Some might have noticed Alexander Isak being put through... top-up runs after coming off at half-time last night. With his limited pre-season, Liverpool are building his load in a controlled way. Last night slowly built up his game minutes, but the half-time runs ensured he still hit key physical thresholds needed to get him up to full match fitness - without the added risk that could come from simply keeping him on the pitch longer. In a 1 to 1 scenario like this, the Sonra Watch application is perfect. Liverpool’s staff can track data live, even in the stadium environment, giving them real-time visibility of Isak’s thresholds and enabling them to deliver a precisely prescribed top-up. No surprise to see an elite set-up like Liverpool taking such a pragmatic approach to managing Isak's integration.show more

As a kid, this would have meant the world... to me 🧡 During PSG’s warm-up, a young fan was hit by a stray ball and ended up in tears. After finishing his warm-up, Achraf Hakimi went over, checked on him, and gave him his shirt. Safe to say his mood improved pretty quickly after that 😄 I loved this because it was such a simple, human gesture. It's easy to see moments like this as no big deal when you're the one on the pitch. But for a young fan in the stands, a small act of kindness can become the story they tell for years. You might not think the small things matter… But to the right person (at the right time) they can mean everything 👏 (🎥: 433)show more

With this season being the lowest time of all... times for #THFC, you’d like to think your club captain would embody “ALL TOGETHER, ALWAYS” On Sunday, there is a possibility this great club gets relegated, with every player including Romero being accountable for it. For him not to be at the club’s biggest game in their history is disgraceful, and even disrespectful to the fans that have stood by him throughout his fairly inconsistent time at the club. Even if we do stay up, I don’t see any way Cristian Romero can be a part of this club going forward. I’ll forever be grateful for his incredible contribution in Bilbao on this day last year, but I just don’t see any way back from this. A really sad way to go out.show more

Winston had been returned to the shelter three times... before the Abbotts came for him. He was an old shar-pei, all wrinkles and gray whiskers, about 11 years old. Every family that took him home brought him back within a month. He was too old, too slow, and too set in his ways for most people. One family even said he was depressing to have around. By the time the Abbotts saw his photo online, the shelter staff had almost given up hope that anyone would choose him. Ray and Carol Abbott were in their late 60s and had just lost their own dog after 14 years together. Friends told them to get a puppy. Something young. Something with plenty of years ahead. Instead, they drove an hour to meet the old shar-pei nobody wanted. Carol says she knew the moment she saw him sitting quietly in the back of his kennel. That first night, Winston couldn't settle. He kept getting up to make sure Ray and Carol were still there. He'd walk to the bedroom, look at them sleeping, lie back down, then twenty minutes later he'd do it all again, as if he was waiting for someone to tell him it was over. Finally, Carol patted the foot of the bed. "Come on up, Winston. You're home now." He stood there for a long moment, almost like he couldn't believe she was talking to him. Then he climbed up slowly, turned around twice, and eased himself down against Ray's legs with a long groan that sounded more like relief than exhaustion. For the first time in months, Winston slept through the entire night. The Abbotts say he isn't going anywhere this time. And after being returned three times, Winston finally seems to believe them. Have you ever seen a dog realize it was finally home?show more

One of my favorite things Van did last night.... Use the crucifix to break the single leg. A more grappling minded fighter might have tried to turn over into the crucifix, but this would be a mistake against someone as slick as Tsuruya. Against great scramble grapplers, why risk them trying to regain position on top? Instead, Van relinquishes control of the arm with his legs, posts against the shoulder to create space and prevent him from coming back in on the leg, to stand up.show more

Jokes aside, for the walking slowly thing, considering the... size of the move that came after, I just assumed Jinichi needed all that time to charge up his CT.. Plus the anime team were trying to give him some more aura on top during that moment, as the Zen'in clan's 'strongest' I guess. I get why some think he just didn't care and others think that he had already given up, etc. In my case I think it was just this. Jinichi charging up his strongest move, Ranta holding the enemy down & then typical anime inflation. Ranta buying time for him & telling him to hurry made me think this was a known/practiced combo between them that always took that long. Which was just rushed this particular time because Maki was already forcing her way out of Ranta's hold, like Toji could. Causing Ranta to feel rushed & panic like that, since he was the youngest + most honest about his fear of Toji this episode.. #JujutsuKaisen #JJKshow more

