Plenty of Nothing

Borussia

Figure of Borussia opposite the S-Bahnhof, Wannsee, in Berlin. Source.

Morton host Falkirk.

Not so long ago Falkirk seemed the likeliest team to take and hold first place in the 2017-18 Championship. But with seven weeks completed the Bairns have yet to win a league match. They have three draws and four losses and have sat in ninth place every week but one. They sacked manager Peter Houston on Sunday. Today they are under interim manager Alex Smith, who is 77 years old and thus the oldest manager in Europe.

Morton hold fifth place and could end the day as high as third or as low as seventh.

Centre back Luca Gasparotto plays for Falkirk. He was with Morton two years ago.

[Falkirk win 0 - 1. Falkirk's goal was scored by ex-Morton man Joe McKee. Morton slip to sixth place. Match report.]

Other match of the day: Dunfermline vs Dundee United. If the Tangerines beat the Pars then the Buddies could take first place with a win over the City. [Dunfermline 1 - 3 Dundee United. St Mirren also win and take over first place.]

How well have Championship clubs fared in their first game after a mid-season managerial sacking or resignation?

2017/2/18      Raith Rovers 1 - 1 Hibs

2016/11/12    Queen of the South 2 - 0 Alloa

2016/9/24      Dunfermline 4 - 3 St Mirren

2016/4/23      Queen of the South 3 - 1 Livingston

2015/12/26    St Mirren 1 - 4 Livingston

2015/12/19    Alloa 0 - 2 St Mirren

2015/12/8      Dumbarton 5 - 0 Alloa

2015/3/14      Alloa 1 - 3 Falkirk

2014/12/20    Rangers 2 - 0 Livingston

2014/12/20    Rangers 2 - 0 Livingston

2014/9/13      Falkirk 1 - 1 Queen of the South

2014/2/8        Dundee 1 - 0 Hamilton

2014/2/1        Dundee 1 - 1 Alloa

2013/9/14      Livingston 2 - 2 Morton

Teams in bold have just changed manager. Their combined record the next game is: 6W, 4D, 4L. Their away record is: 2W, 2D, 3L.

(Kenny Shiels' resignation came after the final game of 2013-14, so he's not included.)

1978-79. Tuesday, September 26th, 1978, Morton travelled to Boundary Park in Oldham to play Oldham Athletic in the return leg of their Anglo-Scottish Cup quarterfinal. Oldham won 4 - 0, advancing to the next round on a 4 - 3 aggregate score. Morton were out. Oldham went on to be runners-up, losing in the final to Burnley.

On this date in 1978 Morton travelled to Easter road and played Hibs to a 1 - 1 draw. Alistair Scott was the Morton goalscorer.

1933-34. Morton beat Arbroath 3 - 0 at Cappielow.

1944-45. Morton beat Celtic 4 - 3 at Cappielow.

Rank the 2017-18 Championship clubs by percentage of Scottish League seasons spent in the top division.

St Mirren               98 of 122      80%

Falkirk                   69 of 110      62%

Dundee Utd          59 of 94        62%

Inverness CT        12 of 24        50%

Morton                  54 of 119       45%

Dunfermline          38 of 93        41%

QoS                      21 of 89        24%

Dumbarton            19 of 112      17%

Livingston               5 of 43        12%

Brechin City            0 of 81         0%

If you live in Halifax, Nova Scotia, what is your local SPFL team?

According to Google, it's Greenock Morton, at a distance of 4217 km or 2620 miles. Looking at the map I can't believe Stranraer is not closer, but according to Google that is 4219 km away, or 2621 miles.

Why are there so many German football clubs named Borussia? And where is Borussia anyway?

Borussia is neo-Latin for Prussia. You might think of Prussia as being off in the north-east corner of Germany, but over the course of the 19th century it acquired most of northern Germany, including a huge Rhine Province. During the time of the German Empire (1871-1918) the Kingdom of Prussia comprised seven elevenths of Germany.

This was also the period in which a lot of football clubs were being founded. So you have:

Tennis Borussia Berlin;

Borussia Fulda, in Hesse;

Borussia Dortmund, Wuppertaler SV Borussia, SC Borussia Lindenthal-Hohenlind, SC Borussia Lindenthal-Hohenlind and Borussia Mönchengladbach, all in North Rhine-Westphalia;

Borussia Neunkirchen, in Saarland.

