May 2021 Exam Discussion/ Potential Exam Cancellation Megathread
EDIT (Feb. 4): The IB has confirmed that it will offer a dual route for the May 2021 Diploma Programme and Career-related Programme examination session. TLDR: Exams will take place at all schools where COVID-19 restrictions permit. See further info here: https://www.ibo.org/news/news-about-the-ib/update-for-may-2021-diploma-programme-and-career-related-programme-examination-session/ Edit 2 (Feb. 12) Update Information submitted byu/thebestdfs(The mods can't confirm this information is true for all students, so please still check with your IB coordinator & feel free to pm me if you have countries to add/ edits): Users on Facebook Twitter Reddit and Instagram have confirmed that exams have been cancelled in: Philippines🇵🇭 Ecuador🇪🇨 Ontario, Canada (Peel and York Region)🇨🇦 Indonesia🇮🇩 Iran🇮🇷 US (West Coast-DC-NYC, Some regions of Florida--students from Orange County have confirmed)🇺🇸 Pakistan🇵🇰 Colombia🇨🇴 And not cancelled in: Poland🇵🇱 Sweden🇸🇪 Czech Republic🇨🇿 Spain🇪🇸 Denmark🇩🇰 Hong Kong🇭🇰 Lebanon🇱🇧 Germany🇩🇪 New Zealand🇳🇿 US (Illinois* and Texas, Florida--Alachua County)🇺🇸 Italy🇮🇹* Egypt🇪🇬 Senegal🇸🇳 India🇮🇳 Jordan🇯🇴 Kenya🇰🇪 Turkey🇹🇷 Lithuania, Argentina, Netherlands, Finland, Russia NOTE: Currently May 2021 exams are expected to move forward. Official updates can be found here. https://www.ibo.org/news/news-about-the-ib/covid-19-coronavirus-updates/ This is the thread to discuss items related to the May 2021 exams and potential exam cancellations. Feel free to discuss your thoughts, predictions, and hopes here. Furthermore, please use the comments section of this post to discuss your struggles and rants relating to online learning and how you think they will affect your May 2021 exams/ scores, information you received from your counselors that you would like to pass on, and any other related information rather than creating individual posts. New separate posts regarding this topic will be deleted according to rule 2. This is to enable posts about other topics and resources to reach more students.
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Feb/9/2021: (1) Hemp legalization: what to expect? (2) Armenian drone uses AI to detect target (3) You can ship meds (4) Shipping $ down (5) Tuition subsidy (6) POWs return (7) Azeri opposition & Aliyev's sister complain (8) Rumors & rebuttals (9) Trade unblock (10) Healthcare Min. about vaccines...
Your 15-minute Tuesday report in 3836 words.
re: Armenia will grow "industrial weed" / possible CBD $$$ / industry details
Unless you have been sleeping in a camel's ear, you probably know by now that the government plans to legalize hemp farms on an industrial scale. It is not the marijuana that makes you high. The legalization is meant to bring revenues and encourage the cultivation of lands that are currently gone unused (around half of the arable lands). Interview with Garegin Miskaryan, an enterpreneuer and the co-founder of political party "Citizen's Decision" (QO). Question: what is technical hemp and what's your opinion about the govt's decision to legalize it? So far we only know that it will be legalized. The process of issuing and revoking a license is important. We need to know how the sale of seeds will be done. Overall, I welcome the decision. Approximately 250,000 hectares of land are currently unused. Growing hemp is beneficial for the soil and is a low-maintenance plant. It can withstand cold and hail. It needs 4x less water than other plants in Armenia. It doesn't need water in altitudes above 1,500m. It was banned after the 1961 UN convention about narcotics (thanks, boomers). But today everyone talks about it and how it was the oil industry that was behind the ban (sorry boomers, thanks Exxon). Why did they lobby for the ban? Because hemp began substituting the oil-based products. Hemp was competing against oil. A global lobbying campaign was launched against hemp. This is unrelated to marijuana, although the two are from the same [family]. Hemp has 113 unique types, with some having psychoactive substances while others having none. The industrial hemp has none. Question: what are some uses for hemp? To produce things that are currently produced by oil, wood, and cotton. Fuel, bio-plastics, wood, paper, clothes, shoes. Around 50,000 types of products. Question: there are concerns that marijuana can be secretly grown disguised as industrial hemp. In areas where industrial hemp is grown, marijuana cannot grow because the hemp flower pollination will "convert" marijuana into hemp. Anti-narcotics teams around the world use this technique to fight against marijuana; they conduct artificial pollination of the region with the use of hemp's flower. Question: are the investors interested in growing hemp? We only recently learned that industrial hemp contains CBD which can have a very positive effect on the human body. Israel and the US are currently studying it. A complex tech is used to extract it. Only the technical hemp can provide this. 1 Liter costs $6,000, so you could earn 10s or 100s of thousands of dollars per hectare of land (big if true). It's not an easy task, however. It needs to be placed on the market for cosmetology or pharmacy purposes, as it's done in Israel. To earn a big revenue, we need the technology to process it. There are hundreds of types of hemp that provide oil, strings, hard string, soft string, etc. Depending on which one is allowed under the law, it can interest investors. China is producing its army uniforms with technical hemp and cotton at a 40/60 ratio. The string from hemp does not rot, does not make you sweaty, and is immune to moth damage. Question: what production examples are there in the world? Donald Trump signed a decree in 2018 to allow the production of industrial hemp across the United States (yuge if true). A big boom is being anticipated. Australia, New Zealand, and many European states allow hemp. Armenia should grow the hemp in abandoned lands instead of replacing food production with it. https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/205983
Parliament votes to approve a Cassations Court president
court allows Kocharyan to manage confiscated property
But he cannot sell them. He and the co-defendants are going through the March 1st trial. Additionally, he is facing large-scale bribery charges. His known assets were frozen in 2018. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042844.html
big opposition rally on February 20th
The opposition recently rejected Pashinyan's offer to hold new elections ASAP. Instead, the opposition wants their candidate to become the Prime Minister, for now. In response, the ruling party said "Aight, then. If you don't want it then we don't want it, either. There won't be snap elections." In response, the former regime said "the cowardly government is afraid of Kocharyan winning elections". They will hold a big rally on February 20th. The demand is the same: Pashinyan's resignation. Various NGOs still want to see snap elections and criticized both the government and the opposition parties. Ruling QP MP Alen Simonyan offered the former regime to publicly agree to snap elections and to withdraw Vazgen Manukyan's candidacy (he wants to become PM without elections, via a Parliament vote). "The opposition has low ratings. That's why they rejected the offer for snap elections," said Simonyan. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042836.html , https://factor.am/336537.html , https://youtu.be/9tfx_1HFWCc , https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/206223
bill to raise army contractor age limit and reduce emigration
LHK drafted a bill to raise the age limit to allow citizens up to the age of 63 to serve in the army as contractors. The idea is that when the contractor reaches the current low age limit, they often cannot find another job so they have to emigrate. With the new rules, the authors hope to preserve the experienced soldiers and to reduce emigration. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042821.html
re: soldiers' families receive university tuition subsidy
A jet brought 5 more Armenian POWs from Azerbaijan, announced the Deputy PM Avinyan. It was a result of mediation by Russia. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042898.html BHK MP Zohrabyan says the families of several missing soldiers made a trip all the way to Iran after believing fake news which claimed that Armenian soldiers had crossed the border and were located in Iran. https://www.panarmenian.net/arm/news/290141/
rumors and rebuttals: Lyovik Aronyan's supercomputer fetish
The media wrote that Armenian chess champion Levon Aronyan plans to move to the United States and live there with his American(?) wife, and he will no longer represent Armenia. Former-regime allied Telegram outlet Mediaport, which mostly circulates misinformation, found a way to spin this story against Pashinyan, too. It claimed that Aronyan is leaving because Pashinyan broke his promise of buying a supercomputer for his chess matches. The rumor was denied by Aronyan's girlfriend. "Wow, even without a supercomputer Aronyan continues to score victories in Opera Euro Rapid tournament. Do you even hear yourselves? What computer? It's unfortunate that some people beray the devotees of their nation based on misinformation," she wrote. The supercomputer rumor was likely built around a server story; there is one owned by the chess federation, which Aronyan had access to until 2020. As for the earlier reports of Aronyan's possible departure to the US, Aronyan has not commented yet. Her mother criticized media outlets for calling him a traitor base on the rumors that he wants to move to the US. "The media never mentions his victories and the charity work. Only the negative stuff," she said. https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/206122 , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042845.html
rumors & rebuttals: Yerevan mayor has resigned for the 1,000th time
I wasn't kidding when I wrote earlier that Yerevan mayor Marutyan has been "resigned" by the media once a month. Today a BHK city councilman asked Marutyan to comment on the latest media rumors about his alleged resignation. "I don't plan to resign. I don't plan to become an ambassador to Czechia. Before Czechia, I was supposed to be the US ambassador. I was almost ready to become the ambassador to Japan," responded the drag queen Mayor sarcastically. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042892.html
rumors & rebuttals: Nikol took $211M in bribes to sell Artsakh / non-existent "migrant remittancies"
After criticizing Pashinyan for not giving away Artsakh on the 3rd day of the war, the former regime changed the rhetoric and now accuses him of giving away the lands in exchange for a bribe. The latest claim is that $211M was transferred from Azerbaijan to Armenia in 2018 (Pashinyan time), but only $7M in 2017 (Serj time). This was used to show that "Pashinyan sold the lands." A fact-checker contacted the Central Bank to learn details about those numbers. The Central Bank said: there were no bank transfers between Armenian and Azeri subjects. The World Bank routinely publishes financial transfer numbers that aren't based on hard facts, but rather assumptions made by analysts, who come up with such numbers by taking into account the number of migrants and financial details relating to them. According to that report, there are 87,000 migrants who went from Azerbaijan to Armenia, and 146,000 migrants who went from Armenia to Azerbaijan. They are the relocated people and not the people who make direct transfers. It is being assumed by World Bank analysts that all these migrants transfer money to their home country. In our case, this is a wrong assumption, because the "migrants" in Armenia and Azerbaijan are IDPs. https://fip.am/14721
AM-RU-AZ officials meet to discuss regional trade unblocking
As agreed upon on January 11th, a Working Group was created between AM-RU-AZ. Today they met to discuss practical ways to resume transportation between Armenia and Azerbaijan. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042787.html
foreign citizens need permission before entering Artsakh
Artsakh implemented new security measures. All foreigners need to contact the Artsakh Foreign Ministry before the arrival. The list of applicants will be shared with Russian peacekeepers at the gates. The peacekeepers do not make approve/deny decisions; they are only informed about the list of authorized people. Upon the authorization, the applicants will be notified so they can contact the Artsakh consulate in Yerevan to receive their entry permit. This process usually takes 3-4 days but sometimes longer. Some foreigners have already used the new system to enter. Two of them faced issues because the peacekeepers weren't properly informed that they were on the authorized list. "The system is new, sorry." https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/206160 , https://hetq.am/hy/article/127141
DNA analysis and search operations
Healthcare Minister: we purchased and began using the second DNA device to identify bodies on January 11th. It expedited the process by 2.5x, with 30 daily DNA sequencing. It's being done 24/7. We hope the process will complete soon. There are complicated cases when multiple tests are needed. https://youtu.be/H1gEF1ng7as?t=913
Azeri Lieutenant Colonel and 4 others explode on a landmine in Talish
An incident happened in the occupied Talish/Mataghis region. Lt.Col Qyamil Duniev and another 4 soldiers sustained heavy wounds. https://factor.am/336648.html
Azeri soldiers hold a protest and complain about being ignored
A group of Azeri soldiers, who received injuries during the war, held a protest about the "government ignoring them and refusing to provide benefits." Social media shares videos about daily protests in the country. "Those who fought in front lines are ignored, while those who stayed in the rear are rewarded." Azeri media also writes about the high number of missing soldiers and that their families are kept in the dark. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042864.html
Azeri opposition decries oppression after Aliyev begins collecting "fees" for occupied territories / Product price increase / Aliyev's sister makes an appearance
Some Azeri officials, with corruption ties since the 1990s, only recently found themselves at the crosshairs of the authorities. Some of their mansions will be confiscated and placed for auction. The opposition believes Aliyev is collecting money to renovate the newly captured territories. Unsurprisingly, some of the targeted officials are connected with Ramiz Mehdiyev, who is Aliyev's chief rival and was targeted well before the war. Azeri media reports that the former Labor Minister Muslimov was told to pay up $1 billion for years, which would be directed not to state coffers but the so-called "black treasury", and only after it became apparent that he couldn't pay the bribe, he was arrested on January. https://www.civilnet.am/news/2021/02/08/Ալիևը-«ազատագրված-տարածքների»-համար-փող-է-հայթայթում/418730 Aliyev had earlier criticized oligarchs and the rich for "trying to squeeze into Shushi with their businesses." Activity on the Azeri social media indicates that the authorities are having difficulty with finding the funds necessary for the renovation. People report that they were forced to donate funds to various Reconstruction Foundations. Aliyev's sister Sevil made a rare "appearance" to make a few comments about a new documentary about his father Heydar Aliyev. The documentary talks about Heydar's "weaknesses", and names current president Ilham Aliyev as one of Heydar's weaknesses because of Ilham's past scandalous and extravagant lifestyle. The documentary says "Heydar gave Karabakh but saved Azerbaijan, while Ilham took Karabakh but gave Azerbaijan." The sister Sevil is unhappy that the personality cult is shifting from Heydar to Ilham. Under her social media post, people began commenting "force your brother to resign and people will install a monument dedicated to you." https://www.lragir.am/2021/02/08/619428/ A regional Azeri opposition leader from the National Front party criticized the Azeri regime. "They promised that we will have a new Azerbaijan after the second Karabakh war. They fully kept their word by raising prices for gasoline, water, medicine, food, and practically everything. Funds for repaying foreign debt rose by 21.6%. All the debt will be paid by the Azeri public." Aliyev plans to spend $1B to renovate the occupied territories. (what happened to the $5B that he offered to Serj and Nikol?) https://factor.am/336642.html Tags: #NewAzerbaijan
Dutch MPs urge the govt to recognize the Armenian Genocide
A group of Netherlands MPs, representing various parties, signed under a resolution to call for the official recognition of the Genocide. They emphasized its importance amid the report by Genocide Watch which found a threat of genocide in Artsakh during the war. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042803.html
oy, you got a loicense for that, m8?
