"As an athlete, it feels manipulative. World Athletics is taking advantage of the passion we have for this sport, knowing we're going to do whatever they say to be eligible." www.cbc.ca/sports/olymp...
Officiating expert | Teacher | ChPC | UBC KIN Masters | Personal account — views mine & should be yours | Vancouver, BC | 🇨🇦🇹🇹 | he/him hanoomansingh.com
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"As an athlete, it feels manipulative. World Athletics is taking advantage of the passion we have for this sport, knowing we're going to do whatever they say to be eligible." www.cbc.ca/sports/olymp...
And before anyone jumps down my throat, I do not think the VAR intervention was the correct avenue. I know there was contact because I saw it IRL with my own eyes, but the video doesn’t show that. MLS started as best in the world using VAR and is now in the muck of mediocrity with everyone else.
I get what you’re saying, but there is a whole layer of interpretation that goes on top of the laws. Right now, the (global) interpretation puts a huge onus on the defender and gives the attacker benefit of the doubt. Like it or not (I hate it), that’s the game rn. bsky.app/profile/hano...
Yes. So many PKs go like this: ball is loose in the box, defender is clear to kick the ball, attacker sticks their leg between the defender’s foot and the ball (the attacker never actually touches the ball) and gets kicked… PK awarded. I hate it but it gets called all the time; that’s how it is rn
That call is of the same vintage as ‘defender goes to kick a free ball but attacker sticks their leg in front, gets kicked, wins a PK’. I really don’t like that it’s how the game is called, but it is how the game is called 🤷🏽♂️
And let’s be clear: the point is that debate and consideration of motions is supposed to happen in council. The municipal charter pre-dates parties, but the spirit is that decisions are made on the record, not in the proverbial ‘backroom’. The public has a right to be privy to these discussions.
Having said that, the video doesn’t show a clear and obvious error; it doesn’t even show contact. So, in the end it’s the right call, but the completely wrong process for a VAR check and that’s a problem. MLS need to invest in more angles. @andrew-wiebe.bsky.social
Lastly, this was absolutely a foul. I’m sitting 7 rows back, just outside where the box meets the endline and I saw Joyner’s knee clip Laborda’s heel in real time. I don’t like that interpretation of the law, because there’s no intent, but that’s how it’s called. bsky.app/profile/matt...
In a similar vein, the new CBs need to get on the field ASAP. I feel bad for Halbouni because he’s a 25 year old rookie and this is the second game in a row that he’s gotten eaten alive by a mediocre #MLS team. bsky.app/profile/harj...
Hopefully, Ali Ahmed is starting soon because he’s been a noticeable difference compared to Jayden Nelson. Most games, Nelson is a non-factor around the box — à la Darlington Nagbe — and he can still develop but the Caps need more now. Ahmed can be that guy. bsky.app/profile/harj...
Having ~26k in BC Place rocks. The only atmosphere I think compares is the 2023 CanChamp final. Even the CCC game vs Inter Miami had 2x attendance but wasn’t as consistently loud throughout the match. bsky.app/profile/harj...
A couple of thoughts on last night’s @whitecapsfc.com #MLS game: Thomas Müller is *dialed in*. There was some talk about why he has the captaincy, but if you watched the game, you saw a captain. Intense in a good way and the team responded. If he keeps this up, he will be a hero in Vancouver.
Absolutely. A win there could give them a leg up for a top-2 finish.
Vancouver and Ottawa have been trading that third spot for a few months but crucially, Ottawa no longer has games in hand. Huge road win for #VanRiseFC in the head-to-head matchup 🏔️⬆️ #NSL
“Given the ongoing genocide in Gaza…we call on Sport Canada and Tennis Canada to forbid Canadian athletes to compete against Israeli athletes at the Davis Cup and all other international events.” - 413 🇨🇦 academics, athletes + sports journalists, inc 3 former UN special rapporteurs + an Olympic 🥈ist
LOL like that’s so obviously untrue. I’ve seen a lot of arguments that the net environmental impact of bitcoin is marginal (it’s not), but the idea that it’s *good* for the environment is just false. It doesn’t even stand up to a modest amount of scrutiny. bsky.app/profile/isab...
I’ve known many guys like Ken Sim over the years. They’re smart and they work hard, but just being good at what they do isn’t enough… they need to be fêted for being smart. They crave that external validation. That’s why these guys end up in politics and/or grifting.
My ‘wild hare’ theory on this bitcoin thing is that Ken Sim is just hedging in case he loses the next election. If he can’t be mayor, he’d be happy as a YouTube influencer #VanPoli #BCpoli
What we are witnessing with air Canada is a complete breakdown in Canada's industrial relations regime. It's part of a trend that should be scaring the hell out of average people.
