An interesting theory, but there are good reasons to doubt the claim, including the fact that woolly sheep are a recent product of human breeding, and that wild sheep are not even native to the same areas blackberries grow.

I’ve had those. In Europe, in fact. That’s a Kinder Joy, not a Surprise.

If you’re American, I recommend you try and find a Yowie somewhere. Apparently they’re sold there. I don’t actually recommend the product—unfortunately new Yowies are just as bad as if not worse than Kinder Surprise, unlike the vastly superior version they used to make—but just to see the way the skirt a loophole in America’s law. Instead of being a completely enclosed (but hollow) case of chocolate, as both Surprises and old Yowies are, new Yowies’ eggs have small "wings"which poke out the side of the chocolate.

Turns out they basically did the marshmallow test. So we’re talking toddlers.

Oh, I’m sorry. I thought we were having a serious interesting conversation here.

The sport would absolutely have to change in some significant ways to adapt to that rule, but it could be done. Learn a more rugby-like style of tackling. Push from the line of scrimmage more like sumo wrestlers (a comparison I think I saw someone else in this thread bring up).

I am not what you’d call a fan of gridiron. I’m not American, and have only really been exposed to it in more than a very light “cultural osmosis” way over the last two or three years since I now know an American who refs local games here in Aus. But to be honest, I like the game. If I were American, I could easily see myself getting right into it. And I want the sport to keep the core elements that make it interesting and to be viable at a high level indefinitely. I just don’t see a future for the sport in the long run with CTE rates as high as they are and research continuing to show how bad the long-term effects even of repeated sub-concussive impacts can be. (Though on that topic, I have no idea how boxing plans to exist into the future. I can’t imagine it’ll still be a thing in 60 years unless it undergoes some pretty extreme changes.)

I’m not familiar. Where are those from?

Dunno who “you guys” is, considering the original Yowies sold in Australia are far more of a potential choking hazard than Kinder Surprise’s lame lumps of plastic. The fact that it’s smaller pieces you assemble yourself is a big part of the reason they’re so much better!

Anyway, someone clearly needs to verify this, because the two articles are stating contradictory things. Obviously, one of them is wrong.

Happy cake day, banana!

Kinder Surprises are inferior to Yowies and you can fight me over this.

Or at least, they were. Prior to 2005. Then they got discontinued and brought back over a decade later with inferior Kinder-style simple solid plastic toys.

Apparently though, both the new Yowies and Kinder Surprises are available in America these days.

the official app tries to not be killed by Android woth the usual tricks (permanent notification, disabling battery optimisation)

…

You can (theoretically) control how often locations are tracked and sent but for me was using the location service constantly and draining battery quite a bit.

Ah. Those are exactly what I was worried about. It’s not able to just happen entirely in the background the same way Google’s feature does, then? Kind of automagically?

Alpha being the elements up to iron?

How exactly does it work from your phone’s perspective? Does it hook into Google Play Services location data? Do you need to install a different low-level application that replicates that functionality? (If so, what’s the battery life impact like?) Does it need a foregrounded app?

I’m really interested in this, because like the author I’m really upset at Google killing yet another incredibly useful feature. But the article is a little light on details.

In astronomy, nearly everything is hydrogen or helium. Like, over 98% of all matter is H or He. So it’s very useful to be able to talk about H, He, and “everything else”. They call that everything else “metals”.

Wait, don’t read? I thought I had always heard that reading is a really good choice before bed.

All sports: ban gambling sponsorships. Ban teams from wearing gambling company logos or otherwise promoting gambling companies. Ban leagues and networks from incorporating gambling sponsorships into the programming.

I would also say ban gambling advertising entirely, but that’s a government law, not a sports one. With the sports rule change, gambling companies could still buy ad spots during as breaks. Just no commentators going “and now over to Lad Brokes so the punters can know the odds in this game”.

“scoring more goals” is not a skill. It’s an outcome.

Your first argument against stopped clocks is utter nonsense. It’s an argument from tradition. “We’ve always done it this way, so we should continue to do so” is bullshit reasoning. Defend it if you genuinely think it’s better, but explain the actual reasons it’s better. “Because we always have” is not a valid argument.

Stopped clocks would just lead to commercial breaks.

This is, in principle, a better argument. It presents itself as an actual disadvantage of the changed rule.

