Plenty of Nothing

A Truncated Icosahedron

"Se gli inglesi hanno inventato il calcio, come mai Piero della Francesca è riuscito a disegnarne il pallone nel 1460?" Fonte.

Morton visit Dingwall for a League Cup group stage match against Ross County. This match should determine who wins Group D. So far Ross County have played one match, beating Stranraer 5 - 1. Morton have beaten both opponents. If you count the end of last season, Morton are on a five-game winning streak.

These two have only ever met in one League Cup match before:

1998/8/8    R2    Morton 0 - 1 Ross County

The last Morton player to score on Ross County was Kerr Waddell on January 4th, 2019, in a league match.

County's Alex Samuel played for Morton in the 2015-16 season. Nobody on the current Morton squad has played for Ross County.

[Ross County 2 - 1 Morton. Goal by Oakley.]

Also today: Stranraer [2 - 1] Edinburgh City

Kelty Hearts are off.

Group D standings after these matches:

Ross County       2    2    0    0    0    7    2    +5    6

Morton                3    2    0    0    1    7    3    +4    6

Kelty Hearts        2    1    0    0    1    6    6      0    3

Stranraer             3    1    0    0    2    3    9     -6    3

Edinburgh City    2    0    0    0    2    4    7     -3    0

Other matches:

HFX Wanderers vs Atletico Ottawa [postponed till tomorrow]

HFX Wanderers have signed 30-year-old Doneil Henry, formerly of Toronto FC, Apollon Limassol, West Ham United, Blackburn Rovers, AC Horsens, Vancouver Whitecaps, Ottawa Fury, Suwon Samsung Bluewings, Los Angeles FC, Minnesota United, and the Canadian national team. This is a major signing.

Wanderers need to ramp up the appearances by their U-21s if they plan to meet the league's 2000 minutes requirement. Source.

[HFX Wanderers win 1 - 0 on a goal by Collomb.]  

Scrosoppi [3 - 2] Sigma (tomorrow)

NPL2 Vic: Northcote City 2 - 0 Preston Lions (yesterday)

Mito HollyHock [0 - 0] Omiya Ardija (tomorrow)

Honda FC [1 - 0] Reilac Shiga

Tokyo 23 FC [4 - 0] Ryutsu Keizai Dragons

Tokai Gakuen University [1 - 1] Fujieda City Hall (tomorrow)

Cobaltore Onagawa [7 - 0] Morioka Zebra (tomorrow)

Gamba Osaka [0 - 1] Celtic (friendly)

Rangers [2 - 1] Hamburger SV (friendly)

Banks o' Dee [2 - 2] Hermes (friendly)

Largs Thistle [3 - 0] Kilbirnie Ladeside (friendly)

FC Isle of Man 0 - 5 Southport FC (friendly) (yesterday)

FC Isle of Man [9 - 1] Corinthians (friendly)

Carluke Rovers [3 - 3] Bonnyton Thistle (friendly)

Gartcairn vs Morton Women (closed door friendly) (tomorrow)

The Lowland League begins. Let's follow Linlithgow Rose:

Linlithgow Rose [3 - 1] University of Stirling

Why did the Lowland League need to wait until the SPFL fixtures were released before drawing up its own schedule? Because Broomhill groundshare with Dumbarton, Celtic B with Airdrieonians, East Stirlingshire with Falkirk, Hearts B with Edinburgh City and University of Stirling with Stirling Albion.

About the Midlands Football League

The Midlands Football League is a tier VI league immediately below the Highland League in the Scottish pyramid. (Its should not be confused with the Midland Football League which occupies tiers IX to XII of the English pyramid.) It's made up of 19 teams situated in Angus, Perth and Kinross, Dundee, and the northern tip of Fife. It's the northeast coast equivalent of the West of Scotland League Premiership. Let's follow one of the Dundee clubs, East Craigie.

East Craigie [0 - 1] Downfield

Both of these are Dundee clubs. East Craigie's park is on Old Craigie Road, Downfield's on Balgowan Avenue. East Craigie wear azure and white stripes, Downfield black and white hoops.