Yerevan municipality received unprecedented 27,000 petitions relating to illegally-built structures. The staff is overloaded, sorry for the delay while processing, said Mayor Marutyan. The authorities are currently drafting a bill to repeal the existing law that allows the legalization of illegal buildings. At the same time, the MPs want to make the legal registration process faster and cheaper. For decades, people have found bribery easier than filing construction paperwork. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042814.html
Yerevan will rebuild 12 and build 3 new kindergartens
The city received a €5M grant from the EU in Jun-2018 to help with kindergartens. As part of the programs, the city will rebuild 12 and built 3 seismic-proof kindergartens. Another 11 were finished in 2020. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042817.html
Healthcare Minister: COVID vaccine selection process / double-infections / stats
Question: How was AstraZeneca selected as the primary choice for the initial phase of vaccination of the high-risk population?** Healthcare Minister Anahit Avanesyan: a new committee was formed, tasked with examining the effectiveness, price, and availability timing of each vaccine. The committee found AstraZeneca as a good candidate. Question: after the war, there was talk that Armenia will be pressured to buy the Russian Sputnik-V. Minister: Armenia is free to purchase whichever vaccine it wishes but we are in discussions with all our partners. We think multiple options will be available. Question: are we expecting another big wave? Minister: it's hard to predict. Oct-Nov saw a big wave due to war. Thankfully, people saw how quickly the virus was spreading and chose to follow safety measures again. Today it's controllable. We have a testing requirement for foreign arrivals and combined with having control over the internal spread, we can reduce the spread by following mask/sanitizedistance rules. Question: what % of the population had so far caught COVID? Minister: 168,000 have tested positive. There is a methodology that shows up to twice as many people could become infected and heal without knowing. We are far away from relaxing and returning to a pre-COVID lifestyle. Question: any double-infections? Minister: there are some who caught it in June and were infected again recently. It still needs research to understand how the virus affects the body after double-infection, and how common double-infection can be. Full: https://www.civilnet.am/news/2021/02/08/Հայաստանն-ազատ-է-ձեռք-բերելու-լավագույն-պատվաստանյութը․-զրույց-առողջապահության-նախարարի-հետ/418698
Pashinyan and the Economy Ministry discussed ways to recover the economy after the pandemic and to restore the 2019-level economic boost. The "Investment Support Center" is currently in talks with 60 investors about $1.5B worth of projects. Part of it done. Pashinyan spoke about the need to build water dams because water will become an issue in the region in the coming years. They discussed the improvements of standards, the atmosphere for business, and the ongoing GSP trade initiative with EU/USA/Canada/Switzerland that provides customs privileges. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042861.html
re: legal reforms to allow purchase & international shipping of drugs via the post office
The law was laxed 6 months ago to allow the international purchase and import of medication to Armenia. No written permission is necessary. To this date, 1500 residents received parcels with drugs. It used to be prohibited. You had to carry the items on you while visiting Armenia. "The change was done at the right time when there was pandemic, the roads were closed. People can import items that they cannot find in Armenia." You can import 5 types of medication 3 times a year. Anything more requires permission from Healthcare Ministry. The parcels go through an x-ray by the customs so don't do anything stupid. https://youtu.be/WQz_5U5h6wQ , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042798.html
land shipping fees reduce 3x between Armenia and Russia
Armenia and Russia had signed an agreement on Sep/24/2020 to reform the post office transfers. As a result, fees dropped by 3x to-from Moscow area. 1.5x reduction between Armenian and Russian Provinces. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042838.html
update: new bridge will be built between Armenia and Georgia
While increasing the repairs done on the roads that connect to Georgia two years ago, the government had announced that a new bridge Sadakhlo-Bagratashen would be built. Now we have more details. There will be two bridges 1 meter apart. Combined, they will have a 25m width. There will be five 32-meter segments. They'll have a water removal network and lighting. The existing bridge will be renovated and used as a backup in the event of traffic. The construction begins in a few months. https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/206128
High Tech Minister Arshakyan about high-tech industry, jobs, salaries:
Despite the pandemic, the industry turnover grew +20.6% and reached ֏198B (excluding telecom). Employment grew +22%, reaching 18.7K jobs. There are 1,228 active high-tech companies. 192 companies qualified for the exclusive special benefits that serve as incentives. Armenian startups are considered those firms that have a research center in Armenia and created their idea in Armenia. Last year they attracted $50M in investments. 14% more taxes were collected from the industry, surpassing ֏41B. The average salary grew from ֏544K to ֏580K. The youth who plans to study in university should consider this route. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042806.html
High Tech Minister about a new retraining program for war participants:
We'll soon launch a pilot program The Path to Soldier's Success to provide career retraining for veterans. It'll help disabled soldiers to get jobs in high tech. Free classes for 18 various paths. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042834.html
High tech Minister about the new Engineering City in Yerevan:
7 companies have already applied to have an office in the City. The City allows the companies to share modern labs and work towards electronics, military industry, and other high tech production. Politeknik University established an "electronic systems and measuring devices" office in City last year. They will prepare experts with a new education program. https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/206208 , https://youtu.be/AQUHF1GlEuA?t=82
High Tech Minister about manufacturing 5 lung ventilators in Armenia:
They are ready, passed the test, and will undergo clinical trials soon. I think this is the first time we're producing such complex healthcare devices in Armenia. They were built by an Armenian company that received licensing from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. There were 330 applicants from 42 countries. The Armenian company was among the 28 winners. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1042816.html
High Tech Minister about Armenian drones with artificial intelligence target detection and artillery made in Armenia:
We don't have "Bayraktars" because it takes hundreds of millions of dollars and decades of research to build one. We have to be honest about it, otherwise, we're waiting for a miracle. Armenia needs institutional changes today. We funded dozens of drone projects within the framework of research and development of Armenian striker and surveillance drones. Some are being finalized. We are reaching the point of being able to produce them. The state is currently testing Armenian striker drones. Once finalized, they will undergo a military test, before entering serial production. They use artificial intelligence to select targets.
The radio defense mechanisms used today won't be useful against drones in the future. Drone control systems develop faster than systems that take them down. A time will come when radio-warfare won't take down the drones. We will need other tools, such as high-power electrical wave or laser-optic, or direct fire. I can reveal some secrets today. Armenian striker drones are using artificial intelligence algorithms to identify target objects. With this, you don't need to be constantly in contact with your drone, because your connection to it can be jammed. The drone can fly and locate the target on its own.
Our surveillance drones, which have parameters that aren't any worse than similar ones, can be produced in Armenia now. They were used by the army during the war. Our radar technology is being produced in Armenia for air defense. It was successfully utilized during the war and used for defending a strategic object. This field has a high priority for us. We will continue to finance the radio, optics, and laser fields.
Two dozen Armenian products will be presented during IDEX arms expo in Abu Dhabi to find new markets and promote exports. Then we'll host ArmHighTech defense international expo in the enlarged format in Hamalir building. Over 60 international companies will participate. Then ExpoElektronika expo will be held in Moscow.