“Air Canada flight attendants will defy the back-to-work order and remain on strike after the federal government ordered binding arbitration to end the work stoppage”
About 18% of the #cdnpoli electorate is currently working a unionized job (not including retired workers). If 1 in 5 Canadians called their Liberal MPs and demanded change, I bet they would change their tune quickly. The world is a scary place, we need worker solidarity and class consciousness.
No matter which party is in government, they will take every opportunity to run roughshod over Section 2(d) of the Charter. You have the right to form a union and to strike, except when it's inconvenient, in which case, get your ass back to work. This country is so hostile to labour rights #cdnpoli
Last night, COPE members joined a solidarity picket line with Air Canada flight attendants. Today's move by the federal Liberal government to deny these workers their rights to collective action and collective bargaining is an attack on all working people. 📸 Cody Dilullo #Solidarity #vanpoli
Great week in Calgary with our #officials at the National High Performance Selection Camp and the coaches that will support the program over the next few years. #hockey #officiating
I think it’s simple that a person who doesn’t do a thing and instead allows a machine to do it for them can’t claim to be part of the group or history of the profession. An artist who doesn’t make the art isn’t an artist. A writer who doesn’t write is not a writer. It’s not the ideas but the making.
Here’s an artifact from the future exhibition “Profiles in Cowardice”: An unsigned, pro-genocide editorial in Canada’s most prominent newspaper. (Yes, I understand what an editorial board is; no, that doesn’t make it better)
“It is beyond a doubt that Hamas propaganda has sought to exaggerate certain instances of suffering.” The editorial board of Canada’s national newspaper The Globe and Mail has just published genocide denialism. archive.ph/2025.08.02-1...
If you don’t have a city from the Maritimes, your understanding of this country is missing something fundamental.
Based on the TT trend of the 4 American cities, my #Canadian 4: • Toronto • Montreal • Vancouver • Halifax Honorable mentions: Quebec, Charlottetown, Calgary, St. John’s. Criteria: you have to balance culture, history, overall global relevance.
Also, it’s worth noting that present-day conceptions of “left” and “right” did not exist in 18th century France. So, every part of this analogy is nonsense.
I genuinely don’t know how to process the liberal/centrist inability to use words correctly. A very prominent, influential federal politician thinks being admonished for their views by people on the internet is “oppression”. And I don’t think it’s a rhetorical device, he really believes it.
If they get so much as a speeding ticket, never mind a DUI or something serious, the script flips: the cop was lazy, the judge was corrupt, they're getting railroaded, etc. But as long as they aren't the one affected, the system is fine. There's no analysis, no philosophy, it's pure self-interest.
Building off Derek's post, I have real difficulty with how Canadian conservatives tend to view the courts as Schrödinger's justice system. They're all-in on the legal system — back the blue, innocent until proven guilty, etc. — until they're the ones interacting with the system.
I feel the same. I go through periods where I think “ok I have to post and scroll to find people” but I end up losing steam. Maybe bsky is just a different experience and/or I just don’t have the same juice as I did 15 years ago 🤷🏽♂️
Also, the league isn't that big, there's only six cities, you could feasibly build contingencies for all of them 🤷♂️ you could even have people pre-reserve their tickets (like a season ticket deposit) in case their team ends up hosting.
I get that Toronto is the biggest city and it's a great soccer city. I also get that it's much easier to plan for a fixed site, rather than scrambling to get everything ready based on who qualifies. But god forbid the final is Vancouver-Calgary and there's like 4k people in stadium #NSL
Canada boycotted South Africa, they currently won’t play Russia or Belarus, and in 2022, the govt pressured Canada Soccer into cancelling a game with Iran. How is this different?
Every MLS exec who has considered it has then immediately thought: “how dumb am I going to look when he tears his hamstring in his second sub appearance?” And then they put the phone down
Outstanding. A really important subject and glad to see this being studied in Canadian hockey. Congratulations @nkalamb.bsky.social & @derekcrim.bsky.social!
This is a minor detail in the larger story, but it is not insignificant: under the current circumstances, there should not be American military aircraft in Canadian airspace for any reason #cdnpoli
All the risk of professional sports without any of the protections (union and pay). Seems totally appropriate for educational institutions, right? 🙄
I am the first to defend salaries for public officials because we want expertise and we don’t want officials looking for bribes. So it’s disappointing amount of double-dipping and conflicts of interest that are uncovered.
This is a type of journalism/scholarship that I would like to see more of: focusing on individual stories that are representative of a significant event. What gives events significance is the experiences of the people who lived them.
Book 11 ☑️ This #book is a tapestry that represents a small but significant set of experiences during an impactful moment in #Canadian history. It is a fitting tribute to the incredibly-accomplished individuals who freely gave their time and expertise when Canadians needed it.