Wildest game of the NCHSAA regionals so far (and... maybe the NCHSAA season)? So Salisbury beat Central Davidson to go the state finals for the first time in 39 years. This is how it happened: Central’s Eli Staten hit a 3 with 2.8 seconds left to put his team up 46-44. But after a timeout, freshman Royce Perkins hit a halfcourt bank shot to top it. WATCH:show more

The vet had been honest with the Hollands. Baxter... didn't have much time left, and the kindest thing they could do now was make whatever he had left count. So on a warm Saturday in June , instead of a normal quiet day at home, they loaded the old Bernese into the back of the van and drove him two hours to the coast. Baxter had never seen the ocean. He was 13, and his whole life had been the backyard and the same worn spot on the living room rug. The kids wanted him to see something big before he went. He moved slow getting out of the van. His back legs weren't what they used to be, and the boys had to help him down onto the sand. For a second he just stood there at the top of the beach, nose up, taking in all that salt air and open water like he couldn't quite believe it. Then something in him shifted. He started down toward the surf on his own, stiff and determined, the way he used to trot to the door when the kids came home from school. When the first cold wave washed over his paws, his whole face lit up. He didn't run, he couldn't, but he waded in up to his chest and stood in the shallow water with the sun going down behind him, and the whole family just watched. Nobody said much. They didn't need to. They stayed until the light was almost gone, taking pictures, letting Baxter rest against their legs, giving him one perfect afternoon to hold onto. The vet was right about the time. Baxter left them a few weeks later, at home, surrounded by the people who loved him. But he saw the ocean first. And every one of them is glad they gave him that.show more

LHP Zach Root (Arkansas Baseball) is one of the... best college lefthanders in this year's Draft class. After splitting time between the bullpen and rotation as a Freshman, Root last year was a full time starter and pitched his way to a 3.56 ERA with 76 Ks to 21 BB across 68.1 IP. Slightly undersized at 6'1" and 186-pounds, but there's present strength and physicality in his lower-half. Natural funk and deception in his delivery that includes a high leg lift and some tilt in his upper-half. Average arm stroke with a slight wrist coil, attacks from a mid-three quarter (maybe a tick lower) slot with a bit of cross fire. Root's FB will sit in the 91-94 range, but it was up to 97. Will flash arm side life through the zone and is best when located on either third (arm or glove side) of the plate or in the top-half. Not a real bat-misser right now, so refining its shape should be a point of focus both this spring and beyond. Bread and butter offerings are his secondaries. Root's low-80s CH gets averaged almost 10 MPH of separation off his heater and it's a pitch he throws with conviction. Consistently flashes fade to the arm side as well as late diving life. Generated a 46% miss rate last spring, would stick a plus grade on it. High-70s-to-low-80s CB flashes big-time depth with some sharpness. 11-to-5 shape against RHH, but will be longer than it is deep against LHH. Has a decent feel for the pitch, and last season it held opposing hitters to a minuscule .048 average while generating a 48% miss rate. Rounds out his arsenal with a mid-to-upper-80s CUT/SL that against LHH will flash sweeping life with some late bite. Potentially average offering. Would like to see his strike-throwing improve this season. Day 1 profile this July. (📽️: ECU Baseball)show more

We’ve seen guys like Judge, Stanton, Wells and others... tinker with their stances to get into a better hitting position to attack strikes in the zone. When a guy like Volpe has struggled to hit consistently for his first 3 years, is constantly late on mid-velocity heaters in the middle of the zone and is constantly off-balance when he misses the off-speed stuff; you think to take a look at his pre-pitch habits especially what he’s doing with his hands and stride, and consider eliminating some of the unnecessary movements to simplify things and be ready to attack a pitch in the strike zone sooner. Volpe starts with his hands high above his head with some waggle to probably keep his hands moving and stay in rhythm, then as he strides he drops his hands into the slot while he loads, then wraps his hands behind him as he strides and keeps his weight back on his backside. That front foot needs to get down early as he gets his hands back to be ready to smoke something in the zone. Why hasn’t someone suggested dropping his hands pre-pitch in his stance to get them into the slot early, keep them back to prevent wrapping, and cut out one less moving part to get him better ready to attack pitches in the zone? He can even still have some waggle back there if he prefers to keep his hands moving. In theory if his hands are down and back already, all he needs to do is get his front foot down in time? It’s worth a try lolshow more