FAI Cup Round One:

UCD 3 - 2 Cobh Ramblers (yesterday)

Coupe de France, R2:

AS Saint Pierraise [3 - 0] AS Miquelonaisse

(Round One was played July 8th: AS Miquelonaisse 1 - 0 AS Illienne Amateur)

2023-24 UEFA Conference League 1QR, second leg (July 20):

Derry City 1 - 0 HB

Dundalk 3 - 1 Bruno's Magpies

St Patrick's 2 - 3 F91 Dudelange

Vllaznia 1 - 0 Linfield

Glentoran 1 - 1 Gżira United (Gżira won on PK)

Crusaders 1 - 0 Haka

Connah's Quay Nomads 0 - 2 KA

Santa Coloma 2 - 0 Penybont

Haverfordwest County 1 - 0 Shkëndija

Crusaders, Derry City, Dundalk, Haverfordwest County and Linfield advance. Connah's Quay Nomads, Glentoran, Penybont and St Patrick's are out.

It's the 2023 Leagues Cup, a tournament featuring all 47 teams of Major League Soccer and Liga MX. It begins with a group stage, from which the two league champions (Los Angeles FC and Pachuca) have a bye. The other 45 teams are divided into 15 groups of three teams each. The top two teams from each group advance to join LAFC and Pachuca in the round of 32, and from there it proceeds as a knockout tournament. The final will be played August 19th. The two finalists and the third-place team will advance to the 2024 Concacaf Champions League. Let's follow the Canadian teams.

Vancouver Whitecaps [2 - 2] León (yesterday) [León get the extra point in PK]

CF Montréal [2 - 2] UNAM (today) [Montréal get the extra point]

It's also the 2023 Women's World Cup. Let's follow Canada and Japan:

Group B: Nigeria 0 - 0 Canada (yesterday)

Group C: Zambia [0 - 5] Japan

The Japanese squad includes 4 players from Urawa Red Diamonds, 4 from INAC Kobe Leonessa, 2 from Tokyo Verdy Beleza, 1 each from Albirex Niigata, MyNavi Sendai and JEF United Chiba, 2 who play for Roma, 2 for West Ham United, and 1 each from Manchester City, Liverpool, Portland Thorns, Angel City FC and Hammarby. Saki Kumagai is captain. All of the Canadians play outside of the country except for two who are with the National Development Centre team in League1 Ontario.

Takoyaki. Source.

Domaine de Météore

France has a vineyard located in a meteor crater. Although expert opinion had long dismissed an extraterrestrial origin for the depression, recent analysis of the underlying strata has confirmed that the crater was in fact created by an iron-nickel meteorite. Read. And.

Chateau Clair

As incongruous as it may seem, one of Canada's earliest wine-growing regions was in the centre of Mississauga. Clair House Winery operated from about 1865 to 1925 and had vineyards at the present corner of Dundas and Confederation Parkway. Source.

Momofuku's Work Shed

A faithful reproduction of Ando Momofuku's work shed, where instant ramen was invented, at the Cup Noodles Museum in Yokohama. Source.

Toddy Tapper

A toddy tapper in Tamil Nadu, 1785. Source.

Tokugawa Era Confectionary Catalogues

These catalogues of the Toyaea Confectionary Company are dated 1695, 1707 and 1824. Source.

Alfred Morton 1918

Alfred Morton Cognac, 1918. Source.

Morton launch their eighth consecutive season in the Scottish Championship. In the time since the Scottish League reorganized into four divisions Morton have spent more years in this division than anybody else. (See D below.)

This year's Championship has seven teams in common with last year's: Arbroath, Inverness CT, Partick Thistle, Raith Rovers, Hamilton Accies, Morton and Ayr United. Killie, Dunfermline and Queen of the South are gone, replaced by Dundee, Cove Rangers and Queen's Park. Those last two have never played in this division before, though Queen's Park did play in the second tier in the three-division times and in the top tier in the two-division days. And in the years before the SFL they were the top club in Scotland.

This is the first time since 2013-14 that the Championship doesn't include a bigtime Premiership club. Dundee, Hamilton Accies, Partick Thistle and ICT sometimes play in the Premiership but you wouldn't call them huge. They’ll all be lucky to get past Arbroath, who won their League Cup group and appear to be carrying on from where they finished last season.

Morton have not been in the top division since 1988.

Today Morton visit Hamilton Accies at New Douglas Park.