[English Football] How the greatest flowering of football talent since 1966 gave the tabloids a decade of material
The first four parts of this series covered Nottingham Forest, Notts County, Derby County/Leeds United, and Stoke City. This episode in English Football Drama is going national. After four episodes diving into the circus that is Midlands football, we turn our attentions to England's national football team. This episode will focus on the 21st century up until about the 2010 World Cup, as the 'Golden Generation' of young English talent failed to achieve for country the glories that so many of them achieve for their club. There will be a bigger focus on off-the-pitch stories and tabloid scandals here, although obviously football is central. In the era before the general sanitisation of the English tabloid press, players on the national team were up there with the royal family for gossip reporting and red-top scandals. And scandals they provided. Background English football had something of a renaissance in the 1990s. It ceased to be a violence-ridden sport predominantly enjoy by white working class men and became a national game in the true sense. After the glory of winning the World Cup for the home crowd at Wembley in 1966 against the Germans, England's footballing fortunes took a nosedive. England did not qualify for the 1974 or 1978 World Cups at a time when English clubs were dominant in Europe (all European Cups from 1977-82 were won by English sides, while Leeds would have likely won in 1975 if not for some incredibly suspect refereeing at a time when bribing the officials wasn't unheard of) and the national team stagnated. Performances picked up in the 1980s, but the most notable moment for the national side in this decade was a certain Diego Maradona cementing an increasingly bitter rivalry with the Hand of God in 1986. Off the pitch, hooliganism, often called the 'English Disease', blighted the reputation of the game at home and abroad. The socially turbulent 1970s-80s created a violent subculture at the underbelly of the sport, arguably fuelled by media sensationalism, and earnt English football supporters a terrible reputation when they supported club or country in European football competitions. The darkest moment came at the 1985 European Cup final when 39 supporters of Italian side Juventus died in a stadium collapse caused when the crowd sought to flee rioting Liverpool supporters. While there were other factors at play, the horrific scene was too much and all English clubs were banned from European football until 1990. England's participation in the 1988 European Football Championship in West Germany was like a candle which drew in the unsavoury elements of English club support and there was widespread violence between English and German hooligans around the competition. So, in 1990 a fairly unpleasant situation? What changed? At home measures such as the general adoption of all-seater stadiums and corresponding ticket price increases killed off much of the old 'terrace culture' around clubs. The government had made it possible to ban convicted hooligans from attending any match and in some cases from leaving the country during a major international tournament. The issue was good optics for Margaret Thatcher and her general commitment in government to the traditional safe Tory issue of law and order. The 1990 World Cup in Italy was the start of football's image change. England did better than usual, making it to the semi-final before what would become a highly common event. Losing penalties to Germany. Their success and the resonance of Paul Gascoigne crying on the pitch owing to his sheer pashun took football to a wider audience. But in 1996, football came home. England hosted Euro 96 and a famous song by comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner epitomised the optimism of football's home nation during the festival-like competition with a sentimental nod to 'Thirty Years of Hurt' since 1966, the year that has weighed down England ever since. But above all, it showed supporting England as a thing that normal and respectable people did. The awarding of the competition to England was a major sign from world football that the 'bad old days' were over, and the competition went ahead in a positive atmosphere. There was just one small hitch, once again involving a penalty shoot out against Germany as England once again lost in that accursed format. Things weren't perfect by the end of the decade and some of the old problems persisted. A 1995 friendly against Ireland in Dublin was abandoned owing to a riot by a group of English hooligans affiliated to various far-right organisations, and there was trouble at both the 1998 World Cup and Euro 00. But it was a far cry from previous decades, and there was a new optimism in the air about the English national team. The Golden Generation At the turn of the century, England had a huge amount of young and promising talent who would surely end the pain and bring the World Cup home once again. Players who would go onto become legends for their clubs such as right midfielder David Beckham, centre forward Michael Owen, central midfielder Steven Gerrard, and centre half Rio Ferdinand had all come of age. Manchester United's 1999 Champions League win was the first one for an English side since Liverpool in 1984, and it signalled a return to Europe's top competitions for English sides. What better to signal a new era than by absolutely stuffing the main rivals? After the 1966 World Cup final, penalty agony in 1990 and 1996 and various other historical events, Germany became the team English fans wanted to beat the most. The tabloids revelled in the rivalry with their diplomatic headlines and terrace classics such as 'Ten German Bombers' and 'Two World Wars and One World Cup' remained commonplace. For their part, German fans tend to regard the Netherlands as their primary football rival. And stuff them they did. In a World Cup qualifier in Munich in 2001, Germany suffered their first ever home loss in a World Cup qualifier as England beat them 5-1. This was a massive vindication of England's young side and the new manager Sven Goran Erikkson, who had received some scepticism as England's first foreign manager. German fans consoled themselves with the Dutch failure to qualify for the 2002 World Cup, but it marked a new era for England. The side that humbled Germany included the core of the 'Golden Generation' with Gary Neville, Ashley Cole, Steven Gerrard, Rio Ferdinand, Sol Campbell, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Emile Heskey, Michael Owen, and Jamie Carragher all appearing. The CEO of the Football Association, Adam Crozier, publicly described this cohort as the 'Golden Generation' who would go on to do for England what many of them were already doing for their clubs. Japan 2002 England qualified for the 2002 World Cup in Japan in true fashion, with a David Beckham free kick past Greece putting England through. David Beckham had rapidly become the poster boy for the Golden Generation owing to his skill with free kicks and his glamorous appearance and personal life, including being married to the famous pop star Victoria Beckham, known as 'Posh Spice' in the Spice Girls. Quick stop off for the first affair to be dragged through the tabloids on the way to Japan. In the spring of 2002, it turned out that Anglo-Swedish TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson had been having an affair with Sven. The News of the World (Britain's premier sleaze rag/newspaper, known as the News of the Screws in satirical magazine Private Eye or if you're my great-granddad, as the Whore's Gazette) absolutely loved a bit of sleaze. So much, in fact, they gave Ulrika a column for the next four years so she could launch the odd diatribe at Sven and his unconventional personal life. Sven was bullish about England's chances in 2002, in a formula which would become predictable, he expected that this year would be the year. To be fair, it started well. A group stage tie with Argentina gave England a chance to give a bloody nose to another rival. Owing to the 1982 Falklands War and Diego Maradona's 'Hand of God' in 1986, Argentina normally sits 3rd in the list of international footballing rivalries after Germany and Scotland. I remember as a fairly young child my parents explaining to me that the Argies were a 'dirty' side after the Hand of God and an acrimonious game in the 1998 World Cup and that beating them was pretty much essential. So, it was to relief all round when David Beckham scored from a penalty. Draws with Sweden and Nigeria took England into the Round of 16, amusingly at the expense of Argentina who were 2002's shock group stage exit. England brushed Denmark aside 3-0 to set themselves up for a quarter final tie with the favourites and eventual champions, Brazil. Was this to be England's year? Victory against Brazil would likely assure playing Germany in the final given the probability of beating Senegal or Turkey in the semi-final (so goes the England fan's logic) and we would doubtless give Jerry another pasting to make it Two World Wars and Two World Cups. The nation was abuzz. I willingly went to school early to watch it on the projector, the only time I've ever turned up a minute early of my own free will. And Brazil won. Well, they were going to, weren't they? A good Michael Owen goal set England up for a 1-0 win and dreams of glory in Tokyo, but Messrs Ronaldo and Rivaldo put two past David Seaman to knock England out. The circular firing squad and media postmortem was mysteriously absent. Brazil had some truly sublime talents, and surely a young side would come good and win it next time, wouldn't they? The Road to Euro 04 A few distractions to get through before we get into the meat of England's next footballing failure. In late 2003 England played a friendly against Australia which was notable for two things. England were roundly beaten by Australia, a nation with whom England has fierce cricket and rugby rivalries but doesn't generally register in football, to echoes of condemnation. And a young Wayne Rooney became the youngest player to ever play for England, aged just 17. More on him later. England's qualification for Euro 04 was generally uneventful, except for a shock draw to Macedonia, involving this filthy banger direct from a corner. Rio Ferdinand managed to get an eight month ban from football by missing a drugs test. This was a blow as it removed one of Sven's two preferred centre halves from the squad. It also removed one of the main drama generators, a man who had gained notoriety in 2000, when Channel 4 aired a sex tape featuring him and fellow internationals Kieron Dyer and Frank Lampard filmed on holiday in Cyprus. Fortunately for us, his ban allowed an even more sublime drama king to take centre stage. Enter John Terry. Another new appearance was Chelsea teammate Wayne Bridge. More on them later. Penalties, again? Euro 04 started strong with an early goal from Frank Lampard against France. France, despite being England's rivals of choice in most fields, is not an especially strong football rivalry. The idea of France as a major footballing nation is relatively new and as far as football goes there isn't any real bad blood. Even Zinedine Zidane's injury time equaliser and winner didn't create any lasting resentment. Comfortable wins over Switzerland and Croatia put England 2nd in the group and set them up for a draw against host nation Portugal. Of course, Portugal had their own wonderkid as the world was introduced to a certain Cristiano Ronaldo. The two sides drew 2-2 after extra time and the dreaded penalties loomed. Fear not, for dead-ball specialist David Beckham stepped up to the mark for his country. Well. Beckham joined Stuart 'Psycho' Pearce and Gareth Southgate in the list of players who gained notoriety for fluffing a penalty. Sven started to come under criticism in the tabloids for his failure to deliver the goods. He came under more criticism when he, once again, couldn't keep it in his trousers, starting a proud tradition for the Golden Generation to become better known for tabloid gossip. Young Rooney started strong as well, as it turned out that he had shagged a granny in a Liverpool brothel. Hopes of an incognito quickie with a lady of the night were dashed when a group of Everton fans (Rooney's then-club and boyhood team) found out and started chanting his name outside when he was doing the dirty. At about this time, Ashley Cole began a relationship with the professional Geordie and pop star Cheryl Tweedy, a saga which would keep the News of the Screws engaged for some years. Possibly the only bad thing about that sordid rag going under in 2011 is that I'm having a hell of a time finding the original news articles for this write up. The Old Enemy Beckons The 2006 World Cup is now on the horizon. And who is hosting it, other than Germany? What a coup it would be for the boys and England's national pride for, in a story lifted from a campy 1950s war film, our plucky boys to parachute in Berlin and win the World Cup from right under Fritz's nose? Well, if they could get there. Northern Ireland, traditionally footballing minnows, beat England 1-0 in a qualifier. This was Sven's first defeat in a qualifier but the tabloids attacked his playing style and, being a Swede, the lack of pashun and dersiah that a redblooded Englishman would have. England did qualify with a match to spare, so surely it would be a smooth ride to Germany and for our plucky heroes to take on the Hun and win? Like fuck it would. Sven managed to get into the tabloids again. At the time, the News of the Screws employed an undercover journalist who specialised in 'sting' stories aimed at prominent figures. Mazher Mahmood was popularly known as the 'Fake Sheikh' owing to his tendency to masquerade as an Arab oil sheikh. He approached Sven as an Arab businessman hoping to invest in English football, and Sven seemingly said told Mahmood to buy Aston Villa (a respectable Premier League side from Birmingham) as he hoped to take the Villa job after the 2006 World Cup and bring David Beckham in from Real Madrid to be his captain. The imbroglio fatally undermined Sven, who was forced to announce a resignation effective after the World Cup. Essentially working through his notice period, it isn't hard to see what impact on the squad that might have. England turned up in Germany, and the tabloid media brought its legendary tact and diplomacy. England fans made no reference to past historic events before matches. Songs like this were condemned in the respectable press which saw them as crass chants from drunken shirtless louts, but many football fans see these chants as lighthearted banter. On the pitch England beat Paraguay and Trinidad in the group stages before another turgid draw with Sweden, putting England through to the Round of 16 at the top of their group. Sven began to deviate from the traditional 442 formation, using Rooney up front alone and playing a third man in central midfield, usually Michael Carrick. We'll talk a little more about the significance of 442 in a bit. A 1-0 win over Ecuador set England up for another quarter-final tie, this time against Portugal, who had knocked them out on penalties in 2004. Surely England wouldn't be knocked out on penalties by Portugal again would they? Curses aren't real surely? A 0-0 snooze fest led to the inevitable. And the inevitable happened. England's players missed three penalties. This was now becoming a serious mental block, with England going out of the 1990, 1998, and 2006 World Cups on penalties as well as Euro 96 and 04. It wasn't Sven's problem now. As agreed with the FA, he left the role thereafter. But who could replace him? The Wally with a Brolly After the pashunless Sven, it was time to get a proper Englishman back in charge. Enter Steve