Book 12 ☑️ I like what this says about our relationship with animals: cats are their own beings (esp rescues) with their own desires and feelings. But we project onto them and convince ourselves that we are in charge, when really the cat (or fate) decides when the relationship begins and ends.
It’s incredible that this author is ignoring the same basic advice that I give to grade 9 students.
One benefit of actually #reading is that you find specific passages that speak directly to you and stay with you forever. It's not about finding the most profound passage to impress people, but to allow yourself to find something that feels like the author wrote it specifically for you.
I said I had mixed feelings about Breaking4. Here are a lot of them, in today's Fast Women newsletter: fastwomen.substack.com/p/fast-women...
And in the 92nd minute, Julian Hall commits a weird foul in the attacking half, throws the ball out of bounds, and then sits on the ground and stretches. That stoppage took like 30-ish seconds... so, the team needs to be on the same page if they're pushing for a winner or running down the clock.
4:06.42 for Faith Kipyegon, the fastest mile any woman has ever run.
Obviously, political movements look different in different countries, but I find it fascinating that all right-wing politicians seem to become cartoonish parodies of themselves. According to OneBC, Rustad is “woke” and The Tyee is “Marxist”because apparently words no longer have meaning.
Not to deny the agency of an adult woman, but I really hate how frequently I read this sentence about college coaches: “Among the student-athletes whom UK credits DeVries as helping to develop into championship runners [is] Allison Peare… whom he married after she graduated from UK in 2014.“
Greetings from Los Angeles, where the Gold Cup will begin Saturday with a Mexico match - and where protests against ICE raids continue. What happens when the biggest strength of the Gold Cup, and the United States, is seen as a weakness by the U.S. government? open.substack.com/pub/getconca...
I would also like to hear more about this 🦦
Honored and excited to be giving two presentations at this year’s Hockey Conference later this month. The first is based on my masters research into referee decision-making and the second is on a new project to improve officials’ experience thru education on pregnancy and return-to-sport.
A fair bit of disbelief in my section when White and Ahmed stood up in the 57th minute. And then again when Berhalter was subbed out instead of Cubas. Either Sørensen is a genius or this is a huge unforced error… we will see.
The most unfortunate thing is that this has been known since I was an HS senior 15 years ago: the transactional nature of the education system (also the world) is killing student’s incentive to think critically and creatively. Students were primed for the introduction of ChatGPT.
At the end of the day (as you said), a point on the road in the MLS regular season is never a bad result. Especially for a team that’s played 21 games in 86 days 😧
I only just realized what the up and down arrows are. Pure visual poetry 🤌🤌🤌
Elizabeth Mantha 135:33 Chad Ingalls 135:33 Sophie Thomson 135:33 Erin Zach 135:33 Ice time. Earned. 🦓
I can see this diminishing the influence of independent SGs. If the NWSL forgets how much they rely on the SGs to make the league marketable, they will be reminded. MLS continues to learn that the hard way
I always find this to be a weird ad hominem where anything too far left is dismissed as “naive”. I’m naive for wanting open borders? Ok, you’re naive for thinking we could have a modicum of fairness and compassion in an inherently arbitrary system 🤷🏽♂️ no critical thinking at all.
When I started teaching (pre-AI) I did primarily in-class written work b/c I wanted students to focus on showing understanding rather than polishing a formal essay (IMO my students were over-prescribed work by others). It worked great for that purpose & would work to counter AI. @nkalamb.bsky.social
🍁⚽️ In Burnaby for Northern Super League action! First of many games at Swangard — a great spot for this team #woso @vancouverrisefc.bsky.social
It is staggering that someone would look at where we are now, as a society, and think, “of course, we must be *more* tolerant of adults with no grasp on reality”
“Search ‘Lapu Lapu Day’ and results are about the Vancouver attack. I want to share what the celebrations were meant to be about.”
It is unbelievably frustrating to hear people talk about involuntary treatment when people cannot *voluntarily* access the treatment they need and want.
The topic of alcohol abuse is discussed a lot in the context of hazing (usually) underage athletes and I think there’s a broader discussion to be had about how alcohol consumption/abuse is modeled for these athletes from a very young age (without absolving them of personal responsibility)
Book #7 of 2025 📚 The Guest Cat — Takashi Hiraide This is a beautifully-written novella about impermanence and the weight it can place on our relationships. It’s also about cats, which is a bonus.
A great start to the week with our Esso Cup group in Lloydminster! 🍁🦓 #womenshockey
I don’t agree. It’s just identity politics: a huge swathe of people identify as ‘middle class’, regardless of their economic situation. What you’re describing is already happening (as outlined in the piece). If food banks are grossly over-subscribed, then people are becoming “destitute”.