Hamilton earned 8 points in the League Cup group stage on two wins, a shootout win and a loss, with 9 goals scored and 6 allowed.

Hamilton have had John Rankin as their head coach for one month. It's his first gig.

Morton visited Hamilton on August 7th last year and won 0 - 1.

Starting XI: [Schwake, Pignatiello, Strapp, O'Connor, Baird, Kabia, Blues, Muirhead, Quitongo, Gillespie, Lyon.]

Compare last year: Hamilton, Ledger, Strapp, Jacobs, Oliver, Blues, Muirhead, Ugwu, Hynes, McGregor, Lithgow.

The SPFL is bringing back the Reserve League. Rangers, Celtic and Hearts won’t be in it because their reserves are in the Lowland League. Participating clubs are: Dundee United, Hibs, Killie, Livi and Motherwell from the Premiership, Ayr, Dundee, Hamilton and Queen’s Park from the Championship, and Queen of the South from League 1.

Morton have signed 18-year-old striker Josh Gemmell and loaned him out to Broomhill of the Lowland League. Kyle Jacobs has been loaned out to FC Edinburgh.

[Hamilton Academical 1 - 1 Morton. Morton goal by Gillespie.]

Other Championship matches:

Ayr United [0 - 0] Arbroath

Cove Rangers [2 - 0] Raith Rovers

Dundee [2 - 3] Partick Thistle

Inverness CT [1 - 1] Queen's Park

Other matches:

Civil Service Strollers 1 - 3 Gala Fairydean Rovers (July 26)

Cowdenbeath [1 - 2] Gala Fairydean Rovers (today)

Forres Mechanics [0 - 1] Brechin City

Largs Thistle [1 - 1] Glenafton Athletic

FC Isle of Man [0 - 1] Lower Breck

Mito HollyHock [1 - 0] Omiya Ardija

Tohoku: Bogolle.D.Tsugaru [0 - 8] Cobaltore Onagawa (tomorrow)

PEC Zwolle [2 - 1] Dordrecht (friendly)

Winterthur [1 - 4] Lugano (tomorrow)

FAI Cup, Round One: UCD 3 - 0 Cockhill Celtic (yesterday)

Canadian Championship final (July 26):

Vancouver Whitecaps 1 - 1 Toronto FC (Vancouver win on PK.)

League1 Ontario: North Mississauga 0 - 6 Vaughan Azzurri (yesterday)

Vaughan Azzurri played HFX Wanderers in the first round of the 2019 Canadian Championship. Wanderers were impressed by Duran Lee's play for Azzurri and signed him for the remainder of 2019. Matthew Arnone and Tomasz Skublak have also played for Vaughan Azzurri.

PLSQ: FC Laval [2 - 1] Royal-Sélect de Beauport (tomorrow)

CSL: BGHC 1 [1 - 10] Serbian White Eagles

HFX Wanderers [2 - 4] York United (Monday) [Halifax goals by Santos and Garcia.]

[HFX Wanderers have signed Ludwig Kodjo-Amla from CS St-Hubert.]

HFX Wanderers U23 2 - 3 CS St-Hubert (friendly) (July 27)

UEFA Champions League 2QR, second leg:

Bodo/Glimt 8 - 0 Linfield (July 27)

Shamrock Rovers 2 - 1 Ludogorets Razgrad (July 26)

Linfield and Shamrock Rovers both drop down to the Europa League.

UEFA Europa Conference 2QR, second leg (mostly July 28):

The New Saints 0 - 0 Vikingur Reykjavik (July 26)

Sligo Rovers 2 - 0 Motherwell

Mura 0 - 0 Saint Patrick’s Athletic    (Saint Patrick’s win on PK.)

Crusaders 1 - 1 Basel

Newtown 1 - 2 Spartan Trnava

Saint Patrick’s advance. Motherwell, Crusaders, TNS and Newtown are out.

Concacaf League, preliminary round, first leg (July 26):

Waterhouse FC 0 - 0 Pacific FC

Plenty of Nothing's objectives for Morton in 2022-23:

1)    Make the Premiership playoffs.

2)    Make the final of any cup. (See E below.)

3)    Get a win off each Championship opponent.

4)    Sweep an opponent.