McClaren. McClaren had proper club pedigree, taking Middlesbrough to a UEFA Cup Final in 2006 after winning a League Cup in 2004. His first media scandal came when the News of the Screws claimed Ashley Cole had taken part in a homosexual orgy. They settled out of court and retracted the stories but this was just another time in which the tabloid press pursued sensational stories about members of the England team. McClaren gave John Terry the captaincy and dropped David Beckham from his line ups. There was a period of poor form in which England scored once in five matches, followed by when he told a press conference they could write what they wanted after a lacklustre win over Andorra because he wasn't going to say anything else. McClaren recalled David Beckham and form picked up once again. It wasn't enough though, as England lost against Russia before the final gameday of the qualification cycle for Euro 08. This meant that England had to avoid defeat against Croatia, who obligingly beat England 3-2 at Wembley while Russia took 2nd place with a win over minnows Andorra. This was the first time in 24 years that England had not qualified for a European Championship. The Daily Mail's headline the next day became one of those legendary headlines that goes down in a country's collective pop-culture memory. The Wally with a Brolly epitomised what was then the shortest ever tenure in the England job. Who could possibly prepare the club for the 2010 World Cup after a period sat on the sidelines of international football? Enter Fabio Fabio Cappello was another foreign hiring. He was widely welcomed in the English press as a notorious disciplinarian who could curb the excesses allowed under the relaxed Sven and the disastrous McClaren. Fabio rigidly played 442 football. In England, 442 is more than a football formation, it is a way of life. 442 means standing up for traditional no-nonsense English values like work ethic, pluck, and willingness to die for the team over fancy foreigners with their poncy passing skills. This initially endeared him to the press, which demanded nothing more than the most patriotic form of football involved. Capello saw Beckham dropped once again for his initial set of friendly matches. In goal he started to play David 'Calamity' James, who was perhaps unfairly scapegoated for being a somewhat eccentric keeper prone to errors. In the 2010 qualification group, England did very well. They comfortably qualified, including with a win over Germany to keep the fans happy, and everyone looked forward to watching England bring it home from the first ever African World Cup. But first, an interlude for the biggest of the tabloid shitstorms. Viva John Terry In January 2010 a certain individual successfully placed a 'Superinjunction' preventing details of an extra-marital affairs being published. The existence of the injunction was also not to be revealed. Another judge overruled this and the News of the Screws was free to report the information it had. Namely, John Terry had an affair with the partner of Wayne Bridge, former Chelsea teammate and current England teammate. Wayne Bridge in the end wasn't involved in the 2010 World Cup, but many were naturally shocked a captain would do something like this to a team member. At the time there was a prominent scandal around the use of 'injunctions' by high profile people exploiting England's lax law on these issues, and John Terry was merely one of several. In any case, the News of the Screws ended up apologising to the woman involved, in a fairly remarkable move which in hindsight was an early indication of the radical shifts in the tabloid press during the early 10s. John Terry was stripped of the captaincy for the first time and replaced with Rio Ferdinand for the upcoming World Cup. Germany, again? It started so well. England was put into a relatively soft group on paper and were the clear favourites. The Sun's legendary tact once again. Match number one of 'HMS Piss the Group' was against the USA. Again, not really a footballing nation, the expectation of an easy win was high. It started well with an early goal from Steven Gerrard before a goalkeeping error etched into my mind today. Rob Green mishandled a save, giving Clint Dempsey a goal. A frustrating 0-0 draw with Algeria indicated something was going wrong. Were England about to be knocked out of an allegedly soft group? Fortunately a goal against Slovenia rescued it, but England finished 2nd in the group behind the USA, leading to a Round of 16 tie against Germany. Once again, the red tops employed their legendary diplomacy Did it go to penalties? No, but don't breathe a sigh of relief yet. England got stuffed 4-1. Properly stuffed. The only consolation was that an obvious Frank Lampard goal was not awarded because the linesman didn't see it properly. In the days before VAR it really was that rudimentary. The reason this mattered was because England had been awarded a similarly controversial goal in the 1966 World Cup final, many Germans reassured themselves knowing that it could have gone so differently if Hurst's 2nd goal hadn't been allowed. At least they were now even on the controversial crossbar goal count. Was this a consolation to the press? Ofcoursenot Once again, the red tops hounded a squad who had failed to live up to the increasingly lofty expectations. But at least Wayne Rooney got one more romp in the tabloids out, as it turned out he had paid hush money to a high-class escort he had been 'seeing'. Viva John Terry 2 Fabio quietly gave John Terry the captaincy back. He still had one shitstorm left in him. And it was ugly. He was accused of calling Anton Ferdinand, brother of Rio, a 'fucking black cunt' during a game between Chelsea and West London neighbours Queen's Park Rangers. After being charged by police for using racist language, Terry was once again stripped of the England captaincy, which went to Steven Gerrard. Fabio, who had come under heavy fire after the 2010 World Cup, resigned over this. He didn't want to take the captaincy from John Terry but the FA forced his hand and he left the role in early 2012. John Terry was actually acquitted of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand in a criminal trial, but an FA hearing found him guilty and punished him with a fairly short ban. This was controversial because of the different standards of proof. A conviction in English criminal courts needs proof 'beyond reasonable doubt', whereas the FA hearing used civil rules where guilt is based on the balance of probabilities. Terry apologised for his language, but he retained the Chelsea captaincy and never directly apologised to Anton. Epilogue With Fabio's departure the classic 'Golden Generation' era ended, even though players like Gerrard and Lampard still turned out for England. In the interests of time and length I shall give a summary until about 2016 before wrapping up. Roy Hodgson managed England from 2012-6. England were eliminated in the group stage of the 2014 World Cup after losing to Uruguay and Italy and drawing to Costa Rica. Ironically Italy, the other team expected to go to the knockouts, was the other eliminated side. This was a bigger trauma than 2010, although massive changes in journalism (such as the News of the Screws closing down and far stricter regulation) meant that there was less of the constant tabloid coverage of the fallout. 2016 saw a decent showing in Euro 16, but once again the media got cocky before a tie against a theoretically weaker side only for England to get knocked out by them. Bravo Iceland. Sam Allardyce replaced Roy Hodgson and lasted a grand total of two months before being caught telling undercover journalists how to get around various financial rules in football before criticising previous managers and some of his players. Finally, Gareth Southgate came and has seemingly reinvented the side, making it to the semi-finals in 2018. But at least it wasn't penalties then. Why did the Golden Generation Fail? On paper they should have been at the top of the game. Pep Guardiola compared them to the Spanish flowering of talent which led to their 2010 World Cup win. There are a few factors here.
The team's philosophy didn't really work. There was never a coherent playing style for the national team which players would be selected around or moulded into. Rather, managers tended to make systems work around players even if they didn't gel well.
Rivalries in the squad. It probably reflects on English football well that there are several top end teams who compete for titles and European qualification, rather than the perhaps less exciting one club dominance of Germany and Italy or the duopolies of Scotland and Spain. But, Gerrard and Lampard seemed to struggle when paired and their club rivalries may have played a part. The bulk of the squad came from three clubs, Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea who all won Champion's League honours at some point in the early 21st century and regularly competed for titles and domestic cups. Could they switch off the rivalries when on national duty?
Finally, the press. We have gone through the tabloid obsession with these footballers and their personal lives. We have also discussed the cycle of bullishness followed by anger which follows the inevitable defeats. Is it unreasonable for a young adult to find these pressures too much? Probably not. Above all, it is hard to escape how much better England appear to play now that the press is less hostile towards the side, that their manager is a more nurturing figure, and that the sleazy red tops have either gone the way of the dodo (News of the Screws) or been forced to fundamentally change their approach in response to heightened regulation and changing social mores.
Game Preview Week 16 Philadelphia Eagles (4-9-1) @ Dallas Cowboys (5-9)
Philadelphia Eagles (4-9-1) vs Dallas Cowboys (5-9)
As of this writing, the Eagles still have a shot to win the division, which is fortunate or unfortunate depending on what side of that argument you are on, however for that to happen the Redskins have to lose and the Eagles will have to take care of business tomorrow vs the Cowboys to keep that hope alive. The job will not be as easy as the first win where Andy Dalton missed the game and the Eagles faced Ben Narducci. Additionally the Eagles secondary is more banged up this time around. However offensively the Eagles will also look different as they will have Sanders and Desean Jackson who missed the first contest, but perhaps the biggest change will be at QB where Jalen Hurts will be making his 3rd start for the Eagles after two impressive outings vs the Saints and the Cardinals. Hurts will face a Cowboys defense that has been playing much better of late especially at causing turnovers and getting to the QB. Hurts will need to keep what he has been doing and escaping the pocket when he feels it closing on him and getting rid of it when he needs to. I think this game will come down to protecting the football and establishing the run, whichever team can do that should take the W and keep their playoff hopes alive with a Redskins loss.
FOX will broadcast Sunday’s game to a regional audience. Kenny Albert will handle the play-by-play duties and Jonathan Vilma will provide analysis. Shannon Spake will report from the sidelines.
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
Dallas Radio
Dallas Cowboys Radio Network Brad Sham returns for his 42nd season in the Dallas Cowboys radio booth. Beloved by Cowboys fans, Sham's award winning play-by-play has provided the soundtrack to many of the most memorable moments in Dallas Cowboys history. Babe Laufenberg returns as the Network's full-time color analyst. A fixture on the sideline, veteran reporter Kristi Scales provides instant updates from the field.
September 30th, 1960 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, TX. Dallas Cowboys 25 - Philadelphia Eagles 27
Points Leader
The Dallas Cowboys lead the Philadelphia Eagles (2659-2424)
Coaches Record
Doug Pederson: 4-5 against the Cowboys
Mike McCarthy: 4-2 against Eagles
Coaches Head to Head
Doug Pederson vs Mike McCarthy: McCarthy leads 2-0
Quarterback Record
Jalen Hurts: Against Cowboys: 0-0
Andy Dalton: Against Eagles: 2-0
Quarterbacks Head to Head
Jalen Hurts vs Andy Dalton: First Meeting
Records per Stadium
Record @ Lincoln Financial Field: Cowboys lead the Eagles: 10-8
Record @ AT&T Stadium: Series tied: 6-6
Rankings and Last Meeting Information
AP Pro 32 Ranking
Eagles No. 22 - Cowboys No. 24
Record
Eagles: 4-9-1
Cowboys: 5-9
Last Meeting
Sunday, November 1st, 2020
Eagles 23 - Cowboys 9
Despite committing four turnovers and being held to a season-low seven first half points, Wentz and the Eagles bumbled their way to a crucial division win over an injury-ravaged Dallas Cowboys team led by rookie quarterback Ben DiNucci. The Cowboys opened the scoring on the game's opening drive with a 49-yard field goal by Greg Zuerlein. After a fumble by Wentz gave the Cowboys the ball back, the Eagles regained possession on a DiNucci fumble and took a 7–3 lead on Jalen Reagor's first career touchdown reception. The Cowboys responded with another Zuerlein field goal following Wentz's second fumble, and took a 9–7 halftime lead on a 59-yard field goal (mirroring the halftime score in Dallas in 2017, also played on Sunday Night Football). On the Eagles' second-half opening drive, Wentz would be picked off by Cowboys rookie cornerback Trevon Diggs, who returned the ball to the Dallas 31, but the Cowboys failed to capitalize when Zuerlein's ensuing 52-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right. The Eagles used the momentum swing to regain the lead 15–9 on a 9-yard Travis Fulgham touchdown reception. In the fourth quarter, T.J. Edwards strip-sacked DiNucci, and the ensuing fumble was recovered and returned 53 yards for a touchdown by Rodney McLeod. With the 23–9 win, Philadelphia improved to 3–4–1 on the season heading into their Week 9 bye.
Eagles S Jalen Mills was born in Dallas and grew up in DeSoto, TX and went to Desoto High School.
Cowboys DB Coach Al Harris played 5 seasons for the Eagles from 1998-2002.
Cowboys DT Justin Hamilton played one season for the Eagles in 2017.
Cowboys Assistant Director of Video Stephen Gagliardino began his NFL career in 1995 as a ball boy with the Philadelphia Eagles when he was 16 years old, working training camp and game days at Veterans Stadium. He did that for four seasons before moving over to the Eagles video department in 1999, where he worked full time as an intern for three seasons (1999-2001).
Many Cowboys fans were born and raised in the Greater Philadelphia Area, however have no ties to Dallas nor have ever been to the city.
Eagles DT Fletcher Cox and Cowboys QB Dak Prescott played together at Mississippi State University when Prescott was a red shirt freshman.
Eagles OT Lane Johnson is from Groveton, TX and has family who are Cowboys fans including his grandmother who was told “Shut up, if you want to see 75” while she was rooting for the Cowboys.
2020 Pro Bowlers
Eagles
Cowboys
DT Fletcher Cox (Starter)
DE Brandon Graham (Starter)
C Jason Kelce (Starter)
General
Referee: Shawn Smith
Jalen Hurts is the only QB in NFL history to amass 500+ passing yards and 150+ rushing yards in their first 2 career starts (Week 14 vs. New Orleans – 167 passing, 106 rushing; Week 15 at Ar-izona – 338 passing, 63 rushing). In Week 15 at Arizona, Hurts became the first Eagles QB to register 300+ passing yards, 3+ passing TDs and 1+ rushing TDs in a single game since Michael Vick on 11/15/10 at Washington.
Fletcher Cox (T-5th among NFL DTs with 6.5 sacks this season) has collected all of his six career Pro Bowl nods in the last six seasons, tying Pete Pihos (1951-56) for the 2nd-longest streak in franchise history, behind Reggie White (seven, 1987-93). His six Pro Bowls are also the most ever by an Eagles DT.