The problem is that it doesn’t make any sense. It wouldn’t change the game itself at all. The refs in soccer already stop their stopwatches. They just don’t communicate this back to production. And then when the game is supposed to be over (because the clock reads “90”), the ref says “actually we’re doing another 12 minutes”. The amount of time played would be the same. The amount of time spent with the game stopped due to injuries, corners, etc. would be the same. The only difference is that the number you see on the screen would be the correct time, not made up nonsense.

yellow card for faking injuries…and for protesting with the referee.

Huge yes. I support the others saying it could even be a red card. The astonishingly bad sportsmanship from soccer players compared to other sports is a big reason it will never be taken seriously in countries like Australia. Diving is nothing short of cheating, and it’s developed to such an extent that even children are frequently imitating the stars they see on TV and doing it in local club games.

In Australian football, which is played on cricket ovals ranging in size, but ~150 m long is a good ballpark figure, it takes very little talkback to the umpires (tbh, I’ve seen the rule overused in cases where it really didn’t seem appropriate) before they’ll march you 50 m. The opposing team gets not just a free kick, but a free kick from 50 metres closer to their offensive goal than where the original infringement took place.

Football: proper helmets

Assuming you mean gridiron football, I don’t know exactly what you mean (how are the current helmets not “proper”?), but I would say exactly the opposite. The illusion of safety the helmet gives is part of what leads to concussions and CTE.

I’d do away with the helmet entirely. Go bald, or with a simple scrum cap, like in rugby union and rugby league. Techniques will have to adapt somewhat, but that’s how all sports have to adapt to technological changes.

Soccer: don’t use penalty shootouts to break ties. Penalities are a weird little minigame that don’t really represent the most important skills of soccer, which are things like field position and control of the ball.

I’m open to suggestions on what should be done to break ties, but I like the idea of golden point where, if a goal is not scores after a certain amount of time, the number of players on the field starts gradually decreasing. So after 5 minutes of golden point, you drop to 10 vs 10, after 10 minutes it’s 9 vs 9, down to a minimum of like 5 vs 5. Fewer players will tend to benefit the attacking team, making scoring more likely as it goes on.

Also soccer, as well as rugby union: just use the fucking clock. When the clock we see on the TV screen reaches 90 (or 80), that’s it. Game over. Adjustments due to stoppage time etc. should be made at that time and transparent for everyone to see, by pausing the clock then and there, and resuming it when play resumes. Not added on at the end.

Edit: actually, it seems like rugby union might have already adopted this? I’m not too sure, because I’m a rugby league fan myself, which has always done it the right way (or at least always in my lifetime).

1. Wait, how does the back foot no ball cause players stress? I thought that rule mostly impacts spin bowling, but it’s fast bowlers who are at greatest risk of knee injury.
2. Come on. You can’t leave us hanging like that! At least name a few of the changes you’d suggest.
3. See above
4. Strongly agree. Batsmen are able to get an advantage by proceeding up the pitch early. Mankadding is required to even the playing field. Imagine in baseball if sneaking a base was allowed, but not pitchers getting you out for it!
5. Strong disagree. There’s enough evolution of the ball over the course of a test as it is. We don’t need artificial substances any more than triathletes need to start allowing steroids.
6. Strong disagree, with the exception that maybe they could make allowances for genuine injuries, if there’s a safeguard preventing abuse of that. Creating a good team composition with a balance of the right kinds of players for the match is a core part of cricket. Allowing substitutions to cricket would be like if rugby started doing the gridiron thing of swapping out defensive and offensive teams.

As far as format rules go: I’d ban anything shorter than ODI. T20 and the IPL in particular are ruining cricket, with too many young players learning that style and becoming worse cricketers unable to adapt to the truest form of the game. The way the media went on and on about Sam Konstas because of his showboaty shitty T20 play style. Never mind that Webster, who debuted in the same series as an all-rounder to Konstas’ specialist batsman averaged significantly more.

The only other rule that immediately comes to mind is one I’ve been told is being addressed. The ridiculous boundary catch rule. You shouldn’t be allowed to jump from outside the boundary to keep the ball alive. Spectacular jumps from inside the boundary, throwing it back over the rope from outside before landing, either to another player or to yourself if you’re able to get back in the field of play, are awesome. Hopping while continuously outside the field of play is not. Thankfully, I’ve heard they’re fixing this soon, if they haven’t already.

That sounds interesting. Do you recall the name?