UEFA Champions League group B:

Anderlecht 0 - 3 Celtic

UEFA Europa League group J:

Östersund 1 - 0 Hertha BSC

AFC Champions League semi-finals, first leg:

Shanghai SIPG 1 - 1 Urawa Red Diamonds

Tohoku League:

Cobaltore Onagawa [1 - 2] Blancdieu Hirosaki

Sendai Sanuke [1 - 5] Morioka Zebra

This ends the Tohoku League Division One for 2017. Cobaltore win the league and move on to the Regional Promotion Series and a chance at promotion to the JFL. Sendai Sasuke and [Merry] are relegated to Division Two.

SWFL Div 2 West: Morton vs Westerlands B [Cancelled.]

Regionalliga Südwest:

TuS Koblenz (1 - 1) 1. FC Saarbrücken

Raised House

Arnold Genthe's Japan, 1908

Visit the Library of Congress website to view Arnold Genthe's photos of Japan taken in 1908.

Rude Starling

Toby

Graphic Novels of India

Know anything at all about the comics scene in India? Me neither! This article looks like a place to start. And here's a piece about Sarnath Banerjee.

Thessala

I am indeed surprised that a people over whom Achilles once ruled had a reputation for magic so lasting that actually Menander, a man with an unrivalled gift for sound literary taste, gave the name "Thessala" to his comedy, which deals fully with the tricks of the women for calling down the moon.

Pliny, Natural History, 30.2.7 (Loeb volume 8, page 283, translation W.H.S. Jones)

Her governess, who had nursed her as a child, was named Thessala and was skilled in necromancy. She was called Thessala because she had been born in Thessaly, where diabolical enchantments flourish and are taught. The women of this land practise magic spells and bewitchments.

Chrétien de Troyes, Cligès, in Arthurian Romances, page 159 (Penguin translation by Wm. W. Kibler)

Oor Wullie Versus Robert Burns

Oor Wullie's new statue is ideally positioned for firing peas at Robert Burns' butt. Source.

Morton visit Tannadice. With luck the Tangerines will be wearing that orange and brown strip of theirs that must have been designed by someone who only had the eight colour Crayola marker set.

Morton can move into first place today if they beat Dundee United and Queen of the South beat St Mirren and Brechin beat Dunfermline. It's a tall order, especially the last part. Conversely, if Dundee United, Queen of the South and Livingston all win then Morton will end up sixth.

After six league matches Dundee United have five goals for and five against. Has a team ever finished the season with fewer gf and ga than gp? Sure. St Johnstone finished in fourth place in the 2014-15 Premiership with 34 gf and 34 ga, and went to Europe.

[Dundee United 2 - 1 Morton. Goal by McHugh. Quitongo hamstring!]

Also in Championship play, Dumbarton visit Inverness CT. >>> This is the first ever league match between these two clubs. <<< ICT began in the fourth tier club in 1994-95, and were promoted to the third tier in 1997 just as Dumbarton were being relegated from the third tier to the fourth. Dumbarton have been in a lower league every year until now. (The Sons have played Caley Thistle twice in the League Cup. And they did meet both Inverness Caledonian and Inverness Thistle in the Scottish Cup.) [Dumbarton win 2 - 1.]

Lee Kilday's goals:

date            park              opponent            goaltender         competition

2014/11/22    Cappielow    Stenhousemuir    Greg Fleming       league

2014/11/22    Cappielow    Stenhousemuir    Greg Fleming       league

2015/3/28    East End      Dunfermline         Ryan Scully         league

2015/7/25    Cappielow    Dumbarton          Mark Brown        Challenge Cup

2016/7/16*   Cliftonhill      Albion Rovers     Ross Stewart      League Cup  

2016/8/13    Cappielow    Falkirk       Deniz Dogan Mehmet    league

2016/11/5    Falkirk          Falkirk                Danny Rogers       league

2017/2/7      Stark's          Raith                  Conor Brennan      league

2017/2/25    Tannadice    Dundee Utd       Cameron Bell        league

*Penalty shoot-out.

Scottish clubs versus Swiss clubs, part four, Dundee United:

Sept 15, 1970                Dundee United 3 - 2 Grasshoppers

Sept 30, 1970                Grasshoppers 0 - 0 Dundee United

Totals: 1 win Dundee United, 1 draw. Dundee United is mightier than Switzerland.