5)    Play a Premiership side at Cappielow.

6)    Score on Aberdeen.

7)    Play Kelty Hearts.

8)    Have a top scorer with at least 10 goals.

Appendices:

A) When did everyone find out they were in the 2022-23 Scottish Championship?

April 16        Hamilton Academical

April 23        Greenock Morton

April 23        Cove Rangers

April 29        Raith Rovers

April 29        Ayr United

May 6          Partick Thistle

May 11        Dundee

May 13        Arbroath

May 15        Queen's Park

May 23        Inverness CT

B) When did they most recently get into the Championship, and was it from above or below?

2022    Dundee (above)

2022    Cove Rangers (below)

2022    Queen's Park (below)

2021    Hamilton Accies (above)

2021    Partick Thistle (below)

2020    Raith Rovers (below)

2019    Arbroath (below)

2018    Ayr United (below)

2017    Inverness CT (above)

2015    Morton (below)

C) In which divisions have the 2022-23 Championship clubs played since 1994?

Dundee              BBBBAA     AAAAABBBBB     BBABAAAAAB    BAB

Inverness CT     DDDCCB    BBBBAAAAAB     AAAAAAABBB    BBB

Hamilton            BBCBBC    DCCCBBBBAA    ABBBAAAAAA     ABB

Partick Thistle    AABBCC    CBAABCBBBB     BBBAAAAABB    CBB

Raith Rovers     BAABBB    BBCBBCCCCB     BBBBBBBCCC    BBB

Morton               CBBBBB    BCDCCCCBBB    BBBBCBBBBB     BBB

Ayr Utd              BCCBBB    BBBBCCCCCB    CBCCCCBCBB    BBB

Arbroath            DDDDCC    CBBCCDDDCC   DCCCDDDCCB    BBB

Queen's Park    DDDDDD    CDDDDDDCCD   DDDDDDCCDD   DCB

Cove Rangers   HHHHHH   HHHHHHHHHH   HHHHHHHHHD    CCB

(A = tier I; B = tier II; etc.; H = Highland League)

D) Since 1994, which clubs have spent at least half of the time in tier II, including this season?

21 years        Greenock Morton

19 years        Queen of the South

19 years        Raith Rovers

18 years        Falkirk

16 years        Ayr United

15 years        Dundee

E) Morton's cup finals:

1915/12/8      Morton 2 - 1 Rangers    War Fund Shield

1918/5/4        Celtic 1 - 0 Morton          War Fund Shield

1922/4/15      Morton 1 - 0 Rangers    Scottish Cup

1942/5/9        Morton 0 - 1 Rangers     Southern League Cup

1948/4/21      Rangers 1 - 0 Morton     Scottish Cup

1963/10/26    Rangers 5 - 0 Morton     League Cup

1992/12/13    Morton 2 - 3 Hamilton    Challenge Cup

(Not counting 84 Renfrewshire Cup finals.)

Sauerbraten from Saarbrücken

Source.

Cranes versus Free Blades

Hokkaido zangi courtesy East Hokkaido Cranes and 7-11. Source.

Tohoku Free Blades visit East Hokkaido Cranes at Kushiro Ice Arena.

The Cranes are a continuation of Jūjō Paper Kushiro Ice Hockey Club, which was founded in 1949. In 1993 Jūjō Paper merged with Sanyō Kokusaku Pulp to form Nippon Paper, and the team was renamed Nippon Paper Cranes, accidentally creating the only origami hockey team in the world. In 2019 Nippon Paper got out of the hockey business and the team was renamed East Hokkaido Cranes, with the same rink and players as before.

[Cranes 3 - 4 Free Blades]

Seasons of East Hokkaido Cranes:

(As Jūjō IHC)