Jason Kelce now owns the most Pro Bowl selections (four) by a center in Eagles history as well as the 2nd-most by any offensive lineman in team history, trailing only Jason Peters (seven). Kelce has started 103 consecutive regular-season contests, which is the longest active streak among NFL centers.
Brandon Graham has earned his first career Pro Bowl honor after leading the Eagles defense in sacks (7.0), TFLs (12) and QB pres-sures and hits (36) through 14 games. He is one of only three NFL players with 7.0 sacks, 12 TFLs and 2 FFs this season (also Haason Reddick and Za’Darius Smith).
Draft Picks
Eagles
Cowboys
WR Jalen Raegor
WR CeeDee Lamb
QB Jalen Hurts
CB Trevon Diggs
LB Davion Taylor
DT Neville Gallimore
S K’Von Wallace
CB Reggie Robinson II
OT Jack Driscoll
C Tyler Biadasz
WR John Hightower
DE Bradlee Anae
LB Shaun Bradley
QB Ben DiNucci
WR Quez Watkins
OT Prince Tega Wanogho
LB/DE Casey Toohill
Notable Off-season Additions
Eagles
Cowboys
S Will Parks
QB Andy Dalton
DT Javon Hargrave
TE Blake Bell
CB Nickell Robey-Coleman
OT Cameron Erving
CB Darius Slay
DE Aldon Smith
CB Maurice Canady
K Greg Zuerlein
Notable Off-season Departures
Eagles
Cowboys
S Malcom Jenkins
WR Tavon Austin
CB Ronald Darby
WR Randall Cobb
RB Jordan Howard
WR Devin Smith
WR Nelson Agholor
TE Jason Witten
OL Halapoulivaati Vaitai
OL Cameron Fleming
LB Kamu Grugler-Hill
C Travis Fredrick
RB Darren Sproles
DE Michael Bennett
DT Timmy Jernigan
DE Kerry Hyder
LB Nigel Bradham
DE Robert Quinn
DT Maliek Collins
DT Christian Covington
DT Daniel Ross
CB Byron Jones
S Jeff Heath
K Kai Forbath
Milestones
Eagles DE Vinny Curry (29) needs 1 sacks to move up to 18th on the Eagles all-time sack list tying DT Jerome Brown
Food for Thought
Dallas' Existential Connection to Philadelphia
::Movie Trailer Guy::"In a world where people thought having someone named *Dallas Goedert on the Eagles was awkward, the truth is infinitely more awkward yet.*" If I were to tell you the county and city of Dallas might have never come to be, were it not for a prominent political figure in Philadelphian, Pennsylvanian, and national politics named Dallas would you very justifiably lord it over Cowboys fans? Over his career, George Mifflin Dallas served as the Mayor of Philadelphia, US Attorney for the Eastern District of PA, PA Attorney General, US Senator representing PA, Ambassador to Russia and later to the UK, and Vice President under Polk. He'd had Presidential ambitions, but they were dashed when his state support base of iron and coal interests turned their backs upon his tariff support about-face. Well, that and his unfortunate support for popular sovereignty, as it pertained to slavery. The prevailing theory is that in 1841 when the settlement of Dallas, Texas was established, it was named after this gentleman. And thus, Dallas would not exist today if it weren't for Philadelphia. You're welcome.
Matchups to Watch
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles Passing Attack vs. Cowboys Pass Defense
Dallas has a terrible defense that has profited off terrible QB play in their current two game win streak. They enter this contest Sunday going up against Jalen Hurts, who is easily the best QB they've faced since they got rolled by Lamar Jackson. This isn't to go out of the way and praise Jalen Hurts, it's just acknowledging the clear truth that Jalen Hurts is already better than Brian Allen and Nick Mullens. This Cowboys defense is short on talent and coaching which makes this matchup pretty juicy for the Eagles, even if they have a below average WR room. I've long said that Hurts should be an upgrade from Wentz whenever they decided to bench him as the 2020 version of the player was one of the worst QBs in the NFL. All Hurts had to do to be an upgrade from Wentz was eliminate the crushing negative plays, which he has. Additionally, he's been pretty good as a passer, showing growth from his time at OU in this short period of time. You'll never mistake him for having a live arm, but he plays with poise and throws with anticipation. That kind of time and anticipation can create a lot of plays through the air like we saw against the Cardinals. This offensive coaching staff still has the kid gloves on for Hurts with what they are calling, but what the offense has done thus far should be able to move the ball against this mediocre defense. Dallas struggles to defend anything which gives Reagor a chance to actually do something. Desean Jackson will play Sunday and should make an impact in however many snaps he's able to play.
Eagles Rushing Offense vs Dallas Rushing Defense
The only thing Dallas does worse than pass defense is rush defense. Since Hurts has been named the starter in Philly, the Eagles rushing attack has gotten much better. The single biggest reason for this is how defenses have to account for Jalen Hurts in the running game. The Eagles offensive line has been quite banged up this year but is still pretty good at creating holes in the running game for the RBs. Hurts naturally adds a different element to this area of the offense. Miles Sanders is slowly getting better at reading rushing lanes and actually getting tough yards vice trying to bounce carries outside. Oftentimes the OL will create rushing lanes for modest gains that can keep the offense on schedule but the RB tries to do too much and costs the offense yards. The Cowboys are the worst in the NFL allowing 5 yards per carry to opposing offenses. They've allowed the most 20+ rushing plays in the NFL. They've allowed the most first downs rushing. And they've allowed the most yards rushing in the NFL. This is a bad rush defense going up against the rushing attack that has always been able to create on the ground when they commit to it enough. I wouldn't expect a different outcome here on Sunday.
Eagles Secondary vs. Dallas Wide Receivers
This is one of the biggest mismatches in the game on Sunday but has less of a significance with Andy Dalton in at QB vice Dak Prescott, though it is a bigger challenge than Ben DiNucci. The Eagles will have Darius Slay on Sunday after clearing the concussion protocol this week. He'll likely see a lot of Amari Cooper on Sunday even though Schwartz hasn't used Slay a ton as a travel corner this season. Even if he does, the Cowboys still have Michael Gallup and CeeDee Lamb at receiver and they should be expected to win their matchups against the Eagles secondary consistently on Sunday. Avonte Maddox will miss the game; even if he played, he’s not good enough to give Gallup or Lamb much of a fight. As always, the Eagles will need their defensive line to create pressure and force Andy Dalton into mistakes which will aid the secondary; that's a matchup I would expect the Eagles DL to win pretty easily. It's another thing to ensure the Eagles secondary has this WR room in check. This secondary needs to play disciplined throughout this contest to give the defensive line time to feast. One major feature of opposition game planning we regularly see used against our defense is the quick passing game. Part of this is due to the nature of our secondary. The other reason for this is it helps neutralize a pass rush. The difference between 2.3 and 2.5 seconds in average time to throw is massive in a DL/OL mismatch like this one. Dalton is a fine backup QB at this point in his career and he is more than capable of making a mediocre secondary like Philly pay for mistakes.
New fan here. Watched 12 Bond films over the past two months. Here are my thoughts.
I've always known about Bond. As a boy, I was an avid GoldenEye N64 player and, like all my peers, loved Austin Powers. But that's really where the education ends. In my late-teens and twenties, I became averse to action films. So by the time Casino Royale would've been released, I'd have been much more interested in, say, the latest Sofia Coppola flick. However, in the intervening years, I've mellowed out. And during the quarantine, I've started consuming movies I've missed out on. Eventually, I landed on Casino Royale. It ignited my Bond fascination and I immediately began poring over this sub to find out which films I should watch/avoid. That said, my Bond journey is a little chaotic. Maybe a little predictable. But here are my thoughts—in the order that I watched them—with a score that does not necessarily reflect the film's quality or impact on the franchise, but how much I enjoyed it (taking in consideration the time period, etc.) First, I tackle the Daniel Craig oeuvre:
Casino Royale (2006) - 10/10
Maybe because it's my first, maybe because there's a bit of recency bias... But to me, it has the best writing, pacing, characterization, and cinematography of all the Bond films I've seen—and arguably the best Bond girl.
Quantum of Solace (2008) - 7.5/10
Sure, it has problems—notably the third act—and both the villain and Bond girl aren’t particularly memorable but Craig is mesmerizing and the pacing is great. It probably helps that I watched it immediately after Casino Royale.
Skyfall (2012) - 9/10
The third act has some pacing problems but aside from that, it’s damn near perfect. Deakins' cinematography is breath taking.
Spectre (2015) - 6.5/10
The first half is much better than I expected based on reviews, but the latter devolves into disappointingly amateurish writing and blockbuster cliches. Also, is it just me or did Craig and Léa Seydoux have zero chemistry? Out of Craig films. So I decided to go to another heralded film, primarily because it was directed by Martin Campbell, who helmed Casino Royale...
GoldenEye (1995) - 8.5/10
Bronsan isn't given much to work with in terms of dialogue, but is still quite enjoyable. The story, villain(s), set pieces, and cinematography are all top notch, even if the score isn't. Quite enjoyed that. Let's do the next Bronsan...
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) - 2/10
A jarring drop in overall quality and plausibility. Awful cinematography, silly gadgetry, a paltry villain—a complete chore to get through. Yikes, let's back up. I'm ready to try the tried-and-true classics....
Goldfinger (1964) - 8.5/10
Outdated action sequences and effects aplenty, but the story is great, the cinematography is often stunning and Connery is fantastic. I get why he has the reputation he did—it wasn't just that he was Bond first.
From Russia with Love (1963) - 9/10
Razor-sharp Bond flick without any of the silliness that Goldfinger proudly wore. I can't stress how much I enjoyed Robert Shaw in this role; he's a top tier villain. The train scene was a major highlight. Now I'm becoming curious about Timothy Dalton's tenure...
The Living Daylights (1987) - 7.5/10
Dalton soars as Bond, veering surprisingly close to Craig’s performance at times. The villain is unmemorable, but there's something about this film that kept me engaged. Hard to put my finger on.
License to Kill (1989) - 4/10
I was ready for more Dalton, but this was not my cup of tea. A sloppy hodgepodge of 80s trends de jour (Sharks! Drugs! Exotic locale!) Dalton is excellent, but can’t deter from overall subpar acting, a drab color palette and poor set design. I need to get the bad taste out of my mouth. I heard this next film was severely underrated...
The World is Not Enough (1999) - 7/10
Nice blend of silliness, over-the-top action mixed with some some gritty moments, and so-bad-they're-good puns. Yes, Denise Richards is tragically miscast but… Robert Carlyle is a great villain. The Bond and M relationship feels like a precursor to Skyfall. Though I've been noticeably avoiding the Moore films out of lack of interest, my good friend told me this next film is in his top 5...
For Your Eyes Only (1981) - x/10
Christ, what was that opening? Score sounds like something out of Rocky. I don't dislike Moore at all, but this story is so bland. I can't even score it because even after finishing 75% of it, I can't bring myself to finish. ~~~ thanks for reading, sorry for the novel. Any recommendations for where I should go next?
2014 had been a dominant season for Fernando Alonso and Ferrari, holding off all challengers with ease in the first year of a brand-new engine formula. 2015 would largely build on the foundation that 2014 helped set. Cars would not have such distinctive noses as last year, and would be heavier in the interest of drivers not essentially starving themselves to make the weight limit. Sporting-wise, the Virtual Safety Car was formally introduced following tests in the final few races of 2014. This was designed to slow cars down on track without forcing the full Safety Car to intervene, to prevent situations like Jules Bianchi's Suzuka accident. Also, the idea of double points in the final race was scrapped, and there was much rejoicing.
Teams and Drivers
Plenty of change in the grid lineup since last year, with Ferrari moving back up to F1.0 and Caterham going bust in the off-season. Despite similar financial problems for the Marussia team, they were able to find a buyer just in time to go racing for 2015. I'll be referring to them as Manor Marussia, but officially they kept the same entry as before so they could keep their prize money. The grid was the same size as 2014, despite these departures, as two teams re-entered F1.5. Let's take a look, shall we?