According to rumours, Neil Warnock is being lined up... for the Millwall job. If he's hired, the job will bring Warnock back to the scene of one of his most infamous showdowns… In 2004, while managing Sheffield United, Neil oversaw a fiery game at The Den. At half-time, keeper Paddy Kenny was headbutted in the tunnel by Millwall’s Kevin Muscat, and both players were sent off. With no sub keeper on the bench, defender Phil Jagielka had to go in goal, and made a string of stunning saves as Sheffield Utd fought back from a goal down to win 2-1. At full time, Warnock stormed onto the pitch and snarled at every Millwall player that passed him: “Serves you fucking right for Muscat that!”show more

Don’t be like this player. So many players still... don’t use boost efficiently, even though boost management is the most important skill in the game. A good guideline is to save boost for when you’re making a play on the ball and use your movement to get to the ball. Here is a player who uses all of his boost to chase the ball, and when he ends up low on boost, he keeps chasing anyway. This leads to him bumping his teammate and giving up an easy goal.show more

Last night, at my friend Mike Wilkerson’s wedding at... Mar-a-Lago, the President showed up. As he walked in, he pointed right at me and joked, “This is the guy who’s going to get me to heaven…” I laughed and told him, “I’d really like to talk to you about that… but another time.” Then I reminded him, “Don’t forget—you’re America’s Supercentennial President.” Truthfully, I would love to have that conversation with him one day. But this wasn’t the place.show more

Consequences of not paying your players what their owed.... its 3rd and 5 and Jaylon Johnson has great coverage. But when time comes for him to come off his guy and tackle the scrambling QB he pulls up at the last second and Bryce Young is able to pick up the first. I've watched enough of JJ to know thats not his typical style. And I don't blame him for shying away from contact. Why would he put his body on the line for a team that has shown they dont value him? #Bearsshow more

even so, I trust that any new watcher will... be able to pick up what's going on. The people who made the OVAs shown from time and time again that they have faith in their viewers that they'll be able to understand the world building that culminated to this point. You can start the other shows prior to this, either before or after this OVA and it will still feel like a proper climax leading up to this. The story beats in this show are pretty good in the sense that anyone can understand it, it's not universally profound but it does a good job in highlighting perspectives of every side and have a glimpse at what happened that lead up to it.show more

Another interesting angle with this Winter Storm: one of... the biggest rivalries in sports - Ohio State vs Michigan - could see snow in the second half. It won’t be a full on snow game since the heaviest snow arrives Saturday night, but there could be enough flakes to affect things late. Travel could get difficult Saturday coming home from the game though as the snow picks up. Michigan fans could have a hard time getting home. THE Game might get a little snowy. ❄️🏈show more

And, the way you always keep the most important... person for last, the fact that the apogee of his acceptance speech was about Connor.. he had me sobbing, cause of how completely unguarded and raw Hudson is here. The way the emotion is slowly building up, as he is going down that list, his voice cracking a bit, his hands shaking. And he can feel it slowly, tears forming in his eyes, tears he is holding in the best he can. As he is holding that award, so firmly, that last name on his list, the one that felt like an awakening. He is the one he'd want to hold right there (or rather be held 🥺). The one who is more than a scene partner, more than a best friend, his "emotional support person in life", his "soulmate", his anchor even. Cracking a joke or two to try to release a bit of pressure, but when comes the point of saying his name "to the honorary Canadian Connor Storrie, I share this award with you." and not find his face, his eyes, his smile in front of him, the absence is screaming in his chest and the tears are closer than ever. Cause to be here, and for that to happen not side by side, like everything they've experienced for the past year or so, this doesn't feel quite right. "A single person is missing for you, and the whole world is empty" So yes he got through that speech without crying (barely), but not without beautifully opening his heart up to us before, and showing just how much he loves him 💓show more