Football

Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Sports

Leicester City’s Winning Season in Numbers (Infographic)

They won the league! In one of the all-time great stories in sports, minnows Leicester City football club went from generally unknown and on the verge of relegation to Premier League champions in the span of one season. The Foxes took a team on a budget and cashed in with big paydays for winning the League and qualifying for the UEFA Champions League. Not to mention they’ll probably make a couple of extra dollars from merchandise and ticket sales.

So just how crazy was Leicester City’s championship season? We have a handy infographic to explain how they stack up to the competition.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Link-Off

Wednesday Link-Off: Time Off

adriana-lima-gigi-hadid-nyfw15-01After a weekend off to get incredibly drunk and surprisingly less hungover than I was expecting, I’m back to do the links. The sad thing is that I’m not really sure how much I missed in the world of news. It feels like nothing happened and yet I somehow ended up for more links than usual. Whatever works, I guess.

Anyway, it’s time for the links. Let’s kick off with personal favourite Adriana Lima and up and coming model Gigi Hadid.

Looking for strategic voting info. There’s a site for that. (Anyone But Harper)

Former Prime Minister Jean Cretien spit hot fire about Stephen Harper. (CBC News)

Paul Watson’s report on the search for the Franklin Expedition by the Canadian government was published. It has a lot of info about the inner workings of the search and the Canadian government. (BuzzFeed)

Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Link-Off

Sunday Link-Off: The Great Delay

adriana-lima-victoriassecret14-14It’s amazing how much someone’s complete disorganization can derail your plans. I was hoping to be able to watch Doctor Who last night but because some people can’t organize a small gathering including not setting a time to be there, ordering food and leaving it to cool to room temperature before serving, and serving store-bought apps after the mains had arrived. So I have to find time for watching and writing Doctor Who and Haven reviews, the F1 recap, a game review, the game trailers roundup and another et geekera post today. And that’s all because one person didn’t have their shit together.

Anyway, it’s Sunday so it’s time for the links. Here’s much-awaited return of Adriana Lima.

With the US trying to keep their least favourite countries from getting nuclear weapons, why are they allowed to keep theirs? To protect the world from asteroids. (NBC News)

How hard is getting credit nowadays? Former US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke couldn’t refinance his mortgage. (Wall Street Journal)

Who wants a We Are The Best story? While Don Cherry would probably get criticized for pronouncing Canadian superiority, the next time someone complains about Canadians proclaiming that we are the best, refer them to this statistical analysis of Canadian greatness. (MacLean’s)

Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Link-Off

Sunday Link-Off: Working Overtime

chrissy-teigen-esquire14-06Hello and happy Sunday. There’s absolutely nothing new for you to look at today. Nope. Not at all. Any layout changes are a figment of your imagination… unless you’re reading tomorrow in which case you are seeing a new blog theme. Funny how that works.

Anyway, it’s time for us to do the links. Let’s kick things off with Chrissy Tiegen.

Is there a labour shortage in Canada? If you ask the Fraser Institute… who the hell knows because they don’t really understand the study they’re trying to do. (MacLean’s)

President Obama is being sued over signing “too many” executive orders into law but no one’s complained about his latest one. It’s a big piece of workers’ rights reform and it could be the biggest piece of legislation signed into law this term. (Slate)

Sponsored content in news publications seems like a new problem but is actually something that dates back many, many years. (Paleofuture)

Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Link-Off

Sunday Link-Off: The True Story

anais-pouliot-urbanoutfitters14-33There have been two stories dominating the North American news cycle this week. The Americans are trying to sort out the economy and are arguing over how to make money off of corporate taxes. That economic concern is preventing them giving aid to Israel in their battle in Gaza. Even through the stories are on opposite sides of the world, they’re still connected.

Anyway, it’s time for the links. Since it’s a holiday weekend here in Canada, let’s start with a Canadian model to start this post. Here’s Anais Pouliot.

Legalized tax dodging is a billion dollar industry in America. Corporations can dodge taxes but if you’re a person who attempts to dodge taxes, hellfire and brimstone will rain down upon you. (Think Progress)

The Democrats are trying to close that loophole but the GOP say that if tax rates are lowered, they wouldn’t have to close that loophole. Yeah, let’s decrease the revenue from all the corporations and politely ask them to stay to increase our tax base. That makes perfect sense. Idiots! (Washington Post)

And the elected members of the United States government are getting along so well, they can’t even figure out how to deal with the situation in Israel and Gaza. (Politico)

Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Link-Off

Wednesday Link-Off: ‘Murica

nina-agdal-bebe14-01You would think that our Memorial Day edition of the links would be the one with all the America links but I just happen to have a whole pile of them for today’s linkdump. At least they’re sort of interesting.

