Only at the darts would they have a video package ready to go, complete with graphics and music, documenting and celebrating the Ally Pally Wasp when it re-showed for the final. Yes, literally the insect. Has caused chaos on a whole series of occasions.

Ha. Got a new phone. Gemini popped up because you can't freaking uninstall it, and I just reflexively said "Noooo! Fuck off!" And it heard me and said it was sorry I was frustrated 😂. At least it apologised.

Oh my god. I really like Ted Lasso, but not content with seemingly appearing at every women's sports event I watch, now Jason Sudeikis is getting interviewed at the sodding darts. Are we sure there's only one of him?

Also, just in case anyone else was like me and wondering about the British basketball implications of Temi Fagbenle being signed as Collier's replacement, the Unrivaled season ends just before the next international window in March. So Unrivaled players should be available for national teams then.

Unfortunate for Collier that it took this long for the decision to be made that she needs surgery. But better now than persisting with rehab if it wasn't going to work. Somehow I doubt it'll hurt her earning potential once WNBA free agency actually begins, whenever that may be. #WNBA

Hands up everyone who thinks this all sounds like we're getting a deal by Jan 9. *crickets*

My god is this easy. Primary redeeming feature of 2025, sport or not. #Lionesses

Yeesh. Blindingly obvious why they weren't calling timeout, Brady says it's insane until someone explains why it obviously isn't. That's why they pay him the big bucks.

Why on earth aren't Sabalenka and Kyrgios mic'd for this thing? It's all been set up as entertainment more than sport and you can see them chattering along but not hear a word they're saying. Combined with the lack of atmosphere from the crowd it's making this pretty energy-less and dull.

Feels like it might not be a great sign for Amaya Valdemoro's chances of getting into the Naismith Hall of Fame that they couldn't even spell her name correctly on the initial candidates list. www.hoophall.com/news/naismit... Also, once again: Put Penny Taylor in the freaking Naismith.

The push towards increasing NBA-connected control of the WNBA continues. #WNBA

It's always such a good sign for how negotiations are going when both sides are spending their time desperately trying to win points in the PR battle.

This is such a rosy interpretation of the sides agreeing to extension 2. Ultimately, either a) the league and players agree to a new deal, or b) the league ceases to exist. The extension just means it seemed like a better path to destination A, for now. #WNBA frontofficesports.com/adam-silver-...

Somehow the ball is finally vaguely moving and somehow it's even more embarrassing than the preceding three quarters for this awful Dolphins squad. Fire everybody, release everybody, start over.

The number of dumbass penalties and unnecessary timeouts and just general lazy or sloppy things this Dolphins team has done for years now drives me nuts. I actually like McDaniel, but this stuff shouldn't happen over and over again. If you suck because you lack talent, okay; but don't be dumb too.

I wasn't entirely sure whether I'd ever actually seen it, or just consumed it via cultural osmosis over 20+ years, so just watched Love Actually. What a shocking pile of old crap.

"I'm under contract so yes I plan on returning" has very "I'm just here so I don't get fined" energy. One thing on the table in collective bargaining is shortening rookie scale deals, precisely so players can get out of situations they don't like and control their destination more quickly. #WNBA

First thing that came to mind - a million years ago I went to practically half the London Film Festival, including a random film called Des Nouvelles du bon Dieu. Absurdist existentialist French road movie (really). Everyone in there died laughing. Brilliant, and sadly subsequently ignored.

Wrote my first draft of protectees so long ago that I have to dig to find it. Will wait for official rules to publish. I love that our contracts database has made stuff like this viable. As one of few people who wrote a Dream mock expansion draft in 2008, there was so much guesswork involved. #WNBA

"Remember when we pissed off *everyone* by accepting enough bribes that we sent the World Cup to freaking Qatar? I challenge you to somehow make this North American World Cup even more distasteful." "Hold my champagne."

I remember Flau'jae's playing time at the AmeriCup being so limited/inconsistent that I kept wondering if she was hurt, then she'd come in for two minutes and therefore indicate that nope, available. Of course, on absurdly talented USA teams that's sometimes what happens, even if you're really good.

If Joyce Edwards is the sort of superstar some people think she is, these are the moments where you step up. She's really, really good, but that might be the player she's going to become, rather than the one she already is.

So interesting reading about a Players' Association challenging a League over its interpretation/implementation of their agreed CBA. So many ambiguous or grey areas in WNBA's CBA, where over the years the league has basically said "well our lawyers meant X, so that's the rule". 1/2

American colour guy on this Mosconi Cup broadcast keeps adding "...in my opinion" to every other comment he makes, and it's incredibly irritating. We know it's your opinion, dude. Who else's would it be? No one's going to think you're speaking on behalf of America, or the human race, or whatever.

