ground. Supporters in the north and west stands were told to leave before the scheduled 3pm kickoff against Bournemouth and a short time later, fans in the remaining two stands were also evacuated.

A source at the stadium said that the device included a mobile phone, which was attached to a pipe. It was believed to have been found in a set of toilets in the ground’s north-west corner. Greater Manchester police confirmed a controlled explosion was conducted within the stadium and stewards were seen filing back into the ground shortly before 5pm.

Miserable, miserable day. And I didn't watch any of it because I went to church instead - and even stayed on for a Bible study.
Spurs still lost

[Lord Jim]

A source at the stadium said that the device included a mobile phone, which was attached to a pipe. It was believed to have been found in a set of toilets in the ground’s north-west corner.

This is interesting...(as opposed to the games that were played)

This wasn't a case of somebody forgetting a bag, and the cops reacting in an abundance of caution...

This was a deliberately constructed hoax bomb that was clearly intended to have the effect it had (emptying the stadium and cancelling the game):

Manchester United: controlled explosion at Old Trafford after 'lifelike' device found

A fake explosive device at Old Trafford has led to Manchester United’s final Premier League game of the season being abandoned.

Bomb disposal experts carried out a controlled explosion of a suspicious item described as an “incredibly lifelike explosive device” by Greater Manchester police. The side’s match against Bournemouth was abandoned after the device was discovered in the stadium’s north-west quadrant.

Greater Manchester police announced in a statement on Twitter: “Bomb disposal experts carried out controlled explosion at Old Trafford on what is described as incredibly lifelike explosive device … Full assessment now concluded and found device wasn’t viable. A full search of the stadium is ongoing. Full update to follow.”

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... evacuation

A whole new type of Soccer Hooligan...

[Bicycle Bill]

Considering what happened in Iraq itself involving soccer fans a couple days ago, I'm glad they took the actions they did.  I imagine anything left unattended in a crowded location is going to be treated with a high degree of suspicion for the next couple of weeks.

-"BB"-

[Sue U]

The most important issue of the day (bugger Manchester) was Spurs needing one point from their final game against crappy Newcastle to ensure 2nd place above the hated Arsenal. Wouldn't you know it - stupid Tottenham lost 5-1 and gave up 3 goals to only ten men, Mitrovic having been sent off. Naturally, the bastards in red won 4-0 and that means f-ing Arsenal finished f-ing second above f-ing Tottenham just as they have for the past f-ing 21 years.

I can see where your affinity for the Cleveland Indians comes from.

[MajGenl.Meade]

To the manor born!

[Daisy]

A source at the stadium said that the device included a mobile phone, which was attached to a pipe. It was believed to have been found in a set of toilets in the ground’s north-west corner.

A whole new type of Soccer Hooligan...

Turned out to be a training device from a security exercise last week, that wasn't taken back by the company running the exercise.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Cherchez le Man City supporting employee!!!!

[Lord Jim]

Turned out to be a training device from a security exercise last week, that wasn't taken back by the company running the exercise.

So a terrorism scare was caused by an incompetently run anti-terrorism drill?

Gee, now that's got to be embarrassing...

[oldr_n_wsr]

I was working over at the daughters house on sunday (got the lawn mower ready for lawn cutting duties and did some sheetrack and spackling) as I would hate to have sat down to watch a soccer game (I could end the sentence here but will continue) and had that glorious sport interrupted with a (practice) bomb scare.


Oh well, there is always this coming sunday to catch up on things in TV land.