But just because there are a whole pile of ‘Murica links doesn’t mean that we’re going to lead with an American woman. No, here’s Nina Agdal.

The US Attorney General’s department has charged the Chinese government officials with cyber espionage. Unfortunately, the US Attorney General’s department immediately charged itself with criminal irony. (Time)

The US Department of Defense has a zombie defense plan. Well, I guess it’s better to be prepared than get caught off-guard by the apocalypse. (Foreign Policy)

Gay marriage may not be legal in most of America but most Americans support it. It’s gone from no support to majority support in less than fifty years. (Al Jazeera)

Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Link-Off

Wednesday Link-Off: The Politics of Failure

danielle-knudson-guess14-02We’re just a few days away from the Super Bowl and can you feel the excitement in the air? Okay, neither can I. All I can feel is frozen. Mind you, I would like watching a game with snow and cold. It’s like the Snow Bowl edition of the Grey Cup. Fantastic setting for a football game.

Anyway, it’s Wednesday so that means that it’s time for the links. Let’s start with Canadian model Danielle Knudson.

It’s been a while since we had some good old-fashioned fact checking but Rob Ford’s speech to the Toronto Economic Club warranted it. It was for the stuck in an elevator story though. (Torontoist)

While the Americans are struggling with unemployment after the bank bailouts and economic crisis, Iceland letting banks failing has allowed their unemployment to get below 4%. (Bloomberg)

People often mock Republicans for living in a bubble and creating their own reality but Ted Cruz confirmed that on national TV this weekend. He went on Face the Nation and flatout lied about the government shutdown. Even veteran journalist Bob Schieffer couldn’t help but laugh at him. (Raw Story)

Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Link-Off

Wednesday Link-Off: Rise and Fall

amy-adams-vanityfair14-05It’s the middle of the week and I’m likely in the middle of a mountain of snow as you read this. The forecast is calling for a tonne of snow at Lowdown HQ so I’m expecting to be digging out for a whole. So much fun. Anyway, it’s time for the links. Here’s Amy Adams.

At one point in time, BlackBerry was the unquestioned king of the mobile sector. Now, they’re an afterthought. Here’s the rise and fall of BlackBerry. (Businessweek)

David Simon, the man behind The Wire, explains how capitalism has divided America into two nations. (The Guardian)

Rob Ford said some things that had people crying slander after an interview with Conrad Black. (Toronto Star)

Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Link-Off

Wednesday Link-Off: Show Me the Money

trish-stratus-insidefitness13-07Somehow, someway, I’ve scrambled together links for today. For some reason, there just didn’t seem to be much in the way of interesting links for today. Hopefully starting this post off with the legendary Trish Stratus makes up for it.

SI is releasing a five-part report on so-called corruption in the Oklahoma State football program. Is paying players really corruption or is it supporting those who make the program millions of dollars? (Sports Illustrated)

I say so called corruption because buried down in the story is an anecdote about the players taking money just so they can put food on the table. Yeah, the Oklahoma State football program is full of comic book super villains. (Deadspin)

Did you know that the daughter of the man who built Auschwitz lives in America? (Washington Post Magazine)

Continue reading →

2 Comments Posted on by Steve Murray Link-Off

Sunday Link-Off: Happy Pro Bowl… Oh, Who Am I Kidding?

erin-heatherton-victoriassecret13-04It’s PRO BOWL SUNDAY! Are you ready for some half-speed football?! A Hawaiian party! The whole house can’t be bothered so let’s get it over with!

Take that Hank Williams Jr. Even I can write football theme lyrics. Alright, to keep with the football theme of the start of this post, here’s Erin Heatherton. She’s dating a Cleveland Browns tight end you haven’t heard of and won’t hear about again if they break up.

The US Congress approved a temporary debt ceiling increase until mid-April. Presumably, the Republicans controlling the House of Representatives are going to look for spending cuts but if you look at the numbers, the Obama administration has already started reigning in spending. (Washington Post)

A court says that Rob Ford can still be mayor of Toronto. He may be a national embarrassment but he’s a national embarrassment that we can all laugh at. (Gawker)

Want to treat everyone fair and equally? Well, that’s not the Boy Scout way. The Boy Scouts of America is threatening to throw out a troop that doesn’t want to discriminate against gay members. (Mother Jones)

After the jump, how ESPN dropped the ball on Manti Te’o, the history of THQ and Hollywood sucks at math. Continue reading →