Oh wow, UEFA so tired of us winning the Euros that they had to give our most bitter rivals home advantage for the next one.

The housing thing is basically just yet another piece of "where do you want the money to go?" Moving up the start date is much more complicated, given the NCAA tournament doesn't end until early April and overseas leagues go later than that. 'Expanding the footprint' creates issues. #WNBA

I've said several times that the easiest win in all this was going to be a max over $1m. Just such an easy headline to put in the eventual press release. League had the sense to start below that so that it feels like a concession. This still feels low and barely incremental, to me. #WNBA

This bit of the ESPN report is wild. You don't extend anything like this by 24hrs unless you're virtually done. But nothing else we've heard suggests they're close, and they ended up at 6wks. Did someone think pressure of 24hr clock would turn things on their head? #WNBA www.espn.com/wnba/story/_...

Assuming they use that whole window, that would already mean we're rearranging the offseason dates. Have to cement expansion draft rules, have everyone provide protected lists, negotiation period, then expansion draft itself. Typical offseason process start of Jan 11 wouldn't happen. #WNBA

Don't forget, in the CBA - the 'current' one - the WNBA's offseason decisions are supposed to begin on Jan 1. They moved that to Jan 11 and slightly compressed the windows to avoid working even *close* to the holidays. No one wants to be at the negotiating table over Christmas and New Year. #WNBA

"We are in discussions over the length of the extension for the amount of time to have more discussions. When those are complete, we'll be able to discuss exactly what we'll be discussing during the extended discussion period."

To make clear, as today's ESPN update mentioned, if we pass Sunday's deadline without new CBA or extension, it doesn't mean immediate calamity. I asked before this extension what happens in real terms without one, and source said without an active strike/lockout move it's "business as usual". #WNBA

Dophins playcalling being heavily affected by the number of times they've watched Tua just gently lob the ball to the other team this season.

FIBA 3x3 AmeriCup 2025 knockout games are underway. USA women don't start for another 90 minutes, but Puerto Rico are making Canada sweat in the opening quarter-final. Live here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzHO...

There are few things more amusing in a game of football (soccer) than when a player is such an obnoxious known cheat that when they're on the ground writhing in 'agony', their own teammates completely ignore it and just play on.

USA women about to play their first game in this year's 3x3 AmeriCup. Allisha Gray, Naz Hillmon, Shakira Austin and Veronica Burton on the team. Live here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV1l...

There's a lower division soccer league over here where all the games kicked off at 3.03pm one week to make the point that they think the league should have three promotion spots instead of two. Couldn't do that in the US, because *no sporting event ever starts on time anyway*.

Bizarrely little movement on that final set from South Carolina, considering basically your only shot is someone from Texas being dumb enough to allow enough contact for a dead-ball foul. Run around; maybe someone steps in your way.

I still see a lot of Monique Currie in Madison Booker. Which is kind of a good thing - Currie was a solid WNBA starter for a decade - but also probably not where she'd like to see her ceiling. #WNBA

The lack of an outside shot is going to scare some teams off, but you can absolutely see Rori Harmon falling down the 2026 WNBA draft and then halfway through the season people saying things like "how the hell did they get Harmon at #19?" #WNBA

Just to top off the last month of British basketball insanity, the GB men's team was up 87-80 on Lithuania with 10 seconds left tonight. Lost 89-88. The video of Sargiunas scoring all 9 of Lithuania's points in that sequence is worth looking up, as long as you're not British.

Who on earth thought it was okay for the Chiefs to play in 'all white' while the Cowboys play in 'mostly white'?

To make clear, as today's ESPN update mentioned, if we pass Sunday's deadline without new CBA or extension, it doesn't mean immediate calamity. I asked before this extension what happens in real terms without one, and source said without an active strike/lockout move it's "business as usual". #WNBA

So when was the last time one of the players on the team you support was sent off for giving his own teammate a slap? *resets counter to zero days*

Always various reasons for who's at or not at USA training camps, but as always you wonder why certain people *aren't* there. No Collier, Stewart, AThomas, AGray, KMitchell, Ionescu, Ogunbowale in December group. Also no Sarah Strong despite a couple of college invites. www.usab.com/news/2025/11...

Mildly relevant when debating those top pick options: Awa Fam would turn 23 during the final season of a four-year rookie-scale contract. Azzi Fudd is 23 right now. #WNBA

As usual, the league posted video of the actual lottery draw - as in, the ping-pong balls being drawn from the machine - for anyone interested. As always, it's incredibly dull. #WNBA www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLjh...

So either Fudd is going #1 or Bueckers is gonna have to sit there and watch her team pass on her... #WNBA

Pure chalk. #WNBA

Well that was fun. Basically asked Bethany Donaphin three times if she thought a CBA deal would get done by the deadline and she avoided answering three times. #WNBA