I’m not surprised (but still disheartened) that the current CPC strategy is to say literally anything that will inflame their base to ensure they show up to vote. Even when those statements fall apart under the most cursory scrutiny
Key takeaways for me in this game: ↕️ Holly Ward was really good on both sides of the ball. Pushed the attack and got back on defense. 🤝 The chemistry between Quinn and Nikki Stanton really showed. You can see the experience and that pairing will be super important for Vancouver this season.
QUINN, THE FIRST-EVER SCORER IN NORTHERN SUPER LEAGUE HISTORY! From the penalty spot, the Vancouver Rise midfielder broke the deadlock to put the hosts ahead. #NSL 📸 Gordon Kalisch / FastTrackSportsPhotography
It's the eve of the inaugural match of the NSL. I had some thoughts about the stage setting Vancouver, the league, the opportunities, and the moments to come. www.cbc.ca/sports/socce...
*they (I was thinking of a different Katie)
Katie mentioned it briefly in her really good article, but from a sporting perspective, being a 24 y/o college player really invalidates your stats (from a pro lens). Especially in the WNBA where roster spots are so competitive. Not surprised she didn’t get picked, even besides the allegations.
2 takeaways from seeing this match in person: 🛡️ The Caps stayed much tighter on the set pieces (esp. 2nd/3rd phase) than in previous games. 🥊 They got on stop and stayed on top. Too often, this team has scored a goal or two and retreated into their shell. Tonight, they just kept hitting Austin.
Book 5 of 2025 📚✅ This is an incredible piece of #hockey history. It's also a timely reminder that many of the historical events of the Summit Series were very different from how the stories were told and re-told over the last 50 years as part of the Canadian myth-making project. #referee #history
This is a very well-written piece but the part I hadn't considered is what is quoted below: For all the support that Canadian governments have given to Israel, they are not an ally. If we were attacked, they would not help us.
🏒 IIHF Women’s World Championship 📍 České Budějovice, Czechia #womenshockey #iihf
This novel is good, but it’s missing something — there are a couple of areas in which it’s just scratching the surface — and it could’ve used another 100 pages or so. Still worth the read: a tense, beautifully-set adaptation of King Lear.
Book 4 of 2025 📚✅ I love Elizabeth Nunez (RIP), I love novels set in the Caribbean that are written by Caribbean-born authors, and I love a Shakespeare-inspired framing.
📸🇨🇿 A couple of snaps from an all-too-brief 19-hour stop in Prague.
Relatively short lead time, little-to-no local advertising, and pricey tickets… IMO real swing and miss from Canada Soccer.
On the whole, I would strongly recommend this book to any current or prospective parent. It is a valuable resources that shares information, aims to trigger self-reflection, and can be of great value to anyone who wants to know what the data says about parenting.
I appreciated Oster’s approach: she acknowledges the lack of strong, causal relationships between parenting strategies and child outcomes. She’s not trying to sell you a product or even a philosophy. She simply wants to share where the data may or may not be useful in shaping parenting styles.
Book 3 of 2025 📚✅ This book’s greatest strength is what it is not: it’s not trying to convince you of anything. This book is premised on one simple question: what does the data say?
It is absolutely sickening to think that the best advice to give to a student (esp non-citizen) who participated in a peaceful protest against genocide is to go into hiding. Because their own school will sic ICE on them… like genuinely wtf is happening.
Celebrating #IWD by appreciating all the times I get to rock with these incredible people in sport and #officiating. What a privilege 🙏🏽
I can't believe your household is not watching the Whitecaps... after they knocked off Saprissa for y'all 😅
Book 2 of 2025 📚✅ Richard Wright is one of the best writers in the English language; doesn’t make this an easy read. His depiction of the dislocation that occurs as the result of American racism is both deeply complex and searingly brutal. A very challenging read, but worth it.
Book #1 of 2025 📚✅ There’s a lot to take away from this book — informative research and first-hand accounts — but what is really sticking with me are questions and reflections it triggered in my mind. If you see yourself contributing something to the sport or culture of hockey, this is a must-read.
Yeah that’s fair and I generally agree with you. I do feel like Messi is one-of-one in this regard. Like the Whitecaps average 24k per game, but sold 54k for Inter Miami; most of those people have never been before and aren’t coming back… I don’t love upping the price, but I do understand it 🤷🏽♂️
The irony is that if you only care about seeing Messi, then the tickets *should* be more expensive than any other game… because you’re not going to those other games, but you are going to this one. I’m not a big believer in capitalism, but that is how the system works 🤷🏽♂️
Sunday morning in #Vancouver 😎✌🏽
No economic value in history, unless it’s being leveraged to promote the current product.
I miss Kendall Waston… great team guy. I wish we’d had an actually good team while he was here.
I’d argue the word ‘perceived’ is doing a lot of heavy lifting. Sure the possibility of real consequences was there, but who was this actually happening to? The closest I can think of is college kids saying the n-word and having their admissions revoked.