1978-79. Morton hosted Rangers in front of a crowd of 16,500 and played them to a 2 - 2 draw. Morton's scorers were Alistair Scott and Andy Ritchie. It was six weeks into the schedule and Rangers still didn't have a win.

1933-34. Morton saw their five-game winning streak snapped by Leith Athletic who beat them 3 - 1 at Marine Gardens in Portobello.

1944-45. Morton visited Motherwell and lost 2 - 0, their first loss of the season.

The Scottish League Cup quarter-finals were held midweek. There was only one game involving a Championship side:

Hibs 3 - 2 Livingston

What tier II club has gone farthest in the League Cup each year since 1994?

2017-18    Livingston (QF)

2016-17    Morton (SF)

2015-16    Hibs (F)

2014-15    Rangers (SF)

2013-14    Morton (QF)

2012-13    4 teams (3R)

2011-12    Falkirk and Ayr Utd (SF)

2010-11    Falkirk (QF)

2009-10    5 teams (3R)

2008-09    Dunfermline (QF)

2007-08    Hamilton (QF)

2006-07    St Johnstone (SF)

2005-06    3 teams (R3)

2004-05    3 teams (R2)

2003-04    St Johnstone (QF)

2002-03    4 teams (R3)

2001-02    Ayr Utd (F)

2000-01    4 teams (R3)

1999-00    4 teams (R3)

1998-99    Airdrieonians (SF)

1997-98    Stirling Albion (QF)

1996-97    Dundee (SF)

1995-96    Dundee (F)

1994-95    Raith Rovers (F)

It's the Scottish Cup, Round One. Let's follow those teams that made it out of the preliminary rounds:

Banks O'Dee [4 - 0] Huntly

Lothian Thistle HV [3 - 2] Inverurie Loco Works

Glenafton Athletic [4 - 0] Threave Rovers

Brora Rangers [5 - 0] Girvan

Colville Park [2 - 1] Cumbernauld Colts

It's also the Scottish Junior Cup, Round One. Let's follow some Western teams:

Maryhill [0 - 0] Irvine Meadow

Ardeer Thistle [0 - 1] Yoker Athletic

Kello Rovers [3 - 4] Arthurlie

Troon [1 - 1] Renfrew

Kilwinning Rangers [postponed] Saltcoats Victoria

Androssan Winton Rovers [6 - 2] Banchory St Ternan

Irvine Victoria [0 - 0] Maybole

Rossvale [1 - 0] Greenock Juniors

Newmains United Community [2 - 4] Annbank United  

In Abruzzo:

San Nicolò [4 - 3] Pineto

CONCACAF League semi-finals, second leg:

Árabe Unido 0 - 1 Santos de Guápiles

Plaza Amador 1 - 1 Olimpia

Santos and Olimpia advance to the final.

Japan:

FC Imabari [1 - 2] Vanraure Hachinohe

ReinMeer Aomori [2 - 4] FC Osaka

Blancdieu Hirosaki [2 - 1] Bandits Iwaki

Morioka Zebra [8 - 1] Merry

Germany:

1. FC Saarbrücken [2 - 2] FC-Astoria Walldorf

Manga Map of Hokkaido

This map came out as a promotion for a 2012 anthology of work by twelve mangaka from Hokkaido.

Daichi Aozora comes from Abashiri.

Waki Yamato, who drew the Tale of Genji manga Asaki Yume Mishi, is from Sapporo. Also from Sapporo are Naoki Karasawa, and Shino Yukiko.

From Asahikawa: Takeshi Maekawa and Tsubasa Nunoura. Ryuo Ikuemi comes from Nayaroshi. Yoshikazu Yasuhiko is from Engaru. Monkey Punch (a.k.a. Kazuhiko Katō) was born in Hamanaka. Hiromu Arakawa of Full Metal Alchemist comes from Makubetsu.

Others: Saburo Megumi; Rio Kayama.

See.

Dyveke Sigbritsdatter

Life in Renaissance Denmark was no bowl of cherries. In fact, King Christian II's mistress Dyveke Sigbritsdatter was killed on this day in 1517 by eating a bowl of poisoned cherries. Painting by Vilhelm Rosenstand.