                  G      W   T     L       F       A      GD      P    Pos

1974-75    10      1    0      9      20      76    -56      2    5th, JIHL

1975-76    15      3    0    12      34    106    -72      6    5th, JIHL

1976-77    15      2    0    13      40    105    -65      4    6th, JIHL

1977-78    15      1    1    13      28    101    -73      3    6th, JIHL

1978-79    20      2    1    17      46    115    -69      5    6th, JIHL

1979-80    15      6    3      6      55      66    -11    15    4th, JIHL

1980-81    20      7    0    13      68    100    -32    14    4th, JIHL

1981-82    30      8    4    18    134    169    -35    20    5th, JIHL

1982-83    30      6    6    18    113    169    -56    18    5th, JIHL

1983-84    30      7    3    20    108    146    -38    17    5th, JIHL

1984-85    30      7    3    20      88    165    -77    17    5th, JIHL

1985-86    30    10    3    17    101    128    -27    23    5th, JIHL

1986-87    30      4    5    21      68    146    -78    13    6th, JIHL

1987-88    30      6    3    21      77    127    -50    15    5th, JIHL

1988-89    30      8    3    18      86    136    -50    19    5th, JIHL

1989-90    30    12    5    13      93    105    -12    29    3rd, JIHL

1990-91    30    16    1    13    106    102     +4    33    3rd, JIHL

1991-92    30    10    1    19    102    128    -26    21    5th, JIHL

1992-93    30    10    2    18      79    117    -38    22    4th, JIHL

(As Nippon Paper Cranes)

1993-94    30    12    1    17      95    121    -26    25    4th, JIHL

1994-95    30    14    1    15    103    109      -6    29    4th, JIHL

1995-96    40      9    2    29    140    171    -31    18    5th, JIHL    (deducted?)

1996-97    30      8    3    19      83    125    -42    19    5th, JIHL

1997-98    40    11    2    27    120    167    -47    24    6th, JIHL

1998-99    40    18    4    18    138    147      -9    40    4th, JIHL

1999-00    30    14    3    13      94      88     +6    31    3rd, JIHL

2000-01    40    20    3    17    126    115    +11    43    4th, JIHL

                  G     W    a    b    c    d     L      F        A      GD      P       Pos

2001-02    40    25    2    1    3    1     8    162    105    +57    59.5    1st, JIHL

2002-03    32    14    1    1    3         13    104    100      +4    34.5    3rd, JIHL

2003-04    12      3    1          1           7      37      37        0      8.5    3rd, R1, JIHL

                 12      6    1          1           4      56      51      +5    14.5    3rd, R2, JIHL

                  G     W  OW  T  OL     L      F      A       GD      P     Pos

2003-04    16    13    0    0    0      3      80    49      +31    39    1st, ALIH    X

2004-05    40    31    0    5    0      6    216    85    +121    98    1st, ALIH

2005-06    38    30    2    1    0      5    240    66    +174    95    1st, ALIH

2006-07    34    27    1    1    2      3    198    79    +119    86    1st, ALIH    XO

2007-08    30    15    1    2    1    11      97    85      +12    50    4th, ALIH    O

                   G    W    a    b    c    d     L      F        A       GD     P     Pos

2008-09    36    18    3    2    2    3      8    129      95    +25    69    4th, ALIH    X

2009-10    36    18    3    3    2    0    10    128    101    +27    68    3rd, ALIH

2010-11    36    21    2    1    3    2      7    141      95    +46    74    2nd, ALIH    O

2011-12    36    16    1    3    1    1    14    128    110    +18    58    4th, ALIH     O

2012-13    42    17    4    6    3    3      9    176    130    +46    77    3rd, ALIH    O

2013-14    42    22    2    2    1    0    15    168    126    +42    75    3rd, ALIH    XO

2014-15    48    15    3    6    4    2    18    160    157      +3    69    6th, ALIH

2015-16    48    25    2    2    3    2    14    166    125    +41    88    3rd, ALIH    O

2016-17    48    23    1    1    3    3    17    169    153    +16    79    5th, ALIH

2017-18    28      9    1    1    3    1    13      79      91     -12    35    7th, ALIH

2018-19    34    13    3    3    4    1    10      93      77    +16    56    4th, ALIH

(As East Hokkaido Cranes)

2019-20    36    12    2          2          17      73    104     -31    46    5th, ALIH

2020-21    22    11    0          5            6      62      50    +12    38    3rd, JCup    O

a    b    c    d    = various loser points

ALIH = Asia League Ice Hockey

JCup = Japan Cup

JIHL = Japan Ice Hockey League

X = ALIH Champion

O = All Japan Champion

(Sources: English, German and Japanese Wikipedia; flashscores for 2020-21)

Udon versus Soba

Source.