Plenty of Nothing

L. L. Fitzgerald Jigsaw Puzzle

L.L.Fitzgerald "The Tour of Inspection" as a jigsaw puzzle. Source.

House of Staples, 2005

Yan Liben

Detail from a scroll showing Tang Emperor Taizong receiving a Tibetan envoy, after Yan Liben.

Helen Recognizes Telemachus

Helen Recognizing Telemachus, Son of Odysseus (1795) by Jean-Jacques Lagrenée the Younger. This painting found its way onto the cover of this recording of Scarlatti's 1718 opera Telemaco.

Halifax King of Donair 2000

Source.

HFX Wanderers host Valour FC.

Neither side can win the Spring Season, but tonight's game isn't completely meaningless. If Cavalry win both the Spring Season and the Fall Season, then the second-place team in the overall standings will meet them in the final, and any points earned today would help toward that.

Either HFX or Valour can still finish the Spring season with an equal number of wins and losses, but they can't both do it.

[Wanderers 2 - 0 Valour. Goals by Kourouma and Garcia.]

Also:

York9 [0 - 2] Cavalry

I've adopted the spelling York9 so that the 9 will look less like part of a score.

Edmonton [1 - 0] Forge

If Forge lose or draw, Cavalry finish first in the apertura. How can Forge win the aperura? 1) Beat Edmonton, and 2) Cavalry must lose to York9 and Pacific, or have a loss and a draw, after which they would have the same number of points and wins as Forge but a lower goal difference.

[Cavalry win the Spring Season. They can now literally lose every match until October and still be in the league finals.]

Which members of the 2019 HFX Wanderers played in last summer's friendlies against the Fortuna Düsseldorf development squad? Scott Firth and Christian Oxner.

Who are the CPL's Trinidadian players, and which Trinidadian teams have they played for?

Akeem Garcia: San Juan Jabloteh, W Connection, North East Stars, Santa Rosa

Elton John: San Juan Jabloteh, Ma Pau, North East Stars, Central FC, Queen's Park

Kareem Moses: Joe Public, St Ann's Rangers, North East Stars

Andre Rampersad: Santa Rosa

Jan-Michael Williams: W Connection, St Ann's Rangers, Central FC, North East Stars

Marie-Soleil Beaudoin, who refereed HFX Wanderer's home opener on May 4th, was head official for the France-Brazil game in the Women's World Cup on June 23rd.

Mortonalia: The development squad is off to Portugal for a two-week training camp sponsored by McGill's busline. Given the chairman's statement in March about there being no money, you have to suppose that the club in fact has two boards of directors.

Manageria: Oran Kearney has left St Mirren, reportedly for Coleraine. The two clubs have a friendly scheduled for Saturday. Awkward!

AFC Champions League, Round of 16, second leg:

Sanfrecce Hiroshima 3 - 2 Kashima Antlers (July 25)

3 - 3 on aggregate -- Kashima advance on the away goal rule.

Ulsan Hyundai 0 - 3 Urawa Red Diamonds (July 26)

Urawa advance.

UEFA Champions League preliminary round semi-finals (yesterday):

All these games are in Pristina.

Feronikeli (Kosovo) 1 - 0 Lincoln Red Imps (Gibraltar)

Tre Penne (San Marino) 0 - 1 Santa Coloma (Andorra)

Final (June 28):

Feronikeli [2 - 1] Santa Coloma

Winner plays The New Saints in the first qualifying round.

UEFA Europa League preliminary round, first leg (tomorrow):

Progrès Neiderkorn [1 - 0] Cardiff Metropolitan University

Progrès famously knocked Rangers out of the preliminary round two years ago.

Ballymena United [2 - 0] NSÍ Runavík

KÍ Klaksvík [5 - 1] Tre Fiori

Barry Town United [0 - 0] Cliftonville

These are only the games involving clubs from Wales, Northern Ireland and the Faroes. There are many more.

Which teams from San Marino have been in UEFA European competition, and how often?

8 times (3 + 5)        La Fiorita

7 times (4 + 3)        Tre Penne

6 times (1 + 5)        Folgore

5 times (3 + 2)        Tre Fiore

4 times (0 + 4)        Libertas

4 times (0 + 4)        Juvenes/Dogana

3 times (2 + 1)        Murata

3 times (0 + 3)        Domagnano

once (0 + 1)            Cosmos

once (0 + 1)            Pennarossa

once (0 + 1)            Faetano

(Champions League + UEFA Cup/Europa League)

Kjøge Mini-By

Miniature towns are definitely a thing in Denmark. This is Kjøge Mini-By. Visit.

Hibarino Park Soccer Field, Gonohe

Hibarino Park Soccer Field is the home park of Gonohe SC (written 五戸町SC on the soccer ball). That very determined soccer coach is standing in front of the corner marked by the teacup on the map. Sources: Google Maps and Aomori Goal Twitter account.

Annan Ladies versus Morton Women

Morton Women, winners of the 2019 SWFL2 Cup. Source.

SWFL2 W/SW: Annan Athletic Ladies [0 - 22] Morton Women

The situation: Morton hold first place with 8 wins in 8 starts, 40 goals for and 4 against. Annan are bottom of the division with 9 losses in 9 starts, 6 goals for and 102 goals against.

Mortonalia: Morton have added midfielder Nicky Cadden, previously of Airdrieonians, Livingston and Ayr United.

Canadian Premier League:

York9 0 - 0 HFX Wanderers (yesterday)

York Lions Stadium is like many Japanese municipal stadiums, with eight lanes of track-and-field track separating the pitch from the stands. At the Wanderers Grounds the fans and players are much more cheek by jowl, like at Cappielow.

Cavalry 0 - 1 Forge (yesterday)

A loss for Cavalry!

Pacific [1 - 3] Edmonton (today)

The Yeggies have scored only 2 goals in league play prior to today.

Which players have scored on Cavalry?

Adjei              York9        May 4        league

Borges          Forge        May 12      league

Haber            Pacific       May 22      cup

Welshman     Forge        June 4       cup

Bekker           Forge        June 11     cup

Rampersad    HFX         June 19      league

Bekker           Forge       June 22      league

2019 Women's World Cup:

Round of 16:

Sweden [1 - 0] Canada (June 24)

Netherlands [2 - 1] Japan (June 25)

Tohoku Soccer League: Fuji Club 2003 [0 - 6] Iwaki FC

Yesterday it was Iwaki FC 2 - 3 Chuo University in a training match.

What are the pro sports options in Toronto?

Autumn to spring:

Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL)

Toronto Marlies (AHL)

Toronto Raptors (NBA)

Toronto Rock (National Lacrosse League)

Toronto Arrows (Major League Rugby)

Spring to autumn:

Toronto Blue Jays (MLB)

Toronto Argonauts (CFL)

Toronto FC (MLS)

Toronto FC II (USL League One)

York 9 FC (Canadian Premier League)

Toronto Wolfpack (Rugby Football League)

Tohoku University's emblem would make a triffic soccer ball:

Midsummer in Sweden Hills

It's Midsummer in Sweden, and also in Sweden Hills, Hokkaido. Read.

Vintage Nintendo Hanafuda Cards

Source.