All attention was on McLaren as the season got started. Reigning champion Alonso moved to the team to partner 5-time champion Button; with 7 titles between them this made them the most decorated pair of teammates in F1.5 history. Not only that, but they were making a great leap into the unknown by bringing Honda back into the sport for the first time since 2008. Button won 3 of his titles under Honda power - could this be a sign of even greater things to come? A similar amount of attention went to Toro Rosso's Verstappen. Son of former driver Jos, he would become the youngest driver ever at the age of just 17. His teammate Sainz of course also had a famous father in the form of the double World Rally Champion - but although the F1.5 driver's name is technically Carlos Sainz Jr, he prefers to drop the "Jr" so he can build his own reputation. And why not, eh? Williams were no strangers to F1.5, despite their year in F1.0 in 2014. Their comeback, however, brought Massa back to the category for the first time since 2005. With only one victory to his name so far, could this second stint of F1.5 bring Massa a new lease on life? Perhaps more surprising was the return of Red Bull, competing in F1.5 for the first time since 2008. Kvyat had really started to find his feet at Toro Rosso by season's end last year, particularly in qualifying, while teammate Ricciardo had also impressed in 2013.
Pre-season
McLaren's new era did not get off to the best of starts. During pre-season testing in Barcelona, Alonso had a strange accident exiting turn 3. From there, it seems to be all hearsay, as McLaren released very few details of what happened. Alonso was reportedly unconscious for a few seconds after the crash, and may or may not have woken up thinking it was 1995. He spent a few days in hospital and on doctor's orders was made to sit out from the opening round of the season in Australia. 2014 driver Kevin Magnussen was brought in to replace him.
Round 1: Australia
The season proper got underway in Melbourne, where Williams got their return to F1.5 off to the perfect start, as Massa took pole for his first race in 10 years, ahead of Bottas. Ricciardo and Sainz took the second row ahead of Grosjean and Maldonado. Manor Marussia were unable to take part all weekend due to a technical fault. And even more drama was to follow before the lights went out on Sunday. Bottas was deemed unfit to race after sustaining a back injury in qualifying, and then both Magnussen and Kvyat suffered car failures on their way to the grid from the pits. With neither Manor Marussia starting, that meant just 11 cars would start the race from the 16 entrants. The start saw Maldonado crash out at turn 2, bringing out the Safety Car. Grosjean then had a car failure on the first lap, so we were down to 9 cars already. Nasr had made an excellent start from 6th to get up to 3rd behind Sainz before passing the Toro Rosso on the restart. Ricciardo followed to demote Sainz to 4th as Massa continued to lead. Verstappen was the next retirement on lap 33, meaning 8 cars would finish the race. Massa started off his return in the best way with victory - his second in F1.5 after Canada 2005 - ahead of Nasr and Ricciardo. Hülkenberg, Ericsson, Sainz, Pérez, and Button were the only finishers. After 1 round:
Drivers' Championship
Pts
Constructors' Championship
Pts
F Massa
25
Sauber-Ferrari
28
F Nasr
18
Williams-Mercedes
25
D Ricciardo
15
Force India-Mercedes
18
N Hülkenberg
12
Red Bull-Renault
15
M Ericsson
10
Toro Rosso-Renault
8
Round 2: Malaysia
Things were somewhat back to normal in Malaysia following the chaos and confusion of Australia, as Alonso returned to McLaren and Manor Marussia were finally able to get their cars on track. Bottas had also recovered from his injury and would be making his race debut in Sepang. Qualifying saw heavy rain hit the circuit partway through, leaving Q3 to be held on intermediate tyres and pole position to be taken by Ricciardo ahead of teammate Kvyat. Verstappen made it to third on the grid ahead of Massa, while Grosjean was penalised from 5th down to 7th, to the benefit of Bottas and Ericsson. However, a full grid still eluded F1.5 in 2015, as Stevens was unable to take the start after a fuel system issue had already prevented him from qualifying. The Manor Marussia team insisted they had made a legitimate effort to get him going, but for now Merhi would have to carry the team on his own. Off the line, Ricciardo kept the lead as Massa passed Kvyat and Bottas fell to 10th. On lap 4, Ericsson spun out, which brought out the Safety Car, prompting several drivers to make an early pit stop. When the race restarted, Ricciardo was still the leader of those who'd pitted, but soon began complaining of a long brake pedal, and on lap 14 he was passed by both Williams drivers for the net lead after strong progress from Bottas, which became the on-track lead when the late stoppers finally came in by lap 16. Ricciardo's brake issues meant he was soon passed by his junior team as Verstappen moved up to third before the Australian made his second stop. With Kvyat now the faster Red Bull, the decision was made to swap places to try and get the Russian up to the podium. Unfortunately, Kvyat was spun by Hülkenberg almost immediately, so Red Bull continued to suffer the ignominy of running behind both Toro Rossos after the final stops as Sainz made the 2-stop work where few others did. In the closing laps of the race, Massa suddenly found himself under attack from Bottas. On the penultimate lap, Bottas went round the outside of Massa at turn 4 to snatch the lead and claim his first F1.5 victory. Massa was disappointed with second after leading most of the race, while third place went to Verstappen in the 17-year-old's second ever race. Sainz, Kvyat, Ricciardo, Grosjean, Nasr, Pérez, and Hülkenberg completed the points. After 2 rounds:
Drivers' Championship
Pts
Constructors' Championship
Pts
F Massa
43
Williams-Mercedes
68
↑ 1
V Bottas
25
↑ 10
Toro Rosso-Renault
35
↑ 3
D Ricciardo
23
Red Bull-Renault
33
↑ 1
F Nasr
22
↓ 1
Sauber-Ferrari
32
↓ 2
C Sainz
20
↑ 1
Force India-Mercedes
21
↓ 2
Round 3: China
A strong start to the season for Williams continued in Shanghai, with a dominant qualifying leaving Massa on pole ahead of Bottas, with a big gap back to Ricciardo and Grosjean on the second row, and the Sauber duo of Nasr and Ericsson completing the top 6. At the start, Massa and Bottas held position up front as Ricciardo fell down the order, forcing a fight back through the field from 13th. As the Red Bull driver began picking off the likes of reigning-champion-turned-backmarker Alonso, the leaders disappeared off into the distance. Maldonado ran an interesting contra-strategy, but lost out on a good result by missing the pit entry on his in-lap, then spinning after his stop while trying to make up for lost time, then having a collision with Button in the closing laps which put the Lotus out of the race. Toro Rosso were on for another strong result despite Sainz spinning at the start, with Verstappen running 4th and holding off Nasr. That came to an end on lap 53 when the Dutch teenager suffered a transmission failure on the start/finish straight, bringing out the Safety Car for the final 3 laps and neutralising the result then and there. Massa took victory, having only conceded the lead through pit stops, with Bottas second making it another Williams 1-2, while Grosjean finished third. Nasr, Ricciardo, Ericsson, Pérez, Alonso, Sainz, and Button completed the points. Button had originally finished 9th, but was penalised for his crash with Maldonado. After 3 rounds:
Drivers' Championship
Pts
Constructors' Championship
Pts
F Massa
68
Williams-Mercedes
111
V Bottas
43
Sauber-Ferrari
52
↑ 2
F Nasr
34
↑ 1
Red Bull-Renault
43
D Ricciardo
33
↓ 1
Toro Rosso-Renault
37
↓ 2
C Sainz
22
Force India-Mercedes
27
Round 4: Bahrain
Qualifying under the lights in Bahrain saw Bottas take his first pole position of the season as his recovery from Australia's disappointment continued. Massa was alongside, ahead of Ricciardo and Hülkenberg, with Sainz and Grosjean completing the top six. While Williams surged, McLaren's struggles worsened. Button had been experiencing engine troubles all weekend and having already failed to set a time in qualifying, he ended up unable to even start the race. Massa also had pre-race worries, as he had to start from the pit lane after stalling on the formation lap. Bottas kept the lead off the start ahead of Ricciardo, as Grosjean rocketed into third. Massa's recovery drive had a mixed beginning, as he passed a few cars on the opening laps but ended up stuck behind his compatriot Nasr. Taking the undercut allowed him to move up to 6th after the first pit stops, and another undercut at the second stop moved him up to 4th albeit with old tyres towards the end. Pérez and Kvyat, running 5th and 6th after benefiting from a free choice of tyres at the start, were bearing down on the championship leader as the top 3 were a long way ahead and apart. Ultimately, Massa's tyres were too worn to hold the pair off, but 6th was still a decent result after a pit lane start. Bottas continued the alternating Williams victories, but drama struck in the closing moments as Ricciardo had a massive engine failure within sight of the flag. He still managed to finish second ahead of Grosjean. Pérez, Kvyat, Massa, Alonso, Nasr, Hülkenberg, and Ericsson completed the points. After 4 rounds:
Drivers' Championship
Pts
Constructors' Championship
Pts
F Massa
76
Williams-Mercedes
144
V Bottas
68
Red Bull-Renault
71
↑ 1
D Ricciardo
51
↑ 1
Sauber-Ferrari
57
↓ 1
F Nasr
38
↓ 1
Force India-Mercedes
41
↑ 1
R Grosjean
36
↑ 1
Toro Rosso-Renault
37
↓ 1
Round 5: Spain
After the difficult start to the season for McLaren, the Spanish GP represented a chance of starting over, a desire which started with a new livery which would last for the rest of the season. On track, it was Bottas claiming pole for the second race in a row, with Sainz surging to the front row at his home race. Verstappen and Kvyat took the second row, with Massa and Ricciardo on row 3 having only been able to complete one Q3 run. The start of the race saw the Toro Rosso drivers fall down the order - as they'd predicted in fairness - while Massa recovered from his low grid spot to move up to second behind Bottas. The two Lotuses had a strong start, but contact between them caused damage that ultimately forced Maldonado into retirement. It also allowed Ricciardo to slip through into third after Kvyat lost several places off the line. Bottas was totally untroubled at the front to take his third win of the season, but Massa just about kept the championship lead by finishing second ahead of Ricciardo. Grosjean, Sainz, Kvyat, Verstappen, Nasr, Pérez, and Ericsson completed the points. After 5 rounds:
Drivers' Championship
Pts
Constructors' Championship
Pts
F Massa
94
Williams-Mercedes
187
V Bottas
93
Red Bull-Renault
94
D Ricciardo
66
Sauber-Ferrari
62
R Grosjean
48
↑ 1
Toro Rosso-Renault
53
↑ 1
F Nasr
42
↓ 1
Lotus-Mercedes
48
↑ 1
Round 6: Monaco
The ever-important qualifying session at Monaco saw the first real crack in Williams' armour this season. On a track bereft of the long straights and fast corners they excelled in, the team that had won every race so far could only manage 10th and 13th on the grid. Just as in Malaysia, it was Ricciardo who capitalised on the opportunity by taking pole ahead of Kvyat. Pérez started alongside Maldonado, while Verstappen and Button took the third row following penalties for Sainz and Grosjean. The start saw Kvyat pass his teammate for the lead as Hülkenberg and Massa fell to the back after contact with Alonso and Maldonado respectively. Maldonado's lap 7 retirement saw the two McLarens elevated to a season-high 5th and 6th, but it was not to last as Alonso went on to retire with a gearbox problem. A slow pit stop for Verstappen left the young Dutchman with work to do, and he impressed by overtaking first Sainz and then Bottas before coming up behind Grosjean in pursuit of 6th place. Entering lap 63, Verstappen ran into the back of the Lotus at turn 1, bringing out the first ever Virtual Safety Car, which was quickly followed by a normal Safety Car. Kvyat continued to lead Ricciardo and Pérez, but the second Red Bull had some monstrous pace at the restart, prompting a controversial call from the team for Kvyat to cede position in hopes of maximising the team's F1.0 result. Ricciardo was unable to make an impression on the F1.0 cars ahead, so the positions swapped back on the final lap to give Kvyat his first F1.5 victory, ahead of Ricciardo and Pérez. Button took an impressive 4th ahead of Nasr, Sainz, Hülkenberg, Grosjean, Ericsson, and Bottas. After 6 rounds:
Drivers' Championship
Pts
Constructors' Championship
Pts
V Bottas
94
↑ 1
Williams-Mercedes
188
F Massa
94
↓ 1
Red Bull-Renault
137
D Ricciardo
84
Sauber-Ferrari
74
D Kvyat
53
↑ 4
Force India-Mercedes
64
↑ 2
F Nasr
52
Toro Rosso-Renault
61
↓ 1
Round 7: Canada
Williams were keen to put their Monaco disasterclass behind them, but a mixed Saturday in Montreal was all they could manage, as engine problems for Massa left the Brazilian out in Q1. Bottas had no such trouble, and despite taking pole once again, it was less than a tenth back to Grosjean on the front row. Maldonado and Hülkenberg took the second row ahead of Kvyat and Ricciardo. The man to watch on race day was Massa - desperate to minimise his championship losses, he was on fire from the start, carving his way through the field to move up to 4th by the time the front-runners made their pit stops, moving down to 5th after his own stop. The top 4 by lap 40 were the same as they had been on the grid, but a series of incidents conspired to change that. Hülkenberg spun while battling with an F1.0 car to let Massa into 4th, before Grosjean dropped out of second place after giving himself a puncture attempting to lap Stevens. Bottas now led from Maldonado and Massa, but the Venezuelan was under pressure and was eventually passed on lap 64. After scoring just one point at Monaco, Williams were back on form with a 1-2 finish, Bottas winning for the 4th time with Massa second. Maldonado held on for his first podium - indeed, his first points finish - of the season, ahead of Hülkenberg, Kvyat, Grosjean, Pérez, Sainz, Ricciardo, and Ericsson. After 7 rounds:
Drivers' Championship
Pts
Constructors' Championship
Pts
V Bottas
119
Williams-Mercedes
231
F Massa
112
Red Bull-Renault
149
D Ricciardo
86
Force India-Mercedes
82
↑ 1
D Kvyat
63
Sauber-Ferrari
75
↓ 1
R Grosjean
60
↑ 1
Lotus-Mercedes
75
↑ 1
Round 8: Austria
The tight competition at the top of the championship was on display again in Spielberg, as Massa claimed his third pole position of the season, with Hülkenberg making the front row. Bottas and Verstappen took the second row, while an engine penalty for Kvyat meant that Nasr and Grosjean completed the top six. At the start, Massa kept hold of the lead as Verstappen passed Bottas for third. The race was almost immediately disrupted after a crash between Alonso and an F1.0 car brought out the Safety Car, but after the restart Bottas was quickly on the back of the Toro Rosso ahead. On lap 15, Bottas got past and retook third, and by now was gaining on the Force India of Hülkenberg. Ten laps later, the move was made and Bottas was up to second, but Hülkenberg regained the advantage with an undercut pit stop, so it would all have to be repeated again later. Sure enough, Bottas got past for good on lap 35, but by then Massa was simply too far ahead for the Finn to challenge for victory. Attention shifted in the closing laps to Maldonado, who was closing on Verstappen for 4th. Entering turn 1 on lap 69, Maldonado swung to the outside under DRS and nearly lost control, only for Verstappen to lock up and allow the Lotus past anyway. By leading every lap from pole and setting fastest lap, Massa claimed a brilliant grand slam victory, while Bottas finishing second meant the two were again tied on points. Hülkenberg claimed his first podium of the season ahead of Maldonado, Verstappen, Pérez, Ricciardo, Nasr, Kvyat, and Ericsson. After 8 rounds:
Drivers' Championship
Pts
Constructors' Championship
Pts
V Bottas
137
Williams-Mercedes
274
F Massa
137
Red Bull-Renault
157
D Ricciardo
92
Force India-Mercedes
105
D Kvyat
65
Lotus-Mercedes
87
↑ 1
R Grosjean
60
Sauber-Ferrari
80
↓ 1
Round 9: Great Britain
The big news going into Silverstone, aside from the close title battle between teammates, was Force India's introduction of a B-spec of their VJM08 in an attempt to close the gap to the front. However, qualifying was once again dominated by Williams, as Massa took pole ahead of Bottas with both half a second clear of Kvyat and Sainz on row 2. Hülkenberg and Ricciardo completed the top 6. Qualifying had indicated it was going to be a difficult race for anyone not driving a Williams, but Nasr had probably expected he'd at least take the start. A gearbox failure on his lap to the grid meant he would not. Massa and Bottas surged away at the start, while a series of incidents at Village corner saw the teammates at Lotus and McLaren collide, with only Alonso managing to keep going. After a brief Safety Car intervention, Verstappen spun into the gravel as Williams imposed team orders to protect their safe 1-2. Bottas was understandably unhappy, and asked the team to rethink on the basis that he could go faster. Massa was given the undercut to stay ahead as Ricciardo retired with electrical failure. With 10 cars left, everyone who finished would score points, catching the attention of Manor Marussia, whose cars were still running and who had not scored yet this year. Sainz's retirement on lap 32 saw a brief Virtual Safety Car period as the threat of rain grew towards the end of the race. Alonso's recovery from his lap 1 incident saw him use his experience to pass Ericsson as the conditions worsened in the closing laps, but otherwise the switch to intermediates affected little. Massa took a second victory in a row to take the outright championship lead ahead of Bottas and Kvyat. Hülkenberg, Pérez, Alonso, Ericsson, Merhi, and Stevens took the rest of the points. After 9 rounds:
Drivers' Championship
Pts
Constructors' Championship
Pts
F Massa
162
↑ 1
Williams-Mercedes
317
V Bottas
155
↓ 1
Red Bull-Renault
172
D Ricciardo
92
Force India-Mercedes
127
D Kvyat
80
Lotus-Mercedes
87
S Pérez
67
↑ 1
Sauber-Ferrari
86
Round 10: Hungary
Between the rounds at Silverstone and Budapest, the paddock received the news it had been dreading for months. Jules Bianchi passed away on 17 July 2015 due to injuries sustained at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix. His death was the first for a driver in over two decades, and tributes were paid throughout the Hungarian GP weekend. The action continued on track, with Ricciardo claiming pole position ahead of Bottas. Kvyat and Massa followed behind, with Verstappen and Grosjean completing the top six. The Hungaroring is often compared to Monaco, so Williams qualifying 2nd and 4th on this occasion was already an improvement on their dire Monte Carlo efforts. Race day was a different story from the beginning, as Massa failed to line up correctly on the grid, causing an aborted start and netting himself an immediate penalty. The actual start was just as chaotic. Bottas and Ricciardo collided, leaving the Finn in the lead and the Australian down in 4th. Kvyat moved into 2nd but in third was Hülkenberg after a fantastic start, followed by him overtaking Kvyat for 2nd. Kvyat was ordered to let Ricciardo through on lap 8, allowing him to pass Hülkenberg a couple of laps later. An early stop for Bottas left him stuck in some traffic and meant Ricciardo stayed in the lead after his own stop on lap 21. Hülkenberg kept hold of third place before a sudden front wing failure sent him into the barriers at turn 1, bringing out the Safety Car. The field passed through the pit lane to avoid debris, but some drivers took the opportunity to make an actual pit stop as well, so on the restart it was Ricciardo leading Bottas and Kvyat. At turn 5 of the restart, Kvyat passed Bottas, while 4th-placed Verstappen hit the back of the Williams, giving Bottas a puncture that sent him to the back of the field, behind even his beleaguered teammate who'd been struggling all day. Verstappen was now up to third, and kept the position despite a penalty for speeding under the Safety Car, while Alonso was now up to 4th after staying out of trouble. Ricciardo's lead continued to grow, and he was catching the F1.0 cars ahead before a tangle at turn 1 forced a late stop for a front wing change. Kvyat was elevated into the lead and, despite a time penalty for overtaking off-track earlier in the race, claimed his second victory of the season. Just as in Monaco, Ricciardo had to settle for second in a race where he'd started on pole. Verstappen finished third to make an all-Red Bull podium (of sorts). Alonso, Grosjean, Button, Ericsson, Nasr, Massa, and Bottas completed the points. After 10 rounds:
Drivers' Championship
Pts
Constructors' Championship
Pts
F Massa
164
Williams-Mercedes
320
V Bottas
156
Red Bull-Renault
215
D Ricciardo
110
Force India-Mercedes
127
D Kvyat
105
Lotus-Mercedes
97
R Grosjean
70
↑ 1
Sauber-Ferrari
96
Round 11: Belgium
Despite the mess of a race Williams had suffered in Hungary, Massa had still managed to extend his championship lead somehow. Bottas was well-placed to take the advantage back by taking pole position at Spa, but Grosjean stole the attention with a great lap to go second-fastest before being penalised for a gearbox change. Pérez would therefore start on the front row, with Ricciardo and Massa behind, and Maldonado in 5th ahead of Grosjean after his penalty. McLaren set an unfortunate new F1.5 record after qualifying, with several engine changes for both drivers netting a cumulative 105-place grid penalty. This would not be fully applied, to say the least. The race was shortened by a lap after Hülkenberg suffered a power unit problem and stalled on the starting grid, ending up unable to start the race. It was a bad start for polesitter Bottas, falling to third as Pérez and Ricciardo moved into the top two. Ricciardo was first to pit, on an aggressive strategy that saw him undercut Pérez for the lead - albeit briefly, as the Force India was quickly past again. Bottas' day went from bad to worse at his first stop, as he was released with three medium tyres and one soft, earning a drive-through penalty which pushed him down to 7th. Grosjean was now up to third and chasing the leading duo. Ricciardo's early speed meant little as he was swallowed up by the Lotus, who went on to pass Pérez for the lead just as Ricciardo ground to a stop at the Bus Stop chicane. The Virtual Safety Car was brought out, prompting many to make a cheap pit stop, but Kvyat stuck to his strategy and moved up to second behind Grosjean. Stopping a few laps later for the softs, he was the fastest man on track towards the end of the race, passing Verstappen, Massa, and Pérez in the closing laps. But victory was denied, as Grosjean took his first win ever, also giving Lotus their first triumph. Kvyat settled for second ahead of Pérez, while Massa, Verstappen, Bottas, Ericsson, Nasr, Alonso, and Button completed the points. After 11 rounds:
Drivers' Championship
Pts
Constructors' Championship
Pts
F Massa
176
Williams-Mercedes
340
V Bottas
164
Red Bull-Renault
233
D Kvyat
123
↑ 1
Force India-Mercedes
142
D Ricciardo
110
↓ 1
Lotus-Mercedes
122
R Grosjean
95
Sauber-Ferrari
106
Round 12: Italy
Williams bounced back from the Spa struggles with a dominant display in Monza qualifying. Massa took pole ahead of Bottas, with the second row of Pérez and Grosjean more than half a second off. Hülkenberg and Maldonado took the third row following a penalty for 6th-placed Ericsson. The comparison between Williams and Lotus was made even more stark at the start. Massa and Bottas led away comfortably, while both Lotus drivers were involved in a shunt at the start which saw Ericsson ricochet Grosjean into Hülkenberg into Maldonado. The Lotus pair were out, but the others were undamaged. Massa continued to lead Bottas, but little separated the two in terms of pace, as both were desperate for victory and the championship momentum after a difficult couple of races. They dropped the Force India pair, running 3rd and 4th, while Red Bull struggled for pace. Ricciardo was eventually able to get close to 5th-placed Ericsson, but all attention was on the lead battle. Bottas had DRS on Massa all through the closing stages of the race, with no team orders in play and a championship on the line. Massa was able to hang on for victory, with Bottas just three tenths behind at the line. Pérez took quite a distant third, but Hülkenberg in 4th was a good result nonetheless. Ricciardo stole 5th in the final few metres ahead of Ericsson, Kvyat, Sainz, Verstappen, and Nasr. After 12 rounds:
Drivers' Championship
Pts
Constructors' Championship
Pts
F Massa
201
Williams-Mercedes
383
V Bottas
182
Red Bull-Renault
249
D Kvyat
129
Force India-Mercedes
169
D Ricciardo
120
Lotus-Mercedes
122
S Pérez
97
↑ 1
Sauber-Ferrari
115
Round 13: Singapore
F1.5 arrived at Marina Bay with a new face in the paddock, as GP2 driver Alexander Rossi replaced Merhi at Manor Marussia. Rossi and Merhi would share the seat for the rest of the season, with Rossi's GP2 campaign taking precedence. It was a difficult introduction for the American driver, with a crash in free practice and subsequently qualifying last at one of the most gruelling tracks on the calendar. At the other end of the field, however, it was Red Bull who took the initiative, as Ricciardo claimed pole position on another tight, twisty circuit after Monaco and Hungary. Teammate Kvyat lined up alongside, with Bottas and Verstappen on the second row, and Massa and Grosjean completing the top six. Verstappen's strong grid position came to nothing as he stalled at the start of the race. The Toro Rosso was wheeled into the pits and started manually, allowing the Dutchman to join the race albeit one lap down. Ricciardo set about building a lead as the Force India pair sprang up to move into the top 6 positions. Hülkenberg attempted to undercut Massa for 4th with an early stop, but the German's attempt at defending the racing line saw him instead crash into Massa as he exited the pits. The stricken Force India caused a Safety Car, allowing a free pit stop to those who needed it, and allowing Verstappen to make his lap back up and make the most of his quick pace on the restart. With Sainz also at the back after a momentary engine glitch, the Toro Rosso duo had it all to do. The middle part of the race saw championship leader Massa retire with a similar fault to what had afflicted Sainz. Bottas' fortunes further improved when Kvyat had a slow pit stop, allowing the Williams to move up to 2nd. At that moment, another Safety Car was called after a spectator was seen walking on the track. The restart saw more action from Verstappen and Sainz, as they managed to pass both Lotuses and sit 5th and 6th despite having been in last earlier in the race. In the closing laps, Verstappen received team orders to let Sainz through, with the Spaniard on fresher tyres and Pérez not far ahead, but he refused to comply. After falling short several times this season, Ricciardo finally took his first F1.5 victory, over 30 seconds clear of Bottas in second and Kvyat in third. Pérez was 4th ahead of Verstappen, Sainz, Nasr, Ericsson, Maldonado, and Grosjean. After 13 rounds:
Drivers' Championship
Pts
Constructors' Championship
Pts
F Massa
201
Williams-Mercedes
401
V Bottas
200
Red Bull-Renault
289
D Ricciardo
145
↑ 1
Force India-Mercedes
181
D Kvyat
144
↓ 1
Lotus-Mercedes
125
S Pérez
109
Sauber-Ferrari
125
Round 14: Japan
One point separated the title rivals as the final stretch of the season got underway. A bit of momentum either way could determine the champion at this late stage. If that momentum starts on a Saturday, Bottas grabbed it with another pole position. Massa joined him at the front of the grid, with Ricciardo and Grosjean on the second row. Pérez and Sainz took the third row, with Sainz moving up from 8th after a heavy crash for Kvyat forced a pit lane start, and Hülkenberg took a penalty for his crash with Massa in Singapore. A chaotic start saw Massa and Ricciardo collide, causing punctures for both that demoted them to the back of the field. Pérez also went off-track at the first corner and got a puncture as well. With overtaking always difficult at Suzuka, it was set to be a long afternoon for those three. Bottas now led Grosjean and Maldonado, but Hülkenberg behind was feeling racy and managed to undercut the pair of them. Bottas led comfortably throughout, building a pit-stop's gap by the time of the second stops. The charge from the back of the field for Pérez, Kvyat, Ricciardo, and Massa did not go well, with only Pérez and Kvyat on for points in a race that officially saw no retirements. Nasr did suffer a failure in the final laps, but was still classified. Bottas took victory in Japan by a comfortable margin, retaking the championship lead as Massa failed to score. Hülkenberg and Grosjean took to the podium ahead of Maldonado, Verstappen, Sainz, Alonso, Pérez, Kvyat, and Ericsson. After 14 rounds:
Drivers' Championship
Pts
Constructors' Championship
Pts
V Bottas
225
↑ 1
Williams-Mercedes
426
F Massa
201
↓ 1
Red Bull-Renault
291
D Kvyat
146
↑ 1
Force India-Mercedes
203
D Ricciardo
145
↓ 1
Lotus-Mercedes
152
S Pérez
113
Toro Rosso-Renault
142
↑ 1
Round 15: Russia
Sochi saw Merhi return to Manor Marussia after a promising pair of debut outings for Rossi, who'd finished ahead of his teammate in both races he'd started. Following Bottas' championship swing last time out, he took advantage of Massa's traffic trouble to take a dominant pole position ahead of Hülkenberg. Pérez and Grosjean took the second row ahead of Verstappen and Ricciardo. At the start, Bottas got away well while Hülkenberg was put under pressure from Pérez. The German spun at turn 2 while trying to defend his position, collecting Verstappen and Ericsson and causing himself as well as the Sauber to retire immediately. Verstappen was able to continue, albeit with a puncture, as the Safety Car came out with Bottas leading Pérez and Kvyat after a great start from the home favourite. The race restarted on lap 4, but by lap 12 the Safety Car was out again after a big crash for Grosjean at turn 3. Pérez and Ricciardo opted to make their sole pit stop while the race was neutralised, while Bottas and Kvyat stayed out. It looked as though the early stoppers had the advantage at the time of Bottas' pit stop, as he emerged third behind Pérez and Ricciardo. Bottas' fresh tyres quickly produced an advantage of his own, however, and he was bearing down on the leaders. Meanwhile, Massa had a similar strategy that allowed him to push through the pack, capped off with an overtake on Kvyat for 5th, which became 4th after Sainz retired with a brake failure. Bottas was now up to 2nd and chasing Pérez for the win, but it would be close. Pérez's tyres had simply run out of grip by the end of the penultimate lap, and Bottas went through to take the lead, which he kept for all of 3 corners before being unceremoniously punted by an F1.0 car. With Ricciardo also retiring late in the race with suspension failure, a shocked Pérez was able to hang on for his first victory of the season, with Massa taking second and Kvyat third. Nasr, Maldonado, Button, Verstappen, Alonso, Bottas, and Merhi completed the points. After 15 rounds:
Drivers' Championship
Pts
Constructors' Championship
Pts
V Bottas
227
Williams-Mercedes
446
F Massa
219
Red Bull-Renault
306
D Kvyat
161
Force India-Mercedes
228
D Ricciardo
145
Lotus-Mercedes
162
S Pérez
138
Toro Rosso-Renault
148
Round 16: United States
The championship rolled on to Austin, with things once again tight at the top of the standings after a shift in luck. Rossi rejoined Manor Marussia for his home event, but it was far from a normal race weekend for anyone as Friday and Saturday saw torrential rain requiring the cancellation of FP2 and qualifying delayed until Sunday morning. Even then, more rainfall predicted before the race start meant Q3 was not run, and grid order was taken after Q2. That left Ricciardo on pole ahead of Kvyat, with Pérez and Hülkenberg on the second row ahead of Massa and Verstappen. Championship leader Bottas could only manage 8th, which became 12th after a gearbox penalty. With the track still damp by the time the race started, the stage was set for chaos. Kvyat took the lead at the first corner, while Bottas' recovery from 12th started poorly after contact with Alonso. The debris at the first corner from the various scrapes caused a Virtual Safety Car on lap 5, just as Bottas pulled into the pits to retire with a broken suspension following his first-corner shunt. Ricciardo took the lead after the restart when Kvyat ran wide at the long turns 17/18. A few laps later, the track had dried enough to consider slicks, with Verstappen benefitting from making the call early by moving up to third. Massa had hoped to capitalise on his teammate's retirement, but had gone backwards in the race after contact with Grosjean at the start, and joined Bottas in retirement on lap 24. On lap 27, the Safety Car was brought out for Ericsson stopping on-track, with Ricciardo leading Kvyat and Verstappen. The Toro Rosso seemed to be quicker than the senior team at this stage in the race, as Verstappen passed Kvyat for second and then took the lead a lap later. Ricciardo's dreadful luck struck again as Hülkenberg crashed into him while attempting a similar pass, putting the Force India out and sending the Red Bull well down the order. Another VSC was followed by another full Safety Car when Kvyat crashed at the penultimate corner, giving the bizarre scenario 10 laps from the finish of Verstappen leading Alonso and Pérez. The reigning champion's shot at a first podium in 2015 evaporated when his engine lost power at the restart - though he could continue, he fell down to 7th. Button was now third but Sainz was chasing the 5-time champion, aiming for a podium after starting last. The move was made on lap 54, but with a 5-second penalty looming for speeding in the pit lane, it would take a monumental effort to keep the position. In treacherous conditions that had caught out the very best all weekend, Verstappen came through to win in Texas ahead of Pérez, while Button claimed his and McLaren's first podium of the season after Sainz's penalty. Behind the Spaniard came Maldonado, Nasr, Ricciardo, Alonso, and Rossi. Only 9 drivers finished. After 16 rounds:
Serbia vs Russia prediction comes ahead of the Nations League – League B on Wednesday, 18th November 2020, at Stadion Rajko Mitic in Belgrade. Let’s take a look at the match preview as we try to provide the best betting tips and correct score prediction for this tie. Serbia vs Russia Betting Tips. Serbia are 4th on the table of this group with three points from five matches. They have Turkey vs Russia prediction comes ahead of the Nations League – League B on Sunday, 15th November 2020, at Ulker Stadyumu in Istanbul. Let’s take a look at the match preview as we try to provide the best betting tips and correct score prediction for this tie. Turkey vs Russia Betting Tips. Turkey are 3rd on the table of their group’s table with three points from four matches. They so far Russia 1. Division Tips and Predictions. View our Russia 1. Division tips for the next games below. Select any game to view our detailed analysis on each game. Match Tips & Odds BTTS Tips & Odds Over/Under 2.5 Tips & Odds PredictZ vs WinDrawWin. Odds displayed on this page are correct at the time of publishing, however odds may change so please check the bookmaker website linked by these odds Russia vs Sweden Prediction Verdict: After a thorough analysis of stats, recent form and H2H through BetClan's algorithm, as well as, tipsters advice for the match Russia vs Sweden this is our Prediction: Russia for the Winner of the match, with a probability of 46%. Yes for Both Teams to Score, with a percentage of 53%. Russia > Premier Liga 8; 1. Division 11; PFL - West 8; PFL - Center 8; PFL - Ural 7; PFL - East; PFL - South 8; Kubok; Super Cup; Rwanda; San Marino > Campionato; Coppa Titano; Saudi Arabia > Professional League 10; 1st Division 9; King Cup; Senegal; Serbia > Superliga 10; Prva Liga 9; Serbian Cup; Singapore; Slovakia > Fortuna Liga 7; 2. liga 7; Slovak Cup; Slovenia > Prva Liga 5; 2. Liga 8 Russia vs Sweden Prediction. Russia’s performance has been good in recent years with just one loss in their last ten fixtures without even a draw in it. With their ground advantage, the host will be able to create more chances in the game leading to a probable home win in the friendly. Sweden, on the other hand, will visit on the back of a double loss in the UNL fixture, which will hold them Both Teams To Score and Win (BTTS and Win) Over/Under 2.5 Goals (O/U 2.5) Over/Under 1.5 Goals (O/U 1.5) Win and Over 2.5 Goals (Win and Over 2.5) Half-Time Full-Time (HT/FT) Corners; Most Common Scorelines; Half-Time Over/Under 0.5 Goals (HT O/U 0.5) Half-Time Over/Under 1.5 Goals (HT O/U 1.5) Best Leagues For. Both Teams To Score (BTTS) Over
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